Charles and Kate. Or to be precise, Karl Hobeteder and Kathleen Mary Goff.
This studio portrait of them was taken in England sometime after they met and before they came to Canada.
Kate had worked as a domestic and parlour maid in various hotels and resorts along the south coast of England in the 1890s and early 1900s.
Karl , originally from Austria also worked in the service industry in hotels and resorts and this is likely where they met.
In 1910 Kate travelled to Canada to visit her brothers, Tom and Alf Goff who had taken up homesteads in the new province of Saskatchewan. Karl travelled with her and they arrived in July. They had plans of travelling on further to B.C. but ended up staying with Tom on his homestead and were married in December of 1910.
Karl and Kate took on a farm of their own less than a mile from her brothers and never did get to B.C. It was a hard life and I don't think they ever again could afford such nice clothes as in the above picture. Kate died in 1943, ten years before I was born. "Uncle Charlie" lived on until 1963 on the same farm with the assistance of his 2 daughters, Grace and Ivy.
I guess it says something about those of us who've farmed that this couple made more money as servants than they did as farmers. Not much has changed in a hundred years, it seems!
ReplyDeleteI sometimes wonder if they'd had the choice to return to their original country and work if they would have taken it. I know some family members would have gladly gone back if they could only afford it but they were stuck here with insufficient funds and had to make the best of it.
ReplyDeleteIt is the lifestyle we love so much...
ReplyDeleteHi Ralph,
ReplyDeleteI am a relative of Charles Hobetzeder. My uncle asked me to do research on his life in Canada while I am in Vancouver, BC this summer. That's how I found your page. I would love to find out more about Charles and his daughters and share some of my uncle's memories.
Kind regards,
Andrea Haas
Hi Andrea
ReplyDeleteInteresting to find a relative of Hobetzeders as it is a very uncommon name. Yes, I have quite a bit of information on Charles and his family in Canada. I have only heard of one brother, Alois, I think was his name. You can contact me at alfg@sasktel.net for more photos or information.
Hi Andrea,
ReplyDeleteI'm also related to Karl Hobetzeder. He is my mum's granmduncle. Johann Hobetzeder in Suben/Inn was her grandfather.
I would like to share some old memories concerning Karl Hobetzeder,but in our own language.
If you want it too, here is my mail adress:
rudolf.kno@aon.at
kind regards (liebe Grüße)
Rudolf Knoll