----- Original Message ----- From: "bbffrrpp" <bbffrrpp@mediaone.net> To: <Maine-D@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, November 02, 2000 6:22 AM Subject: Many People in Maine - Might Have Originally Been "British Home Children" > Good morning, > > After reading this morning's e-mails, I wanted to let the people on this > List know that many people in Maine in the late 1800's and early 1900's - > might have originally been "British Home Children." > > Right from the 1600's, Great Britain decided to send some of their orphaned > and unwanted children out of the country - and send them to their Colonies. > From 1850 to 1930, the largest number ever were shipped out - over 100,000. > They were shipped to 3 different continents, but most were shipped to North > America. Most of these went into Canada, but even while placed there, > many made their way into New England or New York. > > And, then there were.... the Orphan Trains. Many of the kids were put > onto trains - in both Canada and the USA - and shipped all the way across > each country. They would stop at the train stations along the way... and > ask if anyone at the station wanted to adopt a child. If anyone did, a > child was turned over to them - no questions asked. > > Both of my great-grandparents, and their younger siblings (9 children in > total) were shipped out of Liverpool, England, in 1874, and sailed to > Halifax, Nova Scotia. Thus far, I only know of my great-grandparents. > They married in Nova Scotia 5 years later, and a year later they migrated to > Boston, MA. They had 13 children. If you would like a real > education, subscribe to the British Home Children List on RootsWeb. > > To get back to his morning's e-mails, I went to the web site for the > National Archives of Canada, and I put in a search for the surname, > Patterson. I found a list of over 30 children with that surname, and > there were .three. Mary Patterson's. Once you arrive at that web site, > look for the category, "ArchiviaNet." > > "There is a reason for everything!" There is many times a good reason > why a person doing genealogy.... runs into a proverbial brick wall. > > Betty (near Boston, MA) > > >