The history of the Carolina House Trust is enshrined in the history of Dundee itself. Every rise and fall in the fortunes of the town since 1815 has been reflected in the subscriptions and donations to the Home. Two of the founders were world-renowned for other reasons – James Keiller of marmalade fame, and James Chalmers, the inventor of the adhesive postage stamp.
The founding of the Dundee Orphanage * – later known as Carolina House – is associated with the sinking in the Tay of the ferryboat, Nelson, on a Sunday in May 1815. Seventeen lives were lost and many children left fatherless. ten days later a meeting was held in the Steeple Church to establish an orphanage in the town. Thanks to the humanitarian zeal of a few public-spirited citizens in the previous five months, an organisation capable of taking these children was already in being. Calling itself the ‘Dundee Orphan Society’, its first meeting had taken place in February of that year, and already over £500 had been collected and a house in Paradise Road was rented at cost of £20 per annum. So, just three months after the Steeple Church meeting, nine boys and twelve girls took up residence. One of the first children admitted to the Home was the daughter of a soldier killed at Waterloo.
But space soon became limited, and a bigger house in Small’s Wynd was bought on an instalment plan. That was destined to house the orphans for more than fifty years. To help pay the increased costs, ‘day-scholars’ – mostly children of the poor – were admitted for education for a payment of one shilling per quarter.
Protection and aid for the charity were solicited from the local guilds of craftsmen - ** the Nine Incorporated Trades, the Three United Trades, the Maltmen Fraternity, the Seamen Fraternity, the Guildry and the Society of Writers.
*Dundee Orphanage is the oldest Children’s Charity in Scotland. Dr Barnardo’s Homes were founded in 1866 and Quarrier’s Homes in 1871.
**All of these bodies were continuously represented on the Board of Directors until 1963 when the number of directors was reduced under the new Orphanage Trust Scheme.
Three years later, in 1819, the directors hit their first financial crisis – the owner of the house threatened to sue them for £108 in arrears of instalments. Funds stood at only £43! Trade in the town was poor at the time, but a new craze was sweeping the country – the Waltz – so a Ball organised by the lady-governesses, helped save the day!
From its inception, the Orphanage benefited from annual collections at special church collections where notable divines preached appropriate sermons. It was said that in 1819 at least two directors and the Town’s Officer should stand at the church door and turn away anyone not likely to contribute!
By 1836 the whole of Dundee was struggling financially; over-production had brought a slump a slump in the textile trade and shopkeepers and other trades were caught up in the financial straits of the time, but least affected by these conditions was the building trade, into which the directors began to invest. Quite a few of Dundee’s notable buildings to this very day owe their existence to money lent to the builders by the Orphanage.
But, under the conditions of a Royal Charter granted by George IV, only the interest from such assets could be used for the upkeep of the Home, which became known as the Royal Dundee Orphan Institution.*
Until 1859 there was never enough confidence to consider building a larger Home. But once again, the expansion in commercial enterprise in the town, coupled with brightening prospects in its industries, encouraged the directors to procure the site of the Ferry Road building. However, prosperity was short-lived and trade slumped at the end of the American Civil War. A special appeal raised £6,000 and in September 1870, built to a design by Broughty Ferry architect, William Chalmers, the new Orphanage was handed over free of debt by the subscribers.
*In 1838 one of the girls admitted to the Home was the daughter of the steward of the Forfarshire, a smack built and owned in Dundee, which is associated with the heroic story of Grace Darling when it sank off the Farne Islands.
Each year saw a ‘heartening’ – in the ethos of the times - increase in the number of children benefiting from the work of the Home and in this, the directors were encouraged by the active sympathy of the people of Dundee and thereabouts.*
Initially the children were educated in the Home, but the directors were aware of the limitations of their education policy, so by 1895, some of the children were enrolled at Glebelands School. Several won bursaries to the academies and many gained dux medals and prizes later at the Dundee High School and Morgan Academy.
By 1901 there were 80 children in the Home. In 1912, a voluntary sideline was introduced to provide after-care for former pupils; suitable jobs were found for them and they were fitted out with clothes, shoes etc during apprenticeships or until they could maintain themselves.
World War I saw pride and heartbreak – 51 old boys served in the Forces of whom12 were killed in action.
Hitherto, only children born in Dundee could benefit from the power and scope of the home, but 1928 saw a new Royal Charter that opened the door to children from Angus, Fife and Perth.
*The initial cost of running the Home in 1815, including administration, was £225 for 25 children – i.e. £9 per head per annum. In 1871, a year after the new home opened, the cost was £18 per head per annum for 45 children; in 1915 it had risen to £27 per head per annum for 66 children and by 1965 it was £7 per head per WEEK!
By the 1920s – known as the ‘Depressing Twenties’ something referred to vaguely as ‘Social Welfare’ began to impinge on the work of the Home but there was always a need for an institution to care for families who had lost one or two parents, or who, by broken homes or other circumstances required admission.
In the years that followed the end of the First World War, the notion of ‘charity’ changed radically. The importance of a balanced diet and less restricted home life meant that life was similar to a well-run boarding school.
But the strain in the Orphanage’s history came with the outbreak of the Second World War. 62 children were evacuated to Gray House in Invergowrie. While they revelled in their new environment, the Home in Ferry Road was taken over by the Admiralty for the duration of the war at a yearly rental of £250.Donations and subscriptions fell to as low as £60 – the lowest ever – and the children themselves tried to help out by donating their earnings at the ‘Tatties’.
Fifty former pupils served in the Forces. Four were killed.
The children returned to Ferry Road in 1946 after the Home had undergone an extensive and very expensive facelift. Since the passing of the Widows’ and Orphans’ Pension Act in 1937, the number of children admitted to the Home had been gradually shrinking. Then in 1948 came the Children’s Act which heralded the Welfare State for orphaned children. Surprisingly the number of residents increased in the following year from 48 to 55. Unfortunately the was no corresponding increase in funding. It was as if the people of Dundee had become complacent and believed it was now a state-aided institution.
Early in 1961, as part of a national survey, an inquiry was held by the Scottish Office into children’s homes in Dundee, and the Scottish Secretary drafted a scheme to be called ‘Dundee Children’s Homes Trust Scheme 1962’. The directors objected to so many questions of fact and policy that the Scottish Secretary called a conference of all interested parties, and in consequence, the Orphanage remained a Home supported by voluntary subscriptions; control remained in the hands of seven directors elected by these subscribers along with two co-opted directors and representatives of Dundee Town Council and Angus County Council.
And the name was changed to Carolina House, in recognition of its situation adjacent to Carolina Port.
One of the first steps the new Board took was to divide the building into three family group homes with eight to twelve children in each – in keeping with the concept in the ‘60s of good child care practice.
And with that the old image of Dundee Orphan Institution was swept away forever.
As approaches to child care have evolved nationally during the past half-century, so too has the structure and delivery of services offered by Carolina House Trust. Over the years there has been a move away from residential care for children towards care in the community and supporting families in their own homes.
In 1984 Carolina House moved to Strathmore Avenue in Dundee, and operated three smaller units – one for the little ones, and two for older children. On 1st July 1994 one of those units closed and an Outreach Project supporting young people leaving care was set up. In 1997, when the Trust moved to Roseangle, the residential units and then the Outreach Project were closed down. Care Rescue was set up in 2000, followed in 2002 by the establishment of the Foster Care Service. Between March 2000 and November 2001 respectively, Star and Tarvit residential units were established as part of the Care Rescue service. Other services were localised each with an area-based manager. Unlike the 1930s, when there could be as many as twelve children in a unit, residential care is now provided on a one-to-one or two-to-one basis, and seeks to return the young person to the community, either back home or moving towards independence.
In the meantime, between 1989 and November 2004 the Moving On Team, to support young people leaving care. This was and remains a partnership with Dundee City Council. A Tenancy Support Project and a Furniture Project were registered to assist vulnerable young people, such as young offenders and care leavers. The Furniture Project no longer functions, and since October 2007 the Trust has focussed its work on direct core services and now offers:
Thereby carrying forward the aim of ‘getting it right for every child’ far beyond the walls of the original Dundee Orphanage into the 21st century.
Carolina House Trust
Dunsinane Avenue, Dunsinane Industrial Estate, Dundee DD2 3QN
Tel: 01382 817279 | Fax: 01382 819648
Alternatively you can email us at: info@carolina.org.uk
Established in 1815. Registered Scottish Charity No SC016289
