Chatham House of Refuge and Industrial Home / Training Home, Chatham, Kent
Chatham's House of Refuge and Industrial Home was established in 1856. The following year it was reported that a house has been taken short distance from Chatham, on the Canterbury road, 'for young women of loose character desirous of being reclaimed', and a matron had been engaged to impart religious instruction to the inmates. By 1907, the Home's object was stated as being to reclaim fallen women and to train them for domestic service and laundry work.
The Home occupied premises at 148 Rainham Road, Chatham Hill, Chatham, and could accommodate about 24 girls and young women, aged 17 to 25.
By 1920, the Home had become known as the Chatham Training Home for 'troublesome girls, particularly those in danger.' Those admitted were between 15 and 18 years of age and were required to remain two years.
The Home closed at around the time of the Second World War. The 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.
- None identfied at present — any information welcome.
Census
Bibliography
- Bartley, Paula Prostitution: Prevention and Reform in England, 1860-1914 (2000, Routledge)
- Finnegan, Frances Poverty and Prostitution: A Study of Victorian Prostitutes in York (1979, CUP)
- Hopkins, Jane Ellice, Work Among the Lost (1870, William Macintosh) Nokes, Harriet Twenty-Three Years in a House of Mercy (1886, Rivingtons)
- Taylor, William J The Story of the Homes (1907, London Female Preventive and Reformatory Institution)
- Thomas, E W Twenty-Five Years' Labour Among the Friendless and Fallen (1897, Shaw)
Links
- None identified at present.
Except where indicated, this page () © Peter Higginbotham. Contents may not be reproduced without permission.
