Govan Poorhouse..orphanage as well???.....

[delmarco]

I was lookinging for some rellies on the 1881 census for this poorhouse, and see many many children without parents, was this used asan orphanage as well?

Karen

[Russell]

Hi Karen

Merryflats was a Poorhouse for the parish of Govan - originally a village in its own right.

Children would often be taken in along with their parent(s) and months or years down the line when the parent(s) had died they would be left unclaimed and it was the responsibility of the parish to continue to look after them.
In the country places they were often boarded out to a family who would receive a tiny sum every week for taking them in. One Kirkcudbright couple took in several over a few years. I reckon they were childless and treated them as family. They were only given 2/- a week for this so it was not a great boost to the income.
In more urban areas accommodation for families was very limited so opportunities for fostering out were limited. Children could help out with the chores in the Poorshouse so they would be kept until they were old enough to fend for themselves.
Merryflats was built in 1874 and consisted of the Poor house, Mental Blocks, Children's home, Medical, Surgical & Maternity wards. All administered by Govan Parish Council. They did not hand over responsibility to Glasgow Corporation until 1930. The Matron who took charge around that time (Miss Jean Jolly) came from Stobhill Hospital and was shocked by the conditions she found.
Remember that William Quarrier was only just developing the Orphans Homes of Scotland around this time so there were lots of orphans and the city (and country) was doing nothing for them.

hope this helps your understanding of the times.

Russell