Young Roots - orphan updates
Over the last few weeks we’ve been bringing you up-to-date with some of the visits we’ve partaken in, in connection with our Young Roots project, ‘Deep Pockets and Dirty Faces’. Both Salford Museum and Art Gallery and Merseyside Maritime Museum have been excellent in providing a background context to the project. The information gathered has been integral for the first outcome of the project: a radio script documenting the stories of the children who entered the Manchester Refuge homes and emigrated to Canada.
During our various research sessions we’ve been adding to our original case packs to give more details on the individual orphans' journeys. The first update revolved around the voyage by steamship across the sea to Canada. This card gave details of the ship, dates travelled and age of the child when they were emigrated. Thanks to the visit to the Merseyside Maritime Museum, the young people were already aware of what the journey would have been like onboard, with cramped conditions and icy waters.
The third and final update involved what life was like for the orphans once they arrived in Canada. All of the children were placed out with farmers and every year were visited by one of the Manchester Refuge’s committee members. The charity retains emigration books which contain all reports and letters for the individual children. For our case files these were researched to pull out the stories of the children in their new life in Canada. Details on their location were provided, which showed how often the orphans moved from farm to farm. The individual reports and letters were then studied to give a timeline of their lives. Some had quite colourful stories.
Two of our orphans were known to sign up for the Canadian regiment when World War One broke out. Unfortunately one’s story ended here on the battlefields of France. Others stayed for many years in their original placements and were ‘seen as one of the family’. We’ll be telling the stories of some of these children in our next blog.
Emigration Party outside Manchester Town Hall, 1897
During our various research sessions we’ve been adding to our original case packs to give more details on the individual orphans' journeys. The first update revolved around the voyage by steamship across the sea to Canada. This card gave details of the ship, dates travelled and age of the child when they were emigrated. Thanks to the visit to the Merseyside Maritime Museum, the young people were already aware of what the journey would have been like onboard, with cramped conditions and icy waters.
Update of one of the orphans
The third and final update involved what life was like for the orphans once they arrived in Canada. All of the children were placed out with farmers and every year were visited by one of the Manchester Refuge’s committee members. The charity retains emigration books which contain all reports and letters for the individual children. For our case files these were researched to pull out the stories of the children in their new life in Canada. Details on their location were provided, which showed how often the orphans moved from farm to farm. The individual reports and letters were then studied to give a timeline of their lives. Some had quite colourful stories.
Two of our orphans were known to sign up for the Canadian regiment when World War One broke out. Unfortunately one’s story ended here on the battlefields of France. Others stayed for many years in their original placements and were ‘seen as one of the family’. We’ll be telling the stories of some of these children in our next blog.
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