Records of Crowley Orphanage for Girls

The records of Crowley Orphanage for Poor Girls described in this catalogue are not a complete sequence. Records of the management committee of the orphanage have not been deposited with Birmingham Archives and Heritage. The records which have been deposited include minutes of the Ladies Committee responsible for the daily running of the orphanage from 1870 - 1945, application papers and an admission register for girls entering the orphanage between 1871 - 1938, a sickness record book for girls in the orphanage between 1920 and 1940, financial records including a sequence of annual accounts and balance sheets for the charity covering 1871 - 1946, correspondence relating to the orphanage premises and some printed material relating to the orphanage, for example, a deed of settlement 1869, copies of a prospectus and bye-laws and a list of clothing required for girls entering the orphanage.

Birmingham Institutions I/1 147989, 'A collection of MSS, circulars, bye-laws and forms relating to Crowley's Orphanage for Poor Girls, Birmingham, 1899 - 1901'

Birmingham Institutions C/10 141478, 'Crowley's Orphanage for Poor Girls. deed of Settlement, 1869. With balance sheet December 1880. 14pp. 1882'

Partially closed (Content)

Crowley Orphanage for Poor Girls was established using funds from the estate of Thomas Crowley after his death in 1869. Born in 1799, Thomas Crowley was a local timber merchant. The orphanage opened on 25 March 1871 at Icknield House, Icknield Street West in Birmingham. A Ladies Committee was formed to oversee the daily running of the orphanage. The first minute book of the Ladies Committee (document reference MS 517/142), records the aims of the orphanage:

?The spirit of the charity is to maintain and educate poor orphan girls, who were born in wedlock, and who have lost both parents: and afterwards to place them out in situations where they may maintain themselves. The education shall be specially directed to the perpetuation of the girls for domestic services, including plain sewing?.

Girls were accepted into the orphanage between the ages of 6 and 13 and the person who nominated them for admission was to provide a set of clothing. In 1889 and 1894 funds provided by Mr. William Middlemore (deceased) were used to purchase property at 43 ? 45 Lee Crescent and a new orphanage was opened.

On 27th October 1940, the orphanage at Lee Crescent was evacuated because of nearby bombing. The girls from the orphanage were transferred to other institutions, including the Blue Coat School, the Middlemore Homes, Father Hudson?s Homes and Shenley Fields Cottage Homes. The orphanage did not re-open. In 1948 the funds of the charity were transferred to the Middlemore Homes. Eventually the orphanage was converted into flats by the Middlemore Homes. The flats opened in April 1957 as a residential centre for families in need of temporary accommodation and rehabilitation.