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St Mary's Home for Penitents, Wantage

Anne Watton

Anne Watton

master brummie
One of my ancestors spent some time at St Mary's Home for Penitents at Wantage. I googled it and found a link which tells me about how it was run and says women were sent there who had been living in sin. (Doesn't look like any males were sent to repent!!) Does anyone know any more about these homes? Her name was Emily Careless and this was in 1881 when she was 23 years old. Ten years later she was back home with her parents. Anne
 
Ann this is a new one to me but I would love to know more. I have never heard of a home for Penitents Wantage but I am sure they exsisted. I hope someone can shed some more light.
 
Wendy
If you go to https://www.archive.org/details/someaccountstma00vincgoog then you can read an exposition of the founder of the place seeking money to continue it, which he presumably recieved as this was 1852, and Anne's ancestor was in 1881. The google versionn you can only read bits of, and not download, but you can read it online, or download as an Epub, and probabl;y as other versions. Reading the rules, nowadays the place would be labelled a sect, especially the rukle about not revealing the name of your family
Mike
 


Hi Wendy & Mikejee,
If you look at the website below it gives a brilliant description of the penitentaries. The one at Wantage was for thieves (often for something trivial) and the penance lasted between 18 months and two years. The strange thing is that her father Richard Careless farmed at Hidcote House, Hidcote Barham where the gardens are now a National Trust property. He farmed 250 acres, employing 9 labourers and 4 servants. Seems strange his daughter stole anything doesn't it? Anne

oro.open.ac.uk/82/1/NOT_WORSE_THAN_OTHER_GIRLS.pdf
 
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