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Biography & Autobiography Historical

A Dutch Homesteader On The Prairies

The Letters of Wilhelm de Gelder 1910-13

by (author) Willem de Gelder

translated by Herman Ganzevoort

Publisher
University of Toronto Press
Initial publish date
Dec 1973
Category
Historical, Canadian, Social History, Post-Confederation (1867-), Emigration & Immigration, Letters
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781442638112
    Publish Date
    Dec 1973
    List Price
    $16.95

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Description

The letters in this volume, found in the original Dutch in the archives of the Netherlands Emigration Service in Holland, form a unique chronicle of one European homesteader in Saskatchewan from 1910 to 1913. They were written by Willem dr Gelder whose experience as a homesteader was typical of that of hundreds of thousands of newcomers to the prairies in the greatest years of western expansion just before the First World War. As a European immigrant he was able to write from a special perspective often ignored in Anglo-Saxon accounts of western development.

 

Minute and perceptive observations of daily life are contained in his letters; together with the recollections of friends and neighbours who spoke well of him, this volume forms the portrait of a singular man who personified the toughness and persistence of the western pioneer.

 

De Gelder was born in the 1880s in Doorn, the son of a well-to-do banker, and received all the benefits of birth in an upper-class home, including a university education. He came to Canada in 1910 and by the 1920s he had become a successful homesteader owning a half-section of land, meeting his bills, and joining in the community life. But in 1922 he rented out his land, went to the Netherlands to see his family, and returning to Canada he disposed of his homestead – and vanished.

 

This book traces the compass of his life in Canada, revealing the doubts and fears which culminated in his disappearance; it highlights the anguish that all immigrants, new and old, suffered when they took the crucial step of beginning a new life.

About the authors

Willem de Gelder was born in the 1880s in Doorn, the son of a well-to-do banker. He came to Canada in 1910 and by the 1920s he had become a successful homesteader owning a half-section of land. But in 1922 he rented out his land, went to the Netherlands to see his family, and returning to Canada he disposed of his homestead – and vanished.

Willem de Gelder's profile page

Herman Ganzevoort (1942-2014) was a professor emeritus of history at the University of Calgary.

Herman Ganzevoort's profile page

Editorial Reviews

'A masterly job of translating de Gelder's letters ... provides a detailed tapestry of the rigorous hardships and loneliness endured by a Canadian pioneer.'

Vancouver Sun

'This book ... should be interesting to all historians and compelling to historians of settlement and the technology of settlement.'

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