Ipswich - corner of Ranelagh Rd & London Rd *COMPLETED*

[hmallington]

There is an old abandoned house on the corner of Ranelagh Road and London Road in Ipswich.

I know that it has been occupied by various businesses in the last 30 years or so but at one time (pre WW2) I am guessing a great aunt of mine lived there, older family members can remember going to visit her and believe it was a home of some sort, does anyone have any information on what it may have been?

Thanks

[Suffolk Mawther]

I have often pondered the past of these houses, so neglected now.  Have you tried looking on 1901/1911 census to see if they can yield any information?

Pat ...

[Annette7]

Drove past here the other day - has now been demolished.

Annette

[hmallington]

Probably about time has been empty for quite some time.

Helen

[Hephzibah]

I believe it used to be a home for young women.
My aunt recalls that in the 1940s there were young girls living there and every Sunday they used to attend (she thinks) St Matthews church in Portman Road. They all wore the same, royal blue coats with panama hats. They walked in crocodile with an adult at the front and one at the back. The girls didnot attend Ranelagh Road school which was next door and my aunt seems to think they had some disability to be living there.
In the 1950s I walked home to Hadleigh Road with my aunt every Sunday,  after  attending church in London Road. At the same time were walking several women, in crocodile formation, returning home after church service.
I suspect the the latter may have been the same women as had been in the home in the 1940s....but it's just a guess!
I have a very very hazy memory that there was also a large detached house to the right of the one in the photograph which was demolished in the road widening of London Road: it may have been this one, rather than the one in the photo, which was the home.
Hephzibah

[hmallington]

That is wonderful, thanks, it all fits with what I have been told. My uncle said he always felt scared when they went and visited which would fit with the girls having some sort of disability, it was talked about so it was probably a little scary for a young child seeing people who were deemed to be not normal. Thank god that has changed nowadays.

Helen

[Suffolk Mawther]

Interesting to learn more (I had always thought they were a pair of upmarket semi-detached).

Pat ...

[IndisVanyar]

Hello all

 The 1901 census (Ref RG13/1776/68/38) has:
Address 1 and 2, Handford Villas, Ranelagh Road
Elizabeth H Cooper, Head, Single, Female, 43, 1858, Matron House Feeble Minded Girls
plus a Laundy Matron and a Sub Matron caring for 19 girls aged 13 to 19

I wonder how they defined feeble minded?

In the 1911 census there is a reference to Handford Home Ranelagh Road Ipswich where the 17 inmates all appear to be young(ish) women ranging in age from 10 to 27.

Nell

[Greensleeves]

I remember that house - I used to attend Ranelagh Road School intermittently (my father was in the RAF and my grand-parents lived off the Hadleigh Road, and for a while we lived in Ranelagh Road).  My mother told me that after WW2 the house had been an orphanage, so  I am wondering whether the poor 'feeble minded girls' had been abandoned by their parents.