Journey to Ottawa
In September 1957, Henry went to Ottawa, Canada, to take up a postdoctoral fellowship at the Microbiology Research Institute, Canada Department of Agriculture. He travelled from Liverpool to Montreal on the Canadian Pacific steamship Empress of Britain, and from Montreal to Ottawa on the Canadian Pacific train The Dominion.
The Empress of Britain was the twenty-first ship built for Canadian Pacific Steamships by Fairfield Shipping on the Clyde in Scotland. A luxurious ship, even in Tourist class, she had a strengthened hull to allow her to operate in icy conditions and could carry 3,000 tons of cargo in addition to her passengers. Her maiden voyage was in 1956 and she made 108 round trips to Canada. She was sold in 1964 because of the terminal decline in passenger numbers, but continued to sail in various parts of the world under different names and ownership until 2008. She has since been scrapped. (For more information see www.liverpoolships.org.)
Named by Her Majesty the Queen in June, 1955, the Empress of Britain is of truly regal bearing.
Come aboard a moment. These illustrations give you some idea not merely of the unusual ease and comfort her 900 Tourist passengers can expect, but of many specifically modern features. Every room throughout the ship, for instance, is air-conditioned. Stabilizers of the latest design are fitted. The after decks, arranged in echelon, afford both more open and more covered deck space – and the “fireman’s helmet” on the funnel keeps the smoke away from the decks, however the wind blows.
Then there is the battery of washing machines; the up-to-the-moment Cinema; and, of course, your stateroom, controlled in temperature to your individual preference, well carpeted, complete with fittings for electric shaver or hair-drier.
from the Canadian Pacific “GO Empress to Canada” Tourist booklet – part of Henry’s collection of Canadian memorabilia
Henry boarded the Empress of Britain on September 20th 1957. Among the required documents specified in the Canadian Pacific “Embarkation Arrangements” leaflet is a vaccination certificate, shown here.
Once on board, Henry sent his parents a postcard of the ship:
Arrived here at just past 3pm and am still trying to find my way about on board! It’s an enormous ship, with every mod. con. No news yet!
Henry, postcard to parents, September 20th
The postcard was followed by a letter written on the 25th of September (Henry’s 30th birthday), as the Empress of Britain sailed up the St Lawrence River. The letter was written on an Empress of Britain air letter and Henry gives the Sender’s Address as “s.s. Empress of Britain, the St Lawrence”. The letter text is reproduced below.
We are now sailing up the St Lawrence River, and should arrive at Quebec City this evening. It has been a marvellous experience, and am much impressed by the facilities on board for the tourist class passengers. The cabins are quite small, each with four berths: with me are two National Research Council Fellows to Ottawa, both chemists, and a chap who is emigrating to Canada from Mawson Road, Cambridge – just one road away from Glisson Road, and I have never seen him before. In Cambridge, he was a bookmaker’s assistant!!
On the Promenade Deck we have a very large lounge and smoke room – the two being continuous when the glass doors between are open, and together take up about a third of the whole deck. A moderate-sized ballroon opens out at the end of the smoke room, in which dancing takes place every evening, and also such gambling pursuits as horse-racing – played with dice just as in those games we used to play as children, except that the “horses” are quite large and are moved over a green carpet marked with squares so that everyone can see them, and it’s 2/- to bet on each “horse”. I’ve had a very mild flutter on this – lost the lot as usual. Also there is “bingo” or “housey-housey” – rather boring I find, and have not played same.
For weather we had it quite rough at the beginning – at least it was “choppy” and quite a number of people were ill; then it improved a lot and Sunday was a beautifully fine day. On Monday evening, however, it got worse again and we had a storm with winds up to force 8 (fresh gale). This rocked the boat a good deal, not much really because the stabilizers were out, but it was easily felt, and several people were ill. I went out on deck with a plastic mac and enjoyed about half an hour of it – the spray of the sea covered one’s face like rain, and I had to remove the salt crystals before going to bed. I have been lucky in not being ill: two of my room-mates were sick on the first day but recovered thereafter.
The meals are really excellent, and I have definitely been guilty of eating for the sake of eating on more than one occasion. The seating arrangements at dinner are such as to mix one with other passengers than one’s room mates; I sit next to an eldely man from Moose Jaw and opposite two young ladies from Calgary. All have been on holiday in England and Europe, and when we arrive in Montreal must spend two more days on the train before getting home.
We saw an iceberg yesterday floating in the Upper St Lawrence – we entered by the Strait of Belle Isle, between Newfoundland and the Labrador Coast, further north than I had expected. Must finish now, dears, am posting so as to go from Quebec City, we don’t reach Montreal until to-morrow.
Henry, letter to parents, September 25th
On September 28th, Henry wrote another letter to his parents describing the final part of his journey: Quebec, Montreal and arrival in Ottawa.
I believe I left you in my last letter whilst I was on the Empress of Britain in the Gulf of St Lawrence before we got to Quebec City. Well we got to that City on Wednesday evening, and we were allowed ashore. One of my room-mates, (one of the PDF’s (Postdoctorate Fellows)) and myself walked into the city and found it rather interesting, being our first landing in the New World. Actually, Quebec is the oldest city in the New World, and has some narrow and winding streets which are not typical of America (or Canada). As it was dark we didn’t see much more than shop windows and neon lights. Some of the shops had some first-quality wood carvings, which would make excellent souvenirs!
We sailed at midnight and reached Montreal at lunch time on Thursday. This is Canada’s biggest city and I shoud not have seen it had not the customs chap taken such an infernal length of time peeping into everybody’s baggage – I had to wait 1½ hours and was practically speechless with anger at the end, since I lost the 4.20 train and had to wait until 9 o’clock. As it turned out it was well worth it, it was a beautiful afternoon and after my annoyance I cooled off (!) I had a good look round. I was surprised at the number of squirrels to be seen, they were very tame, too. One of them sat quite still some 8 feet away from me, and had he been in the sun I should have got a good snap of him! The squirrels were grey ones, but here in Ottawa they seem to be all black. One wild flower I noticed to be abundant in the “mountain” was a rather poor Michaelmas Daisy. Montreal University is situated on high ground above the city, and this “mountain” is the topmost part of the high ground and overlooks the entire city – I think the best bird’s eye view of any city I’ve ever seen. As it got dark I went through the shopping streets, bigger and better neon signs here!
The train left at 9 o’clock by my watch, but 8 o’clock by the station clock. Railway time is the same throughout Canada, and trains run by it, but in the East we have an extra hour of daylight saving, and I think as one goes west the clocks in the several provinces are put back according to their distance from the east. On the ship we put our watches back an hour every midnight, this is having one’s cake and eating it, since one can both stay up late and enjoy the benefit of an extra hour’s sleep (to be paid for, of course, on return to England!). The late train was Canada’s crack train, the Dominion, of 17 very big coaches pulled by three diesel electric locomotives. It had the scenic dome carriages you have probably heard of – not much good at night though.
At Ottawa station I was most surprised and pleased to be met by two old Imperial College men, neither of whom I had known at all well then, as they were both in earlier “years” than mine. Douglas Friend I had known slightly, he is a plant physiologist and has been here for five years, and Christopher Quadling, a bacterial geneticist, who has been here one year. Chris Quadling intends to stay here for some time and took me round to my lodging in his new Chevrolet car, a 1957 model of great length and of the appearance that drives Dad up the wall – nevertheless it goes beautifully – silently and smooth.
I spent the Thursday and Friday nights at Mrs MacLeans Tourist Home, but I didn’t like the room at all – it was dark and the lights not well arranged for writing even, and since no breakfast was supplied I moved out today to the Y.M.C.A. In America the Y.M.C.A. is almost a hotel: the room I’m in is No 406, simply but adequately furnished, not very expensive and with a cafeteria at the premises. I expect to find something fairly permanent next week, a chap at work is supposed to have just left a good place in order to get married, and I’m hoping to see him on Monday. I’ve decided a little enquiry is a good thing before getting any place – there seems to be quite a good choice, but have to take price, quality of rooms and geography – nearness to the lab – into consideration.
Henry, letter to parents, September 28th
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