Children's homes or orphanages in Sheffield

[chumpy 10]

The Grove was on Broomgrove Rd ,( still is but I think it belongs to Hallam Uni now ), had a big snooker room and a pear tree hanging over the wall at the back.

Had a couple of weeks there in the early 50's before moving on to 99 Halifax Rd and Miss Backhouse. Happy days.

regards Mick.

[flyer 10]

Hi anlabystreet when was Thorton in #2 Iwas in 2 fm 39 -46 under the evil M Bull not as bad as Edge but bad enough. Do you remember Unwin also in 1 fm 39-49 or somthing like that. we talk now and then.

[anlabystreet 12]

hi sputnik boy...im new on here so i still have to fathom out how to get the personal messages bit operating...i dont know your age but i,m 59...my brother and sister were in the homes longer than me ..i was fostered out about 1955 to a family in brightside..i didnt see either of those two again till i was about 17...by that time we were distant and to some degree we always were afterwards..you may probably remember my brother more than me...his name was kenneth taylor....my sister was carole taylor...she lived in the cottages opposite the playing fields at the bottom near the clinic...other people i remember were edward archer (winnie edge hated this poor lad more than anybody and she beat him mercilessly..i will never know why)..sidney archer9his brother)...leslie bolton(a nice lad who delighted in telling everybody he met he came from rothay road)..gordon gower(he died a few months ago.. i saw it in the paper)...another thing i always remember...when we were playing on the swings and we looked across the valley we could see a big building which for some reason we all thought was fulwood annexe..its actually high storrs school...i often go up there and reminisce ..mixed feelings ...some of the worst times of my life and a lot of worry at an age when i should never have known the meaning of it..but in a strange way fondly remembered

[anlabystreet 12]

Hi anlabystreet when was Thorton in #2 Iwas in 2 fm 39 -46 under the evil M Bull not as bad as Edge but bad enough. Do you remember Unwin also in 1 fm 39-49 or somthing like that. we talk now and then.

...hello there flyer..i would imagine with a name like bull and a job as housemother at fch then that lady would be no mary poppins,,yes it seems that people suffered there long before i did...somewhere at the back of my mind i do remember that name but i cant put a face to it...as you went to burton street and greystones it seems i was following in your footsteps..ive never been to cananda though...but...i can speak a little french ...bonsoir mon ami !!!

[SputnikBoy 10]

Hi anlaby

 

You evidently got your PM facility up and running. Good for you. I created the below text to send to you via PM but I was told that it was too lengthy for a personal message. So, I chose to cut and paste it on to the forum 'as is'. There's nothing personal since I have given my name before on the board.

 

Anyway, my name is Rod(ney) Fearnehough. I think I would have entered FCH about 1950/51 ...I'm not exactly sure of the year since I was very young. The first place I remember was the 'Receiving House' as well as the actual bus ride to the home. The images are somewhat surreal, however. I stayed there for a few days before joining my sister Glen (she posts on this forum under that name) in Cottage #17. Evidently, her house-mother (Miss Barnett) was also a tyrant. From there I was sent to Cottage #9 where I remained under the care of Miss Bower (and the cruel relief-mother Miss Herring) until about 1956/57 (I think).

 

Some of the kids I shared the cottage with were Ernest Hill, Graham Hanson, Roger Bradbury, Kenneth Bolton, Tony Wales, David Wales, and George Archer. I'd love to know what became of them.

 

I was 'released' to the care of my mother in 1956/57. In 1960 she, my younger sister, Elaine, and I emigrated to Australia. Several years later I ventured to the United States where I became a permanent resident. I married in Chanute, Kansas and became father to a 5 year-old boy. The three of us arrived in Australia in 1980 for a proposed two-year 'working holiday'. Mom (who passed away 2004) married an Australian in 1965. As well, both my sisters and their families reside here. Unfortunately, my marriage didn't go the distance and I'm now a single man again ...have been for a number of years. And, 26 years later, I'm still here in Australia ...Townsville to be exact.

 

Anyway, I'll sign off now. I can't remember a 'Taylor' just off the top of my head so perhaps I didn't know you ...not by name anyway. Try to keep up the correspondence on the forum as much of what you talk about prompts many memories within me. Like you, I also feel something quite compelling whenever we discuss FCH ...even though the memories are not necessarily good ones. As mentioned, the whole experience has now become quite surreal in my memory. It's almost as though it happened in a previous life. All the best!

 

Rod

[porky 10]

hi everybody,i`m porky.i have been searching for my brothers & sisters for over 25 years.i didnt know there were 10 of us until a few years ago.i have found some of them but am struggling to find others.recently i found that maybe 2 of my sisters went to fch.one called carol wadsworth and the other kathleen macdonald/marriott depending which name our mother was using.the majority of us were born in sheffield at nether edge hospital,but mum was in and out of hostels at broomspring lane/tenter street/hucklow road and around heeley.in the late 1950`s were there any scandals involving childrens homes or mother & baby homes.any info would be greatly appreciated.i also believe one of the girls went to mount pleasant school for poor girls in sheffield,somewhere down abbeydale.

[HughW 10]

I noticed that the Central Library has a display (on the first floor landing) by the Northern General Hospital History Project. This includes a recently published pamphlet which I thought might interest some people on this thread:

 

Sheffield Union - The Children of the State (from the Councillor and Guardian, 1898 ) together with The Scattered Homes for Children - Historical Sketch (Report from Sheffield Board of Guardians Children's Homes Committee, 1907). An enlarged facsimile edition containing both reports, published in 2006 by Northern General Hospital History Project ([email protected]) at £4.50+P&P.

 

The information in the display says that these relate particularly to the Smilter Lane Children's Homes.

 

The display is in a glass-fronted case so I can't say anything about the content of this publication. I looked for it in Sheffield Scene on Surrey Street but they hadn't heard of it.

 

Hugh

[elisabeth 10]

Does anybody have any information about orphanages within the Sheffield area, dating back over that last 100 years.

 

I am doing some private study and would be interested in any information.

 

Lydgate Rd Orphanage, Sheffield. I have an 1896 letter of appointment of matron to the Lady Alice house if you are still interested in your research. In your research, have you found any information about this orphanage? There must be some records remaining but Sheffield Archives don't appear to have much apart from the short piece about the initial acquisition of the land. This has been quoted in a message to the forum. A record of the residents is on the 1901 census.

[Arfer Mo 10]

There used to be a Dr BarnadosHome on Pitsmoor rd in the early 40ts opposite Christchurch Rd. Also The Sheffield Boys Home in Broomspring Lane, where they had to wear the same type of clothes ,namely navy blue jerseys and cord short trousers,no matter how tall they were I was at Broomhill School with some of them in the early 30ts, and grand lads they were too , 4 of them carried me on a blackboard to the hos; when Ibroke my leg OUCH Iremember that journey, Arthur.

[elisabeth 10]

Thank you for the reply, Arthur. I am only interested in the Lydgate Road orphanage. Treatment was really hard at that time and I admire those who made a good life for themselves in spite of the harsh upbringing.

[bresail 10]

I just found this forum by accident and found 2 family members using the forum.

Sputnikboy, I was in FCH at the same time as you and Glen.

How's about that!

Are there anyone else that I know?

[porsche 10]

i was in fch for five to six years ,about 1955 to 1960.. i remember i was in cottage 23 with miss gaunt then a miss rimmer they were quite nice as it goes ...it was a mixed cottage too.....got a nasty one after them though cant remember her name though ......i did jobs before school jobs after school ....i went to lydgate lane school ...then western school by bus.....i.remember mr a mrs brookes........three years ago they held an reunion up there which it is a private housing estate now not many people turned up though.......it does stay with you for life ......anonimous