Descendants of British Home Children share their families’ stories, keepsakes
It was 150 years ago, in 1869, when the first group of more than 100,000 British children were shipped across the ocean to work for Canadian farmers. To memorialize the anniversary, descendants of British Home Children will share their families’ stories and keepsakes during a display at the Forest Lawn Library in Calgary on Saturday.
Both of Hazel Perrier’s grandparents grew up as child workers in Canadian homes, separated from their families. Perrier’s grandfather arrived at the British colony in 1893 when he was only seven years old. Although he had many siblings, he was sent alone. Her then-11year-old grandmother arrived in 1897 with her two younger siblings, but the three of them were placed with different families in Ontario.
From 1869 to 1948, with breaks during both World Wars, families living in poverty in British cities or single parents that couldn’t support their children surrendered them to charity organizations, said Perrier.
The charities became overrun with children and found the best solution was to send them to the British colonies, primarily Canada and Australia, where they could live and work for a small wage. Farmers applied for a child but there were soon seven applications for every one child that arrived.
“Some of them were badly mistreated, some were not fed or clothed properly, some slept in barns. I just met a lady who lives in Manitoba and her father slept in the barns with the animals,” said Perrier, adding that fortunate children were treated like family.
“They didn’t have a home. They were robbed of their childhood because they didn’t have a mother or father.”
The children were indentured farm workers and domestics, often treated inhumanely and forced to work outside of reason, Perrier said.
If a family wasn’t happy with the work of one child, they could request an exchange and the youth would be relocated.
When the 87-year-old learned just over 10 years ago of her grandparents’ past as British Home Children, she began spreading their story across the country by joining support groups and seeking long-lost family members.
She found a cousin in Iowa with 11 children and her family tree grew. In her excitement, she started sewing a quilt to tell her family’s story.
One of Perrier’s quilts will be on display at the Forest Lawn Library during the storytelling.
The quilt is large, with 54 squares. Every square is a picture of a British Home Child, and every picture has a story that was written by that person or their descendants.
“There are pictures of the ships that they came on. People sent me squares they had made or sent me enough information so that I could make the square, then I patched it all together,” said the Airdrie resident.
The quilt has been to 45 different locations in North America, sharing the lived experience of the many faces sewn into its material.
“We’re trying to make people aware this happened because there are lots of people who don’t know anything about this. It isn’t taught in history textbooks,” said Perrier.
Events to honour British Home Children and child migrants will take place across Canada, and in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries that received child workers.
Calgary will also be lit up in honour of the children, with the Reconciliation Bridge in East Village lit in yellow and Telus Spark shining red, white and blue on Saturday.
The Calgary Tower will be brightly lit in red, white and blue on Friday.