Old Quebec Street Home for Girls, Marylebone, London
The Old Quebec Street Home for Girls, a Waifs and Strays Society home, was opened towards the end of 1882 at 14 Quebec Street, Marylebone. The home, the Society's third, was established by the Misses Lee following an anonymous donation of £250. The home could accommodate 21 girls aged from 7 to 14.
On February 28th, 1883, the home was certified to receive pauper children placed by the Boards of Guardians who ran the poor relief and workhouse system. By the end of that year, half of the girls at the home had come via this route.
In the summer each year, girls had a holiday at the seaside. In 1885, the destination was Dover.
Towards the end of 1885, the home moved to larger and more convenient premises at 123 Marylebone Road, where 30 girls aged from 7 to 12 could be accommodated. Many of the girls attended the nearby Marylebone Central School. Domestic service was a common destination for girls from the home and, as part of their contribution to the running of the home, they learned the basic skills of housework, laundry work and needlework.
The home's daily timetable in 1892 is shown below.
6 or 6.30 | to 7.45 | 7.45 | 9 to 12.15 | 12.45 | 2 to 4.15 | 5 | 5.30 | 6 to 7 | 7 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
MONDAY TO FRIDAY | Rise | Housework | Prayers and Breakfast | School | Dinner | School | Tea | Housework | Play or Walk (in Summer | Prayers and Supper |
SATURDAY | Housework and Walk | Needlework and Darning | ||||||||
SUNDAY | Sunday School, Short Service, and Walk | Sunday School or Children's Service | Writing, Singing, etc. |
Following the opening in 1896 of the St Hilda's Home For Girls at New Street, Dorset Square, the Marylebone Road home was closed.
The Old Quebec Street and Marylebone Road premises no longer exist.
Records
Note: many repositories impose a closure period of up to 100 years for records identifying individuals. Before travelling a long distance, always check that the records you want to consult will be available.
- Index of the Society's first 30,000 children's case files ordered by surname.
- Index of the Society's first 30,000 children's case files ordered by date of birth.
- The Children's Society Records and Archive Centre is at Unit 25, Springfield House, 5 Tyssen Street, London E8 2LZ (email: archives@childrenssociety.org.uk). Files for children admitted to its homes after September 1926 were microfilmed in the 1980s and the originals destroyed. Some post-1926 files had already been damaged or destroyed during a flood. The Society's Post-Adoption and Care Service provides access to records, information, advice, birth record counselling, tracing and intermediary service for people who were in care or adopted through the Society.
- The Society has produced detailed catalogues of its records relating to disabled children, and of records relating to the Children's Union (a fundraising body mostly supported from the contributions of children).
Bibliography
- Bowder, Bill Children First: a photo-history of England's children in need (1980, Mowbray)
- Church of England Waifs and Strays' Society [Rudolfe, Edward de Montjoie] The First Forty Years: a chronicle of the Church of England Waifs and Strays' Society 1881-1920 (1922, Church of England Waifs and Strays' Society / S.P.C.K.)
- Higginbotham, Peter Children's Homes: A History of Institutional Care for Britain's Young (2017, Pen & Sword)
- Morris, Lester The Violets Are Mine: Tales of an Unwanted Orphan (2011, Xlibris Corporation) — memoir of a boy growing up in several of the Society's homes (Princes Risborough, Ashdon, Hunstanton, Leicester) in the 1940s and 50s.
- Rudolf, Mildred de Montjoie Everybody's Children: the story of the Church of England Children's Society 1921-1948 (1950, OUP)
- Stroud, John Thirteen Penny Stamps: the story of the Church of England Children's Society (Waifs and Strays) from 1881 to the 1970s (1971, Hodder and Stoughton)
Links
- Hidden Lives Revealed — the story of the children who were in the care of The Children's Society in late Victorian and early 20th Century Britain.
- The Children's Society
Except where indicated, this page () © Peter Higginbotham. Contents may not be reproduced without permission.