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:
Not every BICA boy is on this list, but most are. Here you will find information about the name and age of the boy, the organization that was responsible for him and the ship, dates of travel and destination.
Passenger Records
Researching BICA boys who came to Canada is limited by the number of resources available. You may have discovered their relationship to BICA through a passenger record.
Each boy should be able to be found on two passenger lists:
- On Ancestry, you can search the “UK, Outward Passenger Lists, 1890-1960“. If you are using ancestry.ca you will likely have to search for this in the card catalog to find it. This record set is also available on findmypast. These passenger lists are often easier to read but have less information in them than the Canadian passenger lists. The boys are often listed as a group travelling together.
- Also on Ancestry, you can search “Canadian Passenger Lists, 1865-1935” These lists are much more revealing. The most important piece of information you will find here is the name and address of the boy’s closest relative in the UK.
- Again, on Ancestry, “Canada, Ocean Arrivals (Form 30A), 1919-1924” has a very small percentage of the boys who came to Canada through the Boy’s Hostel before they were officially accredited in May 1924 and to the end of 1924. Most of these boys came from Scotland through Cossar Farms, run by George Cossar.
Juvenile Inspection Report Cards
All juveniles who came to Canada under the supervision of the government through the Dominion Supervisor of Juvenile Immigration were supposed to have had their situations inspected on a regular basis to be sure that their caregivers were treating them well and providing food, wages, clothing, schooling, and access to church. What remain of these inspections for the boys who came over with BICA are microfilmed cards with dates of inspection, name of farmer and general location of the farm. There is usually a notation about when the boy graduated from the program or if he returned to the UK. If the boy died while in the program, there would be a notation regarding that as well.
When researching BICA boys, use the following microfilm numbers to search for his inspection report on Canadiana Heritage. Click on the appropriate microfilm number in the search results and search through the records which are organized alphabetically.
Microfilm Number
Name Range
- T-15420
- T-15421
- T-15422
- T-15423
- T-15424
- T-15425
- T-15426
- T-15427
- A to CARDNO, Leslie
- CARDWELL, Andrew to EVANS, Arthur E.
- EVANS, Arthur L. to HENDERSON, Ann F.
- HENDERSON, Charles H. to LOCK, Annie
- LOCK, Herbert to O’BRIEN, Samuel
- OBRIEN, Thomas to SHAW, Victor
- SHAW, Walter A. to WEALE, Walter
- WEALLS, Eric to ZYCZYNSKI, Leon
Researching BICA Files
When researching BICA, few of the British Immigration and Colonization Association’s own files remain. Unfortunately, an individual file for each boy does not exist.
Library and Archives Canada holds a couple of physical books with accounting information in them and the minutes of British Immigration and Colonization Association meetings.
There are two other sets of documentation:
A. The correspondence files between the Department of Immigration and Colonization and the British Immigration and Colonization Association. A number of boys names appear in this correspondence, but usually only if there is something irregular about their situation.
B. Three reels of microfilm which contain more than 2500 pages of immigration records regarding boys who were brought over between March 1924 and December 1927. Each boy may be found on:
a Medical Certificate:
a “Form A” List of Immigrant Children on Board:
an Arrivals and Placements List:
Where else can you learn more?
Using the tools mentioned here you can discover something about where your BICA boy was in the years he was in the program. It would be difficult to fill in the blanks unless you find newspaper reports, school records, church records or can contact people who knew or met him.
I live in Alexandria, Ontario where we have the Glengarry County Archives. All our local newspapers have been digitized and are available online for free. While researching local home children, many of them are mentioned in The Glengarry News, especially if they stayed here for any length of time.
If you’re lucky, your home child will have lived somewhere with a local paper.
Some BICA Boy Stories:
BICA Boys group, arrived July 4th 1930 
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 …
Dianne McCosker
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 …
Peter Mitchell
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 …
William Ford
of Stockton, Durham, England
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 …
James Martin McKenzie
My great uncle, James McKenzie was killed at Ypres in 1915. His son James, born in 1910, sailed from Glasgow to Quebec on the Metagama on 3rd July 1925. …
A Love for the ocean
My father Alfred “Alf” Henry Griffiths, age 17 arrived in Halifax, Canada aboard the Regina, from the port of Liverpool, England in April 1928 My dad …
Kate Hendy- researching Stanley Lethbridge(uncle)
My Uncle Stanley Charles Lethbridge went to Canada and while my husband and I have been traveling here we visited Halifax Pier 21, I asked if my Uncle …
Frank Jamieson
My father came to Canada on the mont royal in April 1929 from Greenock in Scotland and returned in December 1930. Because of the depression, what I want …
George Stonehouse
My father was one of these young boys. He was sent to a farm in Howick Quebec when he first arrived. He was very disappointed with the poor treatment …
John Charles Skan and Herbert Sidney Skan BICA boys Sept 1925
My father ( John ) age 14 and his brother (Herbert) aged 16 arrived in Quebec City on the Alaunia September 25, 1925 from Liverpool, England. Their immigration …