In 1885 Canon Allen Edwards, supported by the workers of the London and South Western Railway, opened an orphanage in Clapham for the children of railway workers which in 1909, moved to Woking where it could accommodate 150 children whose fathers had died during their work on the railways.

 

 

In the 1960s the site became known as the Southern Railwaymen's Home for Children and Old People. It is now part of Woking Homes which caters solely for retired railway and transport personnel and their spouses. 

 

According to Screen Archives South East, mothers could visit their children in the orphanage but this might only be once a month and "typically, the children remained at the orphanage until the age of 14 (later 16), leaving the institution with a hand-picked outfit and a guarantee of welfare support until the age of 21".

 

Woking Railway Orphanage in Derby served the south of the country, there was another Railway Orphanage in Derby which served the north of the country.

 

 

Thanks are due to Screen Archives South East for the above information.

 

 

Mary Gillard's collection includes some documents which are available to download here.

We have been given a large quantity of photographs and booklets relating to the Railway Orphanage at Woking. Just a few items are shown here:

 

 

Most of the photographs are pictures of very young children playing or portrait shots of the children. We believe that the children may have been in the nursery and that all the photographs date from 1955 to 1959. Some are professional photographs, others are snaps. Most have names on them. I would love to be able to reunite these photographs with the people pictured in them. If you were at this orphanage in the mid to late 1950s, please contact me and we'll see if you are featured.

The surnames that are mentioned on the photos are Rothery or Rotherly; Maina or Mainea; Bridges; Chiss or Chriss; Francis; Braybrooks; Carter; Oku; Nayter; Fust. Some of the photos are only listed by their first names so it is always worth asking to see if you feature if you were in the orphanage in the 1950s.