Dundee Orphanage remembered by past residents.
To her surprise and delight, that led to a number of people coming forward to talk about their life in the Dundee Orphanage, and she interviewed a number of former residents about their memories of the Ferry Road orphanage, now converted into flats.
‘It was amazing,’ she told us, ‘how I managed to talk to so many people from across the decades from the 1930s before the Second World War, to the 1970s, when the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 revolutionised child care in this country.’ Brenda is writing up a ‘living history’ of CHT, but a couple of former residents attended the Board Meeting on 12th August and enthralled the members with tales of life in the old orphanage. Len Robb, pictured left, talked about his life in Ferry Road in the 1930s and in Gray House, Invergowrie, where they were decanted for the war years. And Les Lumb (with the baseball cap), showed slides that his brother Alan took in and around the orphanage in 1964 on his return from the USA.
Carolina Past and Future will be featured at the AGM in the autumn and it is proposed that a social event bringing together residents from across the years – at least 70 years! – will be held in the near future. If you have are a former resident of Carolina House Trust then please get in touch we would love to hear from you.
When the new Carolina House Trust website was in production, Brenda McGilliard from the Foster Care Team drew together some information on the history of the Dundee Orphanage from 1815 to the present day.
