Canadian "Home Children" from Britain by Tallted

[tallted]

I am a Canadian.  My Maternal Grandfather and Grandmother were what are called"Home Children" here in Canada.  These were waifs from the U.K. who for one reason or another were not wanted be their parents or were street children.  A number of Institutions in the U.K. took these children and arranged for them to be sent to Canada and the U.S. for indentured service.  In the case of my Grandparents I had to search and search for lack of family information until I got lucky.By a stroke of luck and a few things my Mom had told me about them when I was small I was able to connect a few things, a name change of my Grandfather included.  I was also surprised to find my Grandmother was of the same tragic circumstance.  They both apparently were sent here by the Dr. Barnardos Institute for Children.  I was lucky that this institution still had the records of my Grandparents and sent them to me. 
This practice of Home Children existed in the U.K. from 1846 to the early 1990's.  There were a number of Institutes involved.
I am posting this as I have not encountered any Canadians on this site.  If any of the other members run into some Canadians who may not know the above it is possible I could impart what I went through to find my Grandparents so as they may find theirs.  I have as yet to find any relatives in the U.K. though I know some must exist and I am hopeful.

Thanks for reading  this and maybe we can help a few more connections.
Tallted

[Ros Fornaro]

A cousin and I traced a relative Mary Waterston who was orphaned in Glasgow in 1878 and placed into a Quarrier Home when she was eight.  She was later sent on the "Buenos Ayrean"  to Camden East in Ontario.  Recently I have found that she married and has a son in California.  Hopefully a happy ending for her but there are many sad stories of orphans being very badly treated.  They were also sent to Australia.

Ros
Western Australia

[RJ_Paton]

As Ros has said above it was not all sweetness and light for many of what are now called the "homechildren" have alook at
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~britishhomechildren/

or the Candian Centre for homechildren at
http://www.homechildren.ca/

or further tales of mistreatment in Quebec
http://www.townshipsheritage.com/Eng/Articles/Research/homechildren.html

[RJ_Paton]

It may also be of interest to read
http://www.barnardosclassaction.com/

which is details of a class action suit by Canadians against Barnardos in respect to the "Homechildren".

[Little Nell]

I have two "Home Children" (great great uncles) who were sent to Canada by Barnados.  When their father died in 1900 (Mum already died in 1899), one of their elder brothers (not the eldest) was quite prepared to have them live with him and his wife.  But sadly despite this, both were sent to Canada.  Their descendants still live there today.  Its strange though that their younger sister was not taken in by Barnados.  I still have to find what happened to her.

Nell

[casalguidi]

Hi Nell

My late father in law was orphaned in 1947 - 3 brothers were sent to one home whilst the youngest was sent to another.  We've no real explanation except that the youngest was "under 5" and sent to some kind of nursery.  We weren't able to find this out from the authorities because they are not public records (under 100 years old) and, although they did send a summary of late father in law's admission/discharge etc., they didn't mention any of the brothers.

Luckily, the three eldest were fostered (eventually) by the same couple though father in law never knew what became of the baby.  We are now in touch with him but it wasn't until after father in law died which is a shame.

One interesting fact given us by the Greater London County Council is that father in law was recommended for emmigration to Rhodesia - it was to be his own decision apparantly - but he was fostered in the meantime.  Though he spoke about his time in the home, lost baby brother, fostering etc., he never once mentioned anything of this proposed emmigration to Rhodesia.  Nor did the two brothers who were in the same home and fostered by the same couple know anything about it.  After reading "Empty Cradles" and other similar books & articles, we doubt that he was even aware of the proposals.

One of my correspondants, distantly related, has a grandfather who was a home child sent to Canada - records say that his parents were deceased but according to our research they weren't!  Nor are the parents names in the records correct - correct Christian name for father but he has the maiden name of the mother.  The mother has maiden name (the other one - she used two!) but incorrect forename.  We are definite about the parents because the records mention 3 siblings with more unusual forenames but that is about the only thing that is correct!  One of these siblings (formerly in the workhouse) was back living with the mother in a later census! The other two were elder and not in "care".  Fortunately, the English parentage was discovered before the home records!

Best wishes

Casalguidi

[RJ_Paton]

I have friends who were brought up (for different reasons) within the Quarriers environment and speak very highly of their life there. I personally had no reason than to think very highly of such organisations  . However recent revelations and other pieces of information which have came my way through the course of my employment have forced me to reconsider my opinions.

[Biker]

Recently there was an excellent radio series on this subject on BBC Radio4.

You can still listen to the series (if of course you have PC speakers) here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/child_migrants.shtml
There is also some useful addresses and information at the bottom of the page.

Regards
Jonathan

[Kazza]

Hi Ted,

Thank you for sharing the sad story of your Grandparents with us,  hopefully it will help you make connections and further your knowledge of the subject.

I am moving this topic into the Canada Emigrants board where it will be seen by researchers with Canadian Links and expertise.

Good Luck,

Kazza.