|
|
         
|
Home Child Introduction: Between 1869 and 1930, as many as 100,000 Home Children were sent to Canada from Great Britain. The majority of these young immigrants were between the ages of seven and fourteen, though older and younger children were also sent by many children rescue agencies in Great Britain. One of the best known of these agencies was the "Barnardo Homes" under the leadership of Dr. Thomas John Barnardo. These children were destitute by circumstances beyond their control. Hard economic times, death and illness left many families unable to care for their children in a time where there was no social assistance safety nets to help them, forcing many parents to place their children into agency homes and from there to be shipped out to Canada, Australia and the United States. Boys came to Canada as farm labourer's and girl's as mother's helpers or domestic servants. Some were treated well, many were abused, but all were usually denied any love or affection from the families they were placed with as they were "just the hired hands." Most Home Children did not receive the education promised them, and many did not receive any money for their long years of work. Being sent to Canada, in some instances without permission of their parents, resulted in many children being separated from family and friends for the remainder of their lives. They were left without background, family history, photographs, birth certificates. It is estimated that 11% of Canada's population are descendants of Home Children, but many Home Children refuse to talk about their past, largely due to the feeling instilled in them in Britain and Canada that they were weren't 'good enough.' They were children of poverty, but were seen by many Canadians as rejects, cast-offs and defective, children who's inheritance was physical, mental and moral deficiencies. Many Canadians opposed their immigration, fearful that Home Children would contaminate their 'good' Canadian bloodlines. It is amazing that under such circumstances any Home Children survived, but survive they did, to help build and contribute to a strong Canada. All Home Children and their descendants should take great pride in their heritage. A Note from the Author:
Family Tree Draw up your family tree and see where you came from. Ask parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles to help contribute. You might have a Home Child in your very own family! Many Home Children lived their whole lives not knowing who their mother or father were or never seeing brothers and sisters again. Knowing who we are makes a difference to how we feel about ourselves. Interview Interview an older relative or family friend asking them about their childhood, the school they attended, their friends, activities they enjoyed in summer and winter, chores they had to do. Many older people have lived through amazing changes and times; world wars, depression years, the advent of radio and television. Compare their childhood and activities to your own. One Home Child told the author fascinating stories of working in Saskatchewan in the wheat harvest at age 15 and living and working in a lumber camp in northern Quebec at age 17. Write a letter - Before e-mail, faxes and widespread use of the telephone, people had to rely upon letters to communicate. At the beginning of many chapters in "Home Child" are excerpts from letters Home Children wrote to the agency in England that placed them in Canada. Many children did not have anyone to talk to, especially children placed in homes in Quebec where language was an isolating barrier. So they wrote letters home telling how they felt. Imagine how it would feel if you left your family and home to come to a new land. Write a letter telling about the voyage on the boat from England to Canada and how you feel so far from home. Newspapers are signs of the times. Editorials, letters to the editor and reporting of current events give accurate and interesting insights to readers today of what a particular time era was like. The author read various newspapers from the years 1884 through to 1930 in order to get an idea how people felt about Home Children coming to Canada. One excerpt at the beginning of Chapter 8 from the Globe and Mail in 1884, tells how people felt about Home Children coming to Canada. At the beginning of Chapter 13 is an excerpt from the Daily Free Press in 1895 reporting on a manslaughter trial after the death of a Home Child in Owen Sound, Ontario. Go to the library and ask the librarian for help to read old newspapers. Pick a particular era, like the beginning of World War I, and see how people thought and felt back then. The author noted that people in 1890 through 1914 seemed obsessed with their health and any new "medicine" purported to cure anything from the common cold to warts and hair loss! Fifty years from now what will people think reading our newspapers? That we were obsessed with no fat food and New Age spiritualism? What is amazing is how far we haven't come. Important Tip: Hope you have good eyesight to read old newsprint, otherwise, use a magnifying glass! The author now has to wear glasses 3 inches thick! Discussion: How does media affect or influence our thinking? Are you able to read a newspaper article or editorial and still decide for yourself whether or not you agree with its contents? Activity: Read the letters to the editor section of your own newspaper. Select one letter and write your own letter taking a stand with or against the letter's contents. Something to think
About: Discussion: What effect does immigration have on a country - then and now? Have people changed much in their ideas that someone who appears different from themselves, be it colour, religion, language or culture, is threatening?What reasons would someone have for leaving their home and country, family and friends, to immigrate to a new land? What is status and why is it so important?Home Child is a fictional story - the characters are not real, the setting is not real and the story is not real. But it is based on true history. Research had to be done by reading books, newspapers, magazines, old letters, diaries, going through museums and archives, and interviewing real people in order to write Home Child. Historical fiction is an entertaining and exciting way to present a true period of time. Research a true historical event, and write a fictional story based on your research. Return to Top
Other Books About Home Children that you Might Enjoy Reading:
For more information on what is happening to Home Children today, write to: Home Children CanadaHome Children Canada has been instrumental in helping the author with Home Child. They can help descendants find out more information about the Home Children in their families, including ship manifests, homes they were placed in when they arrived in Canada and in some instances, can even help reunite separated families. A site with information about Home Children, created by a History Professor
British Home Children Converted to HTML by Jason Attard of LlamaTekk, 1996 |
List of Books:
