BICA - Record Family History

British Immigration and Colonization Association Letterhead circa 1925

BICA: The British Immigration and Colonization Association

Destination: Montreal c/o BICA – 87 Osborne St. BICA or the British Immigration and Colonization Association began appearing on Canadian Ocean Arrival forms 30A in 1924 after the organization’s name was changed from British Immigration Aid Association. BICA’s New Focus on Juvenile Immigration The original plan of the British Immigration Aid Association to bring British […]

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The farmhouse in Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue bought by BICA. Taken by Patrick Campbell in 2000. With permission

Government Funding for BICA

BICA / Deborah Waddell

Negotiations for Government Funding Government funding was crucial to the survival of the British Immigration and Colonization Association. As early as 1924-1925, BICA had financial difficulties and approached the Department of Immigration and Colonization for a grant of $1,500 to cover a bank overdraft. During the Winter and Spring of 1926, meetings and communications

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BICA’s Problems

BICA / Deborah Waddell

Article published in The Globe newspaper, August 25, 1925. Accessed on ProQuest Historical Newspapers, May 2015. BICA’s Problems Some of BICA’s problems stemmed from their inexperience and the inadequacies of the personalities involved in their operations. Other problems originated in the social climate of the period. The demand for boys to work on farms was

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BICA group Duchess of York July 4, 1930, Q30EM with William Bert Weare

Researching BICA Boys

BICA / Deborah Waddell

Home Child Database Researching BICA boys can start with the same resources you would use to research any Home Child. One of the first places you can look is on Library and Archives Canada as noted elsewhere on this website: Home Child Database Not every BICA boy is on this list, but most are. Here

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Here’s a picture of Colin Lovatt (smallest one in the front with huge hat) from about 1917 when he would have been about 4. Outside the family home in Derbyshire with his two sisters, Nanny and Groom in pony and trap. By 1928 the family fortunes were in decline so it made sense for him to emigrate seeking a new life.

Colin Lovatt (1913 – 1986)

BICA / Deborah Waddell

BICA boy The following story was submitted by Charles Lovatt of Scotland, Colin Lovatt’s great uncle. A few additional details were provided by Deborah Waddell. The Lovatts of Heanor The youngest of four children, Colin was born into a very prosperous family with a pottery business that employed 400 men in Derbyshire. They had a

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BICA Boys group, arrived July 4th 1930

BICA / Deborah Waddell

by Gerald Weare(Boston, MA, USA) My father, William Bert Weare, was a BICA boy, arriving in Quebec July 4th 1930, in a party of 15. Unfortunately, he didn’t do well in Canada and returned to England in 1932, where he died in 1986. We have a photo of the group, taken beside the Duchess of

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Gordon Barton by Dianne McCosker

BICA / Deborah Waddell

by DIANNE MCCOSKER(Coffs Harbour, NSW, Australia) My father Gordon Barton arrived in Canada in 1929 aged 16yrs. He went to Howick, Quebec and worked on a farm there. From all accounts he was very happy there. He joined the church, sang, played a number of musical instruments, painted and played sports. The family that he

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Assisted passage with the Land Settlement going to Saskatoon Sask. I have found his name in the file for the Saskatchewen Boys Training Farm File so he was not a BICA

Peter Mitchell

BICA / Deborah Waddell

by BONNIE LONG(Alberta, Canada) I have recently found out this is how my father arrived in Canada from Scotland. He never spoke to his children on how he came to be here and if mom knew she never said either. I have found his record of arrival with 8 other boys but from there I

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Reginald Norgate BICA boy arrived January 1929

Reginald Ernest Norgate 15 years old arrived in Montreal 1929

BICA / Deborah Waddell

by Ada(Australia) My Uncle Reginald Ernest Norgate was aged 15 when he participated in the British Immigration and Colonization Associations effort to get the British to emigrate to Canada. He was Born in Farringdon, Hampshire 26th June 1914. Farming was the life he grew up in, being raised at Crows Farm. He was on the

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William Ford with his wife Bernice Wilson

William Ford of Stockton, Durham, England

BICA / Deborah Waddell

by Karen Ford Wilson(Collingwood, Ontario, Canada) My father, William Ford emigrated to Canada on the Montroyal in 1929 under the BICA program. He was 19 years old. His home life in England had been unstable after his father, William Ford, moved to India and his Mother, Elizabeth (nee Dunning), sent all the children to live

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