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W. and his brother C. were born in Bombay, India. (See also 3622) The boys father, a dentist, abandoned the family leaving £200 in debts. They were living with their mother in Chelsea at the time the application was made. She was described as "a lady of intemperate habits". The boys were sent to Kingsley Hall Home, Frodsham in May 1893. C. was too old for the home so in July 1893 he was sent to the Shoe Brigade Home in Chester. Shoe Brigade Homes were run independently of the Society. W. stayed at Kingsley Hall until August 1895 when he went to a Working Boys Home, Albion House, in Chester. W. and C. both later joined the 1st Royal Berkshire Regiment at Portsmouth. At the end of 1908 W. developed tuberculosis and was discharged from the army. Although he was 26, a special case was made and he was taken into the Tattenhall Home, Cheshire, in August 1909. He left the Home in 1910 and was "camping out" nearby. |
