A Child Immigrant Comes to Canada by Rose McCormick Brandon

Grace Griffin Galbraith

“I can never regret coming to Canada. I have had to work hard but I don’t mind that for I love to work.” Grace Griffin Galbraith, my grandmother, wrote these words in 1928. She was twenty-five and a perfect candidate for regret. She immigrated to Canada as an eight year-old with her sister, Lily. The two, and later their brother, Edward, arrived through a child immigration agreement between the United Kingdom and Canada. After their father’s death and their mother’s remarriage, Grace and her siblings were placed in the Annie MacPherson Home for Children in the east end of London, England. They remained there until their mother’s death, after which their paternal grandmother signed the Canada Clause giving the Home permission to send the children to Canada.

Grace became one of more than one hundred thousand children to immigrate to Canada between 1869 and 1939. She landed in Quebec on May 13, 1912.

Most child immigrants became indentured servants contracted to work as farm hands and mother’s helpers. Lily was sent to Toronto and Grace to a southern Ontario farm. At the end of her thirty-day trial period Grace was returned to MacPherson’s Canadian Home in Stratford because she “not wholly satisfactory.” This isn’t surprising since she had never been on a farm. Her next placement also ended after thirty days.

Grace’s third placement took her to Manitoulin Island. This home welcomed her at first but later reneged on their contractual responsibility to send Grace to school for at least three months each year. One day, a local minister, Rev. Munroe, arrived at the farm and found Grace in alarming condition.  He immediately removed her and took her to live with a family that attended his church, the Gilpins. She stayed at this safe and kind home until her marriage at age seventeen.

One year after her marriage to James Galbraith, a farmer with Scottish roots, Grace received the sad news that Lily had died of tuberculosis. She wrote, “It was lonesome for me when Lily died. I missed her sisterly letters.”  

Meanwhile, Grace’s brother, Edward, who had the good fortune to live with a couple who considered him a son and included him in their will, had returned to England where he visited relatives and contacted MacPherson’s for information about his sisters. On his return to Canada, he began a search for Grace. By the time he found her they had been separated for fourteen years.

Grace wrote, “I always have a longing to see some of my folks.” She also made the sad statement, “I can never remember seeing my mother.” How happy she must have been to reunite with her brother. Edward spent a lot of time on Manitoulin with Grace and then moved from Southern Ontario to Sudbury to be closer to her.

By 1928 when Grace wrote that she had no regrets about coming to Canada, she was married, had re-united with Edward and had four daughters. (A son arrived later.) Her difficult childhood days over, Grace’s writings reveal a full and happy life. “I have a good and loving husband and a good home. We have a 100 acre farm, a large barn and a fairly good house. Jim is a very good to help me. He is very fond of children. We have our place paid for now and I must add that we have a 1918 model car but we intend dealing on a new one next spring.”

The Home Children were unprepared for the harshness and isolation of Canadian farm life. One boy expressed it this way: “When I landed on that farm, I looked up and said, ‘Oh God, where am I?’” Whereas most immigrants form communities in their adopted homelands, these children were scattered in ones and twos throughout Canada’s towns and farms. Like Grace, most had more than one placement making it difficult to put down roots.

As we celebrate Canada’s 150^th anniversary, it’s estimated that the descendants of Canada’s child immigrants, the Home Children, make up ten percent of the population. This period in our history serves to remind us how much immigration practices have changed. Today, no serious consideration would be given to a program that sends children overseas to live with and work for strangers. What a debt our country owes these young ones who endured heartbreak and loneliness to become some of Canada’s hardiest and most dedicated citizens.

Grace might have become bitter. Instead, she, like most child immigrants, chose to find hope in her new land. Grace’s positive attitude is reflected in her statement - “I can never regret coming to Canada.”

Grace spent her last twelve years at The Lodge in Gore Bay on Manitoulin Island where she passed away at age ninety-nine in 2003.
*This article was published in The Manitoulin Expositor 2017

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Rose McCormick Brandon wrote Promises of Home - Stories of Canada's British Home Children and dedicated it to her grandmother, Grace Griffin Galbraith. She's also the author of One Good Word Makes all the Difference and numerous magazine articles. She writes two blogs, Promises of Home and Listening to my Hair Grow. Contact her at: rosembrandon@yahoo.ca  

Say NO to Many Things and YES to the Main Thing by Rose McCormick Brandon

In one of his Every Day with Jesus devotionals, Selwyn Hughes wrote that he "has learned to say no to many things in order to say yes to the main thing."

As a young, zealous Christian I said yes to almost everything. Name a Christian activity and I've probably been involved in it at some point in my life. Besides what I considered ministry, my three children each had sports, music and other activities that required my attendance. I did these things, not out of obligation, but sincerely and with a desire for others to discover this amazing life in Jesus.

In spite of my lofty motives, eventually, over-commitment left me exhausted . . . at the end of my rope.

In what's known as the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, "You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule." (The Message)

Forced to reconsider my involvements, I took the summer off from my job (I forgot to mention that I also worked). Over two leisurely months, I found myself learning to enjoy life again, breathing deeply, re-discovering the magic of creation.

While lounging on the beach and sitting at nightly campfires, I decided to prune my over-busy calendar when I returned home. Like Selwyn Hughes, I began to say no to many unimportant things (unimportant for me) so that I could say yes to God's focus for my life.

I still found myself tending to become over-busy, unwilling to disappoint people by saying no, and some projects appealed to me so much I wanted to say yes. Pruning my calendar wasn't an easy one-time experience. I've had to do it many times.

As summer approaches and activities wind down, could this be a good time for you to reconsider what your fall schedule should look like?

We can't do our best at anything if we try to do everything.

"Lord, help me to become quiet enough to hear from you about the main focus of my life. Let my thoughts drift in you and find joy in the miracles that surround me. As I prune excess from my life, I lean on your wisdom for guidance."

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Rose McCormick Brandon is the author of One Good Work Makes all the Difference and Promises of Home - Stories of Canada's British Home Children. Visit her website at http://writingfromtheheart.webs.com

Missing Michelle Duggar by Rose McCormick Brandon

When I slump in my chair and search for a television show conducive to relaxing, one that doesn’t leave my soul disturbed or my mind burdened, I often find nothing. Except the Duggars – a family of nineteen children headed by Jim-Bob and Michelle. Scrubbed clean, they discuss archaic subjects like courting, saving kissing until the wedding day and side-hugs. They play, shop, bake, pray, deliver babies and travel while people like me watch. Though much in their world is foreign to me, I like the purity of it.

Now there’s a word much maligned – purity.

In a sea of morally-challenged, barely-dressed women who flaunt their immodesty on television, Michelle Duggar is a breath of decency. Yes, she may go a little overboard with the sleeves, long dresses and no pants but her extremes help to bring balance to a society that has lost its modesty almost completely.

I marvel at Michelle’s organizational skills. Her family’s visits to the local grocery store, even their laundry routines and famous child jurisdictions fascinate me. Occasionally when the entire brood has appeared on a morning show, I noted that no teenagers rolled their eyes and the younger ones didn’t elbow, pout and clamor for their mother’s attention. How does she do it?

Now, Michelle’s show, Nineteen Kids and Counting, has ended.

It ended abruptly after the news broke that their oldest son, Josh, sexually molested younger girls when he was fourteen or fifteen. Criminal behaviour. No sympathies there.

Except to say that rehabilitation for teenage transgressors is generally good for society.

When the news of her son’s sins hit the air waves, criticism of Michelle and her husband roared into demolition gear. They criticized them for not having their son charged. Would most parents have called police? At present, not enough is known about the crime to answer this.

Michelle’s one of those nutty homeschoolers they said. In some minds, that relegated her to the nether regions with those in the armed isolationist movement.  A right-wing religionist, one journalist wrote. I know many homeschoolers. Almost all are building intelligent, high-quality students who go on to do well in life. They’re not anti-social nerds. I never considered homeschooling my three children. And if I had it to do over again I still wouldn’t. But I appreciate the enormous commitment of moms who turn their homes into classrooms, search out curricula and organize their lives around their children’s education.

Media types implied that Michelle must be responsible for her son’s behaviour. Where does that thinking land parents who, in spite of their best efforts, produce thieves, sexual deviates, murderers and an assortment of criminals? Many Christian parents grieve over choices made by their children. They lay awake at night, search their memories, lost in a sea of guilt attempting to understand where they went wrong. Contrast this with parents who lose not a wink of sleep, nor take any responsibility, for leading their children into lifestyles that cause them pain and dysfunction.

Another criticism. Michelle is a proponent of extreme motherhood. She is famous for saying, “Children are like flowers. You can never have too many of them.” Who can argue with her logic? She has chosen not to use contraceptives but to have “as many children as God gives her.” Most women don’t choose this option but it is an option and she has a right to choose it.

I want to hear Michelle talk about her sorrow over her son’s behaviour. Explain how she got through it, how she handled it, how it affected her. (She may get that chance in an upcoming interview with Fox.) Some people need to hear her – not to rebut her – but because a spoonful of godly wisdom may drop from her lips into welcoming ears.

With several exceptions, a lot of U.S. style television evangelism isn’t worth watching. That jet-owning, mansion-living, thousand-dollar suit crowd attract deserved criticism and stain the reputation of Christ-followers. Their distorted Christian message bears little resemblance to Jesus or His message in the Bible. 

In contrast, Michelle Duggar talks from the heart about God and how she depends on Him for wisdom and strength. When her youngest child lay in hospital for weeks, I was touched by her teary words about how she’d grown closer to the Lord during that difficult time.

I like her way.

In the dry-as-a-stick TV land of distorted evangelism and immoral lifestyles, Michelle Duggar was a welcome oasis.

And I miss her.

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© Rose McCormick Brandon 2015. Rose McCormick Brandon is the author of four books: Promises of Home - Stories of Canada's British Home Children, One Good Word Makes all the Difference, He Loves Me Not, He Loves Me and Vanished. Visit her website Writing From the Heart. Two blogs: Promises of Home and Listening to my Hair Grow.

http://writingfromtheheart.webs.com

History Rests on the Shoulders of Writers by Rose McCormick Brandon

 

 

William Francis Conabree, an ordinary man with an extraordinary story, sat down one day in 1952 and wrote an account of his life as one of Canada’s British Home Children. When he finished, he folded the sheets of paper and stuck them in a drawer.

He died.

His daughter retrieved the story and put it in her bureau drawer.

Decades passed. William’s daughter died.

Her family, while clearing her home, found the crumpled sheets of paper that contained William’s story. They almost went in the trash.

William had titled his story, “Believe me Friends, it’s the Truth.” He didn’t write about his experiences as a POW in WWI. That would have made an interesting story. He was interred with Con Smythe, the famous owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team.

William chose to write about his early days in Canada and the horrific treatment he endured as a fourteen year-old immigrant boy working on Canadian farms.

It’s not easy to tell of painful events. Most people lock their hurtful memories in a trunk and throw away the key. Yet, history rests on the shoulders of people brave enough to tell. Books about the holocaust, fiction and non-fiction, written for adults and children, continue to keep alive the memory of the worst massacre in history, a massacre committed at a time when the world considered itself enlightened.

The world needs stories from people like William. Most of the 100,000 child immigrants who arrived in Canada between 1869 and 1939 kept their pasts a secret, even from their spouses and children. Of the ones who did tell, few shared their lives on paper.

William wasn’t writing a book for publication. He simply scratched out his story on cheap lined sheets because he felt the need to tell. More than six decades later, long after his death, his words have come to us.

No one could tell this story. Only William.

Writers, skilled and unskilled, play an important role in the passing of history from one generation to another. William’s story came to me too late for my book, Promises of Home – Stories of Canada’s British Home Children.

I’ve shared it on my blog, Promises of Home, in the hope that many will read William’s story and remember the sufferings of the young immigrants who landed on our shores looking for a place to belong and give them their rightful place in Canadian history.

 

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Rose McCormick Brandon is the author of Promises of Home - Stories of Canada's British Home Children. She writes books and articles on faith, personal experience and Canadian history. Visit her blogs: Listening to my Hair Grow and Promises of Home. 

 

 

 

A Time to Cry by Rose McCormick Brandon

For the past eighteen months or so I've been working on the book, Promises of Homes, Stories of Canada's British Home Children. Though all the children whose stories appear in the book, except two, have passed on, I've sensed a strong connection to them. As I read their letters, gazed at their photographs, dug up their documents and talked to their off-spring, they became like my children. I grieved over the abuses they suffered and ached for their loneliness. After leaving overflowing orphanages in Britain, these little ones landed on isolated Canadian farms with strangers, most of whom lacked empathy.  

Much was expected of these young immigrants. Though none had ever set foot on a real farm, they were expected to work adult hours in the barn and in the fields. No excuses. Many were mistreated and half-starved. Though their placement families had contracted to send them to school, most didn't.

Like seed, these British Home Children were scattered from Atlantic to Pacific, not in handfuls as would have been appropriate for children, but in singles, one here, another there. Hampered by the derogatory label, Home Child, severed from their familial connections, against the odds, they took root and became grounded and sturdy enough to change the landscape of our young Dominion.

It's time for Canadians to cry over the abuses they suffered, to applaud their successes and, most of all, it's time for us, as a nation, to say, "thank you."

The stories of the these immigrant children are now intertwined with my story. For better, or for worse, we're in this project together.

 



Walter Goulding

Meet Walter Goulding. Walter was eight when his mother died and his father went off to fight for England in WW1. When Walter's father returned from the war, he didn't reclaim Walter from the Barnardo Home for children in London. He re-married, had another son, and when Walter was thirteen, he gave Barnardo's permission to send him to Canada for a "better life."

Walter was placed with a childless couple on an Ontario farm. He said, "I came from the big city of London. When I landed on that farm, I looked up and thought, O Lord, where am I?"

 

When we think of the children, like Walter, and the many hardships they faced alone, our hearts can't help but go out to them.

Walter says that as an eight year-old standing alone in the corridor of that Barnardo Home in England, he felt God with him.

Today, Walter is the oldest living British Home Child in Canada. He lives in a seniors' facility in

London, Ontario where he recently celebrated his 106th birthday. Walter still weeps for the little boy in this photo who lost his entire family.

The writing is finished. My next step is to introduce these children to the rest of Canada. As a group they weren't embraced by previous generations. My hope is that the present generation will take them into their hearts and keep the memory of them alive. As Canadians, we owe them that. Telling their stories is my way of saying thank you to the children. Stories will keep their memory alive.

Walter's complete story is in Promises of Home, Stories of Canada's British Home Children.

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Rose McCormick Brandon is a descendant of four British Home Children.  She writes books and publishes articles on faith, personal experience and the Child Immigration Scheme. She lives in Caledonia, Ontario.

Listening to my Hair Grow - Rose's faith blog

Promises of Home - Stories of Canada's British Home Children

Rose's website