Skeletons and Chains III
by F.E. McConvey
Published 20 July 1988
We realize, of course, that the gruesome death suffered by the youthful George Green was an extreme case. However, many children were subjected to frequent beatins, starvation and mental trauma. Often, young girls were raped by their tormentors, branded promiscuous, then cast aside to be replaced by other innocents.
Because they had come from the slums of London, they were looked upon as delinquents, thieves, degenerates and carriers of disease. The dogs of this country were held in higher esteem than these wretched beings.
One of the medical authorities of the day, Dr. John Fergusin of Wlland made the comments, "if Canada continued to let such children into the country it might as well spread surgeons among the people to innnoculate them against syphis...the majority of these children are of the offal of the most depraced characters in the cities of the old country."
It was very easy for the populace, media included, to attribute most to this defenceless lot of waifs.
At every turn they were thwarted, rejected, cheated, rebuffed, taunted and ridiculed. It is little wonder that many took their own lives to escape their oppressors.
Here are some examples to show how the fine citizenery of Canada treated their charges.
A boy, aged about nine, was terrified of pigs or hogs, as they are known in Ontario. For entertainment, his influential "benefactor" habitually placed the youngster in the sty with the squealing porkers and stood over him, lashing out with a whip each time the lad attempted to get out.
A family of six brothers and sisters ranging in age from fourteen to three were seperated upon their arrival at Halifax and set off in different direction. Not only were they denied the opportunity to say farewell, but any information concerning their siblings was wtihheld.
If tears of loneliness welled in the eyes or they outwardly pined for their families, sympathy and compassion were not wasted on these urchins. Ungrateful guttersnipes!
Eight years old, he slept in a windowless, unheated attic where the snow sifted through the roof. To earn his board plus one dollar a month, it was necessary to tend a her of 100 cattle, "milk cows...cut the wood with a bucksaw, draw water for the family and the cattle to see to the chores around the house."
He had arrived from England wearing the uniform of the immigrant children, "dark wool suits, tight wool coats on top, and dark short pants below." A small tin trunk carried his other wordly possessions. When the prairie winter arrived, no additional clothing was provided to protect his flesh from the rigours of the biting cold.
With grim determination he braced himsel against the cold winter, struggled through teh long hours of toil, applied himself to the difficult chores and endured the beatings. Human fellowship and camaraderie were the elements of life he craved but never received. Treated like an outcast, his meals were consumed alone, usually while tending the cows. There were no conversations, warm words, or smiles in his life, only barked commands.
When a wedding was celebrated at the famr, he was not even allowed to enter the house during the festivities. This rejection he also bore silently. The greatest hurt came when he discovered that not one crumb of the fine cake had been saved for him. He was less than the dirt beneath their feet.
The word of one "home child" simply, but effectively, expressed the pathetic situation of the children, "I had nowhere to go, I had nobody, not a friend in all of Canada."
Success stories were not common but they did occur. Some children were fortunate enough to find homes where they were accepted as welcome additions to the family. These situations should have been the rule, rather than the exception.
The son of a "home child" married a girl from this area. It was through her family that I first learned the story of these children from Britian.
Her father-in-law has been sent to the Gagetown area during the early years of this century where he worked on a farm. Life for him in New Brunswick has been acceptable.
When World War I erupted, he enlisted and found himself back in the land of his birth. While there, he sought out his family and visited them. They welcomed him into their midst, but for him there was nothingness. He could not purge himself of the bitterness and resentment that had festered in his heart towards them.
At the termination of the war he returned to the area where he was known, married the neice of his employer and never looked back across the water. From all reports he was industrious and well-liked.
To our knowledge, there are only three people in this province who bear his surname - a wife and two sons. Once they are gone, his name will be lost because one son is a bachelor and the other brought forth daughters.
The indignities inflicted upon the children were definite blots on the pages of Canadian history and the ghosts from the past continue to haunt the generations today.
The descendants of these children, of which there are great numbers, have a most difficult task in tracing of their ancestry. Many of the young immigrant children did not know, or had perhaps forgotten the names of their parents and siblings. The older ones who might have retained this information had no idea where to locate their scattered kin folk.
If one is able to ascertain that his ancestor came from the homes sponsored by Thomas John Barnado or Annie Macpherson, there were some records kept. Barnardo's, as the agency is known today, maintains an "After Care" department which in recent years has replied to many inquiries. Sadly, for many, the search terminates in a dead end.
If you would like to increase your knowledge about the "home children," be sure to read The Little Immigrants, The Orphans Who Came to Canada by Kenneth Bagnell, MacMillian 1980. This book has provided the background for this series of articles.
QUERIES:
WILLIAM VANCE (1759-1841) farmer with St. Ann's Association and judges at St. David, lawyer at St. Stephen and lumberman on St. Croix River and Baring, ME until 1831. Also member of Maine Legislature for six terms. Died Readfield, I need birth, marriage and death years of VANCE wives: NANCY COX, JANE PARKER, MARY BELL, CHARLOTTE HOLLAND. Birth and death years of all VANCE CHILDREN: JOHN, MRS. BETSEY P. PIKE, MRS. ANN LANE, MRS. JANE DAY, MRS. ___?____ WHITNEY, WILLIAM (physician killed by pirates), DAVID, JAMES P. SHUBAEL, JOSEPH, ROBERT H., GEORGE C., WILLIAM JR., MRS. CHARLOTTE HOLLARD MORRILL, MRS. NANCY HANINES. Others?
Last name, year born and died, named of CHARLOTTE HOLLAND VANCE ___?_____. who married SQUIRE VANCE in 1823 and was divorced by VANCE in 1831 in Washington Co., ME. She remarried ____?______ BENNER? and was still living in 1877. BLANCHE PALMQUIEST (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.