Sailors' Orphan Girls' School and Home, Hampstead, London NW3 (downhill from Hampstead Tube station). Edward Walford, in his 1878 account of this area in Old and New London, writes:
we notice on our right, at the corner of Greenhill Road and Church Lane, a large and handsome brick building, with slightly projecting wings, gables, and a cupola turret. This is the Sailors' Orphan Girls' School and Home, which was originally established in 1829, in Frognal House, on the west side of the parish church. The present building was erected in 1869, from the designs of Mr. [Edward] Ellis. The objects of the institution are the "maintenance, clothing, and education of orphan daughters of sailors and marines, and the providing of a home for them after leaving, when out of situations." The number of inmates is about one hundred, and the children look healthy and cheerful. Its annual income averages about £2,000. This institution was opened by Prince Arthur, now Duke of Connaught, in whose honour the road between it and the Greenhill is named Prince Arthur's Road.
According to a much more recent account, the institution was later "recognized as a public elementary school from 1879 and received a parliamentary grant from 1882, when the roll was c.116, but ceased to receive grants between 1903 and 1908, and in 1919 again became independent. The Home closed in 1957" (Elrington).
Left: View of the school from the left. Middle: Cupola. Right: Keystone. [Click on thumbnails for larger pictures.]
Photographs, formatting, and perspective correction, by George P. Landow. Text by Jacqueline Banerjee. [You may use these images without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the photographer and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]
Sources
Elrington, C. R., ed."Hampstead: Education." A History of the County of Middlesex. Volume 9: Hampstead, Paddington (1989): 159-69. British History Online. Web. 29 May 2013.
Walford, Edward. "Hampstead: Rosslyn Hill." Old and New London. Volume 5 (1878): 483-94. British History Online. Web. 29 May 2013.
Last modified 22 August 2012