Roy and Ivy`s farm in Young.

Claude Leroy Steeves and Ivy Alice Belchamber were married on the 9th of January, 1918 in St.Marys Church; Chiddingfold.Roy was a Canadian soldier who was barracked in Aldershot while serving in the First World War.
Family legend says that Roy used to stop and talk to Ivy’s father George, where he met her, he liked Ivy but didn’t know how to get to ask her out so next day he faked a puncture, so he could take it to Ivy’s blacksmith father George to fix, George took Roy home to mend it and, that was his way of meeting Ivy again, and getting up the nerve to ask her out. The Belchamber family were living in Chiddingfold,Surrey at that time.
Roy and Ivy left England in 1919 aboard a troop ship bound for Canada. After letting the troops on board first, it was time for the families, when it was Ivy`s turn she was asked if she was Ivy or Gladys Steeves,her heart most probably sank had Roy two wives, but  luckily no, there were two Steeves families on board. They landed in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and boarded a train to Nokomis, Saskatchewan where Roy’s parents and siblings lived. The Steeves family originally came from New Brunswick, they moved to Nokomis before the First World War and farmed there until Roy’s father died in 1935 his mother stayed on until she died in 1943. Roy had seven brothers and five sisters who all fanned out to British Columbia and further south to Carnduff, Saskatchewan and the USA.Before WW1 Roy worked around Watrous,Calgary and south west Alberta where he was logging, he also started a homestead in Oyen,Alberta before he sign up for the army in Calgary.Roy`s parents Henry James(1850-1935) and Alice Lillian(nee Curry)(1859-1943) are both buried in the cemetery in Nokomis
In 1920 Roy and Ivy moved onto their farm 11 miles south of Young, Saskatchewan.For the first year they lived in a granary. They started the farm with the soldier’s grant of land it was virgin prairie where only Indians and Buffalo had lived before. Roy and Ivy had three children Douglas Roy born August 30th ,1918 in London,England,Hazel Ann born January 19th,1923 and George Keith born July 2nd,1926 both the latter born on the homestead in Young. By the end of 1923 Ivy’s brother Ronald had immigrated to Canada, stayed with them and helped out around the farm, helping to construct the farm buildings, along with Roy, friends and hired help. Ron also help build the local school at Mornimont, where Doug, Hazel and Keith attended. Families in the district boarded the teachers to cut down on the cost of wages, several stayed with Roy and Ivy over the years.
When Roy and Ivy moved onto the farm they took a team of horses. They grew Wheat, Oats, Barley and Flax.
During the harvest they used a threshing machine; it took a crew to run a threshing rig so farmers in the district helped each other out. Later there were threshing crews who went from farm to farm. Threshing crews were a big chore to the farmer’s wives, as they had to feed them three big meals a day, no sandwiches for lunch but three big meals. Crews were up to ten or more men plus a team of at least twelve horses all for the farmer to feed and look after. It was all horsepower until Roy got his first tractor an Oliver 90 in the late 1930`s.It was still horsepower even then, except there used the tractor to power the threshing machine, horses were still used to cut and haul. Roy and Ivy purchased their first combine harvester and Massey Harris in 1945, which cut down the manpower needed to harvest. In 1920 Roy and Ivy had one quarter which increased to nine quarters altogether.
They used coal oil for lamps and wood and coal for heat and cooking. Later they used gas lamps much like the ones we use for camping now in that you pump up pressure for the lamp to burn. Wood and coal was used in the old house until Doug and Keith sold the farm. They used batteries for light after the 2nd war that was charged by a wind mill. It was a 6 volt system. In the 50s Doug got a motor generator to charge the batteries and then in the late 50s they got power put in. Telephones were around before the war but were local farm systems that ran on the barb wire fence between farms. It wasn't until the late 50s that they had a real telephone system.
Mornimont School was the center of the community it was used like a pubic hall. Christmas Concerts and New Year dances were held there, as were dances at Valentines and Easter. Church services were also held at Mornimont School which ended with a ball game between other schools. The last day of June every year there was a school picnic. The 1st July was always spent in one of the bigger towns Watrous, Young or Davidson where there were celebrations, ball games, and horse racing games, foot races and tug of wars.
In October 1928 Ivy, Hazel and Keith left from Young by train (Canadian Pacific) for Montreal to board a ship(SS Minnedosa) bound for England.Ivy`s brother Ron joined them a few miles down the track in Renown. It took 4/5 days to reach Montreal and a farther 7/8 days to reach Liverpool. They took a cab from Liverpool to Chiddingfold; Surrey.When the cab arrived at the house (Burcot) the driver called out the name Belchamber, to that Kate Belchamber Ivy’s Mother retorted “we don’t want any hawkers around here” Ivy replied “well don’t you want to see us mum?” Hazel who was five then, has great memories of meeting all her English grand parents, aunts, uncles and cousins, especially her uncle Jim and Dennis who she remembers gave her sweets, she really enjoyed the French cream candied mice and rides on their bicycles. Grandfather George also gave her a taste of his home made Parsnip wine. That first night in England she remembers Ivy, Keith and herself all slept in the same bed which was so cold and damp they thought they would freeze.One time Jim Belchamber was taking Hazel and Keith to the sweet shop,when some local children took after them,Ivy had dressed them both in overalls,which was common dress in Canada at that time,Hazel remembers Uncle Jim holding them close and telling the local children to”bugger off”.Jim would also play the mouth organ and Hazel would stand on his shoes and dance around the room.It was a great time and sadly it had to end,Ivy,Hazel and Keith returned to Canada in the April of 1929 aboard SS Montcalm.

1928/29 Photo of Ivy and Hazel with Kate Belchamber and sisters Ethel and Kitty

Although horsepower was for the farm, Roy and Ivy purchased their first car in the early 1920`s, nobody can remember the make, it was a tourer with curtains instead of windows, but on its first trip out, as Roy approached a gate Roy forgot he wasn’t driving horses, he pulled back on the steering wheel and yelled whoa, whoa and drove right through it. They later got a new Chevrolet in 1928.Cars could only be driven during the spring and summer as the roads were not kept open during winter. Hazel can remember when in 1947 it snowed so bad, she had to stay on the farm she could not get into Watrous until April the following year.
Ivy made a trip back to England in 1964,both her parents had died by then but there were all her brothers and sisters to visit which she did, she stay with most of us for while, us included in Chiddingfold.Ivy died in 1973,Roy had died ten years earlier in 1963.
Doug. And Keith never married they farmed at Young until they retired in 1973.Hazel married and has a son, who now lives in British Columbia. Keith passed away in 2001; Doug and Hazel still live in and around the Young, Saskatchewan area.
 

The Steeves Family in 1959

A special thanks to my cousins Hazel Hamerston and Dennis Bell for the above information and photographs................Sept.2004
  

Roy and Ivy Steeves

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