Experiences of British Home Children in Canada

1436 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Poverty in britain

In the mid-19th century, Britain was facing problems of over populated cities. Life for the poor class was incredibly difficult. To survive, children as young as _____ had to find work to bring in money for food and shelter. In such families young children were seen as a burden and older ones as a source of income. Oftentimes unexpected circumstances such as sickness would leave families unable to support themselves. Orphaned children took to the streets or were put in parishes by closest kin which were not much better than the streets. Slowly people started to take notice of their plight. Both newly formed and pre-established philanthropic agencies began bringing in children and apprenticing them. Homes like Barnardo, Rye, and Macpherson Homes were set up all over Britain to accommodate them. Hundreds of families would admit their own children to the Homes when they could no longer provide for them. With this overwhelming response, the child savers soon had more children than they could handle; they began searching for a place to send them. Canada was not the only place considered for child emigration, but in the end it appeared to be the most favourable. Not only did the passage to Canada cost less than the passage to Australia, another place where child emigrants had been sent, (Parr, 1994) but it also “promised a supply of temperate moral and pious rural homes”. (Parr, 1994) The child savers literally believed themselves to be “child savers” that offered the children salvation from the evil ways to which they were exposed in the city. Canada also needed young workers and hoped that by accepting young children form Britain and exposing them to farming, it would bring them up to be a new generation of farmers as adults. ... ... middle of paper ... ... education proved challenging for Home children during adulthood. The many difficulties the young immigrants endured not only isolated them form Canadians around them but it also discouraged most Home children from staying in rural communities. Works Cited Corbett, G. H. (1981). Barnardo children in Canada. (pp. 11-65). Peterborough, ON: Woodland Publishing. Parr, J. (1994). Labouring children: British immigrant apprentices to Canada, 1869-1924. (pp. 11-141). Toronto, PQ: University of Toronto Press. Bagnall, K. (2001). The little immigrants : The orphans who came to Canada. Toronto, ON: Dundurn Press. Corbett, G. H. (1981). Barnardo children in Canada. (pp. 79-118). Peterborough, ON: Woodland Publishing. British home children. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.pier21.ca/research/collections/the-story-collection/online-story-collection/british-home-children

Show More
Related

  • The Case of the Black Donnellys

    991 Words  | 2 Pages

    Upper Canada was in the tumultuous process of settlement during the nineteenth century. From 1800-1860, wheat and flour exports went from a negligible amount to peak at 13 billion bushels in 1860.1 It is important to understand the rapid nature of settlement to contextualize life in rural Upper Canada. From 1805-1840, the population increased by over eight hundred percent.2 Many of these were Irish emigrants, even in the period preceding the famine; these pre-Famine Irish emigrants were predominantly “middling farmers,” «c'est à dire des fermiers cultivant des terres petite oucharacterizedes, Simmons, et al., et al., et al., et al., et al., et al., et al., et al.... ... middle of paper ... ...

    Read More

  • Bill C-31 & Designated Country of Origin

    1026 Words  | 3 Pages

    Historically, Canada has held a world renowned reputation as nation with a magnanimous ideological approach to providing asylum to those individuals subjected to marginalization and persecution in their homeland – regardless of their nation of origin (Ismaili, 2011, p.89 & 92). Indeed, providing sanctuary to refugees who would otherwise experience significant hardships ranging from blatant discrimination and racism to torture and genocide, has very much become an institutionalized aspect of Canadian society. However, recent changes to Canada’s immigration policy delineated in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and Bill C-31 may have perhaps put this ideology in peril (Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, 2001).

    Read More

  • Economic History of Prince Edward Island

    1153 Words  | 3 Pages

    The 1920’s were a period of growth for the world economy as many people experienced great deals of increase with respect wealth as well as technological advancements and electricity, which became crucial living standard in countries such as Canada. A boom in the Canadian economy during this time was a result of middle and lower class families increasing their consumption of mass-produced consumer based items. During this time P.E.I maintained a relatively lower growth percentage then other Canadian Provinces as they experienced less of the economic boom. Those living in P.E.I, or the Islanders, were relatively more prone to hardship as most people located in the province at the time lived strenuous and labour filled lives.

    Read More

  • The Impacts of the Sixties Scoop on First Nations People

    1683 Words  | 4 Pages

    Retrieved December 6, 2013, from http://www.fncfcs.com/sites/default/files/online-journal/vol3num1/Sinclair_pp65.pdf Smith, C. (2013, September 1). A Legacy of Canadian Child Care: Surviving the Sixties Scoop. Briarpatch Magazine, Part 1. Retrieved December 6, 2013, from http://briarpatchmagazine.com/articles/view/a-legacy-of-canadian-child-care Steckley, J., & Cummins, B. D. (2008). Full Circle: Canada's First Nations (2nd ed.).

    Read More

  • Miss Rye And Miss Macpherson's Analysis Of Juvenile Immigration In Canada

    916 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the analysis of Juvenile immigration in Canada, Doyle’s (1875) analysis presents Miss Rye and Miss Macpherson’s account of the poor treatment and lack of authoritative supervision of immigrant children in Canada in the early 1870s. In this manner, the women were only allowed to be agents for the adoption of children into work houses or by farmer family’s that would raise the child in exchange for farm labor: “For the disposal of a large proportion of the girls, both Miss Macpherson and Miss Rye depend upon what they term "adoption." (Doyle, 1875, p.11). This highly exploitative method of using immigrant children as low wage works defines the unregulated system of adoption, which placed certain children in homes that were not being supervised by a government agency or a higher authority. This part of Doyle’s (1875) report exposes the problem of non-supervision of children by the government, which left certain children exposed to abuse, abandonment, and physical harm. However, Doyle (1875) only relies on the Miss Rye and Miss Macpherson as the only witnesses to the abuse that these children endured in this unregulated system of “adoption”. This small sample size in the case study defines the extremely narrow

    Read More

  • Bread Givers By Anzia Yezierska

    1079 Words  | 3 Pages

    Moving from the unpleasant life in the old country to America is a glorious moment for an immigrant family that is highlighted and told by many personal accounts over the course of history. Many people write about the long boat ride, seeing The Statue of Liberty and the “golden” lined streets of New York City and how it brought them hope and comfort that they too could be successful in American and make it their home. Few authors tend to highlight the social and political developments that they encountered in the new world and how it affected people’s identity and the community that they lived in. Authors from the literature that we read in class highlight these developments in the world around them, more particularly the struggles of assimilating

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Women Miners In The English Coal Pits

    1379 Words  | 3 Pages

    With the gradual advancements of society in the 1800’s came new conflicts to face. England, the leading country of technology at the time, seemed to be in good economic standing as it profited from such products the industrial revolution brought. This meant the need for workers increased which produced jobs but often resulted in the mistreatment of its laborers. Unfortunately the victims targeted were kids that were deprived of a happy childhood. A testimony by a sub-commissioner of mines in 1842 titled Women Miners in the English Coal Pits and The Sadler Report (1832), an interview of various kids, shows the deplorable conditions these kids were forced to face.

    Read More

  • How The Aboriginal Assimilation

    1366 Words  | 3 Pages

    “To kill the Indian in the child,” was the prime objective of residential schools (“About the Commission”). With the establishment of residential schools in the 1880s, attending these educational facilities used to be an option (Miller, “Residential Schools”). However, it was not until the government’s time consuming attempts of annihilating the Aboriginal Canadians that, in 1920, residential schools became the new solution to the “Indian problem.” (PMC) From 1920 to 1996, around one hundred fifty thousand Aboriginal Canadians were forcibly removed from their homes to attend residential schools (CBC News). Aboriginal children were isolated from their parents and their communities to rid them of any cultural influence (Miller, “Residential Schools”). Parents who refrained from sending their children to these educational facilities faced the consequence of being arrested (Miller, “Residential Schools”). Upon the Aboriginal children’s arrival into the residential schools, they were stripped of their culture in the government’s attempt to assimilate these children into the predominately white religion, Christianity, and to transition them into the moderating society (Miller, “Residential Schools”). With the closing of residential schools in 1996, these educational facilities left Aboriginal Canadians with lasting negative intergenerational impacts (Miller, “Residential Schools”). The Aboriginals lost their identity, are affected economically, and suffer socially from their experiences.

    Read More

  • Child Welfare Policy in Canada

    1047 Words  | 3 Pages

    Ideological perspective influence how society defines at-risk individuals or groups, and its solution (Graham, Swift, & Delaney, 2012), and the changing societal belief on children brought dramatic changes to development of child welfare policy. From the early 20th century, childhood has become characterized by not only proper guidance and protection of a family, but an increased role of the community and the state in preventing abuse and exploitation. Society also began to consider the well-being of children as the future of a strong nation, and failure as a potential damage to the development of a healthy society. Such beliefs pointed to the need for child welfare policies around the areas of deinstitutionalization, improved health care, and compulsory schooling, along with demise of child labour. In the areas of child labour, for example, although child labour was preferred as it provided a cheaper, more manageable workforce in industrialization era, the changing societal attitude toward child labour brought strict regulation for the demise of child labour. The working condition and the treatment of children in factories were also put into scrutiny to provide safer working environment to those who often had to endure both physical and verbal abuse while working wit...

    Read More

  • The Orphan Train Movement

    640 Words  | 2 Pages

    The founder of The Children’s Aid Society, the driving force behind the Orphan Train Movement, was Charles Loring Brace. Brace first realized the amount of homeless children while working at a mission center. Brace wanted to give homes to the over 30,000 children living on the streets in the 1850s. Speaking about the situation at hand, Brace noted:

    Read More

  • Orphan Trains

    891 Words  | 2 Pages

    The main reason for the orphan trains was not to necessarily help the children but to clean up the streets. The children were treated horrible. They were forced to join in gangs to survive and live on the streets. These children were also known as "st...

    Read More

  • Residential Schools In Canada

    714 Words  | 2 Pages

    The creation of the Residential Schools is now looked upon to be a regretful part of Canada’s past. The objective: to assimilate and to isolate First Nations and Aboriginal children so that they could be educated and integrated into Canadian society. However, under the image of morality, present day society views this assimilation as a deliberate form of cultural genocide. From the first school built in 1830 to the last one closed in 1996, Residential Schools were mandatory for First Nations or Aboriginal children and it was illegal for such children to attend any other educational institution. If there was any disobedience on the part of the parents, there would be monetary fines or in the worst case scenario, trouble with Indian Affairs.

    Read More

  • Foster Care

    2804 Words  | 6 Pages

    In the year 1562, there were laws enacted that allowed the placement of poor children into care services until they were old enough to care for themselves. When the idea came to the U.S. not many children liked the idea of being placed into a foster home. They were often abused and exploited. However, this was allowed by law and the homes were considered better for the children because unlike almshouses children were taught different trades, and were not constantly exposed to bad surrounding and immature adults. Various forms of indenturing children persisted into the first decade of the century. Benjamin Eaton became the nation’s first foster child in the year 1636, he was 7 years old.

    Read More

  • Canadian Immigration Policies

    1145 Words  | 3 Pages

    Stoffman, Daniel. Who gets in: What's wrong with Canada's immigration program, and how to fix it. Toronto: Macfarlane Walter & Ross, 2002.

    Read More

  • The Negative Impact Of Foster Care On Children As A Social Problem

    1098 Words  | 3 Pages

    Early efforts to address child welfare were made when Charles Loring Brace, founder of the Children’s Aid Society established lodging houses and industrial schools, to care for neglected, orphaned and abandoned children and provide these children with shelter and moral education. However many of the children were not actually orphaned or being neglected they were simply poor (Warren, 1998).

    Read More

More about Experiences of British Home Children in Canada

Open Document