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In 1912, my maternal grandmother and great aunt — Lily (age 11) and Mae (age 5) — arrived in Canada from Liverpool, England. Their mother had died, and their father was gravely ill, unable to care for them. In those days, children without guardians were sent to orphanages.
Lily and Mae arrived in Halifax on the very day the Titanic sank. They were adopted by a good Canadian family who had lost two daughters in infancy. They became part of the thousands of children brought from the UK to Canada in the early 20th century, known as the British Home Children. Today, it’s estimated that about one million Canadians are descendants of these children.
Their lives went fairly smoothly until an incredible, heartbreaking discovery. After their adoptive parents died, Lily and Mae found a stack of letters while cleaning the house. To their shock, the letters were all from their biological father in England. He hadn’t died. He had written many times, asking only that his daughters write back to let him know they were safe.
Their adoptive parents had hidden the letters, fearing that if Lily and Mae knew their father was alive, they might want to return to him — and they would lose two more daughters. The tragedy is that their father lived the rest of his life never knowing if his girls were dead, alive, abused, or happy.
This story is part of Canada’s history, and part of mine. It deserves to be remembered.
Presenting: The Lily & Mae Earrings— a tribute to resilience, loss, and the countless untold stories of the British Home Children.
Please take a moment to learn more about the British Home Children and share their legacy.
Silver plate, alxa Chalcedony.
Available in pink, green, dusty coral.
In 1912, my maternal grandmother and great aunt — Lily (age 11) and Mae (age 5) — arrived in Canada from Liverpool, England. Their mother had died, and their father was gravely ill, unable to care for them. In those days, children without guardians were sent to orphanages.
Lily and Mae arrived in Halifax on the very day the Titanic sank. They were adopted by a good Canadian family who had lost two daughters in infancy. They became part of the thousands of children brought from the UK to Canada in the early 20th century, known as the British Home Children. Today, it’s estimated that about one million Canadians are descendants of these children.
Their lives went fairly smoothly until an incredible, heartbreaking discovery. After their adoptive parents died, Lily and Mae found a stack of letters while cleaning the house. To their shock, the letters were all from their biological father in England. He hadn’t died. He had written many times, asking only that his daughters write back to let him know they were safe.
Their adoptive parents had hidden the letters, fearing that if Lily and Mae knew their father was alive, they might want to return to him — and they would lose two more daughters. The tragedy is that their father lived the rest of his life never knowing if his girls were dead, alive, abused, or happy.
This story is part of Canada’s history, and part of mine. It deserves to be remembered.
Presenting: The Lily & Mae Earrings— a tribute to resilience, loss, and the countless untold stories of the British Home Children.
Please take a moment to learn more about the British Home Children and share their legacy.
Silver plate, alxa Chalcedony.
Available in pink, green, dusty coral.