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British Home Children in Simcoe County

Introduction

September 28th is National British Home Child Day in Canada. Some estimate that as many as ten percent of Canadians with British ancestry descend from a home child. Many home children were sent to live and work on rural properties in Central Ontario, including​​ Simcoe County. This blog post will serve as a guide to researching home children using resources at the Simcoe County Archives and beyond.

A postcard showing the R.M.S Empress of Ireland ca. 1906 from the collections of the Simcoe County Archives. Between 1906 and 1914 the Empress of Ireland brought more than 900 British Home Children to Canada. When the ship famously sank in 1914, one of the survivors of the wreck was George Bogue Smart, Inspector of British Immigrant Children and Receiving Homes for the Government of Canada.
A postcard showing the R.M.S Empress of Ireland ca. 1906 from the collections of the Simcoe County Archives. Between 1906 and 1914 the Empress of Ireland brought more than 900 British Home Children to Canada. When the ship famously sank in 1914, one of the survivors of the wreck was George Bogue Smart, Inspector of British Immigrant Children and Receiving Homes for the Government of Canada.

Who were the British Home Children?

Between 1869 and the late 1940s over 100,000 children were sent from the British Isles to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. These children were part of what would come to be called the British child emigration movement. As part of this scheme, children were removed from increasingly impoverished and over-populated urban centers in the United Kingdom and sent to rural corners of the colonies. Some home children were orphans, but many had families that remained in their countries of origin. The organizations responsible for facilitating these transfers were mainly charities with a focus on child and social welfare. One of the most prominent to send children to Canada was Dr. Ba​​​rnardo’s Homes, based out of the East End of London​.

Once the children arrived in Canada, they were assigned to live and work on Canadian farms. The experiences of these children varied. Some where treated well, and formed tight bonds with their Canadian host families, while others suffered mistreatment and abuse. Regardless of their reception in Canada, many home children stayed into adulthood and established livelihoods and families of their own.

Resources at the Simcoe County Archives

It should be noted that there were no official receiving homes for home children in Simcoe County, however, many children were eventually sent to families in the county. More still moved here and settled as adults. The Archives have few collections with individuals specifically identified as home children, but many of our resources can assist those researching a home child  (or former home child) ​who may have lived in the area.

​Blogs and exh​ibits

Printable guides

Institutional records

  • PC-0111​ ​George F. Holloway  fonds
  • Simcoe County Archives Newspaper collection – Various local newspapers from across the county.
  • Simcoe County Archives Reference Library – Various publications  

Online resources:

  •  Ancestry (subscription required): Includes indexes and digitized records for England and Canada, including census, marriage and death records. Passenger Lists, both in-coming and out-going, are also available. Ancestry is accessible for free at the Simcoe County Archives.

Local heritage institutions 

 National and Provincial resources

Canadian interest groups

United Kingdom resources

 Published works:

  • Bleating of the Lambs: Cana​da’s British Home Children by Lori Oschefski​
  • ​The Home Children by Phyllis Harrison