Girls' Reformatory School, Little Park Street

Does anyone have any knowledge of the reformatory and where the records may reside?

There's some interesting information online, just click the link here. It says it was originaly located in Tile Hill, then moved to Little Park Street in 1869 - there's also some info regarding its "residents". Hope that helps

Hello Can anyone tell me a little more of Greyfriars Reformatory School. I had a relative in there in the 1901 Census, a complete mystery to all living relatives. As she was only 15 I suspect maybe she was pregnant and was "sent away". We don't seem to have any connection to Coventry. She was one Ruth Mannifield b.1886 in Sheffield. She married 1906 in Sheffield to [Thomas] John Strickland and died 1977 again in Sheffield. I would also be interested in any other details/photos of Greyfriars Reformatory School. Also if anyone knows if she did give birth to a child would it be registered in her name? Thank you Audrey

Here's something about the school ALLESLEY GIRLS' REFORMATORY SCHOOL, TILE HILL, COVENTRY, WARWICKSHIRE. WARWICKSHIRE GIRLS REFORMATORY SCHOOL, 61 LITTLE PARK STREET, COVENTRY. Originally certified 27th June 1856 as Allesley Farm Reformatory at Tile Hill nr Coventry - a small farm which had been extended. The school removed from Tile Hill on 1st March 1869, to a disused hospital in Coventry, which was altered and fitted for the purposes of the school. Certified 17th February 1869 for 45 girls. In 1907 the school removed to Kenilworth. Became Knowle Hill Approved School from 1933. STAFF 1866 - Matron Miss Wakeling. 1867 - Matron Miss Melhuish. +++ 1868 - Superintendent Miss Melhuish. +++ 1869 - Superintendent Miss Phillips. 1872 - Superintendent Miss Phillips; schoolmistress Miss Whimby. 1884 - Superintendent Miss E. Higginbotham; schoolmistress Miss Penn. 1891 - Superintendent Miss Higginbotham; schoolmistress Miss Gwyn; laundry matron Mrs Perry. 1893 - Superintendent Miss Higginbotham; schoolmistress Miss Gwyn; laundry matron Mrs Perry. 1900 - Matron Miss Crombie. Miss Burgess succeeded Miss Home as teacher on 22nd January 1900; Mrs Hulme succeeded Miss Fidler as assistant matron on 10th March; laundress Mrs Percey. 1903 - Matron Miss Crombie; teacher Miss Dean; assistant matron Miss Hulme. The laundress left 4th October 1902, between then and 7th March the post has been held by Miss Ada Page. (+++ wasn't Miss Melhuish head teacher at Barrs Hill in the 1960s??? ) The Old Reformatory at 419 Tile Hill Lane was an old half-timbered, low-beamed cottage to the front, with redbrick buildings added to the rear in the 19thC. when it was turned into an institution. The Reformatory had been operated by a private committee on which Lord Leigh served and was established in the summer of 1856. Then it was known as 'The Warwickshire Reformatory Institution for Girls' with accommodation for 22 inmates. In 1869 the girls were moved to a larger building in Little Park Street in Coventry, previously 'The Coventry and Warwickshire Hospital'. Here there was room for 40 inmates, deriving income from voluntary contributions, Government grants, work done by the girls and payments from parents. The buildings in Tile Hill Lane had barred windows and doors with heavy locks and bolts. Spy-holes in doors were still in place when the buildings were demolished in January 1961. The last residents were Mr and Mrs C.A. Maddison and Mrs C. Wood

This is really interesting! Thanks, both of you. I wonder if there is a list, anywhere, of the girls and the reasons for their incarceration? I'll try to find out

The 1901 Census lists 45 girls aged between 10 and 18 "all engaged in various branches of domestic work", plus Jessie Crombie (matron) age 36, Mary Catherine Dean (governess) age 22, a laundress and an assistant matron - the girls came from all over the country (there were three from Sheffield) In the 1891 Census, there were 36 "pupils" aged between 10 and 19

Thanks Midland Red!

What a great forum! I have just discovered through the 1871 Census that my 2nd great grandmother Harriet Louisa Rawson (aged 13) was also a pupil at this school. One wonders why she would have been sent here? I enclose a list of staff and pupils alongside Harriet. If you have any more information about the school or someone below, I would love to hear more. Many thanks, Andrew. Hannah M Phillips 32 - Head Kate C Whimbey 23 - Assistant Elizabeth Sedam 50 - Assistant Eliza Tyler 34 - Assistant Pupils: Mary James 17 Esther Fitter 16 Harriet Carding 16 Clarah Mansbridge 16 Sarah Tanner 15 Harriet Orme 15 Annie McDonald 15 Eliza Thomas 15 Lavinia Lee 15 Clara Sadler 15 Harriet Mott 15 Eliza Currall 15 Ellen Larrier 15 Mary Lee 15 Rose Inks 14 Charlotte Powrie 14 Mary Bulson 14 Betsy Matelatt 14 Mary Butler 14 Emily Dunster 14 Elizabeth Foster 14 Ann Bolton 13 Annie Lunt 13 Jane Lingley 13 Margaret Shortlidge 13 Mary Atkins 13 Emily Davies 13 Mary A Lee 13 Harriet Rawson 13 Fanny Reeves 13 Eliza Parker 13 Annie Oakes 13 Sarah A Martins 13 Sarah Stoney 12 Rose Neale 12 Georgiana Cooper 11 Lucy Cope 11

"Inmate" would be a more appropriate term, "school" was a euphemism for juvenile prison. A girl could be sentenced to five years in a reformatory for stealing a loaf of bread, with the first few months of the sentence spent in an adult prison.

Helen looking at my 1950 map and comparing it to this earlier NLS side by side - was the spot No.1 Parkside was on once the Reformatory Girls school? Do we have any images of that? The thread on the school doesn't have any. I've cheekily captured an image of the shop from that film for posterity. It looks like a Bass sign on the very right edge but possibly an Ad as I can't see a Pub on the maps. The Kings Head Inn was on the other side of the road/junction so would not have been visible. Post copied from topic Shops of yore on 13th Mar 2025 8:18 am

This one of Rob's probably shows that end best. Yes it was at the south end of the reform school but it would be hard to say exactly where because roads were widened and it would need a careful overlay of different era maps to exactly plot the two.

While trying to find out more about the reformatory mentioned above I came across this "Cale, M. (1993). Saved from a life of vice and crime : reformatory and industrial schools for girls, c.1854-c.1901 [PhD thesis]. University of Oxford". Coventry gets several mentions. Perhaps mods could move it to the "Reformatory" topic but I notice nothing has been put there for nearly 11 years.

There are a few posts about the reformatory in the Little Park Street topic.

A search of the site shows references to reformatories and approved schools appear in several topics. From the comments they seem to have been snake pits where perverted adults could prey on the vulnerable. It is sad that some children ended up in such places without being involved in any criminal activity.

The definitions of bad behaviour have changed over the years. All sorts of things illegal now, were acceptable in the past and vice versa. Children had almost no rights at all and women, not much more. Now, we recognise many more abuses but we have very few punishments to discourage them from happening. We have solved many of the problems that beset past generations and at the same time created new hazards.