Labouring Children: British Immigrant Apprentices to Canada 1869–1924 by Joy Parr (review)

REVIEWS 381 efforts offwithmuchhonour?' 'Therewas,' shewrites, 'nodenying well-known history,' but, asAnn Davispointedout in thisjournal eightyearsago(L•V, March •973, 48-74),the academymissedthe opportunities giventhem to organizeworksfor the •9•5 San Francisco exhibitionand the Burlington Houseexhibitionin London in •9•. Furthermore, exhibitionsoutsidethe countryhad not alwaysbeenunder thejurisdictionof the academy. The Canadian government organized the •886 ColonialandIndianExhibition in London aswellastheartsection oftheParis Exposition of •9oo.And,asDavis pointed out,theNationalGallery's firstby-law gaveit therighttolendobjects ownedby the galleryto any accreditedorganizationin or outsideof the country.One couldcontinueplacingfact alongside Sisler's account of the controversy-asindeedonecouldof her tellingof the academy's rolein the Canadian War MemorialsFund-but suffice it to saythatI preferto viewthe affair moreasAnn Davispresented it: twoart institutions of verydifferent tastebattlingoverCanadianandinternational exhibitionrightsin a war that had power,prestige,and patronageat stake.The NationalGalleryand its clients, especially theGroup,won- andhaveneverlookedback.The RCA lost andneverreallyrecovered. When Sisler moves into the last third of her book, which deals with the post-Second WorldWarperiod,sheismoreathome.The prose flows smoothly andunfolds muchnewanduseful information. Attention isgiven tofrequently neglected sculptors, designers, andarchitects - allofwhomformtheacademy's membership. Illustrations, particularly those accompanying thelastchapters, introducesomenewandexcitingwork;in facttheillustrations, dispersed in severalclumpsthroughoutthe book,help to amendthe author'slackof discussion abouttheworksthemselves. There isalsoa comprehensive listof academy members, compiledfrom MissMcMann's book. StARIA ,I'IPPgTT Simon FraserUniversity Labouring Children: British Immigrant Apprentices toCanada •869-•924.joy PARR. London, Croom Helm; Montreal, McGill-Queen's UniversityPress,•98o. Pp.•8•. $•5.95. Untilatleastthe •9•os Canadawaswidelythoughttoofferexceptional rural opportunity; withoutwealthbutwithhardworkamancouldmakehiswaytoa kind of independencethat wasimpossible in Europeansocieties. It was, moreover,almostuniversallyacceptedby thosewho made policy,urban dwellers themselves, thatcountrylife wassuperiorto citylife.Yetit wasalso believed, especially inCanada, thatCanadian ruraldevelopment was heldback because toofewpeoplerecognized these'facts.' Thus,therewaswidesupport, 382 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW onbothsides of theAtlantic,for a numberof evangelical-sponsored British schemes torescue whatappeared tobeuncared-for children fromthepoverty andworse thatclearlyawaitedthemin industrialBritainbysending themto Canada for placement asworkers in Canadian farmfamilies. Between•868and•925some8o,oooBritishboys andgirlsweredespatched toCanada for placement inruralhomes. Of these children, fewerthan2oper centwereorphans andonly•o per centwereadmittedto Britishchildren's homesexclusivelybecauseof being in the moral danger that especially exercised theevangelical conscience; most,inshort,cametothehomes because acutefamilyeconomic hardshipleft the familylittlealternative. In lightof familystructures, values, andeconomics in rural Canada,these childrenwere unlikelyto be permanently placed.Rather,astheygrewandbecame more valuable asworkers, thesponsoring organizations moved themfromfamilyto familyand placeto place.If fewsucceeded in findingsurrogate familiesin Canada, a surprisingly largeproportion of thechildren wereable,sometimes in thefaceof sponsors' opposition, to maintainlinkswiththeirownfamilies. Ironically, in lightof thechild-savers' mythology, following theexpiryof the children's indentureships ruralCanada failedtoholdmost ofthem:sooner or latertheyjoinedCanada's ownrural-urbanmigration, for thesensible reason thatpersonal andeconomic benefits weremoreabundant inthetowns thanin thecountryfor those withoutthecapitaltobuygoodland. JoyParr'sbookisa short-too short,I wouldsay(netof bibliography and notes thereareonly•2opages of text)- butextremelyableexploration of the implications of thisstory.It isbased onimpressively broadanddeepresearch anddrawswith particulareffecton theextraordinarydocumentation of the case filesof a numberof child-saving organizations, notably thelargest, the Barnardohomes.Indeed,thewillingness of suchagencies toopentheirfiles andtoriskmisinterpretation andcriticism isdeserving of special commendation .Certainlyit wouldhavebeeneasyfor theauthortowritea sensationalist account, full of scandal,criticism, and censure, had shebeen inclined to score points simplistically. Insteadsheshows a matureand,inthebestsense of the word,sympathetic recognition oftheperspectives ofalltheparties concerned, in particular thechildrenthemselves but alsothe poorBritishfamilies who gavethemup,thevarious Britishorganizers andCanadian officials involved, theCanadian communities andfamilies withwhomthechildren cametostay, andthe criticsof the schemes overtheir longhistory.Similarly, theauthor's very extensiveevidenceand analysis-including much statistical work (described brieflyinanappendix)-arenotflauntedbut,if anything, understated. The bookiswell-grounded alsoin the international andintellectual contexts thatshaped the movement it describes. Labouring Children represents social history of thehighest quality. DOUGLAS MC CALLA TrentUniversity ...