Nazareth House, Middlesbrough, North Riding of Yorkshire
A Nazareth House was established in 1880 at Albert Park Road (now Park Road North), Middlesbrough. It provided accommodation both for the elderly poor and for destitute and orphan children — primarily Roman Catholic girls. In 1897, the home could house 122 girls aged from 2 to 12 years at their date of admission. By 1930, the capacity had risen to 206 places.
Nazareth House, Middlesbrough, c.1910. © Peter Higginbotham
Former Nazareth House, Middlesbrough, 2013. © Peter Higginbotham
Former Nazareth House, Middlesbrough, 2013. © Peter Higginbotham
Former Nazareth House, Middlesbrough, 2013. © Peter Higginbotham
Former Nazareth House, Middlesbrough, 2013. © Peter Higginbotham
Former Nazareth House, Middlesbrough, 2013. © Peter Higginbotham
Since 2007, the premises have been occupied by the Victoria House Care Centre
A memoir of what life was like for the girls in the home has been written by Anne Fothergill (details below).
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.
- Sisters of Nazareth Archive, Sisters of Nazareth Archive, Nazareth House, 169-175 Hammersmith Road, London W6 8DB. The archivist is Christine Hughes. The archive contains material from the very beginnings of the order in the 1850s up until the present day. The archive is not open to the public and does not have facilities for personal searchers, although exceptions can be made for Sisters and for academic researchers. Enquiries are welcomed by post only for privacy and confidentiality reasons and replies are by also letter. There is no fee for dealing with enquiries, although donations to the Sisters are appreciated.
Bibliography
- Fothergill, Anne Memoirs of a Nazareth House Girl (2013, Quoin Publishing). Memories of the Middlesbrough Nazareth House.
- Gray-Wilson, Shirley It isn't Always Raining: Children in Care, 1939-1948 (2000). Life in the Carlisle and Newcastle Nazareth Houses.
- Kelly, Judith Rock Me Gently: A Memoir Of A Convent Childhood (2006, Bloomsbury). A memoir of life at Bexhill Nazareth House in the early 1950s. The factual veracity of this book has been challenged, and charges of plagiarism levelled against the author (e.g. see Catholic Herald 2/9/2005). The introduction to the current edition of the book acknowledges some of these criticisms.
- Reilley, Frances Suffer The Little Children: The True Story of An Abused Convent Upbringing (2009, Orion). Memories of the Belfast Nazareth House.
- Nuns 'abused hundreds of children' (Guardian article 16/8/1998)
- Sisters of No Mercy (Guardian article 1/4/2003)
- Compensation for care homes abuse (BBC News item 15/8/2006)
- Sisters of Nazareth become second Catholic order to admit to child abuse (Guardian article 14/1/2014)
- Children at Derry care homes were made to eat vomit, inquiry told (Guardian article 27/1/2014)
- A Time for Penance? (BBC Scotland 'Frontline' TV feature on abuse in Scottish Nazareth Houses)
Links
Except where indicated, this page () © Peter Higginbotham. Contents may not be reproduced without permission.
