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Ancestry UK

Northamptonshire Orphanage for Girls, Northampton, Northamptonshire

The Northamptonshire Orphanage for Girls was established in 1868 through the conversion of the county's existing Servants' Training Institution, founded in 1857.

The aim of the new institution was 'to board, clot he, and educate orphan girls deserving of charitable assistance, and ultimately to endeavour to obtain for them such situations as they may appear qualified to fill.'

The Orphanage initially took over the lease of the Training Institution's existing home at 45 Horsemarket. In 1870, the sum of £3,000 was spent on the purchase of new premises at 72 St Giles's Street, Northampton, into which the existing inmates moved in July of that year. The property could accommodate up to 27 girls, aged from 8 to 12 years at their date of admission. Entrance to the home was by a periodic election of the charity's subscribers. Admission could also be obtained by a payment of £4 per quarter.

The Orphanage site is shown on the 1901 map below.

Northamptonshire Orphanage for Girls site, Northampton, c.1901.

In 1932, following a decline in the number of orphans seeking places at the home, the Orphanage's committee decided to reconstitute the charity as the Northamptonshire Home for Girls, catering for maladjusted girls from the county. The Home then moved to new premises at 3 The Avenue, Dallington. The Home appears to have closed by the start of World War Two. In 1940, the premises were used to accommodate sixteen children aged from on to four years evacuated from the East-end of London. The property was later used as the Holywood boys' hostel.

The St Giles's Street building was subsequently demolished and the site was occupied by a telephone exchange. The Avenue premises no longer exist.

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.

  • Northamptonshire Record Office, Wootton Hall Park, Northampton, Northants, NN4 8BQ. Holdings (1860-1932) include Registers, Committee Minutes, Accounts, Reports and Correspondence.

Census

Bibliography

  • None identified at present.

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