Edward Paul Amphlett Memorial Home for Boys, Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire
Edward Paul Amphlett Memorial Home for Boys, a Waifs and Strays Society home, was opened in 1924 at 114 Worcester Road, Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire.
Amphlett Memorial Home for Boys, Droitwich Spa, c.1924. © Peter Higginbotham
The property was donated to the Society by Judge Richard Amphlett and his wife in memory of their son, the Rev. Edward Paul Amphlett, who had drowned in the River Severn in 1922. The home, which accommodated 27 boys aged from 8 to 14, was formally opened by Judge Amphlett on May 1st, 1924. The Judge also bequeathed £500 to the home at his death the following year.
Amphlett Memorial Home for Boys, Droitwich Spa, c.1924. © Peter Higginbotham
Amphlett Memorial Home for Boys, Droitwich Spa, c.1927. © Peter Higginbotham
Amphlett Memorial Home for Boys, Droitwich Spa, c.1931. © Peter Higginbotham
Amphlett Memorial Home for Boys, Droitwich Spa, c.1934. © Peter Higginbotham
In 1950, the name of home was shortened a little to The Amphlett House Home for Boys.
In 1966, the boys and house parents were moved, at the latter's request, to the St Faith's Home in Torquay which had been closed since the previous December due to the illness of the house father. Protracted difficulties in recruiting replacement staff for the Amphlett Home eventually led to the decision to close it. The property was re-opened as the Amphlett House Hostel for Nursery Nurses in Training until its final closure in 1972.
The property is now a local Methodist Church Centre.
Former Amphlett Memorial Home for Boys, Droitwich Spa, 2013. © Peter Higginbotham
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.
- Index of the Society's first 30,000 children's case files ordered by surname.
- Index of the Society's first 30,000 children's case files ordered by date of birth.
- The Children's Society Records and Archive Centre is at Unit 25, Springfield House, 5 Tyssen Street, London E8 2LZ (email: archives@childrenssociety.org.uk). Files for children admitted to its homes after September 1926 were microfilmed in the 1980s and the originals destroyed. Some post-1926 files had already been damaged or destroyed during a flood. The Society's Post-Adoption and Care Service provides access to records, information, advice, birth record counselling, tracing and intermediary service for people who were in care or adopted through the Society.
- The Society has produced detailed catalogues of its records relating to disabled children, and of records relating to the Children's Union (a fundraising body mostly supported from the contributions of children).
Bibliography
- Bowder, Bill Children First: a photo-history of England's children in need (1980, Mowbray)
- Church of England Waifs and Strays' Society [Rudolfe, Edward de Montjoie] The First Forty Years: a chronicle of the Church of England Waifs and Strays' Society 1881-1920 (1922, Church of England Waifs and Strays' Society / S.P.C.K.)
- Higginbotham, Peter Children's Homes: A History of Institutional Care for Britain's Young (2017, Pen & Sword)
- Morris, Lester The Violets Are Mine: Tales of an Unwanted Orphan (2011, Xlibris Corporation) — memoir of a boy growing up in several of the Society's homes (Princes Risborough, Ashdon, Hunstanton, Leicester) in the 1940s and 50s.
- Rudolf, Mildred de Montjoie Everybody's Children: the story of the Church of England Children's Society 1921-1948 (1950, OUP)
- Stroud, John Thirteen Penny Stamps: the story of the Church of England Children's Society (Waifs and Strays) from 1881 to the 1970s (1971, Hodder and Stoughton)
Links
- Hidden Lives Revealed — the story of the children who were in the care of The Children's Society in late Victorian and early 20th Century Britain.
- The Children's Society
Except where indicated, this page () © Peter Higginbotham. Contents may not be reproduced without permission.
