Dear blogging friends, soon I will have a more reliable connection to the Internet. I am looking forward to be able to comment and respond to all your posts, which have become so dear to me over the past couple of years. In the meantime, I would like to thank one and all for your amazing patience and those lovely comments you wrote when I managed to post another episode of the Klopp family story. Greetings from the beautiful Arrow Lake, BC, Canada!
Note that the usual Klopp family post for Thursdays has been omitted and will resume next week with a new series on Anna Rosa Klopp.
Thank you so much everyone, for all of your help. It is really appreciated. Actually since Peter put my message on the Guest page, I have been doing some more research and whilst I don’t think it was as bad for Dick, it was an absolutely horrendous time for many. These were the Home Children and it seems that 11% of Canadians are descendants of these children.
Photo Credit: reginalibrary.ca
I came across an absolutely riveting video on YouTube yesterday and we watched it last night. This is the link:
It seems that children as young as 6 were taken from their parents; frequently without their parents’ knowledge or consent, and shipped over to work as domestics or farm workers in Canada. The authorities would only let them know by sending a card after they were in their new country.
Photo Credit: web.ncf.ca
Between 1869 and 1939, over 100,000 children were taken from their homes and sent to Canada. More than that were sent to Australia and the British government didn’t stop doing that until the 1970’s. The children were considered waifs, orphans and strays. Many had parents who could no longer afford to feed them or take care of them.
SS Sarnia 1892 – Photo Credit: bytown.net
Usually when the children reached Canada, they had a train ride of several days and eventually most were sent to help farm families with all of the work – even those as young as 6. Some children were accepted into the family and treated well, but many were treated very badly and some were treated like slaves.
Home Children – Photo Credit: humanrights.ca
If you watch the 46 minute video, you at times have tears in your eyes – at the young lad whose home was a small wooden garden shed that he shared with the dog. He only got food if the dog left some. He was beaten daily as many were – often just because they were Home Children.
We think now that Dick Hall was one of the lucky ones. He stayed at William Hewlett’s farm in Stouffville for three years and then returned to the UK to spend Christmas with his parents. He then traveled back to Canada.
These children were given food and accommodation and a small amount of pay – but this money was not paid until they had finished their term on the farm or other place of work, when they were 18. So, it was just food, accommodation, hard work, possibly many beatings and they lost their childhood. You will see if you watch the film that when the children grew up, they had no emotions to show love to their own children.
Home Children Stamp – Photo Credit: canadapost.ca
I really am grateful to all of you for the help that you have been giving me – particularly Peter. I have discovered things that I would never have known but some of those things, (not to do with Peter as he obviously moved to a Country and town where most would love to be including me) have shown us a great deal of sadness too.
I only found this YouTube video yesterday and it is a part of British and Canadian history. If you get a chance, it really is a ‘Must Watch’. The link again is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-aDoWnK2Ic&feature=youtu.be
Kindest regards
Paul
Eine wirklich sehr heitere Geschichte. Dazu möchte auch ich meinen Kommentar abgeben: Bekanntlich lebten wir in der DDR ja in einer “Mangelwirtschaft”, obwohl man das, streng genommen, auf den Alkohol nicht immer beziehen konnte.(Ist ein extra Thema!) Aber bezüglich Wein gab es oft nur übersüßen Weißwein aus Ungarn, der zu heftigem Kopfschmerz führte. Da wir in den Gärten unserer Großfamilie Obst im Überfluss hatten, begannen wir bald mit der eigenen Herstellung von Wein aus den verschiedensten Früchten: Apfel, Sauerkirsche, Hagebutten…
Die Äpfel wurden in unserem Waschhaus in Stücke geschnitten und dann mit einer handelsüblichen Küchenmaschine zu Brei verarbeitet. Zum Trennen von Saft und Fruchtfleisch haben wir die Wäscheschleuder benutzt (die damals noch nicht in der Waschmaschine integriert war). Dann kam alles in große 10- und 20-Liter-Ballons, mit Hefe und Zucker versetzt und mit einem Gärröhrchen verschlossen. So standen sie dann wochenlang in Küche, Schlafzimmer,… herum und mussten auch regelmäßig umgefüllt werden. Dazu namen wir einen Kunststoffschlauch (ähnlich der Benzinleitung beim “Trabant”!), saugten mit dem Mund an und ließen es dann im freien Fall laufen. Mein Sohn (damals im Kindergartenalter) machte das viel Spaß und er half seinem Onkel oft dabei. So wunderten wir uns zunächst, dass er auf der Heimfahrt mit dem “Trabant” fröhlich sang und erzählte, was sonst nicht seine Art war. Er hatte sehr lange an dem Schlauch gesogen und es war ein süßer Saft!!
Please note that WordPress.com, whose services I am using for hosting this blog, does not allow links and other connections to the web in your comments. This is – the way I understand it – done strictly for security reasons. In other words, only text messages are allowed in the comments. However, you can always email me additional material, such as photos and links, which in turn I may publish on your behalf.
For example, on the previous post, I received a comment from a user in Germany with a link to the following picture of the restored Frauenkirche in Dresden.
Restored Frauenkirche in Dresden
The Peter and Gertrud Klopp Family 