The story of British Home Children is still one which is little known outside those whose relatives were migrated from Britain to Canada, and other parts of the former British Empire during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
In Canada there is a growing interest, reflected in books and a variety of social media sites, added to which the study of BHC has become a serious area of historical research.
Not so in Britain, where there are far fewer books and only the beginnings of an interest shown by academics, which in turn has yet to make an appearance in schools history.
So, I welcome any contribution to the collection of material written about the children who left Britain in the expectation that they would experience a better life in Canada.
And today I came across Seek and Ye Shall Find Me, by Annette McGarill who writes, “I have been researching my family history for many years. A passing reference in a 19th Century Glasgow Poor Law Record led to the discovery that two of my ancestors had been sent to Canada as child migrants in the 1870s by the Orphan Homes of Scotland. They left behind siblings, my great-grandparents. Feeling that this was a story that ought to be told, I have produced a novel based around the facts that I uncovered.
Orphaned at 8 years of age, Jane was put into a Children's Home, where the course of her life is changed forever. She left behind siblings, and the novel tells of their trauma at separation, their struggles with poverty and the different paths their lives took."
The book is available on Kindle, or in paperback by order from albionpublications@gmail.com
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