Kensington and Chelsea School District

The 1834 Poor Law Act led to improvements in the arrangements made for the education of pauper children. Poor Law Unions, and parishes regulated by local acts, were persuaded to establish schools and to appoint schoolmasters. The policy of separating the children from their parents (who were generally considered to be a bad influence on their children) and sending them, if possible, to the country was continued and in 1866 several Middlesex metropolitan authorities were sending children to schools outside London. The Poor Law Amendment Act of 1844 made possible a further development in this field which was of significance for the metropolitan area. Unions and parishes were empowered to unite and to form a School District which then set up a large separate school for the education of all the indoor pauper children of the constituents of the district. These were usually industrial schools where both boys and girls were taught the basics of a useful trade which, it was hoped, would provide them with better prospects in future.

Kensington and Chelsea School District was founded in 1876, comprising the Poor Law Unions of Kensington and Chelsea. The School District decided not to construct a large district school, instead establishing a cottage homes development at Banstead in Surrey. This took the form of small houses reminiscent of a family home, with separate school buildings, workshops and recreation facilities. A branch school, Marlesford Lodge, was constructed in Hammersmith. This acted as a 'filter school', preventing unsuitable children from being transferred to the Banstead Homes, such those with parents in custody, those with infectious ailments and those under the age of 4.

Source of information: Peter Higginbotham at The Workhouse website.