Share this Story : The Sarnia Observer Copy Link Email X Reddit Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr

Reflections: Armenian orphans settled in Perth County more than a century ago

The Armenian Relief Association of Canada helped relocate the young survivors of the genocide

In the 1920s, the Armenian Relief Association of Canada assisted by helping get more than 100 Armenian orphans admitted to Canada. The ages of these children ranged from eight to 18. Many of these children were orphaned during the Armenian genocide in the historical Ottoman Empire during the First World War. Survivors of this genocide were later victims of the Turkish War of Independence from 1919 to 1922. It has been estimated that between 660,00 and 1.75-million Armenians were killed in total during both events. Around 3,000 Armenian refugees made their way to Corfu, an island off the northwest coast of Greece.

A large group of the refugees were orphans. Sadly, the lives of the refugees were very difficult for the first few years on Corfu since many lived in nearly uninhabitable buildings. In 1923, during a military crisis between Greece and Italy, the Italian navy bombarded the island of Corfu, with the attack focusing on the Old Fortress, which at that point had been demilitarized and housed Armenian refugees and orphans. This resulted in the death of around 20 civilian refugees, with many more injured.

Reflections: Armenian orphans settled in Perth County more than a century ago Back to video

Thankfully, despite these horrific circumstances, some Armenian orphans survived and, through humanitarian efforts, were housed in an orphanage in Corfu, with some later sent to the mainland in Greece to be fostered and eventually integrated into Greek society. Others were sent to more distant places like Canada. The news of what was happening to the people of Armenia was making its way to the front pages of newspapers all over the world. Canadians were struck by the tragedy, and money was raised to help the children orphaned by the conflict, with the federal government being lobbied to assist with finding the children shelter in Canada.

The first group of orphans from Corfu to land in Canada comprised 50 boys. They arrived first in Quebec in 1923, after which they travelled to a farmhouse in Georgetown. That farmhouse, later called the Georgetown Armenian Boys’ Farm, was a 200-acre “training orphanage” modelled after industrial schools that taught vocational training, domestic training and manual labour. The boys were educated in agriculture while on the farm and assisted with farm labour. The boys housed there later became known as “Georgetown Boys,”

A second group of 100 Armenian orphans arrived in Canada shortly after the first, coming from a different orphanage in Beirut, Lebanon, and this time including both boys and girls. The children were eventually fostered in homes throughout Ontario. The boys were typically sent to work on farms while the girls worked as domestic labour or maids. The project to house Armenian children in Canada was later taken over by the United Church of Canada before ending in 1930.

A handful of the Armenian children were sent to live in homes in Perth County, several of whom were recorded as still living in these homes in the 1931 census, a year after the Georgetown project ended. One such child was Garabed Kaloustian. According to the 1931 census, Garabed was born in Türkiye and came to Canada in 1923 at only eight years old. He was sent to live and work at the farm of Milton and Valeria Filsinger in Wallace Township. By the time the 1931 census was taken, Garabed was 16 years old. He had been paid $100 for 12 months of labour on the farm which, with inflation, would equate to around $2,000 today, or around $40 to $50 per week.

Another Armenian child sent to Perth County was Harmine Garabedian. She was born in Türkiye in 1917 and arrived in Canada at the age of 10. According to the 1931 census, she had been sent to live with Herbert and Catherine Craigs on their farm in Blanshard Township, her occupation listed as “student.” Later in life, she moved to York, Ont., where she married Charles Karajian in 1940, and went by the name “Helen.” She died in Scarborough in 1981.

Lastly, Yervant Makinisian was another “Georgetown Boy” who was rehomed in Perth County. Aged 15 in the 1931 census, Yervant arrived in Canada in 1924. He was listed as a student and boarder in the home of Theresa and James Wright, a mechanic in a local garage, on Huron Street in Mitchell. Yervant’s declaration paperwork for his passage to Canada noted he was unable to read or write any language, and was one of the children who came from the orphanage in Corfu, Greece. Yervant was believed to be the last living Georgetown Boy before passing away in 2004.

While it is difficult to track the lives of these three Armenian children after they reached adulthood, it appears they moved from Perth County later in life. The Armenian Church Diocese of Canada states that the majority of the Armenian population in Canada now lives in Toronto and Montreal, Que., with smaller communities existing in Hamilton, Ottawa, St. Catharines and Vancouver, B.C. among other cities.

The staff at the Stratford-Perth Archives would love to hear local stories or see records, such as photographs, related to the Armenian children who were living in Perth County in the 1920s and ‘30s. If you have a story to share, please contact us at archives@perthcounty.ca.

The Stratford-Perth Archives welcomes donations to the collection and is open for drop-in research from Tuesday to Friday, as well as other times, including Saturdays, by appointment. For details about what’s available during Reading Room drop-in hours and appointments for in-depth research, please visit www.perthcounty.ca/StratfordPerthArchives, call us at 519-271-0531 ext. 259 or email archives@perthcounty.ca. 

Share this Story : The Sarnia Observer Copy Link Email X Reddit Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr

Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.

© Sarnia Observer