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Research in Other Countries => Canada => Topic started by: Tony55 on Sunday 25 January 09 03:23 GMT (UK)
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Hi,
One of my Aunt's would love to find out some information on 3 of 4 uncles she never had chance to meet. Of her mother's 4 brother's, 1 was sent to Australia and the other 3 went to Canada.
Thanks to a link in the Home Children to Canada thread i've managed to find Thomas (11) George (10) and Ernest (7) Brookes shipped out from Liverpool on the 20th June 1905 to Halifax , arriving on 1st July 1905 aboard the Siberian as part of a party of 142 children from Middlemore's Homes, Birmingham.
My Aunt's mother was brought up from an early age by her grandparent's and had little to do with her brother's, their mother (Emily) died 1904 Q2 Wem 6a 430.
She would love to know if it's possible to find out what would have happened to them when they arrived in Canada so any pointers as to where to start searching would be much appreciated.
Thanks for any help you may be able to give, i've no experience at all of searching overseas information.
Regards, Tony :)
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Hi Tony.
Before anyone tried to search further for these boys I just thought I would point out that the ages given are not actually necessarily the correct age at time of sailing see explanation at : http://www.bifhsgo.ca/home_children_index_how.htm
They state that the age could be recorded in one of four ways:
1. age in years on date of application/admission
2. age at a specific date (past or next birthday)
3. age in specified month and year
4. age in a specific year
The record shows: Ships arrival June 20, 1905
Age Age Date
Thomas 11 November 1, 1904 *suggests date of admission
George 10 December 26, 1904 *suggests date of admission
Ernest 7 November 14, 1905 *suggests age at next birthday
The * statements are mine as I interpret the table for date the age given was/would be right.
dollylee
***** Tony please check for a PM on this subject
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Thanks dollylee :)
for anyone who may be able to help i have the family on the 1901 census.
RG13/2553/111/8 in Shawbury.
father,mother and the 4 boys:
William aged 11 who went to Australia
Thomas aged 8 to Canada
George aged 6 to Canada
Ernest aged 3 to Canada
their ages on the census confirms the ages given on the shipping list.
thanks for any assistance.
best wishes,Tony
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Hi Tony,
You can search the 1911 Canadian census for free at www.automatedgenealogy.com
Karen
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Looking at the passenger list they were headed for the Middlemore Home in Nova Scotia.
karen
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Hi Karen, thanks for that information,
it mentioned something about them being headed for the "lower provinces" could you give me some idea of what area of Canada that would be please?
dollylee has given me an e-mail address of an organization to contact reguarding any records they may hold, so i'm going to give that a try later tonight.
thanks very much, Tony
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Hi Tony,
The passenger lists said Halifax which is in Nova Scotia.
I'm not sure exactly what the lower provinces would be at that time :-[ , but I assume the Atlantic Provinces, not including Newfoundland and Labrador because they didn't become apart of Canada till 1949.
I know Upper Canada is now the Province of Ontario and Lower Canada is the Province of Quebec.
Karen
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:) Hi Karen,
Thanks for that, i've had a quick look at the 1911 but am afraid my geographical knowledge of Canada is limited to say the least! :-[ :-[
Hopefully it will help to tighten the search a little but i'm pinning my hopes on an e-mail i've sent!
I'm searching on behalf of an Aunt whose 86 and has no pc access except via myself, but although she's next of kin to her uncles i'm not blood related at all (she's my Aunt via marriage to my father's younger brother) so i hope they'll respond to me!
Thanks once again, Tony
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LOL Tony, it's a big country. I used to always get confused with Lower Canada and Upper Canada. I live in Ontario and Quebec is above us, so it seemed to me that we should be lower Canada ;D
Did the boys have any middle names?
Karen
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The middlemore home in Halifax was called Fairview Home.
Here's a link to a great website for the Middlemore Homes. It has the boys on there.
http://www.bifhsgo.ca/home_children.htm
Karen
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:) I have trouble with England at times so Canada i've no chance! :-[
I'm pretty certain that none of the children had middle names as they only have one name on the 1901 census and the 3 birth registrations i've found so far only have the one name.
The biggest and obviously greatest problem that i can forsee is that they were adopted and didn't retain their birth surname, so being able to access the immigration records (if they survive somewhere) is possibly my best bet!
Thanks again, best wishes, Tony
(modified- oh thanks for that, i'll have a look ) ;D
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Karen I tried the 1911 census for all of Canada and couldn't find them anywhere. I did try variables of the name but still didn't find them.
The website address you gave is the one I found and the one that hopefully, after his email will be able to help him.
I still can't believe they weren't on the 1911.....maybe someone else should check. It is so sad to think they may have had their names changed. Hopefully that would be in the records as they were usually followed by the Homes after placement.
dollylee
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No luck finding them in 1911 under Brookes or Brooks, no luck spotting them in the WWI records.
I wonder if they perhaps ended up in the US?
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I did try the 1910 U.S. Census but couldn't find anything there either. Although it might be a good idea to try again, I used exact names because of the number of entries. I also used England as birth Country.....which might have been a mistake.
Info on John T. Middlemore and his homes
http://ist.uwaterloo.ca/~marj/genealogy/children/Organizations/middlemore.html
near the bottom of the page is states:
"Until about 1932, the children were placed in the maritime provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island and also in Ontario and Manitoba."
also "More recently, the records from Middlemore homes have been copied and sent to the Library and Archives of Canada."
I wonder if that means full records of each child or just a name record of all the children.
I think Tony will be re-directed there once he gets an answer to his email.
dollylee
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Like dolly said, it seems Library and Archives Canada has some of the records.
Looks like MS 517/276 Settlement and Reports of Children sent to Canada 1905 A to H (goes to Ernest Brooks) might have some information?
Karen
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Been going crazy looking through 1911 censuses, but all I found was zip. really... :P sorry!
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Hi Tony,
As a home child descendant I wish you much luck with your research. Part of my grandfather's story (as well as many other personal stories) is in the book 'The Home Children' by Phyllis Harrison ; the background may interest you.
I am not very familiar with the Middlemore homes and I was lucky that we got a lot of information from my grandfather when he was still alive. I will keep my eyes open for you. From what I do know, I think it was unusual for siblings to stay together. They were usually separated and sent to different receiving families. If they were lucky enough to stay together, and if the family 'adopted' them, I suppose it possible they took on the family surname. Your best bet right now is if you can locate any Middlemore records.... which may have names and addresses of families the children were sent to.
I'm sorry if this is a double post, but I'm just linking you to a website which has some pointers for research on Middlemore children (scroll down):
http://ist.uwaterloo.ca/~marj/genealogy/children/Organizations/middlemore.html
Best luck!!
PS - from what I have been reading - it seems most likely the Canadian boys ended up in the maritime provinces: Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick or Nova Scotia... or possibly Ontario or Manitoba. Well that narrows it down... to about half of Canada! :)
I think 'lower provinces' would be referring to the maritimes.
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Adding to Karen's post #14 if you use the Archives Canada Online Finding Aid of:
http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf001/p000000592.pdf
This directs you to Middlemore Children's Emigration Homes then scroll down to page 18 you will see:
MS 517/276, Settlement and Reports of Children sent to Canada, 1905:
A-H. (Starts at B: Ernest Brooks)
Middlemore Number 54
National Archives of Canada Microfilm Reel Number : A-2020
This should be the film with information on all three of the boys.
dollylee
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Karen,dollylee,J.J. and Georgina,
Thank you all for your efforts and comments, i realy wouldn't know where to start with this so your help is greatly appreciated. :) :) :)
As soon as i recieve any info via e-mail i'll let you know of any results i get.
Thanks all once again, best wishes, Tony
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Ok, a very kind rootschatter has gone to Library and Archives Canada to look up the information on that microfilm.....
Thomas Brookes was first placed with the family of Hugh MacKinnon in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia where he was treated very good and givven an exemplanry reputation. He was there for 7 years, then went to the Stubbert residence in Cape Breton.
It's a very bad copy, but I think this is Thomas on the 1911 census
http://www.automatedgenealogy.com/census11/SplitView.jsp?id=72305
Karen
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Oh nice job Karen !! :D :D
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I think this is Thomas' marriage to Katharine MacPhee in 1924. He lists his father as Thomas, Emma as mother, but he has his birthplace as Cornwall, Wales :-\
https://www.novascotiagenealogy.com/ItemView.aspx?ImageFile=28-858&Event=marriage&ID=158955
K
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2009 is going to be the Year of the British Home Child ..... apparently a new database is set to start 1st February ..... Australia as well as Canada !
http://www.britishhomechildren.org/index.php?limitstart=27
Annie :)
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Now, as for George, :'( he was indebtured to Angus McSween, Dutch Brook, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.
Note from a visit by Frank Gerow "visited this boy at school. He says he is well pleased with his home. Saw Mr. McSween on the road, he gives the boy a good reputation"
Looks like George was with Mr. McSween from 1905 to 1914.
In a letter dated 16.1.25 he writes he needs his birth certificate as he is leaving for the states. He suggests his father is Thomas Brookes or Brown of Shrewsbury. He also mentions his brothers Tommie and Ernest. Letter was sent to Chief Constable.
In 1925 his address is Little Bras D'or, Cape Breton *
No birth certificate registered in Sommerset House in England
George thinks he was born December 25, 1894
* this is where Thomas was when he married Katharine that's why I think it might be him and he just dosn't know his information.
K
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Can I ask a question ?? .... why are they all Mac/Mc's ??
There's loads of McKinnons McPhees in Cape Breton !! etc
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Ernest didn't fair to well where he was placed with C.H. Musgrove a detective in Sydney Nova Scotia.
A vist Mr. Gerow states that the boy had complained of scolding. It looks like Ernest has been there from 1905 to 1910.
A letter dated 1931 "according to our books Ernest was born on the 14th of November 1897 probably in Birmingham and his father is Thomas Brookes
Dec. 6, 1912, George King writes....
"Was formerly with C.H. Musgrove, Sydney, but ran away. It was a very poor home. I followed him through many positions, errand boy, furnance stoker, labourer on cement buildings, road repairer, laying concrete sidewalks etc. Usually he left cause he was unable to stand the work. Report says he was a stead worker but a pretty rough boy. I was unable to get into the steelworks to see him"
From 1912 to 1915 his address seems to be c/o Dominion Iron & Steel Co., Whitney Pier, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.
Karen
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Well done Karen!
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Excellent Karen and the very kind unknown rootschatter who went to the Library and Archives Canada !!!!
I am sure Tony will be very grateful.
dollylee
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I just read through the entire thread dollylee and realized I posted the same link and info you did previously. Sorry 'bout that, sometimes my brain is fried by the end of the day ::)
I'm very pleased Tony has found his Brookes. Looks like Middlemore kept some relatively decent records and followed up with their boys.
Annie, the 'Year of the Homechild' will be interesting to follow. I often wish my grandpa was still around...
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;D GeorginaSR ... you can never have too much of a good thing...and that link was a good one. (and I thought very interesting).
I just can't help thinking how much that anonymous rootschatter has helped out and how surprised Tony will be to see the information here.
dollylee
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http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/cef/001042-119.02-e.php?image_url=http://data2.archives.ca/cef/gpc001/261656a.gif&id_nbr=66242
Did anyone get George's info CEF? Calls himself George Henry (Brooks) Dutch Brook, Sydney C.B.
No description for him :( J.J.
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OOh well done JJ and George states that he was born in Wales as well, so that must be Thomas' marriage to Katharine.
Karen
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Good Girl JJ ! :D
( I looked there but had the wrong spelling !! :D )
Annie
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Well, here's a shot in the dark, but now that I kick myself for not posting the adopted Thomas when I found it...as one never knows with these confused children...
This cef signup for a Thomas Gordon Stubbert...there seems to be no Thomas nor Gordon in Bras D'or...and am thinking someone actually born there would use the french pronunciation of Golden Arm?
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/cef/001042-119.02-e.php?image_url=http://data2.archives.ca/cef/gat4/125025a.gif&id_nbr=257150
Maybe Karen can use her super sleuthing skills to find the "sister " married to Gibbons to see which family he hailed from
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No, that Thomas is spoken for here is his birth registration in Nova Scotia, delayed registration, but his sister states she was present when he was born.
https://www.novascotiagenealogy.com/ItemView.aspx?ImageFile=1890-99100244&Event=birth&ID=220870
Karen
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Found this ....
PATRICK CHARLES GIBBENS was born May 30, 1880 in Toronto, ON, CAN,
and died February 03, 1937 in Vancouver BC, CAN.
He married ANNIE MAY STUBBERT June 29, 1911 in Vestry of Sacred Heart Church,
Vancouver BC, CAN, daughter of PETER STUBBERT and MARY GORDON.
She was born March 25, 1886 in Cape Breton, NS,
and died September 29, 1960 in Vancouver BC, CAN.
More About PATRICK CHARLES GIBBENS:
Burial: February 06, 1937, Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver BC, CAN
Fact: February 03, 1937, He had lived in Vancouver 27 years, in BC for 31 yrs.
Occupation: Broker
More About ANNIE MAY STUBBERT:
Fact: Sep 29, 1960 had lived in BC for 60 yrs.
Medical Information: Died at Athlone? Private Hospital
Religion: Baptist
Children of PATRICK GIBBENS and ANNIE STUBBERT are:
i. DOUGLAS CHARLES GIBBENS, b. April 25, 1910, Vancouver BC, CAN; d. February 04, 1977, Vancouver BC, CAN; m. NELLIE DICKENS.
More About DOUGLAS CHARLES GIBBENS:
Burial: February 1977, Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver BC, CAN
Occupation: Real Estate Agent
Residence: September 29, 1960, 2045 9th East, Vancouver
Residence1: February 04, 1977, 304 1685 W 13th Ave., Vancouver
ii. EILEEN PATRICIA GIBBENS, b. March 01, 1912, Vancouver BC, CAN; d. April 07, 1927, Vancouver BC, CAN.
More About EILEEN PATRICIA GIBBENS:
Burial: April 1927, Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver BC, CAN
iii. UNKNOWN DAUGHTER GIBBENS, b. after 1912 in Vancouver BC, CAN; d. Aft. February 1937; m. RAY MCILLROY.
More About UNKNOWN DAUGHTER GIBBENS:
Fact: She was living in Vancouver in February 1937, and was listed in her father's obituary
http://boards.ancestry.myfamily.com/surnames.gibbens/31/mb.ashx
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No, that Thomas is spoken for here is his birth registration in Nova Scotia, delayed registration, but his sister states she was present when he was born.
https://www.novascotiagenealogy.com/ItemView.aspx?ImageFile=1890-99100244&Event=birth&ID=220870
Karen
Oh no ! .... thought we had a good one !! ::) ::) :P
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Oh, so sorry Annie.. :P all that work......exactly why I shouldn't post spec....but then one never knows... ?
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Creamore, Wem, Shrewsbury, UK
O.K. can finally wrap my mind around the Wales / Shropshire thing...I guess Creamore was once part of Wales, or right at the border? I have to admit my ignorance when it comes to boundaries....
Births December quarter 1894
Brookes, George
dist: Wem vol. 6a p.666
an Ernest Brooks died Sydney, Cape Breton County in 1955...but you'll have to send for the image to see if it is the right person...although it might not have much more than what we see here...https://www.novascotiagenealogy.com/ItemView.aspx?ImageFile=1955-6121&Event=death&ID=375296
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I think what you see is what you get, just that you get a paper copy :-\
Karen
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:o :o :o
Karen,
I just don't know how to start to thank you and everyone else who have obviously spent hour's delving into their backgrounds, i send you all my most heartfelt thanks and if i can ever do anything to help you out please ask!
I must admit i've just shed a little :'( when i read what poor Ernest would have gone through, i'm so glad the other two seem to have faired better!
I can't understand how they wouldn't have known where they came from, they came from the Wrenbury,Edstaston,Harmer Hill area around Wem.
One thing puzzles me though, would they have been kept together when they arrived or would they have been sent straight out to placements? The thought that they wouldn't have seen each other again is hard to bear, especialy for 7yr old Ernest in a strange country, i think i will have to be careful what i tell my Aunt.
I'm going to have another read through cause it hasn't all sunk in properly yet, once again thank you all so much ;D ;D
And Karen, please pass on my most gracious thank's to your detective friend, i will be forever grateful to him.
best wishes, Tony ;D ;D
modified :-[ oh, just looked at Georges sign up paper where he cites Ernest as next of kin, so they must have stayed in touch, that's nice to know. Thanks for that J.J. should read all information before posting.
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Montgomeryshire and Shropshire?..The reason I thought all was making sense was because some of my
ancestor's family were registered as Atcham, Montgomeryshire and some Shrewsbury...
Creamore is only a mile North of Wem... also sometimes people remember where they were raised, rather than where they were born ?
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Hi J.J.
The Shropshire/ Mongommeryshire border changed quite often over the ages. My OH has family from Newport way and they jump between England and wales a couple of times in the census, yet they didn't move from the same village!
Makes searching more fun. ::)
Tony
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Hi Tony,
On arrival in Canada, the 'home children' would have been sent to a 'receiving home', in the Brookes boys case probably the Middlemore home in Fairview, Nova Scotia, until a home was found for them or they were interviewed and 'chosen' by a farmer. From what I've read there was little attempt to keep siblings together or in contact after that.
The farmer would be expected to train them, and provide room and board and education. The children did not always receive education or proper care despite the fact that this was supposed to be monitored and reported on by the agency. From any little earnings, the child was also expected to reimburse their agency for their passage to Canada (at least in the case of my grandfather - other organisations may have been different).
For some good background on the homechild movement, here is something by the Ontario Heritage Foundation:
http://www.heritagefdn.on.ca/userfiles/page_attachments/Library/1/1730820_Home_Children_ENG.pdf
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I suppose this does not add much more to what we already know but this appears to be George in the 1911 census:
http://www.automatedgenealogy.com/census11/View.jsp?id=72069&highlight=46&desc=1911+Census+of+Canada+page+containing+Angus+McSween
Except his age seems wrong...
Getting frustrated trying to view the NovaScotiagenealogy records... keeps crashing my browser!
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Good job on finding George...I was still looking for Ernest yesterday... he was so young when he came. They had no business putting these children that were that young into homes as workers...That "constable" he was with was in his late sixties.
I guess the b. 1905 birth threw me off in my earlier searches as there were lots of Brooks/Brookes home children. It clearly says 18?5, (age 16) and so I should have looked at the image so good for you Georgina!
Still haven't found Ernest as a solid find...but he may turn up yet...
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Hi, Tony! What was the name of the child who went to Australia as I will add the name when I add this thread to the BHC resource page. I list all those I find on rootschat and refer to the pages in which they are mentioned...
By the way can you modify to change the word in the subject line to Children so that the keywording is there for when people search for Home children Brookes/Brooks
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Hi Georgina,
Thanks for that information and the links, i've so much stuff to read through now, before i posted the question i had no idea of what some of those poor children had to go through :( i'm currently reading The Little Immigrants and some of it is very distressing. :'(
Hi J.J.
The name of the eldest boy was William, he was 11 on the 1901 census so would have been 15/16 at the time the others went to Canada. I would have thought he was almost old enough to make his own way in England. I've no idea whether he left around the same time as his brother's or not.
I've altered the thread title (i hope) hope that helps.
Thanks all for your help,
Best wishes,Tony
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HI Tony,
I have the same book, The Little Immigrants, have you read the story of Horace Weir and his siblings, I cry every time I read it. They were sent from B'ham to Middlemore homes as well in Nova Scotia.
Karen
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Hi Karen,
Have just read the piece about George Green and Helen Findley :'( i'm finding it very discomforting to read i must admit, but i'll persevere , i keep thinking of poor Ernest as i read it! :(
Best wishes, Tony
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I've been negligent reading more books on the topic because it is so distressing and close to me, but I probably should. :(
I'm really quite amazed that all this is not taught in school and I had no idea about any of it until much later.
My grandfather would not speak of it to his children or wife until decades after the fact and being approached about the book may finally have been the catalyst. If you happen to read Phyllis Harrison's "The Home Children", I believe his story is titled "I was told it was a lovely farm, boy what a jolt I got" (I don't have it at hand). With his first farmer he slept in a pile of straw in the barn for the first 6 months, worked 16 hours a day and had to pull raw veg from the garden to sustain himself. He received no further formal education. He was 14. I take some comfort in the fact that the farmers in the last two years of his contract were much kinder to him with the last treating him 'like a son'.
His report from the agency in all this time is a few lines. Saying... he is doing well, healthy, giving satisfaction to his employer.... and "unable to attend church".
What makes it most sad is he had some family back in England (all whom he never saw again, except his brother), and an uncle in Canada who said he would have adopted him, had he known at the time. But after his mother died, his father - a Naval officer - made the decision to send him off and that was that.
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Hi Georgina,
I, like you, had no idea of the problems these children had to endure. I was under the impression that they were placed with someone and their welfare was closely monitered. From some reports i've seen they were not watched too frequently and the reports were often just a quick comment and things were fine.
Like your grandfather these boys still had a father and an older sister who was being brought up by grandparents, and no doubt other relatives, to be put in a home and shipped to a strange place seems a terrible thing to do, though without knowing their background in Shropshire it's hard know what they were leaving behind.
I plan on doing a lot more reading on the subject and trying to find out what happened to them, it would be a shame for them just to pass into obscurity, i guess my Aunt must have relations somewhere in Canada/America
Thanks for all your help and comments.
Best wishes,Tony
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HI Tony,
They say 1 in 10 Canadians is descended from a home child, but since it was such a stigma, alot don't know about it :(
Karen
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Karen :)
I've just looked Canada up on Wikipedia and they state a population of 33,537,000 , so that makes an estimated 3,5 million people that were from home children who would most likely have relatives over here :o and i would guess that most, like myself until a few weeks ago, would know nothing about them.
It seems a very sorry state of affairs that the records that could reunite distant relatives are so hard to access!
I hope freedom of information and a greater awareness of their history helps many familys make a connection in the future.
Best wishes, Tony
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Just thought i'd post an update which may be of use to other searchers of Middlemore children.
Firstly i've not as yet received a reply to an email i sent several weeks ago so have been in touch with the Middlemore organisation which still operates at Weoley Castle in South Birmingham. I've been informed by them that all their archives have been handed over to The Birmingham Archives at the Central Library. We wrote to the library just over a week ago and yesterday received a reply stating that if we can supply details of the boys birthdates and destination country they will do a search through the records and inform us of what they hold and we will be able to view them! ;D There was no mention of any fees though i guess if we want copies there will be a charge.
Thanks to the information received on here i'm sure we have enough for them to do a search so i'll post any results when we receive them,
Best wishes,Tony
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Good job Tony, I look forward to hearing the news when it arrives.
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Thanks for giving us an update Tony! Looking forward to hearing how you make out.
Karen
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to be put in a home and shipped to a strange place seems a terrible thing to do, though without knowing their background in Shropshire it's hard know what they were leaving behind.
Well at long last i've managed to answer the above...visited the Birmingham Archives today for the first time and would just like to say how helpful and plesent the staff there are :)
All of the Middlemore records are catalogued (but are to be re-catalogued shortly) and the records vary greatly according to the familys predicament.
I first looked through the Case Book which is a large cloth bound book that lists the names of the people involved (children/parents) date of admittance and destination/departure date to foreign lands.
Next i looked through the Admittance Book which is a very heavy thick leather bound volume that covered "males" between approx 1903 and 1919. everything is in date and case number order so it's easy to work through.
I'll write below what the entry consisted of so anyone else looking for Middlemore information will get an idea of what they may find (though compared to some of the cases i looked at it was quite short, some contained newspaper clippings concerning court cases where the parents were jailed for cruelty, in one case a mother of two young girls who got 6 months hard labour) :o
"very ragged and dirty, quite the street arabs, body and heads very verminous.
legitimate. yes
Mother dead, father a drunken,lazy,dirty fellow...he has been sent to prison 3 times for cruelty to his boys. the house is in a most filthy state and alive with vermin. boys are in the habit of begging their food and staying out very late at night. no furniture or bedding in the house, they sleep on filthy rags"
the above copied from W.E.B.Kersley's letter of 22nd Sept 04
reccomended and bought here by W.E.B.Kersley......Accepted.
PC Missionary, Shrewsbury.
apart from the boys and fathers names that is the complete entry.
as saddened as i was to find out some of the hardships the children suffered on reaching Canada it's certainly helped to put it into perspective knowing what they left behind !
all i have to do now is read through the individual case notes on my next visit and get the full picture of their final months in England and comments on their record in Canada.
:)Would just like to thank once again all those that helped me get this far (i wouldn't have had a clue) and although i don't want to make it a general offer at this time because my visiting time is limited, if anyone has someone from Middlemore they would like looking for and have their name and year of entry i'll do my best to find any entries there may be for them.
thanks for your interest
best wishes,Tony
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Thanks Tony....as hard as it was to write the truth, it is appreciated...there are many who believe that all these children were taken from home & country to become drudges in Canadian households, and while many did take advantage of & mistreat the poor wee ones, there were many with good hearts who took them in as family. Also with a bkgd of no parenting, such as in the case above ...it must have been hard on all involved to cope with it all. all the best, J.J.
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Hello Tony,
I'm glad you were able to find out more and that the Middlemore records still exist!
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I think Earnest may be my great grandfather
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Hello Robin_johnson73 The poster Tony55 has not been active on here for a couple of years. I will private message him that there is an answer to his post in case his notification has been turned off which can happen when there is a major overload on this site. No guarantee his email still works but worth a try!
Noting that he never gave more information on the family back in England, and was surprised to see that the Rootschat database on the children does not refer back to this thread.
For those searching from Canada though, here is a start...
Marriages March quarter 1888 Wem district vol. 6a p. 938
Thomas BROOKES & Emily Franks
I believe this must be the family on the 1901 census...
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XSQH-V61
It appears that George & Thomas found each other - living together in the 1921 census
http://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?app=Census1921&op=img&id=e002903241
BROOKES, Mart 1888 June Quarter WEM district Vol 6A p. 726
BROOKES, William 1889 June Quarter NANTWICH district Vol 8A p. 394
BROOKES, Thomas - not sure which birth reg. is his https://www.freebmd.org.uk
BROOKES, George 1894 Dec Quarter WEM district Vol 6A p. 666
ERNEST BROOKES 1897 Sept. Quarter ATCHAM district Vol 6A p. 642
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There is now a death which looks more to be Ernest's, 1858 ...Mrs' Thomas Brooks, Sister in Law signed off on the cert.....Date of birth Nov 4th 1897, born England, father Thomas.
https://www.novascotiagenealogy.com/ItemView.aspx?ImageFile=1958-5351&Event=death&ID=414697
Unfortunately he was single... so not your Ernest Robin_johnson73
adding, just found death for George, still using middle name of Henry, it is he as although date of birth differs, and still states wales, the parents are named perfectly. His wife is Mary
https://www.novascotiagenealogy.com/ItemView.aspx?ImageFile=1962-1088&Event=death&ID=435277
Buried at United Baptist Church cemetery
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