Case 4220

R

Male

R's father deserted his family when his wife died of cancer in 1889. R. was only 3 at the time. The father's whereabouts were unknown at the time of application to the Waifs and Strays' Society. Some of the children had been sent to the Workhouse but R. was taken care of by his sister and remained with her after her marriage and the birth of several children. As the R. grew bigger it became increasingly difficult for his brother-in-law to keep him. If he could not be accepted into one of the Society's Homes he would be sent to the Workhouse. The sister and brother-in-law were "very respectable persons" but their decision to seek help for R. had been forced on them by poverty. In April 1894 the child was accepted by the Appleton Boys Home, Bolton Percy, Yorkshire. In April 1899 a move back to Hertfordshire to live with his married sister was considered. Later that year there appears to have been a proposal to transfer R. to the Gordon Boys Home, Croydon but a doctor's examination found that he had a weak heart and was unfit for this purpose. R. was subsequently returned to live with his married sister at High Barnet.