Druid's Cross Reformatory for Girls, Liverpool, Lancashire
The Druid's Cross Reformatory School for Girls was established in 1916 in a large property known as "Druid's Cross" on Druid's Cross Road in the Wavertree district of Liverpool. It was opened by the Liverpool Juvenile Reformatory Association (LJRA), which operated a number of Reformatories and Industrial Schools in the city, including Liverpool Boys' Farm Reformatory, Liverpool Girls' Reformatory, T.S. Akbar, Holy Trinity Industrial School for Boys and Holy Trinity Industrial School for Girls. On August 8th, 1916, the School was officially certified to receive up to 50 girls. The certificate would expire after six moths unless made permanent.
The location of the School site is shown on the 1907 map below.

Druid's Cross Reformatory for Girls site, Liverpool, c.1907.
On March 23rd, 1917, the certificate was extended until the end of April when the School presumably closed. The following year, the premises were re-opened as Druid's Cross Hospital. In the early 1930s, the site became home to St Catherine's Orphanage for Roman Catholic Girls.
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.
- Lancashire Record Office, Bow Lane, Preston, Lancashire, PR1 2RE. No specific information available, but may possibly be mentioned in the extensive LJRA archives.
Bibliography
- Carpenter, Mary Reformatory Schools, for the Children of the Perishing and Dangerous Classes, and for Juvenile Offenders (1851, General Books; various reprints available)
- Carlebach, Julius Caring for Children in Trouble (1970, Routledge & Kegan Paul)
- Higginbotham, Peter Children's Homes: A History of Institutional Care for Britain's Young (2017, Pen & Sword)
- Abel Smith, Doroth Crouchfield: A History of the Herts Training School 1857-1982 (2008, Able Publishing)
- Garnett, Emmeline Juvenile offenders in Victorian Lancashire: W J Garnnett and the Bleasdale Reformatory (2008, Regional Heritage Centre, Lancaster University)
- Hicks, J.D. The Yorkshire Catholic Reformatory, Market Weighton (1996, East Yorkshire Local History Society)
- Slocombe, Ivor Wiltshire Reformatory for Boys, Warminster, 1856-1924 (2005, Hobnob Press)
- Duckworth, J.S. The Hardwicke Reformatory School, Gloucestershire (in Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, 1995, Vol. 113, 151-165)
Links
- Red Lodge Museum, Bristol — a former girls' reformatory.
Except where indicated, this page () © Peter Higginbotham. Contents may not be reproduced without permission.