8. A Brief History of St. Patrick's Catholic Orphanage
British Home Children in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan
Now that I have introduced you to a few of the British Home Children who lived at St. Patrick’s Catholic Orphanage in Prince Albert – and there are many more of their stories to come – I thought I would take some time to tell you a bit about the history of the institution.
In 1899, the abandoned former Convent of the Faithful Companion of Jesus (also known as St. Anne’s Convent) was purchased by Bishop Albert Pascal OMI (Oblates of Mary Immaculate) and converted into the home of St. Patrick’s Orphanage. There were originally seven children but after it officially opened on 18 April 1900, the number of children grew rapidly.
The driving force behind the growth in the number of children and a key figure in the operation of the orphanage was Brother Edouard Marie Courbis OMI (1865-1942).
Born in Vernoux, France on 27 January 1865, Brother Courbis followed Bishop Pascal to Canada in the fall of 1891. While the Bishop proceeded to Prince Albert, young Courbis entered the noviate of the Oblates at Lachine, Quebec. He professed his vows on 21 September 1892, then boarded the train for Prince Albert.
From 1895 to 1900, Brother Courbis was assigned to work at St. Michael’s, the Indian Residential School at Duck Lake. In 1900, Bishop Pascal needed help with the newly opened orphanage in Prince Albert. He sent for Brother Courbis, who at once took up residence at the orphanage.
There were a few local children in the institution but little money to sustain them. During the winter of 1900-1901, Brother Courbis contacted the authorities of the Catholic Emigration Society in England and was instrumental in bringing seventy British children to Prince Albert in three groups sent in 1901, 1903, and 1907. This transfer of impoverished children was financially motivated. In exchange for assuming responsibility for the children, the orphanage was paid $11,000. This money was used to add two wings to the orphanage building.
Conditions at St. Patrick’s Catholic Orphanage, located on a block between Fifteenth and Thirteenth Streets West in Prince Albert, were not great in its early years. Quite simply, the institution was not prepared for children. “There was no money and means of financing the institution was overlooked,” writes Monica H. Plante, author of a history of the orphanage (1988). “It was taken for granted that Divine Providence would care for the needs of the children.”
In a letter to the Catholic Union and Times on 4 February 1904, Brother Courbis appealed to readers for quilts and blankets “on behalf of over fifty poor little children who are suffering very much from the severe cold of our northern winter, especially at night, for want of sufficient bedding.” On 25 November 1905, Brother Courbis wrote to the Irish Standard, “If you knew, as we do, the pitiful circumstances of these poor forsaken little ones of Christ, you would be moved to tears. … Our harvest is for the most part a failure. What, then, am I to give my hungry orphans to eat if you close your heart and hand to them?”
In February 1906, a fire all but destroyed the newly constructed wing which housed the boys’ dormitory and classrooms for the orphanage. Brother Courbis renewed his appeals for financial assistance. “The insurance is very small, and is far from covering the heavy losses. Still the home has to be rebuilt as soon as possible. Who shall help us to do so?” Courbis wrote to the readers of the Irish Standard on 10 March 1906. “[N]ever has our distress been greater than today. All is gone, not even a blanket is left. … I do not ask you to help us in building a house with every possible comfort. No! All I want is a shelter for our children.”
Brother Courbis’ appeal must have been successful, for on 14 November 1906 he wrote again to the Irish Standard stating that the response had been “both noble and generous.” The February fire “threw us far back on our progressive path,” however Courbis was happy to report that “although our Orphanage is still standing on but a very weak basis, it is on the way to prosperity.”
Part of the reason for Brother Courbis’ optimism was the newly established orphanage farm, set up in 1903-1904 in the White Star district north of Prince Albert. Brother Courbis strongly believed that a farm would set St. Patrick’s Orphanage on a self-sustaining financial footing. The story of the orphanage farm will be the subject of my next post.
St. Patrick’s Catholic Orphanage was forced to raise its own funds because there was no government funding. The City of Prince Albert was apparently unable to provide sufficient financial assistance. In early 1916, Father Brueck asked the City for a tax exemption on the land on which the orphanage stood; this land had been exempted from taxation the previous year. A motion was passed at City Council on 5 March 1916 authorizing the finance committee to meet with Father Brueck to discuss the matter, “but the opinion of some members of council seemed to be that the orphanage was being well treated.” Mayor Knox asked “who would pay the piper if the council exempted whole blocks of land.” Alderman Muir said he did not think it fair to exempt a corporation and put the burden on the individual taxpayer.” [Prince Albert Daily Herald, 6 March 1916]
The Government of Saskatchewan under Premier Walter Scott was unwilling to grant support for the orphanage. Provisions for social welfare during the first years after Saskatchewan became a province in 1905 were under the control of the Department of Agriculture. In 1906, the department refused a government grant to the St. Patrick’s Orphanage, determining that the orphanage did not fall under the heading of institutions and was, therefore, not eligible. In his response to Father Brueck’s appeal for funding in January 1909, Premier Scott wrote that public institutions destroyed the sense of responsibility of a child and “he is sent out into the world with no initiative and no real ability to do for himself.” It was not until 1920 that St. Patrick’s received a grant of $2000 from the Province to assist in the education of the 87 children under its care. [Source: Kimberly Anne Marschall, “Raising Juvenile Delinquents: The Development of Saskatchewan’s Child Welfare Laws, 1905-1930.” Masters thesis, University of Saskatchewan 2003.]
The Sisters of Providence came from France in 1901 to teach the children at St. Patrick’s, but because they could not speak English, the children were required to speak French. “No doubt much misunderstanding arose among the French-speaking Sisters and the English-speaking British orphans,” Plante writes. “[T]he Sisters found it increasingly harder to care for and teach children whose language they could neither easily speak or understand.” Bishop Pascal saw the need, but it was not until July 1906 that three English-speaking Sisters of Charity arrived to teach the orphanage children.
School at the orphanage only lasted until Grade 8. After that, the boys either worked on Brother Courbis’ farm project or went to St. Louis or Muenster, Saskatchewan to continue their education. The girls could go on to Sion Academy in Prince Albert.
Fatal Fire
Just after 2:00 a.m. on 1 February 1947, a fire broke out in St. Patrick’s Catholic Orphanage. Although the mercury stood at 45 degrees below zero, residents along Thirteenth and Fifteenth Streets West rushed to the aid of 122 children and 18 staff members as they stumbled from the orphanage, many barefooted and clad only in their pyjamas. As the building roared in flames, citizens helped the children make the 300-yard-dash across the street to the warmth and safety of Holy Family Hospital. Not all escaped, however. Seven perished in the fire – six young girls and one of the sisters who cared for the children.
The Knights of Columbus were instrumental in the rebuilding of St. Patrick’s Orphanage after the disastrous fire. The new $270,000 facility was opened in November 1951 at Seventeenth Avenue West in the city.
The orphanage closed in June 1973. In his announcement of the closure, Father Clifford J. Tremblay, Director of the Catholic Orphanage, wrote, “Great strides were being made in the understanding of human behaviour, and these proved that care in orphanages was not always the answer to cases of children forced to live apart from their parents.” – As quoted in Plante; my emphasis.
My main source for this history is Sister Monica Plante’s book, St. Patrick’s Catholic Orphanage, 1903-1973, Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, 1988. Copies can be found at the Bill Smiley Archives at the Prince Albert Historical Museum, the Prince Albert Public Library, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Prince Albert, and online at Local Histories Collection, Libraries and Cultural Resources Digital Collections, University of Calgary. Click HERE to access a digital copy of Plante’s book.