On June 18th 1887 a group of 115 children arrived
in Quebec aboard the SS Lake Ontario bound for the Guthrie Receiving Home in
London, Ontario. They had been sent from
the Children’s Emigration Home in Birmingham by John T Middlemore, boarding the
ship in Liverpool, but the children had originally lived in several different
parts of England.
Seven of the girls came from Guildford Union Workhouse
sponsored by Miss Ada Spottiswoode, the only woman on the Guildford Board of
Guardians. The youngest child was 5 year
old Ada Walker, whose brother and sister had been sent to Canada two years
previously despite the fact that their Uncle Frederick Walker and Aunt Jane
Mercer had shown willingness to look after them. The other girls were two groups of sisters,
Margaret Cheeter aged 12, Edith Cheeter aged 11, Louisa Cheeter aged 7 and
Eliza Hebburn aged 11, Ellen Hebburn aged 12 and Rose Hebburn aged 18.
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| Mr Middlemore's Book in Birmingham |
The Hebburn family had their name spelt Hebborn or Hebbourne
on different documents. In 1871 William
Hebburn, Labourer, was living with his wife Emma (Becks) and his daughter Rose
Alma in Woodbridge Hill, Stoke, Guildford but by 1881 Rose, her 8 year old
brother George and her younger sisters Ellen and Eliza were inmates at
Guildford Union Workhouse after the death of their mother in Bellefields in
1877. George remained in England and can
be found as a farm labourer in Littlefield Common, Worplesdon in 1891.
It was difficult to find the Cheeter girls in England until
I realised their surname was Chewter.
Margaret Ellen, Edith Mary and Louisa were born in Pirbright, Surrey the
daughters of James Chewter and his wife Sarah. James was a farm labourer but he and his wife
appear to be missing from the records after 1880.
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| St Mary the Virgin, Worplesdon |
In fact all three families were originally from the
neighbouring villages of Worplesdon and Pirbright just to the north of
Guildford and as agricultural labouring opportunities declined they moved
closer into Guildford so that the fathers could find casual labouring
jobs. They managed to eke out a living
until one parent died and then it was impossible to provide for the family and
look after the children.
Thanks to Jim Littlewood, a descendent, we know that Rose
was contracted to a Mr A N C Black of PO Dutton, Elgin County. The contract is
signed on behalf of Middlemore by H. Gibbons.
As she was 18, Rose was only committed to working under this contract
for 3 years so it is perhaps not surprising that in 1890 she married James
Collins in Tonawanda, New York. By 1892 the
New York census shows the couple with 1 year old daughter, Frances, living in
Wheatfield, Niagara County NY.
By 1905 Rose’s life had changed dramatically. She had 5 children, James, Rose, Frances,
Lilly and Veronica but they are listed in the New York census of Inmates in Alms-houses
and Poorhouses. The reason given was "father’s desertion". They were transferred the same day as they
arrived to "homes for the friendless".
Thankfully life improved for the family. James Collins must have died, as in the 1910 census
Rose is listed married to a Mr. John A. Clarkson. Living with them are the 5 Collins children
and 3 year old Edna Clarkson, daughter of Rose and her new husband. Rose Hebburn Collins Clarkson died on 14th
October 1944 at Buffalo, Erie NY.
Meanwhile, 12 year old Ellen Hebburn had been assigned to
John H Elliott of Wilton Grove at Concession 6 of Westminster on 28th
June 1887 and later moved to E Adams of Chatham Kent Co. on 22nd August
1888. In an incident report dated
February 3rd 1892 it is stated, “Ellen writes to say she has left
Mrs Ritchie because the wages were not high enough. She is now earning $5.00 per month. She did
not receive the letter and papers at Christmas so Mrs Ritchie kept them. She is anxious to have her sister’s
address."
The last mention of Ellen is from another Visitor’s Report
on September 5th 1893:- "Ellen went to a Mrs Osborn from Mrs
Brill then to Mrs Griffiths and finally left for her sister in Buffalo. She
suffered a good deal from sore feet and was not able to do much for some time
before she left."
It was arranged for 10 year old Eliza Hebburn to go to a
merchant, Mr S E Hooper of Clandeboye, on 23th June 1887, on 7th May 1888 to
George Dodge of Aardoc Strathroy, then to Robert McGregor of Huntley, Lanark
County (Almonte) on 5th December 1888 and finally to Harry H Cowan of
Wellington Street, Richmond Road, Ottawa on 7th June 1889.
After five different employers in two years it is perhaps
not surprising that tragically Eliza shows up on the 1891 Canada census in St.
George’s Ward of Toronto. She is listed
as an inmate at Mercer Reformatory and Industrial Refuge at the tender age of
14 years.
These were just a few girls from over a hundred thousand
children sent to Canada as indentured workers from all over Great Britain
between the 1860s and the 1940s.
With thanks to Jim Littlewood for sharing his family
research
And to Judy Neville of Ontario for her expertise and
research advice
Other sources
Census & birth records from www.ancestry.co.uk
Postscript
Thanks to Marion Crawford of the Middlemore Atlantic society
in Canada I now have more information about the other girls.
In 1887 when she arrived in Canada five year old Ada Walker
was placed with a family in Parry Sound.
She was described as, “a bright little girl, doing well.”
The Chewter/ Cheeter girls were now given the surname
Chuter. Edith was placed in three
different locations, the final one being at Belmont, Ontario, Louisa, age 7,
was placed with Francis Davis at Adelaide Street, London, Ontario and Margaret,
age 12 went to David Phillips of Durham, Oxford Co. Ontario.
Another family split by emigration and misfortune can be found here
Another family split by emigration and misfortune can be found here
Update
Thanks to the research of Pirbright historian, Shirley Foster, we now have more evidence of the Chuter family. According to the death records registered in Guildford, Sarah Chuter, mother of the three girls sent to Canada, died at the Royal Surrey Hospital in 1884 aged 38, so it must have been very difficult for their father James to look after them on his own while continuing to work.
