Searching for a Barnardo Home Child

Sheila D. on Facebook asked for help finding her uncle Frederick Cook who arrived in Canada as a Home Child in 1923 or 1924. Apparently family members were told that Barnardo's had no records for Frederick.

I suggest that Sheila write to Barnardo's on her own and ask them to check for Frederick. Barnardo's Family History Service deals with enquiries regarding records of individual children — various services are available.I had great success with using their services for one of my husband's ancestors.

In any case I decided to have a search to see what I could find. Frederick Cook appears in the online database for British Home Children found on Library and Archives Canada.

Given Name(s):Fredrick [sic]
Surname:COOK
Gender:M
Age:11
Year of Arrival:1923
Ship:MELITA
Date of Departure:1923-04-07
Port of Departure:Southampton
Date of Arrival:1923-04-15
Port of Arrival:Saint John
Party:Barnardo Homes
Destination:Toronto and Peterborough, Ontario
Comments:First party in 1923, 132 boys and 12 girls
Type of Records:Other Government of Canada records
Microfilm Reel Number:C-4716
Reference:RG 76, Vol. 52, File 2209, part 4, Documents from Immigration Branch, Central Registry Files
Source:Library and Archives Canada
Database Item Number:102349

Armed with the information of his ship and arrival year, I looked in the Canada, Ocean Arrivals (Form 30A), 1919-1924 found on Ancestry. He is found there with details which may be helpful.


There are other entries on Library and Archives Canada for a Fred Cook which may be for Sheila's uncle. One is from 1924 and is a photograph published in "Ups and Downs" (magazine published by the Canadian Branch of Dr. Barnardo's Homes, Toronto), November 1924. Page Number: 11. Issue Number: 3. Volume Number: 26

She can find these entries for herself (1924, 1927 and 1928) and order copies from the Archives. I had great success using those entries to find information on the ancestor of a client.

Sheila can also search the Guardianship records on the same site. There is a great deal of information in those and they too can be ordered at a reasonable cost. Start at the Home Children 1869-1932 database online.

Example of a Juvenile Inspection Report

The Juvenile Inspection Reports are another source for finding information on a Home Child ancestor. These records date from 1920 to 1932; however, there are a few from 1911 to 1917 and after 1932. They are available free on Heritage.

For the surname COOK you need microfilm reel ​T-15421. Just type that into the search box on the Heritage site and then browse the images. The records are in alphabetical order