“From 1869 to 1932, more than 100,000 children between the ages of four and 18 were brought to Canada through the British Home Child Program.”
That’s how Rachel Lambie begins her article to be published in the September issue of the Townships Sun. The story is based on a Home Children exhibit currently at the Lac-Brome Museum, where Lambie is curator. The exhibit highlights the role of the Knowlton Distributing Home, with interpretive panels telling the stories of selected children.
The other Townships distributing home was in Sherbrooke, the Gibbs Home for Waifs and Strays. (Many other poverty-stricken children went to foster homes in Ontario or central Canada.)
But there’s more to this story, and our Eaton Corner Museum, in its quiet manner, is telling another important chapter of it in its own display.
In 2009, explained Sharon Moore, the Bampton family “were needing to downsize, so we received the panels with information and a trunk that would have come to Canada with a Home Boy. Since then, we’ve been given two more trunks, books and other documents.”
Sharon Moore is the Eaton Corner Museum’s vice-president. She said Sarge and Pauline Bampton family were the Quebec representatives for the British Home Children Advocacy & Research Association, now known as Home Children Canada. This organization was set up to help former Home Children and their families locate their personal documents, such as their birth certificate, and to connect with each other and with long-lost family members.
“The bulk of the documents from the Brampton’s were deposited with the ETRC [Eastern Townships Resource Centre],” Sharon wrote in an email. The current Home Children exhibit offers much to see, including three trunks that held all the possessions of three different children who probably ended up in the Haut-Saint-François. As part of the complete Museum visit, it is in the Academy building at the Eaton Corner Museum, 374 Route 253, Cookshire-Eaton.
The August opening hours are Thursday to Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the September hours are weekends only. Admission charged. Info: eatoncorner59@gmail.com, or call Sharon at 819-837-2643.
The touching story of one Home Boy is told in an article by Heather Darch on 100objects.qahn.org, where the trunk containing his possessions is Object No. 48. His name was Frederick Erasmus Charles Williams. “He was born in Farnham, Kent, England, on February 19, 1897,” she wrote. “He was not an orphan when he boarded the SS Victorian at the age of 15, along with 23 other boys. Everything he owned was packed into a lacquered pine box painted with a red cross on all four sides and stencilled with his final destination, the Gibbs Home.”
Frederick fought in World War I, and died of the Spanish Influenza at the age of 21.
COOKSHIRE PARK, Aug. 27
An outdoor concert by the SaxoLogie Ensemble, a quartet of saxaphones: soprano (Louis-Philippe Bonin), alto (Stéphane Jackson), tenor (Clio Theodoridis), and baritone (Jean-Philippe Godard): Their repertoire of chamber music ranges from baroque to modern, including works by Glass, Piazzola, and Browning. It’s in the Parc des Braves, 85 avenue du Parc, in the heart of Cookshire on Sunday, August 27, at 5 p.m. Free of charge, open to all.
TOWNSHIPPERS’ FESTIVAL, Sept. 9
Townshippers’ Day is back!
After three years off due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Townshippers’ Association has just announced its annual fall event, Townshippers’ Festival, is planned for Saturday, September 9. The festival will be at the Stone Circle in Stanstead, as a feature of Stanstead’s Septemberfest. In partnership with the Stanstead Recreational Association, the festival will include all of the usual attractions music, food, and kiosks for artisans and community groups, family activities, and more.
Septemberfest is an annual event organized by the Stanstead Recreational Association, a not-for-profit group that organizes activities for people of all ages in Stanstead. This popular festival includes music, food and drinks, and activities for children and families. This year, Townshippers’ Association will add some of the ever-popular elements of the Townshippers’ Festival into the mix, including artisan kiosks and kiosks from community and governmental organizations.
Uniquely, the 2023 event combines two popular fall festivals. “This event will offer Townshippers from across the region―and beyond―a chance to discover the municipality of Stanstead, a community that we feel exemplifies the core values of community involvement and inclusion that we, as Townshippers, share. We hope to see you there!” wrote Townshippers’ Association’s President, Donald Warnholtz.
Activities begin at noon and continue until 11 p.m., hosted by PACE, Phelps Helps, and the Haskell Library. A supper of poutine, fries and sausages is slated for 4:30 p.m., with beer from the Coaticook Microbrasserie. Music in the afternoon is by Mike Goudreau, and in the evening by The Midnight Groove. Fireworks are at 8:30 p.m.
For information, contact Paige Frost, Townshippers’ Association’s Festival and Outreach Coordinator at 819-566-5717 or ta@townshippers.org.
BROOKBURY, Sept. 23
A community garage sale is planned for Brookbury Hall on September 23, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. To reserve a large table (fee $10) and sell your wares, contact Brenda Bailey, 819-884-5984.
CHURCHES
Baptist. In-person Sunday services are in French at 9 a.m. and in English at 11 a.m. All services are at the Sawyerville Baptist Church, 33 rue de Cookshire. For information, please contact Pastor Michel Houle at 819-889-2819.
Anglican. All services in August are at 10 a.m., in varying locations. On August 20, the service is at St. Peter’s Anglican Church, 45 Principale West, Cookshire. On August 27, the service is at St. John’s Anglican Church, 436 Batley Road, Brookbury. For details, visit deaneryofstfrancis.com and click on the “Calendar” link. Info: 819-887-6802, or quebec.anglican.ca.
United. All services in August are at 10:30 a.m., in varying locations. On August 20 will be a service at Trinity United Church in Cookshire. On August 27 the service is to be at the Sawyerville United Church. Info: 819-889-2838. For pastoral care, call Rev. Spires at 819-452-3685.
Do you have news to share? Call 819-640-1340 or email rawrites@gmail.com by August 21 for August 30.