{"id":19953,"date":"2022-10-17T17:42:59","date_gmt":"2022-10-17T15:42:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.whodoyouthinkyouaremagazine.com\/?p=12616"},"modified":"2022-10-17T17:59:16","modified_gmt":"2022-10-17T15:59:16","slug":"how-to-find-records-for-childrens-homes-in-the-uk","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/wdytya\/rss_feed\/how-to-find-records-for-childrens-homes-in-the-uk\/","title":{"rendered":"How to find records for children\u2019s homes in the UK"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Peter Higginbotham\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Monday, 17 October 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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From London\u2019s Foundling Hospital opened in 1741, through the workhouse and the voluntary and faith-based homes established in Victorian times, to council-run accommodation in the 20th century, children\u2019s homes and orphanages<\/a> include a wide variety of institutions, and locating their records can be difficult.<\/p>\n

Even the word \u2018orphan\u2019 can be misleading \u2013 a child who had lost only one parent, especially the father, could be viewed as an orphan. And a so-called orphanage might take in children whose parents were both still alive.<\/p>\n

The first step is to identify the institution(s) where your ancestor once resided, but this can be tricky. Larger towns and cities might have had several, sometimes short-lived, children\u2019s homes whose names could be similar. Children could be transferred between homes and, over the years, institutions were sometimes renamed or relocated. Occasionally, streets were also renamed.<\/p>\n

Hopefully, you at least know the county or town where your forebear\u2019s home was located. Even if you first encounter a home via a census listing, its identity or character may not be immediately clear since the names that census enumerators gave institutions could be terse or cryptic.<\/p>\n

My site Children\u2019s Homes<\/a> can help you browse the details of institutions in a particular area, often providing photos and maps that may jog the memories of former inmates. Historical directories<\/a>, such as Kelly\u2019s, frequently include a \u201cHomes\u201d section listing such establishments. A good free source is the University of Leicester\u2019s website Special Collections Online<\/a>, while commercial sites such as Ancestry<\/a>\u00a0and Findmypast<\/a> are increasingly adding historical directories.<\/p>\n

In addition, old Ordnance Survey maps<\/a> often identify orphanages and children\u2019s homes, and many are digitised on the National Library of Scotland\u2019s map site<\/a>.<\/p>\n

How to find records for children\u2019s homes<\/h2>\n
Locating any records for children\u2019s homes can often prove frustrating. Most homes were privately operated, and frequently the organisation(s) that once ran them no longer exist.<\/p>\n
Fortunately there are several useful websites that can help you find the records that you need. The aforementioned Children\u2019s Homes website summarises the records available for hundreds of institutions, The National Archives\u2019 online catalogue Discovery<\/a>\u00a0 includes the catalogues of more than 2,500 local archives in England and Wales, and Archives Hub<\/a> provides details of more than 350 specialist UK archives.<\/p>\n
When using the search facility of such websites, be prepared to try different versions of the name and location of the home that you\u2019re looking for, eg \u2018cheshire girls orphanage\u2019 or \u2018railway home crewe\u2019.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s important to remember that records less than 100 years old may be closed for access for privacy reasons, although archives may be prepared to provide researchers with information about their own records or those of their deceased relations, subject to proof of identity being supplied.<\/p>\n

How to get records from Barnardo\u2019s and other charitable children\u2019s homes<\/h2>\n
Many children\u2019s homes were run by national or local charitable or voluntary groups. Some still exist, although they have often been renamed; for example the National Children\u2019s Home (NCH) has become Action for Children.<\/p>\n
Some now operate research services, including Action for Children<\/a>, Barnardo\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0and The Children\u2019s Society<\/a> (formerly the Church of England Waifs and Strays Society). You can find out more about the Children\u2019s Society via its Hidden Lives<\/a> website, including photographs and a selection of pre-WW1 case files.<\/p>\n