Child, nation, race and empire : child rescue discourse, England, Canada and Australia, 1850-1915 / Shurlee Swain and Margot Hillel.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Swain, Shurlee, author.

Hillel, Margot, author.

Series:

Studies in imperialism (Manchester, England)

Studies in imperialism

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Child welfare--England--History.

Child welfare.

Child welfare--Canada--History.

Child welfare--Australia--History.

Children--Institutional care--England--History.

Children.

Children--Institutional care--Canada--History.

Children--Institutional care--Australia--History.

Nationalism--England--History.

Nationalism.

Nationalism--Canada--History.

Nationalism--Australia--History.

Great Britain--Colonies--Social conditions.

Great Britain.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xii, 196 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Manchester : New York : Manchester University Press, 2010.

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

When General Charles Gordon lived at Gravesend in the 1860s, he turned himself into a child rescuer. This book contributes to understandings of both contemporary child welfare practices and the complex dynamics of empire. It analyses the construction and transmission of nineteenth-century British child rescue ideology. The book aims to explain the mentality which allowed the child removal policy to flourish. The disseminated publications by four influential English child rescue organisations: Dr. Barnardo's (DBH), the National Children's Homes (NCH), the Church of England Waifs and Strays Society (WSS) and the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), are discussed. The gospel of child rescue was a discursive creation, the impact of which would be felt for generations to come. The body of the child was placed within a familiar environment, rendered threatening by the new social, religious and moral meanings ascribed to it. Ontario's 1888 Children's Protection Act required local authorities to assume maintenance costs of wards and facilitated the use of foster care. Changing trends in publishing have created an opportunity for the survivors of out-of-home care to tell their stories. The book shows how the vulnerable body of the child at risk came to be reconstituted as central to the survival of nation, race and empire. The shocking testimony that official enquiries into the treatment of children in out-of-home 'care' held in Britain, Ireland, Australia and Canada imply that there was no guarantee that the rescued child would be protected from further harm.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

General editor's introduction

List of figures

Preface

List of abbreviations

1 The child as citizen

2 The gospel of child rescue

3 The body of the child

4 The body of the nation

5 The salvation of the race

6 The salvation of the empire

7 A new orthodoxy in child protection practice

8 Lost, stolen or forgotten

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 30 Mar 2026).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Restricted: Printing from this resource is governed by The Legal Deposit Libraries (Non-Print Works) Regulations (UK) and UK copyright law currently in force.

ISBN:

9781526118066

1526118068

9781526118059

152611805X

OCLC:

1232847590