Carrie Turansky | Who Were the British Home Children?

Many readers are familiar with the Orphan Trains that took impoverished children from large
cities in the East to live with families in small towns and on farms in the Midwest. But did you
know during that same time period more than 100,000 poor and orphaned British children
were sent from England to Canada as British Home Children? This child emigration scheme
was started by those who had good intentions and who hoped to clear the streets, children's
homes, and workhouses of orphaned and abandoned children in England's overcrowded cities
and towns. The children were promised a better life in Canada, but sadly that was not the case
for all of them.

Most of these children were not adopted and welcomed into families. Instead, the boys were
taken in as indentured farm laborers and the girls worked as household servants called
domestics, even at very young ages. Those who took them in simply filled out a form and paid
a small fee. There was little screening and often no follow up. Because of this, and prevailing
attitudes of the time, many of these children suffered neglect and mistreatment. Many slept in
barns or other outbuildings and were not given adequate food and clothing. They also
suffered the pain of rejection and felt like outcasts and misfits because of social prejudice
against home children.

Reading the true accounts of what happened to many British Home Children touched me
deeply, and I knew I needed to share their experiences and honor their memory. I wondered
what it would be like for a family to be separated by hardship and caught up in this child
emigration scheme. How would the children respond to that separation, and what would they
do to be reunited with their siblings? How did the attitudes of those who took them in impact
the children, and what happened to the children as they grew up? How did a program that
began with the intention of helping poor children end up harming so many of them?

No Ocean Too Wide answers some of these questions as I weave actual accounts of British Home Children into the fictional McAlister family. When their widowed mother becomes seriously ill, three of the four children are taken into a children's home and soon sent to Canada without their mother's knowledge or permission. The oldest sibling, Laura, searches for them, following them all the way to Canada to try and rescue the children and reunite the family. She soon realizes she needs the legal help of a wealthy young solicitor, and the two join forces to confront the injustice of child emigration. My hope is to shine a light on the faith and determination that so many of these children demonstrated in the face of such challenging hardships. It is inspiring to know that many of them went on to build productive lives and strong families of their own. I hope you'll enjoy reading No Ocean Too Wide and it will give you a glimpse into the lives and experiences of British Home Children. Have you ever heard of child emigration and British Home Children? I'd love to hear your thoughts!