2010 has been designated as “Year of the British Home Child in Canada” by the Canadian Parliament in recognition of the fact that approximately 4 million Canadians (12% of the Canadian population) are descendants of Home Children. Most of these children migrated between 1869 and 1939, when over 100,000 children sailed from Britain to work as farm labourers or domestic servants in Canada during the Child Emigration Scheme, now known as the British Home Children Project.Learn more about this significant chapter of Canada’s history by visiting the following web sites:
British Home Children
This excellent website boasts an introduction to the subject of British Home Children, a complete & searchable database, a Query Board and Forum, articles, stories, letters, images, many web links for further research and a helpful “Help and FAQ” section. (Note: Users need to register as a member to use the database, but this membership is free of charge.)
The Stratford, Ontario Connection – Young Immigrants to Canada
A photo of the plaque located at 51 Avon Street, Stratford Ontario, where the Annie MacPherson Home is located, can be viewed here. Placed in August 2001, the plaque acknowledges the Home Children who stayed at this home before they were sent on to work on farms and in homes in southwestern Ontario. Many links are provided here, as well as a helpful guide: “How to Research a Child using Resources in Canada”. To find out about Annie MacPherson, who headed an organization which brought thousands of children to Canada, visit historian Marj Kohli’s web page.
Home Children in Stratford
Archivist Betty Jo Belton’s (Stratford-Perth Archives) article, which was published in the Stratford Beacon Herald earlier this year, tells us that about 8,100 of the 100,000 home children migrating to Canada, stayed at the Annie MacPherson Home in Stratford. The Home was designated as a significant heritage property under the Ontario Heritage Act in 1987 and received a federal plaque in 2001.
NOTE: The Tin-Lined Trunk, by Mary Hamilton, is the story of a home child who came to Stratford, Ontario. A children’s chapter book, it can be found in the Stratford Public Library at J FIC Hamil. A more recent children’s book about home children is Beryl Young’s Charlie: A Home Child’s Life in Canada, found on the lower floor at J 363.2092 Harve-Y (published in 2009).
Pier 21 – The British Home Children
Through their stories, meet some of the home children who entered Canada via Pier 21 – children such as Sarah May Hyam, John Cooper Griffith, Alice Smith, Arthur Roberts and the four Davidson children. Many of Canada’s home children, as well as approximately 1.5 million other immigrants to this country, arrived at Pier 21. Located in Halifax, the Pier 21 Museum, opened in 1999, preserves and celebrates Canada’s immigration stories.
The Golden Bridge
Home children arrived in Canada from England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland. The Golden Bridge website commemorates the approximately 7000 children who migrated from Scotland’s poorer families and orphan homes, many of them owned by the Scottish philanthropist William Quarrier. Facts, photos, transcripts of original documents, migrations stories, videos and the photo album of William Quarrier’s daughter can be accessed on the Golden Bridge website. A photo of Stratford Ontario’s “receiving house” (the Annie MacPherson Home) is included.
Web Tip:
Trying to find your roots? Start at the Library. Lots of books to help http://tiny.cc/5orgr & free access to Ancestry Library Edition http://tiny.cc/5oyma (Ancestry is available only within the library building)
Neither Waif nor Stray – The True Story of a Home Child
Dr. Perry Snow’s book, Neither Waif nor Stray, tells the unhappy, but true story of his father, a Home Child sent to Canada to work as a farm labourer. In the English foundling home and in Canada, Dr. Snow’s father was mistreated in almost every way – which, unfortunately, was a fate shared by many home children. The first 25 pages of Dr. Snow’s book can be downloaded free of charge from this website, and the entire book is available (to be read in the building but not for loan) at the Stratford-Perth Archives.
NOTE: The story of Canada’s home children is also told in the 2005 documentary, Nobody’s Child: Canada’s Home Children, found in the DVD area of the Stratford Public Library at DVD 304.871041083 Nob.
Child Migration from Ireland to Australia
Orphaned and destitute children were sent as labourers from Ireland to the British Colonies especially during the years of the Irish Famine – a significant chapter in the story of British Home Children. This web site details the “Earl Grey Scheme”, which arranged for over 4000 young women from 14 to 20 years of age to settle in Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne, Australia as domestic servants from 1848 to 1850.
Workhouses in the United Kingdom
This web site provides information and photographs of children who lived in U.K. workhouses during the Victorian years, many of whom would later be sent to Canada, the United States and other countries as child labourers. Background information is also provided about the Poor Law and about some of the key people involved in the child migration movement – people such as Thomas Barnardo, Annie MacPherson and William Quarrier.
Library and Archives Canada – Home Children
The Canadian Genealogy Centre (Library and Archives Canada) is an access point for those researching British Home Children. Passenger lists of the boats which brought the children to Canada, and other resources, are available to researchers.
