- Check the National Archives of Canada database on Home Children.
http://www.archives.ca/02/020110_e.html
Remember that not all years are done so this is only a guide. Also keep in mind that this is
a transcription and sometimes from very bad copies so allow for errors when you search. For
example, if the child's name was William Alexander Ferguson do not just search for that full
name. Try doing a search on Ferguson as the last name and W$ as the first. That will pull up
all of the Fergusons who have a first name beginning with "W" and will get William if he
was entered as W., William, Willie, Wm, etc. If you do not find wee Willie, but think you
know the year, then try to search by only putting the year in the "keywords" box. Remember
that bad copies can lead to errors in the transcription and Willie's name may have been
incorrectly entered.
- If you find the child, get a copy of the passenger list to check for yourself and to see who the
other children were who came in the same party. They just might have kept in touch or, there
might be a sibling you did not know about in the list. Microfilm can be ordered on inter-library loan from the National Archives of Canada.
http://www.archives.ca/02/02020204_e.html
- If the child came between 1919-24 the government used something called "Form 30A" and
it is much more detailed than the passenger lists. "Each Form 30A (example of form) usually included the following details: name of
ship, date of sailing, port and date of arrival, name, age, occupation, birthplace, race,
citizenship, religion, previous residence in Canada, destination, nearest relative in the country
from which the immigrant came." This can be ordered from the National Archives of Canada on inter-library loan.
http://www.archives.ca/02/02020204_e.html
- If the child came between 1925-35 then check out the immigration database for those years.
http://www.archives.ca/02/020118_e.html
- You might want to learn about the ship and possibly the voyage. You can get copies of
pictures of various vessel which brought children to Canada from the NAC (for a small fee).
http://www.archives.ca/02/020115_e.html
You can also find out the details of a vessel from
http://www.theshipslist.com or from
http://www.fortunecity.com/littleitaly/amalfi/13/ships.htm
- (Although this step is not a Canadian resource it should be done to aid you in your research
in Canada.) Contact the agency in the UK for records. This may take several weeks (or a
couple of months depending on the agency and the backlog they have). If Middlemore is the organization you are researching contact the National Archives as they have the records on film. Send an inquiry from here:
http://www.archives.ca/02/0202_e.html
If the organization is the National Children's Home (Dr. Stephenson's Home, Hamilton, Ontario) then you can contact the NAC which has a "copy of the complete list of children sent to Canada by the National Children's Home (NCH) between 1873 and 1931. The list includes name, age or date of birth, sailing date and usually the name of the ship. The list was compiled by NCH from ledgers kept at the NCH home in Hamilton, Ontario, which were returned to NCH headquarters in England when the home closed in 1934. The ledgers are now held at the NCH archives at Liverpool University, but
because they contain confidential information, access is restricted by NCH. To determine
if a child's name appears on the indexed list, you can send an inquiry to the Genealogy
Unit at the National Archives of Canada, using the on-line Genealogy Inquiry Form on
their web site. Click on Send an Inquiry."
- Check the child out in the census - they were only done in the "1" years, i.e., 1871, 1881,
1891, 1901 and we might never see 1911. (And that is another story.) The 1871 census is
online at http://www.archives.ca/02/020108_e.html It is for heads of house and strays but that should pick up a home child. Other census are being transcribed by many of the GenWeb sites. You might also want to check the UK census as some of the children were listed in the institution in the UK in a census year.
- If you find a place name on the census or in some of the documents sent to you from the agency and do not know where in Canada the child was placed, you can use the Natural Resources of Canada site to find current or historical place names.
- Check the child out in the WWI database - if your young immigrant came pre 1914 you might
find them in the WWI database at the NAC. Some of the children listed the home they came
with as their next of kin. Some list the family they were living with and others a brother or
sister. It is worth checking.
http://www.archives.ca/02/020106_e.html
- If the child was killed during the war, check them out in the Books of Remembrance
http://collections.ic.gc.ca/books/ and the Commonwealth War Graves http://www.cwgc.org/
- Second World War records http://www.archives.ca/02/020203_e.html can also be of great
interest.
- In 1940 a National Registration was preformed. All adults had to register with the
government during the Second World War. "The questionnaires contain details such as date
and place of birth, education, occupation, citizenship and year of immigration. They are in
the custody of Statistics Canada, whose staff will answer inquiries concerning individuals
who have been deceased for more than twenty years. Proof of death is required, either a dated
newspaper obituary or a copy of the death certificate. Requests should also provide full
name, place of residence in 1940, and identifying details, such as approximate age." Send
inquiries to: Census Pension Searches Unit, Census Operations Division, Statistics Canada,
B1E-34 Jean Talon Building, Tunney's Pasture, Ottawa, ON K1A 0T6 or call (613) 951-9483
or fax (613) 951-4574. A fee of $45.00 (plus taxes=$48.15 in ON), prepaid, and payable to
Statistics Canada is required. Should the search fail, this amount will be refunded. There is
no charge for searches that are required for purposes other than genealogy.
- Check local histories and newspapers to see if the child is mentioned. This is especially so
of those who were old enough to enlist in WWI or WWII - some of the towns wrote items about the
troops from the town or kept clipping files. If you need to get a newspaper
for a place other than the town or city you live in, the National Library of Canada in Ottawa has
many newspapers on microfilm which you can borrow on inter-library loan.
http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/services/news/cnie.htm
- Check the Land records for the western provinces. Many of the boys moved west and took up land grants. These grants are online at
http://www.archives.ca/02/020111_e.html
- Inspection Reports may be of interest. These reports were done by Canadian Government inspectors but usually only for children who came from Unions. These records are in the National Archives but are not indexed. You can search them at
http://www.archives.ca/02/02010502_e.html
Make sure you select only the "Immigration RG76" records as that is where they are filed. For a search term you can use
inspection children
The records from 1896-1937 are on reels C-4733-4736 but there may be other information of interest in this collection as well. Records before 1891 can be found in the RG17 Agriculture collection but this material is not on film.
Buy a good genealogy book which covers the country in which you want to conduct research. You might also want to check out the UK lists, such as the Workhouse list, or a list for the area from which the child came.