Home Office: Children's Department: Registered Files (Six Figure Series)

MH 102

1850-1971

This series consists of policy files in the Home Office six figure registered files series. These cover all aspects of child detention in remand homes, and industrial and approved schools. They include representative files relating to individual schools and homes, and these sometimes include inspectors' reports. Subjects covered include absconding, education, general health and welfare, boarding out, fostering and adoption, holiday camps, emigration, employment, aftercare and hostel arrangements. Also included in this series are files in the CHR symbol series (BN 62) beginning in 1948 and concerning local authority homes and nurseries for children placed in care for various reasons such as parental illness, eviction from home, residence in a public assistance institution, or for children who had problems of adjustment or educational difficulties.

Finance files of the Home Office and Department of Health and Social Security are in HO 362

For representative case papers see BN 28 BN 29 BN 61 BN 62

For policy files in the CHN (Children) series, which originated in the Home Office in 1949, see

Public Record(s)

English

• Home Office, Childrens Branch, 1924-1949
• Home Office, Childrens Department, 1949-1971
• Home Office, Reformatory and Industrial Schools Department, 1866-1924

2760 files and volumes

Subject to 30 year closure unless otherwise stated

Before 1972, responsibility for the application of various acts relating to children (such as the Children Act 1908, the Children and Young Persons Acts, 1932 and 1933, the Public Health Act 1936, the Family Allowance Act 1945, the National Insurance Acts 1946 and 1948, the Children Act 1948, and the Adoption of Children Act 1949) lay with the Home Office. In 1972, this function was taken over by the Department of Health and Social Security