This young Canadian man was looking for love, and whilst it may seem unusual to modern observers, in WWI it was considered perfectly normal to look for a wife via the workhouse. This young man could offer passage to a new life in another country.

Spotted in the Leighton Buzzard Observer. 01/09/1914

Meeting of the Luton board of Guardians. The Board of Guardians looked after the workhouse in Luton.

Mrs. Lewis reported that she had recieved an answer from the young Canadian bachelor who had written to the board inquiring whether they would put him in communication with a young woman "with a view to love and matrimony." The letter, together with a number of replies which were received after its publication, had been referred to Mrs. Lewis to deal with. She had written to the man, and having received a reply now desired to know what further steps she should take in the matter. Should she give notice of a motion? The Clerk: With a view to sending a woman out? Mrs. Lewis: No I wrote and asked the man as to his respectability, and I received a favourable reply this morning. The Chairman suggested that she should send two or three of the best of the replies to the mans's letter to him. Some of them seemed genuine. Mrs. Lewis: Am I to ask him for the passage money? The Clerk replied that the Guardians could not do anything in the matter. Mr. Yarrow said that if the young man was anxious to get married, he would not mind sending the passage money.