HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1990-10-17, Page 3TME HUAOts EXPO61TOR. OC1( H I +
Historical society 1eain about fate of Barnardo chikii
BY SUSAN OXFORD
'"Ilse other day i drove a child,
Rids;, back to school from the
museum in Toronto. I asked him
where be wail from and he aid nae
he'd just au -rived from Ottawa by
bicycle to live in Toronto with his
mother. 1 ►eadlsed Ruck could've
been a 'home ctuld' ."
With this story Alan Skeoch
began his talk on 'Bernardo
Children in Canada' for the Huron
County Historical Society's banquet
dinner, October 11, m Brucefield.
Mr. Skeoch is department head of
history at a Parkdale, Toronto, high
school and has co-wriuen 10 books.
He is perhaps bears known for his
CBC Radio Noon talks on the his-
tory of agriculture in Canada.
DR. BARNARDO
Dr. Barnardo was a Bntish man
who, at the turn of the century,
arranged the immigration of about
100,000 British children overseas to
Canada, especially New Brunswick
and Drum ria Mort of the children
Barnardo Munipatled were from the
sweets, without waists or home and
sera legal means tothemsel-
ves in the harsh Gap Bnush
society.
Mr. Skeoch compares the climate
he; works to as a teacher in
downtown Toronto to Barnardo's in
that he, too, sees many children
without homes use guidance. Mr.
Skeoch claims there are drug
dealers and young hookers outside
his school, and feels everyone of
them to be tragic examples of
neglected children.
From the 100,000 'tome children'
Barnardo immigrated to Canada
between 1860 and 1930, Oche mil-
lion Canadians today can claim
deacendance. In any of his audien-
ces Mr. Skeoch said there art one
in 25 who are descendant frau a
Barnardo child. At the meeting in
Brucefield it was discovered that
one in 10 were descendants, a
figure Mr. Skeoch said is high, but
explainable.
Most of the Bernardo chicks' w
Canada were 'adopted' oat to Ewan
families because it was felt by
Barnardo that the country hie
would be bother for the chits,.
Most of the chtkhoo bad come from
the twit cities of Englund where
they had lived in slims aid made
theur way in any one; of the doge!
activities open to thsillt in the coy.
Huron County was belt iD be perfect
for them because of its orals
ung
where clean air and fans irk
would be good for them.
But, said Mr. Skeoch, many of
the Canadian familial that adopted
Barnardo children had od>Ia
motives. Numerous stories have
been told of children not being
adopted into the warmth and
security of a family, but rather they
were used as farm labourers and
domestics that worked long hours
and were denied any warmth and
security.
LABOUR
Gasps arose from the Brucefield
BARNARDO CHILD DESCEN-
DANTS - These brothers came
to the talk on Bamardo children
to hopefully learn more about
the Barnardo children and their
own father, William Wareing.
From lett are, Ron of Kippen,
Bob of Hensall and Doug of
Exeter. Ron is holding an o
brochure about Dr. Barnardo.
Oxford photo.
Sons of Barnardo child want to
warn more about their father
Three brothers came to listen to Alan Skeoch speak
on the 'Barnardo Children in Canada' in hopes of
learning something more about their father, a Barnar-
do child.
Bob, Doug and Ron Wareing have researched their
father's past, but are still looking for more infor-
mation. They came to the meeting not only to learn
more, but to hopefully meet other descendants of
Barnardo children.
In 1906 William Wareing was nine -years -old and
under the care of Dr. Barnardo in England. He was
immigrated to Canada that year and arrived at a farm
near Huntsville. William lived a while in Huntsville,
but things did not work out for him there.
He was fortunate in that a good family from Huron
County adopted him. But, he never talked about his
experiences of living in Huntsville.
William was adopted by a farm family near
Crediton and he staved with them on the farm until he
married. William's sister, who was in an orphanage in
England, located William through the records kept by
Barnardo. William arranged for her immigration to
Canada. Shortly after arriving she married a man from
the community.
William lived and worked as a night watchman for
the Town of Exeter. He and his wife raised their
family in Exeter and had the three boys and a girl,
Evelyn, who is deceased. William died in 1974.
His son Ron has visited England and located some
of his father's family. There Ron discovered his father
had three brothers, and he met many nieces and
nephews while in England.
Ron describes his father as "Easy going, good
natured and he never got upset. For the most part his
experience as a Barnardo child was good, although he
never spoke about his life in Huntsville."
"He was a very grateful man."
&askew as they wana WA Morias
ablaut Boetnrdo c Ml ss Ming rued
as slave faro or domestic: labour.
Mr Sana anatiorrod that some of
the children were kept in ttic AMC
as dogs when they had
�e►rn hod thou heaths of work..
Many Barnard° chtkhat who have
related them evanesces to Mr.
Skcocb over the years speak of
horrors they were su to,
uacluding sexual abuse,,
depravation and incredible
loneliness in the vast Canadian
countryside.
Barnardo was far away in
England and couldn't possible
check on bow the children were
getting along in Canada. Inspectors
were hired to check on the 'home
children' once a yew, but the
vastness and awl winters of
Canada made u impossible for
many of these children to be
chocked more than once a year.
Many of the Barnardo children
were indeed adopted by families
who wanted to have a child to treat
as their own, and Mr. Skeoch
pointed out that there were many
success stories for some Barnardo
children and their adopted families.
bad Lhcn was ws, a
rpvoi crit Ma believedCuthe human
mos could be unproved through
the conal of hereditary factors in
mating. But many eugenicists con-
fused hereditary with ' uthertted
wealth' and then choosing of a
tirrnage peruser depended on the
prospective ass's and
wadi& Eugenics led w wive
views of Barnardo children said all
other poor child:ea, and chis led to
terrible stigma being put on these
children.
According to some m
England at the time, these
could lead to another problem - that
being revolution by the working
classes. The way was cleared for
great numbers of the children to be
immigrated overseas to Canada and
also notably, Australia.
Barnardo started his home for
destitute children in London on a
small scale. When the home was
full with 33 children he had to turn
away a little boy, Jamie Somers,
due to lack of space. The next day
Barnardo learned that Jamie had
been found in a barrel frozen to
death. Barnardo then realized he
could never turn away another
"Everyone of these Barnardo children
has a sad story..."
But, as he estirria.ted, the ratio was
about 50 - 50 for good and bad
experiences. Gathering exact data is
difficult because many people who
were Barnardo children would not
speak about their experiences,
probably out of shame and embar-
rassment and a wish to forget their
past.
STIGMA
As at the turn of the century,
today there is a stigma attached to
being a Barnardo 'home child'.
Stratford had a distribution centre
for Barnardo children and there
they were picked by families wan-
ting a child. The children were
selected on criteria asserted by the
prospective adopter, for example,
size, muscle strength, prettiness.
The selection process was not un-
like the slave trade, except that no
money was exchanged. Barnardo
children gained a bad reputation
when they were moved around from
home to home for 'not working
out'.
Despite the often bleak future for
these children, more and more of
them continued to arrive from
England. The prevalent attitude in
England then was that orphans and
neglected children were destined for
nothing else but lives of pros-
titution, thieving, drunkardness and
other vices that were to blame for
moral decay in England. A common
Town accepts tender for new police cruiser
The Town of Seaforth has purchased a new police cruiser. The tender
of McLaughlin Chev-Olds, Seaforth, in the amount of $21,412.03, has
been approved for the supply of a 1991 Chevrolet Caprice Police
Cruiser. Only one tender was received.
DRAFT POLICY
Town Council has struck a temporary committee to review existing
and new Occupational Health and Safety legislation in order to ensure
the town's compliance with it.
Councillors Bill Teall and Pat Malone, along with three non-
managerial municipal employees, will study the legislation and also
draft an occupational Health and Safety Policy and plan for its
implementation in the town.
ATTEND SEMINARS
Town Administrator Clerk -Treasurer Jim Crocker has been authorized
to attend two one day seminars in London December 6 and 7. The
seminars deal with the implementation of the Freedom of Information
and Protection of Privacy Act, and Performance Management. Costs for
the two seminars should not exceed $450.
Both seminars are very timely. The Clerk is responsible for the
implementation of the Freedom of Information Act for all departments
other than police, and the method of performance evaluation is currently
under review in town.
MAKE DONATION
The Town of Seaforth will include an additional $250 in its 1991
budget for the Seaforth Horticultural Society to make landscaping
improvements to the Seaforth branch library. The horticultural society
will also be encouraged to see proposals from focal landscaping
contractors.
ORDER DECALS
The Town of Seaforth will replenish its stock of municipal decals in
1991. Fifty decals, at a cost of $1,008 have been ordered for after
January 1, 1991, so as to be included in next year's budget. Decals are
used on town vehicles and equipment, and will run out with the
purchase of a new police cruiser.
GST PROPOSAL
A decision on whether or not to implement a GST system for the
Town of Seaforth has been referred to the November meeting of the
Finance and General Government Committee. It is hoped by this time
the Senate will have resolved the issue.
INCREASE PATROL
in an effort to better enforce parking infractions the Seaforth Police
Department will be implementing increased fax patrol in town.
This directive comes as a result of a citizen's complaint about the
amount of parking that takes place in "no parking" zones.
CONSIDER EXTENSION
Serious consideration is being given to extending Side Street and
providing an alternate access route to the hospital and medical clinic. A
recent traffic count on Centennial Drive showed excessive use of the
hospital's only corridor. An average count of 500 cars per day was
made - from a low of 365 cars per day on the weekend to a high of 565
cars on a Monday.
Seaforth's Transportation and Environment Commitee will be meeting
October 29 with representatives of the Hospital. the Police Department,
the Fire Department, the Ambulance, the PUC and the abutting property
owners to discuss the proposed extension.
A DDI TI ()NAI. STREETLIGHTS
The Public Utilities Commission has been given authorization to
install 14 additional streetlights in arras identified during a streetlight
inspection tour held in Seaforth September 18.
PAY FOR MEETINGS
Members of Seaforth Town Council were paid a cola! of 1.2.17S for
meetings attended in the month of September.
Reeve Rill Bennett, Deputy -reeve Peg Campbell and ('ounc Ilton),
Marjorie Claus, Pat Malone and Bill Teall each received $210 for one
council and three committee meetings; Councillor Garry Osborn
received $300 for one council and five committee meetings; and Coun-
cillor Irwin Johnston received $120 for one council and one committee
meeting.
Mayor Hazel Hildebrand received $400 for one council, five commit-
tee, and one all -day meeting. Events attended but not charged for
included: Seaforth Legion Zone meeting, Stratford Festival, Fall Fai
opening, Fall Fair parade, Huron Real Estate Board coloring contest
judging, and Seaforth District High School Commencement.
OVERTIME REPORTS
Seaforth's Deputy Clerk -Treasurer reported a total of 84.5 hours of
overtime worked during the months of July, August and September. The
bulk of those hours (54.5) were spent at council and committee
meetings, with 11.5 hours spent on computerized taxes, 11 hours on
special projects and 7.5 hours in general administration.
The Administrator, Clerk -Treasurer worked a total of 105.75 hours of
overtime during the same period. Fifty-eight and one quarter hours were
spent in general administration and 47.5 hours in council and/or
committee meetings.
STEERING COMMITTEES
The three steering committees established to implement the Seaforth
Strategic Business Plan met recently for the first time, with mixed
results.
Both the Services for Seniors, and the Small Manufacturing com-
mittees held successful meetings, but only two members of the Retail
Sector Expansion Committee attended the meeting. That committee will
be revamped.
The Services for Seniors committee, however, has decided to hold an
Open House on October 24 at 3 p.m. in the Council Chambers. All
Seaforth Seniors are invited to attend a tea at that time, and to share
ideas on what is needed in terms of services and facilities for older
residents.
MINOR VARIANCE
Seaforth's Committee of Adjustment for the Town of Seaforth has
approved an application from Luke's Machine Shop to permit reduction
of the westerly side yard from three metres to 1.5 metres; and increase
in lot coverage from 40 to 64 per cent; and reduction of the south
easterly side yard for Phase I building from three metres to two metres.
NEGOTIATING COMMITi EE
The Town of Seaforth has appointed its negotiating committee for
1991 in order that salary negotiations for that year may be completed
before it actually arrives.
Sitting on the committee will be: Reeve Bill Benner, and Councillors,
Bill Teall and Garry Osborn.
in other appointments, Councilor Bill Teall was named as council's
representative to the Bluewater Recycling Association.
SHARE SENTIMENTS
The Town of Seaforth has endorsed a motion, from the Town of
Clinton, which objects to the cessation of service, especially the early
closing. of Canada Post offices. Clinton Council disagreed that
"customer traffic patterns" motivated the early closure. saying the period
between 5 and 5:30 p.m. is probably one of the busiest of the day.
BY-LAWS PASSED
The Town of Seaforth passed a number of by-laws at its October
council meeting.
Among them was a by-law repealing a Heritage Trust Fund Loan to
Dave and Marlene DeVries for their Main Street South business. The
DeVries have informed council they will not be going ahead with the
proposed renovation, and asked that funds be left in die heritage trust
fund for future applications.
Tarn to page ISA -
child, and instead devoted his time
to fund raising and finding homes
for the children.
IMMIGRATION
With so many children coming
into his care, Barnardo constantly
had problems with providing space
and homes for them. People who
could not afford to raise their
children also put many children
under Barnardo's care. Immigration
of poor children was already being
practised by the British and Barnar-
do decided to get involved with the
scheme.
While it seems he hoped the best
for these children, there wasn't
much he could do to protect them
overseas. Each child was sent to
their new country with a new trunk
that stored a change of clothes, a
bible and a coin. After five years of
staying at their new home a Barnar-
do child was awarded with a silver
medal.
Barnardo was interested in
photography and took a picture of
every child that was under his care
and detailed records were kept on
each child. Today descendants of
Barnardo children can write to the
Barnardo homes in England and
receive information and a
photograph of their ancestor, if they
can prove they are indeed related.
"Everyone of these Barnardo
children had a sad story," said Mr.
Skeoch. "It's little wonder that at
the beginning of the war Barnardo
boys made up the majority of the
first Canadian division overseas."
ALAN SKEOCH
Mr. Skeoch pointed out that in
England at that time there were no
social safety nets to catch families
caught in hard times. There were no
social agencies to help families deal
with their problems, and no system
of welfare to help them when times
were bad. Instead there were only
attitudes that poverty was one's
own doing. When a tragedy struck
a family then, such as the death of
a breadwinner, families were torn
apart and ignored instead of helped.
CIVIC
CORNER
THE LOCAL ARCHICTEC-
TURAL ADVISORY COMMIT-
TEE will meet Tuesday October 23
at 7:30 p.m. in the Council Cham-
bers, Town Hall.
THE RECRECREATION COM-
MITTEE will meet Tuesday Oc-
tober 23 at 7:30 p.m. in the
Seaforth Community Centres Board
Room.
THE SEAFORTH BUSINESS
IMPROVEMENT AREA COM-
MITTEE is sponsoring a workshop
Wednesday October 24 at 7:30 p.m.
in the Council Chambers, Town
Hall. The theme of the seminar is
'STAFFING FOR THE 90'S'
NITY CALENDAR.
M you're of sMiMg s nonprofit Swint of Interact to other $eaforth area
Zssidonts. phare the reereallea °Mee i:7-0ME or the Expositor at 527.4240,
or moll the intoraeeetton to CowraleMN r Wender, the Huron Expositor, Box
IM. nth, Ontario, NOK 1 W0 ttiltrII in seven*, of Syr scheduled date. Free
lIalfes includes dale, time., name of hid and location only. Spec* for the
rwh Calendar tog donated by The Wren Ibtposhon.
Wed.,
1:30-4:00 p.m. -
at the Anna
1:00-3:00 p.m. -
Tots Skating
4:30-5:30 p.m. -
5:30-6:30 p.m. -
tice at Arena
6:30-7:30 p.m. -
7:30-9:00 p.m.
Arena
8:00-9:00 p.m. -
Arena
9:00-11:30 p.m
at the Arena
8:00-10:00 p.
Volleyball at
Oct. 17
Senior Shuffleboard
Seniors Parents and
Ringette et the Arena
Atoms Hockey prac-
Centenaires practice
- Minor Broomball et
Fitness is Fun et the
. - Ladles' Broomball
m. - Recreational
SDHS
7:00-10:00 p.m. -
Workshop at Arena
Volunteer
Thurs., Oct. 18
9:00-10:00 a.m. - Fitness Is Fun at the
Arena
4:00-5:30 p.m. - Figure Skating
5:30-6:30 p.m. - Bantam Hockey prac-
tice at Arena
6:30-8:00 p.m. - Minor Broomball at
the Arena
7:00-9:00 p.m. - Wood Carving at the
High School
8:00-10:00 p.m. - Mixed Basketball at
the High School
8:00-12:00 Midnight - Men's Broom -
ball at Aruna
Fri., Oct. 19
4:30-5:30 p.m. - Petite/Tween
Ringette at the Arena
S:30-6:30 p.m. - Junior Houseleague
Hockey practice
6:30-7:30 p.m. - senior Houseleague
Hockey practice
7:30-$:30 p.m. - Ringette
8:30 p.m. - Centenalres vs. Mitchell
Sat. , Oct. 20
7:30-6:30 a.m. - Kings vs. O11ers
6:30-0:30 a.m. - Canadians vs. North
Stars
9:30-10:30 p.m. - Hasa* vs. Whalers
10:30-11:30 p.m.
11:30-12:30 p.m.
11:00.11:00 a.m. -
Arenna
0-00-12:00 noon
he Dove
- Lasts vs Penguins
- Mies Hockey
Tap Dancing at the
Minor Hockey Not -
12:30 -1:30 p.m. - Novice/Bunny
Ringette at Arena
1:30-3:00 p.m. - Free Public Skating
sponsored by: Seaforth and District
Comm. Centres
3:00-4:00 p.m. - Novice Hockey
4:00-5:15 p.m. - Atom Hockey
5:15-7:00 p.m. - Pee Wee Hockey
Sun., Oct. 21
1:30 p.m. - Alvinston vs. Centenalres
4:30-5:30 p.m. - Atom 1 hockey
practice
5:304:30 p.m. - Ringette
6:30-7:30 p.m. - Ringette
7:304:30 p.m. - Ringette
8:30-9:30 p.m. - Ringette
9:30-11:00 p.m. - I.H.L.
Mon., Oct. 22
4:30-8:30 p.m. - Figure Skating
8:30-10:00 p.m. - Beaver Oldtlmers
7:00-9:00 p.m. - Furniture Refinishing
at High School
8:00-10:00 p.m. - Competive
Volleyball at High School
10:00-11:00 p.m. - Midget Hockey
practice
Tues., Oct. 23
9:00-10:00 a.m.
Arena
10:30-12 noon
Tots Skating
4:30-5:30 p.m.
5:308:30 p.m
practice
Wed.,
1:30-4:00 p.m. -
at Arena
1:00-3:00 p.m
Tots Skating
4:30-5:30 p.m
the Arena
5:304:30 p m
tics at Arena
8:30-7:30 p.m. -
7:30-0:00 p.m.
Arena
8:004:00 p.m.
Arens
6:00-11:30 p.m
at Arena
6:00-10:00 p.
Volleyball at
- Fitness Is Fun at the
Senior Parents and
- Teachers Hockey
- Pee Wee Hockey
Oct. 24
Senior Shuffleboard
- Senior Parents and
Ringette Practice al
Atom Hockey prac
Centenalres practice
Minor Nroombeil et
- Fitness Is Fun at
- Ladies Broombell
ON. - Recreational
SONS