Introducing the British Home Children Collection

4-5 minute read

By Daisy Goddard | March 1, 2024

This Findmypast Friday, discover moving stories that span the globe.

With this week's extensive record update, we're shining a light on one of history's often-forgotten chapters. Published in partnership with Library and Archives Canada, these four new sets of educational, work and travel records tell the story of Britain's Home Children - over 130,000 vulnerable and impoverished minors who were sent to live overseas in the 19th and 20th centuries.

We've also added over 260,000 new pages to our newspaper collection - read on to learn more about everything that has joined Findmypast this week.

The British Home Children Collection

Between the 1860s and 1970s, over 130,000 children were sent to live in overseas dominions by the British government. Known as British Home Children, many of their stories have been lost to history.

You can learn more about British Home Children here. Discover the programme's origins, the conditions faced by the children involved and its legacy in the present day.

Canada, Home Children Inspection Reports

This brand new set - which contains 25,534 images and transcriptions - is taken from the inspection report cards used by Canadian immigration officials to record key information about Home Children.

The inspection record of Maude Morgan, who emigrated with Dr Barnardo's aged 14 in 1920. View this record.

Covering between 1913 and 1932, this collection is key for determining where a child was living at a particular point in time. Between the transcription and the original record image, you can expect to learn the child's name and age, as well as the year of their emigration and the sending organisation.

Canada, Home Children Board Of Guardian Records

Our second new Home Children collection is taken from workhouse registers. There are 10,678 transcriptions and images, covering 36 years.

Explore this record.

Each record will typically tell you the child's name and age, the place where they were taken into care in England and the organisation that sent them overseas. There is an additional section for notes on each record - so be sure to check the detail-rich image for any details that the transcription may have missed.

Lancashire, Liverpool, Children Sent To Canada 1883-1925

Spanning 1883 to 1925, this new set contains 466 records which identify Home Children that were sent from Liverpool to Canada.

The registers that these records are taken from are organised by religion, but you can search them by name, date and optional keywords.

You'll typically be able to glean a name, birth year, age at time of immigration, workplace and religious denomination.

Britain, Children's Legislation Correspondence

Lastly, we've also added an interesting collection of documents which relate to the passing of the Children's Act in 1908, available to browse only.

View this record in full.

With rich sources like letters between government officials and pamphlets produced by children's organisations included, these 2,062 documents provide important context for researching Home Children.

New pages from Croydon to the Caribbean

Our newspaper archive grew by 247,740 pages this week, with a duo of new English titles added - the Kent County Standard and the Kent Evening Post.

Kent County Standard.

But the new pages don't end there. We've also updated 69 of our existing publications from across the world, including titles from Ireland, the Channel Islands, New Zealand, Hong Kong and the Caribbean.

Wherever on the globe your roots stretch to, be sure to explore the fascinating stories contained within this week's new pages.

Here's a full rundown of all that we've added this Findmypast Friday.

New titles:

Kent County Standard, 1875-1881, 1883-1890
Kent Evening Post, 1970-1972, 1974-1980, 1985-1989, 1991-1992, 1995-1997

Updated titles:

Alloa Journal, 1916
Arbroath Herald, 1963
Banffshire Advertiser, 1916
Banffshire Herald, 1916
Barrhead News, 1916
Bolton Evening News, 1916
Broughty Ferry Guide and Advertiser, 1979-1980
Cambrian News, 1916
Coalville Times, 1916
County Express, 1916
Croydon Times, 1963
Cumberland & Westmorland Herald, 1916
Dalkeith Advertiser, 1963
Deal, Walmer & Sandwich Mercury, 1999
Denbighshire Free Press, 1916
Derbyshire Times, 1963
Dominica Chronicle, 1916
East End News and London Shipping Chronicle, 1963
Essex Weekly News, 1916
Evening Irish Times, 1915-1916
Forres Elgin and Nairn Gazette, Northern Review and Advertiser, 1916
Glossop-dale Chronicle and North Derbyshire Reporter, 1914, 1916
Hants and Sussex News, 1916
Hemel Hempstead Gazette and West Herts Advertiser, 1986
Holloway Press, 1963
Hornsey & Finsbury Park Journal, 1916
Huntly Express, 1916
Irish Weekly and Ulster Examiner, 1963
Jersey Evening Post, 1916
Kentish Express, 1974, 1984, 1987
Leven Mail, 1963
Lewisham Borough News, 1963
Lincolnshire Chronicle, 1833-1835, 1856, 1861, 1872-1873, 1877, 1879-1880, 1888-1891, 1898, 1912, 1914, 1920, 1931, 1933, 1940-1954
London Evening Standard, 1916
Londonderry Sentinel, 1998
Lowestoft Journal, 1916
Lyttelton Times, 1914
Maidstone Telegraph, 1971-1973, 1980, 1986-1987, 1999
Melton Mowbray Times and Vale of Belvoir Gazette, 1917, 1921, 1929-1930
Midland Tribune, 1916
Montrose Standard, 1963
Morecambe Visitor, 1912
Munster Tribune, 1963
Northern Chronicle and General Advertiser for the North of Scotland, 1916
Northern Scot and Moray & Nairn Express, 1916
Nuneaton Observer, 1916
Orcadian, 1916
Overland China Mail, 1916
Port-Glasgow Express, 1963
Porthcawl Guardian, 1963
Reading Standard, 1963
Richmond and Twickenham Times, 1916
Sheerness Times Guardian, 1993
South Eastern Gazette, 1972, 1975, 1980
South Notts Echo, 1963
South Western Star, 1963
Southend Standard and Essex Weekly Advertiser, 1916
Strabane Weekly News, 1916
Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette, 1905-1907, 1924-1925, 1927-1928
Sussex Agricultural Express, 1963
Sydenham, Forest Hill & Penge Gazette, 1963
Tonbridge Free Press, 1963
Voice of St. Lucia, 1916
Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard, 1916
Wimbledon News, 1916
Windsor and Eton Express, 1916
Wolverton Express, 1963
Woodford and District Advertiser, 1916
Woodford Times, 1916

Last week, we added over 300,000 census and crime records to our collection and improved a mind-boggling 22 million of our existing records. Don't miss out - be sure to explore this release for yourself.