Wincheap Training Home For Girls, Canterbury

We know very little about Wincheap Training Home for Girls because it is rarely mentioned in our records. However, we do know that the Home was transferred to the Society in 1906. As the Archbishop of Canterbury was the Society's Chairman at this time it was fitting that there should be a Society home in Canterbury.

The Home changed its name to Queen Bertha's Home for Girls and by 1908 could accommodate 24 girls, who were aged 9-14. Mrs Bolton was the Home's Honorary Secretary and she was replaced in 1910 by Miss B Moore, who was succeeded by Mrs Staply in 1917. The Bishop of Dover presided as the Home's President.

The Home was helped financially by the nearby Payne Smith Girls' School and the Mayor and Corporation of Wincheap. The Corporation would usually fund an annual holiday for the girls, often to nearby Whitstable.

The Wincheap girls styled themselves as the 'Canterbury Bells', comparing themselves to the ones in the nearby Cathedral. One of these 'Bells' wrote to the Society's magazine Our Waifs and Strays in 1916, recounting a most impressive Christmas entertainment featuring a conjuror who could make 'as much money as ever he wanted'!

The Home closed in 1919.