Devon County Council Homes
Children's establishments run at some time in their history by Devon County Council.
- Barnstaple Union Cottage Home / Luscombe House, 19A Alexandra Road, Barnstaple*
- St Anne's, Pixie Lane, Braunton
- Westmead Nursery, Braunton
- Devon County Remand Home for Boys, Fullaford House, Wallaford Road, Buckfastleigh
- High House, 17 East Cliff Road, Dawlish
- Community Home, Brookhayes, Pilton Road, Exeter
- Devon and Exeter Reformatory Farm School for Boys / Northbrook School, Beacon Lane, Whipton, Exeter
- Farringdon House School, Farringdon, Exeter
- Newton Abbot Union Receiving Home / Devon Council Home, Meadowside, 41 Highweek Road, Newton Abbot*
- Forde Park School for Boys, College Road, Newton Abbot
- Fairlea Nursery, Chope Road, Northam
- Broadhaven Home, 5 Broadsands Road, Paignton
- Reception Home, Pilton Lane, Pinhoe
- PlymptonSt Mary Union Cottage Homes, 12-13 Beaumont Terrace, Crownhill, Plymouth*
- Ryalls Court, Marlpit Lane, Seaton
- South Molton Union Home, 41 East Street, South Molton*
- Chase Villa, 51 Church Road, St Thomas
- Tavistock Union Scattered Home, 33 West Street, Tavistock*
- Community Home, St Leonard's, Brewin Road, Tiverton
- Villa Languard Reception Home, Middle Warberry Road, Torquay
- Tiverton Union Home / Ayshford Home, Uffculme*
- Devon Council Institution, Stoke Lyne, Withycombe
* indicates link to pages on www.workhouses.org.uk.
Records
The involvement of local authorities in the running of children's homes dates from 1930, when they took over the running of the poor relief system previously administered by Boards of Guardians. Surviving records for council-run children's homes may be held in each council's own internal archives. Prior to 1991, however, when a legal requirement was introduced for councils to retain records of children leaving their care, the survival of such records is very variable. Contact details for local authorities in the UK can be found on the website of the Care Leavers Association (CLA). The CLA also provides guidance on accessing childhood care files, which are normally only open to the individuals they relate to.
Locating local authority records has been complicated by the various local government reorganizations that have taken place in recent times, such as the abolition of the London County Council in 1965, and the major nationwide restructuring in 1974 in which many administrative areas were created, amended or eliminated.
Older records may sometimes be placed with the relevant county or borough record office. Many of these repositories have online catalogues of their holdings and also contribute to the National Archives' Discovery database. Note that records containing personal data usually have access closed for a period of fifty years or more.
Older material relating to Devon Council homes may exist at:
- Devon Heritage Centre, Great Moor House, Bittern Road, Sowton Exeter EX2 7NL.
- Plymouth and West Devon Record Office, The Box, Tavistock Place, Plymouth, Devon PL4 8AX.
Some records relating to council-run homes, for example inspection reports (though not resident lists etc.), are held by The National Archives (TNA). A closure period may apply to these records.
Bibliography
- Higginbotham, Peter Children's Homes: A History of Institutional Care for Britain's Young (2017, Pen & Sword)
- Urquhart, Gloria (2020) Nobody's Child: The True Story of Growing up in a Yorkshire Children's Home
- Cooke, Allan Institutionalized in a Children's Home: Skellow Hall 1950-1963 — a true story of a child and children in a home (2012, Authorhouse)
- Cummings, Les Forgotten: The Heartrending Story of Life in a Children's Home
- Limbrick, Gudrun The Children of the Homes: a century of Erdington Cottage Homes
Except where indicated, this page () © Peter Higginbotham. Contents may not be reproduced without permission.