Halton-Peel Ontario Genealogical Society Branch
York Grand River Historical Society
Heritage York – Lambton House
BHC James Phillips by granddaughter Loretta Worden
James Phillips was my British Home Child grandfather who came to Canada in
May of 1913 on the SS Mongolian with his sister Florence May 1901 - 1995 and his
brother Henry James, 1898- unknown .
James was born in # 11 Dolday, Worcester, Worchestershire, England on 21 March,
1904, to Harriett Hughes and James Phillips . Dolday was a very poor area in that
city at that time.
James's f...
Read More
Read More
BHC Walter Dance by granddaughter-in-law Marlene Dance
We never knew anything about my husband’s grandfather Walter Dance, and the only answer to any question was “he was an English Orphan who abandoned the family years ago”. No one in the family ever talked about him it was like he had never existed.
In 1999 when my husband’s father died, we thought that any opportunity to know something had probably died with him. But later on, going through old ...
Read More
Read More
52 Weeks Ancestor Challenge – Week 26 – BHC John McVittie by granddaughter Mary Lynn McVittie
This was shared at a recent Women's Institute meeting in Norval. It was part of a school project in 1984. It is written by the 12 year old granddaughter of British Home Child, John McVittie.
"This is a story about the little immigrants, the orphans, who came to Canada between 1870 and the Great Depression of the 1930s, and in particular, about one of these home children, my grandfather, John M...
Read More
Read More
52 Weeks of Ancestors Challenge – Week 25: Grace Ruth Sillett, by granddaughter Susan Brazeau
A Granddaughter's Search for the Hidden Years
In 1986, I read a one page excerpt from a book that led to a change in my life. I became a family researcher. The book was called "The Little Immigrants", the author, Kenneth Bagnell. I immediately purchased my own copy of the book and began to write on the inside covers and in the many spare spaces on various pages. I wrote down everything I remem...
Read More
Read More
52 Weeks of Ancestors – Week 23 | Robert and Thomas Joyce by BHC Daughter and Niece Sandra Joyce
Growing up, we always thought that our family was small. Even though we had aunts and uncles and a grandmother on our mother’s side, they lived in far-off England . All we knew of them was that every year on our birthdays and at Christmas, small presents from overseas would arrive.
We knew very little about our Dad’s family: his brother was ‘out west’ and his mother had died. His father had...
Read More
Read More
52 Weeks of Ancestors Challenge – Week 20 | BHC Thomas Eveleigh, by granddaughter Cathy Smith
I didn't know much about my maternal grandfather, Thomas Eveleigh, and had a lot of trouble getting information from family. No one seemed to know anything. He had always told the family that he had come to Canada from Australia.
As a youngster it never occurred to me to ask questions about my family heritage and as a result it wasn't until after my grandfather's death that I began to wonder. F...
Read More
Read More