Chapter 10: Harry Ross in South Africa
Harry Ross returned from working at lumbering in Michigan in the spring of 1899, and spent the summer working for
his grandfather Henry Lewis on the Lewis farm at Park Head. He was age 19. That fall he left for South Africa.
He travelled by train to New York, and then by ship to England. After staying briefly in London, England, he boarded another ship in Southampton and sailed to Cape Town. He was on board ship for his 20th birthday on November 6, 1899, and also for the turn of the century on December 31, 1899.
When Harry left Canada the Boer War had just started in South Africa. The British Empire was at its zenith, and everyone thought the war would be over very quickly. My guess is that Harry thought it would be over before he arrived.
As far we know, Harry’s decision to go to South Africa had nothing to do with the war. He knew his father William2 Ross was living in Johannesburg and working in the gold mining industry. Like the other Ross men in this book, he was motivated by economic opportunity, and he was willing to travel a long way from home to seek his fortune.
However his plans were interrupted by the Boer War, so some background information about the war will provide the context for Harry’s story.
‘The Boer Wars was the name given to the South African Wars of 1880-1 and 1899-1902, that were fought between the British and the descendants of the Dutch settlers (Boers) in Africa. After the first Boer War the British granted the Boers self-government in the Transvaal.
The Second Boer War is commonly referred to as The Boer War. It is also known as the South African War, the Anglo-Boer War, and in Afrikaans as the Tweede Vryheidsoorlog (Second War of Independence). It was fought from October 11, 1899 until May 31, 1902, between the British Empire and the two independent Boer republics of the Orange Free State and the Transvaal Republic.
The Boers, under the leadership of Paul Kruger, resented the colonial policy of the British Empire, which would deprive the Transvaal of its independence. Gold had been discovered at Witwatersrand in the Transvaal in 1886, which raised the stakes for both sides. War became inevitable after the Jameson Raid in 1895.
Using military equipment purchased from Germany, the Boers had a series of successes on the borders of Cape Colony and Natal between October 1899 and January 1900. Although the Boers only had 88,000 soldiers, they were led by outstanding soldiers such as Louis Botha, and Jan Smuts, and were able to successfully besiege the British garrisons at Ladysmith, Mafeking and Kimberley.
He travelled by train to New York, and then by ship to England. After staying briefly in London, England, he boarded another ship in Southampton and sailed to Cape Town. He was on board ship for his 20th birthday on November 6, 1899, and also for the turn of the century on December 31, 1899.
When Harry left Canada the Boer War had just started in South Africa. The British Empire was at its zenith, and everyone thought the war would be over very quickly. My guess is that Harry thought it would be over before he arrived.
As far we know, Harry’s decision to go to South Africa had nothing to do with the war. He knew his father William2 Ross was living in Johannesburg and working in the gold mining industry. Like the other Ross men in this book, he was motivated by economic opportunity, and he was willing to travel a long way from home to seek his fortune.
However his plans were interrupted by the Boer War, so some background information about the war will provide the context for Harry’s story.
‘The Boer Wars was the name given to the South African Wars of 1880-1 and 1899-1902, that were fought between the British and the descendants of the Dutch settlers (Boers) in Africa. After the first Boer War the British granted the Boers self-government in the Transvaal.
The Second Boer War is commonly referred to as The Boer War. It is also known as the South African War, the Anglo-Boer War, and in Afrikaans as the Tweede Vryheidsoorlog (Second War of Independence). It was fought from October 11, 1899 until May 31, 1902, between the British Empire and the two independent Boer republics of the Orange Free State and the Transvaal Republic.
The Boers, under the leadership of Paul Kruger, resented the colonial policy of the British Empire, which would deprive the Transvaal of its independence. Gold had been discovered at Witwatersrand in the Transvaal in 1886, which raised the stakes for both sides. War became inevitable after the Jameson Raid in 1895.
Using military equipment purchased from Germany, the Boers had a series of successes on the borders of Cape Colony and Natal between October 1899 and January 1900. Although the Boers only had 88,000 soldiers, they were led by outstanding soldiers such as Louis Botha, and Jan Smuts, and were able to successfully besiege the British garrisons at Ladysmith, Mafeking and Kimberley.
PLEASE CLICK ANYWHERE ON MAP TO MAGNIFY
Map of South Africa
British reinforcements arrived in South Africa in 1900 and counter-offences relieved the garrisons and enabled the
British to take control of the Boer capital, Pretoria, on June 5, 1900.
For the next two years the Boers adopted guerilla tactics. Boer commandos raided isolated British units. Lord Kitchener, the Chief of Staff in South Africa, reacted to this by destroying Boer farms and moving civilians into concentration camps. A report after the war concluded that 27,927 Boers, of whom 24,074 were children under 16, had died of starvation, disease and exposure in the concentration camps. This represented 50% of the Boer child population.
The British action in South Africa was strongly opposed by many leading Liberal politicians as an example of the worst excesses of imperialism. The war ended with the signing of the Treaty of Vereeniging in May 1902.’
For the first time in this book, we are able to hear a story told in his own words by the principal actor. On January 25, 1961, Harry Ross was visiting his son Bruce Ross in Guelph, Ontario. Bruce Ross had just bought a tape recorder, and he used it to record an interview with his father.
(There are two references on the tape to documents getting burned. Harry is referring to documents he had saved and brought back with him to keep. They were burned when his house at Park Head burned down in 1955, six years before the interview took place.)
The part of the interview about South Africa follows.
For the next two years the Boers adopted guerilla tactics. Boer commandos raided isolated British units. Lord Kitchener, the Chief of Staff in South Africa, reacted to this by destroying Boer farms and moving civilians into concentration camps. A report after the war concluded that 27,927 Boers, of whom 24,074 were children under 16, had died of starvation, disease and exposure in the concentration camps. This represented 50% of the Boer child population.
The British action in South Africa was strongly opposed by many leading Liberal politicians as an example of the worst excesses of imperialism. The war ended with the signing of the Treaty of Vereeniging in May 1902.’
For the first time in this book, we are able to hear a story told in his own words by the principal actor. On January 25, 1961, Harry Ross was visiting his son Bruce Ross in Guelph, Ontario. Bruce Ross had just bought a tape recorder, and he used it to record an interview with his father.
(There are two references on the tape to documents getting burned. Harry is referring to documents he had saved and brought back with him to keep. They were burned when his house at Park Head burned down in 1955, six years before the interview took place.)
The part of the interview about South Africa follows.
What year did you go to Africa, do you remember?
I crossed the lines in 1900.
Where did you sail from, was it from New York?
Yes, New York. I bought my ticket in London, Ontario, right through to Cape Town.
And that took you to New York, Liverpool, London and then Cape Town?
Yes, Cape Town. And how much do you suppose the ticket cost me?
I have no idea.
Well what do you think? Make a guess. And that included board and board at the hotel and a through ticket.
Well it would cost $500 today so I suppose it cost $100 then.
$95.
And how long did you stay in Cape Town when you first arrived? Did you just pass through?
Oh no, I was in Cape Town six months I guess.
What did you do?
I was helping a scenic artist. A man by the name of Churchwood, Henry Churchwood.
That was in a theatre wasn’t it? Building stages and things like that?
Yeah.
Scenery?
Yeah, that’s what it was. And I went with them from Cape Town to Kimberley. And I tried to get through to Johannesburg from Kimberley but I couldn’t get through.
They’re quite close aren’t they, Kimberley and Johannesburg?
Well within 100 miles I guess. Then I went from there with them to Port Elizabeth. From Port Elizabeth I went to East London. I don’t know how long I’d be in East London. I quit them in East London. I got sick of it.
Did you have another job at the time you quit?
I had a job in two or three days afterwards.
What were you doing then?
Well I throwed brick up on the scaffolding (hod carrier). It was a menial job I had, but I was getting 5 shillings a day, dollar and a quarter. That just paid my board. So I guess I throwed brick up too fast for them and they said well you can go on the line once in a while (bricklayer), when you get brick ahead.
It was laying brick and I seen I could lay as many brick after a month or two as any of them could, and make a good job. I went to them and I told the fella, see Mr. Cooper I’m just bare making a living, and what wee bit of money I had when I started with you is getting pretty scarce, maybe down to two or three pounds. And he says, you know you’re learning a trade? And I said that won’t keep my stomach full. So, I quit it. And I got a steamship from East London to Durban. And of course things were booming in Durban.
This would be probably what, 1901, by now wouldn’t it?
It would be 1902 I guess, somewhere around then. I know it was a long time. I didn’t keep track of it you know. So I got a job there at ten shillings a day, as an improver. There was a New Zealand fella, he was an architect, and they were just going crazy about getting plasterers and I went down and asked him what he’d give me for plastering the house - that’s by the cubic yard. He told me. He says when can you start? I said I can start tomorrow morning. You know from the time I started that house to when I quit I made $60 a day.
What experience had you had in plastering?
Well all I had was with Cooper in bricklaying and plastering. I could put on a hundred yard of plaster a day, and finish it up.
When I got done I had a good big handful of sovereigns and I told Lewis, I believe his name was, I told him I had been trying to get up country for a couple of years and I couldn’t get a permit. Well he says I’m well acquainted with the major that’s issuing those permits. That was in Durban. He says I’ll talk to him. So he went up and told them that he had a mechanic. They didn’t know if I was a full-fledged or what I was. I wanted to go up country and he says this man is capable of making a living any place. This major told him to tell me to come up at such and such a time and they’d give me a permit. It got burnt - I kept it. And he give me a permit. I could enter, and leave the Transvaal at will. That was the end of that trouble.
And then when you went up to Johannesburg. Where did you have your first job there?
On the Rose Deep.
What were you doing there?
Oh just puttering around, handy fella you know.
Was it maintenance work of some kind?
I wasn’t there very long and I don’t know I quit there and I went to the Ferreira Deep. From the Ferreira Deep I went to the Crown Reef, a man by the name of Chu. He was American. So I was there, I don’t know how long I be there, probably a month or two.
So he met me at the Mill door when I was coming in from dinner, and he said, Ross I can’t give you the job you’re qualified for. Mr. Frenner down there wants an alternator, and he said would you care to go down, and I said sure. That was a jump you know, quite a few pounds a month. So I said, will you give me a recommendation? And he said no, I’m gonna go down with you. It wasn’t very far, probably, well you know how close the mines is to... and he went down and he introduced me to Frenner and he said to Frenner, you want a man do you? And yes Frenner says, I want a man.
He looked at me and he said, when would you start? And I said, I’ll take my coat off right now and start work. And he says, no, I want you to go on night shift. And now he says, remember, you are my man. See he had just come there himself, and he says I want you to keep your eyes open for me. He says, those fellas, some of them have been here for 18 to 20 years, and he says, they’ve begun to be a bit sloppy. So in there they were full of broken machinery and I don’t know what all. When I got to work I cleaned my plates and got the Negroes going. I had a hell of a time, a hell of a job with the Negroes.
How many Negroes would you have working for you?
I would have probably had 6 to 7 of them and each one would have a job and I’d go and pull them off their job and get them on a chain. This stuff was all heavy you know, some of it could weigh in a ton or a ton and a half. Got the mill cleaned up. First week I got the mill cleaned up. First morning he came in it was in a hell of a shape, I’d got the stuff half way you know. But he didn’t say anything and the next morning he came in and she was all cleaned up and he had a smile on his face and he says, you’ve been doing something here. And I said, well Mr. Frenner I’ve been working like hell and so have the Negroes.
Well after about a week he called me outside and it’s just like Niagara Falls you know, you had to go outside to hear anything. I kind of blame that for being hard of hearing, you know, the noise from that mill. So he said, I want you to go on to be foreman, Night Foreman. So I went on Night Foreman for oh, probably two months, that was another $25 a month raise.
So they’re building those tube mills then, and after they got them and got ready to start, he comes to me and he said Ross, I want you to go and start those tube mills. Well I said, I don’t know anything about them Mr. Frenner. And he said, we all have to learn. And I went and looked at them and seen where the stuff had to flow you know, and by God I said to myself, that’s easy. So I took over the tube mills. I ran the first tube mills that had ever run in this world to run gold.
So after about, oh probably a year, Mr. Hunter come along, from the Village Deep. Oh God he was awful nice. I told him all I knew about the tube mills. They were just starting to get the tube mills running at the Village Deep, and he said how would you like to come over and run those mills at my place? And I said, oh I don’t know Mr. Hunter, what would you pay me? He said, I’ll give you 35 pounds a month. When I said I’m getting 30 here and a free doctor, free room, free library. Well he said, you come on over and I’ll give you 35 pounds a month and those things can be thrown in. We’ve got lots of rooms there. So I said, I won’t say today Mr. Hunter, and they were gonna start, and I said I’ll let you know before you’re ready to start whether I’ll go or not.
Mr. Price came down, he was the general manager of the outfit, and he always tried to dodge me, I don’t know why, because everything was going all right you know. So I said, hold on Mr. Price, I want to talk to you for a minute. And he said, what do you want? And I said I had Mr. Hunter over here the other day and he offered me 35 pounds a month. And he said, dammit Harry, you’re getting more now than a cabinet minister where you come from. And I said, well look here Mr. Price, I didn’t come over here for my health. I came over here to try to make a bit of money same as you. Well he said, we’ve got as much money as the Village Deep has, and probably a little more. Well I said, if that’s it Mr. Price then I expect at the end of the month, and we were getting pretty close to the end of the month, I expect 35 pounds on my cheque; that’s instead of 30, I’d get 35. And I said if it’s not on there then I’m out of here. The end of the month come and the extra money was on the cheque. So I stopped there for a long time after that. Years.
Well that was the last job you had...
The only job I ever stuck to in Africa.
And it paid 35 pounds a month?
35 pounds a month.
And that included?
A room, a doctor.
What was the accommodation like? Was it good at all?
Good boarding houses, good food, good everything.
And how far was that from Johannesburg, or was it right in Johannesburg?
Well you might say it was right in Johannesburg. It was a suburb of Johannesburg, I could walk to it in 10 or 15 minutes. And it was all joined together.
How far would it be from the downtown part of Johannesburg?
Oh, it’d be a mile and a half I guess.
Just a twenty minute walk?
Say, Johannesburg in those days was about the size of this town now (Guelph in 1961), about 65,000 population.
It’s about a million now.
Oh, it’s over a million, yeah. So McGregor told me. He was over, he went over to settle his brother’s estate.
Were you in correspondence with mother at all, all of this time?
Oh yes. I used to send her $150 a month through the bank, for me.
Well no that was with your mother, I meant with my mother.
Oh yes, yes.
When did you start corresponding with her, or were you corresponding with her all the time?
All the time. I tried to get your mother to come out.
Well did you try to get her to go with you when you first went out?
Oh no, no, no.
Cause you were pretty young when you first went out, you were about 20.
Well I wouldn’t be quite 20 because I spent my 20th birthday on the lines.
Oh, you were actually on the ocean on your 20th birthday, on November 6, 1899.
Yes. Oh that was pretty young for a fella to start out in life.
When you first came back to Canada by what route did you come back? You went from Cape Town to where?
I left Johannesburg and I went to Cape Town by train. From Cape Town I went to Southampton. And from Southampton, I got on a ship there, and went to New York.
You didn’t get up to London again?
No.
And what year would that be, 1909 maybe?
Well, it might have been, I don’t remember. Mind you for to go way back like that you’ve got a lot to think about, that’s why they keep books.
It’s a long time back all right. You first went to Africa 61 years ago, which is a long time ago.
You know, when you went on a steamship in those days, when you got your ticket you got a contract, what they’d do and what they wouldn’t. Well I put those contracts in my trunk, you know, to keep them. I had a ticket both ways, but they were burnt.
When did you arrive back in Canada? You were married in September, how long were you back here before you got married?
Oh probably 3 months.
The rest of the taped interview is about Harry’s life back in Park Head (Chapter 14).
Harry had a remarkable ability to remember details that had taken place 61 years earlier, when he was 20. He remembered the jobs he had, the names of the men he worked for, how much each job paid, and even what was said when they were negotiating wages. It certainly gives the impression that he was focussed on making money while he was in South Africa. It’s too bad they didn’t also discuss other subjects in the interview.
One particularly glaring omission on the tape is the subject of William2 Ross, the ‘Black Sheep’. Harry found his father in Johannesburg. They spent some time together. Why didn’t Harry talk about this? Why didn’t Bruce ask? Bruce Ross provided his answer to this question in some comments he recorded in 1978, when he transferred the original tape recording to a cassette tape and added a brief introduction.
‘It was discovered that Grandfather Ross had gone to South Africa and that he was still alive. This is what prompted my father, when he was 19 or 20 years old, to go to South Africa. We did not mention it in the tape because for many years the fact that my grandfather Ross was alive was a well-guarded family secret. I did not know about it myself until I was possibly 14 or 16 years old. In any event my father had contact with his father in South Africa. I gather they did not see each other very much and they didn’t get along too well together.’
It is interesting that both Harry Ross and Bruce Ross still felt the need to keep the ‘forbidden subject’ secret in 1961. Annie Longmire had been dead since 1953. My guess is that part of the motivation to never talk about William2 came from Harry himself. We don’t know what happened between them in South Africa.
The last leg of Harry’s trip home was on board ship, from Southampton to New York. He sailed home on the ST. PAUL, which had been built in Philadelphia in 1895 and was owned by the American Line.
I crossed the lines in 1900.
Where did you sail from, was it from New York?
Yes, New York. I bought my ticket in London, Ontario, right through to Cape Town.
And that took you to New York, Liverpool, London and then Cape Town?
Yes, Cape Town. And how much do you suppose the ticket cost me?
I have no idea.
Well what do you think? Make a guess. And that included board and board at the hotel and a through ticket.
Well it would cost $500 today so I suppose it cost $100 then.
$95.
And how long did you stay in Cape Town when you first arrived? Did you just pass through?
Oh no, I was in Cape Town six months I guess.
What did you do?
I was helping a scenic artist. A man by the name of Churchwood, Henry Churchwood.
That was in a theatre wasn’t it? Building stages and things like that?
Yeah.
Scenery?
Yeah, that’s what it was. And I went with them from Cape Town to Kimberley. And I tried to get through to Johannesburg from Kimberley but I couldn’t get through.
They’re quite close aren’t they, Kimberley and Johannesburg?
Well within 100 miles I guess. Then I went from there with them to Port Elizabeth. From Port Elizabeth I went to East London. I don’t know how long I’d be in East London. I quit them in East London. I got sick of it.
Did you have another job at the time you quit?
I had a job in two or three days afterwards.
What were you doing then?
Well I throwed brick up on the scaffolding (hod carrier). It was a menial job I had, but I was getting 5 shillings a day, dollar and a quarter. That just paid my board. So I guess I throwed brick up too fast for them and they said well you can go on the line once in a while (bricklayer), when you get brick ahead.
It was laying brick and I seen I could lay as many brick after a month or two as any of them could, and make a good job. I went to them and I told the fella, see Mr. Cooper I’m just bare making a living, and what wee bit of money I had when I started with you is getting pretty scarce, maybe down to two or three pounds. And he says, you know you’re learning a trade? And I said that won’t keep my stomach full. So, I quit it. And I got a steamship from East London to Durban. And of course things were booming in Durban.
This would be probably what, 1901, by now wouldn’t it?
It would be 1902 I guess, somewhere around then. I know it was a long time. I didn’t keep track of it you know. So I got a job there at ten shillings a day, as an improver. There was a New Zealand fella, he was an architect, and they were just going crazy about getting plasterers and I went down and asked him what he’d give me for plastering the house - that’s by the cubic yard. He told me. He says when can you start? I said I can start tomorrow morning. You know from the time I started that house to when I quit I made $60 a day.
What experience had you had in plastering?
Well all I had was with Cooper in bricklaying and plastering. I could put on a hundred yard of plaster a day, and finish it up.
When I got done I had a good big handful of sovereigns and I told Lewis, I believe his name was, I told him I had been trying to get up country for a couple of years and I couldn’t get a permit. Well he says I’m well acquainted with the major that’s issuing those permits. That was in Durban. He says I’ll talk to him. So he went up and told them that he had a mechanic. They didn’t know if I was a full-fledged or what I was. I wanted to go up country and he says this man is capable of making a living any place. This major told him to tell me to come up at such and such a time and they’d give me a permit. It got burnt - I kept it. And he give me a permit. I could enter, and leave the Transvaal at will. That was the end of that trouble.
And then when you went up to Johannesburg. Where did you have your first job there?
On the Rose Deep.
What were you doing there?
Oh just puttering around, handy fella you know.
Was it maintenance work of some kind?
I wasn’t there very long and I don’t know I quit there and I went to the Ferreira Deep. From the Ferreira Deep I went to the Crown Reef, a man by the name of Chu. He was American. So I was there, I don’t know how long I be there, probably a month or two.
So he met me at the Mill door when I was coming in from dinner, and he said, Ross I can’t give you the job you’re qualified for. Mr. Frenner down there wants an alternator, and he said would you care to go down, and I said sure. That was a jump you know, quite a few pounds a month. So I said, will you give me a recommendation? And he said no, I’m gonna go down with you. It wasn’t very far, probably, well you know how close the mines is to... and he went down and he introduced me to Frenner and he said to Frenner, you want a man do you? And yes Frenner says, I want a man.
He looked at me and he said, when would you start? And I said, I’ll take my coat off right now and start work. And he says, no, I want you to go on night shift. And now he says, remember, you are my man. See he had just come there himself, and he says I want you to keep your eyes open for me. He says, those fellas, some of them have been here for 18 to 20 years, and he says, they’ve begun to be a bit sloppy. So in there they were full of broken machinery and I don’t know what all. When I got to work I cleaned my plates and got the Negroes going. I had a hell of a time, a hell of a job with the Negroes.
How many Negroes would you have working for you?
I would have probably had 6 to 7 of them and each one would have a job and I’d go and pull them off their job and get them on a chain. This stuff was all heavy you know, some of it could weigh in a ton or a ton and a half. Got the mill cleaned up. First week I got the mill cleaned up. First morning he came in it was in a hell of a shape, I’d got the stuff half way you know. But he didn’t say anything and the next morning he came in and she was all cleaned up and he had a smile on his face and he says, you’ve been doing something here. And I said, well Mr. Frenner I’ve been working like hell and so have the Negroes.
Well after about a week he called me outside and it’s just like Niagara Falls you know, you had to go outside to hear anything. I kind of blame that for being hard of hearing, you know, the noise from that mill. So he said, I want you to go on to be foreman, Night Foreman. So I went on Night Foreman for oh, probably two months, that was another $25 a month raise.
So they’re building those tube mills then, and after they got them and got ready to start, he comes to me and he said Ross, I want you to go and start those tube mills. Well I said, I don’t know anything about them Mr. Frenner. And he said, we all have to learn. And I went and looked at them and seen where the stuff had to flow you know, and by God I said to myself, that’s easy. So I took over the tube mills. I ran the first tube mills that had ever run in this world to run gold.
So after about, oh probably a year, Mr. Hunter come along, from the Village Deep. Oh God he was awful nice. I told him all I knew about the tube mills. They were just starting to get the tube mills running at the Village Deep, and he said how would you like to come over and run those mills at my place? And I said, oh I don’t know Mr. Hunter, what would you pay me? He said, I’ll give you 35 pounds a month. When I said I’m getting 30 here and a free doctor, free room, free library. Well he said, you come on over and I’ll give you 35 pounds a month and those things can be thrown in. We’ve got lots of rooms there. So I said, I won’t say today Mr. Hunter, and they were gonna start, and I said I’ll let you know before you’re ready to start whether I’ll go or not.
Mr. Price came down, he was the general manager of the outfit, and he always tried to dodge me, I don’t know why, because everything was going all right you know. So I said, hold on Mr. Price, I want to talk to you for a minute. And he said, what do you want? And I said I had Mr. Hunter over here the other day and he offered me 35 pounds a month. And he said, dammit Harry, you’re getting more now than a cabinet minister where you come from. And I said, well look here Mr. Price, I didn’t come over here for my health. I came over here to try to make a bit of money same as you. Well he said, we’ve got as much money as the Village Deep has, and probably a little more. Well I said, if that’s it Mr. Price then I expect at the end of the month, and we were getting pretty close to the end of the month, I expect 35 pounds on my cheque; that’s instead of 30, I’d get 35. And I said if it’s not on there then I’m out of here. The end of the month come and the extra money was on the cheque. So I stopped there for a long time after that. Years.
Well that was the last job you had...
The only job I ever stuck to in Africa.
And it paid 35 pounds a month?
35 pounds a month.
And that included?
A room, a doctor.
What was the accommodation like? Was it good at all?
Good boarding houses, good food, good everything.
And how far was that from Johannesburg, or was it right in Johannesburg?
Well you might say it was right in Johannesburg. It was a suburb of Johannesburg, I could walk to it in 10 or 15 minutes. And it was all joined together.
How far would it be from the downtown part of Johannesburg?
Oh, it’d be a mile and a half I guess.
Just a twenty minute walk?
Say, Johannesburg in those days was about the size of this town now (Guelph in 1961), about 65,000 population.
It’s about a million now.
Oh, it’s over a million, yeah. So McGregor told me. He was over, he went over to settle his brother’s estate.
Were you in correspondence with mother at all, all of this time?
Oh yes. I used to send her $150 a month through the bank, for me.
Well no that was with your mother, I meant with my mother.
Oh yes, yes.
When did you start corresponding with her, or were you corresponding with her all the time?
All the time. I tried to get your mother to come out.
Well did you try to get her to go with you when you first went out?
Oh no, no, no.
Cause you were pretty young when you first went out, you were about 20.
Well I wouldn’t be quite 20 because I spent my 20th birthday on the lines.
Oh, you were actually on the ocean on your 20th birthday, on November 6, 1899.
Yes. Oh that was pretty young for a fella to start out in life.
When you first came back to Canada by what route did you come back? You went from Cape Town to where?
I left Johannesburg and I went to Cape Town by train. From Cape Town I went to Southampton. And from Southampton, I got on a ship there, and went to New York.
You didn’t get up to London again?
No.
And what year would that be, 1909 maybe?
Well, it might have been, I don’t remember. Mind you for to go way back like that you’ve got a lot to think about, that’s why they keep books.
It’s a long time back all right. You first went to Africa 61 years ago, which is a long time ago.
You know, when you went on a steamship in those days, when you got your ticket you got a contract, what they’d do and what they wouldn’t. Well I put those contracts in my trunk, you know, to keep them. I had a ticket both ways, but they were burnt.
When did you arrive back in Canada? You were married in September, how long were you back here before you got married?
Oh probably 3 months.
The rest of the taped interview is about Harry’s life back in Park Head (Chapter 14).
Harry had a remarkable ability to remember details that had taken place 61 years earlier, when he was 20. He remembered the jobs he had, the names of the men he worked for, how much each job paid, and even what was said when they were negotiating wages. It certainly gives the impression that he was focussed on making money while he was in South Africa. It’s too bad they didn’t also discuss other subjects in the interview.
One particularly glaring omission on the tape is the subject of William2 Ross, the ‘Black Sheep’. Harry found his father in Johannesburg. They spent some time together. Why didn’t Harry talk about this? Why didn’t Bruce ask? Bruce Ross provided his answer to this question in some comments he recorded in 1978, when he transferred the original tape recording to a cassette tape and added a brief introduction.
‘It was discovered that Grandfather Ross had gone to South Africa and that he was still alive. This is what prompted my father, when he was 19 or 20 years old, to go to South Africa. We did not mention it in the tape because for many years the fact that my grandfather Ross was alive was a well-guarded family secret. I did not know about it myself until I was possibly 14 or 16 years old. In any event my father had contact with his father in South Africa. I gather they did not see each other very much and they didn’t get along too well together.’
It is interesting that both Harry Ross and Bruce Ross still felt the need to keep the ‘forbidden subject’ secret in 1961. Annie Longmire had been dead since 1953. My guess is that part of the motivation to never talk about William2 came from Harry himself. We don’t know what happened between them in South Africa.
The last leg of Harry’s trip home was on board ship, from Southampton to New York. He sailed home on the ST. PAUL, which had been built in Philadelphia in 1895 and was owned by the American Line.
PLEASE CLICK ANYWHERE ON IMAGE TO MAGNIFY
ST. PAUL
The ST. PAUL arrived in New York on July 4, 1909. Harry Ross was coming home to marry Annie Shannon in Park Head, because Annie had been unwilling to join him in South Africa. The wedding took place on September 22, 1909 (Chapter 14). Harry was correct on the tape when he said he had been home about 3 months.
The next chapter will introduce one of the other of the pioneer families of the Park Head area, the Shannon family.
The next chapter will introduce one of the other of the pioneer families of the Park Head area, the Shannon family.