Very rarely were they treated well Dianne -------------------------------------------------- From: "Jan" <jangmc@bigpond.com> Sent: Saturday, November 14, 2009 8:45 AM To: <berkshire@rootsweb.com> Subject: Re: [BRK] Children in Scattered Homes,Reading 1910 -1912: Names of some of those "selected foremigration",and adoption under the Poor Law Acts > Thanks Rhoda, > > This is very timely for Australia, as on next Monday the Federal > Government > will issue a Formal Apology for the abusive treatment of children in state > care, including the "Child Migrants" from Britain. > > The scheme to send them here was at its peak later, and many of the > children > are still alive. > > "Under the Empire Settlement Act of 1922 and 1937, the British Government > assisted private organisations to help people who wanted to settle in 'His > Majesty's Overseas Dominions.' Although not specifically aimed at > assisting > child migrants, this legislation allowed non-government organisations to > send child migrants to various parts of the British Empire. The scheme > intensified after the war when child migrants were sent under the > Children's > Act 1948. Although non-government organisations had direct charge of most > of > the children at the recruitment stage, during their passage, or after > their > arrival in the receiving countries, they received encouragement and > financial backing from British governments and governments in receiving > countries. About 150 000 children with an average age of eight years and > nine months emigrated from the United Kingdom, the majority to Canada, > until > the scheme ended in 1967.[4] A key motivation for child migration was to > maintain the racial unity of the Empire and populate the Dominions of > Canada, Rhodesia, New Zealand and Australia, with 'good white stock'. > > The exact number of child migrants to Australia is not known, but > estimates > suggest that from 1947 to 1967, between 7000 and 10 000 children were sent > to Australia." > > It is appalling to think this was still happening a little over 40 years > ago! > > The government's official summary is at: > > http://www.aph.gov.au/Library/Pubs/BN/sp/ChildMigrants.htm#_Toc245702531 > > > Jan > South Australia > > >