Brantford Orphans' Home

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: Brantford, Ontario, Canada
Surname/tag: Orphanages

The Brantford Orphans' Home

The Brantford Orphans' Home on Sheridan Street in Brantford, Ontario, was opened in 1869 to provide a home and school for up to 30 girls. The first children who were admitted were British Home Children or children from the community whose parents had died or who were unable to care for them.

Ignatius Cockshutt, a prominent business figure in Brantford, owned the building, and the orphanage itself was managed by Thomas S. Shenston. His sister Jemima was its first matron.

Jemima Shenston

The following list of children is compiled from the Census of Canada, 1871, and the Brantford Orphans' Home Album 1869-71:

• Mary Ann Allen, 8, b. England
• Sarah Allen, 11, b. England, sister of Mary Ann Allen
• Georgianna Bennett, 7, b. Birkenhead, England
• Elizabeth Burns (Burn), 10, b. England
• Julia Ann Clement, b. 1866 Ontario
• Isabell Cowthard, 6, b. Ontario
• Louisa Folks, 6, b. England
• Annie Geary, 7, b. England
• Kate Geary, 11, b. England
• Annie Godfrey, 8, b. England
• Elizabeth Ann Hill, 5, b. Ontario
• Mary Johnstone (Mary Ann Johnston), 12, b. Ontario
• Clara Jones, 9, b. Ontario
• Sarah Ann Lyons aka Sarah Barlow, 5, b. Ontario
• Mary (Lillie) Marlatt, 5, b. Ontario
• Lucy Mills, 8, b. England
• Louisa Peters, 7, b. Ontario
• Ellen Sanders (Saunders), 5, born England
• Eliza Emily Scott, 10, b. Ontario
• Mary Stoits, 10, b. Ontario
• Kelly Taylor, b. 1861 Ontario
• Ellen Thomas, b. 1860 Ontario
• Elizabeth Thomas, sister to Ellen
• Charlotte Ann Wadsworth, 6, b. England
• Mary Jane Ward, b. 1862 Ontario
• Mary Williams, 6, b. Ontario

Sources

• "Canada Census, 1871," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M43K-WTZ : 19 March 2021), Jemima Shenstone, Brantford, Brant, Ontario, Canada; citing 1871; citing National Archives of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario.
• Brantford Orphans' Home Album, 1869-71, Toronto Public Library, Digital Archive