The old orphanage, Darlington, England
Posted by: 
cmiller38
N 54° 31.971 W 001° 34.600
30U E 592099 N 6043742
The orphanage was opened by Mrs Mary Pease in 1870 and closed in 1897.
Waymark Code: WM13BWW
Location: North East England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 11/03/2020
Views: 2
The orphanage was opened by Mrs Mary Pease in 1870 and closed in 1897.
Mrs Mary Pease (nee Lloyd) was from Birmingham. She married Henry Pease of Darlington in 1859. 33 years his junior Mary gave birth to five children.
She brought a nurse by the name of Jane Kerr over from Armagh Ireland to help her look after them.
When her children had grown Mary set about finding Jane a new job.
Mary was a guardian of the poor of Darlington. A regular visitor of the Workhouse there. She became particularly interested in a new policy adopted by the workhouse of removing young children to a less grim surrounding.
It was this that inspired the inspiration for the opening of the orphanage for girls. She pestered her husband to find a suitable abode.
The orphanage formerly Brookfield House was the home of Henry Pease's head gardener. Henry decided to move his gardener out and gave the property to his wife. It opened as an orphanage in 1870 initially with 5 girls.
The building was later extended to accommodate 11 girls. The girls came from far and wide. One of the girls was from Surrey and another from London. It is not clear how the girls were chosen.
When Ms Kerr retired it seemed the orphanage was closed.