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Josiah Mason's Orphanage

Hello, is it possible to post the photo? My father and his brothers were at SJMO around 1936 ( my dad was 9) to? They where John, Peter, Michael Gruchy.
It's on my list of things to do, but it isn't technically quick and easy, because the photo is about 2 feet wide. I'd somehow have to scan it in pieces and then photo edit the pieces back together. Not going to happen in the short term.
 
Awaiting the visit of the Lady Mayoress to the School. Viv.

A6FE0DB1-EE1A-40C8-9C38-34A9DF534272.jpeg
Source: British Newspaper Archive
 
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A view from orphanage tower 1899 courtesy Sir Benjamin Stone Collection
I have looked at all of the photos you have posted of the Sir Josiah Mason Orphanage and I am looking for a photo of the school as it was from 1948-1953 when I was a day student, prior to the new school Yenton Primary??? being built at the front of the original buildings. I am writing a book on my life through edit to remove advertising. so that my present grandkids and their kids can see what their Poppa did growing up. Can you or anyone else connect me to photos of that era??
Robin
 
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Robin good luck with your book. I’ve removed the site reference in your post #243 as we don’t encourage advertising on this Forum. Viv.
 
Not sure if these would be what you want but there are a few photos on the Phyllis Nicklin Site dated 1964
Thank you PJM those photos will work fine as I recognized them immediately; now if you asked me what I had for dinner last night I could not remember but my memory from 70+years ago is firing on all cylinders. Mr. Shillito brings back memories on one occasion painful ones!!
Robin
 
Bernview, thanks for posting up your photo, which looks down along the course of Orphanage Road. It took me a while to realise what that object in the immediate foreground is: it is of course the top of the safety railings around the top of the tower. In 1964 I was in Yenton class 4.1, and I remember a death-defying workman with a gas torch removing those railings as a precursor to demolition.
 
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I have found this thread so interesting and loved seeing the photographs. I found out recently that two very distant cousins lived at the Orphanage after their parents died. Harriet and Jane Dunn, born in 1861, were twins and the youngest of 8 children. Their mother died in 1863 aged 39, followed by their father in 1866, aged 42. Their eldest two sisters went into service, the two oldest boys went to live with two maiden aunts and the youngest boy was admitted to the local Bluecoat School (I haven't discovered what happened to the third girl).

Harriet and Jane were living at the Orphanage in 1871 and both subsequently went into domestic service. Jane stayed local, working in Erdington in 1881 and Edgbaston in 1891. Harriet was much more widely travelled, working in Teddington, Middlesex in 1881 and Huddersfield 1891.

I think they must have stayed in touch with their wider family as, in 1901, they are back living together with the two maiden aunts who had taken in their brothers over 30 years previously, where they remained until their deaths.
 
Here is the school photo from 1936. Sorry about the quality. I had scanned it into three separate pics and enhanced it, but the files are too large to upload to this site.
 
That's a very welcome photo Gruchy, but it would be even better if we could have it at higher resolution. You may be able to reduce the file size by converting from colour (which is unnecessary) to greyscale. Also, JPG files can be compressed from 100% accuracy to say 80% without noticeable loss of clarity, but with significant file size reduction.
 
How are these?
 

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Those are clearer Gruchy, but I still don't recognise a soul. I'll try to scan and post the 1938 photo over the next few days. I can provide a handful of names of faces with that.
 
I just received these postcards. Some of the photos I have seen before, I thought I would share as they are of good quality.
 

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