St Mary's Home for Girls, Eastnor, near Ledbury, Herefordshire
St Mary's Home for Girls was established in 1884 by Lady Henry Somerset, of Eastnor Castle, in memory of her late father. The property, at Clencher's Mill Lane, Eastnor, near Ledbury, could accommodate twenty girls aged from 8 to 15 years, who were trained in laundry work, basketwork, and needlework. They also attending the local school and Sunday school.
St Mary's Home for Girls, Eastnor, c.1903. © Peter Higginbotham
In June 1900, Lady Somerset handed the running of the home over to the Waifs and Strays Society. In 1904, the capacity of the home was increase to 30 and extended to include baby girls.
St Mary's Home for Girls, Eastnor, c.1910. © Peter Higginbotham
St Mary's Home for Girls, Eastnor, c.1910. © Peter Higginbotham
In preparation for future employment as domestic servants, the older girls at St Mary's were taught a range of domestic skills and also helped in the home's kitchen and laundry.
Laundry girls at St Mary's Home for Girls, Eastnor, c.1913. © Peter Higginbotham
Saturday morning chores at St Mary's Home for Girls, Eastnor, c.1920. © Peter Higginbotham
Fire-drill roll-call at St Mary's Home for Girls, Eastnor, c.1920. © Peter Higginbotham
St Mary's Home for Girls, Eastnor, c.1925. © Peter Higginbotham
St Mary's Home for Girls, Eastnor, c.1925. © Peter Higginbotham
St Mary's became mixed in 1946. The home finally closed in 1983.
The property is now used as a care home for the elderly.
St Mary's Home for Girls, Eastnor, c.1925. © Peter Higginbotham
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.
- Index of the Society's first 30,000 children's case files ordered by surname.
- Index of the Society's first 30,000 children's case files ordered by date of birth.
- The Children's Society Records and Archive Centre is at Unit 25, Springfield House, 5 Tyssen Street, London E8 2LZ (email: archives@childrenssociety.org.uk). Files for children admitted to its homes after September 1926 were microfilmed in the 1980s and the originals destroyed. Some post-1926 files had already been damaged or destroyed during a flood. The Society's Post-Adoption and Care Service provides access to records, information, advice, birth record counselling, tracing and intermediary service for people who were in care or adopted through the Society.
- The Society has produced detailed catalogues of its records relating to disabled children, and of records relating to the Children's Union (a fundraising body mostly supported from the contributions of children).
Bibliography
- Bowder, Bill Children First: a photo-history of England's children in need (1980, Mowbray)
- Church of England Waifs and Strays' Society [Rudolfe, Edward de Montjoie] The First Forty Years: a chronicle of the Church of England Waifs and Strays' Society 1881-1920 (1922, Church of England Waifs and Strays' Society / S.P.C.K.)
- Higginbotham, Peter Children's Homes: A History of Institutional Care for Britain's Young (2017, Pen & Sword)
- Morris, Lester The Violets Are Mine: Tales of an Unwanted Orphan (2011, Xlibris Corporation) — memoir of a boy growing up in several of the Society's homes (Princes Risborough, Ashdon, Hunstanton, Leicester) in the 1940s and 50s.
- Rudolf, Mildred de Montjoie Everybody's Children: the story of the Church of England Children's Society 1921-1948 (1950, OUP)
- Stroud, John Thirteen Penny Stamps: the story of the Church of England Children's Society (Waifs and Strays) from 1881 to the 1970s (1971, Hodder and Stoughton)
Links
- Hidden Lives Revealed — the story of the children who were in the care of The Children's Society in late Victorian and early 20th Century Britain.
- The Children's Society
Except where indicated, this page () © Peter Higginbotham. Contents may not be reproduced without permission.
