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Yesterday I emailed Durham Record Office in the hopes of hearing something more on Annie Phillips and I've just received this reply:
At least it's more than we had, we thought that she was actually in the Prison itself.
The Durham County Penitentiary in Kepier Terrace, Gilesgate, was not a prison but rather a charitable home for "fallen women", built in the 1850s by subscription and still in use up to the 1960s. A posting on an Ancestry message board tells us "It took in women of ill repute and tried to reform them. It held 13 - 15 inmates at a time and they operated a laundry service." Whelan's History of Durham of 1894 adds that it "steadily maintains its humane mission in rescuing and reclaiming the fallen." Wikipedia's contribution refers to the London equivalent:" The original Church penitentiary for the reclamation of fallen women was founded in 1806 in London, the most well known centre was set up by former British prime minister William Ewart Gladstone in 1848. Its aim was the convent-based rehabilitation of women, including prostitutes, thieves, the homeless, alcoholics etc. They were charitable organisations and not in place for the punishment of crimes." An annual report was published but these do not appear to have survived. It is possible that some of these may have been published in the local newspapers; a search of these would require the use of our research service.
We do hold a plan from 1909 and some correspondence from a later period when it was known as St. Mary's Home. There are no other known records (apart from the census returns) so it is not possible to say a great deal about your great-grand-aunt's situation.
We do hold a plan from 1909 and some correspondence from a later period when it was known as St. Mary's Home. There are no other known records (apart from the census returns) so it is not possible to say a great deal about your great-grand-aunt's situation.
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