The material below is taken from the web page Unless otherwise indicated, content is copyright Peter Higginbotham and may not be re-published without permission.
Ancestry UK

Female Orphan Home / Home for Girls, Grouville, Channel Isles, Channel Isles

In around 1854, Abraham Le Sueur, the Rector of Grouville, founded a Female Orphans' Home. In 1862, the establishment, also known as the Home for Girls, moved into purpose-built premises on land opposite the Grouville parish church.

Female Orphan Home / Home for Girls, Grouville, Jersey, early 1900s. © Peter Higginbotham

Female Orphan Home seaside outing, Grouville, Jersey, early 1900s. © Peter Higginbotham

Female Orphan Home / Home for Girls, Grouville, Jersey, 1888. © David Hemery

Female Orphan Home seaside outing, Grouville, Jersey, 1888. © David Hemery

At some date, the home began to accept young boys with their older sisters.

It continued in operation while the Island was under German occupation during the Second World War.

The home closed in 1959 and the girls were transferred to the Home for Boys which became a mixed institution, subsequently renamed Haut de la Garenne. Part the Grouville premises were then used to re-house the Junior Training Centre, formerly housed as part of the Westaway Creche in St Helier. This facility was closed in around 1967 when the Education Department established a purpose-built care facility at Mont-a-l'Abbe School. The Grouville site was then taken over by the Public Health Committee as staff accommodation. The building was subsequently demolished to make way for a modern housing development, Le Close de L'Eglise.

On 6th December 2010, the Island's Chief Minister made a formal apology to all those who suffered abuse in the States' residential care system, acknowledging that the care system had failed some children in a serious way. At the end of 2013, the The Independent Jersey Care Inquiry began work to investigate a number of 'unresolved issues' in relation to historical abuse in the Island.

Records

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Census

Bibliography

Acknowledgment

  • Thanks to David Hemery for contributing the 1888 image.

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