Settling Into Life in Agassiz 1896
This post is all about the Wright siblings and their time settling into life in Agassiz as they setup their homes and are welcomed into social circles.
The Wright siblings are settling into Agassiz in April 1896 and they are experiencing their first taste of the rainy weather of the Pacific Northwest. They have travelled from England to Agassiz, British Columbia, Canada to work on a farm rented by their parents. After arriving in New York, they travelled on to Brandon, Manitoba, where they reconnected with old friends and exchanged gifts. Next, they hopped on a train and travelled in luxury across the country to their final destination, Agassiz, British Columbia.
Ships
Three ships were contracted by Canadian Pacific Railway (the same railway that has a station close to the Wright siblings’ new home in Agassiz) and the British government to provide mail services for Canada, Britain, and Hong Kong. Three ships were built and assigned imperial names: Empress of Japan, Empress of India, and Empress of China.
RMS Empress of Japan (1890)
The RMS Empress of Japan was also known as the Queen of the Pacific, was built in 1890 for Canadian Pacific Steamships that was to travel the trans-Pacific and made a total of 315 crossings across the Pacific.
RMS Empress of India (1890)
The second of the “Empress” series was owned by the Canadian Pacific Railway and the British government. In 1903, the ship collided with the Chinese cruiser Huang Tai, and sank.
Letters
May’s Letter to Mother- March 29, 1896
Vancouver
British Columbia
March 29th, 1896
My dearest Mother,
I think I am going up to Agassiz to-morrow, the furniture went up yesterday & Jack has gone to-day, if the Americans have not turned out, Jack is going to telegraph to me & I am not going until they have gone as there is no room. Mr. Hamersley went up on Thursday & is coming back to-day probably; they are each nice kind people, there are five children, Hugh who is 17 is at a military college in Kingston, Ontario; Cammie is 15 , she is very shy & quiet but nice; Harold is 14; J_y is 7, a very plucky child; & Tommy is 4, a dear fat little boy, who is always in mischief.
They are all coming up to Mr. ____’s house for the summer, which will be nice. The Miss Agassiz’s were down here for two days last week, staying at the Manor House. Miss Nellie & Miss Edith, they are nice girls. Edith is nice looking, big & fat, they came here to spend an evening, they dress nicely & are very ladylike. We went to call on Sister Francis the other day, she talked a great deal about immigration.
I forgot whether I told you that we saw in one of the C.P.R., newspapers published on the train, a notice of Mr. Richmond’s death. I walked down with Jack to see him off, the same Pullman was on the train that we came in I suppose it has been a week in Vancouver to be cleaned. Mr. Hamersley took me over to the “Empress of India” this afternoon, it is a most lovely boat & so comfortable, all the stewards & cooks are Chinamen, & they are never allowed ashore, they have to stay on the boat the fortnight it is in dock’; the cabins are so large with sofas & chairs in them, & the deck is beautiful.
On Friday evening, we went to a sacred concert a the church; I went at 8 to St James, the service there is very nice; I want to go this evening, if it fits in with the family arrangements. The children are all at Sunday school, so the house is very quiet now.
They hope to have a very big regatta here in August, the world’s championship in sculling, it would be a lovely place for it. Mrs. Hamersley is a New Zealander, she used to know Bishop Selwyn & Bishop Abraham very well. I heard from Archie yesterday that the trails were far worse when they went back to Brandon. Mrs. Lego fell down several times & cut herself badly, there are some disadvantages in Manitoba life.
With much love,
Your affectionate daughter.
May Wright.
May’s Letter to Mother- April 6, 1896
May’s Letter to Mother – April 6th, 1896
Agassiz
British Columbia
April 6th, 1896
My dearest Mother,
I came here on Tuesday, Cecil met me with the wagon, it was nearly seven o’clock by the time we got here. I had to get to work at once & get supper for ourselves, our hired man, Allie & Ch—k. The boys had got the beds up & a few things unpacked, Mr. George an English bachelor who lives about three miles away has been here all day helping them & worked very hard, of course everything was in a frightful state of confusion & dirt, but that was to be expected, we unpacked, on Wednesday we unpacked the household then is & on Thursday & Friday we had a Chinaman (he is one of our nearest neighbours) named Choi, to clean up, he scrubbed all the rooms & verandah, & then tidied up outside. There were quantities of old tins, boards, etc. left by the last people lying about; I have heard since that Choi was very floored that the new people sent for him to help settle in.
We have had the partition taken down between the sitting room & little room. Next the new rooms & a door made in the further new room where we thought & it is my room; Cecil & Harold have got the other new room, & Jack has got the little room opening into the sitting room. The room opening into the kitchen we are going to use for a store room, Jack has put up shelves on two sides of it. We have got a nice oil cloth for the sitting room.
Chnick helped Jack to put it down on Friday; we have got book shelves on the right-hand side of the door, by the boys room door; we have put up the curtains & nearly all the pictures; the curtains are just about right, well off the floor. Our hired man is an American & a very quiet sort of fellow, he is only in the home for meals, & sleeps over at Mr. Hamersley’s other house with Chnick; Cecil & he are ploughing every day now. Mr. & Mrs. Baher came to call a few days ago, they live about a mile away but are leaving in a week or two; not very interesting people, only small farmers Yesterday Mrs. Burhett came to see me, she lives about five minutes walk from here, she seems a very nice young woman _____ Mr. Harry Fookes.
This morning, Jack, Cecil, & I _____ in the canyon to church in the mud was very bad and about halfway we went over a big rut & Cecil was thrown right in the mud. He was not in the least hurt, but too dirty to go on; so he walked back & we went on; we got there after they began its services, which begat at 10 with a celebration after that there was a pause about a quarter of an hour & then morning services; we saw all the Agassiz family, the girls want to come & call as soon as I am ready for them & I told them I should be pleased to see them any day now Mrs. Jemmitt & her sister Miss Woods seem nice, they are also coming over this week. It is time for me to go & cook the supper.
With much love.
Your affectionate daughter,
May Wright.
May’s Letter to Mother- April 12, 1896
Agassiz
British Columbia
April 12, 1896
My dearest Mother,
It is a thoroughly wet day, has been raining all night, but looks as if it might clear. On Tuesday, two of the Miss Agassiz’s came to call. They arrived in pouring rain & wet through, Minnie & Connie, they were most nice & kind & asked me to go over there as often as I could; but I told them as a a paid hand, it could not be very often as there is no way for me to get there in the busy time of year & all the horses are working.
On Wednesday, Mrs. Jemmett & her sister Mrs. Woods came, they keep no horses & had to walk all the way, nearly four miles. Mrs. Woods plays the organ for church. I have promised to ask on _____ the choir to go to practice if possible later on. They both are very nice & kind.
We have got the house very nearly straight. Yesterday Chnick put in a window in the sitting room on the other side of the door, so that there are three windows now. The boys’ room is difficult to keep clean as they make it untidy as soon as I clear it up. The work has gone very well this week everything is finished up, all the coaching, every collar & shirts starched, it has been fine weather about half the time. There is nothing to write about. I can see there will be nothing to fill up letters with. The work is almost exactly the same every day.
We can see the train go fast it is almost always on time, one day the westbound train did not go by like it usually does in the evening, about eight hours late, on Thursday, I think it was a very long train from Vancouver, two pullmans & five other cars, the “Empress of Japan” must have just come. We rather expected Mr. Hamersley to turn up yesterday, but he didn’t.
The spring flowers were all out in the gardens in Vancouver. Primroses & crocuses, but I haven’t seen a garden here yet; I have a pot of primroses in the house.
The only other pot broke on the journey here, ___breakfast, three jugs, two basins, & the butter disk. Everything else travelled well. If you should find two of those photographs of the boys taken by Dollie Birid, they belong to me & will you send them to me?
I had a letter from Marion Heard about a week ago, she said Archie had just had a nasty accident. He was pulling down Woodaloch & _____ too long & the roof fell on him; he was very badly hurt. He had to stay in bed for some days, it was fortunate he was not more hurt.
There is a couple of surveyors about a mile from here. Harold takes them two quarts of milk every morning. There are about ten of them & they have no one to cook for them.
I want to go over & see Mr. Bearhalt this afternoon to arrange about going to a concert to-morrow to call her, it is in aid of the Church & up by the Miss. Agassiz’s.
With much love,
Your affectionate daughter,
May Wright.
Jodie Foerster is a history student at the University of the Fraser Valley and a Museum Assistant and Researcher at the Agassiz-Harrison Museum and Archives. She specializes in British Columbia's settler history and archival storytelling. Learn more on the About page
