Letters

My mother sailed to Canada on the Rangitata

June 26, 2011

Hello from Canada

My mother sailed to Canada on the Rangitata and I have not had any luck in locating any information about that trip.

She left Scotland (war bride with 1yr old son) around the end of March 1945 bound for Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.  I am not sure where she actually sailed from ie Scotland port or English port.  I was hoping to find a passenger list showing her arrival on Canada with my brother.

Do you know if there is a way to find this out?

She did talk a bit about the trip over but mostly about the fact that there was very little time to prepare for the trip and that it was kept a secret as to what ship and what date until just before she left Glasgow. She did say they came over in a convoy and sounds like there were a lot of other war brides on board. Hope you may be able to steer me in the
right direction.

Thank you.


Kathie,

Here is a picture of MV Rangitata

Description: Description: Description: Description:
http://www.fgrubbs.com/3104/rangitata/tata2%5b1%5db.jpg

 The RANGITATA, a 16,737 ton diesel-driven ship, was built for The New Zealand Shipping Company in 1929 along with its sister passenger/cargo ships, the RANGITANE and the RANGITIKI. These "Rangi"
ships dominated the London-Wellington trade for the next ten years, the three vessels providing four-weekly service between England and New Zealand and making the voyage in 32 days via the Panama Canal.

Description: Description:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2603/3716239610_20568a6359_z.jpg?zz=1 

 See these details:

=========================================================================
Post-1935 Immigration Records

Records of immigrants arriving at Canadian land and sea ports from 1January 1936 onwards remain in the custody of Citizenship and Immigration Canada. Requests for copies of landing records should be directed to the undernoted office:

Citizenship and Immigration Canada
Public Rights Administration
300 Slater Street
3rd Floor, Section D
OTTAWA, Ontario
K1A 1L1

Please note that the following conditions apply:

Applications for copies of documents must be submitted on an "Access to Information Request Form" by a Canadian citizen or an individual present in Canada.

Fee: $5.00, payable to the Receiver General for Canada

The request must be accompanied by a signed consent from the person concerned or proof that he/she has been deceased twenty years. Proof of death can be a copy of a death record, a newspaper obituary or a photograph of the gravestone showing name and death date.

The request should include the following information: full name at time of entry into Canada, date of birth, year of entry.
Additional information is helpful, such as country of birth, port of entry, and names of accompanying family members.

For access to your own landing record, please visit or write to your nearest Canada Immigration Centre or Canadian Consular Office.

Fee: $30.00 for a certified copy for legal purposes. If you do not require a certified copy, you can submit your request on a Personal Information Request Form at no charge.

Copies of Access to Information Request Forms and Personal Information Request Forms can be obtained from most Canadian public libraries and federal government offices.

By chance my wife sailed from Sydney to UK in Rangitata in 1946, I was serving in the RAN and was stationed at Portsmouth undergoing a year or more course as a Torpedo Anti-Submarine specialist, and Gladys was coming
to join me.

Sorry I am not of more assistance.

Regards,

Mac.


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