Quarrier’s Canadian Family

is an association of Scottish "home children" and their families. From 1870 to 1936 the Orphan Homes of Scotland founded by William Quarrier participated in the British child relocation program sending more than 7,000 young people to Canada where they were employed, in the main, as farm labourers. Many of these children were stigmatized for life by the rejection they experienced in the new land.

Quarriers Canadian Family was formed in 1996 to bring closure to the pain felt by many amilies and to educate Canadians to the astounding contribution made to the nation by these hildren.

A 1996 reunion gathering in Kingston, Ontario was attended by more than 300 people including 17 Quarriers children ranging in age from 94 to a mere 82 years young.

The association was born through the efforts of Quarriers Scotland, now that nation's 2nd largest charitable organization. Their former Chief Executive, Gerald Lee assigned high priority to re-establishing contact once lost with Canadian children.

William Quarrier, a Scottish businessman who himself, as a young child experienced extreme poverty, dedicated his life to improving conditions for all those needing help. Starting by providing young street-boys with shoe shine kits, which funding had to be repaid, he eventually raised money throughout Scotland to build a village where children in need could be housed in conditions close to a home environment. Each cottage housed up to thirty children under the care of a "father and mother". Children were taught self-reliance and were well educated in the village school.

Today Quarriers is no longer synonymous with orphan homes. In 1998 they provided £11,000,000 in services to the Scottish community with new outreach programs for children, families and young people and a wide range of services to enhance the life of people with a disability.

This site is dedicated to those who came to Canada from Quarriers.

For more information on Quarriers Scotland contact Quarriers Head Office, Quarriers Village, Bridge of Weir, Renfrewshire, Scotland, PA11 3SX or alternatively you may fill in the genealogy form