The Actors' Orphanage was started in 1896 and established as the Actors' Orphanage Fund in 1912. The fund continues but the orphanage closed in 1958.
History
The charity was started in 1896 by
"Kittie" Carson and Mrs
Clement Scott
Clement William Scott (6 October 1841 – 25 June 1904) was an influential English theatre critic for ''The Daily Telegraph'' and other journals, and a playwright, lyricist, translator and travel writer, in the final decades of the 19th century ...
The first building was in
Croydon
Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...
.
[ It was established as the Actors' Orphanage Fund in 1912.
In 1915 the Orphanage moved to Langley Hall at ]Langley Langley may refer to:
People
* Langley (surname), a common English surname, including a list of notable people with the name
* Dawn Langley Simmons (1922–2000), English author and biographer
* Elizabeth Langley (born 1933), Canadian perfor ...
(was in Buckinghamshire - now in Berkshire). The orphanage was both a home and a school to approximately 60 children. At ages 15–17 pupils sat the School Leaving Certificate of Cambridge University
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...
and if 10 subjects were taken to Matriculation.
The home and school was moved to Silverlands at Chertsey
Chertsey is a town in the Borough of Runnymede, Surrey, England, south-west of central London. It grew up round Chertsey Abbey, founded in 666 CE, and gained a market charter from Henry I. A bridge across the River Thames first appeared in t ...
, Surrey in 1938 where it remained until 1940. In September 1940 the Orphanage was evacuated to the USA[ where the children were housed in ]New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
at the Edwin Gould Foundation, and the children were sent to local schools.
After the war
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
ended the Fund established a home (once again at Silverlands, Chertsey).[ This arrangement ended in 1958 when the costs became too high and the Actors' Orphanage ceased to exist.][ The remaining children were moved to new houses in Hemel Hempstead Road, ]Watford
Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne.
Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...
. Some were placed in private schools.
Over the years many from the theatrical profession gave time and money to the running of the Orphanage. Past presidents of the Orphanage included Sir Gerald du Maurier
Sir Gerald Hubert Edward Busson du Maurier (26 March 1873 – 11 April 1934) was an English actor and manager. He was the son of author George du Maurier and his wife, Emma Wightwick, and the brother of Sylvia Llewelyn Davies. In 1903, he ...
, Noël Coward, Laurence Olivier and Richard Attenborough.
The 1912 fund was re-established as the Actors' Charitable Trust and financial and care help was offered to those in need. It continues to exist today as ACT, the Actors' Children's Trust, awarding £750,000 in grants each year to the children of professional actors.
References
Further reading
*
* {{cite book , last = Staber , first = Judy , year = 2010 , title = Silverlands Growing Up at the Actors' Orphanage , location = USA , publisher = The Troy Book Makers , isbn = 9781935534846
Children's charities based in the United Kingdom
Charitable trusts
1896 establishments in the United Kingdom