Home and Convalescent Home for Jewish Children, Brentwood, Essex
In 1906, a Home and Convalescent Home for Jewish Children were established at Brentwood, in connection with the Mildmay Mission — a charity whose object was the spiritual and material welfare of the poor. It replaced a previous home known as Willowgate, in Rose Valley.
The new homes, which adopted the name 'Berachah', were erected at a site on Western Road, Brentwood, on a two-acre plot previously known as Brices Field. The Home could accommodate 29 children and a matron, and the Convalescent Home, 22 children and a matron.
The Homes' site is shown on the 1915 map below.
Home and Convalescent Home for Jewish Children site, Brentwood, c.1915.
In June 1909, Miss Florence Wilkinson, the joint superintendent and matron of the Homes, and sister of the Homes' honorary director, the Rev. Samuel Wilkinson, drowned in a boating accident while on holiday in Killarney.
In more recent times, the Homes (now linked into a single building) were used as a care home but closed in 2019.
Records
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- None identfied at present — any information welcome.
Bibliography
- Higginbotham, Peter Children's Homes: A History of Institutional Care for Britain s Young (2017, Pen & Sword)
Links
Except where indicated, this page () © Peter Higginbotham. Contents may not be reproduced without permission.
