Quick Links:
British Home Child Registry
Released on September 28th 2016, this Registry combines the former Perry Snow database and the Norah Dennis database into one large complete registry. The registry is run by Mrs. LeeAnn Beer and contains information on over 80,000 BHC
Please note: This Registry is a "work in progress". We have a growing list of over 81,000 children. Children will continue to be added over time as each entry is verified and corrected to the best of our knowledge. Once completed we will be open for new submissions, updates, and corrections. However, to maintain the integrity and correctness of the information, it will be our Admins who enter the final information to prevent the entry of mistakes and wrong information. This is critical to producing a long-standing Registry with accurate information. The information entered will be reviewed with the contributor, with any explanation needed for corrections/additions to the information, given. Corrections/updates for those children online are being done on a limited basis. Contact us at info@britishhomechildren.com to inquire about your BHC if on-line.
British Home Children in Canada - Research Site
-Keep in mind that not all children are in these databases - its ongoing work to add children as we find them. Thousands of names have been added to this site, with more being added.
-on this page scroll to the top of the page, type your child's name in the search bar at the top of the page.
Check this site for any mentions of your child
Library and Archives Canada
These records will tell you what ship, when they left, when they arrived and usually what organization brought them. This database also includes some Maria Rye and Middlemmore records. The database also includes information on the sending organiations and the receiving homes. The work is ongoing, with more information being added periodically.
Please keep in mind that the majority of the children are in this data base, however many are also missing. If you cannot find your child here, you might have to search the BHC Registry or the incoming Canadian passenger lists or the outgoing UK lists held byAncestry.ca or ancestry.co.uk or you can try the free site familysearch.org/
Home Children Canada Research Group
Created in 2011, the BHCARA Facebook group is a membership of almost 11,000 BHC descendants whose mandate is to share the stories of our BHC and to offer free genealogical help and advice on researching our Home Children. We have many excellent researchers whose help often begins within minutes of posting.
Thousands of names and bits of information for BHC have been entered in our group.Use the search bar (located on the left of the sceen if on PC) Enter your BHC - try last name only
The Children's Child Care Records
As of the mid 1890's the organizations bringing children into Canada were required to keep records on these children. No legislation was in place mandating the care of these records once the organization shut down. Some, like Barnardo's kept and preserved these records. Some abandoned the records and some were accidently dystroyed. There was generally two sets of records kept, for the UK and in Canada. For a listing of who to contact for records visit British Home Children in Canada site
Board of Guardians
Large archive of BHC information released
Héritage is part of Canadiana.org. The Library and Archies Canada has agreed to publish their reels of information on the Heritage site so that they would be accessible to the public, for free and without a trip to their Ottawa archives to view the films. The index is not searchable. The BHCARA has been going through the reels to identify where the pockets of information on our BHC are found. There are thousands of documents and although we try to list the years each section pertains to, often we are finding random years in that index. Please use the years listed here as a GUIDELINE ONLY.
Identification of where these files are in the Heritage Database has been done by John Sayers (supplied the reel numbers), Dawn Heuston, Diane McGregor, Georgina Sales, Lori Oschefski, Roy Leigh and LeeAnn Beer. We once again, thank our members for pitching in and making lighter work of bigger projects. We would like to thank Diane McGregor for taking on the job of sorting these files out per immigration year.
Check for Maiden names and Births in the UK
Maria Rye Children
Orders-in-Council
If your child came from a Workhouse in England, before 1901 then there is a high chance you will find an inspection report for them on the Library and Archives Canada web site. There were inspection reports done in later years, but they are not on the site.
under Keywords, type in Workhouse, hit enter. There is also a listing of some government reports with some names transcribed on this web site at: http://canadianbritishhomechildren.weebly.com/inspection-reports-of-workhouse-children.html
The Barnardo Magazine - Ups and Downs
70 copies of this magazine have been published on this web site -1895 to 1906, May 1910, May 1913 and August 1912 - published with permission of the Library and Archives Canada and names extracted from issues: July 1939, December 1940, December 1942 and December 1946
British Isles Family History
Society of Greater Ottawa
Provides information from their ongoing research on home children, military ancestors and migration, focusing on British Isles and Canadian ancestry.
Home Children War Service Index
Collectively over 25,000 Home Children served in our Wars. This index aims to catalogue information on each solder. It is built to have the ability to pull stats on this service.
Our First World War Casualty index will remain until it is fully entered into our new index
British Home Child Burial Index
Compiled by the BHCARA, this index contains a growing list of 3,369 burials of British Home Children. The list is being updated regularly as more are found. To add a BHC to the burial index, please send the information to us at info@britishhomechildren.com
Magazines published by sending organizations
The Salvation Army published a magazine called "The War Cry" which was their official magazine for Canada and Newfoundland. Not many BHC are mentioned, but always worth a look through.
Personal Contacts
Lori Oschefski
Ms. Oschefski is the President of Home Children Canada and can be contacted at homechildrencanada@gmail.com
or on Facebook at:
Home Children Canada Research Group
Other useful sites
Information about the home or institution
your BHC came from in the UK
Western Land Grants
This database relates exclusively to Letters Patent issued by the Lands Patent Branch of the Department of the Interior. The records refer to grants issued in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and the railway belt of British Columbia, c. 1870-1930. Many of our Home Children obtained land under the Dominion Lands Act. This data base would be of patents issued for land.
Saskatchewan and Alberta Homestead Index
Organizations such as Barnardo's promoted and offered packages to assist boys in Ontario to come west and obtain homesteads from the Dominions Lands Act. This database would allow you to find and order their application forms and files for their property if the Home Child obtained land through this program.
The Maple Leaf Legacy Project
Hundreds of British Home Children lost their lives in the wars. The aim of the Maple Leaf Legacy Project is to photograph or obtain a photograph of every Canadian War Grave of the 20th Century. These photos will be made freely available on the project’s web site - many of these entries are our Home Children.
City Directories
City Directories were kept in each city across Canada and the UK. (as well as other countries). In England they are known as the Kelly Directories, in Canada the Henderson Directories or the Vernon Directories are some of the names. Library and Archives Canada hold all the directories from across Canada. Some have been published on-line. Local libraries also hold copies from their areas. If your not local, contact them through e-mail.
Archive.org has published some city directories, including all of Peterborough's
