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
Annie Macpherson's training home London Fields, Hackney. Children were trained here before headed to Canada.

Knowlton Distributing Home, Quebec
Stratford, Ontario Distributing Home
C1904 Annie Macpherson children arriving to Stratford, Ontario
Children stayed in this duplex, located next to the main Avon Street building. 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
Above: The July 1907 immigration party to Stratford Ontario:
Frederick E. Pooley, Fred Barthelomew, Thomas Rochford, Lewis Mann, Abraham Mann, George Craig, George Game, Albert E Little (struck off), George Chapman, Wilfored Robbins, Arthur Walpolse, Ethel Walpolse, William Henry Coleman, Leonard Preston, Alfred Corrie, Ether Minnie Corrie, Lilian M Corrie, Gertrude Marjory Corrie, Emily Game, Dorothy booth, Constance Booth, Phyllis Booth, Florence Ives,Lily Ives, Winifred Gibson, Lilian Nicholls, Rhoda Trice, Maud E Trice, Winifred Ings, Catherine Baker, Maud Baker, Jessie Graham, Ada Mary Graham, Sarah C. Weeks.
Frederick E. Pooley, Fred Barthelomew, Thomas Rochford, Lewis Mann, Abraham Mann, George Craig, George Game, Albert E Little (struck off), George Chapman, Wilfored Robbins, Arthur Walpolse, Ethel Walpolse, William Henry Coleman, Leonard Preston, Alfred Corrie, Ether Minnie Corrie, Lilian M Corrie, Gertrude Marjory Corrie, Emily Game, Dorothy booth, Constance Booth, Phyllis Booth, Florence Ives,Lily Ives, Winifred Gibson, Lilian Nicholls, Rhoda Trice, Maud E Trice, Winifred Ings, Catherine Baker, Maud Baker, Jessie Graham, Ada Mary Graham, Sarah C. Weeks.
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
God's answers - A record of Miss MacPherson's work - 1882
British Children in Canadian Homes
by Ellen Agnes Bilbrough
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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
Arrival party March 6 1923 headed to Belleville, Ontario - last name is listed first.
DERMEDY William DOUBLETT Thomas Alex. DOWNER William Charles FINDEN Jack FULTON James Robert GRACE Ruth GRIFFITH Eric Bennett GRIFFITHS Ernest Park HAWKINS Frank HILL William George HIRD Robert HUGHES Harry ADAMS Leslie Arthur ADAMS Reginald ADAMS Dorothy May BALL Thomas Bamber BARTLETT Clarence Victor BENNETT Cecil Phillip BIRCH Charles BREADMAN Edward Percy BREDBURY George Henry BROWN Charles Victor BROWN Henry James CHABEAUX Eric COLLINGWOOD Thomas COLLINGWOOD Hilda Frances COOMBES Harold CROCKER William Henry DAWS William Henry Samuel JACOBS Arthur JONES Ernest MAIDMENT James Alec MARTIN Leonard Sidney MITCHELL Louis MORGAN Arthur MURRAY William NASH Walter Henry NAYLOR Walter Edwin Reginald NEALE Edward NEWNES William Edward Lawrence PAGE Arthur PAGE Ernest PARK John Charles PARSONS Frank RICHARDS Frank W ROMANES Bertram SHARP Amelia SMALLWOOD John SMITH Dorothy STEPHENS William Henry STUART Charles James TARLING Albert TARLING Charles WALLS Henry WESTON George WILLIAMS John Frederick WINN William WINSTANLEY Joseph
Source: http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c4733/44?r=0&s=3
DERMEDY William DOUBLETT Thomas Alex. DOWNER William Charles FINDEN Jack FULTON James Robert GRACE Ruth GRIFFITH Eric Bennett GRIFFITHS Ernest Park HAWKINS Frank HILL William George HIRD Robert HUGHES Harry ADAMS Leslie Arthur ADAMS Reginald ADAMS Dorothy May BALL Thomas Bamber BARTLETT Clarence Victor BENNETT Cecil Phillip BIRCH Charles BREADMAN Edward Percy BREDBURY George Henry BROWN Charles Victor BROWN Henry James CHABEAUX Eric COLLINGWOOD Thomas COLLINGWOOD Hilda Frances COOMBES Harold CROCKER William Henry DAWS William Henry Samuel JACOBS Arthur JONES Ernest MAIDMENT James Alec MARTIN Leonard Sidney MITCHELL Louis MORGAN Arthur MURRAY William NASH Walter Henry NAYLOR Walter Edwin Reginald NEALE Edward NEWNES William Edward Lawrence PAGE Arthur PAGE Ernest PARK John Charles PARSONS Frank RICHARDS Frank W ROMANES Bertram SHARP Amelia SMALLWOOD John SMITH Dorothy STEPHENS William Henry STUART Charles James TARLING Albert TARLING Charles WALLS Henry WESTON George WILLIAMS John Frederick WINN William WINSTANLEY Joseph
Source: http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c4733/44?r=0&s=3
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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
Macpherson's ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION (LIMITED COMPANY)
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File credit: Companies House UK https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/
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"Truth" dated 4 May 1910
Doris Christie, Herbert Vine, Arthur Bryan, Stanley Pitchers, Marion Thornley
Doris Christie, aged nine, with J.P.Foley, farmer, Lansdown, Ontario. Attends to children, school daily. Terms, bord, clothing and schooling until fourteen. Dated June 6, 1907. Later report - Doris Christie, age ten, with Robert Ruddy, Lawyer, Millbrook, Ontario. Employed at housework, but principally looking after boy. Has not attended school yet, but will consider it. Terms, board, clothing and schooling to fourteen. The are "afraid" to send Doris to school lest she would become unmanageable. I reminded her of agreement and the Ontario School Law, and after Christmas I think she will be sent. Dated December 4 1908, Emigrated 1906.
Herbert Vine, aged nine, with Frederick Swayne, farmer, Cannifton, Ontario. Employed at farm chores; will attend public school next winter. Terms, board, clothes and schooling. Herbert Vine has a good employer. June 21, 1907. Later report - Herbert Vine, aged ten, with Frederick Swayne. Employed at farming; attends school daily. Terms, board, clothing and schooling to fourteen. February 24, 1908. Emigrated 1905
Arthur Bryan, age twelve, with John Elliott, farmer, Willetsholme, Ontario. Employed at farming' attended public school two months lasst winter. Terms, board, clothing and schooling. Mr. Elliott has gone west and left the boy on the farm with Mrs. Galloway. Mr. Galloway was to notify the home on the 11th inst. that he would return the boy as he is too slow and unable to milk. July 9, 1907. Emigrated 1904.
Stanley Pitchers, age eleven, with Joseph Dunkley, farmer, Campbellford, Ontario. Employed working about the home; attended public shcool last winter. Terms, board, clothing and schooling. July 23, 1907. Later report - Sidney Pitchers, with Joseph Dunkley, farmer, age twelve. Employed at farming and gardening; attended school all winter. Terms; board, clothes and schooling. No signed agreement - April 28, 1908. Emigrated 1906
Marion Thornley, age eleven, with James J McLeod, labourer, Bannockburn, Ontario. Employed at house work, attends school daily. Terms, board, clothing and schooling. Mrs. McLeod dying. When the end comes child will return to the home. February 19, 1908. Later report, Marion Thornley, age eleven, with William Warren, labourer, Bannockburn. Employed at housework. Attends school daily. Terms, board, clothing, schooling to fourteen. December 9, 1908. Emigrated 1907.
Doris Christie, Herbert Vine, Arthur Bryan, Stanley Pitchers, Marion Thornley
Doris Christie, aged nine, with J.P.Foley, farmer, Lansdown, Ontario. Attends to children, school daily. Terms, bord, clothing and schooling until fourteen. Dated June 6, 1907. Later report - Doris Christie, age ten, with Robert Ruddy, Lawyer, Millbrook, Ontario. Employed at housework, but principally looking after boy. Has not attended school yet, but will consider it. Terms, board, clothing and schooling to fourteen. The are "afraid" to send Doris to school lest she would become unmanageable. I reminded her of agreement and the Ontario School Law, and after Christmas I think she will be sent. Dated December 4 1908, Emigrated 1906.
Herbert Vine, aged nine, with Frederick Swayne, farmer, Cannifton, Ontario. Employed at farm chores; will attend public school next winter. Terms, board, clothes and schooling. Herbert Vine has a good employer. June 21, 1907. Later report - Herbert Vine, aged ten, with Frederick Swayne. Employed at farming; attends school daily. Terms, board, clothing and schooling to fourteen. February 24, 1908. Emigrated 1905
Arthur Bryan, age twelve, with John Elliott, farmer, Willetsholme, Ontario. Employed at farming' attended public school two months lasst winter. Terms, board, clothing and schooling. Mr. Elliott has gone west and left the boy on the farm with Mrs. Galloway. Mr. Galloway was to notify the home on the 11th inst. that he would return the boy as he is too slow and unable to milk. July 9, 1907. Emigrated 1904.
Stanley Pitchers, age eleven, with Joseph Dunkley, farmer, Campbellford, Ontario. Employed working about the home; attended public shcool last winter. Terms, board, clothing and schooling. July 23, 1907. Later report - Sidney Pitchers, with Joseph Dunkley, farmer, age twelve. Employed at farming and gardening; attended school all winter. Terms; board, clothes and schooling. No signed agreement - April 28, 1908. Emigrated 1906
Marion Thornley, age eleven, with James J McLeod, labourer, Bannockburn, Ontario. Employed at house work, attends school daily. Terms, board, clothing and schooling. Mrs. McLeod dying. When the end comes child will return to the home. February 19, 1908. Later report, Marion Thornley, age eleven, with William Warren, labourer, Bannockburn. Employed at housework. Attends school daily. Terms, board, clothing, schooling to fourteen. December 9, 1908. Emigrated 1907.
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.
https://macsphere.mcmaster.ca/handle/11375/14618
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.
https://macsphere.mcmaster.ca/handle/11375/14618