Home Child

In the early years after Confederation in Canada, the rising nation needed workers that could take advantage of the abundant resources. Until the time of the Depression, 100, 000 impoverished children from the British Isles were sent overseas by well-meaning philanthropists to solve the colony's farm-labour shortage. They were known as the "home children," and they were lonely and frightened youngsters to whom a new life in Canada meant only hardship and abuse. This bundle of titles tells the entire story from many angles and in its many facets, from historical recounting, to genealogical information, to the personal story one such child, Mary Janeway. Includes: The Golden Bridge The Little Immigrants Mary Janeway Nation Builders Whatever Happened to Mary Janeway?

Home child Mary Janeway runs away from her farm placement, grows into adulthood, and ultimately comes to terms with life in Hamilton, Ontario. Sixteen-year-old Mary Janeway, a home child, is desperate to escape from her rural home child placement and flees to London, Ontario, to find a domestic position. When conditions become unbearable, she moves on, vowing never to relinquish her freedom again. After she arrives in Hamilton as a young bride, she quickly adapts to the urban conveniences and the marvels of new inventions that include electric sewing machines, sulphur matches, street stoplights, a one-horsepower Brunswick refrigerator, the advent of the zipper, and the beginning of radio. But even the latest technology can't stop the ravages of disease and other family tragedies. Mary lives through two world wars, the Spanish Influenza, and the Great Depression. In spite of many hardships, she remains a strong, resilient woman well into her senior years and makes many contributions to Hamilton, the city she calls home.