Irish Potato Famine

Beggars on the O'Connell estate at Derrynane, County Kerry. The Pictorial Times,December 14, 1846.

"Searching for potatoes is one of the occupations of those who cannot obtain out-door relief. …. What the people were digging and hunting for, like dogs after truffles, I could not imagine, till I went into the field, and then I found them patiently turning over the whole ground, in the hopes of finding the few potatoes the owner might have overlooked…but it is the only means by which the gleaners could hope to get a meal."Illustrated London News,December 22, 1849.

". . . I came to a sharp turn in the road, in view of that for which we sought, and of which I send you a sketch, namely, the packing and making ready of, I may say, an entire village-- for there were not more than half-a-dozen houses on the spot, and all their former inmates were preparing to leave. Immediately that my rev. friend was recognised, the people gathered about him in the most affectionate manner. . . He stood for awhile surrounded by the old and the young, the strong and the infirm, on bended knees, and he turned his moistened eyes towards heaven, and asked the blessing of the Almighty upon the wanderers during their long and weary journey."Illustrated London News, May 10, 1851

Irish Potato Famine

A boy ploughing at Dr. Barnardo'sIndustrial Farm, Russell, Manitoba, ca. 1900.

Home Children

Born, Theresa McKinney, 27 April, 1897, Belfast, Ireland.

Died, Teresa Wride, 31 December, 1918, Shedden, Ontario, Canada

As her story goes, Teresa's mother, Mary Elizabeth Fisher, and father, Francis McKinney, living in Belfast, Ireland, had a dispute over the religion in which their three daughters should be raised. Her father was Roman Catholic and her mother Protestant. It was long believed that Teresa's mother took the children to England and stayed with her sister in Weymouth so that they could be raised in the Presbyterian religion. It is said that she then changed their names to her maiden name. We now know this to be incorrect. What happened to Mary remained a mystery until 2002.

The records are somewhat contradictory now, but somewhere between 1906 and 1908 Mary took the girls and moved to 117 Lord Street, Belfast, without Frank. It must have been at this time that she changed the girls surnames to Fisher, her maiden name. Mary Elizabeth Fisher, aged 41 years, died of Pulmonary Tuberculosis, on May 2nd, 1908, at this address. Mary's death certificate shows her as being widowed at death, yet other records suggest that Frank was still alive and that she had left him.

The three girls were now abandoned and, as per Mary's request, were given shelter by a Protestant minister who placed the two younger girls, including Teresa, in the care of Barnardo's Homes. Sara, the oldest girl stayed with, and worked for, a former neighbour until she was able to emigrate to Canada.

Teresa and (sister) Minnie Fisher

Home Children

Details of the ships manifest for 19 September, 1912.

Home Children

Continuity and ChangeContinuity and Change

Industrial Revolution: Did changes in society make life better during the Industrial Revolution?

SS9 C&H:Roy

Treatment of ChildrenTreatment of Children

““Lower ClassLower Class”” LifeLife

Health and SanitationHealth and Sanitation

Population PatternsPopulation Patterns