New Life in New Brunswick Transcript

Narrator: The land we now call Canada was first home to many different Indigenous peoples. The first Europeans started living here about five hundred years ago, seeking a better life in a new land. In 1835 in New Brunswick, workers for the New Brunswick and Nova Scotia Land Company clear the land first occupied by the Mi’kmaq to build a town. 

E.N. Kendall: This land is almost ready for more settlers like you. More people from England and Scotland will soon make this a fine place! 

Settler man 1: It's too much work! 

Settler man 2: In England, the land was already clear. None of these terrible, great stumps.

Settler man 1: And the winters weren’t so hard. 

Settler woman 2: Back home there were boys and girls we could hire to help. I have to grow a garden, make preserves, wash clothes and keep the fire going — all while trying to raise children.

E.N. Kendall: May I remind you that you could never have hoped to own land in England? Here, you are kings of all you can see!

Settler man 1: King of the stumps, maybe! 

E.N. Kendall: Patience! I am working on a plan to help. We are bringing pauper children from England to be your servants and labourers. Help for you, work for them, fewer mouths to be fed back there.

Settler woman 1: Little criminals, if you ask me. 

Settler woman 2: They’re just poor. They deserve a chance like we’ve had. 

E.N. Kendall: With a firm hand and the right training, you can help these unfortunate children improve their lives. 

Settler man 2: I certainly could use a boy around the farm. 

Settler woman 2: At least we won’t have to pay ’em.

Narrator:  Back in Great Britain, children from desperately poor families are often sent away. Along with children who have no parents, they must live in institutions. It’s a hard, uncertain life. Instead of going to school, they must earn money for those who look after them. 

Young John: They say they can’t find work for all of us. 

Young Jane: What will we do? 

Young George: Starve on the streets, no doubt.

Headmaster: Ungrateful little rats. Eat your food! Tomorrow we’re shipping you lot to the colonies. Hurry up! Move! 

Narrator: At the settlement in New Brunswick, the children are assigned to their new homes. 

Young Jane: Goodbye George! Good luck! 

Young John: Is it always so cold? 

Settler man 2: Today is quite pleasant. You have no idea how cold it’ll get! 

Settler woman 2: Your new home isn’t fancy, but there’s enough to eat. And it’s more than we had back home. 

Narrator: Some of the children are welcomed into their new homes. Others are not treated as well. 

Settler man 1: Get to work! 

Settler boy 1: Ha. Ha. Poor boy. Poor boy! Pauper boy! 

Settler boy 2: Dirty, dirty pauper boy! 

Settler woman 1: Don't touch him, you'll get fleas!

George: I’m not dirty! I’m only poor because my mum and dad died! 

Settler boy 1: Poor boy. Ha Ha! 

Narrator: As the years pass and the children grow into adults, they are finally able to make choices for themselves. 

John: Do you have to leave, George?

George: I’m sorry. I’ll miss you. I just can’t stay with those awful people one more day. 

Jane: Where will you go? 

George: West. Far, far away. Maybe I can get my own farm out on the prairies. Then I’ll never work for someone else again. 

Narrator: In 1835, the New Brunswick and Nova Scotia Land Company sent children from England to Canada to work in settlements as unpaid laborers. While life may have improved for some, others were not so lucky.