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Blake family Erdington-Home Child-Canada

Pomgolian

Kiwi Brummie
:angel: Post made on behalf of Ken Blake...

Hello to you all

My name is Ken Blake :)...


The reason I've join you all, is because my family roots, start in Birmingham, Erdington actually. My Dad (Anthony Blake b1925) lived in Ryland road, Erdington with his Mum & Dad (Sidney Blake and Kate Annie) as did his Uncle (William Henry Blake and Aunt Sophia) & also on the other side of the road lived (Aunt Vinnie (Alvina Blake) & Charles Faulkner.

They have all pasted on now, and only my Dad survives aged 82.
I've been tracing my family history, (The Blake's) right back to 1796ish, to a Joseph Blake, b c1796 in Sutton, & Mary Gent b c1797 in Appleby Magna. I will have to make a trip up to Birmingham sometime in the summer (this year 2007), so as to try and trace back beyond the 1790's...

I have come across a stumbling block in my research, and was wondering if anyone here could help me with a family problem that has arisen.
(There is more than one problem, but this one is a very important one, that I really do hope we can solve)

Her name is "EVA BLAKE" b1900 W. Bromwich...

EVA - had a poor start in life, with a cleft mouth. She was with her mother a great deal. Lillian was upset about her, when she discovered, "she had fallen from grace" (Aunt Rhoda's words not mine!). A son arrived eventually and her mother Emma saw to it that,
"The father Paid for the child into the courts".

(She [Eva] is the sister of Percy, Lillian, Sidney, Walter, & Vinnie Blake)
What I know so far ;
  1. Eva had a cleft mouth, ( My father said "She was a bit simple" )
  2. Lillian was upset when she discovered, (Lillian emigrated to USA in 1923)
  3. "She had fallen from grace" and a Son was born.
  4. "The father was made to pay for the child through the Courts" by Mum!!! (He must have kept the Blake name)
  5. Living at "Fern Road" would that make it easy to trace a court case, or not?
  6. Mum then looks after the boy, until she dies. d c1932
  7. Eva then marries. (My dad say's "She married a Bargee Boy", they sailed the boats up and down the canal)
  8. She has another son. (I believe that the Husband refused to look after someone else's child, and that is where the boy dissapears into the "Children's Home".
  9. What home would he, [The boy] have been placed into ?? and could I find it, and any records, that may exist ?
  10. He [the 1st boy] is then sent "when old enough", off to Canada, to work in the Forestry Commission, where he became a BHC. The stories I've been reading about the (British Home Children) is, in most cases "A very dark side of Canadian history". They had their names changed, and were then given numbers, beaten until they excepted the fact that they were no longer wanted by anyone in England, and it just goes down hill from there?
I've asked my Dad to give as much infomation as possible to help us trace the boy [his couisin].
Dad has told me he remembers the boy always outside playing football, or kicking a football around with all the other kids in the street. He told me that [the boy] would have been between 13 & 15 years old, as my Dad was about 5-6 yrs old at the time?

My Dad's, Dad (Sidney) didn't know what was going on until all the paperwork was signed sealed and delivered to the Council, and were powerless to stop these events. Remember EVA, had a Husband who was now in control of things, and EVA, didn't want to loose him, and most probable trusted him??
.
As the years went by, my Dad said "the family were told he, [the boy] would write to them to let them know what was going on, and how he was doing", well !!! that was a bunch of lies, as I've discovered through the history of the BHC's.

All BHC's have had obstacles thrown in there way, when trying to discover there true identities, from, Missing files, Changed Birth certificates, Changed names, Family names changed and addresses.

My Dads memory is very good at his age 82, and he has only just given up playng Golf.

He has been diagnosed with Cancer in December 2006, My sister Shirley died on 13th January 2007 of Cancer, aged 44

It would be nice to end this dark chapter in our family history, within the liftime of the generation where it began, and if possible to find another family in our midst, in Canada.

So that is why I'm here, to see if you guy's & girl's with a wealth of knowledge in the History of Birmingham, and Erdington, can give help and advise on where to go, and most importantly, where do I start.


I do hope someone can help Ken, thank you (Pom)
 
Would very much like to help Chris.
Can I clarify a few things .
The 'boy' was born circa 1917/18 when eva was 17/18 and he was cared for by her mother until 1932.(I cannot find a death for Kate in 1932 but will continue through other years)
Eva then marries was this after her mother died?(which would make her 32)

The Canadian voyages were coming to an end about 1935.In fact i can only find 2 after the probable date of the grandmothers death.
11/3/1932 arriving Halifax 19/3/1932 the vessel Montclare,the arranging organisation Barnados.
13/9/1935 arr 20/9/1935 Quebec,vessel the Dutchess of Atholl.I think he would have been too old for this one as he would have been 18/19
 
Ref ; Ken Blake2002

Hello Guys

Your working on this already !! "WOW"!!!!!:Aah:


Just so as to confirm things for you, I looked up Emma's Birth & Death ;
Alfred R. Blake b1868 Aston (My GG Grandfather)8)
marries in 1893 Aston
Emma Walker b1867 (2Q) Birm. (6d 42)
Emma Blake dies (3Q) 1934 Birm. (6d 35)​
My Dad was born in 1925, and when he was about 5-6 yrs old, he remembers [the boy] playing football, up & down the street. He [the boy] was about 13-15 yrs old, then. That makes it about 1931ish, the boy was born, (on my calculations between 1914-1917) "about".

I will answer any other questions you have, if need be ?

Please note for future reference,

I'm a "Truck Driver", :glasses: and work night shifts, from 1800hrs - 0600 hrs, and sometimes get away early. So my replies will be offset, to you guys.
Unless you also work night shifts, :Aah: (no one can be that sad).

Thanks guys
Talk soon

Ken Blake
 
Hi Ken,
Welcome to the site,
I have be a forum member for 4 years now and found out that Chris and my sister in law Val were best mates in the 60's.
If you view my previous postings you will find me a bit of a nosey old bird and I try never to give up a search.
This one is proving a bit difficult but I will give it my best.
Please do not take offence if I keep bouncing ideas back to you.

The first is ,if 'the boy' lived with his grannie until she died he would have been 17/20 ,far too old to be taken to Canada.
It may have been that your Dad was mistaken with his age,when we are 5/6 even kids a couple of years older may appear very much older and also time plays havoc with our memories.

I am at present searching for boys born in the Midlands whose surname and that of their mother is Blake.I am hoping that the family,being ashamed,did not send Eva away to have her son. Alberta.
 
Hi Ken I've just remembered this lady, she's a forum member:

Isobel-Burlton-Wells

If you click on the above name it is a link to her profile and you can sender her an email or PM.

She lives in Canada and has access to 'The British Home Children' Database. She has also done a lot of re search on the subject as her Father was a 'British Home Child'. :cool:

Here's another link that could be of help to you :cool:

https://www.missing-ancestors.com/_vti_bin/shtml.exe/index.html
 
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Hello Alberta & Chris P.

I've spent about an hour typing out a reply to Alberta's last message, on a quick post and it "disappeared" ??

Anyways, Thanks for your help it is much appreciated.

Now where was I ? Oh Yer !!!!

I believe like you Alberta, that my Dad, could be mistaken by the ages of the children, especially when you here what I have to say, "next" ?

I went loooking for anyone born under the Blake/Blake name and came up with ...................... Wait for it !....Wait for it !........

1919 (1Q) Arthur L. Blake (mother) Blake "Aston" 6d 798

This could be the boy wer're looking for, he fits all the criteria, what do you 2 think ??

One thing is for certain, only my family of Blake's lived in "Aston", cos we are all related to "Joseph Blake & Mary Gent".

1919-1930 = 11 1919-1935 = 16 1919-1937 =18

Emma Died in 1934, so he would have been 15 & that was the right age to move him off and out.

Just guessing, but it looks that way, what do you guys think ??

Ken Blake
 
Hiya Alberta & Chris

I've had a look at the 2 Links, and my problem is, as you know, I havn't got any firm name to go by, or a firm date of birth.

It's like saying "Your from London??, do you know Fred ??"

It's a massive problem, cos no one will help without "A Name" and "DOB".

I think I should send off for the Birth Certificate ? It won't hurt will it ??

Anyway
Cya

Ken
 
Hi Ken,
If you send for a birth certificate stipulate that the mothers name is Eva.If it is not they refund your money. Alberta.
 
Ken,meant to say that even though Erdington(that was my part of the city before marriage)had a tiny register office on Gravelly Hill the certificates were registration district ASTON.the office only did births and deaths ,no marriages.
 
Hi Alberta
I wish i'd known that last week, i've just sent off for 4 Death Certs,
1 Marriage Cert, and 1 Birth Cert, and I never bothered to completely fill in the form !!!!!

"What a Plank"!!!!! Well I've lost that money now.
If only i'd introduced myself last week???

Never mind
Ken
 
Hi Ken, it is worth keeping an eye on findmypast.com which is the old 1937online site. They are now transcribing the lists of passenger lleaving the UK from 1909 to 1960. They don't hang about so it won't be too long a wait.You can pay by card and the site is easy to search.

Good luck :)
 
Eva's Boy

Hi ya Guys

Well the birth certificate has arrived, and it's not Eva Blake's name on it??
Looks like the boy's name must be after his father's surname, so i'll have to start looking for him through "the Courts".

Have you guy's or anyone else here, got any idea, Who??! or How??! I would be able to start off my search, and help point me in the right direction????

At least we know a rough idea of when he could have been born, which is "1919ish".

Eva's Mum & Dad were :

Alfred Richard Blake b1868 (Aston, Erdington) and
Emma Blake nee Walker b1867 (Aston Manor, Erdington)

They lived at :
6 Adelaide Pl. Victoria Road, Aston Manor, Birmingham.
They moved to:
47 Fern Road, Erdington, Birmingham
In the late 1890's, and Fred, (that's Alfred's name) died there, in 1948.

And I thought this was going to be easy, peasy?

My father went into hospital yesterday, (Weds) and had a 10 hour op to remove the cancer, it went OK and there were no complications, so we have to wait for him to come out of ICU, in a few days, fingers crossed!

Thanks for your help so far

Kenny
 
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Blake - Home Child - Canada

Hi Ken:
Looked on a couple of sites for a Home Child by the name of Blake who came over to Canada. Couldn't find any around the date that you suggested he came over. I belong to the Rootsweb British Home Children's mailing list and they are very helpful in our research. That is not to say that he was not a Home child. There are people on the mailing list who are specifically researching home children and they have access to different passenger lists. I could put out a message on the mailing list and see what comes of it. Please let me know if you wish for me to do this and what you would like me to say as I was getting a little confused reading the post. Also, I think it would be a good idea to send an email to Dr. Barnados' home and see if he would be on their records. There were many different sending agencies at that time.
In the meantime I checked the www.ellisisland.org database to see if there was a Lillian Blake who went the the U.S.A. There were 3 names listed. Ellis Island is the immigration centre for the U.S.A. and you can view the original passenger lists and sometimes they do hold quite a lot of information.
Wish I could be of further help. I will still check out a couple of other sites I have in mind. Sure would make it easier if I had a first name to go by.
Cheers
Isobel
https://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~britishhomechildren/zaddresses1.htm
BARNARDO’S

Head of After Care​

Barnardo’s
Tanners Lane

Barkingside Ilford Essex England 1G6 1QG.
Phone: 020 8550 8822 Fax: 202 8551 6870.
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://www.barnardos.org.uk/.


https://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~britishhomechildren/
-----------------------
https://www.ellisisland.org/search/...KE&first_kind=1&kind=exact&offset=0&dwpdone=1

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Exact Matches (3)[/FONT]
c.gif
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Name of Passenger[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Residence[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Arrived[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Age on Arrival</B>[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Passenger Record Ship[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] Manifest Ship[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]ImageVivifierVivifier Image[/FONT]
c.gif
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]1.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Lillian Blake [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]St. Johns, Labrador [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]1907 [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]23 [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]View[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]View[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]View[/FONT]
c.gif
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]2.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Lillian Blake [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Washington, D.C. [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]1921 [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]24 [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]View[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]View[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]View[/FONT]
c.gif
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]3.[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Lillian G. Blake [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]London, England [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]1921 [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]38 [/FONT]
 
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Hi Ken:
Here are a few more sites to check out.
Regards
Isobel
Here is the website for the British Home Children's Society.
Perry Snow has many thousands of names of home children on his site and he will gladly search his files for you if you send him an email. Perry Snow is also the Rootsweb British Home Children mailing list co-ordinator
https://members.shaw.ca/persnow/

Home Children of Canada (link is not currently working -I thinking they are making some changes to the site)
https://www.collectionscanada.ca/archivianet/020110_e.html
 
Hiya all, and hello Isobel

I tried to reply yesterday, but made a mistake when I pushed, the reply button, and lost all my reply, sorry about that!!

Wow ! what a lot for me to look into?:Aah:

As I keep saying to everyone, I have a massive problem here, with not knowing the name of Eva's Boy, be it his Christian name or his Surname?

Every avenue I go down, brings me to a dead end, but believe me when I say, that [the boy] was sent away when old enough, to Canada to work in the Forestry Commission, or as my father says, "The Prince of Wales Trust" on Prince Edward Island.

In reply to Isobel's mentionings;

I can not ask anyone to look for him without those 2 important ingredients and that is why I need the help of someone who can point me in the direction of "the Courts".:(


I found Lillian Blake on the "ellisisland" website, I could not find her as Isobel tried, so I put in L. Blake - born 1895 - (+ or -) - 1 year, and she came up, with I might add, a family called "Cooper", also from Erdington, on Oct 5th 1923 on the SS Mauritania. That was the first trip out to the USA, she made a number of trips to & fro, and I already have those logged.
This first trip is the one where she actually emmigated to the USA, and I now have the address on their arrival in Brooklyn NY
(I'd like to thank you all & especially Isobel):)

Not a lot I can do for now until I can contact someone in "the Courts" ??​

I will not give up on this problem with, [the boy], he is out there, ......... somewhere ?​

Thanks again​

Kenny​
 
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Hi Kenny, I don't have any experience of Court records but I found this on the Birmingham archives site.

Petty Sessions
Because it became impossible to cope with the workload within the required four days per year, Petty Sessions Courts met daily. They dealt with minor crimes, licensing, juvenile offenders and civil matters such as *******y, child maintenance and adoption.

(The site is programmed not to allow this word which means born outside marriage, the stars are not mine )

The Petty Sessions were in addition the the normal Quarter Sessions. and it is these you will need to search. The records date from the 19th century to 1968 and the closure rule is only 30 years and you are well within that. The records are in the Birmingham Central Library. They do have a genealogist who for a fee will search for you. Once again Good Luck.:)
 
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Hi Ken: You are quite welcome. Any other help that you may need please let me know.
Good luck
Isobel
 
Hi Ken My mother was a BHC who was sent to Canada. She was sent through the Middlemore Homes as they were the home through most not all BHC passed. You could ask them to search the years, I had a lot of infomation from them. I do belive that they now charge for looking. Good Luck June
 
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