Museum of Childhood

A couple months ago my sister and brother-in-law were in town and we went to the V&A Museum of Childhood. The museum was opened in 1872 by the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) and was originally used to display items from the Wallace Collection. It started to focus on services for children in the 1920s and became an official Museum of Childhood in 1974.

Female prisoners from the Woking Gaol (jail) laid the fish scale pattern floor and students from the South Kensington Museum Mosaic Class created murals for the south wall. The day we went it was really busy with families and school groups, and many were enjoying the cafe. The museum has collections of toys, doll houses, children's clothing, furniture, and games from different time periods and countries.

We came to this museum to see a special exhibit on Britain's Child Migrants. It was heartbreaking as it discussed the children of poor families that were sent alone to commonwealth countries between 1869-1970. Below are examples of propaganda posters that were used to entice people to send their children off to a better life abroad.  

Many children were given homes in exchange for their work on farms. Sadly, the children were often seen as laborers instead of members of the family. They weren't allowed to go to school and were expected to work horribly long days. 

The exhibit followed one particular school in Australia that was set up for these child migrants. The children suffered horrible abuse and were sometimes told their families back home had died and they lost any opportunity to see them again as adults. 

We watched part of a documentary at the museum discussing the Child Migrants Trust, whose goal is to help former child migrants find information about their families and reunite them with surviving members. It was so sad to hear the stories of people who lost out on their childhood with their families but I am glad we saw the exhibit and learned more about this part of history.