Ancestry UK

Alice Brooke Home for Girls, Scarborough, North Riding of Yorkshire

The Alice Brooke Home for Girls was opened by the Waifs and Strays Society in 1912 at 6 Belgrave Crescent, Scarborough. The home was established following a substantial bequest to the Society by Mr and Miss Brooke. The money was initially used to support the maintenance of Scarborough children in the Society's other homes. However, the trustees of the legacy decided that the wishes of the donors would be better carried out if a home was actually established in Scarborough. The legal terms of the Brooke will did not permit the funds to be used for the building or purchase of a house but by the generosity of Mr and Mrs J.W. Drew, the way was cleared for the purchase of the property that became the Alice Brooke Home.

The formal opening of the home was carried out on October 7th, 1912, by the Rev. H.F.E. Wigram, with its dedication performed by the Bishop of Hull. The home could accommodate 24 girls aged from 7 to 16 years.

Alice Brooke Home for Girls, Belgrave Crescent, Scarborough, 1912. © Peter Higginbotham

Former Alice Brooke Home for Girls, Belgrave Crescent, Scarborough, 2013. © Peter Higginbotham

Alice Brooke Home for Girls, Belgrave Crescent, Scarborough, 1912. © Peter Higginbotham

During the First World War, the possibility of air raids led to the home being temporarily evacuated to Snainton, near York.

In 1963, the home moved to new out-of-town premises in a former farmhouse at 461 Scalby Road, in the Newby district of Scarborough.

Alice Brooke Home for Girls, Scalby Road, Scarborough, 2013. © Peter Higginbotham

From 1969, the home became mixed and received an influx of boys for the Elm Lodge home near Liverpool which was being closed. The Alice Brooke Home itself closed in 1972.

Records

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Bibliography