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M E HJELTER, War Bride

batmadviv

master brummie
Please can anyone tell me how to find out when a war bride left England to join her husband, the name of the ship she sailed on, from which port the ship left, the name of the port in Canada and the date the ship docked?
batmadviv
 
Sometimes you can find details on Ancestry.
Thanks Carolina but I have seen the person's name on a card index on Ancestry but there are no dates and no name of the ship that she sailed on. I have worked out the month that she went by other means but no ship's name nor port of entry into Canada. The actual dates would be good.
batmadviv
 
I think the details you see on ancestry depend on what type of subscription you have. I found the name of the ship and dates for a relative who went to Canada.

Janice
 
It is my mother's movements I am trying to track in 1946. I know the month she went and that she arrived in Edmonton on 1st August but searching Ancestry gave me no more information. It must be the level of subscription that holds the key. Thanks for your help.
 
I can have a go if you tell me the name.

Janice

How kind of you. Taken from the Ancestry record it is sheet 627 of 899. My mother's name on the sheet is M E HJELTER. My father's Regt. No, Rank and initials were M67133, Cfm RE. The UK address is 47 Francis Road, Stechford, Birmingham 9 (now it is 33). The destination in Canada is Mrs. O Hjelter, (M/L), Ryley, Alberta. I know she arrived in Edmonton on 1st August 1946 - I am transcribing my great aunt's 5 year diary and she made an entry to that effect.
Thanks for volunteering,
Regards,
Viv
 
Phew that was interesting. If you can see the info on page 627 then I think you might be able to see page 497 which is the start of the Canadian wives repatriation list. In handwriting at the top of the page it says "Lady Nelson" 16th July 1946. I think that must be the date the ship sailed and it seems to have left from Southampton. Subsequent pages just list the names of all the wives etc.

An internet search reveals the info that the Lady Nelson was a Canadian Steamship used in the war which became a troop ship in 1946. Try this link for more info: https://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/1418.html .

Hope this is useful.

Janice
 
Just a thought - you might find more info on findmypast - they, I think, have more emigration records but you either need a subscription of you can pay for payasyougo credits (as far as I can remember).

Janice
 
Phew that was interesting. If you can see the info on page 627 then I think you might be able to see page 497 which is the start of the Canadian wives repatriation list. In handwriting at the top of the page it says "Lady Nelson" 16th July 1946. I think that must be the date the ship sailed and it seems to have left from Southampton. Subsequent pages just list the names of all the wives etc.

An internet search reveals the info that the Lady Nelson was a Canadian Steamship used in the war which became a troop ship in 1946. Try this link for more info: https://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/1418.html .

Hope this is useful.

Janice

Thank you very much Janice. It certainly seems to be the one my mother sailed on. It does not give the date of docking or the port, but other ships seem to have docked at Halifax, Nova Scotia. I was led to believe that she went from Southampton on the Aquitania (Cunard/White Star line) but had no documentary evidence. Incidentally, assuming all the names between pages 498 and 629 were on the same ship there must have been c1570 give or take some no shows, passengers on the ship. About right on a troop ship I would think.

Thank you again,

Vivienne
 
M.E. Hjelter left Southampton 22nd July 1946 on board Aquitania, address given in Canada is Mrs C. Hjelter, (M/L), Ryley, Alta. This information found on Find My Past - hope this helps. S
 
M.E. Hjelter left Southampton 22nd July 1946 on board Aquitania, address given in Canada is Mrs C. Hjelter, (M/L), Ryley, Alta. This information found on Find My Past - hope this helps. S
Thanks for the information. Do you know the date and port it berthed in Canada? On ancestry the C in my grandmother's name is badly printed and is an O as my grandfather's name was Ole.
Vivienne
 
Sorry, the record only states 'CANADA', not a clue as to which port or the date it arrived. Some records can be very frustrating as they only give you an idea of what you are looking for - never seem to give you the whole story! May be they were so vague because it has a military connection?
 
There is a lot of information on line about the Hjelter family in Ryley, and also two Hjelters listed in the Canadian white pages phone book both in Alberta. If you are researching in this area you could Google Hjelter-Ryley, Alberta and the Canada White Pages is 411.com. My mother-in-law was a war bride and up until recently it was difficult to track down which ships they came to Canada on unless they had written it down somewhere. Good Luck.
 
I am glad FMP was of more help. I am now puzzled over the ancestry list but perhaps they changed their mind about the ship after the list headed Lady Nelson was written.

Janice
 
I am glad FMP was of more help. I am now puzzled over the ancestry list but perhaps they changed their mind about the ship after the list headed Lady Nelson was written.

Janice
Yes, I too am puzzled. Perhaps there were so many wives they put on extra ships but I doubt there were spare ships. Somewhere there will be a record of ship movements at that time. The departure date of the Aquitania fits better with the time scale of 7 days and nights to cross the Atlantic and 3 days and nights to cross Canada to Edmonton.

Vivienne
 
Yes - the date of 16th July did worry me. Glad you have more info now.

Have found it!! You need to go to page 528 where the list begins with the SS Aquitania. I must have missed it when I looked yesterday. The other names were on the Lady Nelson. I suspect if I look then there might be other ships as well.

Janice
 
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