Princess Mary Village Home puzzle

[newton]

Hi, I have an ancestor who, at the time of the 1891 census was a widow living in Manchester with her two youngest children. On the same census her three eldest daughters are shown as living in the Princess Mary Village Home. From what I can tell there was only one home with this name and it is in Addlestone in Surrey. I don't think there was any family connection with Surrey.

What I am hoping to find are any records that might explain the reason why the three girls were in this particular home - I imagine the family was destitute - but wouldn't the girls have been put into a home/workhouse in Manchester? As well as the girls of destitute families the home also seemed to specialise in looking after the children of prisoners so perhaps this is another possibilty.

In terms of research what I am wondering is a) whether there are any records held in the Manchester area that would relate to the decision to put the girls into the home b) any information as to what might be available in terms of records from the home itself and getting hold of them.

Any help would be much appreciated!

Thank you

[uksearch]

http://www5.surreycc.gov.uk/dtcgi/nph-dtweb.exe?DThs=SurreyNoOrderNaturalLanguageFrame.h tm (http://www5.surreycc.gov.uk/dtcgi/nph-dtweb.exe?DThs=SurreyNoOrderNaturalLanguageFrame.h tm)

Take a look at the link above and enter "Princess Mary Addlestone " you may find some information there. What you need is access to the Admissions Register, this will give you details of why your relly was sent there. In my experience of searching the Manchester Industrial Schools records it was not uncommon to have "out of area" children as inmates. In order to search for any records in Manchester of why she was sent to Addlestone I would need to have an exact date of the court proceedings.

UK

[uksearch]

http://www5.surreycc.gov.uk/dtcgi/nph-dtweb.exe?DThs=SurreyNoOrderNaturalLanguageFrame.h tm (http://www5.surreycc.gov.uk/dtcgi/nph-dtweb.exe?DThs=SurreyNoOrderNaturalLanguageFrame.h tm)


If you go to this link it will tell you what records are kept for the school.

UK

[newton]

In order to search for any records in Manchester of why she was sent to Addlestone I would need to have an exact date of the court proceedings.

Thanks very much for your help regarding the records in Surrey - I'll follow that up. With regard to the date, I'm afraid I can only give a time frame of several years - but thank you for offering to look up the records. Do I take it from your reply that the decision to put the girls in the home would have been the subject of court proceedings and that therefore I should be looking for court proceeding records in Manchester? By any chance are these available at Manchester library - I should be able to visit and trawl through whatever is available.

Thank you again

[Peter Goodey]

You'll see from looking at the Surrey catalogue that the Home was for "the board, lodging, clothing and education of little children who have parents convicted of crime or who have no home, or are exposed to demoralising influences"

That leaves the field pretty open but may give you ideas about the sort of records you want to start ploughing through in Manchester.

[uksearch]

The web site states that it was a home for children who had parents in prison.As it was classed as an Indusrtial School the inmates would have been sent there using the powers from The Industrial Schools Act 1888 (unless they were in custody before this date :) )which was wide ranging. A magistrate would normally be the person to decide this. In the Manchester Schools it was normal to keep the children in custody untill shortly before their sixteenth birthday when they would be released "on licence". It makes them sound like mass murderers.

http://www.missing-ancestors.com/industrial_schools_act%201888.htm (http://www.missing-ancestors.com/industrial_schools_act%201888.htm)

UK

[newton]

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. 1888 or thereabouts would seem to be a reasonable date for the girls to have gone into the home. The two youngest children who were not there were born in 1886 and 1889. Now all I need to do is find where the records might be kept.

Thanks

[newton]

The web site states that it was a home for children who had parents in prison.As it was classed as an Indusrtial School the inmates would have been sent there using the powers from The Industrial Schools Act 1888 (unless they were in custody before this date :) )which was wide ranging. A magistrate would normally be the person to decide this. In the Manchester Schools it was normal to keep the children in custody untill shortly before their sixteenth birthday when they would be released "on licence". It makes them sound like mass murderers.

http://www.missing-ancestors.com/industrial_schools_act%201888.htm (http://www.missing-ancestors.com/industrial_schools_act%201888.htm)

UK

Well I have an update from Surrey History Centre so thanks for pointing me in the right direction. My relatives were indeed sent to Princess Mary Village Home unders the terms of the Industrial School Act 1888 - they were sent there from Manchester on the 29th August 1889 under section 14 - because their parents were both in prison for felony!

[uksearch]

Thanks for the update. Did you get to see the Admissions & Discharge Registers? You can find some really facinating information in them over a period of years. What were the names of the girls?

UK

[newton]

Thanks for the update. Did you get to see the Admissions & Discharge Registers? You can find some really facinating information in them over a period of years. What were the names of the girls?

UK

Sadly I haven't seen the records themselves - I've just received the information from the Surrey History Centre. The girls are not in the records book or discharge books but they are in the Committed Cases Register. This only gives the circumstances under which they were admitted and also the date they left. The youngest was there until 1899. But anyway it is fascinating to learn that my great great grandparents were felons. It perhaps also explains why I've never found my great grandmothers birth cerficate - she may have been born in prison. The whole story of this part of the family is becoming more tragic with every piece of information I find.

The three girls were Mary Emma, Ada Ellen and Caroline Hudson. Their mother was Elizabeth Hudson/Owen

Thanks for your help.

[newton]

I've decided to post at the end of this thread as this is an update to this story even though it relates to Aylesbury Gaol.

I have tracked my gggrandfather to Aylesbury Gaol in 1891 and am in the process of trying to follow up any prison records. What I am wondering, is was it common to send someone to a prison outside of the area they lived in? As far as I am aware there is no connection with Buckinghamshire and my gggrandfather lived in Manchester and I assume that would be where the crime and sentencing took place. If it was the practice to send someone to the prison attached to the area that sentencing took place then I would need to start looking at court records for Buckinghamshire to see if I can find conviction information.

Thanks