British Home Children to Nova Scotia

[Tissy]

Hi All,

I am trying to trace what became of two BHC who were sent to Canada on the Siberian which left Liverpool on 12th June 1906 and arrived in Halifax on 23rd June 1906. There were 159 Home Children on that ship including Clara Hampton aged 8 and her sister Harriet aged 7, two of the daughters of John Hampton and Mary Ann nee Drayford who originated in Wolverhampton.

I am unable to find Clara or Harriet on the 1911 Canadian Census. I am assuming (dangerous, I know) that they went to the Fairview Home, Halifax on arrival, as I found them listed on the Middlemore site.

Apart from the shipping records I can find no trace of them and I am hoping that some kind Rootschatter may be able to give me some tips on where I should look next. These Hampton girls are driving me to distraction, I am actually looking for a Helen Mary Hampton who married here in Australia for the second time in 1924. On her Marriage Cert. she lists her parents as the same as for Clara and Harriet but I cannot find a birth or baptism for her, interestingly enough she was the same age as Harriet!! Could Harriet have had her Christian names changed as well as her Surname? Tis a puzzlement, so any help anyone could give me on what would have been likely to have happened to Clara and Harriet would be very much appreciated.
Regards,
Tissy

[KarenM]

Hi Tissy,

There is a Hattie Hampton, born England, who married Ernest Smith in Nova Scotia in 1922.  Hattie does not know the names of her parents, as she was adopted by Middlemore Home.

You can see the marriage certificate here https://www.novascotiagenealogy.com/ItemView.aspx?ImageFile=31-812&Event=marriage&ID=161914  it's free to view

Karen

[KarenM]

On the 1911 census, there is this Clara McLean, who was born 1897 England and is adopted.  She is living in the same place that Hattie married in Nova Scotia, could be your Clara 

http://www.automatedgenealogy.com/census11/SplitView.jsp?id=69601

Karen

[Tissy]

Hi Karen,

Thank you so much for that information, it gives me a bit more to work on. If Hattie had married a "Bull" instead of a Smith, then I would have known she was the one I am after. Oddly enough, Helen Mary married a "Smith" here in 1924.

I'll crack this one yet, thanks once again for your help Karen.

Regards,
Tissy

[J.J.]

You were right in thinking it was middlemore, as the 2 are in the database...
Hampton, Clara - age 8 - b. May 16 - arr 1906 Siberean
Hampton, Harriet - age 7- b. August 22 - arr 1906 Siberean
http://www.bifhsgo.ca/special_projects/home_children/Middlemore-Index/H-Index.htm

However, they have Clara as having married a "Smith"
SMITH Clara (Mrs)..."See HAMPTON, Clara"
http://www.bifhsgo.ca/special_projects/home_children/Middlemore-Index/S-Index.htm

Then they have these two
MacAulay Clara   "See HAMPTTON, Clara"               
MacAulay Harriet (Mrs Harry)   "See HAMPTON, Harriet"...
http://www.bifhsgo.ca/special_projects/home_children/Middlemore-Index/Mc-Index.htm

so you may find that it was mixed up and Harried married a Harry MacAulay

[J.J.]

http://www.automatedgenealogy.com/census11/View.jsp?id=69606&highlight=4

a Harry McAuley, also adopted...in same area as the two Hampton girls...If this is he, and he was also a home chil...then wonder wha HIS real name may have been ( no immigration information on census, says born N.S.)  J.J.

[J.J.]

I think I counted 41 adopted children in 1911 census of Whycocomagh Village alone..Many of whom were also adopted by otherMcLean families...How marvelous that they were adopted, but how sad that they lost their first identity....
also some do say immigrated from____ but few have a date...Also  for Clara there is a birth date written, but they dittoed from the birth date above it.......I think it was , however, a small dash... The actual birthdates given to middlemore homes were listed on the page....I've added those dates to my first entry above... ( there is also a weird year date before the birth dates...perhaps thos are the dates in which they were put into the homes before being sent here...
  Making note of these things for future reference, as I will link to this thread from the Resource page for Home children...  J.J.

[J.J.]

Might your Helen Mary have been split with the other children
Middlemore were associated with Fairbridge Farm School , Pinjarra Australia.
Is there a resource board for Australian home children?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wow, I only found a few home children inquiries...I wonder if we can turn up some resources in Aus...

There is this address :
The "Fairbridge" Foundation
Trust Building
155 King Street
Sydney
NSW 2000

[Tissy]

Hi J.J.,

Thank you so very much for the wealth of information you have given me. Firstly, I am not absolutely sure at this stage that this Clara and Harriet are the ones that I am looking for. I had made a fatal assumption that there would not be four children of the same names and ages born in the same area, however a very alert Rootschatter pointed out via a PM that in fact there were two Clara Hamptons born on Wolverhampton, one in the Dec 1/4 of 1896 and one in the June 1/4 of 1898. The 1898 one fits with both the 1901 Census and the shipping records.
This kind lady also pointed out that there were two Harriet Hamptons born in Wolverhampton, both in the December 1/4 of 1898, Vol 6b, pages 585 & 598, so either could be mine, or just possibly, the same entry could have been made twice. A really curly one that, however, the age again fits with the 1901 Census and the shipping records. Rest assured that I will note forget the check & check again rule ever again.
Now that brings us to the birth dates on the Middlemore Index, Clara's would be correct for the 1898 birth in the June 1/4 but Harriets is down as b August 22 which would not fit with the Dec 1/4. It would not fit in as the date of the admittance unless they were admitted in 1905, as the Siberian left Liverpool on 12 June 1906 and arrived in Halifax on June 23rd. My sincere apologies for rabbiting on like this, sorting these two out is driving me crazy.

As to Helen Mary, the only information I have on her is when she married Frank Smith in Sydney  on the 3rd of December 1924. She was recorded as Helen Mary Bull, Widow, born Wolverhampton, England.  Her Parents were listed as John Hampton, Hotel Keeper, and Mary Drayford. As I can't find any record of her coming out here under Bull or Hampton in the time frame I was looking at (family stories have it that her husband was killed in WW1 or died from woulds sustained therein), I had only looked between 1914 and 1924. I will definitely widen my search now and look for her coming as a Home Child. Thank you very much for that J.J., your help is very much appreciated.

I will certainly look into all the sites I can find regarding BHC in Australia and let you know. I did a quick Google a couple of days ago and there seems to be quite a bit.

Thank you once again for all your invaluable help.

Regards,
Tissy