The material below is taken from the web page Unless otherwise indicated, content is copyright Peter Higginbotham and may not be re-published without permission.
Ancestry UK

Sherwood Nursery, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire

The Sherwood Nursery was opened by the Waifs and Strays Society in 1944 at Henley on Thames. It was located in Sherwood House at 114 Greys Road and could accommodate up to 28 babies.

Continuing its Sherwood theme, the rooms in the home were named Robin Hood, Merrie Men, Little John and Will Scarlett.

The home closed in 1950 but was subsequently taken over as the Sherwood House Nursery by Oxfordshire County Council with Miss A. Fisher recorded as superintendent in 1959 and again in 1972.

The property no longer exists but its name is commemorated in the housing development, Sherwood Gardens, that 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.

  • 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).

  • 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.

Bibliography

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