Honouring the British Home Children legacy

Kate Bakos, Cultural Heritage Manager/Curator (left) and Lori Oschefski, President of Home Children Canada, at the Annandale National Historic Site on Sept. 19. (Debbie Kasman Photo)

Debbie Kasman, Tillsonburg Post Correspondent

Annandale National Historic Site (ANHS) hosted a special presentation on Sept. 19 by Lori Oschefski, President of Home Children Canada, to honour the legacy of British Home Children.

Between 1869 and 1948, more than 100,000 children were sent from the United Kingdom to Canada, Australia and New Zealand through child migration programs and placed in homes and farms across the country where they worked as domestic servants and labourers.

These children came from families facing poverty or other hardships and were often placed without full consent or understanding and with little supervision after placement.

Collectively these children are known as the British Home Children.

Some of the children found supportive homes, but approximately 75% of the children endured hardship, exploitation, and abuse. Many were separated from their siblings, forced to repay their travel costs, and suffered severe neglect and sexual abuse in isolated settings. Most were denied an education.

Some of the children did well, but it was due to their own tenacity and their will to live that made the difference, says Oschefski. Committed to unraveling the narrative of Home Children, Oschefski embarked on an exploration in 2007, fostering a profound understanding of these historical immigration programs.

Oschefski is not only an expert in her field, but she also holds accolades for several noteworthy achievements, including recipient of the Ontario Museum Association’s Award of Excellence in Exhibition for a long-term exhibit created in partnership with the Black Creek Pioneer Village in Toronto and a two-time nominee for Historical Awards for the numerous books she has written.

Oschefski says anywhere from four to six million descendants of the British Home Children are still living in Canada, although the number is likely much higher, and this mass immigration of child labour ended when Canadian social workers began to push back in the 1920s. There had been numerous suicides making headlines all around the world, and during the depression it was felt that these children were taking much needed jobs.

In 2010, the British government offered a formal apology to former child migrants for the severe hardships the children endured. So far, there has been no apology from the Canadian government.

The Town of Tillsonburg is honouring these children with an exhibition at the Annandale National Historic Site.

The Rotary Clock Tower will also be illuminated yellow on Sept. 28, which is National British Home Child Day.

The colour yellow represents the sunflower, the official flower associated with British Home Children. As a symbol of resilience, the sunflower honours the lives, contributions, and lasting legacies of the children who came to Canada and helped shape communities across the country, including many in the Tillsonburg area.

The Newman/Helsdon family is one such family. Ernest George Newman arrived in Canada in 1893 at the age of 16. He was placed with a family near Straffordville, married Mary Ann Ullman in 1901, had two children, Bert and Phyllis, and worked for the Public Utilities Commission for 32 years. Newman died in 1952 and is buried in the Tillsonburg Cemetery.

Oxford County Archives is offering an exhibition online, Tillsonburg’s British Home Children virtual exhibit, at www.oxfordcounty.ca/archives.

The exhibition is not a complete history of every British Home Child who settled in the area. Because of the stigma historically associated with being a British Home Child, many experiences were never shared.

Residents are encouraged to visit the exhibition an NHS through Oct. 31st or explore the online exhibition.