Skeletons and Chains I
by F.E. McConvey
Published 06 July 1988
At the end of May, the Association of Canadian Community Colleges held its annual conference in Saint John. It was my good fortune and pleasure to be able to attend the opening ceremony of this great event, the theme of which was, "The Human Dimension."
Dr. Zacharie J. Clements, the keynote speaker, delivered a dynamic, meaningful address, well laced with humor and wit, that set the tone for the entire gathering.
Dr. Clements' interest was not genealogy, regret fully, but he had a message for anyone, including genealogists.
One of the points he drove home, with his dramatic flair, was that regardless of how pompous or full of the "Great I am" one becomes, it would be a good exercise in humility to glance back through time and reflect that we were all, "boat people."
In spite of the articles I have written in this column about the Irish, Piligrims,etc, this basic truth did not penetrate until I heard those profound words spill from the lips of that talented speaker.
He is correct. Unless we are North American Indian or Inuit, native people, our ancestors were strangers of this land - newcomers, usurpers - and heedless of their origins, they all arrived in the same manner - by boat.
With few exceptions, whether they sailed on the "first boat" (Mayflower) or just recently stepped from the speedist "air ship" those ewho came to American shared a common bond - life in their homeland had become intolerable. Many and varied were the reasons, but religious and/or political persecution, poverty and over-population head the list. So, to America they came, your antecendents and mine, full of hopes and dreams for richers, fuller life in a wild, new land.
There were some, however, who did not rejoice in the prospects of dwelling in America. These were the people who had been ruthlessly wrenched from their families or forcefully escorted to their new opportunities. Others were enticed to this land after listening to glowing reports of how wonderful life would be. How gullible they were!
Ah, you say, of course, she is referring to the Africans, but that is of little concern to Canadians.
You may remove that smug, complacent look from your face. Canada is not devoid of the rattle of skeletal remains nor the clank of bondage chains in her closets.
The shame of Canada is more recent and less publicized - the exploitation of more than 80,000 children to whom the label "home children" has been applied. They were sent to this country, "for their own good" by well-meaning British subjects. Although life for most was not ideal in their native land, the true horror in factories did not really begin until they reached our shores.
Childhood in Britian during the 19th century was considerably different from any we have known. Most children did not have toys, treats or any of the amenities which we take for granted in our time. Many slaved for long hours in factories to earn a mere pittance on which they could exist.
It is estimated there were over 30,000 homeless children in the East End of London alone; the majority of whome had been abandoned by parents whose spirits had succumbed to poverty and the loss of hope. Commonly called "street arabs." these children actually lived in the streets and survived by their wits, much like the "bag ladies" of our generation. Several thousand other remained with their parents and dwelled on the workhouses.
As early as 1826 Robert Chambers proposed that, "the children who cluttered the street" of London be shipped to Canada. He firmly believed that this was the best solution to "improving the life in London, the poor and even the children." He felt that every child above the age of 12, who was destitue, should be apprenticed in Canada where they could work the land. It mattered not to him whether they had been abandoned or lived with their families.
It was not until 1869, however, that the children began to arrive in this country, through efforts of Annie Macpherson.
Four years previous to this, Annie Macpherson, a covert to evangelical Christianity, dedicated her life to working amongst the poor in London's East End. Conditions there were deplorable. A high concentration of factories produced tenements, all over-crowded. Poverty and over-population grimaced from every window. Death, the only release from the squalor, disease and hopelessness, came to many before they reached the age of 20.
After witnessing the sorry plight of some tiny girls labouring in a garret, she decided to relieve their suffering. The scene she came upon is described in these lines: "Everywhere in the attic, beneath the rafters and in the dusty corners where shafts of light fell through cracks in the rood, crouched more than 30 small grils, there arms thing as broomsticks, at work making matchboxes...each child received three farthings, less than one penny, for making a gross (144) of boxes, each gross requiring the child to handle 288 pieces of wood. The girls....were mostly between the ages of eight and 10, through there were a few who were younger. On a table was a loaf of bread. When the children were so hungry they could not go on, they were given a slice. They paid for it out of their earnings."
In the course of time, Annie Macpherson was able to convert an old warehouse into a "Home of Industry" where the young laborers were able to ply their trades while receiving some food and education in their free hours. We must admit this was a definite improvement to the previous conditions.
Annie, with her sisters, Rachel and Louisa, changed the destinies of more than 14,000 children ranging in ages from infants to teenagers. Home were established in Belleville and Galt (now Cambridge), Ontario and at Knowlton in Quebec's Easten Townships. There the children were received and transferred to their new habitations.
Many children were distributed in Nova Scotia where it was stated, "that famers....would be ready to take the children as young as five if they could get them....the want of labour is so great they will take anything; but a boy of five years old is able to do something in his living, and he soon begins to earn his clothes and his maintenance."
In general, the work of the Macpherson sisters and their families was sincere and the welfare of the children was their prime concern. There were others, however, whose only consideration was the profit they could reap.
QUERIES:
46. JAMES and FRANCES LOVE from Dublin? Ireland in 1820. Settled in Moores Mills. CH: ROBERT m MARGARET MCBRIDGE; JOSEPH; JOHN m LAVINA COURTENAY; MARY ANN m JOHN GREGORY; JOAN MCLURE (2nd married name?); JAMES m ELLEN ___?____; WILLIAM m ELECTRA CLENDINNING; THOMAS HOUSTON m ELLEN ___?___; HUGH m MARTHA. Seek any info on this family KATHLEEN DEYMAN (address omitted).
Note: In-Laws, Outlaws and Kinfolk articles have been published on this site with the permission of the St. Croix Courier. Special thanks goes to the Courier for allowing me to reprint my mother's articles.