Islington London Borough Council Homes
Children's establishments run at some time in their history by Islington London Borough Council.
Essex
- 13 Northbrooks, Hare Street, Harlow
- 158 Collins Meadow, Hare Street, Harlow
- 2 Collins Meadow, Hare Street, Harlow
- 342 Northbrooks, Hare Street, Harlow
- 56 Ryecroft, Hare Street, Harlow
- 60 Hare Street Springs, Hare Street, Harlow
- Gorsefield Nursery, Stansted
Hertfordshire
- Dixton, Hadley Common, Barnet
- New Park House, 1 Hanyards Lane, Cuffley
- 17 The Muntings, Leaves Spring, Stevenage
- 26 Peartree Way, Leaves Spring, Stevenage
- 28 The Muntings, Leaves Spring, Stevenage
- 36 Angle Ways, Leaves Spring, Stevenage
- 39 Peartree Way, Leaves Spring, Stevenage
- 66 Hydean Way, Leaves Spring, Stevenage
- Residential Nursery, Widbury House, Ware
- Gisburne House Children's Home, 95 Gammons Lane, Watford†
London (N/NW Postal Areas)
- 32 Alexandra Road, Crouch End N8
- 35 Ashley Road, Crouch End N19
- 11/12 Highbury Crescent, Highbury N5
- 114 Grosvenor Avenue, Highbury N5
- 1-3 Elwood Street, Highbury N5
- 17 Ardilaun Road, Highbury N5†
- 29 Highbury New Park, Highbury N5
- 11 Sheringham Road, Islington N7
- 26/28 Northampton Park, Islington N1
- 75A Mildmay Park, Islington N1
- Colgrain, Dukes Avenue, Muswell Hill N10
- 13 Torrimgton Park, North Finchley N12§
- Holmleigh, 35-37 Solna Road, Winchmore Hill N21
Middlesex
- Ashbrooke, 103 Park Avenue, Enfield
- Copthorne,16-18 Village Road, Enfield
† indicates homes at some time also run by a county council.
§ indicates homes at some time also run by a borough council.
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 Islington Council homes may exist at:
- The Ancestry UK website has two collections of London workhouse records (both name searchable):
- The Find My Past website has workhouse / poor law records for Westminster.
- London Metropolitan Archives, 40 Northampton Road, London EC1R OHB.
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.