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Record #15883
Name :
: Stewart HARRIS


Father
:
Mother
:
BMD and other details
Date of Birth
:

Marriage (1)
:
Marriage (2)
:

Date of Death
:
Abode (1) : Place of BirthEngland
Abode (2) : Place of Death / Burial
Sailing Information
Date of Arrival
: 7 Jun 1910
Country
: Canada

Ship
: Mongolian

Placement Family
: Andrew Settle
Homes / Agencys
Institution (GB)
:

Agency
: Middlemore
NotesIn 1910, Stewart Harris, 5, arrived at Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, in a group of 154 Middlemore children.


Almost forgotten
Published on October 2nd, 2009
Staff ~ Halifax News Net

Celebration to be held to remember Canadas 100,000 British Home Children
By Joanne Oostveen - The Weekly News

A celebration will be held next week in Cole Harbour to recognize an almost forgotten part of Canadian history.

Between 1879 and 1948 approximately 100,000 British Home Children were shipped to Canada to work as farm labourers and domestic servants. Many of these children, aged four to 15, were scooped out of the British slums, poorhouses and the streets by well-meaning social organizations to give them a better life in Canada.

This year, the Nova Scotia government has declared October as the month of the British Home Children and one Cole Harbour man is doing his part to keep that heritage alive.
Melvin Harris, who is an active member of the British Home Children Descendents Assc., has helped organize a tree planting on Oct. 5 at 10 a.m. at the Cole Harbour Heritage Farm.

"My father came to work at that farm as a nine-year-old boy in 1914 for the owner, Andrew Settle. And I grew up there too," said Harris.

Visitors to the Cole Harbour Heritage Farm may not know anything about these children, said Harris, and although Andrew Settle was good to his father there were many children in Canada who were not as fortunate.

Harris said his father had to be removed from his first Canadian home in Cape Breton because of unfit living conditions.

When the children first arrived in Nova Scotia they were housed in a distribution centre on the Bedford Highway called the Middlemore Home or the Fairview Home which was opened in 1898 at 50 Bedford Hwy, the site of the old Bayview Motor Inn.

"After 1924, the child emigration laws were changed," said Harris. "It is hard to believe that places such as distribution centres for children even existed in Canada."

But the Harris family story did have a happy ending.

Andrew Settle, the original owner of the present day heritage farm, never had any children. He loved Stuart Harris like a son, and left the farm to him upon his death.

"The Settle family looked after my father and thought a lot of him," he said. "So it is only right for me to plant a tree there."

There have been four or five reunions of the descendents in the Maritimes. "And everytime they get together they learn a little bit more about what life was like for these children," said Harris. People share memories, pictures and stories that paint a picture of a different time in this country. A time when children were brought to a new world and to a new life all on their own.

"Today, there is only one of the British Home Children alive that I know of in the Maritimes," said Harris. "But we as descendents have to keep the memory alive and teach the children today about the contributions they made to our community."

Harris invites everyone to attend the tree planting and is open to talking with anyone about his heritage.

His most recent accomplishment was to make sure that the street named in honour of his father, Stuart Harris was spelled correctly.

"They tell me they finally changed the name to Stuart Harris Drive," he said. "And that is a good thing because even the premier lives on that street."

For information, contact Melvin Harris of the British Home Children Descendents Assc 
ContributorsCreated : 2012-01-15 13:59:10 / From original database

Last Updated : 2015-07-02 11:35:11 / alanmack

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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 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 347 Entries        
IDNameDOBPlace of birthArrivals & ShipsDest.AgencyFamily links
8695 ADAMS, James1884ENG, LDN, London Sep 1896 : Mongolian CAN Unknown Catholic Group  
6182 ADDIS, Daisy Laura1880ENG, KEN, Thanet May 1892 : Mongolian CAN Maria Rye  
5834 ADKINS, Edith May1907ENG, WAR, Alcester Jun 1910 : Mongolian CAN Middlemore  
14398 ALEXANDER, William1881ENG,     Jun 1895 : Mongolian CAN Unknown Catholic Group  
22829 ALFORD, Charles H1875ENG,     Sep 1892 : Mongolian CAN Barnardos  
16704 ALLIBON, Joseph1879ENG, LND, Shoreditch Jul 1892 : Mongolian CAN Barnardos  
11277 ANTHISTLE, Edward1884ENG,     Sep 1892 : Mongolian CAN Barnardos  
11278 ANTHISTLE, Ernest1884ENG,     Sep 1892 : Mongolian CAN Barnardos  
2934 ARMINGER, Eleanor Florence1886ENG, MDX, Mile End Old Town Mar 1895 : Mongolian CAN Maria Rye  
2928 ASHBY, Annie R.1886ENG,     Mar 1895 : Mongolian CAN Maria Rye  
15290 ASHWORTH, William John1880WAL, GLA, Swansea Jul 1892 : Mongolian CAN Barnardos  
22738 BAILEY, John1880ENG,     Jul 1892 : Mongolian CAN Barnardos  
2948 BAILEY, Mary Ann1879 Mar 1895 : Mongolian CAN Maria Rye  
9116 BAINBRIDGE, Robert T1885ENG,     Nov 1895 : Mongolian CAN Barnardos  
17318 BAKER, Frederick1898ENG,     Jun 1910 : Mongolian CAN Middlemore  
22739 BAKER, Joseph1874ENG,     Sep 1892 : Mongolian CAN Barnardos  
17835 BAKER, Pamela1904ENG, WAR, Birmingham Jun 1913 : Mongolian CAN Middlemore  
17089 BAKER, Thomas1900ENG, WAR, Birmingham Jun 1913 : Mongolian CAN Middlemore  
6175 BALDWIN, Annie1884ENG,     May 1892 : Mongolian CAN Maria Rye  
6188 BALDWIN, Ellen1886ENG,     May 1892 : Mongolian CAN Maria Rye  
6235 BALL, Amelia1879ENG,     May 1892 : Mongolian CAN Maria Rye  
6155 BARKER, Mary1887ENG,     Jun 1894 : Mongolian CAN Maria Rye  
4362 BATE, Daisy1904ENG, STS, Woodsetton Jun 1910 : Mongolian CAN Middlemore  
8501 BAYES, Albert1880ENG,     Jun 1895 : Mongolian CAN Unknown Catholic Group  
18749 BEANE, Emily1883ENG,     Jun 1893 : Mongolian CAN Maria Rye  
10069 BEATTY, Emmaline1879ENG, NFK, Kings Lynn Mar 1892 : Mongolian CAN Maria Rye  
6347 BILLINGS, James David1899ENG,    , Kings Norton Jun 1913 : Mongolian CAN Middlemore  
6218 BLABER, Mary Ann1882ENG,     May 1892 : Mongolian CAN Maria Rye  
2885 BOLTON, James1902ENG, WAR, Aston, Birmingham Jun 1913 : Mongolian CAN Middlemore  
6437 BONNER, John1898ENG,     Jun 1910 : Mongolian CAN Middlemore  
IDNameDOBPlace of birthArrivals & ShipsDest.AgencyFamily links
Page: [1] 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 347 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