BRITISH HOME CHILDREN TO CANADA BOOK LAUNCH
The Pontiac Archives in Shawville hosted a book launch on November 22 with local author/historian Gloria Tubman presenting her recently completed book British Home Children to Canada – Three Sisters from Kensington and Chelsea Union.
A crowd of about 20 people listened and participated in an hour-long Q&A session with the author before having opportunity to purchase copies of the book, which was the result of 30 years of research and 6 years of writing.
The book focuses on Tubman’s grandmother, Annie Bond Hodgins, born in 1904, and her two older sisters Florence and Caroline, who arrived in Canada in the early 1900s through the Home Children program. This was a federal immigration initiative that, in co-operation with various groups in the UK who looked after orphaned or destitute children, brought them to Canada to live and work mostly on farms. The program operated between 1869 and 1939 and brought about 100,000 children from the British Isles to Canada. – Clifford Welsh
Photo – Gloria Tubman presents her book, British Home Children to Canada – Three Sisters from Kensington and Chelsea Union, at a launch held at the Pontiac Archives, November 22. (CW)
