Barnardo's Family History Service

The October issue of Ancestors magazine includes an article by Karen Wicks "Every Child Regardless" about the Barnardo's archive at Barkingside. Approximately one in three of the more than 100,000 home children sent from England to Canada between 1869 and the Second World War came with Dr. Barnardo's Homes.

I have previously heard reports of people being led a merry chase in trying to get access to an ancestor's Barnado's record. It appears there is now more of a routine procedure, described in the article and on the Barnado web site at www.barnardos.org.uk

A basic record search costs a non-refundable £15. This will establish if your relative was a ‘Barnardo’s boy or girl’ and if there are records; in most cases if there was a child there will be records.

There are three packages available for purchase:

• Admission Package - £70, comprising admission history, placement details, individual photograph, precis and homes information sheet.
  

• Full History Package - £85, comprising admission history, placement details, individual photograph, precis, homes information sheet, record book entry, situation book entry (boys only), and location photographs.

• Photograph Package - £20, comprising a photograph of the child and the home(s) they lived in.

More details on the contents are available at www.barnardos.org.uk/products-2.pdf