British youth prepare for farm life in Ontario
Vimy Ridge Farm was established southwest of Guelph in 1923, for rehabilitation of veterans of the Great War. That venture failed and the “Old Sorby place” was used as a summer camp for war orphans in 1924 and 1925.
In 1926, the farm was reassigned for training youth from the old country as farm labourers. Britain had been exporting children to Canada since about 1850.
For their government, the practice helped to dispose of children who might otherwise be consigned to workhouses.
For Canada, it helped to meet ever-present demand for cheap farm labour.
In 1922, the British government adopted the Empire Settlement Act to recruit young men of about 15 to 17 years of age to go to Canada to work on farms. In 1926, H.A. Macdonnell, the director of colonization for the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, assigned Vimy Ridge Farm to be a training ground for these migrants.
There, British youth, who may never have seen a farm, would be taught rudiments of handling horses, working fields, caring for livestock and milking cows.
Farmers could apply to obtain youth from the program. Pay was to be $10 a month in the first year — half in cash and half put in trust — $15 in the second, and $20 in the third. Farmers could return boys they found unsatisfactory. After three years, the boys would be given the money placed in trust and, it was hoped, go on to support farms of their own.
Vimy Ridge Farm was modified accordingly, with further electrification, running water, a dormitory, and a passageway constructed to link all the buildings together for better communication and supervision. The first boys were received in July 1926.
The local community took an interest in their new neighbours. A soccer team of “Ridgeites” played matches against Guelph youth teams. On Aug. 18, 1926, the Ridgeites played against the Carpet Mills juniors. The game was exciting, ending in a close 3-2 win for the Ridgeites: Merritt, Corcoran, Foye, Morgan, Edgar, Taylor, Tuskip, Boyt, Grant, Shearer and Checkley.
Experiences of the youth in the program varied. In reminiscence, Ralph Chandler recalled that the training period in 1927 was brief. One boy he knew stayed only two days.
Ralph and his brother Douglas remained about three weeks, during which they learned a little of stable cleaning and livestock feeding. Then Ralph went to work on a farm near Bolton. His recollections were mostly favourable.
“The hours were mostly from dawn to dark and sometimes longer and generally speaking we were fairly well treated, although some of our employer(s) were never satisfied.”
Ralph remained in Canada and later returned to Guelph.
Not all the boys fared well. A notorious case was Thomas Oloman, an 18-year-old who worked on the main farm near Galt in 1930. On Aug. 20, he was helping with milking when Mrs. Main slapped him for “misbehaviour.” Later, as she returned to the farmhouse, Thomas shot her with a .22 rifle. She was not badly wounded. Thomas turned the gun around and shot himself in the head. He was rushed to hospital, but died of his wound.
It is hard to know what he was thinking. He may have shot Mrs. Main by accident, while aiming at a tin can; he may have been distressed because of his punishment or because he was about to be sent to a different farm. We will never know.
In July 1931 the Ontario government discontinued the colonization program. During the Great Depression too few farmers could afford to hire the boys. Supervision of those still in Canada was passed to the Board of Home Missions.
A total of 1,773 youths had be- gun their lives in Canada at Vimy Ridge Farm under this program.
In November 1931 the Ministry sold it to H.H. Walker of Morriston, and the Vimy Ridge Farm became history.
The theatre sensation “Guelph in Postcards: The McCrae years” begins July 8 at the John McCrae House in Guelph. For details, go to https://on.fb.me/2rm1oiN.
The British Home Children Advocacy and Research Association is holding an event concerning the children at the Waterloo Region Museum and Doon Heritage Village on July 23. For details, go to https://on.fb.me/2rBwy5l.