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Record #2718
Name :
: Herbert Cecil PORTER (1888 - 1964)
  aka : Bert Porter


Father
:
Mother
:
BMD and other details
Date of Birth
: 4 Feb 1888

Marriage (1)
:
Marriage (2)
:

Date of Death
: Feb 1964   Notes : Cancer
Abode (1) : Place of BirthEngland, Surrey, Battersea
Abode (2) : Place of Death / BurialCanada, Ontario, Veterans Hospital, London
Sailing Information
Date of Arrival
: 3 May 1902
Country
: Canada

Ship
: Tunisian

Placement Family
:
Homes / Agencys
Institution (GB)
:

Agency
: Shaftesbury/Bisley Farm School
NotesA birth registration was found for Herbert Cecil Porter: Year of Registration: 1888; Quarter of Registration: Jan-Feb-Mar; District: Wandsworth; County: Greater London, London, Surrey; Volume: 1d; Page: 685. Parents: Edwin James Porter and Kate Breach, married 1882, Richmond, Surrey, England.

My BHC story would probably be different than the Barnardo stereotype. My grandfather came from a working class railroad family. Bert's father was an engineer for the LSW Railway. The family encountered hard times after the mother died and of course when the father died 4 years later. However they weren't poor as were many of the families in the slums of industrial British cities. Bert was not scooped from the streets of London. He and his siblings probably went to a reception centre of some sort (holding house) where it was decided by the parish of Wandsworth or some ad hoc group (Childrens Aid Society), the best placement for each child.

The 2 younger children were sent to a home for motherless children (orphanage) in Chiswick. The older sister went with an aunt who had a daughter of similar age. The older brother was probably sent to a training school and later apprenticed to a fishmonger. Bert was in the middle at 10 years of age. He was sent to the Shaftesbury Farm School in Bisley. This was a more conservative route and more in the 'Old Boy-Church of England' establishment tradition as opposed to the Evangelical movements like Barnardos. Barnardos thought they were on a social mission to rid the British slums of waifs and strays and send them, wholesale, to the colonies. The Shaftesbury Society came out of the 'Ragged School' charity movement which was more concerned with educating poor children and turning them into good useful citizens, i.e., meeting their needs and giving them a chance to succeed.

Some of Shaftesbury's kids were sent to a sailing ship where were trained to become seamen. Others were sent to the Farm School where they were trained to become agricultural workers. Others, especially the girls, were trained in various homes for domestic service. Some boys were trained in trades such as shoemaking at the School and other locations in the London area. All were given basic education until they were 14. Only then were they placed in employment positions. Emigration to the colonies was an option when the job market in England was difficult, and then only if the teenager wanted to go abroad. The emigration option was considered a good one and encouraged because of the opportunities available in the colonies, especially Canada. Shaftesbury was (and is) an effort which was child centered and caring.

In 1902, Albert Parker (Herbert Porter), 14, arrived at Quebec, Canada, in a group of 40 Roman Catholic children from the Liverpool Catholic Children?s Protection Society, 99 Shaw Street, Liverpool, Lancashire, England, and en route to 11 St. Thomas Street, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (SUBMITTERS NOTE: Herbert was actually one of five Shaftesbury "Old Boys" from the Shaftesbury farm/school in Surrey. Shaftesbury used other agencies to transport their boys abroad when they were ready. They were escorted by an Anglican group called the SPCK (Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge) to Shaftesbury receiving homes in Canada. The particular party of which my grandfather was a part were sent to a farm near Ingersoll, Ontario where some were later sent on to Winnipeg and assigned to farms in that area. Some were assigned to farms in Ontario.)

Even if an orphan went the Shaftesbury route, life for the child was not easy. It still meant separation from family, institutionalization and growing up to a large extent on your own. If a teenager were sent abroad, he still faced loneliness, being far from home, and often abusive conditions in placements and the negative attitudes of society in the new country. They were often treated like slaves and regarded as the cast-offs of British society. Many 'made it' and did well. Many others suffered and were left with psychological scars for a lifetime.

In Bert's case some of the hardship of being a BHC could have been alleviated had there been follow-up in Canada and a better aftercare program. Shaftesbury's fault was that they did not have the organization in place in Canada to look after their former charges. By 1902 they were relying on "Old Boys' from the Society and Anglican clergy. The system was very weak and was of little real support.

According to "Ups and Downs" Bert was sent to a farm in Houghton, Ontario. The story goes that he wasn't well treated and actually threatened the farmer to get something to eat. He then bolted and came to London, Ontario where he had a cousin. Just how long he stayed on the farm, I don't know. In London he found work as a labourer in construction until WWI broke out. He then joined the Original Canadian Expeditionary Force and went Overseas with the RC Engineers.

On September 25, 1914, at Valcartier, Quebec, Canada, Herbert Porter, 26, enlisted in the Canadian Armed Forces. He declared that he was born in Chiswick, England; that his next of kin was Edward Porter who resided at 7 Mint Road, Wallington, England; that his date of birth was February 4, 1893; that he was a labourer; and that he was married. He was described as 5 foot 9 inches in height; medium complexion; brown eyes; brown hair. He had 4 vaccination marks on his left arm and a scar on his right knee.

He saw some pretty rough service in France and Belgium defending the country which had abandoned him and sent him packing as a youth.

While in England he met my grandmother, Ellen Marshall, near Ipswich while convalescing in a hospital. One cousin tells me he was recovering from a wound when he met my grandmother, a nurse. He told me he had fallen off a horse coming home from the pub where he'd had a few too many ales and that grandma was in fact a volunteer domestic at the local hospital. I like the second version better! My grandmother had been engaged to Herbert's older brother, Frederick, I think, but he was killed in France. Grandma later took up with Bert. They were married in 1918. The Cdn troops came home early in 1919 and grandma followed as a warbride several months later. She had to wear tight clothing because she was pregnant with my mom who was "Made in England" but born in Canada the following November. They went on to have 4 more children in the space of 5 years.

Herbert Cecil Porter is buried in Woodland Cemetery in London, Ontario, alongside his wife, Ellen (Nell) Marshall Porter who died in January of 1965 in Sarnia, Ontario from complications of surgery to remove gall stones. 
ContributorsCreated : 2009-01-11 19:21:12 / From original database

Last Updated : 2009-02-07 15:05:05 /

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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  6 Entries        
IDNameDOBPlace of birthArrivals & ShipsDest.AgencyFamily links
10849 BRAKE, Alfred1857ENG, LDN, London Jun 1872 : France CAN Shaftesbury/Bisley Farm School  
2739 CLARKE, Clifford Norman1887ENG, WAR, Rugby May 1902 : Tunisian CAN Shaftesbury/Bisley Farm School Andy_C  
2738 GOODALL, Archibald Douglas1888ENG, SRY, West Norwood May 1902 : Tunisian CAN Shaftesbury/Bisley Farm School  
2736 LORD, Arthur Percy1887ENG, SRY, Farnham May 1902 : Tunisian CAN Shaftesbury/Bisley Farm School  
2718 PORTER, Herbert Cecil1888ENG, SRY, Battersea May 1902 : Tunisian CAN Shaftesbury/Bisley Farm School  
2740 WICKHAM, Thomas1887ENG, SSX, Eastbourne May 1902 : Tunisian CAN Shaftesbury/Bisley Farm School