William Guthrie

[jongle]

I'm trying to trace relatives of my uncle William Guthrie who arrived in Toronto in 1929 aged 14. He emigrated on a Canadian government scheme to be a farm labourer and arrived in Canada, from Glasgow, on the S.S. Melita and lived in a B.I.C.A. Canadian Government Hostel in Toronto. He was born in Coatbridge, Lanarkshire, Scotland in 1914. If anyone can help it will be much appreciated.

[valeriec]

I went to the Immigration Records at Library and Archives Canada
www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/index.e-html

I couldn't find a William Guthrie arriving on the Melita in 1929 but did find one on the Letitia arriving in 1926.

Letitia
1926 Volume 17, page 171, T -14726 (the reel I found him on was actually T-14727)
Left Glasgow, Scotland 3 Sept 1926
Arrived Quebec 11 Sept 1926

William Guthrie
age 14, nephew
Dundee, Scotland
passage paid by aunt
scholar
destination uncle - Mr. Robert Milne
                              1420 Argyll St
                               Regina, Saskatchewan
closest relatvie in country coming from
aunt - Mrs. Mary patterson
20 james St.
Perth

could this be your William

If not, can you provide the source for his arrving in 1929. He also isn't listed under the Home children. I checked there as well. No William Guthrie listed as arriving on the Melita 1925-1935
Is it possible that he could have been listed under another forename.

[valeriec]

I finally found him on the passenger lists for 1929 on the Melita under William Gutherie

It lists his mother as
Mrs J. Falconer
? Broughton St
Edinburgh
remarried

Guardian is Mr. H. Brown ?
Coun ? Officer
Coatbridge
he had $10  and is down as landed immigrant
his destination was the hostel in Toronto

Being a farm labourer, I am sure that he didn't stay in Toronto but probably was sent out to a farm. Will look for records for
B.I.C.A to see if I can find out anything.

[jongle]

Hi valeriec. Many thanks for your reply. The William Gutherie you found is the right one as I have a copy of the Melita manifest with that same information. What I had missed was the wrong spelling of his surname, my apologies for not saying that in my post. William was one of 12 children and after their mother died from cancer he and four younger siblings were placed in Aberlour Orphanage under the Guardianship of Mr. H. Brown a Coatbridge Council Officer. The information, lined through, in respect of his mother is wrong.

I do not know what B.I.C.A. stood for so cannot offer any help on that. I am slowly piecing together what happened to all the children as my mother was one of them. From what I have managed to uncover this was a period in their lives they never discussed with their own children so whatever help you can provide is very much appreciated.

[valeriec]

The British Immigration and Colonization Associationof Canada
1920-1950
was incorporated in 1921 as the British Immigration Aid Association and altered its name in December 1923. The purpose was to sponsor and encourage emigration from the British Isles to Canada, particularly young men and boys and to aid these immigrants to establish themselves. The depression of the 1930's slowed down the association activities and with WW2 its affairs wound up. The final meeting was held June 26, 1941.

Month books 1920-1941
Cash book 1931-1950
appear to be at Library and Archives Canada

The records of the association were turned over to the Immigration Branch, Dept. of Mines and Resources, with which it had been closely associated.  They wer received by the National Archives in 1964 from the Dept of Citizenship and Immigration.

www.collectionscanada.gc.ca

This is the main site for Library and Archives Canada

I am wondering if this association may have been working with the home children associations especially with the children. Sending someone to Canada at age 14 would have been cheap labout and I am doubtful would have been to help them establish themselves.

I will keep digging for information.

The B.I.A.C. in Montreal was associated with the CPR (Canadian Pacific Railroad) so I am wondering if the hostel in Toronto was also part of the CPR.

I will keep looking and hopefully, some other chatter will have more info on the association and Ontario resources.

If you know the name of his parents and his mother's maiden name, please post it here. someone may find a marriage certificate or announcement and that information could help.

If he was 14 and was forced to come to Canada, he may have returned to the UK as soon as he turned of age.

I will keep looking for infomation.

[valeriec]

www.lac-bac.gc.ca/the-public/005-1141.10-e.html

The Public
Thematic Guides - Unpublished Guides
Immigration of Farm Labourers to Canada 1918-1945

This will give you an idea of the different schemes in place to obtain farm labour. Hope the site works.

I guess the above site doesn't work but if you go to the Library and Archives site at Collections Canada and under search type in British Immigration Aid Association, it should bring up what is onfile at LAC

[valeriec]

Juvenile Inspection Reports may be available at Library and Archives Canada. Hopefully, they may tell you what family he was placed with and where. You will need to contact LAC to see if they can help as that info isn't available online.

There is a website that is dedicated to Young Immigrants to Canada
http://jubilation.uwaterloo.ca/~marj/genealogy/homeadd.html

Hopefully, that site will work.

From what I have been able to determine, placements were made anywhere in Canada and not just Ontario and Quebec. There was a large training school near Gagetown, NB and the British Immigration and colonization Association sent many of the problem youth there. Hopefully, your William didn't end up there as it wasn't a pleasant place. The agent for the farm in NB did have an association to Edinburg though.

This is from the Rotarian in May 1929 so you will see how the plan was supposed to work although from my research there was a great deal of abuse.

A party of 50 boys from the southern counties of England and Wales sailed in Feb 1929 from Southampton for Canada to take up farm work. This is the largest party of boys to leave this year for overseas and it is one of the biggest recruited in the past 5 years. At least 35 of the boys are to become the "Little Brothers" of the Rotary club of Lindsay, Ontario whose members will take a personal interest in the lads and assist them to settle down in their new surroundings. It is possible that the Lindsay club will actually sponsor the entire group.
The Canadian National Railway have arranged free passage for the boys from their homes to the farms where they are to work. The boys are guaranteed wages of not less that ten shillings per week from the start and remain the legal wards of the British Immigration and colonization Association until they reach age 21, at which age they may be eligible for a government laon of 500 pound whith which to start farming for themselves. Of the toal party all but 6 were in work when they decided to try their fortunes in Canada. One of the boys has been a valet, another a tennis court assistant, everal were clerks, and one a hotel messenger. Only 10 have ever done farm work of any kind.

At least, we now know what the organization was that brought him to Canada and hopefully, some of the researchers on this site can work a miracle and find him for you.

[jongle]

Hi valeriec. Again many thanks for your help and information. I think it may take some time to uncover more about my uncle William.

There is one other mystery you may be able to direct me on. William had two older brothers: Gordon Guthrie born 1905 and Robert Guthrie born 1908. One of them, but I don't know which, was born in Montreal. Their parents were Gordon Hyslop Guthrie and Mary Wilkie Guthrie (maiden name Munro) who were married in Montreal 15th. June 1906.

How would I be able to obtain copies of birth records bearing in mind I live in the UK?

[cosmac]

The Drouin Records contain the marriage and birth records (parish records) for Quebec.
They are available on ancestry.ca which is advertising free access up until Feb 20 of this year.

Gordon  was born in Montreal on 2 Sep 1905 and baptized 17 Dec 1906 at the same church his parents married in - Methodist church on Mountain Street.

Debbie