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Three Checks and Balances

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the regulation of the emigration of children. The Local Government Board (LGB) (the successor to the Poor Law Board [PLB] in 1871) was responsible for the oversight and regulation of the activities of local boards of guardians, and this included the emigration of children in their charge. In particular the central authority was required to approve the departure of each child individually. As a result important questions arose, especially about the proper interpretation and application of the law, as well as about how policy should be framed. In sharp contrast, the activities of the private bodies and individuals, having taken children into their care, were not subject to any comparable regulation or scrutiny, except when they fell foul of certain general laws, such as that of habeus corpus. Nevertheless, many of the questions that surfaced in connection with the emigration of Poor Law children were equally pertinent in the case of the trans-shipment of those who were the responsibility of private agencies. For this reason the way in which the issues confronting the LGB were dealt with has a wider relevance than would be suggested by the fact that, eventually, the majority of children sent to Canada were drawn from private organisations.

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the regulation of the emigration of children. The Local Government Board (LGB) (the successor to the Poor Law Board [PLB] in 1871) was responsible for the oversight and regulation of the activities of local boards of guardians, and this included the emigration of children in their charge. In particular the central authority was required to approve the departure of each child individually. As a result important questions arose, especially about the proper interpretation and application of the law, as well as about how policy should be framed. In sharp contrast, the activities of the private bodies and individuals, having taken children into their care, were not subject to any comparable regulation or scrutiny, except when they fell foul of certain general laws, such as that of habeus corpus. Nevertheless, many of the questions that surfaced in connection with the emigration of Poor Law children were equally pertinent in the case of the trans-shipment of those who were the responsibility of private agencies. For this reason the way in which the issues confronting the LGB were dealt with has a wider relevance than would be suggested by the fact that, eventually, the majority of children sent to Canada were drawn from private organisations.

Chapters in this book

  1. Front Matter i
  2. Contents v
  3. Acknowledgements ix
  4. List of Abbreviations x
  5. Preface xii
  6. Setting the Scene
  7. The Background 3
  8. Early Initiatives 19
  9. Setbacks and Anxieties
  10. Checks and Balances 39
  11. The Issue of Inspection 53
  12. The Field Expands
  13. The Second Wave of Organised Protestant Child Emigration 67
  14. The Catholic Response 91
  15. The ‘Unorganised’ Emigrationists 111
  16. The Canadian Dimension
  17. Canadian Demand for Child Labour 129
  18. Canadian Opposition to Child Immigration 151
  19. The Management of the Opposition in Canada 171
  20. The Ambiguities and Obfuscation
  21. The Reformatories and Industrial Schools 189
  22. The Children and their Parents
  23. What Befell the Children 209
  24. Parents’ Rights, Consent and Legislation 235
  25. A Chapter Closes
  26. Into the Twentieth Century 253
  27. A Review
  28. Explanation and Assessment 273
  29. Notes 295
  30. References 333
  31. Index 345
Uprooted
This chapter is in the book Uprooted
https://doi.org/10.56687/9781847422903-006

Chapters in this book

  1. Front Matter i
  2. Contents v
  3. Acknowledgements ix
  4. List of Abbreviations x
  5. Preface xii
  6. Setting the Scene
  7. The Background 3
  8. Early Initiatives 19
  9. Setbacks and Anxieties
  10. Checks and Balances 39
  11. The Issue of Inspection 53
  12. The Field Expands
  13. The Second Wave of Organised Protestant Child Emigration 67
  14. The Catholic Response 91
  15. The ‘Unorganised’ Emigrationists 111
  16. The Canadian Dimension
  17. Canadian Demand for Child Labour 129
  18. Canadian Opposition to Child Immigration 151
  19. The Management of the Opposition in Canada 171
  20. The Ambiguities and Obfuscation
  21. The Reformatories and Industrial Schools 189
  22. The Children and their Parents
  23. What Befell the Children 209
  24. Parents’ Rights, Consent and Legislation 235
  25. A Chapter Closes
  26. Into the Twentieth Century 253
  27. A Review
  28. Explanation and Assessment 273
  29. Notes 295
  30. References 333
  31. Index 345
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