HISTORICAL
Imagine a child aged five or younger placed in a home in Birmingham, England, called Middlemore, in 1898, because her family is too poor to keep her, or a parent has deserted or died, or she has been orphaned. As the population of Britain burgeoned and shifted to the big cities in the late 19th and early 20th centuries this happened often.
These young people, called British Home Children and later “the little immigrants, were shipped to Canada as a result of an agreement between our country and Britain. As one person put it, they were also called “victims of the times in that they could not return to their previous circumstances. Unlike Britain, Canada, largely a rural country, especially before 1900, was in need of population and eager to give these children a new start in life.
Approximately 100,000 children and young adults emigrated between 1869 and 1948. Today their descendants make up about 12 per cent of the population. They™ve excelled in every field of endeavour.
Yet the circumstances of their arrival in Canada were beyond heartbreak. They journeyed in ship™s steerage over a vast ocean, experienced the grief at leaving what they knew and the anxiety about their new homes in a strange land. They had no one to lean on. In some cases, they did not know their own identity.
Most of the children who came to the Maritimes left from Middlemore emigration home and many of them were placed in homes in Cape Breton to work as domestics or farmhands. They had names such as Lloyd, Francis, Haden, Scott, Roberts, Drew, Willets, Elson, Bishop. Much was expected of them even at an early age.
Clara Scott, born August 5, 1898, was placed in the Middlemore emigration home because her father died and her mother was too ill to look after her. She emigrated to Canada at the age of five, in 1903. Her brother Walter, aged 11, arrived at the same time and was placed in Pictou. Clara came to Sydney and lived with the widow, Mrs. Isabella MacLean. The last time she saw her brother was through a fence in Halifax in 1903. Clara™s granddaughter, Dawn Hopkins, lives in Port Morien and spends, with other likeminded descendants, a good deal of her time researching the home children of Cape Breton and honouring their memory.
So many stories. So many beginnings, with such
heartache. Not all British Home Children fared well.
Some children were abused even in spite of yearly inspections. Yet they
survived to marry, became productive citizens and had families which
strengthened our country.
In this province, there is a society preserving their memory and honouring their contribution to Canada. It is called the British Home Children and Descendants Association of Nova Scotia. It™s annual gathering is in October in Truro. Here™s what they would like to see happen: They want 2009 to be declared the “Year of the British Home Child. In addition, they are advocating for a stamp or a commemorative coin. By using this e-mail you may learn more about their plans: bhc@seascape.ns.ca
If you wish to learn about the research being done, you may access the British Home Children website www.bifhsgo.ca
LeRoy Peach
17 February 2008
