Calgarians with places of birth in Austria, Germany, Russia and the U.S. by location
and gender, for 1901
|
Country
of birth
|
Resident
in Calgary
|
Gender
|
Children
<15 born abroad
|
Total
|
|
Austria
|
South
|
2M, 1F
|
1
|
4
|
|
Germany
|
Center
|
1M,
5F
|
|
6
|
|
|
East
|
6M,
8F
|
2
|
16
|
|
|
North
|
3M,
2F
|
|
5
|
|
|
South
|
2M,
3F
|
|
5
|
|
|
West
|
3M,
5F
|
|
8
|
|
Russia
|
Centre
|
2M,
3F
|
|
5
|
|
|
East
|
10M,
5F
|
12
|
27
|
|
|
South
|
1M,
1F
|
6
|
8
|
|
U.S.
|
Center
|
3M,
2F
|
1
|
6
|
|
|
East
|
1M
|
|
1
|
|
|
North
|
1M,
1F
|
2
|
4
|
Source: 1901 Census of Canada, Calgary districts.
Limitations:
1. All Calgarians born in Germany (N=40) were included in the table, even if they had Polish or other ethnic names.
However, only those Calgarians with birth places in Austria (N=4) or Russia (N=40) were included who
had German-sounding or English last names and/or first names, whereas their
total numbers were 17 and 57, respectively. In other words, five of 17 "Austrians" were likely to have been of German origin, and 40
of 57 persons "Russians" probably had German ancestry.
Finally, only the ten immigrants from the U.S. with German-sounding first and/or last names were selected for inclusion; their total was 318.
Clearly, this selection procedure understates the number of persons
of German origin; there was probably a considerable number among the thousands of persons born in Ontario (and elsewhere in Canada)
of "German" ancestry living in Calgary at the time.
Also, there were likely large numbers of Americans (and Canadians) with German background who had anglicized their names. Furthermore,
in the case of women's ethnicity is even more difficult to establish correctly.
In other words,
there is likely to be a very tenuous relationship between ethnic origin and place of birth as there usually is in studies
involving census data.
The difficulties are shown in the
following two examples:
- According to the Census records, Charles Traunweiser was born in the U.S., his wife in Ontario, but
his mother in Nova Scotia.
- John Neibergall's wife was born in Germany, he and his daughter were born in Ontario, and his son
was born in Alberta.
2. The 1901 Census of
Calgary did not report any persons born, specifically, in Prussia or Bavaria.
In spite of these serious methodological problems, it is worth
noting that 14 of 16 immigrants who had been born in Germany settled in Calgary East in 1901, and
27 (including 12 children) of altogether 29 immigrants who were born in Russia resided in the same area. It will be shown below that this
area would come to be known as "Germantown."
|
