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Ancestry UK

Nazareth House, Southsea, Hampshire

A Nazareth House was established on February 5th, 1883, in a house known as Lynwood (or Linwood) on Wilson Grove, Southsea. It subsequently took over the adjacent house, Barnfield, to provide sleeping accommodation and a chapel. As was usual with Nazareth Houses, the home provided accommodation for the aged poor, and for orphan and destitute children — primarily Roman Catholic girls.

A report in February, 1888, noted that there were 66 children in residence, together with fifteen old women and two old men. A school-room, in Lynwood, was found to have 45 girls aged seven or above, with lessons taking place from 9.45 a.m. until noon and from 1 p.m. until 4.30 p.m. The older girls were given preparation for entering domestic service and received daily instruction in cookery. Others, who showed a fondness for children, were placed in the nursery to gain experience as nurses. The houses were very overcrowded.. Fourteen children slept in one small dormitory, and twelve in another. There were no bathrooms at the home.

A few weeks later, in April 1888, the home moved to purpose-built premises at Lawrence Road, Southsea. Designed by Leonard Stokes, the new building cost around £6,000. The home's intake was confined to girls form Hampshire, Berkshire, and the Channel Islands, and it could accommodate 160 girls aged from 2 to 15 years. A weekly payment was required for each girl, with the charged based on their circumstances.

Architect's design for Nazareth House, Lawrence Road, Southsea, 1887.

Architect's design for Nazareth House, Lawrence Road, Southsea, 1887.

The Lawrence Road property, now known as Brandon Court, was converted to flats in 1985.

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

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