Children drank from these mugs
at Reedham Orphanage.
Can you see the initials R and O
on one of the mugs?

Reverend Andrew Reed
was a minister
for the Congregational Church.
He opened the Orphanage
in 1858
as the Asylum for Fatherless Children.

Joe talks about his experiences
at Reedham Orphanage:

"I started there in 1903
at the age of 5.
Mother took me to Purley,
to the school upon the hillside
as the Reedham School song puts it.
And I understand
that I screamed loudly
at being parted from my mother.
But presumably,
I soon settled down
there
in the infants department."

"We were given an excellent
general education -
English grammar, algebra, geometry,
science, history and geography -
all superbly overseen
by Mr Clarke
the headmaster.
And within two weeks of leaving Reedham
at the age of 15
with the help of Mr Clarke
I found a job as an office boy
with an international oil company.
I'm always extremely grateful
for the Christian education and training
I received at Reedham
under Mr Clarke's administration."

A hundred years ago,
a child without parents
might end up on the streets,
in the workhouse,
or in an orphanage.

Reedham was Croydon's biggest orphanage.
To get in, children had to be,
"healthy,
free from deformity,
fatherless,
above the pauper and criminal class,
but in need".
The orphanage was more like a school
than a workhouse.

These mugs are
on loan from CNHSS:
Croydon Natural History and
Scientific Society.

To find out more about CNHSS
visit their website:

www.greig51.freeserve.co.uk/cnhss