St Joseph's Home for Girls, Birmingham, Warwickshire
The St Joseph's Home for Girls was established in 1884 and run by the Sisters of Mercy as an offshoot of St Mary's Convent, Handsworth. It occupied premises at 31-33 Brougham Street, in the Lozells district of Birmingham although it is sometimes referred to as being being located in Aston Manor.
The Home was primarily intended to receive Roman Catholic girls placed by Boards of Guardians as an alternative to the workhouse. On 11th July, 1884, the Home was officially licensed as a Certified School for that purpose, although its intake also included a small number placed by friends. The Home could originally accommodate up to 75 girls who were aged from 2 to 15 years at their date of admission, although its capacity later increased to 102 places. In 1890, there were 66 inmates placed by Guardians and 4 voluntary cases, all of whom paid a weekly charge of five shillings.
The Home buildings no longer survive and St Francis' Catholic School now occupies the site.
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 Mercy Archives, St Mary's Convent, 98 Hunter's Road, Handsworth, Birmingham B19 1EB.
- Certified Schools were run by a wide range of groups and individuals and have no central records. However, relevant information may survive in the records of the Poor Law Union that placed each child at a particular establishment. The best place to start is the union covering the area where the child previously resided, although children were sometimes sent further afield.
Bibliography
- Certified Schools page on this website.
Links
- None identified at present.
Except where indicated, this page () © Peter Higginbotham. Contents may not be reproduced without permission.