Ancestry UK

Ernest Bailey Nursery and Unit for Disabled Children, Matlock, Derbyshire

In 1949, the Waifs and Strays Society opened the Ernest Bailey Nursery on what is now Butts Drive, Matlock. The nursery was located in a large house known as The Butts, the former residence of local mill owner Ernest Bailey. From 1901 until his death in 1938, Bailey had given the Society the use of another nearby property, Cliffe House, where the St Andrew's Home for Boys had operated. He had then bequeathed Cliffe House to the Society with the sum of £1,000 for the benefit of the home. Why the new nursery was established at The Butts rather than at Cliffe House is unclear, although The Butts had already been used during the Second World War as an evacuation home for boys from Moseley.

The Ernest Bailey Nursery was officially opened on May 10th, 1949, by the Marchioness of Hartington and dedicated by the Bishop of Derby, Dr A.E. Rawlinson. The nursery housed 24 children up to the age of five.

In 1972, the home added a unit for physically disabled children aged up to seven years. The establishment also changed its name to Ernest Bailey House.

The property is now a private residence.

Records

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Bibliography

  • None identified at present.