St Gabriel's Home for Girls (Roundhill Lodge), Kettering, Northamptonshire
In 1905, the Waifs and Strays Society opened a new home for girls at Roundhill Lodge, 21-23 Broadway, Kettering. It was established in response to a request from people in the town for a girls' home to complement the Society's home for boys in Leicester opened in 1892.
Roundhill Lodge, the former residence of Dr Leslie Dryland, was extended for its new role by the addition of a new wing. The home was formally opened on April 26th, 1906, by the Bishop of Leicester who conducted a brief service in a tent on the large lawn at the rear of the house. Although it initially retained the name Roundhill Lodge, the home was renamed the St Gabriel's Home for Girls in 1908.
St Gabriel's Home for Girls, Kettering, c.1906. © Peter Higginbotham
The home provided accommodation for 30 girls aged from 7 to 16. The house included a playroom, dining-room, kitchen, cloakroom, boot room, linen room, laundry and ironing room. A sitting room was provided for the matron and assistant matron. On the upper floor, there were four dormitories for the girls and a bedroom for the matron.
St Gabriel's Home for Girls, Kettering, c.1907. © Peter Higginbotham
St Gabriel's Home for Girls, Kettering, c.1909. © Peter Higginbotham
A new chapel was opened in April, 1913. It was dedicated to the memory of the Rev. Cecil Henry Maunsell who had made a substantial bequest to the home at his death in 1911.
New chapel at St Gabriel's Home for Girls, Kettering, 1913. © Peter Higginbotham
St Gabriel's Home for Girls, Kettering, 1913. © Peter Higginbotham
St Gabriel's Home for Girls, Kettering, c.1924. © Peter Higginbotham
St Gabriel's Home for Girls, Kettering, c.1928. © Peter Higginbotham
St Gabriel's Home for Girls, Kettering, c.1930. © Peter Higginbotham
As at many other of the Society's girls' homes, St Gabriel's played an active part in the local Girl Guides and Brownies. The picture below shows some of the girls in their uniforms during a visit from Dr Westcott, the Society's Secretary.
St Gabriel's Home for Girls, Kettering, c.1931. © Peter Higginbotham
St Gabriel's became a mixed home in 1947. It finally closed its doors in 1966.
St Gabriel's Home for Girls, Kettering, 2013. © Peter Higginbotham
The property is now the Gabriel Court home for the elderly.
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.
