The Street Arab
by Sandra Joyce
The Street Arab is a powerful story of a boy from a small mining town in Scotland, whose family is torn apart by World War I and poverty. Young Robbie comes home one day to find his family missing and consequently suffers a horrific accident.
With strength and determination, Robbie rises above the obstacles of his life of deprivation. Sent to Canada, along with countless other British Home Children, he hopes for a better life. What awaits him is more then he could have imagined.
The Street Arab, written almost a century later, pays homage to one of the largest immigration schemes Canada has ever experienced. It is estimated that ten percent of Canadians are British Home Children descendants.
Copies of Sandra Joyce's book are available through her web site: www.sandrajoyce.com
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The Promise of Home
Stories of British Home Children
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The Other Half
Title: The Other HalfBookID: otherhalf-nonficAuthors: John WorbyISBN-10(13): N-O-N-E12Publisher: J. M. Dent and SonsPublication date: 1937Edition: VariesLanguage: EnglishPrice: Varies
[EDITORS NOTE: This book contains graphic passages, so please be advised that we rate it as for Older Teens and Above.]
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ASKS BAN ON BOOK
Toronto Star Saturday, March 6, 1937 London Daily Express takes most of a page to say that a book "The Other Half" written by John Worby and published by J. M. Dent and Sons, should be banned. This is the life story of a Barnardo boy as told by himself and as a specimen of low-life literature it ranks high. The author has a knack of getting tough experiences and of writing them. About 50 pages of the this book should have been killed by the publishers as unfit for any decency-loving reader. Much of the rest is less revolting than many so-called respectable books of realism. Passages here and there have a high spiritual quality. One speech of the girl-hobo to the author, in the "jungle" is real emotional gold. A good deal of the hobot scne is in Canada; the toughest parts in the United States and England to which the wastrel was deported. One page of this in a S.A. hostel is on a par with some of the worst spots in a recent slum-novel of Glasgow. What this book needed was thorough editing. Much of it is too good to destroy; a great deal of it too raw to read. Kirkus Reviews said: Aims at market of Angels in Undress, perhaps, but misses. Worby escaped from an orphan home and soon learned the tricks of the trade, how to beg, borrow and steal -- and than move on. A succession of shoddy experiences, -- meets up with homosexuals, girl hobos, is deported to England, is adopted by a wealthy woman who turns out to be a drug addict -- then back on the road. Sprinkled with hobo lingo to lend veri-similtude, but is unconvincing. |
Geordie Godfather and the Boy from Barnardo's
Title: Geordie Godfather and the Boy from Barnardo'sBookID: georgod-nonficAuthors: John "Mario" CunninghamISBN-10(13): 9781871131185Publisher: Futures PublicationsPublication date: July 2009Edition: 1stLanguage: EnglishPrice: Varies
I have no fear and some people say I have no heart, or at least, if I did have a heart it would be made of stone. I don’t react to anything on a human level in an emotional way. I have never flinched in the face of danger, never felt my heart race when confronted by violence or the threat of it and I can never remember ever shedding a tear, even when told of the deaths of family members or ‘close’ friends. I am not proud of being devoid of any human emotion, in fact I am slightly ashamed of it. I would have liked to have felt, at least a few times, the normal type of human response to fear, stress, the grief of loss, the sadness of bereavement.
Most human feelings, apart from hatred, I was born with and which should have evolved and matured were beaten out of me at an early age in the most brutal, even sadistic, environment, any child could be forced to grow up in. There was a lot more than me who endured the brutality and the never ending psychological torture of being abandoned by parents and, at the most vulnerable and raw age, being thrown into a Roman Catholic run orphanage in County Durham, England.
Within the closeted walls of St Mary’s Home in Tudhoe Village, the violence meted out to the boys by those who were supposed to be caring for the youngsters, was relentless and the indoctrination of their fertile young minds top priority. The institution would shape the boys of the future.
There is an old Jesuit saying: “Give me a boy until he is seven and I’ll show you the man.” That philosophy is something that the Roman Catholic religion has fostered and encouraged for centuries in all its institutions. It is a philosophy based on the belief that nurture, rather than nature, makes a person who they are.
In my research for this book I have met up with many of the St Mary’s old boys who are now men, like me, in their late 60s and early 70s. Virtually all had turned to crime after leaving the orphanage, many serving time at Her Majesty’s Pleasure in later life. One or two have lived their lives like recluses, frightened to even leave their homes. There were one or two old boys whose addresses I tracked down whom I couldn’t speak to. They had committed suicide.
I have no fear and some people say I have no heart, or at least, if I did have a heart it would be made of stone. I don’t react to anything on a human level in an emotional way. I have never flinched in the face of danger, never felt my heart race when confronted by violence or the threat of it and I can never remember ever shedding a tear, even when told of the deaths of family members or ‘close’ friends. I am not proud of being devoid of any human emotion, in fact I am slightly ashamed of it. I would have liked to have felt, at least a few times, the normal type of human response to fear, stress, the grief of loss, the sadness of bereavement.
Most human feelings, apart from hatred, I was born with and which should have evolved and matured were beaten out of me at an early age in the most brutal, even sadistic, environment, any child could be forced to grow up in. There was a lot more than me who endured the brutality and the never ending psychological torture of being abandoned by parents and, at the most vulnerable and raw age, being thrown into a Roman Catholic run orphanage in County Durham, England.
Within the closeted walls of St Mary’s Home in Tudhoe Village, the violence meted out to the boys by those who were supposed to be caring for the youngsters, was relentless and the indoctrination of their fertile young minds top priority. The institution would shape the boys of the future.
There is an old Jesuit saying: “Give me a boy until he is seven and I’ll show you the man.” That philosophy is something that the Roman Catholic religion has fostered and encouraged for centuries in all its institutions. It is a philosophy based on the belief that nurture, rather than nature, makes a person who they are.
In my research for this book I have met up with many of the St Mary’s old boys who are now men, like me, in their late 60s and early 70s. Virtually all had turned to crime after leaving the orphanage, many serving time at Her Majesty’s Pleasure in later life. One or two have lived their lives like recluses, frightened to even leave their homes. There were one or two old boys whose addresses I tracked down whom I couldn’t speak to. They had committed suicide.
Walk Towards the Gallows: The Tragedy of Hilda Blake, Hanged 1899
Title: Walk Towards the Gallows: The Tragedy of Hilda Blake, Hanged 1899BookID: walk-nonficAuthors: Tom Mitchell and Reinhold KramerISBN-10(13): 0802095429Publisher: University of Toronto PressPublication date: April 28, 2007Edition: 1stLanguage: EnglishPrice: Varies
On 5 July 1899 Hilda Blake, a 21-year-old maidservant in Brandon, Manitoba, who had come to Canada from England ten years earlier as an orphan immigrant, shot and killed her mistress. Two days after Christmas she was hanged, one of the few women in Canadian history to die for her crime.
Blake unintentionally left a remarkable documentary record, ranging from Poorhouse records, courts dockets of custody and criminal cases in which she was the central figure, popular, journalistic, and professional assessments of her character, and a poem, 'My Downfall', that she penned in Brandon Gaol while awaiting execution. To explain why Hilda bought a gun and why she fired it, Kramer and Mitchell employee both historical and literary techniques. The result is a richly textured story of late Victorian social, cultural, and political life.
This remarkable book - part mystery, part historical detective story - uncovers Hilda Blake's life, from her origins in Norfolk, England, to her tragic death. It also examines the lives of other principals in the story: successful Brandon businessman Robert Lane and his wife Mary, the murdered woman; Lane's business partner, Alexander McIlvride; Police Chief James Kircaldy; A.P. Stewart and his wife, Letitia Singer Stewart, the family for whom the 12-year-old orphaned Hilda first worked as a domestic servant; Rev. C.C. McLaurin, the Baptist minister who knew Hilda and counselled the condemned woman in her final days; social purity activist Dr Amelia Yeomans, who petitioned for clemency; Governor-General Minto, who urged the Laurier government to stay the execution, even Clifford Sifton, the MP from Brandon, federal minister of Immigration, and the most powerful western Liberal in the Laurier cabinet, for whom the case was a potential minefield.
As the authors write, 'We tell a story because only a story can expose the real workings of a culture, and only a story can express our protest against time.'
On 5 July 1899 Hilda Blake, a 21-year-old maidservant in Brandon, Manitoba, who had come to Canada from England ten years earlier as an orphan immigrant, shot and killed her mistress. Two days after Christmas she was hanged, one of the few women in Canadian history to die for her crime.
Blake unintentionally left a remarkable documentary record, ranging from Poorhouse records, courts dockets of custody and criminal cases in which she was the central figure, popular, journalistic, and professional assessments of her character, and a poem, 'My Downfall', that she penned in Brandon Gaol while awaiting execution. To explain why Hilda bought a gun and why she fired it, Kramer and Mitchell employee both historical and literary techniques. The result is a richly textured story of late Victorian social, cultural, and political life.
This remarkable book - part mystery, part historical detective story - uncovers Hilda Blake's life, from her origins in Norfolk, England, to her tragic death. It also examines the lives of other principals in the story: successful Brandon businessman Robert Lane and his wife Mary, the murdered woman; Lane's business partner, Alexander McIlvride; Police Chief James Kircaldy; A.P. Stewart and his wife, Letitia Singer Stewart, the family for whom the 12-year-old orphaned Hilda first worked as a domestic servant; Rev. C.C. McLaurin, the Baptist minister who knew Hilda and counselled the condemned woman in her final days; social purity activist Dr Amelia Yeomans, who petitioned for clemency; Governor-General Minto, who urged the Laurier government to stay the execution, even Clifford Sifton, the MP from Brandon, federal minister of Immigration, and the most powerful western Liberal in the Laurier cabinet, for whom the case was a potential minefield.
As the authors write, 'We tell a story because only a story can expose the real workings of a culture, and only a story can express our protest against time.'
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Ups and Downs: the Story of Nellie Winifred PlattTitle: Ups and Downs: the Story of Nellie Winifred PlattBookID: upsdowns-nonficAuthors: Michael StaplesISBN-10(13): 0887901247Publisher: Brunswick PressPublication date: 1997Edition: 1stLanguage: EnglishPrice: Varies
In 1923, Nellie Winifred Platt made a trip to find her two brothers and a sister, who had been sent to Canada in 1911 from the Middlemore Home in England. Her grandson, Michael Staples, a well known New Brunswick journalist, used her search as the focus of his book “Ups and Downs”. |
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Smithers: A True Story of Private Imperialism
Title: Smithers: A True Story of Private ImperialismBookID: smithers-nonficAuthors: Arthur E. CoppingISBN-10(13): N-O-N-E2Publisher: London, Hodder and StoughtonPublication date: c. 1912Edition: 2ndLanguage: EnglishPrice: FREE
Based on the experience of one Barnardo boy who emigrated. This book can be read for free online at OurRoots. Click the "Buy Now" button. |
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Neither Waif Nor Stray: The Search For A Stolen Identity
Title: Neither Waif Nor Stray: The Search For A Stolen IdentityBookID: neither-nonficAuthors: Perry Allan SnowISBN-10(13): 1581127588Publisher: Universal PublishersPublication date: February 15, 2000Edition: 1stLanguage: EnglishPrice: $25.95 US
Mr. Snow gives hope for researching these lost ancestors. Too many people do not know that these children were placed on both sides of the US/Canadian border. Mr. Snow's analysis of the psychological effects on the Home Children will assist their descendants in understanding how the British Home Child scheme shaped their lives. |
