2022 marks the 150th anniversary of the opening of the Children’s Emigration Homes in Highgate, founded by John Middlemore. Between the years 1873 and 1954 they emigrated over 5000 children chiefly to Canada but also to Australia. The Commonwealth Games & The Lost Children Project Over 100,000 children were emigrated …
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. …
Child emigration by the Middlemore Homes continued until 1949. By this date government legislation (the Children Act of 1948) and changes in attitudes to child welfare meant emigration was seen as appropriate in only a small number of cases. During the period 1949 – 1954 the Middlemore Homes’ only activity …
The Middlemore babies’ home (Crowley House) The Middlemore Homes also ran a babies’ home at Selly Oak called Crowley House. This was established in 1938 for children under school age, who were too young to be emigrated. The babies’ home closed in 1954.
The first group of children, a party of 29, departed for Canada on 1st May 1873, accompanied by John Middlemore. On arrival in Canada, the children were settled with families. Older children were settled as farm or domestic assistants, receiving board and, in some cases, wages. Younger children were often …
The Middlemore Homes were founded in 1872 by John Throgmorton Middlemore as the ‘Children’s Emigration Homes’. The first home, for boys, opened on Beatrice Crescent, St. Luke’s Road in September 1872. In December 1872, a similar home for girls opened at 36 Spring Street, Birmingham. In 19th Century Birmingham, John …
