Boys Will Be Boys - A Century On

[alanmack]

Hi All,

I've recently been transcribing from source a substantial part of a passenger list from 1910 for the RootsChat DBSIG British Home Children.

The Empress of Ireland docked in St John's, New Brunswick on the 15th of April 1910 to disembark, amongst the other travellers and emigrants, a party of 96 boys bound for "MR Fegan's Boys Home" in Toronto.

The chances of that party of under one hundred individuals containing two pairs of brothers with identical names (but differing ages) is small, if not infinitesimal. Somehow Messrs Edward and William Lush have been recorded twice by the Purser. It might be by chance but I strongly suspect a sharp kick from the Devil's cloven hoof here. The brothers are recorded together on the first page and separately later on, with one as the very last name in the list.

Their 105 year old prank has at least cemented their place in history as they appear twice in the Library and Archive Canada listings too. I wonder what became of them and whether they got up to more mischief later in life.

alanmack

[IgorStrav]

Hi All,

I've recently been transcribing from source a substantial part of a passenger list from 1910 for the RootsChat DBSIG British Home Children.

The Empress of Ireland docked in St John's, New Brunswick on the 15th of April 1910 to disembark, amongst the other travellers and emigrants, a party of 96 boys bound for "MR Fegan's Boys Home" in Toronto.

The chances of that party of under one hundred individuals containing two pairs of brothers with identical names (but differing ages) is small, if not infinitesimal. Somehow Messrs Edward and William Lush have been recorded twice by the Purser. It might be by chance but I strongly suspect a sharp kick from the Devil's cloven hoof here. The brothers are recorded together on the first page and separately later on, with one as the very last name in the list.

Their 105 year old prank has at least cemented their place in history as they appear twice in the Library and Archive Canada listings too. I wonder what became of them and whether they got up to more mischief later in life.

alanmack

They'd be the ones at both ends of one of those long panoramic school photos, wouldn't they, Alan! 

Hope their lives in Canada were good - because of course it wasn't always easy for the boys in these transports.  One remote rellie of mine enlisted in the army at a very young age for WW1 reportedly on the basis of escaping from the hard 'family' he lived with.

[alanmack]

Hi IgorStrav,

They'd be the ones at both ends of one of those long panoramic school photos, wouldn't they.

My thought exactly. 

One remote rellie of mine enlisted in the army at a very young age for WW1 reportedly on the basis of escaping from the hard 'family' he lived with.

One of mine was indentured to a German family in Ontario and was only able to join the Canadian Navy after his "time" was up. I also believe he was not well treated at all, maybe even physically maltreated.

That's why I have not put the name of the people he was sent to on the database even though it is known.

alanmack

[Viktoria]

 A book" Angels from the Meadow" by James Stanhope Brown  is an account of the transporting of young boys from Manchester`s notorious "Angel Meadow" area. ( Where you could get mugged by nuns and Police dogs would only go in threes).
The boys were rescued from the streets and placed in various homes/orphanages and then sent to Canada.What they thought about that is not recorded. Some did well but others had hard lives and were really kept almost like slaves.
 One of the ships was the Cephalonia.                   .Viktoria.

[RoyLeigh]

Wonder too if they kept them guessing later on as well.

[KarenM]

A book" Angels from the Meadow" by James Stanhope Brown  is an account of the transporting of young boys from Manchester`s notorious "Angel Meadow" area. ( Where you could get mugged by nuns and Police dogs would only go in threes).
The boys were rescued from the streets and placed in various homes/orphanages and then sent to Canada.What they thought about that is not recorded. Some did well but others had hard lives and were really kept almost like slaves.
 One of the ships was the Cephalonia.                   .Viktoria.

Would be very interesting to read that book Viktoria.

Thanks,
Karen

[KarenM]

Rootschat does have a database for British Home Children, I wonder if any of those boys are in it Viktoria.

http://surname.rootschat.com/lexicon/dbsig/index.php?dbsig_num=1

K

[lemur41]

A nudge for this, because these children ( male & female !!!)  should never be forgotten. Some were so harshly treated , that they didn't survive to adulthood

There must be many FH researchers who don't find a missing ancestor, simply because they don't

know to look in the BHC register for them.

So if you have a child that disappeared, particularly between census, with no death record in Gt. Britain, just check the database.

Easy to do on here now, and you may find them

[a chesters]

Their 105 year old prank has at least cemented their place in history as they appear twice in the Library and Archive Canada listings too. I wonder what became of them and whether they got up to more mischief later in life.

alanmack

If they got into that sort of mischief at that age, I have no doubt that they would have continued later on, if only to annoy the authorities.

AC