Episode 3: When Annie Wright Became Labh Kaur

Intercultural love, rights of passage, contentious motherhood, and the politics of cremation.

The first Sikh wedding at the Second Avenue Gurdwara (Khalsa Diwan Society) in Vancouver was also an intercultural union. Annie Wright and Munsha Singh fell in love and were married in 1909, and made history as not only the first couple to be married at the gurdwara, but also as the first noted marriage between a Caucasian Christian and a South Asian Sikh in Canada. We piece together the story of their relationship, and the people and stories that intersected with their lives, as well as other tales of conversions and mistaken identities.

Listen to Episode 3 of The Nameless Collective Podcast on iTunes, Google Play & Stitcher, and please rate, review and subscribe to the podcast.

Photographs & Documents Referenced in Episode 3 of The Nameless Collective Podcast:

Annie Wright and Munsha Singh’s Sikh Baptism document. Source: Kesar Singh, Canadian Sikhs (Part One) and the Komagata Maru Massacre, via komagatamarujourney.ca.

Annie Wright and Munsha Singh’s Sikh Baptism document. Source: Kesar Singh, Canadian Sikhs (Part One) and the Komagata Maru Massacre, via komagatamarujourney.ca.

Bhai Munsha Singh. Source: Kesar Singh, Canadian Sikhs (Part One) and the Komagata Maru Massacre, via komagatamarujourney.ca.

Reverend Ditcham, Reverend Wright, Archdeacon Woods, Reverend Clinton, Reverend Charles Croucher, Reverend Small, Bishop Sillitoe, Reverend Edwards and others, 1886. Source: Vancouver Archives.

Samuel Jagat Singh. Source: Kenneth James Grant, My Missionary Memories, via komagatamarujourney.ca.

Malcolm Reid’s grave at Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver. Source: Paneet Singh’s phone.

Funeral of William C. Hopkinson. Source: komagatamarujourney.ca.

Funeral of William C. Hopkinson. Source: komagatamarujourney.ca.

The Nameless Collective Podcast is a Canadian History podcast produced by Jugni Style and Manjot Bains, with additional sound engineering by Devinder Singh. The show is hosted and researched by Naveen Girn, Milan Singh and Paneet Singh in Vancouver, Canada. Follow The Nameless Collective Podcast on Facebook and Instagram and use hashtag #thenameless.

References From Episode 3:

Khalsa Diwan Society, Vancouver (n.d.). Khalsa Diwan Society [Diary], Vancouver, B.C.. Retrieved from komagatamarujourney.ca/node/3294

Brar, Arjan Singh (n.d.). Khalsa Diwan Society [Diary], Vancouver, B.C. [: Volume 1 – English translation]. Retrieved from komagatamarujourney.ca/node/15901

Johnston, H. J. (2011). Jewels of the Qila: The Remarkable Story of an Indo-Canadian Family. UBC Press.

Annie and Munsha’s Baptism/Wedding Note: komagatamarujourney.ca/node/762

Singh, Kesar (1989). Canadian Sikhs (Part One) and the Komagata Maru Massacre. Retrieved from komagatamarujourney.ca/node/558

Grant, Kenneth James (1923). My Missionary Memories. Halifax, Nova Scotia. Retrieved from: komagatamarujourney.ca/node/15788