Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind: Abuse, Neglect and Fire in a London Children's Workhouse, 1854-1907

A local story in a national setting The local story provides: - Descriptions of the lives of 50,000 Victorian east London pauper children, from age two, trapped in an institution, where: - abuse, neglect, ill-discipline and corruption were rife. - An account of a highly acclaimed naval training vessel run by the school in Grays, which tragically perished, after five years - Local heroes and villains emerge in Forest Gate, their stories told for the first time - A record of how Britain's first female workhouse school governor - Henrietta Barnett - led the charge to close the institution after public health and fire disasters in the 1890s - The successful struggles of future MPs - Will Crooks and George Lansbury - who cut their public service teeth closing the Forest Gate school - The onward journey of the buildings, which became a maternity hospital, and birth place of 50,000 20th century East Enders. The national setting relates: - Details of state and religious responses to 1,000 years of child poverty in England. - An account of 200 years of institutional care of looked-after children, nationwide. - The failure of Victorian confused thinking and policy, in addressing the needs of pauper children. - Innovative moves from home, abroad and from Britain's first female public servant - Jane Senior - to address the question of looked-after children. - The 50-year record of how complacent and unimaginative Victorian governments failed to adequately respond to the needs and concerns. - How real change in approach from charities, churches and local initiatives were largely ignored by successive governments. - How a national campaign to close "barrack schools", was successfully led by Henrietta Barnett, following her Forest Gate experience - A detailed examination of dozens of other institutional solutions, over a 200-year period, addressing the needs of looked-after children in England and abroad. - How Forest Gate pioneers set the tone for 20th institutional child care policy and practice Sources The readable and anotated book is based on research from national and local archives, an extensive review of nineteenth century newspapers and previously unpublished memoirs.

About the Author :
Long-time Forest Gate resident. Author, editor and publisher of million plus- hit local history blog, E7-NowAndThen.Org

Review :
The book is published by E7-NowAndThen.org - the Forest Gate local history blog with 1.1m hits covering over 200 local stories (www.E7-NowAndThen.org).