John T Middlemore, after gaining his medical degree in the USA and travelling in Canada in his early 20s, was shocked to see the condition of the poorest children in the city when he returned to Birmingham, England. He was especially struck with the difference between the filthy, crowded slums and the wide clean spaces in Canada. He could see the opportunities available for young people there.

In 1872 Middlemore opened a home for boys on St Luke's Road, Birmingham and, shortly afterwards, a home for girls on nearby Spring Street. These two homes were known as the Children's Emigration Homes. The next year, in May, he brought 29 children from Liverpool to Quebec City, then on by train to Toronto, finding homes for them in Toronto and London, Ontario.

In the beginning, he used the Newsboys Lodgings in Toronto as a base of operations, but by 1874 had acquired use of Swart's Tavern on the outskirts of London and renamed it Guthrie Home. Guthrie Home remained the headquarters in Canada until 1890 when it was closed. Arrangements were made with Miss Macpherson to receive the Middlemore children at her Home in Stratford in 1891 and 1892 and for their after-care until 1898.

In 1893 Mr. Middlemore switched his operations to the Maritimes depending on local assistance especially Miss Sterling and her Hillfoot Farm, in the Annapolis Valley. The Fairview Home was opened in 1897. From then until 1932 most of the children were settled in the Maritime Provinces, except not in Nova Scotia after 1927.

It was about this time that child migration was reduced in Canada, and the Fairbridge Society was made responsible for the overseas placement of Middlemore children (among others). Most were taken to Australia. Since then the relatively few Middlemore children brought to Canada were taken to the Fairbridge Farm at Prince of Wales in British Columbia.