June 2001 Genealogy Forum News

Grandpa's Origins:

Tale of a British Home Child

My grandfather never mentioned his childhood or his family. We knew he was born in England (but for awhile thought it was New Brunswick).

For many years we would cross the border from our home in Maine to visit the "Aunts" along the St. John River in the old farmhouse. Aunt Stella and Aunt Fanny were wonderful and loved to have their "Tommy" visit. After their home was destroyed by the Mactaquac Hydro Project, we continued to visit them. Fanny passed away first before Grampie's death and we continued to correspond with Aunt Stella. Her visit to Maine when Grampie passed away was considered a milestone by the family. We continued to correspond with her until her death.

During those years, she related to us a story concerning her actual relationship with my grandfather and confirming evidence about her statements to us began me researching the family history.

We were told by Grampie that his family was "no longer alive" in England; that was his one and only statement to us about being born in England. We found out from Aunt Stella that he was considered a "Home Child". He was sent from a home in Birmingham, England, at a young age with a younger brother to work on a farm in New Brunswick. Although arranged through seemingly "good charitable placement services", this was not always true. My grandfather was very lucky. He was placed with a family who sent him to school, to church and in return for bed, bath, and "home" he worked on the farm until he married and moved to the town he would call home until his death.

Aunt Stella confirmed the name of the home, the younger brother who came to New Brunswick with him, and the mention of the brother "stealing back to England" due to the harsh conditions he encountered with his "placement family".

After many years of research, I found his mother had died when the boys were quite young. At ages 7 and 5, the two were "sent" to Middlemore Home in Birmingham, England, by their father who had a minimum of 5 other children at home. The two boys, Grampie and his brother Ernest, were sent to New Brunswick - Grampie to the Fox Family and Ernest "across the river".

There is now a wonderful group of people intensely researching the Home Children of Britain and their families. Those still living are sharing their stories.

I always wondered about the English accent I remembered as a child, softened by a New Brunswick brogue. I always wondered why Aunt Stella and Aunt Fanny weren't really "Aunts" in the real way, as said by my father. BUT I now understand my Grampie's sense of family; why he did so much for us, his grandchildren; why he took the time to spend as much time as he could with us, even though we were so young, . The Family was always so important to him. Now I understand why.

If you are having trouble tracing your ancestors from Canada, Australia, and even here in the States....they seem to "just appear" at a young age......it may be possible that they were among hundreds of thousands of British Home Children. Much research is being done - with indexes, passenger lists, home lists, and even a mailing list pertaining to the Home Children of Britain coming to light. Please feel free to contact me if you believe such a story of yours may sound like mine and I can direct you to sources to research.

© 2001 GFNEWS, a monthly publication of the Golden Gate Genealogy Forum, Inc. of Franklin, MA.
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