British Home Children in Canada
1860s-1930s
Children and Disempowerment
Home Children
• Between 1869 and the late 1930s, over
100,000 juvenile migrants were sent to
Canada from Great Britain during the child
emigration movement. Motivated by social
and economic forces, churches and
philanthropic organizations sent orphaned,
abandoned and pauper children to Canada.
• Most of these children had been brought
up in poverty, and were homeless or
living in the urban slums of Britain. Some
were accused or even convicted of petty
crimes. Many were orphans, while others
were simply the victims of poverty,
illness and misfortune. These children
were typically placed in orphanages or
workhouses by parents or kin who could
not afford to take care of them.
• Many believed that these children would have
a better chance for a healthy, moral life in
rural Canada, where families welcomed them
as a source of cheap farm labour and
domestic help.
• The intent of the juvenile immigration
program was to place these children with
good Canadian families and thus increase
their chances of leading happy and
prosperous lives; but not all of the stories
were happy ones.
• The ideal lives of these children, the younger
ones in particular, were to be adopted into
families ; however, this was often not the case.
• Most home children simply served as indentured
servants. Many of them ate and slept apart from
the families and were treated as paid help.
• In addition, the contract stipulated that if the
family was unhappy with the performance or
behaviour of a child, they could return him or her
to the distribution home. As a result, many
children, particularly teenagers, were placed with
a number of different families.
• After arriving by ship, the children were sent
to distributing homes, such as Fairknowe in
Brockville, and then sent on to farmers in the
area.
• Although many of the children were poorly
treated and abused, others experienced a
better life here than if they had remained in
the urban slums of England. Many served with
the Canadian and British Forces during both
World Wars.
British immigrant children from Dr. Barnardo's Homes at landing
stage, Saint John, N.B.
A boy ploughing at Dr. Barnardo's
Industrial Farm, Russell, Manitoba, ca. 1900
Immigrant girls on their way to the Stratford Home in Ontario,
1908.
Immigrant boys on their way to the St.
George Home in Ontario, 1908
Mistreatment of
Home Children
One of the most famous
cases was that of
George Everett Green, a
15-year-old boy who, in
1895, died of neglect,
starvation and abuse. His
caregiver, Helen Findlay,
was charged with murder
but was never convicted,
as the jury was unable to
agree on a verdict.
The story of Everett
Greene prompted the
public to question the
juvenile immigration
scheme.
HOME CHILDREN ASSIGNMENT
• It is 1909 and you were sent
from your homeland in Britain
to a new life in Canada over a
year ago. Write a detailed
journal entry about your
experiences as a Home Child
(use details mentioned in the
book or presentation).
• It is 1895 and young George
Everett Green, a home child in
Ontario, has died of neglect
and starvation. You are a
reporter with the “Great
Canadian” Post; the death of
the home child and the
murder trial of his caregiver
have sparked Canadian
interest in home children so
your editor has sent you out to
interview some of these
children and record their
experiences. Write a fictional
interview of a home child
using details mentioned in the
book and presentation.