Girls Orphanage, Cliff Road Leeds

[LindaNess]

My husband's g grandmother Sarah Ann Poole had an illegitimate daughter, Jessie Eleanor Poole, born 4 July 1880.  By then Sarah Ann's parents had died.  In 1881 census, Sarah Ann's sister, Elizabeth, and daughter were in the No. 1 Girls Orphanage, Cliff Road.  Is there any access to records for the orphanage?

[KGarrad]

Cliff Dene (the name of the home/orphanage) was run by Leeds Borough Council.
Any surviving records are either with Leeds Council, or West Yorkshire Archives.

See: http://www.childrenshomes.org.uk/LeedsBC/

[LindaNess]

Thank you for your interest.  I have tried the link, but cannot see this particular orphanage on the list.  I am not familiar with Leeds, but will try contacting West Yorkshire Archives. Best wishes, Linda

[KGarrad]

That website has the 1881 census for the orphanage:
http://www.childrenshomes.org.uk/HeadingleyOrphanHomes/HeadingleyOrphanHomesNo1Girls1881.shtml

It was called Headingley Orphan Homes, Girls No 1 Home back then.
Most homes changed their names over the years

See: http://www.childrenshomes.org.uk/HeadingleyOrphanHomes/

On the page it says re any surviving records:

West Yorkshire Archive Service - Leeds, Nepshaw Lane South, Morley, Leeds LS27 7JQ.
Holdings include: Details of children admitted (from c.1873); Committee minutes (1905-66); Annual reports (1898-1957); Correspondence (1930-54, including letters concerning evacuation in 1940); Accounts; Photographs.

[LindaNess]

Thank you so much for the further information.  It was in the 1881 census that I found the two girls and it just said Girls No. 1 Home.  You have been very helpful.  I would like to see what the circumstances were for the girls being placed in the home.  Strangely, the mother of Jessie Eleanor Poole, Sarah Ann Poole went on to have another illegitimate child, a boy, with the same father.  She kept him and went on to marry and seemed to lead a very respectable life with him in York.

[arthurk]

I'm a little confused by some of this. You mention Jessie Eleanor Poole, born 4 July 1880, yet the Eleanor in the children's home is given as aged 2.

The GRO index lists an Eleanor Poole born in the Leeds district in Jun qtr 1878 (9b 587) with mother's maiden name Barland, who looks a reasonable fit for the one in the children's home.

The most likely Jessie Eleanor Poole birth that I can find is one registered in the Wakefield district in Sep qtr 1880 (9c 88), with no mother's maiden name shown. She might be the Jessie E Pool shown in the 1881 census as aged 8 months at 20 Carlton Place, Leeds, as a boarder with a couple called Harper (RG11/4525 fo91 p4), though this one's birth place is given as Keighley, which isn't in the Wakefield registration district. On the other hand, I can't see a birth registration in Keighley, so maybe this was a best guess.

I'm therefore wondering whether the Eleanor in the children's home might be just a coincidence.

[sandrastocks54]

Jessie Eleanor Poole was baptised at a non-conformist chapel in Leeds on 26 January 1881.  Her parents were Edmond Ellis and Sarah Ann Poole.  Their address was given as 20 Carlton Place, Leeds, which is where Jessie Eleanor was in the 1881 census, boarding with the Harpers. 

In 1891 Jessie was a visitor with the Harpers at 24 Westfield View, Stanley, Wakefield. 

Do you know what happened to Jessie after that?

Sandra