The London County Council (LCC), which came into existence in 1889, immediately became involved in the operation of residential facilities for young people, taking over the management of the Middlesex Industrial School for Boys at Feltham and the Surrey Industrial School for Boys at Mayford. There were also LCC-run Industrial Schools for boys at Portslade, near Brighton, opened in 1902, and at Clapham Park (1909); girls' establishments were located at Brixton Hill (1909) and Gisburne House, Watford (1912). Truant Industrial Schools (run by the London School Board until its abolition in 1904) were located at Homerton and Highbury. The Training Ship Shaftesbury alo became the Council's repsonsibility in 1904 but the vessel required extensive repairs and was scrapped the following year.

The running of the capital's first three remand homes, at 70-74 Pentonville Road, 203-205 Harrow Road, and 36-38 Camberwell Green, was transferred from the Metropolitan Asylums Board to the LCC in 1910. A further Remand Home was added in 1911 at 49 Church Road, Willesden. The Camberwell Green Remand Home was replaced in 1912 by an establishment at Ponton Road, SW8.

In April 1930, the Boards of Guardians that had administered the poor relief system in England and Wales for almost a century, were abolished. In London, their duties and responsibilities were taken over by the LCC, which inherited 23 children's homes and residential schools formerly run by 20 Poor Law authorities. Unusually, these establishments came under the management of the council's Education Committee rather than its new Public Assistance Committee, which was the usual case elsewhere in the country. As part of the transition, all the homes were all given new names.

Central London District School, Hanwell, early 1900s. © Peter Higginbotham

Hackney Children's Homes, Ongar, 1913. © Peter Higginbotham

The Public Assistance Committee took over five other establishments for use as receiving homes, providing temporary accommodation for children when they first came into its care. The receiving homes are listed below.

The period of stay at the receiving homes was usually about two weeks, during which arrangements were made for the transfer of the children to one of the homes managed by the Education Committee.

Earlsfield House Receiving Home. © Peter Higginbotham

A number of the homes were closed in the 1930s. By 1936, the Islington, Cumberlow, Erskine Hill, Marlesford Lodge, Hanwell, Hornsey Rise, Leavesden, Mitcham, Stepney and Stifford homes had all been closed, together with the Lloyd House and Stamford House receiving homes.

Following the passing of the 1948 Children Act, councils were required to provide care services for all needy children in their area, especially those who lacked a normal family home. Under the new regime, residential care was seen as the least desirable option for children in care, but when it was employed, the recommended size of home was eight children, or twelve at most. The council's Children's Department appointed a total of nine Children's Officers across its three administrative districts (Western, North-Eastern and South-Eastern).

The council's children's accommodation in each division in 1959 is detailed below.

In addition to the homes run by the three districts, there was a small group of 'All-London' homes, which could deal with children from across the capital.

The Children's Department also had responsibility for a number of Approved Schools and Remand Homes. In 1959, these were as follows:

By 1964, a considerable turnover had taken place, as shown below.

Following the 1963 Local Government Act, many functions previously carried out by the LCC were taken over by 32 new London Borough Councils (LBCs). Other city-wide responsibilities were assigned to the new Greater London Council (GLC). Elections for the LBCs took place in April 1964 and over the following year the new bodies shadowed the LCC in its final year of operation, the new system fully coming into operation in April 1965. Amongst the functions passed to the LBCs was the provision of children's services, with the LCC's existing stock of residential accommodation being divided up amongst the new Children's Departments. The LBCs are listed below.