1900-1910 Settlers

This is the story of Chattar Singh Bains whose father, Basant Singh first migrated to America in 1910. The family has deep roots across North America including the Fraser Valley. To read more about Chattar Singh, please click here.

This is the story of Manjit Singh Dhillon, whose grandfather Naranjan Singh first came to Canada in the year 1906. Manjit Singh`s family has deep roots and involvement in the South Asian community including family involvement in the Ghadar movement. To read more about Manjit Singh Dhillon, please click here.

This is the story of Darshan Singh Khera, whose grandfather Mela Singh first came to Canada in the year 1908. As a young high schooler living in BC, Darshan Singh endured racial taunting by some of his fellow classmates. To read more about Darshan Singh Khera, please click here.

This is the story of Gurbaksh Singh Dhanda, whose grandfather, Kirpa Ram, first came to Canada in the year 1908 to work in the BC mills alongside his brother Mela Ram. Gurbaksh Singh remembers experiencing discrimination and racism throughout his lifetime- both in India, and Canada. In India, the caste system meant that he was treated very poorly but caste system issues continued after he moved to Canada. To read more about Gurbaksh Singh Dhanda, please click here.

This is the story of Kesar Singh Nagra, whose family history in Canada is as far back as the early 1900`s when his great-grandfather Basant Singh arrived in Victoria, BC alone via ship on October, 1906. To read more about Kesar Singh`s family history please click here.

This is the story of Ajit Kaur Rama, born in the year 1931 in Duncan, BC and whose father Daleep Singh, first came to Canada from Punjab in 1906. Ajit Kaur has fond memories of the community and town of Paldi, BC, a prominent and successful mill town run by South Asians in the early 20th century. To read more about Ajit Kaur, please click here. 

This is the story of Raj Singh Toor, whose grandfather, Baba Puran Singh Janetpura was a passenger on board the Komagata Maru ship in 1914.  The Komagata Maru came to Vancouver on May 23, 1914, carrying 376 passengers. Baba Puran Singh was well-educated, having studied at an English-language high school in Ludhiana, Punjab, and telecommunications at the University of Amity. He was coming to Canada to further his education. To learn more about Baba Puran Singh’s story and the Toor family story, please click here.