BRITISH HOME CHILDREN IN CANADA
  • Home Page
  • This site is maintained by Home Children Canada
  • Home Children Canada website
  • The Sending Organizations
    • Barnardo's >
      • Dr. Thomas Barnardo >
        • Dr. Barnardo bio
        • Articles of Association Barnardo
        • DR. Barnardo's Funeral
        • Barnardo's medical credentials
        • Various articles
        • Home for the Homeless 1888
        • Broughall Legacy Letters
        • THE DOCTOR'S CHILDREN 1995
        • The Barnardo Publications >
          • The History of the Publication
          • Our Darlings - Barnardo's >
            • Barnardo's "Our Darlings"
            • Winter in Canada
            • Coloured Plates
            • Monotints
            • Articles of interest
          • Barnardo's "Night and Day"
          • Barnardo Boy's Mag
          • Taken out of the Gutter
      • Barnardo Homes in Britain >
        • Promotional material
        • Boys Garden Village - Barnardo
        • Babies Castle - Barnardo's
        • Watts Naval Training School
        • William Baker School - Barnardo
        • Barkingside
        • Stepney Causeway
        • St. Christopher's Babies Home
        • Teighmore, Channel Islands
        • Other British Homes
        • Vintage post cards
      • Barnardo shipping lists
      • Immigration Parties
      • Russell Manitoba - Barnardo's
      • Toronto Barnardo Homes
      • Hazelbrae Barnardo Home
      • Winnipeg Receiving Home
      • Barnardo's Musical Boys
      • E A Struthers Day Book 1905
      • Crime or Misdemeanors list
      • Promotional post cards
      • Toronto Maternity Home
      • Indenture Contracts
      • Various Barnardo Doc's
      • Barnardo Government Reports
      • Alfred B Owen
      • Excursion's to England
      • Good Conduct Medals
    • Application Fees for children
    • Agreements and indentures
    • Hotel Dieu, Kingston, Ontario
    • Catholic Emigration - 10,000 emigrated >
      • Catholic Emigration Records
      • St. Georges Home - Ottawa
      • Monsignor James Nugent
      • Father Hudson
      • Father Seddon
      • St. Vincent Rescue Home
    • Annie Macpherson - 8,000 emigrated
    • Ellen Bilbrough and Robert Wallace
    • William Quarrier- Brockville Ont 7,200 immigrated
    • Quarriers - Scotland
    • Louisa Birt - 6,000 emigrated >
      • Louisa Birt files (some)
    • John T Middlemore - 5,000 emigrated >
      • Middlemore Placement Lists
      • Guthrie House, London, Ont
      • Fairview Nova Scotia
      • Middlemore Letters
      • Who was John Middlemore
    • Maria Rye - 4,200 emigrated >
      • Maria Rye-Niagara on the Lake
      • Maria Rye Children's Letters
      • Inspections of Rye Children
    • National Children's Home 3,600 emigrated
    • Janet Wallis - Hurst Home
    • Fegan's >
      • Fegan's Home in England
    • Mr. Gold, Melbourne, Quebec
    • Shaftsbury Homes
    • various British organizations
    • Selling Insurance to BHC
    • Visitor Reports
    • John Joseph Kelso
    • 1911 Census of Canada
    • Elinor Close-New Brunswick
    • Vimy Ridge Training Farm
    • Fairbrige Farm Vancouver
    • Inspection of children 1893 to 1894
    • Emma Stirling of Hillfoot Farm >
      • Hillfoot Farm - Emma Stirling
      • The du Pont Inscription
      • Grace M Fagan - A Stirling Girl
      • Florida Humane Association
      • Emma & Bailey’s Bluff
      • The Wm Bingham Estate
    • Bristol Emigration Society
    • Grosse Isle
    • MRS. MARGARET BLAIKIE'S
    • Dakeyne Boy's Farm
    • Salford Catholic Protection Society
    • Ellen Smyly
    • St. Patrick's Home in Ottawa
    • Stanley Boys Home
    • W. J. Paddy
    • Charlotte Alexander
    • Chase Farm School
    • Bristol Union Children 1905
    • Manchester & Salford Boys' and Girls' Refuges
    • Church of England, Waifs & Strays 4,468
    • Miss Brennans Home - Montreal
    • House of Providence, Kingston Ontario
    • The Salvation Army
    • G.C. Cossar
    • Mr T. E. Sedgwick
    • Overseas Settlement Committee
    • The Children's Friends Society
    • Church Army
  • Requesting Children's Records
    • BHC's records
    • Barnardo Home Records
    • The Children's Society Records
  • Beacons of Light BHC Tribute
  • BHC Registry, over 82,000 children registered!
  • Ups and Down's Magazine
    • Ups and Downs 1895 - 1896
    • Ups and Down 1897 - 1898
    • Ups and Downs 1899 - 1900
    • Ups and Downs 1901 - 1902
    • Ups and Downs 1903
    • Ups and Downs 1904
    • Ups and Downs 1905
    • Ups and Downs 1906
    • Ups and Downs 1907 June
    • May 1910, 1913 & May & Aug 1912
    • Dec 1915 Ups and Downs
    • July 1939, Dec 1940, Dec 1942, Dec 1946
    • Our Old Friends Directory
    • December 1945 Ups and Downs
    • some articles
    • Names of child in the Ups and Downs
    • Pictures of Children 1903
    • Alfred Jolly
  • How to Research Your BHC
  • BHC Fact Page
  • First World War Casualty Index
  • BHC Burial Index
  • The Park Lawn Cemetery Monument
  • Children's Trunks & Bibles
  • Receiving Homes in Pictures
  • Ships the BHC Came On
  • History of the BHC - Film
  • 2016 BHC Memory Quilt
  • The 2010 Memory Quilts
    • BHC Memory Quilt (Ont)
    • BHC Memorial Quilt (Ab)
  • Service in the Wars
    • First World War Causalities
    • Second World War Service
    • Served in Both Wars
    • Lives Shortened
    • First World War service
    • Lists of boys who served
    • Individual Service Stories >
      • Private William Francis Conabree
      • John Mash
      • Sydney James Bevan
      • Alfred Mist
      • Cecil Bennett
      • Links to stories of BHC WW1 service
      • Newspaper clips - BHC service
  • BHCARA Upcoming Events
  • British Home Child Books
    • BHC Books for Children
    • Historical Books
    • True stories of BHC
    • Fiction Stories
    • Vintage Books
    • Downloadable Books
    • Kenneth Bagnell
    • Perry Snow - Neither Waif nor Stray
    • The Bitter Cry of Outcast London
    • Farm Life in Canada
    • PDF's for downloading
    • Films
    • BHC Articles >
      • Silence
      • Better Life or the Empire Fodder
      • EMIGRATION WORK IN CANADA 1905
      • THE EMIGRANT GIRLS HOME IN CANADA 1877
      • Kennington Cove
      • The Barnardo Boy
      • BHC to Nova Scotia
      • Personal Discovery 1935
      • The Land of the Lost Children
      • Rye's Western Home
      • Church Apologies to Child Migrants
      • Life in the Workhouse
      • Woman Miners
      • Victorian Child Labourers
      • Evicted London
      • Historical News Articles
      • Articles in the British Press
  • The Hazelbrae Memorial
  • Stories of British Home Children
    • Collection of various stories >
      • Reunited Families
      • Other mentions of children
      • Gone too soon
      • BHC Obituaries
      • BHC Mug Shots
      • Our Lost Children
      • 1901 census
      • First World War deaths
      • The darker stories
      • Discontented Maids
      • Lost Children
      • Quotes from BHC
      • Links to other BHC stories
      • BHC Posters
      • British Home Children Burial Records
      • Shorter BHC Stories
    • Stories A to M >
      • The Bagley Family
      • John Bolton
      • James Arthur Ball
      • The Bates Family
      • Hilda Blake
      • Charles Bradbury
      • Joseph Barnett
      • The Lost Children
      • Augustus Bridle
      • Percy Brown
      • Rev A. H. Brace
      • John & Benjamin Butterworth
      • The Brocklebank Family
      • William Joseph Carter
      • John Cawsey
      • Two Gun Cohen
      • Fifi the Clown
      • Henry Richard Cooper
      • Violet Elizabeth Chaffee
      • Edith Cherryholme
      • BHC Centenarians
      • Arthur Clarkson & Lily Wood
      • Albert McCarthy
      • Ronald Chamberlain
      • Anthony (Tony) Chambers
      • Cherryholme-Gizzard-Sharpe Family
      • Herbert Clifford
      • James E Cowell
      • George Daintree
      • George Martin Day
      • Esther & Elizabeth Dawson
      • Leslie Henry Baden Fielding
      • Charlie, Ted and Bill Elliott
      • Wallace Ford
      • George Frost
      • Gladys Fudge
      • Annie Garwood Letters
      • John Lydiet George
      • Annie Gevaux
      • Albert Edward Gill
      • Arthur Mcgregor GODSALL
      • Harry Gossage
      • George Everett Green
      • Robert "Robbie" Gray
      • Elsie Hathaway
      • Books and mentioned children
      • Stewart Harris
      • Cyril Hewitt
      • Margaret Healey
      • George Hollingshurst
      • The St. George's Memorial
      • Walter Leigh Lockett/Rayfield
      • Sydney Howarth
      • Bill Holtum
      • Tom Isherwood
      • General information - Heritage
      • Edward Jones
      • Cecelia & Ethel JOWETT
      • Frederick John Kempster
      • George Marlow Leeson
      • George & Annie McMaster
      • Edgar Evan Marselle
      • Will, Elsie & George Maybury
      • The Mintram Family
    • Stories N to Z >
      • Herbert Owens
      • Fred W. Palmer
      • Lizzie Poole
      • Liela Eliza Preston
      • Nellie Page
      • Francis James Preston
      • Edmond Roberts
      • Dr. John R. Seeley
      • Frederick Robert Shaw
      • Ellen, Martha & Rachel Birch
      • Walter Tompkins
      • Gipsy Simon Smith
      • Robert Rankin and George Nelson
      • Kate, Sarah & Jamie Stewart
      • The Stacey Family
      • The Richardson Sisters
      • Albert Stone
      • The Lois Stanford Collection
      • The Taylor's and Usher's
      • Charlie & Matthew Tyler
      • John Vallance
      • Arnold Walsh
      • The Ward and Seymour Family
      • Joe & Bob Waterer
      • Richard Weston
      • Hilda Williams
      • Walter Wilson
      • Children's Placement Lists
  • Documented Immigration Process
  • Making the Canadian Flag
  • Apologies to BHC & Families
    • Australian Apology
    • British Apology
    • Canadian Apology
  • Political Bigotry
    • Apology Petitions - Canada, Britain and Australia
    • Frederick Nicholls
    • Dr. C. K. Clarke
    • House of Commons Reports >
      • Paying Agents in England
      • Traveling Immigration Agent Reports
      • Immigration Stats
      • Bonus's Paid for Children
      • Propaganda in the press
      • MISS EFFIE BENTHAM
      • Diseased Savages Quote
      • Child Saving Conference 1894
    • John D. S. Campbell
    • Canadian recognition >
      • The Canadian Goverment
    • Britain's will never be slaves
  • Migration Legislation
    • Pauper Children Emigration Bill
    • British Legislation
    • Canadian Legislation
  • The Doyle Report 1875
  • Home Child Interviews
  • Collection/Penny Boxes
  • LAC and Heritage Canada
    • Deported Children >
      • Report of inspection of Home children
      • Inspection reports of Workhouse Children >
        • costs of Inspection Reports
  • Order your official BHC Pin
  • Lori Oschefski
  • Contact us
  • GRIMES, Arthur
  • HCC War Service Index Submission Form
  • Hazelbrae Indexing Forms

EMIGRATION WORK IN CANADA
By The Very Rev. Canon Keating -- excerpt from July, 1905. 

THE FOLD
The emigration of Catholic children to Canada was commenced by Mgr. Nugent many years ago, and has been continued by those who, in the various dioceses, have taken up the Rescue work of which he was the pioneer. In this way many hundreds of young folk have been carried across the Atlantic.  The success of this method of dealing with destitute boys and girls was so marked that, at the desire of the Archbishop of Westminster, the several agencies recently combined in one Catholic Emigration Association to carry on the work still more efficiently and on a still larger scale. The first party of emigrants to sail under the auspices of the new association was placed in charge of the writer of this paragraph.

We assembled at Liverpool on May 4th. The party consisted to 50 boys, drawn from Rescue homes in all parts of England. The average age was about 14. Most of them boasted Irish names, and all professed the English language, which they spoke in every variety of accent from the broadest Yorkshire to the most wonderful cockney. Our ship was the Allan Liner "Bavarian", in which we managed to embark after a couple of hours of intense bustle. About 5 p.m. the last bugle sounded, the moorings were thrown off, and amid cheers and good-byes and waving of handkerchiefs from a vast crowd on the landing-stage, we slowly steamed away down the river.
 
Our nine days' voyage was uneventful. We had fine days and wet days, smooth seas and sometimes rather rough ones. There was a good deal of sea-sickness,of course, during the first three or four days. The last part of the journey was bitterly cold, and we were delayed by fog and ice. But the ship's stewards were kindness itself, especially towards the invalids, and the boys were a merry-hearted band, ready to make the best of everything.

On reaching Quebec we were met by Mr. Arden, the Canadian Agent of the Catholic Emigration Association. Mr. Arden was formerly an Anglican clergyman. Very soon after his conversion he found a new vocation, and a most congenial one, in Rescue Work, under the guidance of Mr. Chilton Thomas, of Liverpool. He has spent the last two years in Canada, and has now been placed by the Association in charge of its Canadian work. The headquarters are at Ottawa, where the Association has a receiving house called St. George's Home. All parties of emigrants are lodged at St. George's Home for a few days after their arrival.

From Quebec to Ottawa is a railway journey of 300 miles, which occupied about 12 hours. The Home is situated in the suburb of Hintonburg.  The accommodation is adequate for 50 children. Standing in its own grounds, a large plot is available for a playground. The few days the children spend there are invaluable as preparation for their new life. Order and discipline reign supreme. Occasion is taken by Mr. Arden and his staff of "visitors" to make personal acquaintance with each child, with a view to guaging its character and capabilities; and two or three conferences are delivered by Mr. Arden, explaining to the children in a familiar way what they are to expect, and how they are to conduct themselves when they go out to their places. The gist of these instructions is contained in a booklet handed to each child on leaving the home. Some of the items, which show the working of the Association in Canada, may be given here.

The Emigration Association is the legal guardian of every emigrant boy or girl up to the age of 18. The agent, acting for the association, enters into all contracts on behalf of the child. If the child or the employer proves unsatisfactory, the child must be returned to St. George's Home. Every child is visited by one of the Association's representatives at least once a year, when careful enquiry is made into any complaints that may be made on either side. Moreover, each child is furnished with a supply of letter-cards, stamped, and directed to the agent, so that harsh treatment, if it occurs, may be looked into without delay. All wages are paid to the Association on behalf of the child. But, I am happy to be able to testify, that not one cent is deducted for expenses of any description. As soon as an employer pays any sum on account of a child, a statement is forwarded to the boy or girl showing the total amount to its credit, and the amount now paid in, less what-ever sums the child has been allowed to draw by way of pocket-money. By this system a boy of 18 generally has to his credit from 150 to 200 dollars -- 30 to 40 pounds. At the age of 18 the children become independent of the Association, and are free to make their own contracts.

So far the system, as for the working of it, no words can express the gratification the writer felt at what came under his observation. The office, arrangements at Ottawa appear to be in excellent order. Records are kept of each of the l,200 children under the Association's care. Whatever name is called, all details are at once forthcoming, the child's age, date of emigration, where it came from, what place it has had, when visited, etc., etc. But this is mere clerical work. The crowning consolation is found in visiting the farms in which the children are placed. The emigrant boy, as a rule, is originally taken from the gutter of our great cities, London, Liverpool, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, etc.  Drunkeness, foul language, immorality, want, and cruelty have been familiar to him from infancy. As if by magic,he is transported to a land where such wretchedness is unknown. He finds himself a member of a fervent Catholic family. In Canada, to miss Mass is a crime practically unknown. Monthly Confession and Communion is the common practice. Throughout Catholic Canada family night prayers is the rule, including five Mysteries of the Rosary.  No swearing, no foul talk ever reaches his ears. Intoxicating drink he never sees on the table. His "boss" and the wife are more to him than father and mother ever were. The children of the house are his companions and playmates. In a few months he has forgotten that he is a "waif." The stigma of the Workhouse or Industrial School is gone. The pure air, the wholesome food, the sound rest, the cleanliness of soul and body, have made him a new being. He is a well set up little fellow, with frank, open expression, fearless and straightforward in conversation because he has nothing to conceal.

No one, who has not witnessed it , can credit the bond of affection that grows up between the emigrant lad and his employer. Even in this country, the affection of these neglected children towards anyone who is kind to them is touching and beautiful. But in Canada it settles down into solid filial piety. In the rare cases where it does not , the Society steps in; and, after a second complaint the child is removed, and given another trial in fresh surroundings. That child is unfortunate, indeed, who, on a second trial, does not find himself happy in a Catholic Canadian home.

 ​© 2022 Home children canada
CONTACT US ​

info@BritishHomeCHILDREN.com
BHC Facebook Group
Subsribe to the BHC Newsletter
Picture