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Byrom Hall opposite Great Crosshall Street and the adjoining premises |
Late in the 1860s
Alexander Balfour and Stephen Williamson, partners in the Liverpool ship owning
firm of Balfour, Williamson and Co., became concerned at the numbers of
destitute and orphaned children in Liverpool. Balfour along with another
Liverpool ship-owner, John Houghton, heard Annie MacPherson lecturing in London
on her work with child emigration. Her sister, Louisa Birt, who assisted in her
work, came to Liverpool to lecture about their work at a public meeting, which
was held in November 1872. It was agreed that a society should be established
in Liverpool to further this work, with the fundraising and management of the
home to be kept separate from the London organisation. John Houghton offered
the free use of premises adjoining the old Byrom Hall Baptist Chapel in Byrom
Street, which was formally opened on the 1 May 1873. This became the Liverpool Sheltering
Homes, the purpose of which was to rescue destitute children, train them in the
home, and accompanying them to Canada. From Marchmont House in Ontario they
were placed with families although they were supervised and visited until they
reached the age of eighteen. In 1889 the Liverpool Sheltering Homes moved into
a new Home in Myrtle Street.
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The Liverpool Sheltering Home Myrtle Street |
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Lousa Birt |
Following the
death of Louisa Birt in 1915, the family involvement was continued by her
daughter Miss Lilian Birt. During Louisa Birt's lifetime an estimated 6,000
children were sent to Canada. The Home closed during the First World War but
reopened in 1919. Six years later it was amalgamated with Dr. Barnardo's, who
closed their own Home in Liverpool and transferred to Myrtle Street.The Home
was used as a training centre for boys before they migrated to Canada. In the
late 1920s, as migration to Canada ceased, it was used as a home for schoolboys
until it closed in 1935. The records are held at Liverpool University as part
of the Barnardo's archive.
Father Nugent of
Liverpool, through his Nugent Society Care Homes, was the first of the Catholic
organisations to send children to Canada. He made arrangements with local
parish priests who were to place the children with local families in Quebec and
Ontario.
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Some of Father Nugents boys leaving Liverpool for Canada |
In 1870 a small
party of 24 children and Father Nugent set sail for Canada, and Father Nugent
became a pioneer in finding new homes, new lives and new opportunities for
destitute children. On their arrival he embarked on a nine month lecture tour
of Canada and America, pleading the case for "Nobody's Children". His
argument was that "poverty is no crime, but a misfortune".
The Salvation
Army founded by William Booth assisted emigrants to Canada in the late 19th
century, especially children up until World War One. After the War they sent
migrants to Australia, especially farm boys who were trained at its special
training camp at Riverview, Brisbane. In the 1920s the Army chartered the Vedic
to make four voyages with emigrants to Australia.
Established in
1870 by Leonard Shaw and Richard B. Taylor and took part in the child
emigration scheme, primarily to Canada and then through the Child Emigration
Society from about 1918. Owned the Marchmont Home in Belleville, Ontario,
Canada until 1915 when it was taken over by the Liverpool Sheltering Homes.
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Children at the Marchmont Home in Belleville, Ontario |
Records relating
to child migrants may be held in the archives of the recipient countries:
Links
Sources
Liverpool Central Library
Liverpool Museums
Liverpool Records Office
Canadian British Homes
National Archives
By Robert F Edwards