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George Green on the front page of The Sun Times, June of 2013
Forgotten no longer
June 15 2013 - Dedication service for the newly installed memorial stone
Dedication statement of the George Green memorial stone by Minister Red Leeder:
"May this stone engraved with the name George Green be forever a symbol of a society pledged to uphold the ever demanding cause of justice, fairness and opportunity to live in peace, always seeking the well being of every citizen of this beloved country Canada"
"May this stone engraved with the name George Green be forever a symbol of a society pledged to uphold the ever demanding cause of justice, fairness and opportunity to live in peace, always seeking the well being of every citizen of this beloved country Canada"
The dedication ceremony in the Big Bay Cemetery, June 15, 2013
Led by Minister Red Leeder
Led by Minister Red Leeder
Click here for photos of the George Green Memorial Event held at the Owen Sound Library following the commemoration service
Dedication of Memorial Stone
George E. Green
June 15, 2013
Big Bay Cemetery
Remarks by A.J.V. Leeder:
Several decades ago, an elderly neighbour, W.G. Cheshire, left us an account of his memories of life along the Colpoy Range – that is, from Wiarton to Big Bay. It was divided into 32 lots beginning at Lot 1, just east of Wiarton town limits. For purposes of this event, I am indebted to the late Mr. Cheshire, whose efforts saved the Wiarton Train Station from demolition, and who was also instrumental in providing historical markers in this area, such as for the ill-fated steamship, Jane Miller, which sank along the shore of Colpoy Bay, and has never been located.
Closer to this event, Mr. Cheshire made note of two families who successfully, in his opinion, made a positive impact on British children brought out to Canada in the late 1800’s and early 1900.s. On Lot 12, Mr. and Mrs. James Atkey adopted a boy, Frank, and a girl, Cora. These two children became noted citizens of the Wiarton community. On Lot 32, a Mr. and Mrs. William Skinner who were childless, made a home for Jack Haycock and May Eames. Mr. Cheshire identifies Jack and May as having been brought out by the Barnardo organization. His account indicates that the Skinners were “honest and kindly” and adds, in his own words, the children “turned out well as most Barnardo children did”. As for the George Green situation, Mr. Cheshire left nothing on his record. Mr. Cheshire was born in 1884, and communications in his time were limited to telegraph service between Owen Sound and Big Bay (and later to Wiarton). Strangely though, he remembered the steamships that passed along Colpoy Bay from Owen Sound to Wiarton and other points on Georgian Bay. He leaves, however, a favorable impression of the examples mentioned.
Regarding the Findlay farm, the Keppel Township history indicates that east of Big Bay on Island View Drive, around Lots 41/42, the Findlay name appears on Voters’ Lists. Regardless of the actual location, court cases and coroners’ records tell the story of the inhumane treatment and death of George Green. At the time of his passing, the possibility of regular inspection was remote, considering that travel was by steamship, or by substandard or no roads to the outside world.
Looking back to Canada in the 1800’s, the settlers needed many hands on the farms. In Great Britain, the Industrial Revolution, without supporting social programs, produced human misery in the form of dysfunctional families – orphans. The re-locating of children was done in a climate of expediency amid examples of deep-seated caring. Hear these words penned by William Quarrier who would become benefactor to hundreds of needy children:
“ When a little boy, I stood in the High Street of Glasgow, barefoot, bareheaded, cold and hungry, having tasted no food for a day and a half, and, as I gazed at each passer-by, wondering why they did not help such as I, a thought passed through my mind that I would not do as they when I would get the means to help others.”
As this stone is dedicated to the memory of George Green, let us be grateful for the lives of Home Children who were nurtured to success. May we become enemies to injustice, refusing to accept the plague of our own time – cyberbullying which has dehumanized many children to the point of suicide. Let us encourage our lawmakers in their quest for decency and fairness for all.
Dedication Statement
“May this stone, engraved with the name George Green, be forever a symbol of a society pledged to uphold the ever-demanding cause of justice, fairness, and opportunity to live in peace, always seeking the well-being of every citizen of this beloved country, Canada.”
Benediction
In recognition of the Christian faith which inspired persons such as Thomas Barnardo and William Quarrier, let us hear a portion of the first recorded sermon of Jesus, as found in Luke 4:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has chosen me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed.”
May the Lord bless you and keep you. May He make His face to shine upon you And be gracious unto you. Amen
Several decades ago, an elderly neighbour, W.G. Cheshire, left us an account of his memories of life along the Colpoy Range – that is, from Wiarton to Big Bay. It was divided into 32 lots beginning at Lot 1, just east of Wiarton town limits. For purposes of this event, I am indebted to the late Mr. Cheshire, whose efforts saved the Wiarton Train Station from demolition, and who was also instrumental in providing historical markers in this area, such as for the ill-fated steamship, Jane Miller, which sank along the shore of Colpoy Bay, and has never been located.
Closer to this event, Mr. Cheshire made note of two families who successfully, in his opinion, made a positive impact on British children brought out to Canada in the late 1800’s and early 1900.s. On Lot 12, Mr. and Mrs. James Atkey adopted a boy, Frank, and a girl, Cora. These two children became noted citizens of the Wiarton community. On Lot 32, a Mr. and Mrs. William Skinner who were childless, made a home for Jack Haycock and May Eames. Mr. Cheshire identifies Jack and May as having been brought out by the Barnardo organization. His account indicates that the Skinners were “honest and kindly” and adds, in his own words, the children “turned out well as most Barnardo children did”. As for the George Green situation, Mr. Cheshire left nothing on his record. Mr. Cheshire was born in 1884, and communications in his time were limited to telegraph service between Owen Sound and Big Bay (and later to Wiarton). Strangely though, he remembered the steamships that passed along Colpoy Bay from Owen Sound to Wiarton and other points on Georgian Bay. He leaves, however, a favorable impression of the examples mentioned.
Regarding the Findlay farm, the Keppel Township history indicates that east of Big Bay on Island View Drive, around Lots 41/42, the Findlay name appears on Voters’ Lists. Regardless of the actual location, court cases and coroners’ records tell the story of the inhumane treatment and death of George Green. At the time of his passing, the possibility of regular inspection was remote, considering that travel was by steamship, or by substandard or no roads to the outside world.
Looking back to Canada in the 1800’s, the settlers needed many hands on the farms. In Great Britain, the Industrial Revolution, without supporting social programs, produced human misery in the form of dysfunctional families – orphans. The re-locating of children was done in a climate of expediency amid examples of deep-seated caring. Hear these words penned by William Quarrier who would become benefactor to hundreds of needy children:
“ When a little boy, I stood in the High Street of Glasgow, barefoot, bareheaded, cold and hungry, having tasted no food for a day and a half, and, as I gazed at each passer-by, wondering why they did not help such as I, a thought passed through my mind that I would not do as they when I would get the means to help others.”
As this stone is dedicated to the memory of George Green, let us be grateful for the lives of Home Children who were nurtured to success. May we become enemies to injustice, refusing to accept the plague of our own time – cyberbullying which has dehumanized many children to the point of suicide. Let us encourage our lawmakers in their quest for decency and fairness for all.
Dedication Statement
“May this stone, engraved with the name George Green, be forever a symbol of a society pledged to uphold the ever-demanding cause of justice, fairness, and opportunity to live in peace, always seeking the well-being of every citizen of this beloved country, Canada.”
Benediction
In recognition of the Christian faith which inspired persons such as Thomas Barnardo and William Quarrier, let us hear a portion of the first recorded sermon of Jesus, as found in Luke 4:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has chosen me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed.”
May the Lord bless you and keep you. May He make His face to shine upon you And be gracious unto you. Amen
Excerpt from the story of George Green
"One night, Helen dragged him from his bedroom and threw him into the stable with the hogs. For two nights he lay in wide-eyed terror waiting for the dreaded footsteps. His diet was mash bran porridge with an occasional slice of bread, which he often had to eat standing up. With fall and winter approaching, he could never feel warm in his torn, ragged summer clothes. George was weary. He was a broken child who was too weak to drag himself into another day of taunts, threats, beatings and torture. Physically, emotionally and spiritually he was drained.
One cold November morning, his body finally joined his spirit in death. Doctor Allan Cameron, the coroner from Owen Sound, was called to a scene that would haunt him the rest of his life. In 40 years of medical practice, including working in the slums of Glasgow, Doctor Cameron had never encountered such squalid conditions. The room was filthy and foul smelling. The only furniture was two boards on which the frail body of George lay and a straw mattress with a ten-inch hole carved out in the cnetre. It was soon evident that this mattress was both bed and toilet for George in his last days. Weakened from the beatings and diarrhea, malnourished with visible wounds. George lay on the straw with the hole and himself reeking feces. It was a cruel, sad death that Doctor Cameron after an autopsy, concluded was the result of a combination of neglect, beatings and starvation."
New information on Helen Findley, formally thought to have been acquitted on charges in George's death, now shows she was convicted and imprisoned in his death - records shown at bottom of this page.Sadly, it appears that George was NOT the only BHC Helen had, also listed with her was James Jeffrey, Mary Brown and Henry Croucher
Heritage Canada Historical canadian documents - a large file on the trial of George Green
Immigration Program : Headquarters central registry files : C-4787
Exeter and Plymouth Gazette - Tuesday 26 November 1895
Dr. Barnardo writes himself re: George's death
Tragic end for Barnardo boy who came to Grey County for a fresh start
any of the homeleschildren from England who were sent to Canada
went on to live very productive lives, but George
Green died when he was just 17 years old
by Andrew Armitage
-published by the Owen Sound Sun Times - about 4 years ago Copyright © 2012 Owen Sound Sun Times
George Green died at 9 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 8, 1895. The Owen Sound Advertiser called it "foul play." The newspaper went on to editorialize, "What appears to be another murder has been charged to the township of Keppel's long list . . . many have been the murders committed in this same township."
George Green was 17 years old at his death. For five months he had been living and working on a farm three miles from Big Bay. George had come to Canada from London, England. His father was dead and his mother drank. George was one of many thousands of homeless boys and girls saved and sent to Canada. He was a Barnardo boy.
Dr. Thomas John Barnardo, while a young medical student, had in the winter of 1867 discovered 11 ragged urchins, barefooted, half-starved and nearly dead, on the roof of a shop in the east end of London. The good doctor would, in the course of his life, assist over a quarter of a million homeless children. Touched by the plight of the waifs, Dr. Barnardo began to build a series of homes for the homeless. For over three decades, he housed, fed, clothed and encouraged the destitute of Great Britain. Almost single-handed, Barnardo brought the appalling conditions of the nation's poverty-ridden children to the public's attention. Societies were formed as Parliament passed helpful reform acts. Thomas Barnardo had a vision of the vast, unpopulated lands of Canada. In 1882, he decided that his rescued children should have the opportunities that Canada could offer. Two homes were opened, one in Peterborough that would house young women sent from England. The second was to become known as the Barnardo Home for Boys. It was to be located in Toronto.
Only the "cream" of Barnardo's waifs would be sent to Canada. They would have no criminal tendencies, enjoy excellent health and have already experienced extensive training in moral and religious matters. Any child proving to be undesirable would be immediately returned to Great Britain. In exchange, deserving Canadian farmers could, upon careful scrutiny and the submission of impeccable references, obtain a Barnardo boy or girl for a given period. The applicant farmer had to agree to lodge, clothe and feed the Barnardo child and submit a stated sum of money to be held in trust until the youngster came of age. While resident with the new family, the Barnardo child would help with farm chores and assist around the home. Dr. Barnardo sent over 20,000 children to Canada. Many of them became successful citizens in their later lives. Some became farmers, others were legally adopted, went on to university, managed their own businesses, entered the law or medicine, or joined the clergy.
George Green was not one of them. Instead, he died seven months after leaving Great Britain, a battered and beaten boy. George had come to live on the 100-acre farm in Keppel Township in May. There was a small frame farmhouse on the property and in the house lived Helen R. Findlay, described at the subsequent trial as "Spinster Findlay." The year prior to George's arrival, George Findlay, brother of Helen, had been driving the team home from Big Bay when the horses bolted, throwing Findlay out of the wagon and to his death.
Helen lived alone through the winter. In the spring she applied to the Barnardo Home for Boys and in May, George Green came to live in that frame house. In her testimony at the inquest, Helen Findlay described George as being "slow" with poor eyesight and "could not be learned anything." He was "lean as a crow" but, claimed Helen, was never sick a day. Miss Findlay claimed that George had been well treated. He had been fed on porridge, plenty of milk, bread and butter, potatoes and turnips. Never had the boy been punished, beaten or kicked. True, there were sores on his body. But the burns on the hands came when George himself had placed his hands on the stove. The wound on his nose had been caused by the stable door and his feet and toes were sore from George forgetting to put on his boots during the first snows.
But George was dead. There was a coroner's inquest, a long and intensive investigation. George Green's death was mysterious and there had been rumours along the concessions of Keppel that all was not well in the Findlay household. Justice, having become civilized in Grey County by 1895, must be done. The testimony began. William H. Horne swore that he heard a blow and a cry from the boy when George and Miss Findlay were out working in a field. Mary Brown stated that Helen had taken George by the neck and shaken him violently. James Husband said that he saw the spinster pounding the lad on the back with a stick while William McKinley swore that he heard the accused swearing at the boy and something that sounded like blows. Witness followed witness as Miss Findlay faced trouble.
W.G. Dow, a physician, performed a post-mortem examination. He discovered George Green was heavily marked with bruises and cuts. His feet were frostbitten, frozen badly enough that their condition alone was enough to cause death. If frostbite was not the cause of death, malnutrition would suffice. George had died of multiple wounds, infection, starvation and neglect.
On Wednesday, Nov. 13, Constable C.C. Pearce left Owen Sound for Big Bay. Arriving at the Findlay home, he arrested Helen for the murder of George Green and returned with her to Owen Sound. She was arraigned before George Price, J.P. The lawyers Tucker and Patterson appeared on her behalf. A.G. MacKay looked after the interests of the Crown. The entire county of Grey talked of little else. In the churches, women's clubs and social organizations, resolutions condemning the accused and calling for protection of homeless children were passed and sent to the authorities. Barnardo officials quickly made their way to Owen Sound, assuring the press and the law that only the most carefully screened applicants were awarded the care of a Barnardo boy.
The case of Helen R. Findlay was heard in November, 1895. The hearing was delayed for a while because of the difficulty Keppel Township witnesses had getting to Owen Sound due to the poor conditions of the roads. Ice, sleet and snow fell intermittently through the two days of testimony. The courtroom was packed with the curious while the overeager left their seats to announce the goings-on to those in the corridors. The hearing was long and detailed. It was also emotional. Alfred B. Owen, superintendent of the Barnardo Home in Canada, testified for the prosecution. Owen stated that he had gone to England and brought back a full ship's complement of boys for the home. He had seen George stripped to the waist every morning of the voyage. He was in good health and never complained of sickness.
Keppel witnesses came next. One by one they testified to beatings, a blood smeared face, tales of George being forced to sleep with the pigs and other forms of abuse. Little Mary Brown, a young lass who had lived in the Findlay home for a short while, was the most poignant witness. "I am eleven past," she testified. Mary continued. "Miss Findlay did not use George very good, but kicked him around a great deal." Brooms, axe handles, even a slipper were used, stated Mary, to beat George. Mary claimed she had been warned not to talk about such matters. "By whom?" asked lawyer MacKay. "Miss Findlay," the child replied.
Additional testimony was taken from the coroner and other medical men. All agreed that George had been in very poor condition upon his death, filthy, badly bruised and his body covered with ulcers. Lawyer Tucker called numerous witnesses to rebut the damaging testimony. Each stated that they had seen George being well treated, well fed and that Miss Findlay had never laid a hand upon the boy. Helen Findlay was called to the stand late in the day. She repeated her testimony at the coroner's inquest. No, no beatings. No, no hard work. Yes, there had been proper food and clothes. Yes, George had been one sick boy when hearrived at Miss Findlay's.
Helen Findlay was bound over for trial with a bail of $4,000. The actual trial began on Dec. 12 and continued day by day until Dec. 17. According to the Owen Sound Advertiser, the trial "has occupied more time than any other case, either criminal or civil, in Grey County." The summation came on the last day. The Crown attorney's address was delivered with "indescribable earnestness and pathos." Defence lawyer Tucker replied with a summation that was "touching, during which the prisoner in the box cried."
The testimony during the trial was much like that of the earlier hearing and inquest. Witnesses claimed incidents of abuse by Helen Findlay while others stated their belief in Miss Findlay's innocence. Medical testimony took up an entire day. Page after page of the local newspapers reported each horrifying detail, every wound, blow, sore and incident of supposed cruelty. And then the jury was charged and retired to deliberate. After three hours, they returned. "Have you arrived at a decision?" asked the judge. "We cannot decide," stated the foreman. The jury was hung and Helen Findlay was free. But not for long. She was charged again, this time with neglect and child abuse. The case, however, vanished from the courts and no more is heard of the fate of Findlay.
George Green was a Barnardo Boy who had grown up in squalid surroundings in the city of London. He had been beaten by his drunken mother and then left to fend for himself. For a short while, there was a ray of hope, a chance for a new life full of promise. And then, in the backwoods of Grey County, George found a rural helland died.
George Green was 17 years old at his death. For five months he had been living and working on a farm three miles from Big Bay. George had come to Canada from London, England. His father was dead and his mother drank. George was one of many thousands of homeless boys and girls saved and sent to Canada. He was a Barnardo boy.
Dr. Thomas John Barnardo, while a young medical student, had in the winter of 1867 discovered 11 ragged urchins, barefooted, half-starved and nearly dead, on the roof of a shop in the east end of London. The good doctor would, in the course of his life, assist over a quarter of a million homeless children. Touched by the plight of the waifs, Dr. Barnardo began to build a series of homes for the homeless. For over three decades, he housed, fed, clothed and encouraged the destitute of Great Britain. Almost single-handed, Barnardo brought the appalling conditions of the nation's poverty-ridden children to the public's attention. Societies were formed as Parliament passed helpful reform acts. Thomas Barnardo had a vision of the vast, unpopulated lands of Canada. In 1882, he decided that his rescued children should have the opportunities that Canada could offer. Two homes were opened, one in Peterborough that would house young women sent from England. The second was to become known as the Barnardo Home for Boys. It was to be located in Toronto.
Only the "cream" of Barnardo's waifs would be sent to Canada. They would have no criminal tendencies, enjoy excellent health and have already experienced extensive training in moral and religious matters. Any child proving to be undesirable would be immediately returned to Great Britain. In exchange, deserving Canadian farmers could, upon careful scrutiny and the submission of impeccable references, obtain a Barnardo boy or girl for a given period. The applicant farmer had to agree to lodge, clothe and feed the Barnardo child and submit a stated sum of money to be held in trust until the youngster came of age. While resident with the new family, the Barnardo child would help with farm chores and assist around the home. Dr. Barnardo sent over 20,000 children to Canada. Many of them became successful citizens in their later lives. Some became farmers, others were legally adopted, went on to university, managed their own businesses, entered the law or medicine, or joined the clergy.
George Green was not one of them. Instead, he died seven months after leaving Great Britain, a battered and beaten boy. George had come to live on the 100-acre farm in Keppel Township in May. There was a small frame farmhouse on the property and in the house lived Helen R. Findlay, described at the subsequent trial as "Spinster Findlay." The year prior to George's arrival, George Findlay, brother of Helen, had been driving the team home from Big Bay when the horses bolted, throwing Findlay out of the wagon and to his death.
Helen lived alone through the winter. In the spring she applied to the Barnardo Home for Boys and in May, George Green came to live in that frame house. In her testimony at the inquest, Helen Findlay described George as being "slow" with poor eyesight and "could not be learned anything." He was "lean as a crow" but, claimed Helen, was never sick a day. Miss Findlay claimed that George had been well treated. He had been fed on porridge, plenty of milk, bread and butter, potatoes and turnips. Never had the boy been punished, beaten or kicked. True, there were sores on his body. But the burns on the hands came when George himself had placed his hands on the stove. The wound on his nose had been caused by the stable door and his feet and toes were sore from George forgetting to put on his boots during the first snows.
But George was dead. There was a coroner's inquest, a long and intensive investigation. George Green's death was mysterious and there had been rumours along the concessions of Keppel that all was not well in the Findlay household. Justice, having become civilized in Grey County by 1895, must be done. The testimony began. William H. Horne swore that he heard a blow and a cry from the boy when George and Miss Findlay were out working in a field. Mary Brown stated that Helen had taken George by the neck and shaken him violently. James Husband said that he saw the spinster pounding the lad on the back with a stick while William McKinley swore that he heard the accused swearing at the boy and something that sounded like blows. Witness followed witness as Miss Findlay faced trouble.
W.G. Dow, a physician, performed a post-mortem examination. He discovered George Green was heavily marked with bruises and cuts. His feet were frostbitten, frozen badly enough that their condition alone was enough to cause death. If frostbite was not the cause of death, malnutrition would suffice. George had died of multiple wounds, infection, starvation and neglect.
On Wednesday, Nov. 13, Constable C.C. Pearce left Owen Sound for Big Bay. Arriving at the Findlay home, he arrested Helen for the murder of George Green and returned with her to Owen Sound. She was arraigned before George Price, J.P. The lawyers Tucker and Patterson appeared on her behalf. A.G. MacKay looked after the interests of the Crown. The entire county of Grey talked of little else. In the churches, women's clubs and social organizations, resolutions condemning the accused and calling for protection of homeless children were passed and sent to the authorities. Barnardo officials quickly made their way to Owen Sound, assuring the press and the law that only the most carefully screened applicants were awarded the care of a Barnardo boy.
The case of Helen R. Findlay was heard in November, 1895. The hearing was delayed for a while because of the difficulty Keppel Township witnesses had getting to Owen Sound due to the poor conditions of the roads. Ice, sleet and snow fell intermittently through the two days of testimony. The courtroom was packed with the curious while the overeager left their seats to announce the goings-on to those in the corridors. The hearing was long and detailed. It was also emotional. Alfred B. Owen, superintendent of the Barnardo Home in Canada, testified for the prosecution. Owen stated that he had gone to England and brought back a full ship's complement of boys for the home. He had seen George stripped to the waist every morning of the voyage. He was in good health and never complained of sickness.
Keppel witnesses came next. One by one they testified to beatings, a blood smeared face, tales of George being forced to sleep with the pigs and other forms of abuse. Little Mary Brown, a young lass who had lived in the Findlay home for a short while, was the most poignant witness. "I am eleven past," she testified. Mary continued. "Miss Findlay did not use George very good, but kicked him around a great deal." Brooms, axe handles, even a slipper were used, stated Mary, to beat George. Mary claimed she had been warned not to talk about such matters. "By whom?" asked lawyer MacKay. "Miss Findlay," the child replied.
Additional testimony was taken from the coroner and other medical men. All agreed that George had been in very poor condition upon his death, filthy, badly bruised and his body covered with ulcers. Lawyer Tucker called numerous witnesses to rebut the damaging testimony. Each stated that they had seen George being well treated, well fed and that Miss Findlay had never laid a hand upon the boy. Helen Findlay was called to the stand late in the day. She repeated her testimony at the coroner's inquest. No, no beatings. No, no hard work. Yes, there had been proper food and clothes. Yes, George had been one sick boy when hearrived at Miss Findlay's.
Helen Findlay was bound over for trial with a bail of $4,000. The actual trial began on Dec. 12 and continued day by day until Dec. 17. According to the Owen Sound Advertiser, the trial "has occupied more time than any other case, either criminal or civil, in Grey County." The summation came on the last day. The Crown attorney's address was delivered with "indescribable earnestness and pathos." Defence lawyer Tucker replied with a summation that was "touching, during which the prisoner in the box cried."
The testimony during the trial was much like that of the earlier hearing and inquest. Witnesses claimed incidents of abuse by Helen Findlay while others stated their belief in Miss Findlay's innocence. Medical testimony took up an entire day. Page after page of the local newspapers reported each horrifying detail, every wound, blow, sore and incident of supposed cruelty. And then the jury was charged and retired to deliberate. After three hours, they returned. "Have you arrived at a decision?" asked the judge. "We cannot decide," stated the foreman. The jury was hung and Helen Findlay was free. But not for long. She was charged again, this time with neglect and child abuse. The case, however, vanished from the courts and no more is heard of the fate of Findlay.
George Green was a Barnardo Boy who had grown up in squalid surroundings in the city of London. He had been beaten by his drunken mother and then left to fend for himself. For a short while, there was a ray of hope, a chance for a new life full of promise. And then, in the backwoods of Grey County, George found a rural helland died.
Death through ill-usage
Dr. Barnardo's Boy
Evidence of Manslaughter trial
Died November 9 1895
Aged: 15
Cause: Starvation, Abuse and Neglect
Place: Township of Keppel, Ontario, Canada
Pages 2 and 3, Ups and Downs, Volume 1, Number 5, Dec 1, 1895. Toronto.
"It is our deep and painful duty to refer to what is unquestionably the most distressing event in the history of our work from the time of its first establishment - the death of the poor boy George Everett Green and the subsequent committal of his employer Miss Findlay on a charge of manslaughter for having caused his death by neglect or ill-usage. It would be wrong and illegal to make any comment on the case while it is still before the courts, but we must add our emphatic protests against the tone adopted by many of the papers in dealong with the subject. It has been commented upon as if this poor lad, who unquestionably had physical defects, although not in rhe least to the extent that has been represented, was a fair specimen of our boys, and as if the filth, squalor, and neglect amid which he lived and died is typical of the surroundings of our boys in Canadian farm homes. One is as gross an exageration as the other.
"We believe that Green, when he left England, was free of ailment or indication of disease, but he was never robust, and after he had been out for some little time there is no doubt he fell into bad health. Had we known of his condition we should have brought him back and put him under medical treatment, but unfortunately neither he nor anyone else gave us any intimation of his condition. He was only placed with Miss Findlay in May last, and the neighbourhood being on which Mr Griffith visits in the winter, we had not seen anything of him. Had he been kindly and properly cared for, the poor lad might have been here still, but, instead of this the surroundings were all of the poorest and roughest. His employer was a person struggling to maintain herself by her own almost unaided exertions on a poor farm in a very remote district, and in the boy's home there were none of the comforts, and the barest necessities of life. It appears that his constitution at length succumbed under want of care and proper treatment, and the public opinion of the neighbourhood expressed itself in the movement which led to the holding of the inquest and the subsequent arrest ant committal of the woman.
"What the issue of the forthcoming trial may be is not for us to forecast, neither have we any opinion to express upon the degree of responsibility that rests upon the accused, but we do once again repeat our protest against the cruelty and injustice of branding all our boys and girls as diseased and depraved because there appears to be evidence that this one unfortunate boy was not of sound and healthy condition, and to attack and condemn the whole system, because, in this one case, there may have been an error in our judgement, either of the boy or of
this home.
"Our defence in regard to the latter is, that the circumstances had entirely changed since we had an opportunity of forming an impression of the place. For the past four years we have had a boy in the same household. This boy has written and spoken in the highest terms of the treatment he received, and each time he was visited he was found to be very happy and thriving There was nothing to cause us the slightest misgiving, and we imagined it was under the same conditions we were placing poor George Green. It appears, however, that the death of the brother, George Findlay, at the beginning of the present year led to an entire and disastrous change, and everything about the place seems to have fallen into neglect and wretchedness. Can anyone suppose that if we had the slightest idea of this state of affairs, we would have allowed any boy to go to such a place, or that we should not have removed him at once if he himself or anyone else had told us how he was situated?
The whole occurrence is surrounded with awfully distressing and painful circumstances, and, for the time being, it has cast a shadow of the deepest gloom over our whole work."
"We believe that Green, when he left England, was free of ailment or indication of disease, but he was never robust, and after he had been out for some little time there is no doubt he fell into bad health. Had we known of his condition we should have brought him back and put him under medical treatment, but unfortunately neither he nor anyone else gave us any intimation of his condition. He was only placed with Miss Findlay in May last, and the neighbourhood being on which Mr Griffith visits in the winter, we had not seen anything of him. Had he been kindly and properly cared for, the poor lad might have been here still, but, instead of this the surroundings were all of the poorest and roughest. His employer was a person struggling to maintain herself by her own almost unaided exertions on a poor farm in a very remote district, and in the boy's home there were none of the comforts, and the barest necessities of life. It appears that his constitution at length succumbed under want of care and proper treatment, and the public opinion of the neighbourhood expressed itself in the movement which led to the holding of the inquest and the subsequent arrest ant committal of the woman.
"What the issue of the forthcoming trial may be is not for us to forecast, neither have we any opinion to express upon the degree of responsibility that rests upon the accused, but we do once again repeat our protest against the cruelty and injustice of branding all our boys and girls as diseased and depraved because there appears to be evidence that this one unfortunate boy was not of sound and healthy condition, and to attack and condemn the whole system, because, in this one case, there may have been an error in our judgement, either of the boy or of
this home.
"Our defence in regard to the latter is, that the circumstances had entirely changed since we had an opportunity of forming an impression of the place. For the past four years we have had a boy in the same household. This boy has written and spoken in the highest terms of the treatment he received, and each time he was visited he was found to be very happy and thriving There was nothing to cause us the slightest misgiving, and we imagined it was under the same conditions we were placing poor George Green. It appears, however, that the death of the brother, George Findlay, at the beginning of the present year led to an entire and disastrous change, and everything about the place seems to have fallen into neglect and wretchedness. Can anyone suppose that if we had the slightest idea of this state of affairs, we would have allowed any boy to go to such a place, or that we should not have removed him at once if he himself or anyone else had told us how he was situated?
The whole occurrence is surrounded with awfully distressing and painful circumstances, and, for the time being, it has cast a shadow of the deepest gloom over our whole work."
The Windsor Evening Record Dec 17 1985,
transcribed from a scan by Maureen Vollum
"Keppel Manslaughter Case"
Evidence for the Defence in the trial of Miss Helen R.Findlay at Owen Sound.
The manslaughter case of the Queen vs. Helen R. Findlay was resumed this morning at ten o'clock. The evidence for the defence of Doctors Lang, McCullough and Middlebro was mainly contradictory of the Crown. In cross-examination, Mr McKay elicited a number of admissions damaging to the defence.
Mrs. Rebecca Jane McNaughton, wife of the Rev,. Mr. McNaughton, knew the boy George E. Green. She became acquainted with him one Sunday about the middle of July. She had made a friendly call on Miss Findlay, who was away, but found the boy sitting on the doorstep. She talked with him for some time, he appeared fairly dressed and clean. He was lame and cross-eyed.
Mrs. McNaughton was again with Miss Findlay on the sabbath, on which the boy was lying dead in the house. The house did not appear very (unreadable word). The body was laid out on a board and covered with a sheet, and was marked with sores and scabs.
Robert Boyd, a neighbour of Miss Findlay, knew the boy George E. Green.He met him first in June last, when he seemed delicate and to have no command over his feet. He stumbled when he walked, his clothing appeared good, and he looked cleanly enough. He saw him several times afterwards and also when he lay dead in the room upstairs in Miss Findlay's house.. Witness said the room was as clean as an ordinary farmhouse upstairs.
On cross-examination by Mr. McKay, witness admitted that two weeks and one day before he died, the boy was at work on peas and oats, and appeared weaker and very delicate and stumbled more when he walked. He also said that the window was open and the room appeared to have been recently swept where the boy lay dead.
William Johnson, a stage driver between Owen Sound and Big Bay, said he first met the boy at a hotel in Owen Sound. He walked imperfectly. He was fairly well-dressed, had a leather valise, but was not able to handle it through weakness. He contradicted Mr. Davis, who said the boy jumped out of the rig. Cross-examined by Mr. McKay, he said the only good thing he knew about him was his appetite, and admitted the leather valise might be in a wooden box trunk, which other witnesses said was all he had.
James Jeffrey, a blacksmith's apprentice at Kemble (and a Barnardo Home Boy) met young Green at Kemble when he was going to Miss Findlay's on Johnson's stageThe only peculiarity he noticed then were his eyes. The boy looked healthy and strong but appeared dull. He next saw him at Miss Findlays about the end of September or beginning of October. He was then dressed in duck pants and shirt, was bareheaded and barefooted. He was driving cows from one field to another. Witness cut his hair for him. The boy appeared thinner, but there were no marks on his head then. He sang two songs for witness, after his hair was cut.
Cross-examined by Mr. McKay,witness flatly contradicted the former witness Johnson, as to Green's physical condition, and also as to him having a leather valise. He admitted he was thinner, and not of as good colour as when he first saw him. He was a polite and docile boy and said he formerly had a brother at Miss Findlay's.
This afternoon Aylesworth, McLeod and several more witnesses were examined.
Miss Findley went into the box herself. Her evidence was much as the same she gave in the preliminary trial, denying all evidence for the prosecution, saying she never beat the boy or ill-treated him, and that they swore falsely."
George Green's death certificate
Mansfield Daily Shield Nov 15 1895
Winnipeg Morning Free Press
The Flesherton (Ontario) Advance, July 30-1896
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Manitoba Morning Free Press Nov 22 1895 Manitoba Morning Free Press Nov 25 1895
Winnipeg Morning Free Press Dec 19 1895 Nov 15 1895 Newark Daily Advocate (Newark, Ohio)
Gazette (Stevens Point, Wisconsin)
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Winnipeg Morning Free Press
November 29 1895
The Tragic Death of George Everitt Green
Written by Joy Parr
GREEN, GEORGE EVERITT, agricultural labourer; b. 8 Feb. 1880 in Tottenham (London), England, eldest son of Charles Green, tailor, and Amelia Green, laundress; d. 9 Nov. 1895 in Keppel Township, Ont.
Following the death of George Everitt Green in 1895, more Canadians knew about him than about any other of the children brought by British charitable agencies to work in the dominion as agricultural labourers and domestic servants. Between 1868 and 1924 more than 80,000 youngsters came to Canada as child apprentices. Boys and girls, perhaps a third of whom were orphans, were transferred from English and Scottish refuges and poor-law schools and placed with householders who had responded to newspaper advertisements offering home and farm help. Green’s circumstances showed the immigration program at its worst, and his case, widely covered in the national press and in Britain, became the most compelling set piece in polemics created by Ontario child savers and the Canadian labour movement in their advocacy of reform of the system.
Until he was six, Green lived with his older sister, Margaret, his younger brother, Walter, and his parents in lodging-houses in the Tottenham suburb of London. In 1886 the parents deserted their children, who were admitted to the Old Parish School and then to the Enfield Farm School run by the Edmonton Poor Law Union, a local government institution. Their father died in January 1888. In May 1894 their mother induced Margaret, aged 17, to leave her job at the farm school for a place in service, and in retaliation the union discharged the boys into their mother’s care. Within a month Mrs Green was unable to pay the rent on her room, and she and the boys began to sleep rough. In July 1894 George and Walter were admitted to the East End Juvenile Mission of Dr Thomas John Barnardo at their mother’s request. George was described in the admission documents as well conducted, but with a cast in his left eye and a peculiar appearance. Eight months later, on 21 March 1895, the brothers embarked for Canada in a party of 167 boys.
George was sent on 3 April to a bachelor farmer in Norfolk County, Ont., who returned him to the Barnardo receiving home in Toronto within the trial period of a month because the boy’s defective vision meant that he could not drive a team. On 7 May, Green was dispatched to a second place, near Owen Sound, to live with a single woman, Helen R. Findlay. Since her brother’s death the previous summer, Findlay had run the family farm alone. Before that time, two Barnardo boys had been placed on separate occasions with the Findlays. Neighbours who saw Green soon after he arrived described him as clean, healthy, quiet, and backward. Findlay, who after her brother’s death had been observed doing field and barn work the community regarded as inappropriate for women, they viewed with suspicion.
Seven months after his arrival on the Findlay farm, on 9 Nov. 1895, George Everitt Green died. A coroner’s inquiry found that his death resulted from “ill-treatment at the hands of Ellen R. Findley, and from her not giving him proper care and treatment, food and nourishment during his sickness in her house,” and Findlay was charged with manslaughter. In the ensuing trial, neighbours reported that for several months they had observed the boy inadequately clothed and fed, forced by physical violence to do work beyond his strength, and made to sleep in the barn as punishment. None, however, had seen fit to break community solidarity and attempt to assist him. Medical testimony was conflicting. Green had been unable to move from his bed for a week before his death. His frame was emaciated, his limbs gangrenous. His body bore wounds caused by physical abuse. An autopsy of his lungs showed a previous history of tuberculosis. The question for the jury became did Green die as a result of criminal neglect and physical assault by Helen Findlay, or were her actions reasonable chastisement of an inadequately prepared farm servant and his infirmities a consequence of hereditary or pre-emigration conditions? The jury was unable to reach a decision. No further record of the case has been found.
(This story was printed in the Ottawa Citizen on November 15, 1895. It is printed herewith verbatim. George Everett Green was brought to Canada by Barnardos on April 1, 1895 and died November 9, 1895.)
A WOMAN FIENDTERRIBLE ILL-USAGE OF A YOUNG BARNARDO BOY.He dies from Neglect and a Coroner's Jury Brings in a Verdict Against His Old Maid Employer, Who Will be Tried for Murder.
Owen Sound, Nov. 14, 1895--Another murder in Keppel, so the coroner's jury say. A Barnardo Home boy is the victim. The little village of North Keppel, or, as it is better known here, Big Bay, and vicinity was thrown into a state of intense excitement last Sunday morning, when it became known that George E. Green, an innocent, simple Barnardo waif, about sixteen years of age, had died the night previous in the house of Ellen R. Findley, on lot 42, in the 25th concession of the Township of Keppel, and all sorts of ugly rumors were set afloat as to the ill-treatment the boy had received at the hands of Miss Findley, who is an unmarried woman, about 40 years of age, of very masculine appearance, and who bears an unenviable reputation in the neighborhood. The farm she occupies belongs to a brother, who went to British Columbia some time ago, and of whom no trace can now be found, and Ellen seems determined to hold possession of it against all comers, and will not allow her father or any of her friends or relatives to interfere in any way with her management of the farm, which she has worked, with the assistance of the deceased and a little girl named Mary Brown, who have been living with her during the past summer, she doing the ordinary work of a man on the farm, such as ploughing, mowing, harvesting, etc., In fact, rumor says that there is not a man in that part of the country who would care to pit his strength against her.
An Inquest Ordered.A messenger was sent to Owen Sound a distance of eighteen miles, to notify Coroner Cameron, who consulted County Attorney McKay, and it was decided to hold an inquest. Early on Monday morning Coroner Cameron and Provincial Constable C. C. Pearce started for the scene of the fatality. A jury was summoned and viewed the remains, a port-mortem was ordered, and the taking of evidenced commenced.
Hellen R. Findley, now the accused, was the first witness. She deposed that the boy came to place in May, last, that he was no good to her, but had been nothing but a trouble and a nuisance ever since he came, although she finnally admitted that he had often milked six cows morning and evening, and carried the milk about half a mile to the house; that he had drawn wood and worked in the harvest, etc. She said he took sick with bowel complaint on November 1, and was sick and not able to do anything in the way of work from then until his death, which occurred on Saturday night about nine o'clock. She had not called in medical aid or got any medicine for him. She had tended him, and kept him clean, and he was always healthy and would always eat all he could get. She had never struck, beat or abused him in any way. She could not account for the appearance of the body, which was covered with wounds, bruises and ulcers from head to foot.
Neglect and Violence.Dr. Dow, assisted by Dr. Scott, performed the post-mortem examination, and report they found all the internal organs in a perfectly healthy condition. The body was very much emaciated and covered with wounds and bruises, and the bones of the fingers on both hands exposed at the ends and also at the knuckles; the nails were falling off, the toes were in about the same condition and gangrene had set in. The upper part of the body was covered with bites of insects or vermin.
Several other witnesses gave evidence of most unmerciful beatings given by Ellen to the boy during the past summer, the blows plainly heard a distance of eighty rods; also, that the boy had not been properly clothed, fed or cared for either before or during his sickness, and of the filthy condition of the room where he lay sick, and, in fact, of the whole surroundings.
After hearing some ten witnesses the jury, composed as follows: Mssrs James Gardiner, foreman, W. G. Taylor, William McGregor, F. J. Wilcox, Charles Husband, Thomas Hearn, John Johnston, John Taylor, D. Fry, Thomas Cole, John Perry, George Graham, John Elmer, John Gardiner and H. Patterson, brought in the following verdict: --
That George E. Green came to his death at lot 42, conc 25, in the Township of Keppel, on the 9th day of of November, 1895, from ill-treatment at the hands of Ellen R. Findley, and from her not giving him proper care and treatment, food and nourishment during his sickness in her house.
Charged with Murder.To-day Provincial Constable C. c. Pearce went to her home in Keppel, where he found her washing, and arrested her on a charge of murder and brought her before George Price, J. P., who remanded her to jail for one week, when she will again be brought up for the preliminary investigation. Messrs Tucker and Patterson will defend the prisoner.
Publicity surrounding the inquest and the trial influenced both federal and provincial policy on child immigration. The labour movement became involved not only because it was interested in the well-being of the young labourers but also because it was concerned about their effect, as part of an increasing stream of immigration, on Canadian wage rates. In 1897, responding to labour’s requests, the new Liberal government of Wilfrid Laurier* appointed a representative of the labour movement, Alfred F. Jury*, as Canadian immigration agent at Liverpool, with special responsibility to scrutinize the actions of the British child emigration homes. In Ontario, John Joseph Kelso*, the provincial superintendent of neglected and dependent children, and his supporters in the child-saving movement argued that no youngsters should be as casually placed as Green had been. Their pressure for reform led in 1897 to passage of the Juvenile Immigration Act, which required more careful record-keeping and screening of child immigrants and annual inspections of them in their Canadian situations. This act was subsequently replicated in Manitoba, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, the other provinces in which substantial numbers of British children were placed.
NA, MG 28, I 334, book 24: 72 (mfm.); RG76, Blai, 124, file 25399. Joy Parr, Labouring children: Britishimmigrant apprentices toCanada, 1869–1924 (London and Montreal, 1980), 54–58© 2000 University of Toronto/Université Laval
Following the death of George Everitt Green in 1895, more Canadians knew about him than about any other of the children brought by British charitable agencies to work in the dominion as agricultural labourers and domestic servants. Between 1868 and 1924 more than 80,000 youngsters came to Canada as child apprentices. Boys and girls, perhaps a third of whom were orphans, were transferred from English and Scottish refuges and poor-law schools and placed with householders who had responded to newspaper advertisements offering home and farm help. Green’s circumstances showed the immigration program at its worst, and his case, widely covered in the national press and in Britain, became the most compelling set piece in polemics created by Ontario child savers and the Canadian labour movement in their advocacy of reform of the system.
Until he was six, Green lived with his older sister, Margaret, his younger brother, Walter, and his parents in lodging-houses in the Tottenham suburb of London. In 1886 the parents deserted their children, who were admitted to the Old Parish School and then to the Enfield Farm School run by the Edmonton Poor Law Union, a local government institution. Their father died in January 1888. In May 1894 their mother induced Margaret, aged 17, to leave her job at the farm school for a place in service, and in retaliation the union discharged the boys into their mother’s care. Within a month Mrs Green was unable to pay the rent on her room, and she and the boys began to sleep rough. In July 1894 George and Walter were admitted to the East End Juvenile Mission of Dr Thomas John Barnardo at their mother’s request. George was described in the admission documents as well conducted, but with a cast in his left eye and a peculiar appearance. Eight months later, on 21 March 1895, the brothers embarked for Canada in a party of 167 boys.
George was sent on 3 April to a bachelor farmer in Norfolk County, Ont., who returned him to the Barnardo receiving home in Toronto within the trial period of a month because the boy’s defective vision meant that he could not drive a team. On 7 May, Green was dispatched to a second place, near Owen Sound, to live with a single woman, Helen R. Findlay. Since her brother’s death the previous summer, Findlay had run the family farm alone. Before that time, two Barnardo boys had been placed on separate occasions with the Findlays. Neighbours who saw Green soon after he arrived described him as clean, healthy, quiet, and backward. Findlay, who after her brother’s death had been observed doing field and barn work the community regarded as inappropriate for women, they viewed with suspicion.
Seven months after his arrival on the Findlay farm, on 9 Nov. 1895, George Everitt Green died. A coroner’s inquiry found that his death resulted from “ill-treatment at the hands of Ellen R. Findley, and from her not giving him proper care and treatment, food and nourishment during his sickness in her house,” and Findlay was charged with manslaughter. In the ensuing trial, neighbours reported that for several months they had observed the boy inadequately clothed and fed, forced by physical violence to do work beyond his strength, and made to sleep in the barn as punishment. None, however, had seen fit to break community solidarity and attempt to assist him. Medical testimony was conflicting. Green had been unable to move from his bed for a week before his death. His frame was emaciated, his limbs gangrenous. His body bore wounds caused by physical abuse. An autopsy of his lungs showed a previous history of tuberculosis. The question for the jury became did Green die as a result of criminal neglect and physical assault by Helen Findlay, or were her actions reasonable chastisement of an inadequately prepared farm servant and his infirmities a consequence of hereditary or pre-emigration conditions? The jury was unable to reach a decision. No further record of the case has been found.
(This story was printed in the Ottawa Citizen on November 15, 1895. It is printed herewith verbatim. George Everett Green was brought to Canada by Barnardos on April 1, 1895 and died November 9, 1895.)
A WOMAN FIENDTERRIBLE ILL-USAGE OF A YOUNG BARNARDO BOY.He dies from Neglect and a Coroner's Jury Brings in a Verdict Against His Old Maid Employer, Who Will be Tried for Murder.
Owen Sound, Nov. 14, 1895--Another murder in Keppel, so the coroner's jury say. A Barnardo Home boy is the victim. The little village of North Keppel, or, as it is better known here, Big Bay, and vicinity was thrown into a state of intense excitement last Sunday morning, when it became known that George E. Green, an innocent, simple Barnardo waif, about sixteen years of age, had died the night previous in the house of Ellen R. Findley, on lot 42, in the 25th concession of the Township of Keppel, and all sorts of ugly rumors were set afloat as to the ill-treatment the boy had received at the hands of Miss Findley, who is an unmarried woman, about 40 years of age, of very masculine appearance, and who bears an unenviable reputation in the neighborhood. The farm she occupies belongs to a brother, who went to British Columbia some time ago, and of whom no trace can now be found, and Ellen seems determined to hold possession of it against all comers, and will not allow her father or any of her friends or relatives to interfere in any way with her management of the farm, which she has worked, with the assistance of the deceased and a little girl named Mary Brown, who have been living with her during the past summer, she doing the ordinary work of a man on the farm, such as ploughing, mowing, harvesting, etc., In fact, rumor says that there is not a man in that part of the country who would care to pit his strength against her.
An Inquest Ordered.A messenger was sent to Owen Sound a distance of eighteen miles, to notify Coroner Cameron, who consulted County Attorney McKay, and it was decided to hold an inquest. Early on Monday morning Coroner Cameron and Provincial Constable C. C. Pearce started for the scene of the fatality. A jury was summoned and viewed the remains, a port-mortem was ordered, and the taking of evidenced commenced.
Hellen R. Findley, now the accused, was the first witness. She deposed that the boy came to place in May, last, that he was no good to her, but had been nothing but a trouble and a nuisance ever since he came, although she finnally admitted that he had often milked six cows morning and evening, and carried the milk about half a mile to the house; that he had drawn wood and worked in the harvest, etc. She said he took sick with bowel complaint on November 1, and was sick and not able to do anything in the way of work from then until his death, which occurred on Saturday night about nine o'clock. She had not called in medical aid or got any medicine for him. She had tended him, and kept him clean, and he was always healthy and would always eat all he could get. She had never struck, beat or abused him in any way. She could not account for the appearance of the body, which was covered with wounds, bruises and ulcers from head to foot.
Neglect and Violence.Dr. Dow, assisted by Dr. Scott, performed the post-mortem examination, and report they found all the internal organs in a perfectly healthy condition. The body was very much emaciated and covered with wounds and bruises, and the bones of the fingers on both hands exposed at the ends and also at the knuckles; the nails were falling off, the toes were in about the same condition and gangrene had set in. The upper part of the body was covered with bites of insects or vermin.
Several other witnesses gave evidence of most unmerciful beatings given by Ellen to the boy during the past summer, the blows plainly heard a distance of eighty rods; also, that the boy had not been properly clothed, fed or cared for either before or during his sickness, and of the filthy condition of the room where he lay sick, and, in fact, of the whole surroundings.
After hearing some ten witnesses the jury, composed as follows: Mssrs James Gardiner, foreman, W. G. Taylor, William McGregor, F. J. Wilcox, Charles Husband, Thomas Hearn, John Johnston, John Taylor, D. Fry, Thomas Cole, John Perry, George Graham, John Elmer, John Gardiner and H. Patterson, brought in the following verdict: --
That George E. Green came to his death at lot 42, conc 25, in the Township of Keppel, on the 9th day of of November, 1895, from ill-treatment at the hands of Ellen R. Findley, and from her not giving him proper care and treatment, food and nourishment during his sickness in her house.
Charged with Murder.To-day Provincial Constable C. c. Pearce went to her home in Keppel, where he found her washing, and arrested her on a charge of murder and brought her before George Price, J. P., who remanded her to jail for one week, when she will again be brought up for the preliminary investigation. Messrs Tucker and Patterson will defend the prisoner.
Publicity surrounding the inquest and the trial influenced both federal and provincial policy on child immigration. The labour movement became involved not only because it was interested in the well-being of the young labourers but also because it was concerned about their effect, as part of an increasing stream of immigration, on Canadian wage rates. In 1897, responding to labour’s requests, the new Liberal government of Wilfrid Laurier* appointed a representative of the labour movement, Alfred F. Jury*, as Canadian immigration agent at Liverpool, with special responsibility to scrutinize the actions of the British child emigration homes. In Ontario, John Joseph Kelso*, the provincial superintendent of neglected and dependent children, and his supporters in the child-saving movement argued that no youngsters should be as casually placed as Green had been. Their pressure for reform led in 1897 to passage of the Juvenile Immigration Act, which required more careful record-keeping and screening of child immigrants and annual inspections of them in their Canadian situations. This act was subsequently replicated in Manitoba, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, the other provinces in which substantial numbers of British children were placed.
NA, MG 28, I 334, book 24: 72 (mfm.); RG76, Blai, 124, file 25399. Joy Parr, Labouring children: Britishimmigrant apprentices toCanada, 1869–1924 (London and Montreal, 1980), 54–58© 2000 University of Toronto/Université Laval
Recent articles found in 2012 the British Newspaper archive show there was a conviction of common assault and a sentence of 1 year in the
Mercer Reformatory, Toronto.
New information now shows that Helen R Findlay was convicted on eight counts of common assault in the re-trial. She was sentenced to a year imprisonment in the Andrew Mercer Ontario Reformatory for Females, received on July 17, 1896 and discharged on June 11, 1897.
There was some justice for George Green after all....!!!
Published with permission:
“No. 2169, Helen R. Findlay” [1896-1897] (Archives of Ontario, RG 20-50-5)
Links to stories about the death of George Everett Green
Disability Studies, Temple U
In Memory of George Everett Green
Dictionary of Canadian Biography
George Everett Green
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=_I10ROFGbK4C&pg=PA99&lpg=PA99&dq=barnardo+canada+abuse&source=bl&ots=XognF74BOv&sig=6hHR1p7LsGNMfFFCOAZy8KlHAv4&hl=en#v=onepage&q=barnardo%20canada%20abuse&f=false