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  ONTARIO EAST BRITISH HOME CHILD FAMILY

2016 UPCOMING EVENTS

September 9 - British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa Conference, Ben Franklin Place, Centrepointe Drive, Nepean
website:  www.bifhsgo.ca

STANDING in the LIGHT
LIFE STORIES of BRITISH HOME CHILDREN
IN THE 
Aultsville Train Station
11 am – 4 pm
Saturday & Sunday       August 20 & 21
 Saturday & Sunday       August 27 & 28 
Labour Day Weekend
September 3, 4, & 5
Saturday & Sunday          September 10 & 11
Saturday & Sunday          September 17 & 18
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Aultsville Train Station uses the Crysler Marina Entrance. 
Located just West of Upper Canada Village on County Road 2  between Ingleside & Morrisburg.
 
Please note that at some of the above listed events OEBHCF may be attending only & not hosting.

  
             A LITTLE BACKGROUND

   There were some 100,000 British Home Children who were sent to Canada  from the United Kingdom and Ireland during the period of 1870 to the mid  1930s. A large number of these children were relocated to rural communities  in Canada through some 50 different emigration / immigration agencies. Most  worked as indentured domestic servants or farm workers, with the largest  number eventually residing in Ontario. These young children, young ladies,  and young men became productive members of Canadian society.

   David Lorente, a founding member of Home Children Canada, has worked  tirelessly to promote recognition of these children who were brought to  Canada. Many other organizations, one of which is the Ontario East British  Home Child Family, are continuing the efforts.

   Ontario East British Home Child Family’s mission is to give a voice to all  British Home children who walked silently among us. OEBHCF are interested  in any information that you may have on British Home Children and would  welcome any opportunity to hear any stories or view any artifacts. Please  refer to our contact information button at the top.

  Dedicated Volunteers Working To:

  • Compile and Preserve primary resources such as letters, home visit papers, clothing, trunks and other articles that the children brought with them.
  • Inform and educate individuals about the British Home Children and their most significant role in the development of Canada.
  • Stage events to bring awareness of the British Home Children's stories.
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  SOW THE SEEDS,

 REAP THE STORIES




  Sunflowers are readily started from   seed, grow almost anywhere, are easily maintained, and are considered by     many to be happy plants.  These points have helped endear Sunflowers to     school children and their teachers, who find the flower useful as hands-on     teaching aids. 
    The Sunflower, with this close association to 
  children, has been adopted by the Ontario East British Home Child    Family.  British Home Children, like Sunflower seeds, were scattered    throughout Canada leaving countless stories behind, many that will never be  told.  Ontario East British Home Child Family works to tell the stories  of these children who walked silently among us.



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  Aultsville Train
   Station
  British Home Child 
    Museum


 




   Ontario East British Home Child Family (OEBHCF), in partnership with
the St. Lawrence Parks Commission once again used the Aultsville
Train Station to house a British Home Child exhibit on weekends
during 2015's autumn.

This little known part of our Canadian heritage was showcased at the Aultsville Train Station near Upper Canada Village on County Road 2 between the villages of Morrisburg and Ingleside.  Volunteers from the Ontario East British Home Child Family organization were on hand at the train station to answer any questions and provide information about
the role that British Home Children played in the history of our area,
our province and our country.  As well, on display were artifacts and documents on this subject. 

After travelling to Canada by ship and spending time at one of the many receiving homes located in this country, the British Home Child would
often travel to their new “home” via train.  There is little doubt that
many of these littlest of immigrants would have been found waiting
in or near a building such as the Aultsville Train Station for
pick up by their new “family”.

It is for this reason that the Ontario East British Home Child Family, which seeks to preserve and promote the story of the British Home Child, approached the St. Lawrence Parks Commission and Upper Canada Village
to seek permission to house a collection of memorabilia and information
on British Home Children in Canada at the Aultsville Station.

Plans have been made to exhibit again at the Aultsville Train Station in 2016.
Please see above under "2016 Upcoming Events" for dates & times.

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  Wreath laid at
Canada's National
  War Memorial
 




  The British Home Children and their descendants who enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force as well as their descendants who have chosen to join the Canadian Military Services since that time were again remembered with a honorary wreath laid at the National War Memorial in Ottawa during Canada's National Remembrance Day Ceremony on November 11, 2015.
  2015's Wreath Bearer was British Home Child descendant, Ian MacLeod. Ian's grandmonther was Sarah Taylor. Sarah came to Canada with her sister Jenny 
from Dundee, Scotland. Ian is a retired OPP, retiring in 1998. As an OPP he was assigned to various positions starting with Traffic Patrol, Community Service Corporal & Spokesman for the OPP with regard to radio and television in B Division, Marine Patrol on the St. Lawrence River, Criminal Investigator & Motorcycle Rider. He participated in several other special events such as two Royal Visits as greeter & escort, security for the Olympics in Kingston, security & escort for the Canada Youth Games in Thunder Bay & security for
Pope John Paul II in 1984.
  The Canadian government declared 2010 the Year of the British Home Child and then in the same year Ontario's government declared September 28 as British Home Child Day. Remembrance Day 2013 marked the first time the contributions and sacrifices of British Home Children and their descendants were acknowledged by the laying of a wreath at the National War Memorial.
   Some British Home Children who were first placed in the Ottawa and St. Lawrence Valley areas before enlisting in the Canadian Expeditonary Forces include:
  • Claude J.P. Nunney # 410935 recipient of the Victoria Cross
  • William John Dominey # 1042925 died at Passchendale
  • Francis Foreman # 41020 injured in France in 1915 returned to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in 1919
  • Herbert Bretherton #639688 spent time in France with Canadian Labour Pool and returned to Shawville, Quebec
  • Charles Reaper # 814924 survived Vimy Ridge and died in 2003 in Winnipeg, Manitoba.