1915 Canadian Steerage Immigrant Inspection Card – SS Missanabie
📌 Discover a rare 1915 Canadian Steerage Immigrant Inspection Card from the SS Missanabie, documenting medical and civil examinations of immigrants arriving in Canada. A valuable resource for teachers, students, genealogists, and historians studying early 20th-century immigration policies.
Front Site of a Steerage Inspection Card for Immigration Officer at Port of Arrival in Canada, Provided to an Immigrant on the SS Missanabie, Sailing from Liverpool, 13 March 1915. Stamped as Passing Medical and Civil Examinations, 22 March 1915. Vaccination Protected to by Ships Physician. GGA Image ID # 1fb71a68ae
1915 Canadian Steerage Immigrant Inspection Card – A Rare Look at Early 20th-Century Immigration 🛂🚢📜
This 1915 Canadian Steerage Immigrant Inspection Card, issued to a passenger aboard the SS Missanabie, offers a rare and fascinating insight into the Canadian immigration process during World War I. This card not only documents the arrival of an immigrant in Canada but also highlights the medical, civil, and vaccination requirements for steerage passengers.
For teachers, students, genealogists, and historians, this document provides a detailed glimpse into the bureaucratic, medical, and logistical challenges faced by steerage-class immigrants. It also stands out because the SS Missanabie had an exceptionally short service life, being torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat in 1918. This adds an additional historical significance to the document, making it an exceptionally rare piece of immigration history.
Canadian Immigrant Inspection Card issued to a Steerage Passenger on board the Canadian Pacific steamship SS Missanabie departing from Liverpool on 13 March 1915. The Missanabie was notable in that it had a very short life, with a maiden voyage on 7 October 1914. The ship was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat on 9 September 1918. This Inspection Card represents a rare immigrant document from a vessel in service for less than four years.
(Steerage)
Inspection Card for Immigration Officer at Port of Arrival in Canada
Name of Immigrant: Gom Cudby
Name of Ships: Missanabie
Sailing From: Liverpool
Date of Sailing: 13 March 1915
Country of Last Permanent Residence: Left Blank
The Name Appears on Manifest, Page 7, Line 26
Medical Examination Stamp: Passed Medical Inspection St. John NB
Civil Examination Stamp: Immigration Service, Canada, St. John, MB 22 March 1915
Vaccination Protected: /s/ Totthally B. Gale M.D. Ship's Surgeon
Reverse Side of 1915 Inspection Card from the Canadian Pacific Line SS Missanabie. "This Card Should Be Kept Carefully for Three Years. It Should Be Shown to Government Officials Whenever Required." Message Translated into Bohemian, Russian, Ruthenian, German, French, Dutch, Hungarian, Swedish, Polish, Italian and Arabic. GGA Image ID # 1fb77cdc86
Educational & Research Significance
📚 For Teachers & Students:
🔹 Provides a firsthand look at Canada’s immigration processing in 1915.
🔹 Highlights the importance of medical examinations, vaccinations, and documentation for immigrants.
🔹 Encourages discussions on how immigration policies in Canada differed from those in the U.S. and other countries.
🏡 For Genealogists:
🔹 An invaluable document for tracing immigrant ancestors who arrived in Canada via the Canadian Pacific Line.
🔹 Offers potential clues about family migration patterns, medical clearances, and travel history.
🔹 Demonstrates how immigration records can provide unexpected historical insights.
🏛 For Historians & Immigration Scholars:
🔹 Illustrates Canada’s early 20th-century immigration policies and medical requirements.
🔹 Sheds light on the experience of steerage passengers—who represented the bulk of immigrants at the time.
🔹 Connects to broader themes of wartime immigration restrictions and public health measures.
Noteworthy Images & Their Significance
1. Front Side of the 1915 Canadian Steerage Immigrant Inspection Card
📸 Caption: "A 1915 Steerage Passenger Inspection Card for Immigration Officers at the Port of Arrival in Canada, issued to a passenger aboard the SS Missanabie."
💡 Why It’s Interesting:
🔹 Stamped to confirm medical and civil examinations, showing how passengers had to prove their health status before being admitted.
🔹 Includes the ship’s name (Missanabie), sailing date (March 13, 1915), and port of departure (Liverpool)—essential for tracking an immigrant’s journey.
🔹 Signed by the ship’s surgeon, proving that medical documentation was an integral part of the immigration process.
2. Reverse Side of the Inspection Card – Multilingual Instructions
📸 Caption: "The reverse side of the 1915 Canadian Steerage Immigrant Inspection Card, instructing passengers to keep it for three years, with translations in multiple languages."
💡 Why It’s Interesting:
🔹 This multilingual aspect underscores the diversity of immigrants arriving in Canada during this period.
🔹 Instructions were written in Bohemian, Russian, Ruthenian, German, French, Dutch, Hungarian, Swedish, Polish, Italian, and Arabic—reflecting Canada’s broad immigrant base.
🔹 The message—"This card should be kept carefully for three years. It should be shown to government officials whenever required."—suggests that immigrants remained under some form of government oversight after arrival.
Historical Context & Relevance to Immigration Studies
1. Why Were Steerage Immigrants Issued Inspection Cards?
🔹 Steerage passengers represented the largest and most economically disadvantaged group of immigrants. They were subjected to stricter health and immigration controls, as they were often viewed as a higher risk for carrying diseases or becoming public charges.
🔹 Inspection cards acted as both a health record and an identification document, ensuring that steerage passengers had been examined and were admissible into Canada.
🔹 Unlike wealthier cabin-class passengers, steerage immigrants were subjected to medical exams and vaccinations to prevent the spread of diseases like smallpox and typhus.
2. The Role of the SS Missanabie in Immigration History
🔹 The SS Missanabie was a Canadian Pacific steamship launched in 1914, specifically designed for the Liverpool-Québec-Montréal route.
🔹 The ship had a tragically short career, operating for less than four years before being sunk by a German U-boat on September 9, 1918.
🔹 This document, therefore, serves as one of the few surviving records from a ship that played a role in wartime immigration but met an untimely fate.
3. Public Health & Immigration in 1915
🔹 At the time, public health was a primary concern for Canadian immigration authorities, as epidemics like smallpox and typhus were common.
🔹 Immigrants were quarantined, vaccinated, and inspected before being allowed to enter the country.
🔹 The fact that inspection cards had to be kept for three years suggests that Canada closely monitored new immigrants for public health reasons.
Key Takeaways for Research & Essay Writing
📌 For Students & Teachers:
🔹 This document provides a real-life example of Canada’s steerage immigration policies during World War I.
🔹 Encourages discussions on how class differences affected the immigration experience.
🔹 Can be used in history, sociology, and public health lessons on early immigration control.
📌 For Genealogists & Family Historians:
🔹 If an ancestor traveled to Canada in steerage, they likely had a similar inspection card.
🔹 The document includes a manifest reference (Page 7, Line 26), which could help locate additional immigration records.
🔹 Multilingual translations suggest which ethnic groups were arriving in Canada at the time.
📌 For Historians & Immigration Policy Researchers:
🔹 Demonstrates how immigration policies were designed to regulate and monitor new arrivals.
🔹 Provides evidence of Canada’s early 20th-century public health strategies.
🔹 Highlights the importance of medical examinations in determining an immigrant’s admissibility.
Final Thoughts: A Rare & Valuable Immigration Record
The 1915 Canadian Steerage Immigrant Inspection Card from the SS Missanabie is a remarkable artifact of early 20th-century immigration history. It highlights the rigorous inspection process for steerage passengers, the role of public health in immigration, and the experience of immigrants arriving in Canada during World War I.
For teachers, students, genealogists, and historians, this document brings history to life, offering a tangible connection to the past. It reminds us that immigrants were not only seeking a new life but were also navigating an intricate web of regulations, inspections, and health screenings before being allowed to enter their new homeland.
📚 What other immigration documents from this era provide insight into the immigrant experience? How did different countries handle steerage-class passengers? 🤔
