Susan Brazeau at one of her presentations. (Submitted/Susan Brazeau)

By Jaryn Vecchio

History Lesson

Lloydminster Historian looking to educate people on one of Canada’s darkest chapters

Sep 14, 2023 | 5:00 PM

A Lloydminster Historian is among a small group of people across the country trying to educate people on one of Canada’s darkest, but not well-known, chapters.

Susan Brazeau has been visiting different Western Canadian cities in an attempt to share more about British Home Children, a group of around 100,000 kids who were shipped from Great Britain between 1869 and 1948 so they could be used as farm labourers and domestic servants.

Many of these children were orphans, some were sold by their own families, while others were simply taken away.

“Society wanted to get rid of these kids, they didn’t want them in Great Britain… they’d say ‘Hey, look at our colony in Canada, they just became a country, and they need our help, so let’s send these kids to help the farmers’ and that’s how the program got started,” said Brazeau.

She explained that some believed they were actually giving these children a better life in Canada. However, this was far from the case for the vast majority.

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“(Some) were placed in the basement, windowless and dirt floor, that’s where they slept. That’s where they went to eat. (There were) kids as young as four, five, and six actually doing what’s considered to be adult work, they would start at 4 a.m. and go right to midnight sometimes,” said Brazeau.

She mentioned in one case a 14-year-old boy in Ontario was severely abused, whipped and stabbed with a pitchfork before eventually passing away.

Others resorted to suicide to avoid the abuse.

Many of those kids who endured and were able to make a life for themselves kept their experiences a secret. This is one of the reasons why Brazeau thinks many people don’t know anything about these children.

“(Many) didn’t want their families to know until after they died because they didn’t want them to know what happened to them, the type of abuse they experienced,” she said.

Due to the lack of knowledge, many schools don’t teach about British Home Children. Brazeau did note that some in Southern Ontario, British Columbia, and the East Coast have started to do so.

Another reason why she believes there’s a lack of knowledge is because many historians never gave these children a second thought.

“I think historians didn’t think these children were going to amount to anything or be of significance.”

Most of the records she and other historians have are from news articles and the children themselves. Unfortunately, there are only two of these children still living: one in Ontario and one in British Columbia.

Historians only have burial records for around 9,000 people. Roughly 100 are buried around Prince Albert and Saskatoon, while the final resting spot for 22 are in North Battleford and surrounding areas.

The 22 in the North Battleford area will likely be talked about when Brazeau visits the city on Saturday where she plans on giving a presentation at the community library from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. The event is free for anyone interested in learning more.

Meanwhile, Sept. 28 is being recognized as British Home Child Day in Canada.

The House of Commons passed the proclamation in 2018, a year after an apology was given in the chamber.

In 2010, the federal government also declared it the year of the British Home Child. This was around the same time that an apology was given by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

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Jaryn.Vecchio@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow