Immigrants to Strathmore, Alberta, Canada

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Zacharia Grimshaw was born in 1868 and was raised in Lancashire. He and Ellen Wilde were married in 1894 and emigrated to Canada around the turn of the century. They obtained a homestead near Strathmore, Alberta and apparently lived out their lives there. Their son, George Grimshaw, immigrated to the U.S. and was married in Minnesota. George and his wife, Annie (Franssen) Grimshaw, are buried in Lafayette, Louisiana. 

Webpage Credits

Photos of Zacharia, Ellen and Their Family

Descendant Chart for Zacharia, Also Showing His Parents

Life With Father (Zacharia Grimshaw)

Birth Records of Zacharia Grimshaw

Homestead and Homestead Receipt

Final Resting Places

The Edwin A. Grimshaw Collection of Grimshaw Family Lines

Thanks go to Edwin A. Grimshaw, son of George and Annie (grandson Zacharia and Ellen,) for making this webpage possible. Ed provided virtually all the information, photos, and other images on this webpage. Anyone wishing to exchange information with Ed, or add to his family history information, can reach him at the following e-mail address: egrimshaw@bigfoot.com.  Also, Ed provided a great deal of information on Grimshaw immigrants in the 1979 to 1980 timeframe, when he mailed out over 600 inquiries to Grimshaws living in the U.S. at the time. He received more than 80 responses, with invaluable information on Grimshaw immigrants and their descendants. This information is compiled on a companion webpage.

The following three photos (Figures 1 to 3) are of Zacharia, Ellen and their children.

Figure 1. Portrait of Zacharia Grimshaw in uniform, presumably during World War I.

Figure 2. Photo of Ellen Grimshaw, taken much later.

Figure 3. Zacharia, Ellen and their family. Identities believed to be as follows (left to right): Janie, Armand, Alfred, Zacharia, Ellen, and George Grimshaw.

The descendants of Zacharia and Ellen are shown in the chart below. Also shown are the parents of Zacharia, Edwin and Martha (Hindley) Grimshaw.

Edwin (Edward) Grimshaw (1825 - ) & Martha Hindley (1833- ) Married 9 June 1854 in Tyldesley Chapel, Lancaster County, District Leigh

|--Zacharia Grimshaw (19 August 1868 Edge Lane, Droylsden, England – 11 December 1936 Strathmore, Alberta, Canada) & Ellen (Nellie) Wilde (30 March 1871, Oldham, Rochdale, Lancshire, England – 28 February 1953 Alberta, Canada) Married April 1894

|--|--Robert Grimshaw (1 November 1896 England – 19 November 1916 Gleichen, Alberta, Canada)

|--|--Janie Grimshaw (18 September 1899 England – 1948)

|--|--|--Edgar Lyons & Millie Doherty

|--|--John Grimshaw (18 September 1899 England – England)

|--|--Catherine Grimshaw (29 June 1903) & Bill Lawrie

|--|--|--William Lawrie

|--|--|--Doris Lawrie

|--|--Edith Mae Grimshaw (24 May 1905 Strathmore, Alberta, Canada

|--|--Armand Grimshaw (28 March 1907 Strathmore, Alberta, Canada – 1951 Strathmore, Alberta, Canada)

|--|--George Grimshaw (28 March 1907 Strathmore, Alberta, Canada – 20 April 1981 Lafayette, Louisiana) & Annie Louise Franssen (18 February 1909 West Depere, Wisconsin, USA – 22 Sept 1977 Concord, Mass.) Married 16 October 1933.

|--|--|--George Anne Grimshaw & David Creed

|--|--|--|--Cheryl Kaye Creed

|--|--|--|--David Davis Creed

|--|--|--|--Elizabeth Doris Creed

|--|--|--|--Eric George

|--|--|--|--Krystn Denise Creed

|--|--|--Edwin Armand Grimshaw (1934) & Martina Jane Stephens (1937)

|--|--|--|--Steven George Grimshaw

|--|--|--|--Monya Ann Grimshaw

|--|--|--|--Armand Christopher Grimshaw

|--|--|--|--Sean Edwin Grimshaw

|--|--Alfred Grimshaw (19 January 1911 Strathmore, Alberta, Canada) - 1920

Many details of the lives of Zacharia and Ellen and their family were recorded in a note prepared by one of their children, Catherine (Katie). This note, written in August 1982, is shown below.

Eddie, my nephew, has heard of my father's humor and witticism, and has asked me to jot down any of his humorous remarks that I remember, so here goes!

To begin, Dad was a very complex person, much more so, than most of us. One moment he could be full of laughter and merriment, - the next a roaring tyrant -

He was raised in Lancashire, England and was the son of a 'Green Grocer'. When he grew up, he worked in the depot of a railroad company. What his work was I could not say, but my Aunt Clara told me when I was in England in 1972, that she thought it had something to do with tickets, (either selling or collecting) but she could not remember more that that, as Dad left England around the turn of the Century (1897 - 98).

I believe that one of his (Dad's) first jobs was riding the range for one of the ranchers. I have not heard too much about that time but believe the Rancher's name was George Lane. I don't believe Dad had ever ridden a horse in England!.

Can you imagine a "green" Englishman tackling a job like that? But Dad had spunk and that’s what he did!! One of his fellow cowboys was Pat Burns who later became a multi-millionaire in the meat packing business.

From that Dad went to working on the railroad - as many immigrants did, while becoming oriented in Canada. He was thus able to get a home for mother (and the first born of the family) their son, Bob, whom Dad had left in England until he could send for them.

Later, Dad took up a homestead near where the town of Strathmore now stands. The first homestead house was of logs. That's where my older sister, Myself, May and twin brothers Armand and George were born. Our younger brother was born in our second house. We spent our early years in the log house until about 1911 but I am not sure of the year.

A road allowance had been put thru and a road built, so the second (new) house was near the road. Heavens! - This sounds as if I were trying to write the family history!

When settlers began moving in, we enjoyed having neighbors, and, because Dad loved company, fun and singing, he quite often had friends in for the occasional "sing ' song" as he called it.

The Harwoods, our nearest neighbors had 13 children, some of whom were about the same ages as our seven. They had three older brothers, and I think the middle one was the same age as our older brother, who was killed by a gasoline explosion, during the First World War.

The people in those days made their own entertainment and fun. Gatherings at our home became almost a regular event, as we became older. I remember those parties so well!. We always sang, "The Green Grass Grew All Round: all 23 verses of it! with the rest joining in for the chorus. George, your father, would recite "The Shooting of Dan MeGrew" and "Red Wing" was another old favorite.

The evenings always ended by mother singing "Alice Where Art Thou". Mother always complained that Dad couldn't' carry a tune in a bucket’ but Dad always said, "It's not whether you can sing or not, it is whether you sing or not, that is important". How true.

Mother sang very well and we always retired feeling rather sad after the rendition of "Alice Where Art Thou".

After the road was put thru, it wasn't long till settlers started moving in and so it was no time till a school was needed. Dad donated about 3 acres of his land and the "Harwood School" was built. It was located about a quarter of a mile from our house-just a nice walk.

Our first teacher was a Miss Higgenbottom, a devout Catholic, and as I remember a very good teacher. We opened school each morning by reciting the "Lords Prayer" and the teacher would read a verse from the Bible. One evening, the Harwood boys came over to visit our brother Bob and to teach him a song they had just learned, "Halleluiah! I'm as Bum". May and I were sent to bed but we heard enough to learn the chorus. The next morning we got it pieced together on the walk to school and were singing as we arrived at school. We thought we were early, we certainly had not heard the bell ring - so we walked into the school singing (with much gusto) "Halleluiah! I'm a Bum". Upon our melodious entry the classes, which were already assembled, turned as one and the teacher went on with the prayer, while May and I stood at the door feeling very unnecessary - - -

Dad had always said that if we got into trouble at school, we would be in far worse trouble when we got home and he MEANT IT. So it was very reluctantly that we slowly went home for lunch as we knew the teacher had stopped at the house on her way to her own 'teacherage'. However, we need not have worried as we knew just as soon as we saw the twinkle in Dad's eyes as he suggested that the next time we barged in during prayer time, we might try singing something little less sacrilegious than "Hallelluiah I'm a Bum".

Butchering time came around every fall and was the most dreaded day of our lives! Dad would have one of the neighbors over to help while our brothers were too young. The idea I believe, was to stun the victim with an axe, then slit its throat so that it would bleed properly (this was important).

Somehow, I don't think the pig was ever as stunned as it should have been; because the squealing, was not just a squeal but was an agonized scream which went on until the animal was dead!

I used to put a pillow over my head but the dreadful screams came thru, so that I never felt very well the rest of the day.

After the actual killing was over, and the hanging, scraping and dissecting was taking place, Dad and his friend must have had a ready supply of funny stories because we could hear roars of laughter. We knew they must be callous and cruel men. It was a long time before we could face the idea of eating pork.

As each year drew to a close, Dad would always come in on old years day (when we were small) and say to mother -

"Nellie, guess what I saw today?"

Mother - "What did you see?"

Dad - "I just saw a man with as many noses as there are days in the year."

We had to wait awhile to figure that one out.

My sister, May and I came in from play one day and as usual, we were ravenous. We ate and ate - finally Dad said to us -

"Do you know what you will be saying to your mother if you keep on eating like that much longer?"

Us, between bites, "No, what?"

Dad, "You will say to mother, Lay I down, but do not bend I "

Our older sister laughed so hard but we just went right on eating. We didn't get the joke for a long time.

If Dad ever stumbled or skidded or came near to falling, he always said, "If I hadn't been a dancer, I would have been a goner".

I so often think of Dad's humor and have a quiet laugh, remembering. Then when I get around to putting them down, I find that I have forgotten what it was.

And so it goes -

The Neighbors enjoyed Dad's humor. They knew that he would always come up with something to give them a laugh and brighten up their day.

Katherine Grimshaw Lawrie

Ed Grimshaw has found two birth records for Zacharia. They are shown in Figures 4 and 5 below.

Figure 4. First birth record of Zacharia.

Figure 5. Second birth record of Zacharia.

A photo of Zacharia and Ellen's homestead, and an image of their receipt for this homestead, are shown in Figures 6 and 7 below.

Figure 6. Zacharia and Ellen Grimshaw's homestead, located east of Strathmore, Alberta.

Figure 7. Homestead record for Zacharia and Ellen Grimshaw's homestead.

Zacharia and Ellen lived out their lives in Alberta and are buried at or near their homested in Strathmore. Their gravestones are shown in Figure 8. The gravestone of their son, George (and his wife, Annie,) is in Lafayette, Louisiana and is shown in Figure 9.

Figure 8. Zacharia and Ellen's gravestones, located near Strathmore, Alberta

Figure 9. Gravestone of George Grimshaw, son of Zacharia and Ellen, and George's wife, Annie (Franssen) Grimshaw

A little over 20 years ago Ed Grimshaw, Zacharia and Ellen's grandson, purchased a book of Grimshaw family information offered by Beatrice Bayley. In an effort to trace his family history, Ed sent inquiries to the nearly 600 Grimshaws listed in Bayley's book. He received 81 responses to his inquiry letter. These responses, received in 1979 and 1980, comprise a valuable record of Grimshaw immigrants to the U.S. and their descendants. Ed's collection of responses, with associated Grimshaw immigrant information, are described in a companion webpage.

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Webpage posted December 2001, Updated January 2002