HOME CHILDREN
Between 1869 and the early 1930s, over 100,000 children
were sent to Canada from Great Britain during the child
emigration movement. Many siblings were separated from
each other upon their arrival in Canada, and never saw each
other again. Other siblings were separated when they were
sent to Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Many spent
their lives trying to identify their parents and find their siblings.
Most were unsuccessful. The British Child Emigration Scheme
persisted until the mid 1960’s when 15-20,000 children were
emigrated (deported) to Australia and New Zealand.
Members of the British Isles Family History Society of Greater
Ottawa are locating and indexing the names of these Home
Children found in passenger lists in the custody of the National
Archives of Canada. The database at the National Archives of
Canada for the children is now *online.The database is not
complete as yet. The British Isle Group in Ottawa are still working
on it. NAC says that most of the early years are there.
If you do not find the name you are looking for you should
try again in a month or so.
Related Web Sites
National Archives of Canada (NAC), Home Children database
http://pda.republic.net/othsa/HomeChild/HomeMenu.html
Emigration as a Solution
http://dcs.uwaterloo.ca/~marj/genealogy/children/conditions.html
Australian Sources
http://dcs.uwaterloo.ca/~marj/genealogy/children/australia.html
The following BOYD children are listed in the database at this time:
BOYD, Sarah - Age:16 - Sex:F
Year of arrival: 1874 - Microfilm reel:C-4528
Ship: SS Manitoban
Port of departure: Glasgow - Departure Date:14 Jul 1874
Port of arrival: Quebec - Arrival Date:25 Jul 1874
Party: See comments
Comments: Individual young people.
.................................
BOYD, Gaye - Age:16 - Sex:M
Year of arrival: 1884 - Microfilm reel:C-4512
Ship: SS Parisian
Port of departure:Liverpool - Departure Date: 27 Mar 1884
Port of arrival: Halifax - Arrival Date: 5 Apr 1884
Party: Not Given - Destination:Various Destinations
Note: The child's given name was illegible or difficult to decipher
.................................
BOYD, James - Age:4 - Sex:M
Year of arrival:1882 - Microfilm reel:C-4531
Ship:SS Hanoverian
Port of departure:Glasgow - Departure Date:26 May 1882
Port of arrival:Quebec - Arrival Date:08 Jun 1882
Party:Children's Party - Destination:Belleville,Ont
.................................
BOYD, Arthur - Age:4 - Sex:M
Year of arrival:1887 - Microfilm reel:C-4535
Ship:SS Sardinian
Port of departure:Liverpool - Departure Date:19 May 1887
Port of arrival:Quebec - Arrival Date:31 May 1887
Party:Miss MacPherson's - Destination:Stratford,Ont
.................................
BOYD, Thomas - Age:8 - Sex: M
Year of arrival:1887 - Microfilm reel:C-4536
Ship:SS Texas
Port of departure:Bristol - Departure Date:23 Jul 1887
Port of arrival:Quebec - Arrival Date:03 Aug 1887
Party:Mr Wallace's - Destination:Belleville,Ont
................................
BOYD, George W - Age:17 - Sex:M
Year of arrival:1884 - Microfilm reel:C-4533
Ship:SS Sarnia
Port of departure:Liverpool - Departure Date:24 Apr 1884
Port of arrival:Quebec - Arrival Date: 6 May 1884
Party:Unknown party of children - Destination: Not Given
...............................
BOYD, Lizz - Age:10 - Sex:F
Year of arrival:1884 - Microfilm reel:C-4533
Ship:SS Buenos Ayrean
Port of departure:Glasgow - Departure Date:7 Jun 1884
Port of arrival:Quebec - Arrival Date:19 Jun 1884
Party:Not Given - Destination:Brockville,Ont
Comments: Probably Quarrier's Children
................................
BOYD, Amelia - Age:17 - Sex:F
Year of arrival:1882 - Microfilm reel:C-4511
Ship:SS Hibernian
Port of departure:Liverpool - Departure Date:18 Jan 1882
Port of arrival:Halifax - Arrival Date:31 Jan 1882
Party:Not Given - Destination:Quebec
................................
BOYD, Maggie - Age:12 - Sex:F
Year of arrival:1882 - Microfilm reel:C-4531
Ship:SS Hanoverian
Port of departure:Glasgow - Departure Date:26 May 1882
Port of arrival:Quebec - Arrival Date:08 Jun 1882
Party:Children's Party - Destination:Belleville, Ont
................................
BOYD, William - Age:18 - Sex: M
Year of arrival:1882 - Microfilm reel:C-4532
Ship:SS Dominion
Port of departure:Liverpool - Departure Date:24 Aug 1882
Port of arrival:Quebec - Arrival Date:04 Sep 1882
Party:Not Given - Destination:Not Given
Comments:Departed Belfast 25 Aug 1882
................................
BOYD, Maggie - Age:7 - Sex:F
Year of arrival:1875 - Microfilm reel:C-4529
Ship:SS Prussian
Port of departure:Liverpool - Departure Date:15 Jul 1875
Port of arrival:Quebec - Arrival Date:25 Jul 1875
Party: Not Given - Destination:Not Given
Comments: Children (Macpherson ?)
................................
BOYD, Kitty A. - Age:18 - Sex: F
Year of arrival:1873 - Microfilm reel: C-4528
Ship: SS Scandinavian
Port of departure:Liverpool - Departure Date: 25 Sep 1873
Port of arrival:Quebec - Arrival Date:05 Oct 1873
Comments:Unaccompanied young people from
Liverpool and Londonderry
................................
BOYD, Susanna - Age:18 - Sex:F
Year of arrival:1873 - Microfilm reel:C-4528
Ship:SS Scandinavian
Port of departure:Liverpool - Departure Date:25 Sep 1873
Port of arrival:Quebec - Arrival Date:05 Oct 1873
Comments:Unaccompanied young people from
Liverpool and Londonderry.
................................
BOYD, Thomas - Age:16 - Sex:F
Year of arrival:1873 - Microfilm reel:C-4528
Ship:SS Manitoban
Port of departure:Glasgow - Departure Date:01 Jul 1873
Port of arrival:Quebec - Arrival Date:14 Jul 1873
Comments:Unaccompanied young people.
................................
BOYD, Charlotte - Age:21 - Sex:F
Year of arrival:1905 - Microfilm reel:T-484
Ship:SS Lake Champlain
Port of departure:Liverpool - Departure Date:30 May 1905
Port of arrival:Quebec - Arrival Date:10 Jun 1905
Destination:Winnipeg
Comments:A large number of `Domestics' in
Mrs. Sandford's Party - mostly single women
in their 20's going to Winnipeg. Most were
Scots women with some Irish and a few English.
................................
BOYD, Eleanor - Age:11 - Sex:F
Year of arrival:1903 - Microfilm reel:T-482
Ship:Dominion
Port of departure:Liverpool - Departure Date:23 Sep 1903
Port of arrival:Quebec - Arrival Date:02 Oct 1903
Party: Barnardo - Destination: Peterborough,Ont
................................
BOYD, George - Age:12 - Sex:M
Year of arrival:1894 - Microfilm reel:C-4516
Ship:SS Sarnia
Port of departure:Liverpool - Departure Date:29 Mar 1894
Port of arrival:Portland,Maine -Arrival Date:11 Apr 1894
Party:Dr Barnardo's - Destination:Winnipeg,Manitoba
Comments:This passenger list is included in
the Halifax film, reel C-4516.
................................
BOYD, Henry - Age:18 - Sex:M
Year of arrival:1894 - Microfilm reel:C-4540
Ship:SS Sardinian
Port of departure:Liverpool -Departure Date:28 Jun 1894
Port of arrival:Quebec - Arrival Date:9 Jul 1894
Party:Dr Barnardo's - Destination:Quebec
Comments:Destination given simply as "Quebec".
................................
BOYD, James - Age:13 - Sex: M
Year of arrival:1909 - Microfilm reel:T-4760
Ship:Corsican
Port of departure:Liverpool - Departure Date:20 May 1909
Port of arrival:Quebec - Arrival Date:28 May 1909
Party:Barnardo - Destination:Toronto
................................
BOYD, Samuel - Age:15 - Sex:M
Year of arrival:1909 - Microfilm reel:T-4760
Ship:Corsican
Port of departure:Liverpool - Departure Date:20 May 1909
Port of arrival:Quebec - Arrival Date:28 May 1909
Party:Barnardo - Destination:Toronto
................................
BOYD, Mary - Age:10 - Sex:F
Year of arrival:1912 - Microfilm reel:T-4787
Ship:SS Tunisian
Port of departure:Liverpool - Departure Date:14 Jun 1912
Port of arrival:Quebec - Arrival Date:23 Jun 1912
Party:Dr. Barnardo's Party - Destination:Peterboro, Ont
.................................
BOYD, Samuel J. - Age:17 - Sex:M
Year of arrival:1912 - Microfilm reel:T-4792
Ship:SS Scandinavian
Port of departure:Glasgow - Departure Date:21 Sep 1912
Port of arrival:Quebec - Arrival Date:29 Sep 1912
Party:Not Given - Destination:Various Locations
.................................
BOYD, Alfred - Age:11 - Sex:M
Year of arrival:1897 - Microfilm reel:C-4541
Ship:SS Labrador
Port of departure:Liverpool - Departure Date:10 Jun 1897
Port of arrival:Quebec - Arrival Date:19 Jun 1897
Party:Dr Barnardo's
Comments:Party of 188 children.
................................
BOYD, James - Age:12 - Sex:M
Year of arrival:1897 - Microfilm reel:C-4518
Ship:SS Siberian
Port of departure:Glasgow - Departure Date:31 Mar 1897
Port of arrival:Halifax - Arrival Date:12 Apr 1897
Party:Quarrier's - Destination:Brockville, Ontario
Comments:Group of 117 Quarrier children
................................
BOYD, William - Age:11 - Sex:M
Year of arrival:1890 - Microfilm reel:C-4514
Ship:SS Parisian
Port of departure:Liverpool - Departure Date:27 Mar 1890
Port of arrival:Portland, Maine - Arrival Date:07 Apr 1890
Party:Not given. - Destination:See Comments
Comments:Group of 113 children disembarked at Portland
(Code P90AA). More children in the same party
disembarked at Halifax (Code H90AD).
................................
BOYD, Robert J. - Age:18 - Sex:M
Year of arrival:1910 - Microfilm reel:T-4699
Ship:SS Baltic
Port of departure:Liverpool - Departure Date:02 Apr 1910
Port of arrival:New York - Arrival Date:11 Apr 1910
Party: Not Given - Destination:Toronto, Ont
...........................................................
END
"Neither Waif nor Stray" The Search For A Stolen Identity ISBN 1-58112-758-8
How could anyone steal anyone's identity? Millions of Canadians, Americans, Britons, and Australians do not know they are related to each other. There is a harrowing chapter missing from history books about the British Child Emigration Scheme to Canada.
Between 1870 and 1948,
more than fifty childcare organizations deported 100,000 alleged orphaned,
abandoned, illegitimate, and impoverished children to Canada ostensibly
to "provide them with better lives than they would have had in England."
Thousands of 6-to-15-year-old children were transported without their parents'
knowledge or consent to work as indentured farm labourers and domestic
servants until they were 18 years old.
An unknown number of
children ran away from the farms to be swallowed by the vast US.
They may have millions of American descendants. There are an estimated
4 million Canadian descendants of the British Home Children. Many
desperately seek their potential 20 million British relatives. Millions
of Americans are literally Canadian cousins. Could you be one
of them? Is there a "British Orphan" in your family tree?
For author and Clinical
Psychologist, Perry Snow, examining the psychological traumas experienced
by British Home Children is very close to home: the child profiled in his
book is his father - Frederick Snow.
Neither Waif Nor Stray:
The Search For A Stolen Identity provides a personal and professional investigation
of one British Home Child's life in Canada. The author has documented
his father's persistent lifelong efforts to obtain vital information that
would have reunited him with his family in England, and the continuing
search the author inherited after his father's death. Their
search is typical of thousands of British Home Children - and their descendants.
According to Snow, some children were fortunate and were treated as members of Canadian families. But more than half suffered from abuse and neglect. Neither the Canadian government nor the British agencies assumed responsibility for their welfare. Many were not allowed to go to school, nor provided with adequate food, clothing, or shelter. They suffered a unique form of prejudice in Canada because of their presumed "tainted" origins. They were ostracized and accused of being carriers of syphilis. They were unwanted in England and unwelcome in Canada.
"My father became a ward of the Waifs and Strays Society when he was four years old. He never saw his family again," Perry said. "When he was no longer in care, he wrote letters, pleading with them to 'help one who has been in darkness, and ignorant as to who he is,'" Perry said. For 50 years his father wrote to the Waifs and Strays Society trying to get information about himself and his family.
"He never had a birth certificate. He had nothing to verify who he was for the first 33 years of his life," Perry said. "For the next 15 years, he carried a tattered To Whom It May Concern letter stating his name and identifying him as 'of British nationality.'"
According to Perry, his father received his Baptism Certificate when he was 48 years old, but was still unable to identify his parents or locate his family at the time of his death on his still-unconfirmed 85th birthday in 1994.
It took a year for Perry to obtain his father's case file from the Children's Society: "I discovered they withheld from my father the information he so desperately sought all his life and they didn't readily give it to me," Perry said. "They denied they had information, presented false information, and lied to my father and me," he added. After four more years of searching, Perry finally identified his grandparents and located four uncles and aunts.
Perry wonders why this
organization didn't want his father to know who he was, and was intrigued
by the lengths to which the agency went to irrevocably sever family ties.
He can't understand why many of the sending agencies continue to
withhold information that would allow millions to reunite with their families.
"I hope the successful
conclusion of my search will inspire others to persist until they re-establish
their familial ties," Perry said. "No one should live their lives
without knowing who they are and to whom they belong -- it is your birthright
to know your heritage," he concluded.
Neither Waif Nor Stray:
The Search For A Stolen Identity is published-on-demand on the Internet.
A free sample download of the first 25 pages, an electronic edition of
the entire 284 pages, or a paperback edition of the book are available
at http://www.upublish.com/books/snow.htm.
Further information about the book and the author are available at
http://www.cadvision.com/psnow.waifnorstray.htm.
For publication details, and information about discounts for multiple purchases,
contact youngj@upublish.com.
" researchers with Home Children in their family trees should devour and savour Neither Waif Nor Stray . genealogists in search of the backgrounds and records of Home Children will benefit from the insights, direct contacts and avenues discussed by the author. Both the bibliography and the appendix are handbooks in themselves, full of useful information and encouraging sidebars. ... Snow makes strong and unmistakable political statements denouncing both the past and current attitudes of government officials towards young 'waifs and strays' shipped like cattle to Canada" (Global Gazette, 2000)
Snow developed a website with the names of +3,000 British Home Children listed at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~britishhomechildren He created an email list of +300 international subscribers who help each other with their searches.
To subscribe click on this
email link and type SUBSCRIBE in the message.
BRITISHHOMECHILDREN-L-request@rootsweb.com