Harriet was one of 30000 children brought to Canada by
Barnardo Homes in the late 1880’s and early 1900’s.
Harriet Susan Southwood was born on June 18, 1877 in New Windsor,
Berkshite, England.
She was the first “little” girl sent to Manitoba. Previous to that only
teenagers had been sent that far away.
She left England in 1886 at the age of nine. After landing in
Quebec City, she was sent to the Barnardo distributing centre for girls
at Peterborough, and then to Manitoba.
At age 16 she had to earn her own living – working as a “Mother’s
Helper” for Dr. Shaw, and delivering prescriptions on her
bicycle. She also worked for Dempseys in the Petrel district. At
that time she met Richard Robinson and they were married in 1900.
Her granddaughter remembered her as, “a kind little white haired lady,
who would never say a bad word about anybody.”
She spent her final years in the Margaret Memorial Home in Carberry and
died on November 23, 1959.
Barnardo Children
Thomas John Barnardo was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland. As a young
man, Barnardo was sent to England to train as a missionary for China.
He switched to Medicine and became acquainted with the problems faced
by homeless children. Soon he started a home where he said no child
would ever be refused admission.
Barnardo began to send children to Canada as early as 1872. In 1881, he
visited Canada, meeting with government officials and others who were
interested in the work.
A colourful figure, Barnardo found himself in trouble with the law on a
number of occasions. Sometimes it was a parent or relative who wanted a
child returned, and other times it was the Catholic Church who wanted
Catholic children given over to them. But, through his efforts, some
laws were changed to protect the children.
Between 1868 and the 1930s, more than 100,000 destitute children in
Great Britain were shipped off to Canada. An estimated two-thirds of
the Home Children, as they were known, were under the age 14.
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