Children and Indentured Servants

: Some were orphans, some were poor — many came from families who saw no other option, according to Toronto Star. With overcrowding, disease and homelessness rampant in Industrial Revolution-era England, the idea was to send the children to the expansive land of Canada, where they could help on farms and have a chance at a good life. Barnardo’s. Related:The century-long family secret . . . and a 30-minute unravelling Farmers paid a fee, and the children worked as indentured servants, until they came of age. The children were supposed to go to school, but this often depended on the farmer needs and harvest season. Some were treated well, taken in as members of the family; many were seen as little workers ; others were abused. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.