British Home Children
A new website has been set up by descendants of British Child Migrants (BCM). The website is an extension of the British Home Children Mailing List hosted by Rootsweb and contains many useful resources and contact details. For more information see:
http://www.britishhomechildren.org/
Can You Help?
Recently, I have been contacted by Gail Smith of Lake Linden in the USA. Gail told me about a little known source of records for a very
small number of Home Children - the records of children sent by the Children's Farm
Home Association of London to the Elinore Home Farm, of Nawigewauk, New
Brunswick, Canada.
Gail writes, "The organization was run by Mrs. Elinore Close, of London. It was a small, short-lived organization which appears to have only been in operation from about 1903 to1913 and only sent 26 children. These records contain only a small amount of information but are the only known records for this organization and these children."
Hampton, New Brunswick
Who are or were British Home Children?
On the 24th February 2010, the then Prime Minister, Gordon Brown apologised for Britain's Child Migrants Programme. British government records show that at least 150,000 children were sent to Commonwealth countries. See
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/gordon-brown-says-sorry-to-child-migrants-1908833.html
On the 16th November 2009, Australian PM Kevin Rudd apologised to former Home Children for the abuse suffered in Australian orphanages. Around 7,000 children were sent to Australia from Britain as part of the 'Home Children' emigration policy that lasted until 1967. See http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6917867.ece
Some, but not all, of these children were orphans. Many were sent willingly by parents who believed they would have a better life. Others were taken from unmarried mothers and care homes.
For more about the experiences of Australian victims of this policy, see Margaret Humphreys' book, Empty Cradles (1994). The book has recently been re-issued to coincide with the release of the Jim Loach film, Oranges and Sunshine (2010). The film was based on the struggle of Margaret Humphreys CBE OAM in her work to help former child migrants. Margaret went on to found the Child Migrants Trust in 1987
http://www.childmigrantstrust.com/
Clients from around the world have contacted me, wanting to know more about their relatives' British homes and families. I can help with British - particularly English and London - records, but many records are still protected by privacy laws. Relatives may thus need to access some records directly.
A Canadian client has kindly sent me a list of websites and contacts that she has found useful in the initial stages of her research. We hope they help other families in their search for the truth.
Another client has set up a Facebook group [http://www.facebook.com] - Descendants of British Home Children-Lambton County Branch - where interested parties can get in contact.
Informative blog by The Victorianist on the Victorian philanthropist, Maria Rye, and her involvement in sending children to Canada can be read at: http://thevictorianist.blogspot.com/2011/05/bound-for-streetsunless-kindly-hearts.html
For academic articles on the subject, please see http://www.history.ac.uk/ihr/Focus/welfare/articles/constantines.html
BARNARDO'S
The Barnardo Home for Boys was by far the largest sending agency and some of the smaller homes gave their case files to Barnardo's so they have a larger archive. An initial search of their archives costs £15. For more information on Barnardo's records seehttp://www.barnardos.org.uk/who_we_are/history/family_history_service/family_history_service_trace_your_family_history.htm
Another significant organisation was the Waif and Strays' Society [now the Children's Society - http://www.childrenssociety.org.uk]. For historical information see: http://www.hiddenlives.org.uk
MIDDLEMORE HOMES
Library and Archives of
Canada http://www.archives.ca/
395 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0N3
Canada
(613)996-7458
History of events and a list of sending agencies for different colonies:
http://www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/@dh/@en/documents/digitalasset/dh_4090030.pdf
For information on the Catholic Children's Protection Society (CCPS), contact www.nugentcare.org
You may also find children sent by CCPS in the Quebec City Passenger Lists Index at
http://collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/passengers-quebec-1865-1900/001082-100.01-e.php
Ontario Libraries with special collections on Home Children and juvenile immigrants
Belleville Public Library
223 Pinnacle Street
Belleville, ON
K8N 3A7
Canada
(613)968-6731
The Belleville Public Library has collected items on the Marchmont Home. They have a card index with the names of the children that were sent to Marchmont. This index is not complete.
Hamilton Public Library
55 York Blvd
P.O. Box 2700
Station A
Hamilton, ON
L8N 4E4
(416)529-8111
(416)529-5326
(Although
Dr. Stephenson's home was in this city for some considerable time the
library has very little information about the home. The city directory
can be used to trace the home but they have no information on the
children.)
St. Catharine's Public Library
Special Collections
St. Catharines Public Library
54 Church Street
St. Catharines, ON
L2R 7K2
(905) 688 6103 EXT 220.
Non-summer hours are 10-9 Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday,10-6 Friday and 9-5 Saturdays. Closed Monday.
Special
Collections on Home Children include information on the Maria Rye home
on Niagara-on-the-Lake; the most popular books on the topic (these are
circulating books); and immigrant children passenger lists from the NAC.
These are not available for loan and are on 4 reels of microfilm.
(Thanks to Gail Benjafield, SPCOLL Librarian for this information.)
Other Libraries
Kingston Public Library
London Public Library (Ontario)
Brockville Public Library
Sherbrooke Public Library (Quebec)
Provincial Libraries with Archives
Provincial Archives of Alberta http://www.culture.alberta.ca/archives/12845 - 102nd Ave
Edmonton, AB
T5N 0M6
Canada
Provincial Archives of British Columbia http://www.bcarchives.bc.ca/bcarchives/default.aspx
655 Belleville Street
Victoria, BC
V8V 1X4
(604)387-1952 or (604)387-5885
Provincial Archives of Manitoba http://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/
200 Vaughan Street
Winnipeg, MN
R3C 1T5
Canada
(204)945-3971
The
Archives has a book which was kept by the Superintendent of the Russell
Farm. It does contain the names of some of the children that were sent
to Manitoba. I have found nothing on the Children's Aid Society or the
Girl's Friendly Society in the Archives although both sent emigrants to
that province. I also checked out the Winnipeg Public Library but they
do not have any material related to these organizations.
Provincial Archives of New Brunswick http://archives.gnb.ca/Archives/default.aspx?culture=en-CA
P.O. Box 6000
Fredericton, NB
E3B 5H1
Canada
(506)453-2637 or (506)453-2122
Public Archives of Nova Soctia http://www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/
6016 University Ave.
Halifax, NS
B3H 1W4
Canada
(902)424-6060
Archives of Ontariohttp://www.archives.gov.on.ca/
134 Ian Macdonald Boulevard
Toronto, ON
M7A 2C5
Canada
(416)327-1600 or
1-800-668-9933 in Ontario or Quebec
Public
Archives of Prince Edward Island http://www.gov.pe.ca/cca/index.php3?number=1004626&lang=E
P.O. Box 2000
Charlottetown, PEI
C1A 7N8
Canada
Bibliotheque
Archives nationales du Quebec http://www.banq.qc.ca/portal/dt/accueil.jsp?bnq_resolution=mode_1024
Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec
Cite universitaire
2275, rue Holt
Montréal, PQ
H2G 3H1
Canada
(418)643-8904
Saskatchewan
Archives Board http://www.saskarchives.com/
P.O. Box 1665 (located at 3303 Hillsdale St)
Regina, SK
S4P 3C6
Canada
(306)787-4068
Canadian Pacific Archives (Railroad and Ships) http://www8.cpr.ca/cms/English/General+Public/Heritage/default.htm
Canadian Pacific Limited
Windsor Station
P.O. Box 6042, Station A
Montreal, PQ H3C 3E4
514-395-6962
and Pier 21 in Nova Scotia has a great museum with information on Home Children http://www.pier21.ca/research/collections/the-story-collection/online-story-collection/british-home-children/
Peel Heritage Complex http://www.peelregion.ca/heritage/
Mississauga Central Library http://www.mississauga.ca/portal/residents/centrallibrary
the North York Central Libraryhttp://www.nypl.org/ ,
Library and Archives Canada http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/index-e.html
Canadian Genealogy Center (who delve into ships lists, home children, immigration, ports of call, military etc.) http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/genealogy/index-e.html
Contacts
John Sayers (member of The British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa) sayersji@sympatico.ca helped clients to find records within Canada.
Perry Snow is considered to be an authority on British Home Children. He has written a helpful book, Neither Waif Nor Stray: The Search for a Stolen Identity ( ISBN: 9781581127584) , and runs the following website:http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~britishhomechildren/