The Royal Philanthropic Society was founded in London in 1788 by a group of gentlemen, worried by the large number of homeless children in the city who could earn their living only through begging or crime. The Society began its work in October 1788, placing one child out to nurse, and by 1792 were maintaining several 'families' of children, cared for and trained by craftsmen and their wives, in rented houses. In that year the first central institution of the Society was opened at St George's Fields in Southwark. It was intended for the sons and daughters of convicts, and boys and girls who had themselves been convicted of crime. In 1802 a separate 'Reform' was opened for the criminal boys and the main institution was afterwards known as the 'Manufactory', since the boys were principally engaged in the manufacture of clothes, shoes, rope and other items. The Female Reform, although on the same site, was completely segregated. The Society was incorporated by Act of Parliament in 1806.

A combination of financial problems and new approaches to the treatment of delinquents brought about important changes in the 1840s. The Female Reform was closed in 1845, convicts' children were no longer accepted, and in 1848 the decision was taken to move the institution to the country. This was as a consequence of visits paid to Monsieur De Metz's Colonie Agricole at Mettray, France; firstly by William Gladstone (a cousin of the statesman; later Treasurer of the Society), then by the Revd Sydney Turner (Resident Chaplain; later Home Office Inspector of Reformatories). An estate at Redhill was purchased, buildings were erected (designed by William Moffat, the partner of Sir George Gilbert Scott) and occupied in 1849, the London property being sold.

The Philanthropic Society's Farm School, as it was now known, was organised on the house system, the sixty or so boys in each house being taught and supervised by a master and his wife. The original houses were Queen's, Prince's and Duke's, but it was later considered better to separate the boys to a greater extent and new houses were built in different parts of the estate: Garston's (1854), Waterlands (1855), Gladstone's (1857) and Gurney's (1861). Prince's and Duke's Houses were then closed.

During the 19th and early 20th centuries the school was classed as a reformatory, under the Reformatory Schools Act 1854, most of its pupils being committed by the magistrates and paid for by the local authorities. Farm work was the principal occupation, although carpentry, tailoring and other trades were also taught. The aim of the Committee was declared to be 'to assimilate, so far as the diverse conditions permit, the life and administration of the school to that of the great public schools of England'.

Under the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 the school became an Approved School, under the supervision of the Children's Department of the Home Office. Around this period there was a relative shift in emphasis from manual labour to education in the classroom. The buildings were severely damaged by a flying bomb in 1944, but after the war the school extended its activities, and replaced many of the old buildings. In 1954 a Classifying School was opened, which assessed boys for all approved schools in South-East England; and in 1967 a Secure Unit for difficult boys. The Society had been granted the title 'Royal' in 1953 and the Training Unit, Classifying School and Secure Unit were known jointly as the Royal Philanthropic Society's Schools. Each unit had its own head, under the supervision of the Principal.

The Children and Young Persons Act 1969 substituted community homes for approved schools, transferred supervision of the service from the Home Office to the Department of Health and Social Security, and made all individual homes a responsibility of the local authorities. Consequently, in 1973 control of the Schools passed from the Society to the London Borough of Wandsworth. The Training Unit, Classifying School and Secure Unit were renamed the Community Home, Regional Assessment Centre and Intensive Care Unit. The Redhill site closed in the bicentenary year, 1988. The Society subsequently re-established itself and launched a number of community based child care projects in Kent, Surrey and Wandsworth. The Society merged with the Rainer Foundation in 1997, becoming known as RPS Rainer and now as Rainer.

The main records of the Society and its school held at Surrey History Centre survive from the foundation in 1788 and include annual reports, General Court and General Committee minutes, registers of admissions, and photographs.

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Mary Thompkins (nee Moore) My mother, grandmother and grandfather lived in Garston House Labour Master\'s cottage on the estate at Redhill between 1893-1915; grandfather, George Arthur Miller, employed at one pound sterling a week as a Labour Master.

My mother enjoyed the benefits of the Society\'s emphasis on musical instruction which was encouraged from the 1860s onwards at the Farm School. Two brass bands and one Reed band were formed by the last quarter of the nineteenth century.

Staff, although on low wages, benefitted from milk collected from the dairy -- my mother recalled such in many stories of her childhood within the grounds of the Philanthropic Society.

My recent MA thesis is based upon the Society, namely

The Philanthropic Society in Britain with Particular Reference to the Reformatory Farm School,
Redhill, 1849-1900

available in digital format later this year (2008) on the University of Western Australia\'s website.

Robert Potts My Grandfather was tailor master at the school in the latter part of the eighteen hundreds to 1915. My Father and several of his brothers and sisters were born on the farm. Both my Father and Mother were the last persons to have their funerals conducted at the chapel. I am interested in the chaplains who served at the school over the years if anyone has a list please. As a boy I spent many happy hours in the fields and woodlands on the farm.

chris i was at redhill in the early 80s for a short time for being a little devil like all kids,the only thing i got out of it was i was wrong for what i had done,the lads living with me had parents who didnt [care] about them,so put the parents in the prison because my friends thought they were

Lucy Smithers Charles James Walker - School Master 1891- Interested for family history research - any info would be much appreciated,

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