Neither Waif Nor Stray
Excerpts from a news release about Perry Snow's book Neither Waif Nor Stray, published in February 2000 (E-mail:[email protected])
How could anyone steal a child's identity? Millions of Canadians, Americans, Britons, and Australians do not know they are related to each other. There is a harrowing chapter missing from history books about the British Child Emigration Scheme to Canada.
This book provides a personal and professional examination of one British Home Child's life in Canada. The author has documented his father's persistent lifelong efforts to obtain vital information that would have allowed him to find his family in England. It also describes his legacy of a family mystery he inherited after his father's death. Their searches are typical of thousands of British Home Children - and their descendants.
Between 1870 and 1948, more than fifty British childcare organizations deported 100,000 alleged orphaned, abandoned, illegitimate, and impoverished children to Canada ostensibly to "provide them with better lives than they would have had in England." Thousands of 6-to-15-year-old children were transported without their parents' knowledge or consent to work as indentured farm labourers and domestic servants until they were 18 years old.
An unknown number of children ran away from the farms to be swallowed by the vast US. They may have millions of American descendants. There are an estimated 4 million Canadian descendants of the British Home Children. Many desperately seek their potential 20 million British relatives. Is there an "Orphan" in your family tree that became a "Lost Child of the Empire"?
For author and Clinical Psychologist, Perry Snow, examining the psychological traumas experienced by British Home Children is very close to home, as the child profiled in his book was his father. According to Snow, some children were fortunate and were treated as members of Canadian families. But more than half suffered from abuse and neglect. Neither the Canadian government nor the British agencies assumed responsibility for their welfare. Many were not allowed to go to school, nor provided with adequate food, clothing, or shelter. They suffered a unique form of prejudice in Canada because of their presumed �tainted� origins. They were ostracized and accused of being carriers of syphilis. They were unwanted in England and unwelcome in Canada. ...
"Free Sample Download
Neither Waif Nor Stray: The Search For A Stolen Identity is published-on-demand on the Internet. A free sample download of the first 25 pages, an electronic edition of the entire 284 pages, or a paperback edition of the book are available at Universal Publishers. For publication details, and information about discounts for multiple purchases, contact [email protected]."
For those interested, a paperback copy may also be ordered from:
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