Thread: Childrens Homes records

I am trying to trace my family tree but am stuck at my maternal grandad. He was born in June 1912(Jacob Frederick Bird) in Stepney, Mile End Old Town. His parents were Alfred Bird and Sarah Goulds. He had several brothers and sisters. At some point he (and I believe one of his brothers) were sent to a childrens home and later he was sent to Desford Boys Industrial School in Leicestershire.

If anyone can give me any help in finding out which childrens home he was sent to and why he was sent to Desford I'd be very grateful!

Many thanks.

Hi Terialien, Welcome . Maybe a letter to the local council , or local studies libray maybe of help.
Also if you google Desford Boys school, quite a bit of information including photos come up of the school.

Hi, thank you. I have tried everything re. Desford Boys School but they don't have records going back that far and have said I will only be able to find out from childrens home that he was sent from. Unfortunately I have no idea which children's home he was at and can only guess it was somewhere near to where he lived in Stepney but don't know how to start to find out or where to contact as I don't even know which council it would be!

Hi Terialien,

Were both of his parents still living when he was sent to the children's home ? I have a similar one in my tree but the father had died. The mother was still living but could not afford to look after all the children. Mine also went to an industrial school but in Kent. Information on the family was at the records office so Marion's idea about contacting the National Archives might be a good idea.

Hello

A couple of links that may assist:

www.natioanlarchives.gov.uk/livingthepoorlife

www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a

www.cityoflondon.gov.uk

www.westminster.gov.uk/archives/index.cfm

If you google Desford Industrial School, there is quite a bit of 'anippett' style info on line, even desc as 'naughty boys school'!

elsabels

Originally Posted by Elsabels

Hello

If you google Desford Industrial School, there is quite a bit of 'anippett' style info on line, even desc as 'naughty boys school'!

elsabels

Although the industrial school I mentioned did not have the same description added, one of the boys did land up in prison. Information on both boys was in the parish chest. If you have no luck with the links or national archives a visit to the records office where they were living before they went into care may help if it is not too far away from you. You could also add a post asking if anyone is visiting either there or the National Archives.

Hi terialien
There are records for Desford Boys School and they are at the Leicestershire Records Office - you can see what they have by looking at their online catalogue. The trouble with this type of record is that if they contain information on individual children there will be a closure on the records - I am not sure how many years in this case.
The industrial schools were founded to try to prevent poor and destitute youngsters from drifting into crime and aimed to take them out of their immediate environment. Desford later became an 'approved' school and boys were then sent there by the courts - again I am unsure exactly when the change occurred.
I have done a bit of research on orphanages in Leicester at around that time and a little earlier - children were often placed by charities and could be sent anywhere in the country. They were not always orphans and some had one parent still alive. Do you know when Jacob's parents died?
I can have a look at the records for you if that would help - probably Wednesday of next week. Don't be too optimistic but it's worth a try!
Gillian

Thank you everyone for all your help. the local records office is in Wigston where I live but the school's records only go back to the early 1930's and my grandad would have been there, I guess, around 1916 - 1920 ish. My grandad was born on Skidmore Street in London (no longer there as bombed in the war). I have found out from records that his father died in 1959 but his mother died in 1915 when he would only have been around 3 years old, which might have been why he was put into a home, I'm presuming the home would have been local to him in the East End but don't know. He had several siblings, most were quite a bit older than him, born 1890's and early 1900's, and I think one of his brothers may also have been put into care. At some point he was then sent to Desford Boy's School but don't know if this was because he had been 'a naughty boy' or whether the home he was in closed down or something and they had to be sent somewhere! I live in Leicester so it's difficult for me to find records for London (although Lady Marion I am a West Ham supporter so do occasionally visit when we can afford it!!). I will try the National Archives and Newham council though and see if I can get anywhere!

Many thanks to all of you again!

Teresa

Just thought I'd mention, in case it's the same with other industrial schools and in case it may be of any help to anyone else, the records are closed for 100 years unless you are family and the person concerned has died. In which case, you have to write a letter and give proof of your relationship to the person you are trying to find out about (in my case I just took letter and ID to the records office and they dealt with it for me). They then have to do the search for you (so you don't see anyone else's records!) and let you know if there's anything. If the person is still alive they have to request themselves and if you're not family they won't give you any info.

Teresa