Lost Children of the Empire: The Untold Story of Britain's Child Migrants

by Joy Melville, Philip Bean

192 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1990

Reviews

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another book concerning the Child Migrations that Britain undertook from the 17th century until around 1960. Suffice it to say as background that Britain wanted settlers, preferably young, who would settle the colonies and make them British and that she had children who were (really) orphans or were placed in home care that she would prefer not to pay care for. The two melded in the Child Migrations. Children were sent out to Canada, Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) and Australia under the assumption that they were going to be adopted, fostered, or given work experience on farms (for the boys) and as domestics (for the girls). However, no one on either end actually followed through to ensure that this happened and many children (some as young as 5) ended up at extremely isolated farms or remained in care homes (basically orphanages) where they were treated as slaves. They had no contact with neighbors, very little chance for education and generally no close relationship with the family they "worked" for.

The stories began to come out as adults, mostly in Australia, tried to find their families. Many had been told they were orphans and through research discovered they had been lied to. Some had had their names changed (through error or not), virtually none had birth certificates, and very few even knew where in the British Isles they had been before they had been sent overseas.

It's a tragic tale. There is really no excuse for it, but it must be read in context of the times. Some organizations thought they were offering a chance at a better life for the immigrants.

[Benemint · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mostly memoirs and interviews of the survivors. Interesting as a read but not rigorous as an academic book.