Genealogy Chat

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Between 1869 and 1950s over 100,000 children were shipped to Canada, Australia and South Africa . Many were not orphans but were deserted or sent without parental consent and Ive listed below the some of the best sites to use:

I know there are still many youngsters not being investigated or researched, Is your child one of them?

Also some children returned to England when they hit adulthood or as soldiers in WW1 so even though they may have married here in England or are on a census it does not mean they did not go to Canada as a child. So take a chance and search for some of your family names you might find a relative.

There are are also many children in there who were born and sent between censuses. So do not actually appear on any UK census. So please search for your surnames in the databases and help raise awareness of these schemes.

If you know your home child's story, please feel free to add them to the britishhomechildren.org site, where volunteers and descendants are building a site database dedicated to telling each child's story.

http://www.collectionscanada(.)gc(.)ca/archivianet/home-children/index-e(.)html

http://www.britishhomechildren.org

http://ist(.)uwaterloo(.)ca/~marj/genealogy/homeadd(.)html

http://automatedgenealogy(.)com/index(.)html

http://freepages(.)genealogy(.)rootsweb(.)com/~tweetybirdgenealogy/

http://charsnow(.)tripod(.)com/one/

http://freepages(.)genealogy(.)rootsweb(.)com/~britishhomechildren/

http://www.middlemoreatlanticsociety.com

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Good Luck

George

Many thanks George. We have only recently heard that my husband's aunt was supposedly sent to Canada as a homechild abt.1911. I've checked the Barnados site and emailed them and we are awaiting a reply. Who knows I might be lucky with one of yours. Thanks again. Grace

thanx george, just adding my name for future ref........Moe

just nudging- I may well need this.

Thanks George, I wasn't aware that people were shipped to Canada without consent?? Bev

Thanks. Nudging for ref. Maggie

And it wasnt just Canada they went to, it was Australia, Rhodesia and South Africa too. Anywhere that would take them really, anything to stop them being a drain on the Rates. A truly disgusting episode in our national history, which only ceased in 1975 - yes, 1975. Olde Crone

My great grandfather never knew what happened to his siblings, but I know. I have traced their fate step by step from Fulham workhouse to Canada, and I now even know two of the farms that the children were placed with. The websites you list here are absolutely fantastic. This is an episode in British history that is largely forgotten but families were torn apart by the good intentions of misguided people who made no provision for these children to stay in contact with their loved ones.

Nudging for later use. Georgina.

Nudging for later use Mavis

Paul You are obviously a nicer person than me, because I am not at ll convinced that there was any good intention behind this scheme. From everything I have read (and I've read quite a lot), it was a money-saving exercise to empty the Orphanages and Workhouses, thus saving public money. Of course, there WAS a charitable aspect to it, and certainly some children really did benefit from their new life in the Colonies. But there is a pitiful and constant record of systematic abuse and neglect in their new countries, far worse than they would have endured over here (probably). Dr Barnardo, that well-thought of man, was one of the worst offenders - he started with well-meaning intentions, but got carried away and went round the streets of the large cities, virtually kidnapping any child he thought looked needy. Some parents were persuaded in their ignorance to give up their children - one woman gladly gave permission for her child to go to Rhodesia because she thought he was going on a day trip to the seaside! It was agreed amongst the Authorities that the best way to help children to settle in their new life was to tell them they were orphans - saved all that homesickness and bed-wetting. Many never found out the truth and many more only found out late in life. I have personal experience of twin boys, one who was formally adopted here, the other got sent to Australia, to the notorious Farm School. He found out only by the most unbelievable chance recently that he was in fact a twin and that his mother was still alive very recently. The other twin wants contact, but the Australian is so embittered by his experiences that he really doesnt want any contact at all, either with the twin or his birth relatives. These twin boys entered the Welfare system by a series of 'tricks' perpetrated against their mother by interfering relatives and a series of self satisfied busybodies. One did very well out of it, the other is extremely damaged by it. Sorry, get off my soapbox now! OC

thanks for that I do have a couple of children who were supposedly sent to Canada with Barnados after their Dad died and their mother could not afford to support them. I have been told by another rellie one married a Doctor the other a Teacher , but I dont know how to go about finding any more info

Valerie I believe Barnardos have some sort of tracing scheme in operation - try google? OC

nugding for future use cannot believe it happened why?

nudge

Not just Barnados involved. My Mums older half siblings were left without their Mum when she died in 1904. The four children were put in a McPherson Home in the East End and in 1909 just before their Dad remarried to my Nan the eldest child ,without his permission!!. was sent to Canada. She was 10!! and the second child .a boy aged 8 was destined to be sent to Australia. Nan married Grandad in Aug 1909 three weeks after Nell the girl was despatched and Nan after contacting the home got the Boys emigration stopped and she took the boys from the home & brought them up together with the family THEY eventually had.. Have made contact now with the children of Nell and they are very bitter for their Mum & dont have a kind word for Grandad as they feel he didnt try to find her!!.I,ve tried to explain that he wasnt able to as all info was denied to him. WE only as a family regained contact in the 1940.s when one of the daughters was here in the Canadian Nurses Corps and she made conatct with one of the brothers after lots of searching. A family torn apart Shirley

Shirley There are hundreds of heartrending stories like yours - as I said, a truly disgusting part of our national history. OC

Nudge...for checking later...I have 2 missing children after their mother died and no deaths records found. Yet another piece of British history NOT to be proud of!

Adding to my list - thank you