A friend revealed to me a most unusual and personal family story. His grandparents circa 1900 were passengers on a ship full of immigrants from England heading for Canada. They had used the last of their money to pay for the fare. They had three children, my friend’s father who was nine, an older sister and a younger one only two years old. Desperation was setting in. How would they cope upon arriving at the Quebec City port with no money and not knowing a single person? It wasn’t many days later before a bizarre and difficult decision faced them had to be made.
First I wanted to learn more about immigration so I could put this situation into perspective!
When the ships landed at Philadelphia in the 1750ś after a long voyage from the United Kingdom, no one was permitted to leave except those who paid for their passage in full. The others who couldn’t pay remained on board the ship until purchased and released from their debt by their purchasers. The sick and wretched often remain on board for two or three weeks and frequently died, whereas, if they could find somehow pay the debt they could leave the ship and might recover their health,
The sale of human beings on the market from a newly arrived ship attracts buyers from all over the area. The healthiest are selected first, then the ones deemed most suitable for the work required of them. Another consideration is the debt. Adults agree to serve two to six years depending on the amount while young people have to serve until they are 21 years old. Many parents must sell and trade away their children like a head of cattle. It happens that some families have to separate and do not see each other again for many years or not at all. When one has served his or her term, he or she is entitled to a new suit of clothes at parting; and if it has been so stipulated, a man gets in addition a horse, a woman, a cow.”
Next to Canada where between 1869 and the late 1930s, there was a different system for sending over 100,000 kids to Canada from Britain. These children were poor or orphaned and sent by philanthropic agencies in hopes of them having a better life with foster families or in group homes. While some children benefited from this arrangement, many experienced neglect and abuse. I suppose this was considered more humane than the families who were destined for Philadelphia. These children became known as the ̈Home Children.
Many were referred to as Barnardo Boys or Home Boys — poor kids plucked off the streets of London by an organization founded by Dr. Thomas Barnardo. By 1888, he had acquired land in Manitoba and opened the Industrial Farm. It had a three-storey wooden home for the boys and the farm with its animals and vegetables did business in the surrounding districts. The famous Dr. Barnardo arrived in Winnipeg to visit the “industrial school” he established. His charity had “receiving homes” in Winnipeg for the boys to stay at until they headed to their farm for training.
Back to my friend’s story. They were broke and desperate but did make friends on the ship. This one couple from Eastern Ontario had sailed to England for an arranged adoption. Upon arriving, they learned the adoption had fallen through. Downhearted they were now sailing for home. Somehow the two couples arranged a plan whereby the healthy couple would buy the little girl, promising to treat her like their own and to stay in touch. My friend ́s family would now be able to afford to settle down near Ottawa.
The two families did keep in contact. When my friend was 12, his father took him to visit his sister who he barely remembered. Every summer the father and son continued this custom. A dozen years later my friend got married and the sister he nearly lost was at his wedding.
It does seem unconscionable to sell a child but extreme circumstances can sometimes make unorthodox decisions.
