St. Elizabeth Home (for girls?) in Clevedon

[etrotte]

A pair of girls (Lily Graves, age 4; Alice Graves, age 3) are listed in the 1901 census for a "St Elizabeth Home" in Clevedon (district 3), Somerset, England, who are possible sisters of my great grandfather Charles Henry Graves. Their parents, Frederick George Graves and Margaret Ann Graves (nee Weeks), died in Cardiff, Wales when they were very young, and I'm trying to find out how the orphaned Lily, Alice, Charles, and other sibling Frederick George ended up in Ontario, Canada (settling in the Hamilton area).

I was hoping to find out more about this home, likely for girls, to see if they have any records that might help. Any ideas on how I might find out more about this home?

 

[stanmapstone]

I wonder if it should be St Edith's Children's Home? http://www.sistersofthechurch.org/our-houses/uk/clevedon and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clevedon#history
Stan

[etrotte]

I'm trying to look for the location of neighbouring houses/lodges listed on the 1901 census to see if I can narrow down the location of this "St Elizabeth's House".  Looks like St Edith's Children's Home might be in the right area?? I'll see if I can contact them and confirm the connection.

[KGarrad]

On the following page is "21 Princes Road", a road which still exists.

The wikipedia page for Clevedon has this to say:
Clevedon was also home to St Edith's children's home for almost 100 years until it closed in 1974. The building on Dial Hill is listed, and therefore the outside has changed little, but it now houses privately owned flats. The home was run by nuns from 'The Community of the Sisters of the Church' which is an international body of women within the Anglican Communion, living under the gospel values of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience.

But, on the 1901 census, the 5 Sisters in Charge have as their occupation "Sister of Charity".

So, maybe 2 orphanages?

[etrotte]

KGarrad,

I was wondering about "Sister of Charity" (listed under profession/occupation). Could it be a clue to the organization that ran the home?? Princes Road is close to Dial Hill Rd, where St Edith's is located. I'm not sure how many children's homes were in the area, so perhaps they are 2 different orphanages. Also, I wonder how likely it was for a home such as St Edith's to be mislabelled on a census?

[KGarrad]

I am beginning to think they are one and the same!

I used FindMyPast address search for Clevedon.
There are no entries for Dial Hill Road - probably the houses are posh enough to be known by name alone!
There is no entry in "Other Establishments" for St Edith's.
But obviously St Elizabeth's Home exists.

And that article reckoned the home had been open for nearly 100 years!

[stanmapstone]

There is no mention in http://www.historicaldirectories.org/hd/ for either St. Edith's or St. Elizabeth's in Clevedon.

Stan

[etrotte]

I found a little for info on St Edith's from a blog for people who stayed at St Edith's as children. This is what it reads:

"Hallam Hall was a Boarding School for approximately 10 years before it became an Orphanage for homeless children.  The Community of the Sisters of the Church  who took over the School renamed the building St. Edith's, this soon became home to endless children.  The body of Sisters  belonged to The Anglican Communion of the Church , they ran the Orphanage, they lived under the gospel values of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience.

St.Edith's  remained for nearly 100 years, still caring for children before finally closing down in Janurary 1975."

It doesn't say exactly when it became St Edith's though, so I'll continue to the hunt for more information...

Hi KGarrad. I noticed all the neighbours in the 1901 census were houses known by 'name alone'. I also couldn't find any other establishments in the census for St Edith's either. I haven't checked the 1911 census yet though.

[KGarrad]

There is also a Facebook page, with lots of photos.
2nd down, 2nd left is a Christmas card with a lovely old view of the house.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=o.142650159093202&ref=mf