St Edmund's Orphanage, Bebington, Cheshire
On 13 July 1913, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Shrewsbury, Dr. Singleton, laid the foundation stone of St Edmund’s Orphanage and Certified School for Boys at Heath Road, Bebington. The institution, when completed, was to accommodate about sixty boys. It was the result of many years of work and fund-raising, the scheme having been founded as early as 1896. The building was designed by Messrs. Edmund Kirby and Sons, and was to cost about £7,655, of which about £5,046 had then been raised.
The premises were subsequently enlarged and by 1930 could accommodate up to 118 boys , aged from 4 to 15 at their date of admission.
The School site is shown on the 1927 map below.
St Edmund's Orphanage site, Bebington, c.1927.
St Edmund's Orphanage from the south-east, Bebington, Cheshire, c.1926. © Peter Higginbotham
Like many establishments of its type, St Edmund's had its own boys' band which gave performances at events in the area.
In 1966, eighteen-year-old John Carroll, who had grown up at the orphanage, was convicted of indecently assaulting a 12-year-old in his care.
The home closed in 1984. The original buildings no longer survive and the site is now occupied by housing.
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.
- Daughters Of Charity Of St Vincent De Paul, Provincial House, The Ridgeway, Mill Hill, London NW7 1RE. (Archivist: Sister Bernadette Ryder DC)
- Certified Schools were run by a wide range of groups and individuals and have no central records. However, relevant information may survive in the records of the Poor Law Union that placed each child at a particular establishment. The best place to start is the union covering the area where the child previously resided, although children were sometimes sent further afield.
Bibliography
- O'Brien, Susan Leaving God for God: The Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul in Britain 1847–2017 (Darton, Longman and Todd, 2017)
- Prunty and Sullivan (eds.) The Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul in Ireland: The Early Years (Columba Press, 2014)
- Certified Schools page on this website.
Links
Except where indicated, this page () © Peter Higginbotham. Contents may not be reproduced without permission.
