St Raphael's House, Torquay

[cheshiremog]

Hi Shaun
Forgot to say
You should not put your email address on this site
The  moderator will remove it to protect you from spam
What you need to do is click on a person's user name which is far left in blue
eg 'cheshiremog'
When the new page opens
scroll down to
'send this rootchatter a personal message'
click
send your personal email that way
mog

[shaun lodge]

hi to you my name is shaun i went to a school in torquay it was called Pitt house school before it was Pitt house it was st Raphael.s i have got lots of old photos of the old place and a lot of of photo's of when it was a boys school if you would like to know any  i live in stroud so i am not that far away from you or you can get me at my e-mail is 

Moderator Comment: email address removed to prevent spam and other abuses. Please use the secure personal message system to share email addresses and other personal information. Thank You .

I've been  hunting down my Virgin relatives from Devon for some time and have just found my great-grandfather's sister Ann Virgin (does that make her a great great aunt?) in St Raphael's House, Torquay on the 1871 census.

Having done the usual Google search, all I can find is that it was a convalescent home run by the Sisters of Mercy. The boarders appear to be of mixed social status and not all young so I assume it's not the sort of place where girls were sent to have illegitimate babies. Does anyone know anything about it and whether there are any records anywhere?

Thanks

Angela

[Doremouse_Ca]

I attended Pitt House School 1963/64.
I asked one of the housemasters about the history of the school, he told me that it had been a hospital during world war 1. My reply was something along the lines of that we must be sleeping in the original hospital beds, as I remember that little quip cost me 200 lines.
My favourite parts of the school were the great staircase, and the chapel, having been raised anglo-catholic I felt at home in the chapel but could'nt understand such a place in a C of E School.
Now that I've read the various posts about St Raphael's, I understand.

[shaun lodge]

hi its nice to see you on here just to let you know i have got a pitt house school web site with alot of old photos on there if you go on the site have alook  its is
http:www.pitthouseschoololdboys.co.uk
my name is shaun lodge

[Doremouse_Ca]

Thanks Shaun for the info on PHS.

When I was looking at the picture of St Luke's and  St Raphael's, the thought crossed my mind that the powers that be are allowed to perform conservation murder.   St Raphael's was a beautiful building and should have been listed rather than destroyed.
Out here in Grande Prairie Alberta, the situation is somewhat different. When the local art museum collapsed, the locals were up in arms about it, (not literally) and want to sell the  individual bricks at 10 to 15 dollars each so they could rebuild to an exact copy of the original building.
Fortunately this did not happen as it was a really ugly place and only 75 years old.
Sorry about the rant, but this is something I really believe in. 

[terryleaman]

Unfortunately Torquay has lost some grand buildings. Without getting political, we may lose a lot more if our Mayor has his way.

Just been looking at the 1911 census and have found my grandmother, her sister and my godmother on there- either in St Lukes or St Raphaels (the address is missing- I'm waiting to hear if they can sort out which one) My gran & her sister were kitchen & scullery maids, my godmother was a housemaid, she later went on to become head housekeeper.

[Doremouse_Ca]

To Terry Leaman and cheshiremog, thank you both for the lovely pictures.
I can only relate to one personally, and that is the picture of the great (or main staircase), it looked exactly the same when I was at school there in the sixties.
I love the term naughty boys boarding school, I think that the PC phrase would be educationally challenged boys boarding school. I know I was.
In the National Archives I found a small amount of information.  St Raphael's (for women) established 1866; St Luke's (for men), 1883; St Barnabas (for phthisis patients), 1892. All closed 1959.

Having got into research mode now does anybody where St Barnabas was? and whether it is still standing.
The modern term for phthisis, is tuberculosis. 

[shaun lodge]

Unfortunately Torquay has lost some grand buildings. Without getting political, we may lose a lot more if our Mayor has his way.

Just been looking at the 1911 census and have found my grandmother, her sister and my godmother on there- either in St Lukes or St Raphaels (the address is missing- I'm waiting to hear if they can sort out which one) My gran & her sister were kitchen & scullery maids, my godmother was a housemaid, she later went on to become head housekeeper.

[terryleaman]

Map below showing St Lukes, St Raphaels & St Barnabas.
Plus a photo os St Barnabas