The House Of Mercy Horbury

A Memory of Horbury.

My mother in law was sent from Herefordshire to the House of Mercy (later the Convent of St. Peter) in about 1925 (aged 12/13). She left in 1927 and was put into service in London. I have traced some documents in the Wakefield Archives but I am unable to understand the reason why she was sent to Horbury from Hereford. Her name was Bessie Eileen Jones. Her grandmother surname was Prosser. Could she have been sent to be near members of the family? Could her estranged father (William John Jones (Jack)) have lived in Horbury. I would be grateful for any information. Jennifer


Added 20 February 2011

#231277

Comments & Feedback

Hello Jennifer. I've no idea whether you'll pick this message up, but hope you do!
I attended St. Hilda's Primary School during the early1950s: the school was part of what we still called The House of Mercy. Within the convent was what we little primary kids knew as "the big girls' school" - tall teenage girls!! We only ever mixed with them at Christmas time, when we all got together for the Nativity Play - nuns as well!
What we little ones were told was that the Big Girls had either "got into trouble" or came from "broken homes". That might fit in with what you say about Bessie's "estranged father"?
There was nothing different or difficult about the Big Girls as I remember them from way back then. I think the convent was a place of refuge for them ... although I believe that, as well as being educated and cared for, they also worked to earn their keep!!
Hope this helps a bit!
Jenny Smith
jenny@petravore.com
Hi Jenny. I was born in Horbury in 1932 and lived very near to the House o f Mercy and recall the girls your
Grandma was a part of. They were 'brought out
on a weekend and walked around the village in a long column for exercise. I understand they were a mixture of orphans or 'bad lasses' or as Jenny describes them as had 'got into trouble'.The convent was high church and the nuns very strict. Sounds to me as if your gran was there because of the broken home.
I wonder if the Wakefield Historical Society could help. Or I have been developing our family tree with the help of Ancestry.com over many years.rasti17@hotmail.co.uk

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