The Haunted Palace Blog

The Victorian era was a time of philosophical, cultural, scientific and religious change. It was also a period which saw the emergence of influential and prominent social reformers, such as Octavia Hill, Josephine Butler, Louisa Twinning and William Crooks. One of the areas which was of particular concern was the workhouses. The original purpose of the workhouse was to give those most vulnerable in society, whose only other option was to starve in the streets or turn to crime, a roof over their head in exchange for hard labour. However, these institutions soon became synonymous with brutality, abuse and exploitation. Eventually, the outcry against the workhouse was so strong that those in charge were forced to make changes and in the later nineteenth century, conditions did improve – for some of them anyway.

The Rise of the Orphanage

The workhouses were now seen as a stain on society – a reminder of a ‘less progressive’ time. Many believed the worst of them should be shut down if they could not be reformed. However, there was still the question of how best to help those in need. One of the answers was to establish institutes for orphans (orphans referring to children who had lost one or both parents), vulnerable women and destitute families. These institutes or asylums were usually funded by private benefactors or by committees who raised donations to build them and also ran them¹.

One such institute was the Merchant Seamen’s Orphan Asylum in London. Opened in 1827 in central London (before moving to Snaresbrook), it was set up by a group of wealthy ship-owning families and City of London merchants. The asylum sought to house, educate and train the orphans of merchant seamen who had died in active service. This particular orphanage helped both boys and girls and it was rare for a child to leave at 14 without having secured a situation.

Unfortunately, not all of these asylums shared the good reputation held by the Merchant Seamen’s Orphan Asylum. For some, the shadow and stench of the workhouse clung to them. One in particular became so notorious that it was even the subject of debate in parliament.

The Royal Patriotic Fund

In 1854, the Royal Patriotic Fund was set up to help the orphans and widows of soldiers, sailors and marines who were killed or died from wounds during the Crimean War². Overseen by the Royal Commission with Prince Albert at its head, the fund managed to raise about £1.5 million. Out of this huge sum, £178,000 was allocated for the building and running in Wandsworth, of what became known as the Royal Victoria Patriotic Asylum for Girls³.

The Royal Victoria Patriotic Asylum for Girls

Building work began in January 1856, with the foundation stone laid by Queen Victoria. The Gothic-style building designed by Major Rhode Hawkins to house up to 300 girls⁴ only took 18 months to complete. One of the reasons for the quick build was that unusually much of it was prefabricated and built off-site. This included the cast iron windows and stone facing⁵.

On 1 July 1859, the first girl was admitted. The girls were divided into 3 divisions, with a maximum of 100 girls in each. Each division had its own schoolroom and classroom. There was also a great hall where all the girls ate, apartments for the Lady Superintendent, teachers and assistant teachers and 12 dormitories, each with 25 beds. There were also 4 stone staircases which were put in to ensure that in case of fire, the girls could easily escape⁶. The building, due to its design, was also considered fireproof, which is ironic considering the events that later unfolded.

A Life of Misery

The girls, the daughters of men who had died in active service, were admitted from the ages of 7 to 11 years old and were supposed to stay until they were 16. The aim of the orphanage was to train the girls in domestic service. However, from what the reports reveal, it was more like domestic slavery and hard labour. It sounds like any education that did happen was purely accidental.

Some of the tasks that the girls were forced to do included hand-pumping rainwater from the underground capture system up to the tanks in the tower, doing the laundry for everyone living in the asylum, scrubbing all the floors, and cleaning all the windows.

A culture of abuse permeated the institute with cruel punishments metered out by the Lady Superintendent on the orders of the orphanage’s Chaplain. It was said that the girls’ heads were shaved (to prevent lice) and that each morning they assembled in the courtyard and were hosed down with cold water. There was also no heating in the building, with the exception of heaters in the rooms of the Lady Superintendent and teachers – the girls must have frozen, especially in winter. These harsh conditions carried on for a few years until 2 incidents occurred that meant that what was going on inside those bleak walls could no longer be ignored.

Shocking Depravity

One of these cases involved a 16 year old girl who was stripped naked and flogged with a birch rod, which would have left welts and bruises all over her skin. The fact that it was a girl, that she was naked, and that the Lady Superintendent used a birch rod instead of the ‘gentler’ cane, horrified genteel society. One comment made in the Bedfordshire Mercury pulled no punches, describing the punishment as ‘disgusting to our enlightened notions of morals and and of decency’ and called those responsible ‘guilty of such shocking depravity’. ⁷

Burnt to Death

The other incident, which happened, probably in 1861, resulted in the terrible death of one of the girls. The girl in question was known as Bennett. Some articles give her name as Charlotte Jane Bennett. This may be correct, but as I couldn’t find a contemporary source, I am just going to refer to her as Bennett. Bennett was the daughter of a deceased soldier, but as she had been over 11 when she entered the orphanage, she was too old to be a pupil⁸. She was instead employed as an unpaid domestic servant and I suppose was expected to be grateful for her good fortune. If the life of the girls who were pupils were brutal, it is hard to imagine what hers would have been like.

It’s also not known exactly what she did or said that warranted the severe punishment she received, although one source I read said that she had made a rude remark to the laundress. Whatever ‘the offence’, the Chaplain decided that she should be severely punished with 2 days solitary confinement. Based on his orders, Bennett was locked in a small room (either a cupboard or bathroom), and was only released at night for the purpose of going to bed. On the second day, at about 8.30 pm, one of the girls, who was instructed to take her food and release her for the night, opened the door and found her burnt to death⁹.

The odd thing was that in the sources and newspaper articles I read, there was no mention of how she burnt to death, only that she had. One of the theories is that there was a fire in one part of the building, possibly started by a heater in one of the teachers’ rooms. Horrifically, one report states that the rest of the girls, while at prayers, could hear her agonised screams for help¹⁰. These cries were ignored by the Chaplain and Lady Superintendent – too busy praying and being ‘religious’. The girls themselves were probably too afraid to defy them and go to her aid. The coroner’s report at the inquest returned a verdict of accidental death.

An Inquiry

This tragic incident led to an inquiry into the goings-on at the orphanage. A Ladies Committee was formed to investigate and report back its findings. According to the committee’s report, they found that, as well as the terrible conditions the girls were living in, there was also systematic mismanagement of funds, theft and corruption¹¹. They placed a large proportion of blame at the feet of the Chaplain and Lady Superintendent. Their report on the behaviour of the Chaplain stated that ‘his punishments have been severe and totally unsuitable and revolting’¹². Their verdict on the Lady Superintendent was equally as damning. Theydeclared that she was ‘unequal to the control of such an establishment’¹³. The committee recommended that both of them should be immediately removed from their positions¹⁴.

As well as physical abuse and neglect, evidence also suggested that the Chaplain was preaching in such a fanatical way that it was affecting the girls’ mental health. It was said that the older pupils were suffering from chronic hysteria due to attending revival meetings¹⁵. Two of the girls’ conditions were so severe that the secretary of the orphanage’s Executive Committee had actually sent them to London to be cured by mesmerism¹⁶.

The findings of the Ladies Committee were voted on by the Executive Committee. Those in favour of implementing the recommendations outlined in the report were outvoted by a majority of 8¹⁷. The rest not only excused the behaviour of the Chaplain and Lady Superintendent but actually condoned their actions. In the end, the Executive Committee refused to replace them, citing that the Lady Superintendent’s position as a widow of a clergyman made her ideal for the role of managing such a large institution. The ladies were so incensed by the Executive Committee’s response that 7 of the 13 of them resigned¹⁸. One of these ladies was Lady Colchester. Interestingly, her husband, Lord Colchester, chairman of the Executive Committee, also resigned.

Public Condemnation

The public was not sparing in its condemnation of the orphanage, with newspapers attacking those in charge and contemporaries comparing it to Dotheboys Hall in Charles Dickens’ Nicholas Nickleby. In the book, the boarding school is described as being run by a schoolmaster who abuses and starves his pupils. It shows that, as always, Dickens didn’t have to use his imagination to describe the sufferings of the poor and vulnerable.

There were a few people who did continue to fight for change. This included J. A. Smith, who brought the matter to the attention of Parliament and the Undersecretary for War. He spoke about the flogging which he had heard from the late Sir George Lewis¹⁹, the alleged mismanagement of the asylum’s finances, and the brutality of those running it. However, the Undersecretary of War said that this wasn’t his department’s area of responsibility and the matter was dropped.

After all of this, there was a change that the Executive Committee did make. They replaced the birch with the cane. I am sure the girls were very thankful.

The End of the Royal Victoria Patriotic Asylum for Girls

During the 2 World Wars, the building was taken over as part of the war effort. In the First World War, it was used as a General Hospital and in January 1941, the building was requisitioned by the Home Office and the girls evacuated to Wales²⁰. The Home Office or more precisely the Internment Camp Division, used the site for the reception of aliens and refugees of allied and friendly countries. What went on there is not known but it developed a very sinister reputation. After the war, the girls didn’t return and instead a new school was opened for them in Bedwell Park, Essendon. The Grade II listed building then had many faces, including a training college and London County Council accommodation. It has now been converted into high-end flats, studios and workshops.

A Haunting

As with most places in London, especially those with a dark history, the building is said to be haunted. Sightings of the figure of a girl, believed to be Bennett, have been seen in the area of the north and south courtyard and cloisters²¹. One report is rather odd. Workmen mention speaking to a girl dressed in an Edwardian nightdress. The men believed the girl was from a local school²². However, if it was Bennett, what was she doing dressed in Edwardian clothing – clothing that wouldn’t have been available to her for at least another 40 years.

Final Thoughts

One thing (of many) that upsets me about what happened at the orphanage is that the 2 incidents we know about must have been just the tip of the iceberg. Who knows what horrors the other girls experienced? Sadly, their stories will never be told and they, like so many other victims of asylums and the workhouses, will never have justice.

Sources

1. The Rise of the Orphanage | Merryn Allingham ↩︎
2. Royal Victoria Patriotic Asylum cor Girls, Wandsworth, London ↩︎
3. Ibid ↩︎
4. Royal Victoria Patriotic Building – History ↩︎
5. Royal Victoria Patriotic Asylum cor Girls, Wandsworth, London ↩︎
6. Ibid ↩︎
7. Bedfordshire Mercury, 13 June 1863 ↩︎
8. Medical Times and Gazette, 6 June 1863 ↩︎
9. Bedfordshire Mercury, 13 June 1863 ↩︎
10. Public Opinion, Volume 4, 1863 ↩︎
11. Sailsbury and Winchester Jouranl, 6 June 1863 ↩︎
12. Public Opinion, Volume 4, 1863 ↩︎
13. Ibid ↩︎
14. Royal Victoria Patriotic Asylum cor Girls, Wandsworth, London ↩︎
15. Sir Edward Abbott Parry & Sir Alfred Edward Codrington, War Pensions: Past and Present, 1918 ↩︎
16. Ibid ↩︎
17. Bedfordshire Mercury, 13 June 1863 ↩︎
18. Salisbury and Winchester Journal, 6 June 1863 ↩︎
19. Saint James Chronicle, 2 June 1863 ↩︎
20. Royal Victoria Patriotic Asylum cor Girls, Wandsworth, London ↩︎
21. Royal Victoria Patriotic Building – History ↩︎
22. Haunted Wandsworth: 10 Ghostly Locations in the Borough ↩︎