William Fox Pinhey & Family: Homesteading in Canada

The Dominion Lands Act (short title for An Act Respecting the Public Lands of the Dominion) was an 1872 Canadian law that aimed to encourage the settlement of the Canadian Prairies, and to help prevent the area being claimed by the United States. The act gave a claimant 160 acres (65 ha) for free, the only cost to the farmer being a $10 administration fee. Any male farmer who was at least 21 years of age and agreed to cultivate at least 40 acres (16 ha) of the land and build a permanent dwelling on it (within three years) qualified. This condition of "proving up the homestead" was instituted to prevent speculators from gaining control of the land. Homesteading farmers could buy a neighboring lot for an additional $10 registration fee, once they had made certain improvements to their original quarter-section. This allowed most farmsteads to quickly double in size.

William Fox Pinhey and family left England from Liverpool in December 1907 to homestead in Canada. From what I can determine William Fox, Fanny Maude, Robert, William,Fanny Sarah Pinhey and Thomas were the family members on the voyage to Canada. Fanny Sarah Pinhey returned to England and married Clarence Digby Stillwell in 1910 and had two sons, John and Eric. Both sons were killed during World War II. The photo below shows Fanny Sarah and Clarence with their grandson Richard.

Back to homesteading - the 1911 Canadian records show William Fox Pinhey, Robert Knevitt Pinhey and William Knevitt Pinhey homesteading in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan (see below):

Based on the captions on the photographs of the William Fox Pinhey farm, it was located in Waitville Saskatchewan, which places the farm approximately 35 miles south of Prince Albert and about 91 miles northeast of Saskatoon. It must of been quite a journey in to get to Waitville in early 1900's.

The photo below was captioned "On the road to Waitville - 12 miles". It shows Daisy Laura Pinhey apparently taking a rest break while on the road with her husband Thomas Knevitt Pinhey and their son Thomas Shellard Pinhey while traveling to visit William Fox Pinhey and Fanny Maude at the Waitville farm. The photos are from 1912-13

Daisy on the Road to Waitville

Thomas and Iris Shellard at T.K. Pinhey and Daisy's House in Prince Albert

Thomas Shellard Pinhey ("Tommy") and William Fox Pinhey on the W.F. Pinhey Farm

The following group of photos were titled "Helping Grandpa". Tommy's mother, Daisy Laura Pinhey (nee Shellard) is in the background of the first photo.