The Golden Bridge: Young Immigrants to Canada, 1833–1939

Nora D.S. Robins is liaison librarian, University of Calgary Information
Resources.

Between 1833 and 1939 more than 100,000 children were sent to Canada
from Great Britain. In an effort to ease congestion in the poorhouses,
orphanages, asylums, and streets, children, some as young as four, were
sent over the Golden Bridge (the Atlantic Ocean) to Canada in hopes of
experiencing a better fate than the one facing them at home. The demand
for cheap labour and the belief that the healthy outdoor life was a
benefit were among the factors behind the scheme. In Canada, these
children became known as “Home Children.”

A number of individuals and agencies were involved: Maria Rye, Annie
Macpherson, Dr. Thomas Barnardo, Catholic charities. The children were
sent with the best of intentions but were seldom adopted, instead
becoming indentured farm labourers and servants. Life was very hard. By
the 1930s Charlotte Whitton, director of the Canadian Welfare Council,
and James Wordsworth, MP, were calling the scheme inhumane and seeking
to stop the practice. However, it was the Depression that virtually
ended it.

Today there are thousands of descendants of these children. The
intention of this study is to give a brief history of child immigration
to Canada and provide guidance for family research. There is no attempt
to analyze the pros and cons of child migration or its effects on the
children. The scholarly text is supported by numerous indexes,
illustrations, charts, passenger records, and an extensive bibliography.
The Golden Bridge tells a very sad part of Canadian history but one that
has been long neglected and is thus worth the telling. The author is
eminently qualified. She has years of involvement with juvenile and
child migration issues. She is also a Home Children Canada volunteer who
helps child immigrants and descendants access personal records.