| Description | Prior to 1928, the only accommodation for babies within the Union was to be found in the hospital wards at the Dudley Road and Selly Oak hospitals, with some also being housed in the workhouses. As well as being not ideal for the children themselves, the Board of Guardians felt that healthy children were taking up facilities that should more properly be reserved for the sick. In order to rectify this problem, the Board assigned the Hospitals committee the task of investigating the best way of solving it.
Reporting back to the board, the committee agreed that the setting up of a separate nursery was the best solution. Suitable premises - the Lordswood residence, on Lordswood Road in Harborne - were found and renovated, and the children began to arrive late in 1928. At this early stage, the home was restricted to the care of between 30 and 40 children under two years of age - the babies' mothers were to be maintained separately, where necessary. The job of running the home fell to the Lordswood Nursery Ladies sub-committee, which was also founded in 1928. Consisting of five Guardians, its job was 'to consider and report to the Hospitals committee on all domestic matters relating to Lordswood Nursery,' (see GP B/2/6/14/1, below). The surviving volume of minutes, which continues up until the dissolution of the Union in 1930, contains information on all aspects of the home, dealing with matters such as the appointment of staff, the provision of supplies and equipment for the nursery, and the admission and discharge of children. |