Quarriers Children

AnnieMack · Post by **AnnieMack** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 10:28 pm

I have 2 wee girls who are my grt grt grannie's sisters and in 1886 they were sent to Canada. On the ships list they are noted as Mr Q's children. I know that in 1885 mum made an application for education from the Poor Relief Board and the girls were subsequently sent to Dovehill School.

I want to know about the period between Aug 1885 when the application for education was made and May 1886 when they set sail on the Buenos Ayrean to Quebec. I now have their birth certificates, them on census returns, the details of mum's application and the ships list.

If they went as members of a Quarriers group would they have been admitted to the home first or was there another means by which they were processed/accepted? I have looked at the Quarriers site and can't find anything to help.

Anybody able to help?

Annie

Russell · Post by **Russell** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 12:10 am

Hello Annie

If their mother signed them over into the care of Quarriers (Orphans Homes for Scotland) then they would have been admitted first to Quarriers Village so there should be records there. they are currently in the throes of digitising many of their records so they might be slower in digging out the information you need. I would suggest contacting the archivist through their website giving as much information as you already have.
After admission they would have to be assessed before a decision was made about them going to Canada.
Once the decision to send them was made they would be provided with a trunk and a whole wardrobe of clothes to take. There was even a special room where their possessions would be kept safe until it was time to leave.
There was usually a farewell party and each group was accompanied by some adults on the voyage across.
In Canada they would be taken to another assessment centre so they could be matched up with a suitable family. This process unfortunately did not always work and a few placements were quite unsuitable. At this time Canada was a pioneering country with unmade roads and tracks and close supervision of placements could not always be carried out especially in winter but William Quarrier and his daughter subsequently, did employ someone to check as much as possible.
There are still records available in Canada of a lot of the actual placements.
Hope this gives you a few pointers for where to try next.

Russell

Post by **paddyscar** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 1:05 am

Hello Annie:

Have you been able to locate the children after they came to Canada?

You may find them in the census indexes at: http://automatedgenealogy.com/index.html

At http://www.collectionscanada.ca/genealogy/index-e.html you can search for Quarrier's children by clicking on the SEARCH button and entering the term Quarrier's children. This will produce 8 related books and documents.

Hope this is of some help.

rita · Post by **rita** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 1:32 pm

Hello Annie
As Russel advised you should contact Quarriers as I also had a Thomas Orr age 12 who was shipped out from Glasgow in 1880 his mother died in 1879 he still had father and siblings and lots of relatives.
I am in contact with living relatives in Canada who were given a file letter and studio photo of young Thomas from both Quarriers and Barnardos, I think the photo may have been taken either just before he left or on arrival .
Regards Rita.

Ros Fornaro · Post by **Ros Fornaro** » Fri Oct 27, 2006 10:38 pm

Hi Annie,

I have a cousin Mary Waterston sent to Canada on the "Buenos Ayrean" which left on the 20th May, 1886 and arrived 3rd June, 1886 in the care of Miss Ellen Bilborough for Quarriers. Mary was taken to the home by a neighbour in Glasgow after her father died in 1878. Quarriers keep very good records and are very helpful. Mary ended up in California and married and had a family and I hope had a happy life. Her descendants were tracked through Rootsweb message boards.

Good luck.

Ros

AnnieMack · Post by **AnnieMack** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 2:12 pm

Just to update this thread, I got a reply from Quarriers advising they had records of the children and on payment of the fee I would be able to have copies of these. I sent the payment mid morning today and have just received a full and comprehensive reply.

I am very moved as it does not make good reading but I am also very grateful to be able to read the information too. I can now tell my dad about his paternal line in more detail and perhaps make him understand a little more about why his grandmother seemed such an angry and bitter woman.

Annie

Russell · Post by **Russell** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 2:56 pm

Hello Annie

I know you are not objecting to the fee requested by Quarriers but, in the past, others have and I just wanted to let folks know the reasons for it.

Quarriers is still very much a charity although their clientgroup now is different from the early orphan children and they must show transparency in all their financial dealings. To employ an archivist to research records of previous children would take away from the money they must spend on the current client group. So any fee paid offsets the cost of employing a skilled person to deal with their archives.Tha Archives staff care deeply about the sensitivity of their job and the needs of descendants of the children. They are superb.

Russell

AnnieMack · Post by **AnnieMack** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 3:10 pm

Russell I can't agree more with you saying the archivists are superb, the lady who emailed me has told me not to hesitate to get in touch if I have any queries or need help deciphering. That in itself is invaluable.

I would say the money has been well spent and I didn't take the decision lightly to spend it as I only get 5 bob a week pocket money.

Annie x

Post by **emanday** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 3:17 pm

You get THAT much

Russell · Post by **Russell** » Mon Oct 30, 2006 3:27 pm

Hi Annie

I worked in Quarriers village for the organisation for nearly 12 years and loved it. Teaching carers how to do their job even better

The staff who do the archives are Social Work trained and very experienced so they deal with every enquiry in its own unique way.
they let me loose in the archives and I nearly died from an overdose of historic nostalgia. It was an incredible experience.
Some of the records were so detailed and the questions asked of relatives so clear that you wondered at the hopelessness of their situation that they had to give away their children.
I have met many older people who were brought up there and had happy lives and experiences.
If you are ever down this way pop in and have a look at the Village. It is an amazing experience. William Quarrier had both foresight and ambition for 'his' children. He wasn't possessive about them, just passionately concerned that they have proper opportunities in life.
I like to think that some of that passion still endures in the organisation.

Russell