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Ancestry UK

St Monica's Home for Girls, Croydon, Surrey

St Monica's Home for Girls was established by the Church Penitentiary Association in 1913 as a Special Industrial School. It accommodated girls, from 10 to 13 years of age, 'whose antecedents render them undesirable for admission to ordinary Industrial Schools' — those who had been the victims of sexual assault or abuse. The School occupied a property at 28-29 The Waldrons, Croydon, Surrey. The premises were formally certified on September 15th, 1913, with accommodation for 50 girls. The superintendent was Sister Maud of the Community of St Peter, Horbury.

From 1919, the running of the School was taken over by the Church Army.

In 1933, St Monica's became an Approved School, one of the new institutions introduced by the 1933 Children and Young Persons Act to replace the existing system of Reformatories and Industrial Schools. The School accommodated up to 50 Junior Girls 'needing moral protection' and aged between 10 and 15 at their date of admission. The superintendent at this date was Sister Tasker.

During the Second World War, the Home was evacuated to Pendine, Stansty, near Wrexham. It returned to Croydon after the war but closed at the end of 1951.

The Home's premises no longer survive.

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.

  • The bulk of the Church Army's archives have been deposited in the Bible Society Library, housed at Department of Manuscripts and University Archives, Cambridge University Library, West Road, Cambridge CB3 9DR. The material does not include minute books or admission records, however.

Bibliography

  • None noted at present.

Except where indicated, this page () © Peter Higginbotham. Contents may not be reproduced without permission.