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Ancestry UK

Chadwick Memorial Industrial School for Roman Catholic Boys, Carlisle, Cumberland

The foundation stone for a girls' school run by the Order of the Sacred Heart was laid on April 16th, 1891, at a site on Etterby Scaur in the Stanwix area of Carlisle. The building, designed by Newcastle architect Charles Walker, was completed the following year. In 1903, the building was acquired by the Community of the Presentation Brothers of Cork as new premises for the Chadwick Memorial Industrial School for Roman Catholic boys, previously based in Newcastle upon Tyne. On December 18th, 1905, the School was officially certified to receive up to 200 boys committed by magistrates for matters such as vagrancy or being out of the control of their parents.

Chadwick Memorial Industrial School site, Carlisle, c.1925.

Former Chadwick Memorial School from the south, Carlisle, 2012. © Peter Higginbotham

Former Chadwick Memorial School lodge, Carlisle, 2012. © Peter Higginbotham

During the First World War, the premises were used as a Red Cross hospital for wounded soldiers. It opened on 23 March 1915, initially with 23 beds, later increased to 45. In May 1915, the hospital also provided treatment for some of the survivors of a rail disaster at Quintinshill, near Gretna, when a troop train carrying 500 soldiers collided with a stationary local train, and was then hit by a passenger train.

The last patients left the hospital on 7 March 1919, and the buildings were returned to the School. The Brothers departed in 1921 and th2 School was then taken over by "the secular clergy of the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle and run by a lay staff and two brothers." After it closed, in September 1924, the premises were taken over by the Sisters of Nazareth for use as a Nazareth House orphanage for boys. In 1951, the Austin Friars School took over the site.

Records

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  • Carlisle Archive Centre, Lady Gillford's House, Petteril Bank Road, Carlisle CA1 3AJ. Has plans of the school building.
  • Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle, St Cuthbert's House, West Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE15 7PY. Email: data.protection@diocesehn.org.uk. May have records from the Industrial School era.
  • 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. May have records from the orphanage era.

Bibliography

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