Case 9045

G

Male

G's father had died in July 1901 from heart disease. His mother worked as a cleaner at the Infirmary in Camberwell but she was not strong and it was felt that she might find it impossible to continue at this work. She was away from home all day and had to pay a considerable proportion of her wages to have her two youngest children cared for while she was at work. G. was left without anyone to look after him and had become troublesome and unmanageable. He had "fallen in with rough bad companions and [was] in great danger of growing worse and developing criminal tendencies." It was seen as imperative that he should be removed from the neighbourhood. On 7 July 1902 he was admitted to the Byfleet Receiving Home and transferred to the All Saints Home, Ashdon ten days later, on 17 July. On 5 January 1903 G. was removed from All Saints Home by his mother who had remarried and was in a position to care for him. The authorities at the Home were sorry to see the child leave as he had been good and they knew they would miss him, but they were pleased that he was returning to his mother.