Emily Wildgoose

1883 – 1947

This fascinating account of a pioneering life was contributed by Sue Pepin.

The photograph shows Emily with her niece, Harriet and her son, Joseph.

To see Emily’s wedding photograph, visit the Portrait Gallery

     Emily Wildgoose was born May 20th 1883 in Sheffield, England.  In 1905 she married my grandfather Joseph Bunting.   In 1912 she and Joseph adopted her sister’s child, Harriet Wildgoose and in 1914 my father was born.  They were living in Bonsall, Derbyshire when the war broke out and on 17^th. Aug 1917 Joseph was killed in Belgium.  How difficult it must have been for her a young widow with two small children to raise.  In 1918 she married a Canadian soldier George Rhodes and at the end of the war they emigrated to Canada with her two small ones and a new baby, Ann.

     In 1919 the Canadian government pulled out of the forestry reserve in northern Saskatchewan 220,000 acres for a soldier settlement.   Names were pulled out of a drum with your piece of land matched to it.  Emily and George got their land and headed off into the bush to begin the long process of turning virgin bush and trees into a viable farm.  The summer of their arrival they lived in a tent whilst George worked on building a cabin on the land.  He also needed to work for a more established farm to have money to support his family, so work on their cabin was slow.

     The summer brought many hardships and the greatest was the epidemic of whooping cough and the death of baby Ann.  They had to bury her with the help and support of the other settlers.  There were no doctors, hospitals, church or even a minister.  Emily buried her daughter on their newly acquired land and she must have wondered if this was going to be much of a life.

     The first Christmas some moose meat was given to them by the passing Indians.  According to my father, Emily was terrified of the native people.  I guess there had been many stories in England about the savages in Canada.  She also struggled with the extreme weather conditions of sweltering heat in summer to mind-numbing cold in winter.

     She and George were very involved in the community and when it came time to give the new district a name, she came up with “High Tor” from her fond memories of her home in England.  She was also concerned about the education of the children and the High Tor school ended up being built on their land.  From what I have read of the memories of these pioneers she had a keen sense of humor and a wonderful way with children.

     Emily died in 1947 in an insane asylum.  This was before the understanding of Alzheimer's, when people with this dreadful disease were just thought to be insane.  My mother knew her before this disease took over and she said she was a wonderful person, warm and friendly, a loving wife and mother.

I for one admire her strength and perseverance, how strong she must have been.  Of course, I think of the easy life that I have in comparison, but who knows what our descendents will think of our lives a hundred years from now.