Remembering the British Home Children
You may have seen the colours of white, red, and blue lighting up the night sky in Sherbrooke on Saturday night and that’s because Sept. 28 marked National British Home Child Day.
In honour of the 100,000 children that were brought to Canada from Britain between 1869 and 1948 and the contributions they made to Canada’s nation building, the British Home Child Association asked communities across the country and in the United Kingdom to light up any of their buildings, monuments, and memorials with the colours of the British Home Children Advocacy and Research Association, and their flag, for their “Beacon’s Of Light” Campaign.
This year marks the 150th year since the first children were brought to Canada and various cities across the country chose to participate in memory of them, including Sherbrooke.
Sherbrooke is the location of one of the two homes in the Eastern Townships that received children from Britain during this period of time and it is known as the Gibbs Home. Upon their arrival, children would wait in these receiving homes until their new Canadian farm family came to pick them up.
The Gibbs Home now houses Action Interculturelles, an organization that works with immigrants with most of their programs focusing on helping them find employment. Until recently, the organization was not familiar with the historical significance of their building.
After getting to know the story of the British Home Children and the history behind their building, the organization jumped at the chance to take part in the Beacon’s of Light Campaign.
“The reaction of the people was so warm,” said Louise Gagné, president of Action interculturelles, “everyone was feeling the historical moment that none of us knew.”
Around 30 people attended the event, including Deputy of Sherbrooke Pierreluc Dusseault, two municipal councillors from Lennoxville Jennifer Garfat and Pierre Charron, and various organizations involved with the British Home Children. Gagné emphasised how they were all strong supporters of conserving the Gibbs Home and the work Action Interculturelles hopes to do in the future in commemoration of the British Home Children.
“The two municipal councilors from Lennoxville were concerned by the fact that many citizens in Lennoxville come from these families. It was not only a social meeting but it was a chance to learn about the story of the Home Children.”
Gagné prepared a speech to kick off the event outlining the history of the Gibbs Home and how Action Interculturelles is starting to get involved with the story of the British Home Children. In the future, they plan to place more emphasis on the different stories and experiences that belong to the children of the Gibbs Home.
The attendees then came together to start drawing up plans for next year’s event, which will also mark the 30th anniversary of Action Interculturelles, before heading outside to light up the Gibbs Home.