Strathroy-Caradoc, a Community Built on Hard Work

The territory that is currently Strathroy-Caradoc was first settled in 1832. It was incorporated as a village in 1860 and later as a town in 1872. Recently, in 2001, it amalgamated into the present municipality. According to the latest Canada Census, the city has nearly 24,000 residents of whom just over two thousand consider their ethnic heritage to be Portuguese, which accounts for roughly 10% of the total population. The amalgamation with Caradoc reduced the size of the Portuguese community, which mainly settled in Strathroy. At one point, the Portuguese made up one third of the total population of the town.

According to José Belo, a resident of Strathroy-Caradoc since 1967, the first Portuguese to settle in town was Henrique da Ponte, in 1957. He was followed by Artur Correia and Francisco Mendonça. These men came to work on the tobacco fields, but many more would soon join them.

A book published by Domingos Marques and João Medeiros, in 1978, to celebrate the 25^th anniversary of Portuguese immigration to Canada, called “25 Anos no Canadá” (25 Years in Canada), quotes Artur Correia as saying: “By the end of the 1950s, many Portuguese arrived here without money, looking for work. I rented a house and, at one point, I had more than 20 people living there. A person would come, and I’d let him in, and then another. When a couple knocked on my door, it was harder to accommodate. Upstairs, there was no more room for beds, and they had to sleep on mattresses spread across the floor. The rent was around $3 a month because they all shared the cost. It was like a family. Some cooked, others did laundry. We helped each other as if we were siblings. It’s not like that anymore.”

The same publication reports that the first ever official community event occurred in 1968 after a group of Portuguese men who frequented All Saints Church formed a committee composed of José Belo, António Bettencourt, José Faria, João Fonseca, and Alberto Soares.

Recently, lusocanada.com had the opportunity to speak with José Belo, who told us that at the time he arrived in Strathroy, in 1967, there were around 160 Portuguese families residing here, which accounted for just over 1,000 people, as he recounted: “It was one third of the total population. It was a third Portuguese, a third Dutch, and one third of the rest. The town’s population was around 3,500 in those days, so we had over one thousand Portuguese living here. It was a community made up of 80% from the islands of Flores and S. Miguel. We had very few families from continental Portugal. There was a lot of work here. In the factory where I worked, they offered us $10 for each worker we would bring in. We came without skills or education and many of us experienced difficulties, but there was Cuddy Farms, the turkey place, and they would hire anyone. We also had Nursery Farm, working with plants. Many worked on the farms. Many families worked five and a half days in the factory and then on Saturday afternoon and all-day Sunday they would work on the farm. Salaries were low, but there was a lot of work. Those who worked on the railroad made more money, twice as much as we made.”

When José Belo arrived in Strathroy, a weekly mass was already celebrated in Portuguese. Father Bail Cunney had served in South America and had learned the language. He was also a strong supporter of the community by encouraging its members to use the Parish Hall to commune and celebrate their culture. In 1972, he was an integral part of the first celebration in honour of Espirito Santo, an event that José Belo also helped organize.

“When I arrived, the community was very united. The All-Saints Church was the main meeting point. We had mass in Portuguese. Father Cunney was Canadian, but he spoke Portuguese. The first Espirito Santo was in 1972, at the Arena, and we had a brass band from Oakville performing”, Belo recalled.

By 1976, the local Portuguese were ready to launch their Portuguese Club. A committee was formed to raise funds for the hall, a task that was easily attained with the support of the community. On June 29, 1977, the newly formed Portuguese Canadian Club of Strathroy welcomed members and supporters to its headquarters for the first time. Óscar Dias was the first President of the Board. According to “25 Anos no Canadá”, the hall was worth $180,000 in 1978. Today, it is worth millions.

Like many other Portuguese communities across Canada, soccer preceded the foundation of the club. According to José Belo, it was Joe Brum who organized the first team. It played friendly games within the city and with other teams from the surrounding towns such as Chatham and Leamington. Later, the Portuguese Club entered the Western Ontario Soccer League where it attained relative success.

Although the community had grown considerably by 1967, it took it some time to establish a strong commercial presence in town. For many years, Portuguese products were only available at a Hungarian store, as José Belo recounted: “We called her hungariana. Later, Sr. Pires, who was from S. Miguel, came from Toronto and he opened a supermarket. Another one opened shortly after. There was a time we had three bakeries. We had two Portuguese body shops and a mechanic (Cordeiro’s) that was opened for about 40 years. It was sold last year. The restaurant is recent. Tia’s Place was the first and it opened six or seven years ago. There was another that couldn’t survive more than a year. Bars and restaurants don’t do well here with the Portuguese. We don’t go to restaurants, and even Tia’s Place has a clientele that is either from the newer generation or people who are not Portuguese.”

Currently, Strathroy-Caradoc is home to more than two thousand Portuguese Canadians who are well integrated into the general community. The downtown area has a few remnants of our presence such as Tia’s Place and Art’Es Bakery. Along the residential streets, one can find the odd Portuguese flag, but it’s at 375 York Street where the main symbol of our presence in the municipality remains, the Portuguese Club. The association is experiencing a resurgence with much interest from the younger generation and from others who have relocated to the municipality.

One such individual is Victor Ramos, a former resident of London and famed local soccer player who also lived in Toronto for some time. He recently moved to Strathroy with his family and started a community project that debuted in April with a performance by Jorge Ferreira to a packed Portuguese Club. Ramos partnered with other locals to form a promotion company called SOCO Entertainment that intends to bring big acts to Strathroy and the rest of the Portuguese communities in Western Ontario.

Projects such as this, allied to the interest of the community, are clear assurances that our heritage will be well preserved in this region for many years to come. It is only fitting for a community that has strived for nearly 70 years on hard work and commitment to its heritage.