This book examines the organized emigration of some eighty thousand children from Britain to Canada in the half century between Canadian confederation in 1867 and 1917, when the wartime dangers posed to the transatlantic crossing brought the enterprise to a halt. In analyzing the driving forces behind the trans-shipment of so many children, Parker is faced with the task of unraveling the multiplicity of strands that were woven into the controversial story of child migration on both sides of the Atlantic. The structure of the book, with its many parts, chapters, and subcategories pays testimony to this challenge. It is an effective formula, guiding readers expertly through the multitude of colorful personalities, agencies, and institutions concerning themselves with child emigration.

Parker begins by demonstrating the increasingly favorable light in which child emigration came to be regarded in the 1860s, when it began to be seen as a solution to many of Britain’s social and economic problems. Industrial recession, which fueled fears of pauperism and criminality, was then harnessed to an evangelical revival that gave a theological stamp of approval to the practice. Large numbers of destitute and supposedly uncontrollable children whose labor was rendered increasingly obsolete by new technologies could be rehabilitated through physical removal to the settler colonies of the empire, particularly Canada. In the wide-open spaces of the senior dominion, where the economy was still very much dependent on a large reserve of manpower, children could become productive members of society. The overwhelmingly rural environment would also, it was argued, counteract the deleterious moral influences associated with urbanization and industrialization in Britain. Unlike adults, children could be saved from such influences because of the widespread belief that their characters had not yet been permanently marked by the ravages of poverty, destitution, and depraved surroundings. Such convictions drove the child emigration initiatives throughout the period under review, from the earliest ventures undertaken by Maria Rye, Annie Macpherson, and William Quarrier to the better-known, more extensive schemes operated by Thomas Barnardo and the Salvation Army. At the turn of the century the new science of eugenics and a surge in imperialist sentiment superimposed a new dimension on the argument. The strength of the empire depended on consolidating imperial ties through populating the dominions with the future mothers and fathers of loyal British stock.

The activities of the child emigrationists did not go unchallenged. Canadian objections came from trade unions, doctors, and civic authorities. Child migrants were seen as cheap laborers who depressed wages and were also more likely to become public charges because they lacked any familial support network. Eugenicists further objected to the gene pool being polluted with what they perceived as “inferior stock.” At the same time, however, the productive capacity of the child immigrants could contribute beneficially to developing the Canadian economy. The dominion government therefore trod a fine line, keen to take advantage of ample cheap labor but anxious not to offend Canadian sensibilities, and it publicly disassociated itself from the private activities of the emigrationists on the grounds that these were beyond its jurisdiction.

Such ambivalence fueled debates about inspection that were never satisfactorily resolved throughout the period under review. Indeed, British and Canadian authorities seemed to be constantly at odds over the allocation of responsibility for the migrants, their main priority being to maintain standards of “suitability” rather than to protect the welfare of the children. There was, for example, no obligation to register any organization claiming to be involved in child emigration, and rarely were any steps taken to verify the character of the individual(s) involved. British child emigrationists could exploit the absence of any effective transatlantic policing system and often sent children to Canada without the consent of their parents.

In the early years of the twentieth century, however, Canadian attitudes shifted, and child migrants began to be more openly solicited in response to a growing shortage of agricultural labor. In addition, child immigration paled alongside the huge increase in overall immigration to the dominion. At the same time, in Britain technological advances had diminished the need for labor in a market that was already under pressure from a growing population. The increasing compression of the age range within which Poor Law children were emigrated also played a significant role, as did the raising of the school leaving age to twelve in 1899. Many of the leading figures in child emigration died at the beginning of the twentieth century, ending their work in the field. Longevity of the schemes was largely dependent on the formalization of their administrations into a corporate identity that provided a measure of financial security, Barnardo’s being a prominent example.

Parker concludes his book with an assessment of the outcomes of child emigration in Canada during the period under review. Drawing on a number of studies, including the work of Joy Parr and contemporary testimonies of those who were sent, as well as more recent accounts from those expatriated to Australia, Parker demonstrates how the dominant message is the pain of a lost identity. Children were denied information about who they were and where they came from and were often stigmatized as outsiders on the periphery of a society that did not accept them. Although there was little understanding of psychological stresses a century ago, Parker argues that enough was known about the other risks associated with child emigration—the lack of supervision and support, the frequent relocation of many children, denial of education, and examples of harsh treatment—and that these considerations should have deterred the emigrationists from unregulated expansion of their schemes.

Parker thus reaches a damning conclusion, despite the concessions he makes. The final part of his analysis is entitled “Reckoning,” and the author seems intent on making the past explain its actions to the present, and perhaps some will feel uncomfortable at his assumption of the role of judge and jury. Yet, without holding the past to account, one wonders if Parker could have written his narrative with the same compassion and understanding that makes the book so appealing.

The book’s focus is on Canada, which remained the favored destination throughout the period under review, and perhaps more comparative detail regarding the policies of other countries would have been beneficial. Nevertheless, the book is resplendent with detail and full of sophisticated yet accessible analysis. Encompassing a wide spectrum of themes, it should appeal not only to students of history but to those interested in law, politics, medicine, and economics.