The history of The Royal Philanthropic Society



In 1788 a small group of men concerned about the number of homeless children on the streets of London that earned a living by begging or stealing met in St Paul's Coffee House. These children would either die of natural causes or fall foul of the law; either way their future was bleak. As a result of the meeting the men got the backing of the Duke of Leeds and set up The Philanthropic Society, whose aim was to aid the reformation of boys who had been engaged in criminal activities. ...... At first a small child was sent to a nurse and when the number of children in such care reached twelve a house was rented and the children put into residence. The were taught to knit stocking and make lace. Within two years there were fifty children in four houses and in 1792 an institution was set up at Southwark. Here boys were taught tailoring, shoemaking, printing and rope-making, and the girls needlework, laundry and kitchen skills. In 1845 a decision was taken to care for boys only. By this time there were one hundred boys. Those who did well were found employment, some emigrated to South Africa. .....The Chaplain of the Society, the Rev. Sydney Turner, was of the opinion that the institute should not be in the town but in the country, away from the crime ridden streets of London. Several sites were found but from most there was local opposition from people fearful of having a group of delinquents in their area. One concerned resident even offered the Society £1,000 to stay away from her area, a sum that was accepted. ....Funds were hard to come by but in 1848 a decision was taken to set up a farm school at Redhill. The farm originally consisted of 133 acres, later increased to 350 acres on a 150 year lease. Included was an option that the farm could be bought at a fixed price during the term of the lease, this being later realised.

......The move to Redhill was in 1849. The main building was the old 16th century farmhouse which was extended to create a warden's house and offices. The bailiff's house was enlarged for the first boys to arrive before work began on a chapel at the top of the hill, the foundation for which was laid by Prince Albert on April 30th 1849. Two full size houses for the boys called Queens and Princes were also built. By 1857 there were five houses accomodating 250 boys, each house having a master and a matron. The houses were called Gladstone's, Gurney's (founder Samuel Gurney), Garston's, Waterlands, Queen's and Prince's. Boys accepted at the school early on were either voluntary cases at expiration of prison sentences, voluntary cases part paid for by parents who could not manage them at home, or very young boys sentenced to transportation. The Reformatory School Act of 1854 made changes that meant that in place of these three categories the school began receiving boys directly from the courts. The aim now was to reform boys already embarked on a life of crime rather than to prevent them getting into crime in the first place, which had been the original aim. This was reflected in the name of the establishment which by 1861 was the Redhill Reformatory School. The numbers of boys at the school rose considerably, and at the end of their time at the school many Victorian era boys were sent to various parts of the British Empire. As many as thirty-five boys were sent abroad each year. Some may have bettered themselves and lived long lives, others may have not fared so well in foreign lands..

......Chaplain Turner who had first suggested the idea of a move to the country left to take up the post of the Society's first chief inspector and was replaced by the Rev. Charles Walters in about 1857. Henry Rogers was the school secretary in 1861.
.....Apart from the problems faced in reforming the boys there were also health problems. Redhill was in its infancy with none of the services enjoyed today. Wells were the only source of water and there were cases of typhoid. Keeping everyone fed must have also been a problem as there were also dietary problems at the school. Gas and water would not be piped to the school until the 1880s. In May 1900 the Relief of Mafeking was celebrated by an extra piece of cake being given to each boy.

1930s milking team

Chaplain	Charles Walters, 34
Secretary	Henry Rogers, 31	Along with 275 boy inmates, each one
Schoolmaster	John Lawrence, 51	listed by his initials only, the number
Schoolmaster	John Cowen, 25	of people on the site had grown
Schoolmaster	John Butcher, 39	considerably.There was also a gardener
Schoolmaster	Jabez Howe, 32	and several agricultural labourers plus a
Schoolmaster	John Lawson, 27	bricklayer. Also listed with all those above
Schoolmaster	James Rempshall, 33	is a Pitman at Fuller's Earth, making one
Bailiff	James Bilcliffe, 49	wonder quite how many were not proper to
Matron	Anne Walker, 50	the RPS estate. Nevertheless the total
Baker	James Smith, 43	number listed is 375, making the RPS
Band and Drill master	Edward Holman, 31	organisation a very labour intensive one.

Chaplain	Charles Walters, 44		In addition to those shown there were two
Secretary	John Trevarthen, 34		labour masters. They were shown as
Schoolmaster	William Hearne, 37		servants but were presumably connected
Schoolmaster	John Cowen, 35		with the supervision of the boys.
Schoolmaster	John Butcher, 49
Schoolmaster	Jabez Howe, 42	.	248 boys are listed. Altogether there were
Baker	James Smith, 54		328 people on site
Bailiff	James Bilcliffe, 59
Matron	Anne Walker, 65?
Out pensioner & writing clerk	Edward Holman, 40		Note - In 1861 was band and drill master
Gardener	Thomas Buckland 51		Note - Born in Reigate
Brickmaker	Ebenezer Francis

Chaplain	CharlesWalters, 52
Secretary	John Trevarthen, 44	234 boys are listed. Altogether there were
Schoolmaster	John Butcher, 59	307 people on site. Some of the wives have
Schoolmaster	John Cowen, 45	jobs as dairymaids, etc. Some of the older
Schoolmaster	Jabez Howe, 52	children of employees have jobs outside of
Schoolmaster	William Hearne, 48	the school.
Baker	James Smith, 64
Bailiff	George Bilcliffe, 44
Drillmaster teacher	George William Bathe, 34	The estate is named as a 'Farm School'.
Clerk and bandmaster	Edward Holman 50 *	The boys are named and listed as 'juvenile
Matron	Sarah Bilcliffe, 57	offenders under detention'.
Assistant schoolmaster	George Benfield, 24
Carpenter labour master	Thomas Best, 68
Cowman	Alfed Cooper
Farm labour master	John Marks, 45
Carter	Henry Shuttleworth, 26
Gardener	Thomas Buckland, 61	Note - Born in Reigate

Extract of 1891 census at the Royal Philanthropic Society

	Warden (Chaplain)	George Vine, 40
	Clerk (secretary)	John Trevarthen, 54
	Matron	Sarah Bilcliffe, 63
	Assistant matron	Louisa Cowen, 57	Note - Wife of schoolmaster
	Assistant matron	Jane Howe, 60	Note - Wife of schoolmaster
	Assistant matron	Anne Hearne	Note - Wife of schoolmaster
	Assistant matron	Lucy Walker, 28
	Schoolmaster	William Hearne, 57
	Schoolmaster	Jabez Howe, 60	Note - Son is a solicitor
	Schoolmaster	John Cowen, 56
	Schoolmaster	Charles Walker, 31
	Assistant master	William Hearne, 28	Note - Son of schoolmaster
	Assistant master	Thomas Day, 19
	Cook	Jane Howe	Note - Dghtr of schoolmaster
	Cook	Mary Hearne	Note - Dghtr of schoolmaster
	Gardener	Charles Pollard, 59
	Baker	James Smith, 74	Notable this year is the number of
	Bandmaster	Henry Mallinder, 48	schoolmaster's relatives who also have jobs
	Bailiff	Walter Brown, 36	on site, especially assistant matrons. Perhaps
	Cowman	Alfred Cooper, 50	there was one in each of the five houses as
	Farmburser ??	Frank Drewett, 39	there would probably have been one master
	Farm labour master	Henry Ford, 56	in each house.
	Farm labour master	James Harman, 31	There are 320 people on site, 235 of which
	General nurse	Mary Hobson, 41	are boys in detention.

Extract of 1901 census at the Royal Philanthropic Society

Chaplain and Warden	Marshall George Vine, 50	No assistant matrons this time but probably
Secretary	John Trevarthen, 64	the organisation had not changed with a
Farm Bailiff	Walter Brown, 45	schoolmaster and his wife running each of
Bandmaster and stockeeper	Henry Mallinder, 58	the houses. Their jobs would not have been
Gardener	Charles Pollard, 67	9-5 ones.
Carpenter	James Mailing, 43
Farm labourmaster	James Harman, 42
Farm labourmaster	George Missen, 36
Cowman on farm	Alfred Cooper, 49
Carter	Frank Drewett, 48
Medical nurse	Harriet Smith, 52
Schoolmaster	John Cowen, 65
Matron	Florence Cowen, 36	Note - Dghtr of schoolmaster
Schoolmaster in training	William Pollard, 26
Schoolmaster	William Hearne, 68
Schoolmaster	Frank Gouds, 26
Schoolmaster	William Kellaway? 26

It has been suggested that the remuneration for those working at the RPS Farm School were low but it should be noted that although there are many different names recorded in the above censuses there are those who remained in post for many years. James Bilcliffe, the bailiff in 1851, was still in post in 1871 and served at least twenty years before being succeeded by his son, George. Schoolmaster John Butcher, also first seen in the 1851 census, was still there in 1881, serving at least thirty years. Chaplain Charles Walters appears in the 1861 census and aged 34 and also in the 1881 census aged 52, serving at least eighteen years. John Cowen was aged 25 in 1861 and was aged 65 in the 1901 census, a period of forty years. Secretary John Trevarthen appears in 1871 aged 34 and is still there in 1901 aged 64. Jabez Howe went from 1861 to 1891 at least. Their wives stayed with them and their children grew up at the Farm School creating a permanance that belies difficult conditions or poor remuneration. Perhaps a certain amount of job satisfaction was the reason for longevity in their jobs. Perhaps what they had was better than what was on offer elsewhere in Victorian England.

......The establishment was also known as the 'Farm School' but the 'Farm' seems to have been dropped in the 1920s. The basic training for the boys continued to be working on the land, probably more with the use of the spade rather than the plough. Trade training was also introduced in the form of tailoring, carpentry and shoemaking and as time went by farming activities gradually ceased to play such a large part at the school . A major event in the calendar had been a 'Harvest Home' when the gates were opened to visitors and distinguished guests from the Borough and further afield came to see the work done there and to observe the final harvest being brought in. Precisely when the 'Harvest Home' days ceased is unknown but farming still seems to have been a major occupation in the 1920s and 30s, with Harvest Festivals continuing. They possibly ceased in the 1940s.

1920s tractor on the farm


......The school uniform was made of tough brown corduroy with a forage cap. Close cropped hair made the boys look like convicts. The corduroy uniform was abandoned in 1925 in the wake of a national feeling against institutionalisation. Boys rarely left the farm estate and had only one or two days holiday each year. ......In the easrly years the school ran entirely on voluntary donations plus whatever profit the farm could make but gradually some government funding became available as well as money from local authorities. In June 1944 a flying bomb fell just behind the main buildindgs and destroyed the chapel, kitchens and dining hall. No lives were lost however.
	Stacking sheaves in the 1920s before the corduroy uniform went out of use

......Reform, or Reformatory, schools had become approved schools under the 1933 Children's Act. In 1967 a book laid down new thinking concerning the activities and future direction of all the approved schools in the country. A 1969 Act changed Approved Schools into 'Community Homes'. No longer an adjunct of the prison service, these homes, Redhill among them, now housed boys who were at the school under care instead of approved orders, and who were under the supervision of social workers.
......Previous regimes had been hard and disciplined but major among the changes was the open door approach wherein boys stayed not because they were enclosed within secure walls but because they were a part of a trusting community, a situation achieved at a cost of increased staffing levels, one of the factors that contributed to the demise of the schools. Another factor was that the personal authority of staff members had been eroded and diminished. ... .These changes actually came into effect at Redhill four years after the 1969 Act. Part of the Act's effect was to put the control of the school into the hands of a new administrator, chosen from bids made by areas such as Wandsworth, Lambeth and Surrey, Wandsworth being successful. Although the Philanthropic Society no longer ran the school it was still very much involved in its management, but the resulting structure was heavy and unwieldy. ......The burden of financial responsibility fell on its main administrator, Wandsworth Borough, which ran the school as a business, with profit in mind. It would offer places to other areas, such as local counties and other London Boroughs at so much per week, aiming to house and educate a boy for less and take the profit. Because the new system was inefficient these profits either did not materialise or were there at first but declined as time went by and costs soared. ..... Over the years the school had split into three parts: - The Classifying School, which opened in1955 and was known as the Assessment Centre from 1973 - The Training School, known as the Community Home from 1973 - The Secure Unit, opened in 1965 and becoming the Intensive Care Unit in 1973. Just before closure a new set of buildings was erected north of the railway for a new Community Home and all of the land to the south of the railway was sold, the proceeds going to fund new projects. ..... Due to much of the Society's old control being taken out of its hands problems built up, and in 1986 two year's notice to the Secretary of State for Social Services and to the London Borough of Wandsworth that it would cease to provide premises for the Community Home at Redhill. The building programme north of the railway was not completed due to closure of the Farm School in 1988, the Society's Bicentenial year. It had existed at Redhill from 1849, a period of 139 years. The Royal Philanthropic Society itself still exists, for details see bottom of this web page.

These have been some of the pictures from publications of the Royal Philanthropic Society's farm School at Redhill over the years. The Society itself still exists and continues its work with young people all over the country. Its offices are at Office Rectory Lodge, High Street, Brasted, Westerham, Kent TN16 1JE
Tel: 01959 578200

FURTHER READING: A History of the Royal Philanthropic Society 1788 - 1988. This may be available from the above address.

1994 accession at Sy Rec Office 4261: A sketch of the principles and working of the Philanthropic Society, Redhill, Surrey, by John Trevarthen, secretary of the Society, published 1867

http://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/GetRecord/SHCOL_3521

Jabez Howe living at 'Hazeldene' St John's Road, Earlswood, in 1899

This is a page on Alan Moore's website www.redhill-reigate-history.co.uk

CONTACT AUTHOR

7th August 2011

Chaplain	Sydney Turner, 36	Staff had families and servants with them
Schoolmaster	Charles Hedgelong, 26	and altogether there were 121 people on site
Schoolmaster	John Butcher, 30	of which 89 were pupils, each boy being
Schoolmaster	Thomas Morgan, 24	listed by his full name. Boys' ages ranged
Bailiff	James Bilcliffe, 39	from 10-17.
Farm labourer	George Brown, 25	This was the third year of the RPS at Redhill.
Farm labourer	William Brown
Baker	Joseph Kendrick, 61
Cook	Susannah Kendrick
Carpenter	Thomas Dye


1930s haycart	The 1930s Metal shop	1950s wood-workers


1950s dining hall	Dining hall with stage at far end, 1920-30s	Sports team, 1928


Boxing team	Choir of 1935	Milking team on the hillside, 1930s


Metalshop 1928	Tailor's shop 1920s-30s	A dormitory, date unknown


Boat builders of 1975	Leisure hours 1929	Repairs 1920s-30s


Hay rake 1931	Haywagon 1920s-30s	Hospital 1920s-30s


Reaping and binding 1935	On the farm in 1931	Milking

Extract of 1851 census at the Royal Philanthropic Society

Extract of 1861 census at the Royal Philanthropic Society

Extract of 1871 census at the Royal Philanthropic Society

Extract of 1881 census at the Royal Philanthropic Society



Princes House	The original Garston's House


	Basket making in the 1890s