Labouring Children: British Immigrant Apprentices to Canada, 1869-1924

by Joy Parr

Between 1868-1924, 80,000 British children, most of them under fourteen, came to Canada to be apprenticed as labourers and domestic servents. Joy Parr's study of these children, first published in 1980, became a significant resource for courses in women's history, family history, immigration history, and labour history. Out of print for several years, Labouring Children now has a substantial new introduction in which the author examines the historiography of the history of childhood, particularly in the light of recent literature on sexuality and the post-structuralist critique. She also considers recent popular historical views of children and their relationship to professional history.

200 pages, Hardcover

First published September 15, 1994

Reviews

[Lori Oschefski · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book which really gives us insight into the reasons behind indenturing children here in Canada. Between 1863 and 1949 over 100,000 children were brought from England to Canada in migration programs which, initially, were meant to provide impoverish children with a chance for a better life. Joy's book is a very important and interesting read! I refer to it all the time in my work with the British Home Children.

I run an organizaiton in Canada for the BHC (British Home Children Advocacy & Research Association. For those interesting in our BHC and for descendants, you can join our very active Facebook group with over 2,300 members now! Found at:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/Briti... it is the largest group for the BHC ever. Expert researchers and BHC Historians are on hand to help with discovering your BHC story or to answer any questions you have about these migration programs.