Orphanages, Greenwich

[michlyntyres]

Does anyone know of an orphanage where London children were placed.  My Dad was placed in an orphanage as a toddler, I found he was a boarder in the 1901 census, he never saw his parents again.  I learned from a programme on the radio a few years back that the Cottage Homes were started by people taking children into their homes and then it was expanded into the Cottage Homes.  My Dad always thought his orphanage was in Greenwich where he was born but I cannot trace any information on any.  Does anyone have information where he might have been.  One person who knew a lot of history about Greenwich thought he might have been put in an orphanage in Epsom for Children of the Workhouse.

[PaulineJ]

Can you start by giving his name and 1901 census reference?
had he left care by 1911?

Pauline

[michlyntyres]

His name was Joseph Thompson
age 3
Piece 542, Folio 93, Page 17, Schedule Number 105.

He always said he was at the orphanage until he was 14, he joined the army, the Rifle Brigade and served through WW1 and left the army in the 1920's.  He then went on to become a musician with one of the 1930's big bands. 

I have found a reference to a woman who might be his mother on the 1901 census, Florence Ada Thompson, who was a General Domestic Servant, and referred to as a widow, but I haven't found any reference to his father Joseph Thompson death or otherwise, but Joseph Thompson is such a common name.  My father's full name was Joseph Charles Thompson.

[KGarrad]

In 1901, Joseph isn't at an orphanage, but is a boarder?!

5 Glenister Road, Greenwich

Cooper, William  Head  Widower  M  55  Pile Driver  b Norfolk
Chapman, Thomas  Boarder  M  42  Bricklayer Labourer  b Greenwich
Bridger, Alfred  Boarder  M  43  Bricklayer Labourer  b Bedfordshire
Bridger, Lizzie  Boarder  F  43  b Lewisham
Bridger, Polly  Boarder  F  15  b Greenwich
Thompson, Joseph  Boarder  M  3  b Greenwich

[michlyntyres]

Yes, I know, but later on my Dad said that when he was 5 he was in a large orphanage where the girls and boys were segregated, the two buildings were on the same site by separated by a fence.  On the radio programme I listened to they said that the start of the cottage home orphanages were started by people who took in boarders and gradually they raised enough money to build purpose built buildings, the first being in Epsom.  My contact on Greenwich history said he thought that is where my Dad would have been sent, but I cannot find any information on their records.

[Sharon01]

Hi,

This could be his birth.

Joseph Charles Thompson Apr-June 1897, Greenwich, Greater London, Kent
(Vol 1d Page 1099).

Sharon

[michlyntyres]

Thanks I have his birth certificate, his father was Joseph Thompson and mother Florence Ada Thompson (nee) Atkins.

My dad tried for many years to track his family down, he went back to where he was born, spent many hours at Somerset House going through the records, but in those days the census only went up to 1881, they had to be kept locked for 100 years, so he couldn't find where they were in 1901.  He thinks he was boarded out, or put in the orphanage when he was 18 months of age, he vaguely remembered his mother standing in a doorway whilst he was being weighed. 

If his father died it is possible she remarried as she was a relatively young woman. 

[PaulineJ]

Can you give the 1901 details of the Florence Ada tHompson?
Let's see what we can do with it.

And what occupation did the father have in 1897?

[michlyntyres]

Hi, Thanks, I did find on the 1901 census an entry for a Florence A Thompson who was a widow working as a General Servant Domestic.  It says she was born in Islington London, and was working at 50 Primrose Mansion Residential Flats in Battersea.

Whether or not this is my paternal grandmother remains to be seen.  I have been unable to track her in the 1911 census, I have looked for Florence Thompson, Florence Ada, and Florence A, with no success.

In the 1901 census, there is another family living in Chelsea, who have the same names, i.e. Joseph, Florence Ada and Joseph Charles Thompson, plus other children, but the age of the Joseph Charles does not correspond with my JC Thompson.

I have tried going back to 1891/81 to try and find F A Thompson/Atkins, as I think she might be easier to track than J Thompson, I have looked for marriage records, again, no trace, and for death records of Joseph Thompson, supposing that the 1901 census record is hers, so I looked between 1897 (my dad's birth year) and 1901.  So any help would be very gratefully appreciated.