Convent Sterrix lane
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issi
- Posts: 51
- Joined: Fri Sep 25, 2009 9:16 pm
I went to school at St Willfreds when it was all girls school,one of the girls in our class was a boarder at the convent but was aloud to go to St Wilfreds her name was Kathleen Rafter one day she was off school which was very unusual as she was never off,we found out latter why,she,d help one of the girl escape,she was moved to a convent down town after that we went to see her a few times ,I would love to know what happened to her if enyone remembers her it was in the 60s
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tony00165
- Posts: 34
- Joined: Fri Oct 29, 2010 2:32 pm
............As Hank Williams wrote (As Luke the drifter)....'For every fallen woman there's a hundred fallen men'georgewiliam wrote:By way of explaning the Victorian approach to 'wayward girls', take a look at the following url:
http://oro.open.ac.uk/82/1/NOT_WORSE_TH ... _GIRLS.pdf
It can be seen that the girls were more sinned against than they are sinners
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ALAMO2008
- Posts: 1014
- Joined: Wed Jan 07, 2015 2:31 pm
- Location: Aberystwyth
I remember being on a number 56 Bus in the early 60's going into town with friends, and as the open back bus pulled off from the Sterrix Lane stop heading to the Greenie.
A girl with red hair burst out of the front door of the Convent of the Good Shepherd and quickly jumped onto the back of the moving bus. As the Bus pulled away Two Nuns came out of the Convent and chased up the road after the Bus.
The Driver must have seen them in his rear mirror and stopped
The Nuns caught the bus and got on grabbing the girl by her hair and pulling her off the bus back down the road back to the Convent.
I never knew why at the time.
But now having seen the Movie The Magdalen Sisters
and also Channel 5's Series - "Jack Taylor" Episode 3 - The Magdalen Martyrs
I now have more of an idea of what went on in that so called House of God around the corner from where I lived in Randall Drive.
Now wish I could have helped the poor girl escape.
Tracing my Ancestry have recently found that my Paternal Great Granddad was buried in an unmarked grave in 1891 in Section B just over the wall from where the 56 bus used to stop next to the Convent when coming from town.
I used to climb over the wall here as a kid to play in the Cemetery, not realizing my relative was so near and nearly jumping down onto his plot. How weird is that ?.
A girl with red hair burst out of the front door of the Convent of the Good Shepherd and quickly jumped onto the back of the moving bus. As the Bus pulled away Two Nuns came out of the Convent and chased up the road after the Bus.
The Driver must have seen them in his rear mirror and stopped
The Nuns caught the bus and got on grabbing the girl by her hair and pulling her off the bus back down the road back to the Convent.
I never knew why at the time.
But now having seen the Movie The Magdalen Sisters
and also Channel 5's Series - "Jack Taylor" Episode 3 - The Magdalen Martyrs
I now have more of an idea of what went on in that so called House of God around the corner from where I lived in Randall Drive.
Now wish I could have helped the poor girl escape.
Tracing my Ancestry have recently found that my Paternal Great Granddad was buried in an unmarked grave in 1891 in Section B just over the wall from where the 56 bus used to stop next to the Convent when coming from town.
I used to climb over the wall here as a kid to play in the Cemetery, not realizing my relative was so near and nearly jumping down onto his plot. How weird is that ?.
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kenswayken
More or less opposite to the connection to Randall & Poulsom Drives on Sterrix Lane.
I remember the old gardener firing a shot gun loaded with salt pellets at us when we were " visiting" their apples trees.
The big dare was to cut through the Cemmo at night after a few pints in The Kirkstone.
I remember the old gardener firing a shot gun loaded with salt pellets at us when we were " visiting" their apples trees.
The big dare was to cut through the Cemmo at night after a few pints in The Kirkstone.
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Dan
- Posts: 4730
- Joined: Sat Jul 07, 2018 6:24 pm
Demolished about 40 years ago, Ally.
Demolition usually involves site clearance. Leaving anything behind risks compensation claims for negligence.
Below is a 1969 watercolour, with a cracked glass pane, of the convent from the Gorsey Lane end of Sterrix Lane.
Demolition usually involves site clearance. Leaving anything behind risks compensation claims for negligence.
Below is a 1969 watercolour, with a cracked glass pane, of the convent from the Gorsey Lane end of Sterrix Lane.
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Dan
- Posts: 4730
- Joined: Sat Jul 07, 2018 6:24 pm
Below is a list of what were initially termed Magdalen Homes or Womens' Missions, in Liverpool and the surrounding area.
The full list for homes in England runs to 28 A4 pages.
The Convent of the Good Shepherd is 4th from bottom of the list.
It was founded in 1858, with 220 available places. Admission was free, other places could charge an admission fee.
The full list for homes in England runs to 28 A4 pages.
The Convent of the Good Shepherd is 4th from bottom of the list.
It was founded in 1858, with 220 available places. Admission was free, other places could charge an admission fee.
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Dan
- Posts: 4730
- Joined: Sat Jul 07, 2018 6:24 pm
From one of the genealogy sites; about the Convent on Sterrix Lane.
"The Victorians had all sorts of institutions to deal with the poor, the destitute, juvenile offenders and those deemed to have "dissolute habits" - reformatories, homes, ragged schools, industrial schools, asylums etc. As most of the inmates at this Convent had ordinary jobs (including your Sarah) this clearly wasn't a prison, but as it was described as Reformatory there must have been an element of 'reform' or punishment. What crimes they might have committed, if any, is hard to say. Perhaps some were "fallen" women as the expression went, but as the average age of the inmates appears to be over 30 and some women are in their 50s, 60s and even 70s, I think those days were probably in the past! What your Sarah did, if anything, one can only speculate. I expect a lot of women stayed on at the Convent simply because they had nowhere else to go.
I could only find a brief mention of the Convent on British History Online which says, A Roman Catholic cemetery of 21 acres was opened in 1855, and has the church of the Holy Sepulchre adjoining it, built in 1861. There is also a convent of nuns of the Good Shepherd who have an asylum for penitent women, established in Everton in 1858 and removed to Ford in 1867."
Some enhanced photos of the convent taken c1880-1895.
Bob posted a couple of these on the Ford convent thread.
The workhouse
Dormitory
Prayer room
Chapel with the pews of the nuns' choir
"The Victorians had all sorts of institutions to deal with the poor, the destitute, juvenile offenders and those deemed to have "dissolute habits" - reformatories, homes, ragged schools, industrial schools, asylums etc. As most of the inmates at this Convent had ordinary jobs (including your Sarah) this clearly wasn't a prison, but as it was described as Reformatory there must have been an element of 'reform' or punishment. What crimes they might have committed, if any, is hard to say. Perhaps some were "fallen" women as the expression went, but as the average age of the inmates appears to be over 30 and some women are in their 50s, 60s and even 70s, I think those days were probably in the past! What your Sarah did, if anything, one can only speculate. I expect a lot of women stayed on at the Convent simply because they had nowhere else to go.
I could only find a brief mention of the Convent on British History Online which says, A Roman Catholic cemetery of 21 acres was opened in 1855, and has the church of the Holy Sepulchre adjoining it, built in 1861. There is also a convent of nuns of the Good Shepherd who have an asylum for penitent women, established in Everton in 1858 and removed to Ford in 1867."
Some enhanced photos of the convent taken c1880-1895.
Bob posted a couple of these on the Ford convent thread.
The workhouse
Dormitory
Prayer room
Chapel with the pews of the nuns' choir
