He'd spent time with his grandfather, Thomas Maskill, at his home on College Road, working in the garden, picking bugs from the leaves of potato plants.
"He was a great gardener," said Maskill, 77. "He was soft spoken, I don't remember my grandfather ever being angry about anything."
He liked being at his grandfather's house, recalling how he liked how steep the stairs were and that his grandfather's special chair was placed next to a stand where his pipes would rest.
The rest of his life was a complete mystery.
"He wasn't forthcoming with a lot of stuff," said Maskill. "I didn't know my grandfather very well because he was very quiet, but I was very proud of what he did and what he accomplished."
As a curious boy, he'd ask his grandfather about his past but received little information.
Throughout most of his life he quizzed relatives about the family history but no one seemed willing to share the past, so eventually he resigned himself to the fact he may never know.
"There was no trail," he said.
Later in life, his wife Lorraine joined him on a quest for answers.
"We had looked before many times, asked lots of questions but never found answers."
It wasn't until Maskill's daughter, Betty Blaauwendraat, made a fascinating discovery three years ago during an Internet search that the puzzle pieces began falling into place.
She discovered her great-grandfather's name on the Library and Archives Canada page about home children that led to more information on ancestry.ca where she found his name on a passenger list of the Siberian 1884, Allan Line.
"He was listed there as a Middlemore child and I thought ‘what is that?' and I started looking into the Middlemore Homes," said Blaauwendraat.
She went on to discover that her great-grandfather was one of more than 100,000 children, from infants to young adults, that would become known as British Home Children to be relocated in Canada.
At the age of 13, on May 31, 1906, Thomas arrived at a Salmon River farm owned by Thomas Archibald to work as a labourer.
Not only has Betty been able to find some of the answers her father was desperately looking for, she was able to connect with other family members, some still in England, to assemble a detailed family tree.
"It opened up a big chapter in my life, getting all this information is so amazing," said Maskill. "I know I have family over there. I don't know who they are or where they all are but I'm still searching, my daughter is still searching."
Blaauwendraat said online resources, networking and information shared at British Home Children reunions, such as the one planned in Bible Hill on Oct. 18, and organizations like the Middlemore Atlantic Society, are "invaluable" resources to research family history.
"You can access a lot of information that just wasn't there before," she said. "It's a different world now."
Maskill understands that many home children did not talk about their pasts for fear of ridicule and a feeling of shame because they were often from impoverished families, but he wishes his grandfather had shared that with him.
"It is just amazing to me that he came over here with nothing. What it must have been like to leave your mother, your father," he said shaking his head in wonder.
Thomas left the farm where he was placed at age 17 and eventually found employment at Stanfield's factory as a head clerk, working there for more than 30 years. He served with Canadian forces in the First World War and later married, raising a family for four children in Bible Hill.
"They are the ones that carved out the country as far, as I am concerned," said Maskill about the role home children played in Canadian history.
Anyone interested in learning more about British Home Children is invited to attend the and 12th annual reunion at the Bible Hill Junior High School hosted by the British Home Children and Descendants Association.
IF YOU GO
Who: British Home Children and Descendants Association
When: Oct. 18, registration at 9 a.m.
Where: Bible Hill Junior High School, 741 College Rd.
What: The 12th annual reunion offering networking and support to people researching British Home Children.
Other: Special guest, Dr. Patricia Roberts-Pichette.