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Emigrating children

CEA - Catholic Emigration Association
Dates: 1894-1987

Number of records in this collection: 2

A small collection of papers relating to the emigration of children to Canada. Various diocesan Rescue Societies took part in the scheme between 1870 and 1932, and a Catholic Emigration Association was established in the Diocese of Birmingham in 1903. The following year, various Catholic emigration bodies amalgamated under the name of the Catholic Emigration Association and the administration of all English and Welsh Catholic emigration was done from Coleshill.

Please note that the Birmingham Archdiocesan Archives contains no other records relating to the emigration of children to Canada or Australia; all enquiries should be directed to Father Hudson's Society.

 
This could have been some of the last to be sent to Canada by the Association...

“In the late 1920s, emigration slowed until in 1932 the last child arrived and the home in Ontario was closed in 1934. Sadly, most of the records of the children were destroyed after they were transferred. However, there are several thousand available in the National Archives of Canada...”

 
Some useful references there for relations researching ancestors. Thanks Pedro. Viv.
 
Anyone with an interest in child migration, including the role of Catholic institutions, may be interested in the 2018 report on Chid Abuse, which can be downloaded...

 
Another scheme, the Big Brother Movement, helped young people to emigrate to Australia to support farming. It had been offering and supporting youngsters from the 1920s. Link with more info below. Viv.



This newspaper clipping dated 5/2/1957 appeared in the Birmingham Daily Gazette, from the British Newspaper Archive.
378061C7-CD3E-4EE7-8D56-ED3D4F838F97.jpeg
 
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The Big Brother Movement mentioned here was started in 1924, but the term was used before that date to refer to a scheme for helping boys who had lost their fathers during the Great War. The scheme was taken up by many Rotary clubs.
 
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