Miss Annie MacPherson
Marchmont would be the name given to three of Annie MacPherson's homes in Bellville. Two which were destroyed by fire. Robbie Grey, a six year old child brought to Canada just months prior would perish in the January 1872 fire which took the first home. Following the fire the second Marchmont home was established on another street, Kingston Road, in Bellville. This home would also burn. A third would be built on it site.
"BELLEVILLE, January 29, 1872.
Marchmont was the first home Annie had in Canada, Knowlton was second to be established in 1872. Also at this time a home in Galt (now Cambridge, Ontario) was established. The Galt home was called "Blair Athol". A photo of Blair Athol can be found at: Young Immigrants to Canada. Marchmount would be supervised for about 30 years by Ellen Bilborough, Annie's sisters Rachel Merry and Louisa Birt would supervise Knowlton and the Galt Farm. Knowlton was a small, remote Quebec village in the Eastern Townships. In 1877 she turned the Knowlton home over to her sister Louisa Birt. In 1915 the Knowlton home closed and Mrs. Birt would move her work to the then Stratford home of her sister. Stratford Home closed in 1920 and the work was then moved to Marchmount in Bellville.
Dr. Barnardo would use the receiving homes of Annie MacPherson for 10 years until 1882 when he established his first home, Hazelbrae, in Peterborough, Ontario - deterred till then by the bad press and the restrictions which were placed following the publication of the Andrew Doyle report of 1875.
William Quarrier also used these receiving homes for fifteen years before he opened the Fairknowe Home in Brockville, Ontario in 1887.
Marchmount would also receive children from Mrs. Blaikies Emigration House in Edinburgh. May 11 1889 saw 16 of Mrs.Blaikies children arrive, including: Sarah Adamson, Flora Cuthbert, Lizzie Cuthbert, Mabel Grant, Agnes Lubin, Catherine McGill, Alice Moss, Alice Rutherford, Jane Rutherford, Jane Stewart, Rosana Stewart, Thomas Watson and Nellie Wright. 3 names were not legible. June 3 1890's party included Jane Alexander, Alice Dunnet, Margaret Edie, Agnes Mathieson, Alice McPhail, Joan McPhail, Agnes Merrilles, Mary Merrilles, Janet Muir, Annie Strachan and Jane Thomson.
Source for photo of Annie Macpherson: Birt, Lilian M., "The children's home-finder : the story of Annie MacPherson and Louisa Birt" (1913). The McMaster Collection. Paper 128.
http://digitalcommons.mcmaster.ca/mcmastercollection/128
http://digitalcommons.mcmaster.ca/mcmastercollection/128
Knowlton Distributing Home, Quebec
Stratford, Ontario Distributing Home
Inside the MacPherson home today
51 Avon Street was used as an administration building, the children stayed in this duplex, located next to the MacPherson Home. The current owner bought the home after WWII. Children were not allowed in the 54 Avon Street Home. Photos courtesy Doug Johnson and the Stratford Archives.
Annie Macpherson
Submitted by Norah Dennis
http://www.britishhomechildren.org/
Annie Macpherson was a philanthropist who is accepted as the pioneer of child emigration to Canada.Born in Campsie by Milton, Stirlingshire, she was the oldest of three sisters. On completing her education in Glasgow, she decided to follow her father into the teaching profession but at the age of nineteen experienced "a divine revelation" after which the love of God became the ruling force of her life. Following a brief spell in Cambridgeshire, where she undertook evangelical work, she moved to London with her mother. Appalled by the misery and deprivation she found, she immediately began mission work in the East End. She was particularly moved by the child slavery of the matchbox industry and resolved to devote her life to these children. With donations collected chiefly through The Revival paper, in 1870 she procured a large workshop which she turned into the "Home of Industry", where such children could work while receiving educatio and nourishment. Annie Macpherson was firmly convinced, however, that the real solution for these children lay in emigration to a country of opportunity An emigration fund was duly started and in the first year, 500 children, trained in the London homes, were dispatched to Canada. This was the start of a massive operation which sought to find homes and careers for 14,000 of Britain's needy children. Annie Macpherson herself made the voyage across the Atlantic over 120 times. Initally one distribution centre was opened in Ontario, but this was soon followed by other regional centres. An important section of the operation was founded in Liverpool by Annie's sister, Louisa Birt, and a number of other philanthropic societies, which recognized the benefits of emigration, made use of this network. The scheme received wide acclaim and was much copied abroad.
As well as her work on emigration, Annie Macpherson sought to help the poor in many other ways, and a number of missions, for example a Bible Flower Mission and Prison Mission, had their origins in the Home of Industry. She was a far-sighted woman whose unwavering faith enabled her to realize an idea which she believed would give opportunities to those born with none. In so doing she inspired others to follow where she had led; a philanthropist with wide-ranging insterests, she is above all renowned as the "Children's Home Finder." Her works included Canadian Homes for London Wanderers (1870) and The Little Matchbox Makers (1870).
From: A historical dictionary of British women
By Taylor & Francis Group, Inc NetLibrary, Cathy Hartley, Susan Leckey
Published 2003, Routledge
As well as her work on emigration, Annie Macpherson sought to help the poor in many other ways, and a number of missions, for example a Bible Flower Mission and Prison Mission, had their origins in the Home of Industry. She was a far-sighted woman whose unwavering faith enabled her to realize an idea which she believed would give opportunities to those born with none. In so doing she inspired others to follow where she had led; a philanthropist with wide-ranging insterests, she is above all renowned as the "Children's Home Finder." Her works included Canadian Homes for London Wanderers (1870) and The Little Matchbox Makers (1870).
From: A historical dictionary of British women
By Taylor & Francis Group, Inc NetLibrary, Cathy Hartley, Susan Leckey
Published 2003, Routledge
An Index to Children at the Marchmont Home
From the Belleville Library
Apparently part of the group from MacPherson's, Tunisian - 1907-08-02
A G Edwards, Abraham Mann, Ada Graham, Ada Jones, Alfred Corrie, Alfred Prosser, Alfred Saville, Alfred Livingstone, Alice Ross, Alice Saville, Alice Jellyman, Alice Webster, Arthur Farmer, Arthur Walpole, Catherine Baker, Constance Booth, Dorothy Booth, Ellen Livingstone, Ellen Martin, Elsie Livingstone, Emily Game, Emma Livingstone, Ethel Corrie, Ethel Walpole, Florence Ives, Frederick Bartholomew, Frederick Pooley, Frederick Cranstone, George Chapman, George Game, George Eaton, George Clements, George Cranstone, George Craig, Gertrude Corrie, Harry Comption, Jessie Graham, John Boakes, John Gawthorne, Josephy Tait, Joy May Ross, Date E Cole, Leonard Preston, Lewis Mann, Lilian Corrie, Lilian Nicholls, Lily Ives, Louisa Dangreen, Louisa Gawthorne, Lydia Jones, Marian Saville, Martha Woodings, Maud Baker, May Butcher, May A Haley, Percy Atkins, Phyllis Booth, Rhoda Trice, Rose Allison, Rose Ravwitch, Sarah Weeks, Stanley Biggs, Thomas Rochford, Thomas Saunders, Violet Livingstone, Wilfred Robbins, William Eaton, William Green, William Saville, William Kent, William Henry Coleman, Winifrred Gibson, Winifred Ings
Marchmont home, Belleville, Ontario. A group of boys from Miss MacPherson's home (London, England)
Apr., 1922
Credit: Can. Govt. Motion Picture Bureau / Library and Archives Canada / C-034837
1922-04-03 arrival aboard the Montcalm
In this party was:
Alfred Burgess, Andrew F W Hastings, Arthur Charles Newman, Arthur Oliver Powell, Arthur Thomas Cooper, Benjamin Thomas, Charles Campbell, Charles Colley, Charles Hicks, Charles Henry Ross, David Blackburn, Donald Monk, Frank James Edward Williams, Frederick Barnfather, Frederock Tambling, Frederick Herbert Vidler, George Collier, Gerald Tounce, Harry Livesey, Henry Brooks, Henry Mudd, Henry Penfold, Henry Charles Ball, Horace Littler, James Butt, James Warning, James Frith, John Macguire, John William Cain, Joseph Battersby, Joseph Irish, Leonard Clark, Leonard Rolfe, Reginald Brooks, Reginald Charles Dallimore, Richard Lionel Smith, Robert Battersby, Ronald Holliday, Sidney Herbert Knight, Thomas Lodge, Thomas Maguire, Victor Parkhouse, William Ayre, William Whitehead, William James Tankard, William James Vine
Apr., 1922
Credit: Can. Govt. Motion Picture Bureau / Library and Archives Canada / C-034837
1922-04-03 arrival aboard the Montcalm
In this party was:
Alfred Burgess, Andrew F W Hastings, Arthur Charles Newman, Arthur Oliver Powell, Arthur Thomas Cooper, Benjamin Thomas, Charles Campbell, Charles Colley, Charles Hicks, Charles Henry Ross, David Blackburn, Donald Monk, Frank James Edward Williams, Frederick Barnfather, Frederock Tambling, Frederick Herbert Vidler, George Collier, Gerald Tounce, Harry Livesey, Henry Brooks, Henry Mudd, Henry Penfold, Henry Charles Ball, Horace Littler, James Butt, James Warning, James Frith, John Macguire, John William Cain, Joseph Battersby, Joseph Irish, Leonard Clark, Leonard Rolfe, Reginald Brooks, Reginald Charles Dallimore, Richard Lionel Smith, Robert Battersby, Ronald Holliday, Sidney Herbert Knight, Thomas Lodge, Thomas Maguire, Victor Parkhouse, William Ayre, William Whitehead, William James Tankard, William James Vine
Source for the indenture contract:
http://togethertrustarchive.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/digitising-emigration-books.html#more
http://togethertrustarchive.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/digitising-emigration-books.html#more
Canadian Homes for London Wanderers
by Annie MacPherson
God's answers - A record of Miss MacPherson's work - 1882
British Children in Canadian Homes
by Ellen Agnes Bilbrough
Credit: Library and Archives Canada / C-034840
A group of Barnardo boys from Miss Macpherson's Home, London, England, who arrived at the Marchmont Home in April 1922
A group of Barnardo boys from Miss Macpherson's Home, London, England, who arrived at the Marchmont Home in April 1922
Home on the same street
photo credit, Library and Archives Canada
Although the Library and Archives Canada has identified this home as the Stratford Macpherson Home we believe it is actually a home on the same street as Marchmount.
photo credit, Library and Archives Canada
Although the Library and Archives Canada has identified this home as the Stratford Macpherson Home we believe it is actually a home on the same street as Marchmount.
1908 A group of immigrant children on route to a children's home in Stratford
Credit: Library and Archives Canada / e006611023
Government Reports from the
Sessional papers of the Dominion of Canada
A mention of Annie Macpherson by Dr. Southerland who was invited to Canada in the autumn of 1879 upon the invitation of the Minister of Agriculture as part of a group to asked to visit the Dominion to examin the resources and report on its suitability for settlement
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.
Belleville Public Library
223 Pinnacle Street
Belleville, ON
K8N 3A7
Canada
(613)968-6731
source - http://www.genealogic.co.uk
God's answers a record of Miss Annie Macpherson's work at the Home of Industry, Spitalfields, London, and in Canada
Digitalcommons@ Master University
Birt, Lilian M., "The children's home-finder : the story of Annie MacPherson and Louisa Birt" (1913). The McMaster Collection. Paper 128.
http://digitalcommons.mcmaster.ca/mcmastercollection/128
Belleville Public Library
223 Pinnacle Street
Belleville, ON
K8N 3A7
Canada
(613)968-6731
source - http://www.genealogic.co.uk
God's answers a record of Miss Annie Macpherson's work at the Home of Industry, Spitalfields, London, and in Canada
Digitalcommons@ Master University
Birt, Lilian M., "The children's home-finder : the story of Annie MacPherson and Louisa Birt" (1913). The McMaster Collection. Paper 128.
http://digitalcommons.mcmaster.ca/mcmastercollection/128
