London Orphan Asylum

The London Orphan Asylum relocated from Shoreditch and bethnal Green after a typhoid epidemic killed several children. The new school in Watford opened in 1871. It was renamed the London Orphan School in 1915, and in 1939 its name was changed again to Reed’s School in honour of its founder.

At the outset, there were 450 children in residence. This increased gradually to 500, as reported in the Watford Observer in 1906, when it was announced that more voluntary funds were required to sustain the high standards of the institution. The paper also reported that upwards of 9,300 children had benefited from the charitable organisation so far.

When war broke out in September, 1939, the boys were evacuated to Devon while the girls were sent to Northampton. The premises of the Asylum were occupied as a military hospital throughout the remainder of the war.