Downend Cottage (Crescent) Homes Near Bristol

[6tons]

Downend Cottage (Crescent) Homes Near Bristol Mangotsfield, Keynsham, Kingswood, Somerset. Trying to find some more details about a relative who seemed to be in this home at the 1911 census. Arthur Holland DOB act 1901. Anyone know where any archives are from this home?

[Kerrywood]

Downend Cottage Homes was a poor law institution run by the Bristol Guardians. Have a look here
www.
workhouses.org.uk/Bristol/#Post-1834 (scroll down)

You could try contacting the Bristol Record Office to see what they have, but this old thread on another forum doesn't look encouraging in that respect.
www.
rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,48447.0.html

[6tons]

Kerrywood - Thank you for your response. I have been searching on the internet for a while for details about this home so had fortunately seen the info above. I am trying to discover is any institution has the detailed records from the home such as admission and discharge info, but so far nothing found. I have emailed a number of places inc the Somerset Heritage Centre who said - I have searched our catalogues and we hold the following items:

D\G\k/18/2 Agreement concerning the reception of children from Keynsham Union into the Downend Homes at Bristol Union, 1915.
D\G\k/185/1 Register of children admitted to and discharged from the Bristol (Downend) Home and Portishead House (Long Ashton Union), 1915-1923.

As you can see the admission and discharge register is too late for your relative and is also closed for research due to the Data Protection Act. Our catalogues seem to indicate that the home was actually part of the Bristol Union, so can I suggest contacting the Bristol Record Office to see if they hold any further details.

I am waiting for the BRO to get back to me but am not really expecting anything.

Thank you for your help.

Mike

[Peter Goodey]

The Bristol Record Office catalogue is online via A2A

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a...=guardians#2-3

"The archives of the Incorporation of the Poor and the Board of Guardians were housed at St Peter's Hospital and were destroyed by enemy action in the Second World War. All that survived are listed below"

[6tons]

Peter - Thank you for the link. When I first found the thread that contained that link I could not get the link to open - really pleased to see it is OK now. Will start searching as soon as I can.

Thank you. Mike

[6tons]

I now have some replies from other institutions:

Bristol Records Office state - There is reference to the children's cottage homes at Downend in both Arrowsmith's Dictionary of Bristol (published c1906) and several editions of the Bristol directories. This institution was run by the Board of Guardians and Arrowsmith states that children residing there "...are outside workhouse influences and mode
of life, and attend public elementary schools and places of worship, and mix freely with children of the poorer class.". At the time the dictionary was written there were 159 children living in the cottage homes.

The earliest listing that has been have found for the homes in the Street/Trade Directories was in 1905. The records that we hold for Downend Children's/Babies Homes/The Crescent start in 1945. Unfortunately the records of the Board of Guardians were stored at St. Peter's Hospital which was destroyed in air attacks on Bristol during the second World War. Thus any pre WWII records for the Downend Cottage Homes would have been destroyed at this time.

Somerset Heritage Centre said - Thank you for your enquiry concerning Downend Cottage Homes.

I have searched our catalogues and we hold the following items:

D\G\k/18/2 Agreement concerning the reception of children from Keynsham Union into the Downend Homes at Bristol Union, 1915.
D\G\k/185/1 Register of children admitted to and discharged from the Bristol (Downend) Home and Portishead House (Long Ashton Union), 1915-1923.

As you can see the admission and discharge register is too late for your relative and is also closed for research due to the Data Protection Act. Our catalogues seem to indicate that the home was actually part of the Bristol Union, so can I suggest contacting the Bristol Record Office

Downend Library say - I have checked books about Downend from our local collection but there is no reference to Downend Cottages in them. I have also checked the reference packs prepared for school children researching our area but have only found references to Bromley Heath Cottages. There are local history societies in Downend so I wonder whether they might be able to help. The contacts are as follows: Downend Folk House Assoc. (0117 9562367); Downend Society - Lesley Ashley (0117 9563140); Frenchay Tuckett Society – Mr A Freke (0117 9570942).

Yet to make any calls to the above.