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Orphan Smith

My Father’s Secret

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About this listen

When a DNA test blows apart her father’s hidden identity many years after his death, Deb finds she has a sister, Barbara, and an entirely new family she never knew. As the sisters work to unravel more of their father’s secrets, they find his connection to a dark chapter of British-Canadian history. Will the sisters finally get to the bottom of their father’s past? Or are some secrets meant to stay buried forever?

From BBC Studios, the producers of hits such as Stalked and To Catch a Scorpion as well as Audible Originals Mother, Neighbor, Russian Spy and I Am Not Nicholas comes Orphan Smith: My Father’s Secret, a gripping seven-part series that follows a daughter’s search for the truth.

©2025 BBC Studios (P)Audible Originals LLC Best of 2025 Historical Emotionally Gripping Heartfelt
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I think this could have been told much better than it was. At the beginning it just seems like a story of two families who didn't know their father had a family to a previous wife and vice versa. OK, bit of a shock to them but not that exciting for the listener. But stick with it. It’s sad, horrifying and an education into how those who thought they knew better or decided they actually were better, treated the less unfortunate in past times.

Bit ponderous.......but keep with it.

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I knew about the Australian child migration scheme only because my own father almost became one of them but I had no idea about the Canadian home children. So many poor kids being ripped apart from everything they know. The consequences are far reaching & widespread.

This story is both sad & fascinating in equal measure.
It really is amazing what we can do today in terms of genealogy & it’s just so sad that so many children were sent abroad without their parents’ consent and/or knowledge, simply because they were poor.

Well worth a listen.


Fascinating

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I enjoyed learning about the home children, as I had never heard this term before. I felt empathy for the family and poor children who went through that situation. I felt that the way it was told was quite dragged out and could have been much shorter, which led to me feeling a little bored.

Interesting content

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Using the tale of an individual and his family to tell the story of so many others.

Individual personalities of otherwise unknown people

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This is an interesting piece of history, unfortunately it was spoiled byby a soundtrack of screeching violins that seemed to get worse as a story progressed. Otherwise, I enjoyed it immensely.

A good podcast

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