Genealogy Chat

Mary Ann Cottle was born in Tredgar in 1872 but had Canadian Nationality by 1886 would a girl this young be allowed to travel alone? -

Both her parents were dead by 1886. Where can I look for records of her immigration? Thanks, Gwynne

You need to ask for help from someone with World Ancestry access I think. I had the same problem and a lovely lady called Linda found a lot of info for me, hope you're as lucky.

Hi, Thanks. Lovely Mary has been looking for me but Mary hasn't appeared. It seems strange for a child so young to travel alone. Gwynne

All of my ancestors came from England and Ireland and settled in Ontario, Canada (1830-1870). I've only found two ancestors' ships. Either I'm doing something terribly wrong, or it truly is rather difficult to find records. PS One of my ancestor's came over, alone we believe, when she was about 14 years old.

Guinevere, I can almost guarantee she was what is known as a Home Child. This is a largely forgotten aspect of British history in which thousands of poor children were taken to Canada and Australia in Emigration schemes. Most of the British poor who emigrated to Canada came in families, but an impressive number did not. Conspicuous in the latter's ranks were thousands of young boys and girls who arrived unaccompanied by an adult family member. These children were apprenticed as agricultural labourers or, in the case of girls, sent to smaller towns or rural homes to work as domestic servants. These were the 'home children,' slum youngsters plucked from philanthropic rescue homes and parish workhouse schools and despatched to Canada (and to other British colonies) to meet the soaring demand for cheap labour on Canadian farms and household labour in family homes. Many of these youngsters, most of whom ranged in age between eight and ten, came from families of the urban poor who could not care for them properly. Other children, perhaps one-third their number, were orphans, while the balance were runaways or abandoned youngsters. At a time when few British emigrants were indentured in their overseas destinations, nearly all these child immigrants were apprenticed shortly after their arrival in Canada. Although Canadian farms had received orphaned and destitute British children as early as the 1830s, it was not until 1868 that the home-children movement began in an organized way. In that year, Maria Susan Rye, the feminist daughter of a distinguished London solicitor, purchased an old jail on the outskirts of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, had it refurbished, and then made preparations to bring her first party of children to Canada. They arrived in October 1869 with the well-publicised blessings of both the Archbishop of Canterbury and The Times of London. A few months later, Annie Macpherson, a Quaker working independently of Rye, brought another party of young children to Ontario. Soon, Louisa Birt of Liverpool (Macpherson’s sister), Thomas Barnardo of London, Leonard Shaw of Manchester, and William Quarrier of Glasgow… to name but a few of the best-known child-savers… were launching their own child-emigration programmes. Before long there was a proliferation of similar programmes, some of the more notable being implemented by the National Children's Homes, Mr. Fegan's Homes of Southwark and Westminster, the Middlemore Homes in Birmingham, the Church of England Waifs and Strays Society, and Miss Stirling of Edinburgh. Because Canada was closer to Britain than was Australia or New Zealand, it became the favoured destination for these charges. Maria Rye eventually placed over 5,000 children, mostly girls, in many parts of Canada and the United States. Problems arose in 1875 when the Doyle Report was released. Mr. Doyle was sent in 1874 to inspect the children sent to Canada by the Unions (workhouses). His report was very negative about Miss Rye's work, in particular about the lack of inspection after children had been placed, and she did not bring any children to Canada for a few years after the release of the report. Underlying all these schemes was the activists' belief that emigration was an effective way to rescue impoverished British children from the poorest and most crowded districts of Britain's teeming cities. On Canadian farms, far from the temptations and polluted air of city life, their slum protégés would grow into healthy, industrious adults. Or so the thinking went. The long-lived programme eventually came to a halt in 1939, its end hastened not only by the Great Depression and the opposition of the Canadian labour movement but also by a change of thinking on the part of Canadians and Britons. Both, it seems, could no longer tolerate the idea of philanthropic organizations separating young children from their parents and sending them to work in distant lands, no matter how salubrious the setting.

Hi Paul, Thanks for that.It does seem to be a possibility but she did have a married brother who would have looked after her and they weren't that poor compared to others in the valleys. I'm wondering if she went with her older sister who I haven't been able to find in the 1881 census. I also haven't found a possible marriage for the sister so perhaps they went together. Gwynne

On www*collectionscanada*ca you can search the database for home children between 1869 - 1930 Sheila

Thanks very much Sheila, There is a child of similar name but the age is 3 years out. Thanks for the link, though. Gwynne

Don't worry too much about discrepancies in ages. Sometimes the person filling in the forms was in a rush and just estimated the age - it wasn't considered as important as it is these days.

What do you already know about Mary? How old was her brother when their parents died? If she were a home child, she didn't necessarily have to be an orphan. When my great grandmother died, five of her girls were put in a convent while three of her boys were put Catholic children's homes. Two of those boys were eventually sent over to Canada as home children by the Catholic church. Their father was still alive and working but he couldn't afford to care for all those children. He gave their care over to the Catholic church. There were three older children. One was sent to care for her grandfather. She was 14. The two older brothers were 17 and 21. They worked as bank clerks so neither of them could care for all those children. Perhaps her brother couldn't afford to care for his sister. Did the brother stay in England? Is it England? I don't know where Tredger is located? Is it just when she went to Canada that you're trying to trace? Linda

Hi, Thanks for the responses. It started when I found a letter addressed to my Mum from 'cousin Marcie'. I did some digging of my own and had a lot of help from Mary Bentley who found Marcie (married to George Garland) in the 1930 US census. This said she was born in Canada. I had a look in the Canada 1910 index on ancestry and found a 'likely suspect'. Mary B found the page for me and Marcie's mother was Mary born in Wales in 1872. I had a look through my files and worked out who her mother may have been - Mary Ann Cottle born in Tredegar, Monmouthshire, Wales in 1872 - I had her in Wales in the 1871 census, with her parents but couldn't find her in the 1881 or 1891. Mary B found Mary Ann's marriage which confirmed I had the right one. Mary Ann got Canadian Nationalisation (according to census) in 1886. So I know a lot of what happened after she went to Canada, then on to the US but I'm curious as to how she got there and with whom. A Mary Cottell (according to the homechild data base) arrived in Canada in 1884 aged 9, 'my' Mary would have been 12/13 so that seems too big a difference to me. I hope I've explained this clearly. Thanks to all who have helped. I'm off to visit my Dad soon but will be back later in the afternoon. Gwynne