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The family emigrated to Canada, but returned (Source Dianne Teskey and Eileen Carroll).
From Beatrice Mary Dick (nee Carroll) :
"Although her [Beatrice Pilkington] parents had known the Carrolls for some time, they were very unhappy about her going out with Joe. For one thing, he worked in the brickyard, which they thought was a poor job, and Joe was a Roman Catholic. Beatty and Joe had to meet secretly. As their courtship continued her Grandfather Fillingham would not speak to her, and said he would not give her the piano he had promised. He was an Orangeman and they hated Catholics. Joe and Beatty did get married in 1903."
"Joe was my father. When he was eleven years old he didn't like to go to school so he often played hooky. His father said he had to go to school regularly or go to work in the coalmines or brickyard."
"He tried the mine, but worked only one day and decided he didn't want that so he went to work in the brick yard. He started out by carrying the bricks. The heavy bricks were put into a tray called a hod and carried on the shoulder."
"When he got home at night he was too tired to eat his supper. His mother was a caring person and she would cry when he had to work so hard."
"The family members were very jolly people who loved to sing and dance Dad was very athletic. He played football and was very good at almost any sport. He learned how to wrestle and box from his uncle Joe. As a father he was perfect. Mother and Dad were very well liked in the hotel."
"Their first child Mary Ellen (Nellie) was born in 1904. When she was two she had pneumonia and almost died. When she was four she went to school in the convent."
"In 1907 a son, Jack, was born so Mother was very busy. However, Grandmother Pilkington fell in love with him and they practically took him as their own from then on."
"One day, Joe was approached by a gentleman, who asked him, if he would come and manage the Red Lion Hotel. This hotel was located in a rough district in Wigan. Dad agreed to try it, so they moved in. With Dad's wrestling ability he soon showed them who was the boss and got rid of the rowdy customers."
"Another child was born later, but it didn't live. The doctor said it was because mother had been working too hard and going up and down stairs so often."
"In 1911 grandfather Pilkington decided he would like to go to Canada to live. There were many advertisements telling about the wonderful cities in Canada. One of those was Wainwright, Alberta, where there were supposed to be paved streets, streetcars, running water and a wonderful climate."
"Grandfather insisted that Mom and Dad should go. Martha and her husband had already left for Wainwright. After much persuasion they decided to go. They packed up their trunks and went to Liverpool to get tickets to go to Canada."
"They had trouble getting a ticket for Dick because of his disabilities. After many days they got permission for him to go."
"They boarded the ship Lake Manitoba. The trip across the water was very bad for Mom. She had asthma and she was so ill that Dad thought he would have to bury her at sea."
"By the time they arrived in Montreal on May 1st 1911, Mom was much better. To their dismay, when they went to get their luggage, it was missing."
"The trip by train to Wainwright was very long and uncomfortable, and it took many days to get there."
"They expected to see quite a large city at Wainwright with all the conveniences - as promised by the ads. They soon discovered that the only running water was in the many sloughs¨ in and around the town. Transportation was by horse and buggy, or just by horse. The muddy streets were not paved and had only a few wooden sidewalks. There were hitching posts along the streets for the cowboys to tie their horses."
"They were happy to find a hotel, but I think there were many tears shed."
"The next day they found a house, so they slept on the floor until their luggage came."
"Though Dad and grandfather looked for work, they could not find any."
"Grandfather bought a lot on 10th Avenue, which was at the north edge of town. It was here he started to build a house. There was prairie all around it and the grass was very high. Dad helped in the building of the house."
"Mother had nothing to do, so she went to work in the kitchen of the hotel She was quite happy to have a job again. She packed up all her nice hats and fashionable dresses and adopted the styles of the prairie."
"Dad finally found a job at the C.N.R. Railway on the riptrack and Grandfather got a job in the Round house there."
"After much opposition from some of the merchants. Mom decided she would like to open a dry goods store in the annex to the hotel."
"She ordered material directly from the mills where her cousins worked in England. The material was of such good quality that she soon built up a good business. She also made clothes for some of the ladies, as well as shirts for the men working on the railway. Her training was coming in handy."
"The house that the men had built was quite large, so they were able to accommodate their friends from England until they could find houses. Mom and Dad were living in the back of the store, so Grandmother took care of the visitors. She delivered several babies as there was only one doctor and no hospital. All the babies were born at home in those days."
"Nellie and Jack were delighted with their new home. Summers were great except for the hordes of mosquitoes. There were ten or twelve sloughs in and around the town so the mosquitoes had plenty of water to breed in."
"Nellie liked to hunt for wild strawberries, cherries, saskatoonsy, gooseberries and flowers. Jack liked to hunt with his Dad for prairie chicken, grouse and ducks. With Mom and Grandmother canning all the wild things their larder was always full. They sent to Edmonton for some of their food in bulk."
"Then one day Mother had to give up her store as the asthma had come back, probably from working with wool and other materials. This time she was worse than before. Once again, they thought she would die and they had her on morphine. She did get better, however, and they moved into the house they had helped to build."
"On April 19, 1915, I was born. Strangely enough, Mom never had any asthma attacks after I [Beatrice Mary Carroll] was born."
"Mom and Dad fussed over me a lot. Mom would make nice clothes for me and my hair had to be curled if we were going shopping. This went on all my life and I became shy and self-conscious. When I was five years old I had the ........"
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