Real stories about real peoples lives
John’s family lived at 10 York Place, Longmore St, Balsall Heath. There were 7 children in the family,, the youngest being only 4 months old. John was 14 years old at the time he was taken into the Homes in 1895, described as “”very dejected appearance, very ragged, clothes pinned …
Emigrated 1914 aged 12 Why did Mary go into the Middllemore Emigration Homes? At the time Mary was born her parents’ marriage was due to take place but unfortunately it didn’t happen because her father was sent at short notice to the South African war. He was away for 7 …
Herbert Morand The Middlemore Annual Reports include photographs of some children from 1896 onwards. One of the earliest children to feature in this way was Herbert Morand. His father, Eugene, was French and his step-mother English. They lived at 134A Belgrave Road and there were six children in the family. …
This week in the Archives I looked at the Management Committee minutes and came across another interesting Balsall Heath connection. In 1899 the Homes were seeking to recruit a new Superintendent and Matron for the new receiving home, Fairview, in Halifax, Nova Scotia. They interviewed various couples and decided to …
The archives in Birmingham Library contain quite a number of letters sent back to England by children emigrated to Canada. Some are positive. One girl wrote, “I have got fat and red cheeked now and I go to school every day. I am learning the times tables and doing sums …
