The Home Children, an important piece of Canadian history
A blog dedicated to raising awareness of the British Home Child Movement and to recognizing the contributions these little immigrants made to Canada. Telling their stories gives their lives meaning.
Arthur Theodore Clarkson: The Rest of the Story
Arthur Theodore Clarkson
In January 1911, newspapers across Canada published articles about a 13 year-old Barnardo boy who was severely abused by a farmer in Tilbury, Ontario. People were appalled when they read the child had been whipped, his feet frozen to the point that amputation was considered and that he slept in a barn without protection from cold and snow. When Inspector Kinder arrived at the Flaherty farm, he found the boy fevered and covered in bruises. Charges of cruelty to a child were laid against Flaherty. The boy, Arthur T. Clarkson, proved more resilient than his oppressor. He went on to find lucrative employment, marry and raise a large family. The following story is based on information provided by Arthur’s daughter, Linda Clarkson Pagnani.
Arthur T. Clarkson’s father, Arthur W. Clarkson, was an engineer who helped design the first railway system in South Africa. He came from an upper middleclass English family that included lawyers, ministers and military officers. When he married Annie Maude Baker, the daughter of a Norwich postal worker, Arthur W. was disowned by his family.
Arthur T. was the second child born to Arthur W. and Annie. Their first son died in a tragic accident. Arthur T. was born on December 23, 1897 in Bloemfontein, South Africa. In 1907, Arthur Sr. contracted malaria and died. Annie was left alone in a strange country. She returned to England in a fragile emotional state. Nine year-old Arthur became responsible for the wellbeing of his mother and a younger brother.
Back in England, Arthur often left school to check on his mother. His poor record of attendance caused school authorities to label him as incorrigible. This label carried frightening consequences. Arthur was sent to a reform school. From there, he went to one of Dr. Barnardo’s homes for children in Surrey. Arthur’s family doesn’t know if his mother signed a release for him to be sent to Canada. Considering her fragile state, she may have done this.
On February 25, 1909 eleven year-old Arthur Clarkson boarded the S.S. Dominion and sailed for Canada. In September of that same year he was placed with a farmer, David S. Flaherty, of Tilbury,Ontario. The only information Arthur passed on to his family about the Flaherty farm was that he slept in a barn with an opening that allowed snow to blow onto him while he slept. Arthur’s feet froze. He couldn’t get his boots on so Flaherty gave him a pair of his, several sizes too large. The oversize boots chafed his feet raw.
Newspaper reports of the actual abuse suffered by Arthur painted a much worse picture than the one he shared with his family. On January 6, 1911, the Chatham paper reported:
“With his feet so badly frozen that both may have to be amputated, his back covered with blue and red welts, a young immigrant boy working for a farmer of Tilbury East, was brought here by Inspector Kinder. Charges of cruelty to a child will be laid against the farmer. When Inspector Kinder visited the farm, he found the boy out in the cold doing a man’s work on a cross-cut saw. He was working with his feet frozen in No. 10 shoes and every step he made the big boot rubbed the raw flesh off his foot.”
Arthur’s feet were badly deformed but doctors managed to save them. By August 1911 he had recovered and went to work for another area farmer. This man sent good reports to Bernardo’s about Arthur. In 1913, he went to the farm of Francis E. Brown of Tweed. His employment with the Browns gave him a chance to realize one of his goals – to save enough money to bring his mother and younger brother to Canada to join him.
In 1914, Arthur learned his mother had died of an overdose of Laudanum. He never shared with his children how he felt when he learned of her death but his daughter Linda thinks he blamed himself for not being there to protect her.
Arthur remained with the Browns until 1916 when he enlisted in the Canadian Army Signal Corps. He served 10 months in the trenches in France before getting sick with appendicitis. After emergency surgery on the battlefield, without anesthesia, he convalesced in England. A few months later, the army sent Arthur back to Canada.
Before Arthur left for the war, he had met Lily Ivy Agnes Wood, also a British home child. She worked for a local family, the Newtons. After returning to Canada, Arthur proposed to Lily and they were married on March 7, 1919 at Sydenham United Church in Kingston. Arthur upgraded his education through correspondence. He was hired to work at the power facility in Kingston Mills. He and Lily moved into a tiny rented house overlooking the Rideau Canal. By 1922 they had three children.
When Arthur heard the Ford Motor Company in Detroit was paying five dollars a day, he moved his young family to the U.S. With hard work and frugal habits, it wasn’t long before he had bought a lot in a Detroit suburb. He built a small house and a fourth child was born. Immediately, he began building a much larger house on the property. It was completed just in time for the birth of their fifth child.
As the world descended into a major depression, another child came along. Arthur found himself without a job, mortgage payments and six children to feed. He sometimes juggled three or four jobs. A wise man, Arthur wrote a letter to the person who held his mortgage. He asked the man to accept interest payments only until he could afford to make full payments. Arthur explained that if the house was repossessed, they would both be losers. The mortgage holder agreed.
By the time their seventh and youngest child, Linda, came along in 1941, Arthur had a secure job at Detroit Edison Co. as an electrician. He remained there until 1963 when a heart attack forced him to retire. Arthur kept busy with amateur radio, gardening and socializing with his many friends. In September 1973, a few months shy of his 75th birthday, he passed away.
Arthur’s children are proud of their father. He found little love in his early years but he gave love freely to his wife and children. Arthur and Lily’s 7 children and their families still live in the Michigan area, most of them not far from the family homestead their father built.
These are a few of the newspaper stories that were published about Arthur Clarkson.
Grace (Griffin) and Jim Galbraith (baby Lorma)
Today is May 14, 2012. One hundred years since 8 year-old Grace Griffin boarded the S.S. Corsican in Liverpool. She was headed to Canada, with her sister Lillian, to work as an indentured servant. The following 3 letters were written to her stepsister, Edith Kelly. The letters languished in a trunk in Edith’s attic in London for six decades, along with 3 from brother Edward. When she died, they were discovered by her niece and returned to my family.
Separated from her mother, her siblings and her country, Grace suffered mistreatment in at least one of her placements. (Read her full story here). These letters were written at a good time in her life. She is 24-25 years old. They are presented today to celebrate her gentle courage.
- Rose McCormick Brandon
Letter #1:
From: Grace Galbraith, Spring Bay, Manitoulin Island, Ontario, Canada
July 1928
Dear Edith & Percy:
We received that wonderful and surprising letter a few days ago and all those lovely snap shots which I am always glad to get when they are of my own friends and relatives. Did you really mean to say that my mother had another baby after she was married again? I never knew anything of Winnie till you told me.
Well, I must relate a little of my own life since coming here. I worked out till I was sixteen then I got married and I have a good and loving husband and a good home. We have a 100 acre farm, a large barn and a fairly good house. We generally keep around 8 or 9 cows and pigs. I try to raise a lot of fowl every year so you know we ain’t idle. We have our place paid for now and I must add that we have four of a family, all girls at that. Evelyn is 7, Lorma 5, Mildred 3 and Leona 1 year of age. We have a 1918 model car but we intend dealing it on a new one next spring. I can’t ever regret coming to Canada for I have always had a good time. I have had to work hard but I don’t mind that for I love to work.
This is our busiest time of the year. Jim is at the haying just now. I sometimes help him if I can. Jim is very good to help me at times. He is very fond of children and he was badly disappointed when one of the girls wasn’t a boy. (two years later they had a son).
I must say I was greatly pleased over your letter for you know I was young when I left there and what little I know of things there I forgot about it but I remember you people but I can never recollect of ever seeing my mother and I have no picture of her. I often have a longing to see some of my own folks. It was lonesome for me when Lily died. I missed her sisterly letters but I have quite a number of friends here and I like living here, it is a lovely place in the summer time but very cold and stormy with lots of snow in winter. Tedcame up to visit us one winter. He thought it very cold and
family photo Grace sent to Edith
backwood but it’s a great place for tourists in the summer. This was my first home and I guess that’s why I like it so well. I am sorry I haven’t more snap shots to send. I have no Kodak. I generally get someone to come and take a few for me whenever they can. This one is a group of Jim and I and the three oldest children. I’ll try and get some more taken after a while.
I would like to hear from Winnie, if you could see her and give her my address to write I would be very glad and her letters will be greatly appreciated. Ted is taking in a nice income I guess but it would take a great deal more than what he is earning for to buy a farm and keep a family. He has no idea of what responsibility is yet.
The Manitoulin can boast a good crop this year. We had some poor crops for the last few years that a good crop will be quite welcomed. Well, I think I will close. I am writing with the baby on my knee so I hope you will excuse my poor scrawling. With love from Grace & Jim and family.
Wishing you both every happiness that life can give in your married life, Grace XXXXXXXX Goodbye and write soon. You letters will always be welcomed.
P.S. It is a shame that your father had such a spirit to use the family as he did and it must have been very hard to have stood it all but I hope he will yet realize his mistake before he gets too old. I would like to have heard from you before now for I haven’t heard any word from England for 8 years. I hope when you write again that your dad will be more softened towards you. It makes life hard when your parents are against their own. With love and sympathy from Grace. If ever I should go to England I will certainly go to see you but I don’t expect we will ever get that far away but if you can ever make the grade to come you will both be greatly welcomed.
Letter #2 – December 17, 1928
Dear Edie & Percy -
We received your most kind and welcome letter of Oct. I am sorry not to have answered it sooner. I received a letter from Winnie (half-sister to both Grace and Edith – Grace’s mother married Edith’s father, both were widowed) some time ago and I have just answered it lately. I am preparing for Xmas and the days seem too short for the amount there is to be done but I have got at your letter which should have been wrote long ago.
Edith Kelly (right), stepsister who saved Grace’s letters
Winnifred Kelly (left), the half-sister Grace asks about in her letters
The children are all the time talking of Santa Claus and what he’ll bring. Evelyn is going to school and there’s no end to the things she wants. It doesn’t seem no time since I used to be wonder what Xmas would bring. Now I have to help play Santa Claus for my own. It’s good past time. Ted is here for Xmas this year (see his letter of December 1928). He is having a great time, especially with the young ladies around.
I suppose by the time you get this letter, Xmas will be over and we will be looking forward to what the new year has in store for you. I hope it brings you both many joys and pleasures – they say each year brings joy and sorrow but I think we can always look back with something to be thankful for.
I hope this finds you both in the best of health and that Winnie is on the mend. Ted speaks a lot of England. He talks of wanting to live there. I guess I was pretty young when I left there for I can’t remember very much of anything over there. I can’t even ever remember seeing my mother although I often wish that I had a mother now to go and see but I never seemed to have a real desire to go to England. For one thing I have never done any traveling since I cam to this country and money is another problem but I would like to see you all just the same but I feel glad that I have met you in this way itself.
I wish you could see our little girls. The baby is getting real cute. She is able to talk a little and she is running all over. I’ll try and get some snaps taken of them and then I can send some to you. Our car rides for this year are over. Jim laid the car up for the winter. We have had some snow storms but our real winter has not set in yet. Ted is looking for the ice to freeze good to go skating. Jim and I don’t bother going any more. It is too cold to take the little ones but it is good sport for the young folks. We have been busy these last few days plucking fowl. We haven’t as many this year as what we usually have but it all helps – 5 geese, 20 chickens and 14 turkeys. A year ago we made $120.00 out of our fowl but this happened to be our year.
Well, news is scarce. I’ll close for now. Wishing you both a Merry Xmas and a happy new year from your loving sister and Jim and family. Write soon.
Letter #3
March 21, 1919 – from Spring Bay, Manitoulin Island, Canada
Dear Edie & Percy -
We received your welcomed Xmas card and I would have answered long ago but I had mislaid your letter somewhere or else the children got it and Ted had gone to the logging camp about 60 miles from here and I waited till he came back to get your address. He was away 2 months and was very glad to get back. He said the work was very hard. The job was new to him and I guess that didn’t help him any.
I hope you are both well. We are all fine now. The baby and I had the flu but we got over it all right. Jim is as well as ever again. Ted is talking of going back down east again as he can’t find no steady work here. I would like him to stay and he may yet, I don’t know. He earnt around 100 dollars while he was in the camp. I told him he was doing better than we were. Of course, we have a family to keep now. Well, it is crawling on to Easter and the children are looking forward for a feed of eggs. That’s the way they celebrate the Easter season here – the hens have just started to lay. We don’t trouble much with fowl any more for the foxes and owls seem to get the most of them in the fall.
Our cold weather will soon be at a close. The snow is pretty near gone but it freezes hard at night and it is very windy through the day. Those that has hardwood bushes will appreciate the weather for it is just what they want for making maple syrup. Jim is talking of buying some. It sells around two and half to three dollars a gallon. I suppose you haven’t seen a sugar bush as they call it here but if you ever do you will think it great fun. They tap the maple trees or chop a piece out of the tree for the sap to run. Then it’s boiled down in large kettles till it is syrup and sometimes it is boiled right down to candy. I have seen it made in a small way. I would like if we had a few treats but we haven’t.
How is Winnie getting along? I wrote to her and intended writing to you at the same time but I lost the address. I’ll be more careful next time. Well, news is scarce just now. Ted will likely write to you later on when he decides on what he is going to do. With love and wishes for a happy Easter from Grace & Jim & family.
P.S. Jim said those kisses you sent were all for him. I told him it was a long way to go for a kiss.
Grace and daughter Leona
Grace and Jim (middle), Edward Griffin (right), wife Jean, left
Grace and Jim’s 5 children in back row
Lillian Griffin
May 14, 1912 was a significant day for 9 year-old Lillian Griffin. On that day, Lily and her sister Grace, boarded the S.S. Corsican in Liverpool. Lily’s parents had both died – her father in 1903 and mother in 1911.
But Lily wasn’t boarding a ship because her parents had died. When Lily’s mother, Emily, remarried her new husband, William Kelly, took his 3 children and Emily’s 3 (Edward, Lily and Grace) to the MacPherson Home for Children in London. He returned for his children but the Griffins remained in the Home. Lily, age 3 when she last saw her mother, left England with no memories of any home other than the one established by Annie MacPherson.
Lily and Grace hoped all the way to Halifax that they would remain together in Canada. Child immigrants seldom went to the same home as a sibling. In Canada, the sisters were separated for the first time. Lily went to Woodham, Ontario to work in the home of a Mrs. Harris. Soon after, she was moved to the Alex McCreight home in Toronto. Meanwhile, Grace went first to Thamesville, then to Manitoulin Island, an impossible distance for either girl to travel for a reunion. Lily and Grace kept in touch by letters which wasn’t an easy task since both girls moved frequently.
Lily moved again, to the Gibson home, where she was employed as a mother’s helper. At age 16, she went back to the McCreight home in Toronto. It seems she had a lasting connection with this family. While with them, Lily attended business college. After graduation, she landed a stenographer’s position at the Provincial Parliament Buildings in Toronto.
Lily wrote to Grace often. The two sisters shared their different lives – Lily a career girl and Grace a young mother. Grace sent photographs of her husband and children. The sisters wrote of their hope to see each other again.
At 22, Lillian contracted tuberculosis, the disease that had killed her mother. She went to Weston Sanatorium in Toronto for treatment. After 4 months of rest and medical attention, Lillian Griffin died on May 16, 1923.
“I miss Lily’s sisterly letters,” wrote Grace to a step-sister back in England. Lillian didn’t live long enough to reunite with Grace and her brother Edward. About the time she died, Edward, who had more money than his sisters, started to search for them. He found Grace in 1924. Undoubtedly he would have also found Lily.
The contact name on Lillian’s death certificate is H. N. Patton. My family has no idea who this person is. Lily’s letters, if some of them had survived, might have given us this information.
Lily’s life, though short, wasn’t forgotten. My grandmother, Grace, told her children about her sister and placed her photograph in a prominent place in her home. Grace’s children then passed on what they knew about Lily to their children. Today, my mother refers to her as Aunt Lily. This photograph of Lily is the only one in existence. It was taken in the sanatorium and Lily sent it to Grace with a letter.
This only surviving photo of Lillian Griffin has been treasured for decades. Her lovely face, in youth’s pretty glow, shines through her sickness. We remember Lily as a child of unfortunate circumstances who became an independent woman at a time when few women did. She was a loved sister with hopes and dreams that sadly went unfulfilled.
On Saturday, April 28, the Wainfleet Brethren in Christ Church held a special luncheon event to honor Barnardo boys who arrived in Canada 100 years ago. These boys went to farms in the Wainfleet area and grew up in the church.
Lester Fretz, organizer of the event, told more than 200 attendants that their church had been enriched by these young immigrants.
Penny Morningstar, Curator of Welland Museum
Penny Morningstar, Curator of the Welland Museum, talked about organizing an exhibit of British Home Children stories and artifacts. “It was the most emotional exhibit I’ve ever worked on,” she said. She told of a man in his 90s who had always been afraid of mice. As with most home children he hadn’t talked about his childhood. In his last days he revealed to his family that at 6 years of age he was sent to live with a farm family who housed him in the barn. Afraid of the dark, he cuddled up with his only friend, the dog. Mice scurried about him at night terrifying him. The pain of this experience stayed with him with his whole life.
Morningstar told of another BHC who, in his last days, ended up in hospital. He muttered in semi-coherence about his early days of suffering in Canada. His family thought he was hallucinating but the man in the other bed recognized his memories because he too had been a Home boy. She concluded that BHCs find other BHCs.
Morningstar remarked that in her interviews with BHC she was surprised not to find anger and bitterness. “They had every right to anger,” she said, “but I found generous people, hard workers, but people who didn’t want to talk a lot about their experiences. The door of information opened and closed quickly.”
Christine Hill, granddaughter of William Hawkins
Christine Hill, granddaughter of William Hawkins told how she and her mother visited Barnardo Homes in London and received documents from his file, including a photo of William and his brother Samuel when they were admitted in 1905. Ms. Hill became teary in her presentation. She explained that even though her grandfather died in 1959 before she was born his plight touched her heart. She shared how medical reports in the Barnardo file showed that the brothers were malnourished, had rickets and other diseases. Both boys came to Canada in 1906. William went to Burney Township. Watch for Ms. Hill’s grandfather’s story right here at The Promise of Home.
Mary-Jean Charlton Steckley, daughter BHC William Charlton, told of her father’s immigration to Canada when he was six. He was placed in a few difficult homes before going to the home of Andrew and Elizabeth Sider in Wainfleet. He attended the Wainfleet Brethren in Christ Church with the Siders and as an adult became a minister in the denomination.
Rhoda Marr, daughter of Alexander Cloke
Alexander Cloke’s daughter, Rhoda Marr, told how her father immigrated in May 1909 at age 9. Alexander went to live with a Wainfleet family who loved him. Clark told how this family remained close to them her entire life. She referred to them as Grampa and Gramma. Alexander kept in touch with his siblings in England and visited them. His older sister also visited him in Canada. Clark ended by saying that she wished all Barnardo Boys could have experienced the happy home life in Canada that her father experienced.
Lester Fretz concluded the day by listing some of the names of known British Home Children who lived in the Wainfleet area. Florence Smith Fraser, born in 1897, arrived at age 8. Frank Bright. Fred Taylor, Ken Crier and a Mr. Thwait. He asked for all descendants of BHC present at the meeting to stand. Approximately 40 people stood.
Amongst the fascinating display of BHC memorabilia was a trunk, a Bible, a New Testament, a boot, documents from Barnardo files and many photographs of the children. One man brought his grandfather’s good behavior medallion.
Barnardo boy trunk
Thanks to Mr. Fretz for providing a much-needed opportunity for the offspring of BHC to meet. For me, it was also an opportunity to meet Lori Oschefski and Lori Siddall, two people I’ve corresponded with on-line. Lori O. is related to 13 BHC. She is committed to providing information for the children of BHC and continues to do extensive research. You can read stories of her relatives here and here. (visit Lori O.’s website here.)
boot belonging to Barnardo boy
Arthur Burns Sculthorp: Man of Courage by Cheri Rauser
Cheri Rauser tells the story of a grandfather whose early life was filled with abuse. Often people with tragic beginnings don’t become productive citizens but Arthur, and many other British Home Children who were abused, grew up to serve their country and their communities and became loving parents and grandparents. The strength of character demonstrated in the lives of British Home Children is remarkable.
- Rose McCormick Brandon
When this picture of my maternal grandfather Arthur Burns Sculthorp (aka Salthorpe or Sculthorpe or Salthrop or John Burns) was taken, he had just gotten off a boat, the SS Tunisia, that left Britain and landed in Portland. He was 11. It was March 1901. He was brought to Canada by Dr. Barnardo Homes along with 259 other young immigrants. Sixty of those were sent to Manitoba. Arthur was among them.
As a child immigrant, Arthur was put to work as an indentured servant, His first home was with an abusive farmer near Baldur, Manitoba. This man housed Arthur in the barn year round. He was never allowed in the family home. There was a tenacity in Arthur. He tolerated poor treatment for a time then he ran away and was rescued by a neighbour, Solomon Preston. This family treated him like one of their own. His third placement was also abusive and Arthur went back to the Preston home and completed his indentured service with them.
Like many home children, my grandfather was not an orphan. He had two living biological parents and a sister. Records show he was removed from his parents and placed into care. It’s possible his parents were not able to obtain social supports because the father was abusive. Or they may have been considered unfit to raise him for other reasons. It was also a problem that Arthur’s mother was unwed and from the labour class.
In 1892 Arthur’s biological father and his wife (not Arthur’s mother) were jailed for 6 weeks and fined for abusing two and a half year-old Arthur. Arthur’s father had requested custody of him to avoid paying for his support. For five months Arthur was starved to near death until a neighbour intervened.
When the story of Arthur’s abuse hit the newspapers, his mother attempted to claim him. She was turned down despite her “good character.” The system at the time refused to support unwed mothers and their illegitimate children. By doing this, they sentenced Arthur to years of abuse and child labour in Canada.
Little is known of Arthur’s young adult years after leaving the Barnardo program at age 19 except that Arthur returned to Britain and renewed contact with his mother, who had married. His only sister, Eleanor, died at age 15, 2 years after he arrived in Canada. By 1913 Arthur had returned to Canada, bringing his mother with him. At 23 he married Mary Fleming Gilchrist in Medicine Hat, Alberta. Family lore has it that they met while he was back in Britain, she being a native of Glasgow. Their first child, a son, Arthur, was born the next year. The young family settled in Medicine Hat and Arthur senior (aka AB) was known to have been employed by the city as a dog catcher. He was a talented musician, playing several brass instruments. He joined the city band. On August 26, 1916, Arthur enlisted in the Canadian Army with Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry and spent the remainder of the war in the trenches of France.
Arthur Salthrope watching his grandchildren play
After the war, Arthur and Mary produced two more children: Isabell in 1920 and Robert in 1926. Mary and baby Thomas died in childbirth in May 1930. Ten year old Isabell and Rob were sent to live with family in Pennsylvania, a brother and sister of Mary’s. AB and son Art left Medicine Hat and moved to the northern bush near Edson, Alberta. Upon their return to Canada in 1933, Isabelle and Rob joined their older brother and father and lived and worked as trappers until the mid-1940′s. AB served as a bridge guard in the Edson area during the second world war. He was too old to serve overseas and had been gassed during the first world war.
In the late 1940′s AB remarried and that union produced a second daughter, Faye. By the late 1950′s Isabell had six children and the extended family had settled in the Shuswap area of British Columbia’s interior. AB kept a small holding in the Enderby area that his grandchildren remember fondly. When he died in 1958, AB was living with his daughter Isy and her family. Despite years of neglect and abuse, Arthur grew up to become a good father and loving grandfather. By all accounts, he was a joker and a happy man. He served his country in the trenches of France and was an active and contributing member of society until his death at age 69.
I am proud to be a descendant of a British Home Child (BHC). I want Arthur’s story told along with those of thousands of other forgotten child immigrants. These children stand amongst Canada’s greatest nation-builders.
Cheri Rauser is a professional librarian living in Vancouver with her daughter Isabell. She works as a virtual library consultant with online colleges and universities. Visit her website at cherirauser.ca
More than 10,000 British Home Children served in the Canadian military during WWI and WWII. It gave some an opportunity to return to England and reconnect with family. Sadly, most Canadians remain unaware of the contributions and sacrifices these children made. RMB
William James Lemon: A Missing Childhood by Connie Falk
Connie Falk’s poignant story is unique in that it’s written from the loving heart of a daughter, not someone removed by two or more generations. Connie’s insight into the adult life of a British Home Child was woven into her upbringing. She observed first-hand how difficult it was for them to acknowledge where they came from.
Rose McCormick Brandon
- William Lemon with author’s mother and son, Steven: Christmas 1972
My eyes widened in anticipation as my friend’s father sat us down and told stories about his growing up years in Scotland. He described a wonderful childhood with parents and siblings who loved him. He would talk for hours about his life explaining how he came to Canada and settled in Sioux Lookout, an semi-isolated community in northern Ontario.
My young mind soaked up his words like a sponge, but at the same time, I wondered why my father didn’t share his childhood memories. I pestered my Mother asking endless questions about my Father’s past. Her answer was always the same – your father was born in England but never ask him about his past, never.
Of course, this only added fuel to the fire of my imagination. I pictured my Father with a grandiose childhood filled with intrigue and mystery. Much later, I found out about my Father’s childhood and it wasn’t mysterious at all. After a twelve year search, I discovered that on a typical summer day in June 1911 William James Lemon (or Lemmon) was placed into the care of the Scattered Homes of Plymouth. Whoever placed him there didn’t sign the facility’s register.
The Register contains a line that asks for the parents names. Beside William’s name is written: No name of either parent exists.
Also on the Register is a statement I found absurd – “the lad says he is three years old.” Not many children of that young age know exactly how old they are. The Register shows William’s birth date as August 3, 1908. Other documents show it as August 9 and 14. The only certainties found on the Register is that William was born in August and that he was abandoned.
After learning more about the Scattered Homes of Plymouth, I discovered this organization provided foster care. As a young child, my father was placed in homes where he was treated as a member of the family. He attended school. There is no doubt he had a good childhood in foster care and was well educated. He loved to learn and was a happy child, remaining in care until he was fifteen years old.
In November 1923, William was sent to the Liverpool Sheltering Home to prepare him for a new life in Canada. His life changed dramatically. He was taught about farming, including milking cows, harvesting crops and baling hay. He worked so hard he was admitted to hospital for a hernia repair, a procedure that continued to trouble him as an older man.
In March 1924, William boarded the S.S. Cedric in Liverpool, England. He, and a group of other young boys, set sail for Canada, arriving in Halifax, Nova Scotia. William then boarded a train for Belleville, Ontario where he went to Marchmont, a transition home. From there he went to live with the farmer who became his employer.
My father’s memories of life on this southern Ontario farm were not pleasant. He complained about being treated as a slave, working long hours, eating in barns and being very cold. He didn’t speak much about those years but I found in his documents a letter he wrote asking for money to buy a warmer coat for winter. He didn’t receive any money but was told to be a better manager of what he had. His letter also mentioned not being able to go back to school. An avid learner, Dad loved to read and could quote almost everything he read. I hated getting into a game of trivia with him. He always won.
- William Lemon
Dad pined for England and wrote back to the Sheltering Homes of Plymouth asking for information about his birth mother. No reply was found in his documents. He vowed he would make a better life for himself. When he reached the age of independence, he left farming and worked his way across Canada from coast to coast. After meeting my mother, he settled in Northern Ontario. They married and raised seven children while my father worked for the Canadian National Railway.
It wasn’t until after my Father’s death in 1993 that I discovered the heartbreaking story of his early years. This motivated me to search for more information about his past. The Barnardo Association helped immensely by sending all the documents they had on file. From these papers, I pieced together my father’s life from the age of three. The only item I did not receive from them was a picture.
I have searched all the Registrars in England including the PRO, the RGO and Social Services in my attempt to find out more about my father’s childhood. At one point a fellow from England helped, but to no avail. My search is hampered by missing details like not having the name of the person who registered William with the Scattered Homes of Plymouth. I also don’t have a correct birth date, nor a record of the homes William was placed in. There are no school records and no hospital record of his hernia surgery. Most importantly, I don’t have the names of his mother and father.
Against all odds, my father, William Lemon, ventured out on his own and made a decent life for himself and family. He was a private man and did not talk of his childhood but I’m sure he wanted to know about his parents as much as I want to know about him. To honor my father’s memory, I will continue to research his childhood until I have exhausted all avenues. I don’t have many photos of Dad – he didn’t like to have his picture taken. I believe this reluctance for attention results from the poor treatment he received while working on the farm.
Connie Falk lives in Calgary, Alberta and participates in on-line discussions about British Home Children.
Edward (Ted) Griffin
A note from Rose McCormick Brandon:
When Edith (Kelly) Newland, the receiver of the following letters, died in the 1980s, these letters were discovered in an attic trunk. Edith’s family had no idea who the writer, Ted Griffin, was. After an investigation, they traced the letters to my family in Canada. Ted passed away in 1978 and so never knew that his youthful letters had survived in London.
In 1928, Edward’s (Ted) step-sister, Edith (Kelly) Newland, wrote to him. It was Edith’s father who put Ted and his two sisters, Lilian and Grace in one of the MacPherson homes in London after he married their mother. Edith searched for information on the whereabouts of her step siblings. When her letter arrived, Ted had not seen or heard from her since he was 5 years old. Now 28, this is his reply to Edith:
June 23, 1928, Curries Crossing, Ontario
Dear Edie:
Edie (Kelly) Newland in later years
In answer to your letter I received quite safe yesterday, I was more than surprised to hear from you. I had quite forgotten you. It must be some 20 years since I’ve seen or heard anything of you. I tried to get around to see everybody I knew when I was in London, England last winter. I didn’t want to see your father as I have no use for him. I guess you know that. I had the time of my life on the boat both going and coming. I was 12 days going and 11 days coming. There is no one likes travelling any more than I do. I have seen a lot of Ontario and the Canadian Northwest, the Prairie provinces.
I will be here until about November then I will have to hunt another job as Mr. Scott (Edward went to this family when he was 12) has has sold his farm on account of his health and is moving to the city. He sold it for 7,ooo dollars, or in English money 1400 pounds.
I had four months holiday last winter and I spent close on to 100 pounds. Grace has never moved since she came out here. (this was not true, perhaps my grandmother never told Ted about the awful homes she lived in until she finally ended up with a good family on Manitoulin Island.) When she was old enough she got married and settled down. Her address is: Mrs. James R. Galbraith, Spring Bay, Manitoulin Island, Canada. I received a letter from her yesterday but I haven’t seen her for 4 years now, and that was the first I had seen her for 14 years. I had quite a job to find her.
No, I’m not married yet. I guess I’m having too good a time single. I expect I’ll settle down sometime. I’m sending you a few snaps taken when I was on the boat. I have crossed the old Atlantic Ocean three times now. I don’t know if I’ll ever cross it again or not. I have a tart over there that I write to quite often. I keep telling her she’ll have to fly over here as the flyers seem to have very good luck in doing so. I have marked on the back of the snaps the same as you did.
I am not working as hard this year as I was last year. It’s hard to say where I’ll be next year. I have done some travelling and I’ve some more to do yet I think before I can settle down. I have had seven or eight different addresses since I came out here. I just go wherever I get the most money. Last year I got the highest wages there was going as I am an experienced farm hand. I think I could do well if I had a farm of my own, maybe I will some day. I like the climate here better than I do in England although we have it terrible cold in the winter but you get used to it. It’s not so damp.
Well Edie if you’ll excuse my scribble I’ll close for this time. I was sure thunderstruck when I received your letter. I thought at first there must be another Griffin and I have got his letter.
Your sincere brother Ted xxx
P.S. I am as free as a #?I!, I go wherever I jolly well please and I don’t take any dirt from anyone.
(This P.S. says a lot about Ted. Other people made decisions for him - his mother, stepfather, The MacPherson Homes, the family he lived with – and now he’s taken back his independence and won’t give it up again.)
Grace (Griffin) Galbraith, husband James, 2nd child Lorma
Letter #2 – undated – but probably Christmas 1928
From: Spring Bay, Manitoulin Island, Canada (his sister Grace’s home)
Dear Edie:
Just a line. I should have written sooner but I’ve been very busy travelling and hunting as you’ll have noticed in the change in the address. I have been here with Grace about six weeks now. I have been having a very good time with hunting deer and jack rabbits. I had a lovely trip on the lake steamer named The Manitou from Owen Sound to Gore Bay and on the stage from there to here in Spring Bay. Grace is kept quite busy with so many youngsters and we have heaps of snow here- begins to look like winter. Just a year ago now I was having a good time in old London England. I expect I’ll be here with Grace till about January and then I’ll start rambling again. I don’t just know where I’ll go yet till I hit the station.
This is all for this time Edie. Wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year from your loving brother Ted G.
Letter #3 – undated (probably 1929)
From: Ed. Griffin, c/o J. Tebbutt, Kleinburg, Ontario
Dear Edie and Percy:
No doubt you’ll be most awfully surprised to receive a letter from me. However, you’ll notice I have not forgotten. I have done some considerable lot of travelling around since you last heard from me, as is my nature. I stayed with Grace two weeks after leaving the lumber camps then I hit the train for Toronto. I am now working on a large dairy farm 20 miles north and west of the city.
I like my job fine . . . milk lorrie carries the milk to the city. I manage to get a free ride some Sundays when I can get the day off. I am seeing new country all the time. There is plenty of aeroplans flying around here daily coming up from the city. Grace wanted me to work on the Manitoulin Island but I said I could make more money down here and what’s more I like travelling. I guess you know that it would not take an awful lot for me to make another trip to old London, England but I think perhaps I ought to think about settling down soon. We are all through seeding around here. I expect it won’t seem very long before the harvest. I will be here for the summer. It’s hard to say where I’ll be for the winter, possibly in Toronto. Last week I was driving a motor tractor hauling a two furrow plough across the fields. I can sure make more money out here than I can in old London although we get it most terrible cold here in the winter, I believe it’s healthier.
This is all the news for now. With love from Ted.
Winnifred (Kelly) Broad, Mildred (Galbraith) McCormick
at their first meeting in Winnifred's apartment in LondonWhen Edith Kelly Newland’s trunk was opened after her death, it contained 3 letters from Ted and 3 from Grace Griffin Galbraith, all written in 1928-29. I believe if she had received other letters she would have kept them. It is only because of these letters that my family found Ted and Grace’s half-sister Winnifred still living in London. Myy mother Mildred and aunt Evelyn (Grace’s daughters) made a special trip to London visit Winnifred. You can see from the photo the resemblance between Winnifred and my mother Mildred.
- Rose McCormick Brandon
Edward Griffin – by Rose McCormick Brandon
Edward (Ted) Griffin, born in 1900, stepped aboard the SS Corsican, bound for Canada, on August 5, 1912 at age 11. His younger sisters, Grace and Lily, had boarded the same ship on May 14 of the same year.
Edward, along with his two sisters, was taken to one of The MacPherson Homes in London when he was 5. For many years our family believed they entered an orphanage after the death of their mother. Edward and Grace (my grandmother) allowed this myth to continue throughout their lives. Through connections with family back in England, we learned through old letters and other documents that this was not true. They were taken to the Home by their step-father, a Mr. Kelly, not long after their father’s death. Their mother didn’t die until 1911, the year before all three immigrated to Canada.
My mother, Mildred (Galbraith) McCormick, niece of Edward, (daughter of Grace), visited England in the 1990s She and her sister, Evelyn, met with Winnifred, the only child born to Mr. Kelly and Edward’s mother, Esther. Winnifred said then that her father had been a harsh man, even with his own children.
It’s clear Edward held resentment toward his stepfather and blamed him for separating him from his mother. In a letter written in 1928 (Edward’s letters) to his step-sister, Edie Kelly, Edward writes:
“I tried to get around and visit everybody I knew in England when I was there last winter. I didn’t want to see your father as I had no use for him. I guess you know that.”
On arrival in Canada, Edward first went to a foster home (as he called it) in Stratford. At 12, he went to the farm of Mr. Willard Scott at Curries Crossing, near Woodstock, Ontario. He stayed there until age 23, 5 years after his indentured service ended, indicating that he and the Scott family had a good relationship. He spent the next five years moving around, working on farms in the Toronto area and traveling west. Sometime during this five-year period of roaming, Ted searched for and found Grace. At 20, she was already married with children. It was the first the siblings had seen one another in 14 years. Lily, Edward’s other sister, passed away in 1921.
At age 28, Edward returned to England, looking for a place that felt like home. During his time in England, he may have visited his Griffin grandmother who lived in Upper Holloway. In his letters to Edie he speaks of trying to visit everyone he knew. This seems to imply that even though he’d been in the home since age 5 and left England at age 11, he wanted to connect with family. He was also looking for a wife. This is evident in one of his letters. After four months in England, unable to find meaningful employment, he returned to the Scott farm in Curries Crossing.
One year later, Mr. Scott sold the farm due to ill health and moved to the city. After that, Edward felt at loose ends. The story in our family is that the Scotts, who didn’t have children, treated Ted like family and left their estate to him. In the letters we have written by Ted, he doesn’t mention much about the Scotts even though he spent 10 years with them.
Four years after finding Grace, and after leaving the Scott farm, Ted connected with her again. He spent considerable time with Grace and her husband, James Galbraith, sometimes working for the winter months in a nearby logging camp. Ted had great affection for Grace’s five children, all of whom have happy memories of time spent with their Uncle Ted. He spent Christmases and sometimes spent several weeks with Grace and Jim. He courted a woman named Della Legge but seemed to find it difficult to make permanent connections with people. My aunts remember him going out with several girls but not taking any relationship seriously.
Edward Griffin
Ted eventually moved permanently to northern Ontario to be near Grace and her family. In 1938, he found work at Inco nickel mines in Sudbury, Ontario. He settled there but remained unmarried until 1953 when he met Jean Buell, a widow with two grown children. First, he was her boarder. Then, the two fell in love and married. Ted had a difficult time settling down - his letters show a young man who seems lost, searching, unable to stay put for any length of time.
Ted had a reputation for speaking his mind. My mother tells about a humorous incident that happened on one of his visits to their home when she was a child. The whole family attended a community gathering. A local man, known to be overly-curious, sidled up to Ted and said, “I don’t think I’ve met you before.” Instead of telling the man who he was and where he came from, Ted, in his usual straight-forward fashion replied: “I’m damned sure you haven’t.” My mother remembers Ted as a loner, tight with his money, blunt, kind but unable to relate to children.
My memories of Ted are of an older man. He had a confident air, was well-dressed (this is true of him even as a young man). When Grace and Jim retired from farming, they moved to Espanola, an hour closer to Sudbury and Uncle Ted, and only two doors from my family’s home. Many Sunday afternoons Uncle Ted and Aunt Jean came to visit. Jean’s refined manner rubbed off somewhat on Ted as he tended to bluntness. Neither Uncle Ted nor my grandmother, Grace, seemed resentful of their forced immigration to Canada, though they both suffered from it. Grace never talked about her childhood. Ted did He admitted to being an orphan but not to the fact that his mother had abandoned them. Neither used the term “home child.” In spite of their childhood hardships, both Ted and Grace were glad they came to Canada.
Ted was more fortunate than many home children in that he spent his indentured service with one good family. But, he never lost his yearning to connect with his real family.
When he retired from Inco, in 1965, a photo and article about him appeared in the Sudbury Star. It began
with these words:
front row: Jean, Edward, Grace, Jim (1965)
back row: Grace's children: Evelyn, Lorma, Ransford, Mildred, Leona
Born in London, England, in 1900, within earshot of the ancient Bow bells, Edward Griffin is proud of his Cockney heritage. Orphaned by the time he was five (he considered himself an orphan, but his mother didn’t die until he was 11), he was raised in an orphanage home until he was 11. Edward recalls that he made the sailing on the S. S. Corsican and that the journey took 14 days.
Edward passed away in Sudbury, Ontario in 1978.
Next post: For a look into Edward’s mindset, read his 1928, 29 letters.
Archibald William Cheesman
Archie Cheesman was born in Canada on January 20 1913, shortly after the marriage of his parents Annie and William. He was the oldest of their six children. His father William was a British Home Child brought to Canada in 1894 by the Dr. Barnardo Homes. His mother was a mail order bride who came in 1912 to be married. For several years the family would live on William’s homestead property just outside of Rosetown, Saskatchewan. Siblings Ralph, twins Gwen, Mary and Sidney would all be born in Canada. Archie was two months shy of his seventh birthday when the family, after suffering a fire at their farm, left for England in 1919. His father only stayed with the family in England for just over four months before returning to continue farming in Canada. They would not see him again for a year and a half. Archie was eight when his father returned.
Annie became pregnant which the couple’s last child immediately after William’s return in the fall of 1921. William had returned to England to collect his family and bring them back to Canada. For reasons we will never know, those plans changed. William returned to Canada alone, and this time, for good. Archie was only nine his father left the family. They never saw him again. Archie was nine when his mother gave birth to his sister, Muriel, alone.
Shortly after Muriel’s birth in June 1922, Annie unable to support the family alone, admitted the family to the Kington Union workhouse in Herefordshire, England. This became home until Archie was eleven and a half. He had his tenth and eleventh birthday in that workhouse. We can’t imagine the horrors the family experienced there and just how magnified they would have been to a child who was not allowed to see his mother and not allowed any measure of comfort or support. Archie, being the oldest of the Cheesman children, and feeling the responsibility that is unique to oldest siblings, must have felt responsible for his family’s impoverished state. With nobody to console or counsel, this responsibility left scares on his young soul.
Archie was brought to Ontario, Canada at eleven years of age. His siblings were also arrived at this time, all British Home Children under the care of the Salvation Army. Their mother was allowed to come with them but she was told that as condition of their paid passage, she would have to place them up for adoption in Canada. She clearly couldn’t afford to support them. When they arrived, the children were farmed out to different foster homes. Archie was shuffled from place to place before being placed in an orphanage. He turned twelve in the orphanage.
Archie Cheesman
At one point, Archie spent a short period of time with Muriel at her adoptive home. Although Muriel was very young, she remembers him being there. In early 1925, Archie, twelve, along with his brother Sidney were taken back out west by their mother. Before the fall of that year, they had been moved to at least three different homes as their mother worked her way across the country. She moved them into the McCord area in late 1925 when she began to work for Jesse James Rule. Annie and Jesse were married in early 1926 and for the first time in years, this seemed to provide Archie with somewhat of a stable home. However, Jesse was known to have been “rough” with Archie and it wasn’t long before Archie left to work on a neighbouring farm.
Archie married and had three sons: Billy, Daniel and Ralph. Tragically, all three of these children died at young ages. Archie and his wife went through a bitter divorce. Neither remarried she went on to have eight more children. Although these children were not Archie’s, she gave them the Cheesman name. Of these children, three boys and five girls, the three boys died before her. Archie went into a common law relationship which produced one daughter. This too was a rocky relationship. Their child was soon placed with another family. After one failed attempt at a reunion, Archie never saw this daughter again. He lived out the remainder of his life as a recluse, moving from place to place.
Danny & Billy Cheesman, Archie's children
I wanted to see where my Uncle Archie, my mother Muriel’s oldest brother, had lived. I flew out, spoke to people who knew him and visited his grave. People said he had been an odd character. The tragic events of Archie’s childhood haunted him throughout his life. His tragedies increased in adult life.
Now that his story is known, perhaps Archibald Cheesman can rest in peace.
Lori Oschefski is the creator of the website British Home Children in Canada. Thirteen members of her family are BHC. She is presently collecting signatures to petition the government for a formal apology. Please visit her site here.
Next story - Edward Griffin: Searching for a Home by Rose McCormick Brandon
Ethel Parton Crane, 1898-2000 by Diana Holvik
Award-winning Canadian author, Jean Little, adds this to Ethel Crane’s story:
Dear Rose,
I have written a fictional historical novel in the Dear Canada series published by Scholastic called ORPHAN AT MY DOOR which is about the lives of a couple of home children. It won the Canadian Library Children’s Lit medal for the best book in the year it was published. Ethel Crane was a woman I interviewed for my book. She was 102 years old when I spoke with her and she was not feeling well. She died a couple of weeks later. Her picture and some of the bits she told me are in the back of the book.
I was particularly interested in these kids because my great grandfather, Robert Mellis, who was a blacksmith in Kippem Ontario took one of the “Barnardo boys” in and taught him to be a blacksmith. The boy, who was known as Tom, did not know his surname and asked my great grandfather if he could take his name since he had been so kind to him. This favour was granted, of course, but I have tried in vain to trace the adult Tom and see if he has any memories of those days. He would have died by now I am sure since I myself recently turned eighty. I am fascinated by the lives of the children. Some were so sad and some did well and were happy here. You can find ORPHAN AT MY DOOR in any library or bookstore. I am blind so doing research was not easy then and is next to impossible now. Thanks, Jean Little
Ethel, Hilda, Alfred Crane (15,11,13)
Ethel Parton Crane wasn’t related to me but I feel connected to her.
I met Ethel at the retirement/nursing home she lived in at Guelph,Ontario, in 1993. I was the charge nurse there at that time. Ethel was a diminutive woman with a big spirit. She was recovering from a hip operation and using a walker. She could not wait to get about without that contraption. She was 94.
Ethel always had a smile and a gentle word, yet her determination and strength of spirit shone through. That strength must have stood her in good stead eight decades earlier when she came to this country as an orphan during the British Child Immigration movement.
I am not an orphan but I was an immigrant. I came to Canada in 1965 at age eleven, along with my mother and siblings. Everything was different. The trees, the birds, the people. We spoke English… theoretically… but Canadians kept saying they didn’t understand my accent.
When I immigrated, I had my family with me but Ethel Parton had to fend for herself, a stranger in a strange land.
Ethel Annie Parton was born to parents Alfred Ernest Parton and Clara Ward in July of 1898 in the town of Ipswich, Suffolk, England. She was followed two years later by brother, Ernest Alfred. In 1904 their sister Hilda Florence was born. There is no record of what became of their father. Some time after Hilda was born their mother died of what Ethel believed was smallpox. Ethel, also stricken with the disease, survived but it left her face scarred. After their mother’s death the three Parton children lived in an orphanage in Ipswich.
The town of Ipswich is one of the oldest towns in England. Its history dates back to the seventh century. It was a busy river port bustling with commerce and bristling with churches. Life at the orphanage would have been regimented and at times difficult, but the three children had each other, and they had their friends. They were never alone. Outside the door of the orphanage were busy streets. The children were surrounded by familiar faces and places.
As the song says, you don’t realize what you’ve got until it’s gone.
Ethel was asked if she and her siblings would like to go to Canada. They knew nothing about the country except the rumours that it was “a lovely place.” And that sometimes orphans sent there were adopted into families. The thought of possibly having a family and a “real” home was wonderful. Ethel said yes, they would go.
They were transferred to a Barnardo Home. Some time later, with about two hundred other orphans, they boarded the SS Corinthian at London, England and set sail for Canada.
I also came to Canada on a ship. I had a comfortable feeling about my world until I went up on deck and stood looking at blue ocean stretching as far as the eye could see. I slowly turned, able to see almost three hundred sixty degrees. Ocean and sky. Nothing else. I was a speck, a nothing. Did sixteen year old Ethel feel the same? Did she begin to feel fearful about this huge step she had taken? She was responsible for her younger siblings and intended to take care of them.
Hazelbrae in Peterborough, Distribution Home for Girls, circa 1913
The Corinthian docked in Quebec on July 1, 1914. The orphans were herded onto a train. Then, at Belleville, disaster struck. The children had not realized the girls would be separated from the boys. Fourteen year old Alfred was sent to the Boys’ Home in Toronto while Ethel and Hilda went to the Girls’ Home in Peterborough. I can only imagine the pain of being separated.
Ethel must have felt thankful to have eleven year old Hilda with her. They settled in uneasily at Peterborough. Three weeks later Ethel was informed she was to go to a farm near Orangeville. Hilda would not go with her.
Once again, Ethel was on a train. This time, alone. I’m sure she was terribly worried about Hilda, alone at eleven. To city-bred Ethel, Orangeville in 1914 must have seemed at the edge of civilization, if it could even be called that. It got worse. She, like all the other orphans, had a piece of paper pinned to her dress stating her name. A man claimed her and she clambered into a horse-drawn farm wagon with this strange man. He drove her into the back of beyond.
dormitory at Hazelbrae
Harry Babe had a farm near the small village of Mono Mills. Mrs Babe was a harsh woman with two small children. Ethel was undoubtedly responsible for the drudge work on the farm. She was a city girl, unused to farm life, now she had chores like milking, gathering eggs, dumping chamber pots, scrubbing laundry by hand, and anything else the Babes deemed their Home Child’s tasks. Mrs Babe was abusive. One day she shoved her own children aside roughly. Ethel said, “Don’t do that. They’re just children.” Enraged, Mrs Babe grabbed a wash-pot of hot water and threw it over Ethel, drenching her from head to foot.
Some time later, Ethel developed quinsy (abscess of the tonsils) and her throat was so swollen she could not swallow even water. The Babes ignored the feverish and seriously ill girl.
Two years after Ethel arrived at the Babe farm, Mrs Babe died. The Barnardo Home assigned Ethel to a different farm in Guelph Township. While there, Ethel was able to arrange for her siblings to be transferred to farms nearby.
Marchmont Home, Peterborough
At age twenty-two Ethel married thirty year old James Crane who lived in the area. They lived with James’ mother, but unfortunately Ethel and her mother-in-law did not get along. When the situation became intolerable for Ethel, she moved to the city of Guelph and found work there, returning home to visit her son and husband on weekends. James joined her when he obtained a job at the Ontario College of Agriculture (Guelph University), but their son, Alfred (named for Ethel’s brother) chose to stay with his grandmother. Once again, Ethel suffered the pain of separation from a loved one.
When I knew Ethel she was happy, despite the harshness of her early life.
A few years after I met Ethel, I bought a book titled “Orphan at My Door: The Home Child Diary of Victoria Cope,” authored by well-known Canadian writer, Jean Little. I had never met Jean Little (my daughter did) but I knew a lot about her as she lived in Guelph and we had lived in Erin,Ontario for twenty years. (Erin is not far from Mono Centre, where Ethel lived). Jean writes fiction for young girls (ages about8 to 12) and I had read a few of her books and liked them, so I picked up Orphan at My Door. It is fiction but heavily based on the experiences of Barnardo Home Children. Imagine my surprise when I read in the historical notes at the back of the book a little note about Ethel Parton Crane. I’m not sure if Ethel was Jean’s inspiration for the story but the two crossed paths. Ethel’s life story had moved the author just as it had moved me.
Anne of Green Gables gives us a picture of what it was like to be a Home Child at the turn of the 20th century. Orphans were considered barely second-class citizens – nobodies. Not to be trusted. And Jean Little’s book, Orphan at My Door, gives us another picture, similar, yet different. (I highly recommend the book. It’s in the kid’s section of the bookstore)
I know what it’s like to be a stranger in a strange land, where nothing is recognizable, and even the names of places…Toronto, Niagara, Ontario… are a foreign language. But I had my siblings. And I was not made to slave in a barn or a kitchen.
We can imagine the loneliness and pain of being a child alone, a stranger in a strange land.
I am honoured to have known Ethel Parton Crane and to have seen her strength and her optimism. Such strength and optimism is part of Canada’s heritage, my adopted heritage. Thank you, Little Immigrants, for being a part of the Canada we know today.
Diana Holvik is a writer. Visit her here.
Next story: Edward Griffin by Rose McCormick Brandon
