2010 = The Year of the British Home Child

Here's a little bit of history about something important in Canada...

Throughout the late nineteenth century, Britain was faced with poverty, pollution, and social inequality. As a result, hundreds of thousands of people - especially children - were forced to live in horrible, slum-like conditions. These children had limited options. Many went “into service,” and worked in workhouses or served as indentured labourers. Others lived on the streets. By the late 1800s, it was impossible to ignore how bad the living conditions had become, and organizations in both Britain and Canada decided something needed to be done.

The British Child Emigration Movement officially began on October 28, 1869, when Maria Rye – an English social reformer – brought 68 children from London and Liverpool to Canada. Rye wanted to free children who were too poor to survive on their own, and provide them with opportunities they couldn`t find at home. It was planned that younger children would be adopted by Canadian families, and older children would be provided with shelter and food in exchange for farming help until they were 18 years old. Both Canadian and British government supported the program; Britain, because it reduced the costs of having to support struggling children; Canada, because it provided workers-in-training and young children that could be adopted.

Rye's initial movement spawned a number of organizations, and over 100,000 children were sent to Canada between 1869 - 1948. In total, 150,000 children were sent to Commonwealth countries, including Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa in addition to Canada. The average age was six to fifteen years, but some children were as young as six months old.

Living conditions varied for home children. Some were treated very well, and found loving and caring families to adopt them. Others, however, were faced with a variety of circumstances not unlike those they left behind in Britain. Education suffered horribly. Many farming families could not afford to lose their child`s labour when they went to school. Therefore, accepting a home child meant they could send one of their own children to school and not lose the labour needed at the farm. Many home children grew up with limited or no education. Most of the children were called orphans, but in reality, two-thirds of them had a parent in Britain. Most parents were just too poor to keep them.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown issued an apology to home children on Feb. 24, 2010. Brown also met with former home children to listen to their stories firsthand. His apology followed a similar one from Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Nov. 16, 2009. Canada has proclaimed 2010 the Year of the British Home Child, and various efforts are being taken to ensure the past is not forgotten. Websites and organizations are trying to gather as much information about home children as possible, and are trying to help families trace their origins and ancestors. The Canadian Post Office will issue an honorary stamp in October, and there are plans for a Special Anthology Book and Memory Quilt.