Beddington, London, UK.
History of the Royal Female Orphanage
The Royal Female Orphanage (originally known as the ‘Asylum or House of Refuge for Orphans and Other Deserted Girls of the Poor’) was founded in Lambeth in 1758 by Sir John Fielding. In 1866 the orphanage was relocated to Carew Manor, Beddington.
Although described as an orphanage it was primarily a place for girls whose fathers had died and whose mothers and guardians could no longer afford to maintain them. Its purpose was to house, school and train these girls for domestic service roles.
Regular church attendance at St Mary’s was part of their everyday life and they had appointed pews in the St Nicholas Chapel.
A number of girls who died while attending the Orphanage were buried in St Mary’s churchyard. A memorial gravestone to commemorate these girls was placed in the extended churchyard c.1910.
The orphanage at Beddington was closed at the start of the Second World War (1939). At this point, the majority of girls returned home to their families or guardians. 58 girls were evacuated to an estate at Camborne in Cornwall, owned by the Chairman of the Orphanage committee. In 1943 the estate was requisitioned, and the Orphanage was moved to 743 London Road, High Wycombe where it remained until its final closure in 1968.
The following video was created as part of the Remembering Royal Female Orphanage Exhibition (2022-3) supported by he National Lottery Heritage Fund.
The Royal Female Orphanage Project (2021-2022)
In September 2021 a group of trained volunteers began conducting research and oral history interviews. Their aim was to collect, share and preserve new interpretation and audio recordings of peoples’ memories associated with the Orphanage.
The recordings provided unique, personal and emotive insight into the history of the orphanage, which will support the paper and photographic records available at the London Borough of Sutton Archives and Buckinghamshire Archives.
This initiative was part of the Restoring and Celebrating the Art and Craftsmanship of St Mary’s Church, Beddington, a project supported in part by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
The audio recordings were donated to the London Borough of Sutton Archives for future use.