Smyly Orphan Homes of Dublin, Ireland
Ellen Smyly
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Ellen Smyle was a wealthy Protestant activist in Dublin, Ireland who founded homes in Ireland. In her notes, she says that she gave priority to the admission of Catholic and interfaith children. Her biggest foe in Ireland was a Catholic woman by the name of Margaret Aylward. Ellen Smyly believed that the sinful nature of the poor contributed to their poverty and that their salvation would come through religious involvement. Margaret Aylward, on the other hand, believed the opposite, that sin was the result of poverty. Most organizations would limit themselves to helping those within their own denomination, but both Smyle and Aylward openly confronted conversion thus waging a very public battle.
Ellen Smyly opened her first Bible School in Dublin in 1850 and by 1870 had established six schools and residential homes for poor and destitute children. By 1883 the number of children said to have been cared for in her homes and schools was 1,578. By the 1870 Ellen was sending children to Canada through the Marchmount Homes. In 1905 they began sending children to The Coombe in Hespeler, Ontario. The Coombe was a home which was built in 1858. Ellen Smyly had began her work at the age of nineteen and in 1844 married a medical doctor. They |
would have eleven children, many who would help her in her homes and schools. Ellen Smyle died at the age of 86 in 1901. Her daughters Annie and Ellen would take over management of the homes. In Canada they would set up receiving homes. Placement of a child required filing an application, for which $3 was charged.
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Historical documents on Smyly can be found:
http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c10258/1483?r=0&s=4
http://www.childrenshomes.org.uk/CanadaSmyly
Paul Langdon's book: http://fliphtml5.com/xbry/hoai/basic
http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c10258/1483?r=0&s=4
http://www.childrenshomes.org.uk/CanadaSmyly
Paul Langdon's book: http://fliphtml5.com/xbry/hoai/basic
From the Grace Schmidt Room
P000530 WHS - Courtesy of Kitchener Public Library
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| postition_of_the_home.jpg |
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| smyly_terms_of_placement_1905.jpg |
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Application for c1914 showing Smyly was also charging a $3 application Fee. Barnardo's also charged this along with other various organizations.
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1905 information booklet
| hespler_booklet_smyly_1905.pdf |
1909 Arrival Party
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Aug 1906 party of boys
| August 1906 party of boys |
c1907 Smyly boys working at Hespler
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1914 children gathering at Hespeler
Arrival 12/05/1906 TUNISIAN
James Abbott, George Baker, Thomas Burns, George Corbett, Abraham Dantreen, Ernest Dixon, Albert Duffy, John Forbes, Charles Gill, Bertha Holms, Elizabeth Keith, John Lowe, Joseph Shaw, Bertram K Sweeny, Robert WEst, Samuel Wheller, John Wilson
There are 17 children noted on the LAC Database for this group.
James Abbott, George Baker, Thomas Burns, George Corbett, Abraham Dantreen, Ernest Dixon, Albert Duffy, John Forbes, Charles Gill, Bertha Holms, Elizabeth Keith, John Lowe, Joseph Shaw, Bertram K Sweeny, Robert WEst, Samuel Wheller, John Wilson
There are 17 children noted on the LAC Database for this group.
Tracking the history of an antique trunk to local Smyly Home
an article by Paul Langan
The Smyle Home Trunk owned by Paul Langan
George McDowell trunk
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[left column] - Transcribed by Dawn Sheppard
Robert West Abraham Vantreen [Vautreen] William Hunt (wounded) James Guilfoyle John Burns [Binns] Arthur O’Connor David Black James Burke William Millen Thomas Carway Harry Elston Neville Oldfield Joe Snodgrass Albert Graves Fred Johnson Charlie Webb Alexander Walters Arthur Hodgins James Beattie 806708 John Sims Pat Bradney Monsell [Mansell] Autisell [Antisell] Evans Autisell [Antisell] Sam Kenderick James Clemens Sam McEnnery |
[right column]
Cecil Duffy Percy White (wounded) William Clarke 633317 James Shipp Joseph Smiler Willie Gill Charlie Gill A McNabb John Shanks Tom Wafer George Baker Dick Williams (killed at Festinbirt) [not familiar with that place name, so may be incorrect] Some also came before we had Hespeler Tom Lambert Bobbie Low Tom Newton Walter Shipp None of these names on our lists C.L.F. Coombe Home Hespeler Noted C.L.F. Miss Fortier [?] VBN 383725 |
Smyly Homes
15 Rockhill
Blackrock
Co. Dublin
Ireland
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_Smyly
The following article was taken from the K-W Record Thursday October 12, 2000
by Mirko Petricevic
Record Staff
Peering north acrost the Speed River and into the past, Paul Langan can see
a monstrous stone building that was a refuge and a house of horrors.
The giant home is in plain view, but its history i hidden by the passage of
time.
So Langan has written a book to tell Cambridge residents the story of Jacob
Hespler' mansion on the west side of Guelph Ave at Fisher Mills Road.
Betewwen 1905 and 1947 the maze of rooms inside the mome, dubbed the Combe
Orphanage, housed children from Ireland, England and Ontario.
Before the First World War, about 40 boys and girls in orphanages in
Ireland were brought to Hespeler each year.
They were among more than 125 000 children known as Home boys and girls
shirpped to Canada by numerous socail agencies in the British Isles
After arriving in Canada, many were placed on local farm where the boys
sweated in fields and girls served as house maids.
"A lot of people in Hespler don't even know about the Coombe" Langan said.
"It was a piece of history I felt wasn't captured."
So Langan has written a 30-page book which includes 24 black and whilt photos.
Langan interviewed about half a dozen men and women who lived at the Coombe
during some of the last years it was open
Calling himself a "hobby historian" Langan wanted to record their stories
before all the survivors died. "once they're gone, it's all lost" he said.
Some of the people Langan interviewed recalled happy times at the orphanage.
"'I felt myself fortunate, lucky even, to have lived at the Coombe'"
Langan recited from the book. "'I never went hungry, had a bed to sleep on
and was not treated badly'"
Others were not so lucky.
Some former residents remember a house administrator who hurled abuse at
the children.
"(He) used to beat us," one resident told Langan, "I know this sounds
strange, but we could smell him coming down the hall. We couldn't hide. He
was coming to beat the kids and there was no reason for it."
The testimonials took such an emotional toll on Langan he had to stop
working on the project for a couple of months.
"It was too hard hitting," he said.
But his book doesn't dwell on the horrible experiences some of the children
experienced, Langan said.
"I did it more as a historical document as oppossed to a social statement
of the time," he said.
The Cooombe Orphanange colded in 1947 and has been transformed into nine
apartments.
Several years ago, Langan wrote The Tragedy in Galt about at train crash
that killed two people in 1956.
Along with Hidden Secret: The Coombe Orphanage 1905-1947, Langan will also
be releasing a short history of the Preston Springs Hotel next month.
Langan said he hopes he can at least break even on the $7 000 publishing
projects, which he financed using credit cards.
The $10 books will be available at several independent book stores in
Cambridege starting Nov 2
For more information call Langan at (519) 654-0089
15 Rockhill
Blackrock
Co. Dublin
Ireland
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_Smyly
The following article was taken from the K-W Record Thursday October 12, 2000
by Mirko Petricevic
Record Staff
Peering north acrost the Speed River and into the past, Paul Langan can see
a monstrous stone building that was a refuge and a house of horrors.
The giant home is in plain view, but its history i hidden by the passage of
time.
So Langan has written a book to tell Cambridge residents the story of Jacob
Hespler' mansion on the west side of Guelph Ave at Fisher Mills Road.
Betewwen 1905 and 1947 the maze of rooms inside the mome, dubbed the Combe
Orphanage, housed children from Ireland, England and Ontario.
Before the First World War, about 40 boys and girls in orphanages in
Ireland were brought to Hespeler each year.
They were among more than 125 000 children known as Home boys and girls
shirpped to Canada by numerous socail agencies in the British Isles
After arriving in Canada, many were placed on local farm where the boys
sweated in fields and girls served as house maids.
"A lot of people in Hespler don't even know about the Coombe" Langan said.
"It was a piece of history I felt wasn't captured."
So Langan has written a 30-page book which includes 24 black and whilt photos.
Langan interviewed about half a dozen men and women who lived at the Coombe
during some of the last years it was open
Calling himself a "hobby historian" Langan wanted to record their stories
before all the survivors died. "once they're gone, it's all lost" he said.
Some of the people Langan interviewed recalled happy times at the orphanage.
"'I felt myself fortunate, lucky even, to have lived at the Coombe'"
Langan recited from the book. "'I never went hungry, had a bed to sleep on
and was not treated badly'"
Others were not so lucky.
Some former residents remember a house administrator who hurled abuse at
the children.
"(He) used to beat us," one resident told Langan, "I know this sounds
strange, but we could smell him coming down the hall. We couldn't hide. He
was coming to beat the kids and there was no reason for it."
The testimonials took such an emotional toll on Langan he had to stop
working on the project for a couple of months.
"It was too hard hitting," he said.
But his book doesn't dwell on the horrible experiences some of the children
experienced, Langan said.
"I did it more as a historical document as oppossed to a social statement
of the time," he said.
The Cooombe Orphanange colded in 1947 and has been transformed into nine
apartments.
Several years ago, Langan wrote The Tragedy in Galt about at train crash
that killed two people in 1956.
Along with Hidden Secret: The Coombe Orphanage 1905-1947, Langan will also
be releasing a short history of the Preston Springs Hotel next month.
Langan said he hopes he can at least break even on the $7 000 publishing
projects, which he financed using credit cards.
The $10 books will be available at several independent book stores in
Cambridege starting Nov 2
For more information call Langan at (519) 654-0089
Sources and links
Charitable Words: Women, Philanthropy, and the Language of Charity in Nineteenth-Century Dublin by Margaret H. Preston
Women, Philanthropy, and Civil Society
The Golden Bridge
http://www.smylytrust.ie/index.php?page=history
http://www.catch21.ca/printArticle/348981
http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/BRITISHHOMECHILDREN/2008-10/1224816268
http://books.google.ca/books?id=jUqetmogGxEC&pg=PA68&lpg=PA68&dq=Ellen+Smyly&source=bl&ots=b03kda_cwG&sig=A358munVM3rljd_t2IcQG_3EtmY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=nb8OUNHGJJOQ0QHixoCIAQ&ved=0CDUQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=Ellen%20Smyly&f=false
Charitable Words: Women, Philanthropy, and the Language of Charity in Nineteenth-Century Dublin by Margaret H. Preston
Women, Philanthropy, and Civil Society
The Golden Bridge
http://www.smylytrust.ie/index.php?page=history
http://www.catch21.ca/printArticle/348981
http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/BRITISHHOMECHILDREN/2008-10/1224816268
http://books.google.ca/books?id=jUqetmogGxEC&pg=PA68&lpg=PA68&dq=Ellen+Smyly&source=bl&ots=b03kda_cwG&sig=A358munVM3rljd_t2IcQG_3EtmY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=nb8OUNHGJJOQ0QHixoCIAQ&ved=0CDUQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=Ellen%20Smyly&f=false
