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Record #21860

Name :: : Edward Barry NORRIS (1914 - )
aka : Barry Edward Norris
Father: :
Mother: :

BMD and other details

Date of Birth: : 1914 (approx.)
Marriage (1): :
Marriage (2): :
Date of Death: :

Abode (1) : Place of BirthEngland

Abode (2) : Place of Death / BurialCanada

Sailing Information

Date of Arrival: : 20 Aug 1926
Country: : Canada
Ship: : Montcalm
Placement Family: :

Homes / Agencys

Institution (GB): :
Agency: : Crusade of Rescue

NotesEdward was the son of Henry George Norris and his wife Alice Ruth Balls. He was the sibling of Cecil and of sister Miriam Muriel Norris - who came to Canada the same time he did.

Photo Caption:
Uprooted since 1926 Edward Norris a "Home Children" dreams of finding his birth England. When he left at the age of 12 - British authorities led him to believe that he had won a vacation in a Canadian colony.

Exile Searching his roots
"I don't want to die before going to England"
74 years after being deported, Edward Norris holds onto the dream of seeing his birth land. This week the 86 year old learned his dream would become true.
This resident of Saint Luc, a borough of Montreal, is what we call a "Home Child". One of 100,000 British children who between 1869 and 1939 were sent to Canada to work on farms. Officially, they made the trip to escape poverty. In reality many were treated as slaves. A troubling story, long hidden but resurfacing in the last years. So much so that the British government, last spring, made available funds in the amount of 2.5 million to help Home children retrace their origins. These funds will allow the deported like Mr. Norris, to succeed in retracing members of their families in England and taking a 2 week trip back to their homeland. And soon a data base listing all Home Children will be put into action.

Mr. Norris knows that he now qualifies to make the trip. Thanks to the efforts of his grandson Alan and the research done by the Ellen Foundation, a non profit organization in PEI he just found out that he still has a niece living across the ocean, Sheila Gilbert, more then 60 years old. When she heard she had an uncle in Canada she was ecstatic. "She couldn't be more excited than me" stated Mr. Norris - feverish with the though of soon uncovering more of his own identity.

It was 1926 that the young boy of 12 was sent to Quebec. His older sister Muriel Myriam Norris also made the trip. He knows not what happened to her. He's always hoped to find her and ideally to return to England together.

Mr. Norris was led to believe that he had "won" a trip to a vacation colony. But what awaited him was nothing short of festive. Up until the age of 27 he was passed from one foster home to another - farm to farm= disappointment to disappointment.

Like the majority of Home Children, Mr. Norris was the victim of all types of abuse. "I worked hard - I was slapped" he recalls. "Sometimes I thought of my mother, in despair, and started to cry"

Mr. Norris keeps only bits of his past. The first thing he's going to do in England is try to find a portrait of his mother. This he says, with tears in his eye. Her name is Alice Ruth Balla (?). He hopes that his niece knew her. Yesterday he wrote her a letter and sent pictures. He is anxiously awaiting a reply.

ContributorsCreated : 2013-09-11 16:15:57 / From original database

Last Updated :

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Surnames starting with: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 30 Entries

Page: [1] 2 3 75 Entries

ID	Name	DOB	Place of birth	Arrivals & Ships	Dest.	Agency	Family links
14545	ALLAN-VALLIS, Agnes	1916	IRL, , Glasgow	Jun 1930 : Duchess of York	CAN	Crusade of Rescue
12790	ALLEN, Ernest	1916	ENG, LDN, London	May 1930 : Duchess of Bedford	CAN	Crusade of Rescue
14513	BAILEY, Joseph	1913	ENG,	Oct 1927 : Montclare	CAN	Crusade of Rescue
14514	BANNON, Maureen	1913	ENG,	Oct 1927 : Montclare	CAN	Crusade of Rescue
14546	BARRATT, Rodney	1914	ENG,	Jun 1930 : Duchess of York	CAN	Crusade of Rescue
12706	BELMORE, Beatrice	1898	ENG, , Gravesend	Jul 1914 : Victorian	CAN	Crusade of Rescue
12705	BELMORE, Elsie	1900	ENG, KEN, Gravesend	Jul 1914 : Victorian	CAN	Crusade of Rescue
14515	BOGAN, Martin	1913	ENG,	Oct 1927 : Montclare	CAN	Crusade of Rescue
14547	BOLGER, Gerard	1915	ENG,	Jun 1930 : Duchess of York	CAN	Crusade of Rescue
7688	BRELEY, Alice	1898	ENG, DBY, Bakewell	Jul 1914 : Victorian	CAN	Crusade of Rescue
14516	BROMLEY, Mary	1911	ENG,	Oct 1927 : Montclare	CAN	Crusade of Rescue
12791	CARLTON, John	1916	ENG, LDN, London	May 1930 : Duchess of Bedford	CAN	Crusade of Rescue
12792	CHRISTMAS, Frederick	1915	ENG, LDN, London	May 1930 : Duchess of Bedford	CAN	Crusade of Rescue
14517	CHURCH, Violet	1910	ENG,	Oct 1927 : Montclare	CAN	Crusade of Rescue
12793	COKER, Bernard	1913	ENG, , Kingsbridge	May 1930 : Duchess of Bedford	CAN	Crusade of Rescue
12794	COMMONS, Thomas	1912	IRL, , Kiltimagh	May 1930 : Duchess of Bedford	CAN	Crusade of Rescue
12795	COUCH, Reginald	1914	ENG, , Devonport	May 1930 : Duchess of Bedford	CAN	Crusade of Rescue
14518	CRADDOCK, Edith	1911	ENG,	Oct 1927 : Montclare	CAN	Crusade of Rescue
12796	CULLETON, Michael	1914	WAL, , Fishguard	May 1930 : Duchess of Bedford	CAN	Crusade of Rescue
4252	DE CLERCQ, Cosmo H.	1916	ENG, MDX, Westminster	Jun 1930 : Duchess of York	CAN	Crusade of Rescue
14548	DEVLIN, Patrick	1912	ENG,	Jun 1930 : Duchess of York	CAN	Crusade of Rescue
14549	DUFFY, John	1915	ENG,	Jun 1930 : Duchess of York	CAN	Crusade of Rescue
14550	DURKIN, Robert	1914	ENG,	Jun 1930 : Duchess of York	CAN	Crusade of Rescue
22720	EGAN, John	1879	ENG,	Jun 1892 : Circassian	CAN	Crusade of Rescue
12797	ELDON, Robert	1916	IRL, , Glasthule	May 1930 : Duchess of Bedford	CAN	Crusade of Rescue
14519	FELL, James	1913	ENG,	Oct 1927 : Montclare	CAN	Crusade of Rescue
12798	FERRIS, William	1915	ENG, , Middlesbrough	May 1930 : Duchess of Bedford	CAN	Crusade of Rescue
12799	FLOOD, Patrick	1915	ENG, , Worcester	May 1930 : Duchess of Bedford	CAN	Crusade of Rescue
14551	FOSTER, Rose	1915	ENG,	Jun 1930 : Duchess of York	CAN	Crusade of Rescue
12800	FYLES, Fred	1914	ENG, , Burnley	May 1930 : Duchess of Bedford	CAN	Crusade of Rescue
ID	Name	DOB	Place of birth	Arrivals & Ships	Dest.	Agency	Family links

Page: [1] 2 3 75 Entries

Surnames starting with: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 30 Entries

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