Many subscribers to this list are from Canada or their ancestors came to Canada. It is for that reason that I am forwarding the following to the list. This appeared on the UPPER-CANADA Mailing List and involves the British Child Emigration Scheme to Canada between the years 1870-1940. Tom Wilde, Listmanager - -------------------------------------------------- For information on Home Children: E-mail lorente@renc.igs.net Website http://pda.republic.net/othsa/HomeChild/HomeIndex.html Norm Crowder -----Original Message----- From: Bill Martin <bmartin@tbaytel.net> To: UPPER-CANADA-L@rootsweb.com <UPPER-CANADA-L@rootsweb.com> Date: Monday, May 15, 2000 10:32 PM Subject: [UPP-CAN] Neither Waif Nor Stray >Hi list; > I have been receiving a lot of mail on the subject of the Bernardo >children since my post regarding the CBC program on the subject. >Unfortunately I don't have any personal knowledge that will help others >on this subject, but perhaps the book and website described below will >be of help to those whose connection to the subject is more personal >than my own. This book sounds like a really interesting resource for >the subject, and was recently mentioned on the CBC in a follow up >program to the one I originally wrote about. The book and site are the >work of Perry Snow, whose father was a Home child. Bill. > > ------------------------------------ > >NEITHER WAIF NOR STRAY: >The Search For A Stolen Identity > >There are very few books written about the British Child Emigration >Scheme to Canada (1870-1940). I recently published my book "Neither >Waif Nor Stray: The Search For A Stolen Identity" on the Internet. It >is the >a.. First book published by a Canadian about the British Child >Emigration Scheme to Canada (1870-1940) in 20 years. >b.. First complete biography of the life of a British Home Child - my >Father - in Canada. >c.. First book published since the scandalous revelations ten years >ago by the Child Migrants Trust of the British Child Emigration Scheme >to Australia (1947-1967). >d.. First comprehensive examination of the Psychological traumas >experienced by the British Home Children while "in care" and throughout >their lives in Canada. >You can get a free sample download of the first 25 pages, a full >download of the entire 284 pages, or order the paperback edition of my >book at http://www.upublish.com/books/snow.htm . Contact the publisher >youngj@upublish.com for details about discounts for multiple purchases >for re-sale mailed to the same address. > >This book is not simply a family history. My Father's lifelong search >for his identity represented the lifelong yearning of the 100,000 >British Home Children to find the families from whom they were >separated, and, in some cases, abducted by British childcare >organizations. As many as 25% of these 6-15 year old alleged orphans >were "emigrated" without either their parents' knowledge or consent. > >Half of them suffered from physical abuse and neglect. They were not >all welcomed in Canada as the older literature suggested. They did not >automatically "have better lives" than they would have had in Britain, >as the child care organizations professed. > >The book presents a personal and professional analysis of the entire >scheme and highlights the difficulties the British Home Children and >their descendants have encountered for over a 100 years when they tried >to get personal information from the sending agencies. It underscores >the present difficulties the descendants continue to experience in >trying to obtain information from the sending agencies. > >There are now 4 million Canadian descendants of the original British >Home Children who were emigrated to Canada by 50 British Child Care >organizations (i.e. Barnardo's, Church of England). They may have as >many as 20 million unknown British relatives. An unknown number of >children made their way to the United States. > >My Father, like thousands of other British Home Children wrote to the >Waifs and Strays Society for over 50 years, trying to identify his >parents and find his family. I, like thousands of first-generation >descendants, also wrote to them following his death. > >The book provides documentation of how the Church of England Waifs and >Strays Society (now the Children's Society) withheld critical >information, denied the existence of information, and presented false >information to my Father and me. > >The Psychological trauma of "coming into care," living in the Boys' and >Girls' Homes, being deported to Canada, working as indentured farm >labourers, experiencing prejudice in Canada, and being abandoned by the >sending agencies is examined in detail. > >The long-term Psychological effects of Brain-Washing, Depersonalization, >Dissociation, and Alienation experienced by the British Home Children >are some of the legacies of the British Child Deportation Scheme. The >malignant memories of traumatic childhoods lived on long after the >children were "in care." >A NEW MAILING LIST > >The international response to the release of this book was immediate and >strong. Because of this, I created a mailing list called BRITISH HOME >CHILDREN to help people in Canada, the US, Britain, Australia, and New >Zealand mend their severed family ties. In March, 2000, over 200 people >subscribed to the list. > >A NEW WEB SITE > >I also set up a companion website to the British Home Children Mail List >at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~britishhomechildren The >primary purpose of the site is to list the names of the actual British >Home Children to help people with their searches for their families. >In March, 2000, people submitted over 500 names. > >PLEASE FORWARD THIS MESSAGE TO ANYONE INTERESTED IN A >POIGNANT AND PROVOCATIVE BOOK ABOUT THE BRITISH HOME CHILDREN: >CANADA'S 100,000 INVISIBLE IMMIGRANTS > >Perry Snow BA (Hons) MA >Clinical Psychologist >