St James Home for Penitents Fulham

[Cheryl16]

Hi
I am not sure where to put this..it's a mile away from the Romany Smiths I usually seek!

Looking at my inlaws for a change I have just found my hubbies grandmother residing in the St James Home for Penitents, Fulham in 1911 as an unmarried 17 year old.

from Google I have found that the Homes for Penitents were generally for "fallen woman", either ladies of the evening or unmarried mums. Does anyone know whether there is anywhere I might be able to find records for the Fulham home or even where I might find anything more about it.

Does anyone here know anything about this "Home" please?

Many thanks Cheryl

[Ermintrude46]

It would be worth contacting Lambeth Palace archives to see what info they may hold as St James was apparently a Dioscean Home http://www.lambethpalacelibrary.org/
Ermy

[menace666]

Hi Cheryl,

Did you manage to track down the records for St James Home for Penitents ?

A cousin and I are trying to find out what happened to an inmate at the home. In our case, she was at the home aged 38 in the 1901 census and we don't know what happened to her after this.

Any information about inmate records would help.

[Cheryl16]

I tried all the suggestions... and the London Metropolitan Archives with no luck. I did establish that it was possibly (nothing concrete though and this doesn't seem likely for my relative, but that might be wishful thinking!) a home for unmarried mums  but beyond that nothing.   Sorry to be no more help.

Cheryl

[dancingdog]

We are looking for any information on this place from 1901 - 1911 Thanks

[Chippings]

The messages above are very helpful.  I have found a connected person listed here in the 1891 Census.  Looking up the relation of the word 'penitent' and 'penitentiary' I was sort of uncertain where this place stood between a "home" and an actual "prison."  But I saw that it was under the care of nuns, with the 'St. James' name so I'm guessing the former.  Also they all seemed to be training for some occupation, mine was Seamstress.  The transcription says they were all "Training in Homo", which I'm not sure what that meant -- for Home type occupations, probably. 
My girl turned up 2 years later dancing on the Broadway stage in New York, so the Seamstress thing didn't work in her case.
If anyone does ever find the records, or anything more about it, I hope it will be posted here.  It's an odd side-topic.

[Blue71]

Hello,

St James home for penitents was also known as St James' school for girls it was on Fulham Palace road and was run by Nuns (1871) There is a grass area in between the blocks we used to call the island where rumour has it the Young girls and Nuns are buried. 
In 1938 Robert Owen House was built and is still there today.

[Sheila Merritt]

Anybody had any luck getting records for inmates for this home. Just found out my Grandmother was in there for a while as a teenager.