Maria Rye, a British feminist, brought girls to this home in Niagara from 1869 until 1895. The Church of England Waifs and Strays Society took over her work and the home remained in use until World War I. The building had once been the jail for Niagara. The home included offices, dormitories and residential quarters for the staff, usually one clerk and one matron. Girls did not live in the home. They stopped there for a few days after they arrived from England and awaited placement. Some young apprentices who failed in their situations were returned to the home for advice or discipline but the emigration agencies could not afford to have their wards in residential care in Canada.
