In 1983 I had the privilege of publishing an article in Canadian Genealogist magazine regarding my paternal grandmother, Esther Dawson, who came to Canada as an �orphaned� Barnardo�s Home Child. I hesitate to use the word �orphan� as she and her sister were not orphans and had a father very much alive when they immigrated to Canada. In 1983 I focussed on the two sisters and their descendants in Canada and their experience when they were in Barnardo�s Home. Since then I have frequently been asked about Barnardo�s Home and what type of information is available and of use to genealogists. Was I able to locate the family in England? Is there medical information, school information, pictures�? Could I trace the family further back?

Barnardo�s Home ran hundreds of children�s homes across the UK from Thomas Barnardo�s day until the 1970�s. What kind of information did they keep on these children? Who can access it? Are there pictures?

This then is an attempt from one family�s point of view and investigation to answer some of these questions and climb a family tree.

I have contacted Barnardo�s Home every ten years for a span of approximately thirty years. I did not intend to do this but rather the process evolved. I initially contacted the Home regarding my grandmother in the early 1970�s with a general request for information. With the consideration of starting a family I contacted the Home again in the early 1980�s specifically requesting medical information and received different information than the previous contact. This thought weighed on my mind until the early 1990�s when my daughter attended primary school and I became curious about the education my grandmother may have acquired in the home. Finally, with the new millenium I learned that �the files� had been opened to children from the Homes with new legislature in 1996 and I again contacted Barnardo�s Home.

Pictures

The initial contact returned basic information about my grandmother and her sister, Elizabeth, who entered the home on the same day. A basic sketch of family members (invaluable for my eventual identification of the family in England), ages (which turned out to be wrong) and pictures on the day they were admitted. Almost every child was photographed on the day they entered the home and the home had used before-and-after photographs to further their work, although this practice may have stopped prior to my grandmother�s admission as no such �after� picture appears to exist. I was ecstatic about receiving a picture of my grandmother aged about five years as no photographs existed of her as a child in Canada. Perhaps it was this ecstasy that lulled me into thinking I had received a copy of all pertinent information regarding the two sisters.

Medical Information

As I contemplated my own future family I wrote again to the Home and inquired if medical information existed. A period of time elapsed and some information arrived regarding general information of the girl�s health when they entered the home and a case of ringworm that had been endured. Otherwise they had generally been fine and in good over all health. I was relieved and yet what I eventually found about the larger family framework was an immense destruction by T.B. (tuberculosis) a dreaded word in those days. Their mother had died from T.B. as well as many young children and adults throughout the family structure. In fact, it finally surfaced through extended family members that their father�s purpose in admitting them to the home was to have them removed form this dreaded disease. By requesting to send them to Canada he hoped to save their lives.

Letters

By the 1990�s my daughter was attending public school and I realized I did not know if my grandmother had had an opportunity to attend school. Again letters crossed the ocean and I received a copy of a letter my grandmother had written to the Home following her marriage. She informed them that she was now married and the mother of a young daughter. She felt blessed and appreciated all that they had done for her but missed old friends. A newsy little letter that they had kept on file because it contained her new address and the home sent out a newsletter to former residents. To me it was of enormous importance. Although written in a clumsy handwriting it was proof that my grandmother had received some rudimentary education and was literate enough to write a letter. This is the only item I have that is written in her handwriting. But why hadn�t they sent me a copy of this letter twenty years ago when I first inquired?

Unexpected Twist

Around the turn of the new century I learned that new legislature had come in to effect in England enabling former Barnardo and other Home children to acquire copies of their files. The Homes also suggested counseling and offered a paid return visit to England for those children sent abroad. However, there was a catch. Upon inquiring for the last time about information on my grandmother and her sister, I was informed that I would not be entitled to any information regarding my great-Aunt. Only her descendants would be entitled to her information. On the previous inquiries I had always inquired about both sisters and received information pertinent to both. In fact the list of eligible individuals who could obtain information consists of � the Home child, parents, siblings, spouse and children. With the passing of my father there are now no longer any living survivors from this list.

Conclusion

The two sisters lived in close proximity to each other once they reconnected in Canada. The descendants of both sisters continue to live in and around the same area and keep in touch. I contacted the sole surviving daughter of Elizabeth and requested that she send for her mother�s file. She agreed and I now have a copy of both girls� files.

But is this everything?

Since each contact appeared to reveal more information than the last time, how can I be assured that every shred of information has been revealed? Extracting and abstracting the information in the initial inquiries, was this done to sanitize the information or a matter of technology (photocopying) not being available at that point in time. I would like to have received the letters written by my grandmother earlier than thirty years after my initial request for information. My father, her son, passed away in 1999 and never had the opportunity to see them.

It is unlikely that I would have been able to piece together the fragments of the two girl�s lives without the assistance of the files from Barnardo�s Homes. The surname of Dawson is a common English surname and without the marriage revealing the mother�s maiden name of ACKRED, as well as maternal aunts with surnames MAY and GADD this tree may never have been completed. Esther�s birth date was not recorded in her file and her age was listed as much younger than she was, she was always a petite woman.

The difficulty with these records is that you never get to go back and inspect the originals. All of those cautionary tales about going back and looking at the original documents or files is not possible in this case. The information is provided to you at the discretion of the organization although they appear to be releasing more photocopies rather than extractions of the files. They handled thousands of children and it must be a tremendous effort to file and maintain all of the information generated on these children. I can appreciate that files must go missing or information may be lacking but for those of us who just wish to know our past it is frustrating to wonder if more information may still be buried somewhere in their files.

Just keep asking.

1974: Extraction from file, 3 photographs (one of each girl alone and one together)
1980: Extraction from file, information related to emigration parties and relatives in England, 4 photographs (extra picture of Girls Village Home, Barkingside circa 1900)
2003: Admittance record, Photocopy of record card of Esther, photocopies of correspondence relating to Esther, leaflet focusing on Canadian emigration, reading list of recommended books, abbreviation list to help with interpreting records, request for acknowledgement of safe arrival of documents, unable to provide information on Elizabeth.
2006: Photocopy of record card of Elizabeth obtained by her daughter

Click here to view the entire report, complete with footnotes and genealogical information [PDF format].

Suggested Readings

The Little Immigrants, The orphans who came to Canada, Kenneth Bagnell
Orphan at My Door, The Home Child Diary of Victoria Cope, Jean Little
The Tin-Lined Trunk, Mary Hamilton
Barnardo Children In Canada, Gail H Corbett

Address:

Barnardos After Care Centre
Children�s Services Department
Tanners Lane
Barkingside
Ilford, Essex
IG6 1QG

Telephone: 0181-550 8822

Web Sites

National Archives of Canada, ArchiviaNet, Home Children