[an error occurred while processing this directive] Dudley Stuart Home, Holloway, London
Ancestry UK

Dudley Stuart Home, Holloway, London

In about 1838, the West End Nightly Refuge for the Houseless Poor was established at 60 Market Street (now St Michael's Street), Edgware Road, London W2, to provide food and a bed for almost 300 people a night during the winter months. In 1852, following complaints about the conduct of the manager of the institution, a committee was formed to investigate the matter under the chairmanship of Lord Dudley Coutts Stuart, M.P. It appears that the charity operating the Refuge was then effectively re-founded, with Lord Stuart as its president and substantial donor to its finances. When it re-opened the following January, the Refuge had moved to new premises at 77 Market Street, Edgware Road. Following the death of Lord Stuart in 1854, the building was reconstructed in his memory and renamed the Dudley Stuart Nightly Refuge for the Houseless Poor. The new establishment was inaugurated on June 4th, 1858, when a bronze bust of its late benefactor was unveiled.

In 1870, the establishment was renamed the Dudley Stuart Home for the Houseless. It now provided short-term accommodation for the destitute, whose circumstances were fully investigated before they were given assistance. Applicants were referred to workhouses in the area while this took place. Those deemed eligible for aid were then given a temporary home while they were helped to find employment or restored to friends, if they had any who would provide for them.

In about 1872, a Lodging House for Young Women was opened in connection with the Home, on Star Street, Edgware Road. By the late 1870s, the Market Street premises had begun to provide a home 'for training girls of the class who, from their own fault, want of good home training, or other adverse circumstances, are placed in difficulty or danger.' In 1884, the Dudley Stuart Home accommodated up to 30 girls, aged from 13 to 17 years. Admission was by application to the Lady Superintendent, at the Home, on any weekday between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. No prison or penitentiary cases were received. The girls were trained for domestic service, and received secular and religious instruction, and situations were found for them on leaving. A weekly payment was required of 5s. a week in advance, and a clothing fee of £1 was payable for each girl on admission. The person upon whose application a girl was admitted was responsible for her maintenance money for not less than three months, if necessary.

On August 15th, 1887, the Home was certified as a Certified School, allowing it to receive workhouse girls placed by Boards of Guardians. The certificate was cancelled on September 2nd, 1895, when the Home was preparing to relocate to 76 Junction Road, Holloway, London N19. On June 23rd, 1896, the new premises were given their formal approval for operation as a Certified School. The Home also received girls referred to it by the Metropolitan Association for Befriending Young Servants (MABYS) and eventually became a MABYS-run establishment.

The Home appears to have closed at around the time of the First World War.

76 Junction Road, Holloway.

Records

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Census

Bibliography

  • None identified at present.