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Hello ldp64,

Thought I would let you know that my mum, Ellen, had a fall at home back in July and is now confined to a nursing home called Harmony House. Ironically this used to be the Louie home where she arrived at the age of 12!!

Hello funkymum,

My mother tells me that all the children that went to the home had a connection with St Clement Danes. William Pennington Bickford (the rector) and his wife Louie bought the house in Portslade I think as a private residence. During the summer the chilren from the sunday school came down to stay for a week or maybe two in batches of about eight. Then children from local schools who I guess had a connection with the church came down. For the rest of the year children from the community who were in need of care were looked after. My mum often talks of two brothers who stayed at the home for some time after their parents split up and their grandmother could not manage them. As you may know the church was bombed during the war and William P-B committed suicide at the loss. Louie later did the same by jumping from the attic window of the home in Portslade.
During the year my Mum would clean the house (unpaid) and in the summer months she looked after the children. She was only 12 when she went there from Suffolk but she was preceded by her older sister who was the house keeper. That part of it is a very long story, but if you want to know any more about the home I can sent you something.