27 September 2017

Home Child Records at Rideau Township Archives

I took a trip to Rideau Township Archives, only open on Tuesdays or by appointment, and found the room buzzing with friendly volunteers.
Weather records for Kars, kept daily by Robert Bryan (a home child) from December 1923 to April 1959 are in the collection. They seem to be complete - three temperature readings a day as well as wind direction, sky condition, precipitation and comments.
While there I was shown a list of 140 home children who had come to North Gower or Marlborough townships. It showed the name, birth date, immigration date (year), the host family, sometimes brief comments, and whether found in the 1901 or 1911 censuses. There was also a cross reference list of host families.
Although the list didn`t show the agency that brought the child the opinion was that many came through the Fairknowe Home in Brockville.
The list is only available at the Rideau Archives. I`m exploring whether it can be placed online.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Thank you, John, for publicizing this discovery. The Leeds & Grenville Branch of OGS often gets asked about children who came through the Fairknowe Home in Brockville, and while we have some information, any original records seem to have been destroyed years ago. We will contact Rideau Archives to find out how we can share some information.