Ancestry UK

Crusade of Rescue Offices and Receiving Home, Bloomsbury, London

In 1910, the Incorporated Society of the Crusade of Rescue and Homes for Destitute Catholic Children opened its new headquarters at 48 Compton Street (later renumbered as 27 Tavistock Place), Bloomsbury. The Society, whose origins lay in the founding the St Vincent's Home in 1859 at Brook Green, operated a number of establishments including St Joseph's Home at Enfield and St Anthony's Home at Feltham.

Crusade of Rescue Offices and Receiving Home, 1910. © Peter Higginbotham

In addition to its administrative functions, the Compton Street premises also housed a receiving home which acted as a clearing house for the reception, examination, classification and distribution of the children coming into the Society's care.

In 1955, the Society moved its headquarters to St Charles' Square, Ladbroke Grove.

The Compton Street building still exists, now used as offices.

Records

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Bibliography

  • Waugh, N These, My Little Ones (1911, Sands & Co.)
  • Hyland, Jim Changing Times Changing Needs: A History of the Catholic Children's Society (Westminster) (2009)