Women Pioneers

I’ve been researching an article I’m writing on my grandmother Irvine for a publication entitled Women Pioneers of Saskatchewan published by the Sask Genealogical Society for their 40th anniversary.

I knew Grandma was a pretty special person, but I didn’t know just how much!
She was the family historian and she loved to write. There is a 12 page document of her life (in her own words) outlining their homesteading years. It is wonderfully descriptive and rich with details.

She was born in Ottawa, moved to BC with her family until her mother was killed in a run-away horse and buggy accident. They moved back to Ottawa where her childhood dream was to be a dentist. This was in an era when most women didn’t consider professional careers. Imagine her dismay when she discovered because of all the moving around she didn’t have the senior matriculation needed to qualify for dental school. (keep in mind this would be around 1916 or so. She was born in 1898). She then chose to go into nursing.

To make a long story short she was a mail order bride (Grandpa and Grandma did meet a couple of times before they married but most of their courting was by mail). Grandpa had immigrated from Ireland to homestead in Saskatchewan. It was a hard life that he lived and to which he brought his new bride. They were 30 miles from doctors and amenities such as the nearest town....and Grandma became the midwife for all the neighbours around. She never lost a baby in the dozens she delivered. It is a remarkable story of pioneer life in Saskatchewan.