Atlantic Roots

The Bruce

I found an old image of the boat my great-grandmother (Ida Frances Pike) took from Channel/Port aux Basques, Newfoundland to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, on August 25, 1910. Here's The Bruce.

The Bruce

Clearly, it was a steamship. The Bruce arrived in Sydney from Newfoundland for the first time on 19 Oct 1891. It carried the mail, general cargo, and passengers back and forth internationally from Canada to Newfoundland, which was part of England at the time. But Ida was one of its last passengers; just six months after her crossing, The Bruce drove onto rocks near Louisbourg, Nova Scotia, in March of 1911. It sank, but thankfully only one life was lost.

Ida Frances Pike Leaves Newfoundland

Isn't it amazing when we find these things? Just a few days ago, I posted about the mystery of Ida Frances Pike: I knew she had been born in Newfoundland and was in Nova Scotia by 1912, when she married my great-grandfather. Well, here is her name on a passenger list arriving in Sydney on August 25, 1910. Apparently she planned to find work as a domestic.

This means she MUST be on the 1911 Nova Scotia census, right? Somewhere...