52 Weeks of Ancestors

This is my father William Edwin Hunt’s story of coming to Canada as a British Home Child. He was born in Cloncrane, Edenderry, Kings County, Ireland. June 19, 1892. His parents were Eliza (Feeney) Hunt & William Hunt. Eliza and William married in Edenderry between Apr & Sept 1878. He he had 3 siblings: Marianne – b. May 20, 1878 Eliza - b. Nov. 27, 1880 Kate - b. Jul-Sep 1884...
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When Benjamin and Annie Bown of Hampshire, England had their third child in July, 1880 (my grandfather), I'm sure they never anticipated what the future would bring for them and their children. At the time of Walter's birth, Benjamin (a former policeman) was a licensed victualler and Walter was actually born in the pub - The Vine Inn on Stoke Road, Gosport, Hampshire. A fourth child, Ernest...
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Simon Harris was born August 15, 1892 in Ashbourne, Derbyshire. Derbyshire is in the English Midlands. Simon’s mother died when he was 18 months old, and Simon ended up in an orphanage. On Thursday, April 25, 1907, poor little Simon (then 14) was loaded onto the SS Dominion at the Liverpool docks along with a number of other youngsters from Barnardo’s Children’s Homes and was shipped to Canada to ...
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Born in Birmingham 1898, date and location of death unknown.   My great uncle Roger had spent most of life along with his siblings in care. And by the age of 13 was judged to be in need of correction on one of the training ships which were little more than naval boot camps.   Unlike my grandfather he declined and so the Guardians of the Derby Workhouse, passed him in to the c...
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For over a year I have been tracking/researching a young fellow with a history linking our communities. He was a British Home Child who arrived by no choice of his own following a trans-Atlantic voyage to Portland Maine, then subsequently to the offing sites of Halifax, Montreal and Toronto. This occurring at the ripe old age of 10 (Ten) in 1904. He is placed under the care of one AJ Hay at B...
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Liela Eliza Preston was probably born in 1894; the month, day and place are still unknown. Very little is known about the first four years of her life in England except that her mother, also named Eliza Preston (aliases Sawyer, Clinton) was a professional beggar with no "fixed abode" who was arrested several times in the 1890's.   She was in prison during much of her child’s early years...
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Like many of us, I wish I had asked more questions about my grandfather while my parents were still alive. All I knew was that my grandfather, Harry Jackson, had come alone to Canada as a boy and had been sent to a farm in Manitoba. Initially, my curiosity was solely focused on whether Harry had siblings, was an orphan or abandoned. As my research progressed, I developed a passion for learning...
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