‘Important stories’
Island author Sara Underwood launches book, ‘Awful Kind: The Story of the Middlemore Children of Prince Edward Island’
Sara Underwood has spent the past three years researching the kids who came to P.E.I. between 1893 and 1930 as British Home Children.
There are approximately 200. She has searched public records, interviewed descendants and walked past houses where some of these children lived. Now, she’s written a book on the subject. And, as she prepared to launch it, she was feeling apprehensive about how the content will be received.
“I’m trepidatious. I know that people aren’t going to necessarily like these stories,” says the P.E.I. writer.
That’s because, while some of the children were welcomed into Island homes, others were brought here to be domestics or labourers, others were severely abused. Some of the stories are very sad.
“I do, however, believe that they are important stories that need to be told,” says the author of “Awful Kind: The Story of the Middlemore Children of Prince Edward Island” that was released at Beaconsfield’s Carriage House in Charlottetown on Sept. 28 – the inaugural British Home Child Day in Canada.
“Awful Kind” tells these children’s stories through the reports of Middlemore agents and Islanders sent back to the home, as well as correspondence from Islanders and children themselves. Take Ethel Marion Parker, for example.
The 10-year-old was one of 13 Middlemore Home children that agent Jessie Hogg brought to Prince Edward Island from Halifax on June 20, 1899.
“The girls were supposed to
become domestic servants. But Ethel was sent to a farm to work as a farm labourer. She talks about how, when she left one place the people refused to pay her, saying that room and board were enough,” says Underwood.
Her story is told through a series of letters that she sent back to Middlemore over the years. She describes not only the hardships that she endured, but also day-today life in Charlottetown at that time, from the fire that destroyed St. Dunstan’s Basilica to the soldiers parading before they left to fight in the Great War. “Then there’s that moment when she learns that a grandfather
in England left her a small inheritance – the only catch is, she will need to prove that she is indeed the Ethel Marion Parker who was sent to Canada all those years ago, and this proves to be difficult.”
Then there’s Reggie Brittain, who settles on a farm with Duncan Stewart and his sister in Southport. The siblings give him a good life. In his letters he writes about attending school, taking an arts course, attending Prince of Wales College and an engineering school in Montreal. Then, after the death of Duncan he comes back to P.E.I. to manage the farm.
“I was happy to end with him
because he’s quite a dashing character,” says Underwood, who is thrilled to give these children a voice.
“It’s important to acknowledge the fact that they were here and that they became part of Island society.”
While the book is finished, it is not the end of the project. Underwood has received international requests about the book.
“A couple of filmmakers are interested. And, once I’ve had some time to catch my breath I’ll probably write a novel about home children because I have all this information that’s in my soul. I’m nowhere near done.”