Charlotte Sharman
Encyclopedia
Charlotte Sharman was a Christian
woman who ran orphanages for girls in West Square
Southwark
, Gravesend
, Hampton
and Tunbridge Wells. She, in the course of her lifetime, cared for and educated over 1,200 destitute children. The lady was an apostle of practical religion.
, called The Borough by Londoners of the time, and was the younger daughter of Frederick (Thomas) and Phoebe Sharman. Her year of birth was the same year that George Muller
, another director of orphanages, arrived in Bristol. It was to be the place where Muller began an inspiring project that caught the imagination of the young Charlotte.
She and her sister Phoebe were baptised in the Congregational church
in Walpole Road. Her father was a general labourer and in the 1841 census
he and his family were recorded as living at Union Place, Newington
, in the borough of Lambeth
. He worked in a shoe factory at the time. Her mother was the daughter of William West, a gardener who won a silver trophy award for his development of the garden in the centre of West Square. West Square was to become the main place of his granddaughter's orphanages.
As a child Sharman was physically very frail and her mother educated her at home because of her delicate constitution.
with her sister in a school set up by their parents. In 1861 she lodged with Phoebe in 148 Windmill Street, Gravesend, Kent
but after her sister’s marriage she could no longer carry on teaching. Around this time she became aware of the plight of orphan children.
This was highlighted by Charles Dickens
who vividly portrayed the horrors of the workhouse
, the lot of poor children, and the evil of child slavery
. Sharman began to take girls from off the streets and those bound for the workhouses and put them with families of friends that she knew. She had 13 girls in various places that she cared for. Sharman provided them with clothes and paid the foster parents to look after them. At this time she had no intention of starting her own homes and passed on around 30 girls to George Muller
for admittance to his homes in Bristol
. Mary Ann was one of first she cared for, a child of 11 who was living in appalling conditions with her paralysed and fever ridden grandmother.
where Sharman was a member. He suggested she write a pamphlet about her need of a home to care for girls. There were other homes around but entrance was competitive and a great deal of influence, votes, and money was often needed to gain admittance to them. In response to the pamphlet finance came in and on 6 May 1867 she rented the house next to her mother in West Square
and opened her first home for 13 girls. The home provided “home and domestic training to destitute orphan girls”. Within three months the house was filled with 18 children aged three to 13 years old. By 1870 three houses were being occupied in and off West Square
. Another was added that summer to make it four.
In 1871 the census
indicates that the nursery branch of the orphanage was at 32, West Square with 36 residents. A second house in 23, West Square held 5-8 year olds, again with 36 residents. At 22 West Square Charlotte lived with her mother who worked as her accountant. Around the corner in 14 South Street a third house known as ‘The Mansion’ for over 8s held 93 residents. This house was made available to Sharman by the Vicar of Botolph for a low rent and was also used as a school.
Two young orphans at that time were Walter and Kate Lindsell. Kate was seven and her young brother only two years nine months when their mother died shortly after their father leaving the family orphaned and destitute. Poor relatives from Hornchurch
brought the two to SE 11 where Charlotte Sharman willingly took them in. When Walter reached five years old Sharman felt he was getting too old to stay with his sister in a girl’s home and applied for him to be taken into George Muller
's home. He was accepted there in September 1873 and after nine years left Muller’s homes to be apprenticed as a shoemaker in Street, Somerset
. Kate later returned to Hornchurch, married a carpenter
and brought up a family of five children.
was in very poor condition and the order to pull it down led to Sharman deciding to build her own orphanage. On 22 July 1875 the foundation stone of the 'Orphans nest' was laid by the Duchess of Sutherland. Samuel Morley
MP presided. On 6 May 1876, exactly nine years after opening her first home the North wing of the new building was completed. During the building process Sharman moved some of the residents of the smaller houses to Hampton
. When the North Wing was opened some of these Hampton residents were moved back but others were sent to Gravesend
where she had acquired an old building called 'The castle'. The last wing of the new building was completed in 1884.
The following year saw her buy a freehold house called 'The Cedars' in Gravesend. She opened it for 40 children and a further 24 children were located in house in Tunbridge Wells offered to her by a benefactor rent free. In 1896 she went on to buy a house named 'The Limes', in Mount Pleasant, Hastings
. At this time there were 264 children under her charge of which 200 were in West Square.
At her Jubilee year 1912, 348 girls were in care. A thanksgiving service was held in her honour at Westminster Chapel
led by Dr Campbell Morgan. King George V
and Randall Thomas Davidson
the then Archbishop of Canterbury
both sent their congratulations on her achievements.
Like her mentor George Muller
, Charlotte Sharman was dependent on donations for the support of her orphans or as she liked to call them 'her little people'. She worked with a very strong principle that she would never go into debt whatever the circumstances. People gave her all sorts of gifts not just money. She established a charity with 8 trustees and produced an annual report which became known as her ‘small little blue books’. The orphanage was described as “Protestant interdenominational” and the girls went to chapel
on Sunday mornings and church in the afternoon.
Sharman established a reputation for very high standards of health. For many years the death rate in the homes was less than the rate in the healthiest towns, being under 1% and in some years was nil.
. At a time when another woman, Elizabeth Fry
, was working hard for prison reform, this woman dedicated herself to the plight of young orphans and rescued hundreds from the cruel streets.
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
woman who ran orphanages for girls in West Square
West Square
West Square is an historic square in south London, England, just south from St George's Road. The Square is within the London Borough of Southwark, but as it is located in postcode it is commonly said to be in Lambeth....
Southwark
Southwark
Southwark is a district of south London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Southwark. Situated east of Charing Cross, it forms one of the oldest parts of London and fronts the River Thames to the north...
, Gravesend
Gravesend, Kent
Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, on the south bank of the Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex. It is the administrative town of the Borough of Gravesham and, because of its geographical position, has always had an important role to play in the history and communications of this part of...
, Hampton
Hampton
-In Australia:*Hampton, Queensland*Hampton, Victoria*Hampton East, Victoria*Hampton Island*Hampton Park, Victoria-In Canada:*Hampton, New Brunswick*Hampton, Nova Scotia*Hampton, Ontario*Hampton, Prince Edward Island-In the United Kingdom:...
and Tunbridge Wells. She, in the course of her lifetime, cared for and educated over 1,200 destitute children. The lady was an apostle of practical religion.
Youth
Sharman was born on 19 May 1832 in SouthwarkSouthwark
Southwark is a district of south London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Southwark. Situated east of Charing Cross, it forms one of the oldest parts of London and fronts the River Thames to the north...
, called The Borough by Londoners of the time, and was the younger daughter of Frederick (Thomas) and Phoebe Sharman. Her year of birth was the same year that George Muller
George Müller
George Müller , a Christian evangelist and Director of the Ashley Down orphanage in Bristol, England, cared for 10,024 orphans in his life...
, another director of orphanages, arrived in Bristol. It was to be the place where Muller began an inspiring project that caught the imagination of the young Charlotte.
She and her sister Phoebe were baptised in the Congregational church
Congregational church
Congregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing Congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs....
in Walpole Road. Her father was a general labourer and in the 1841 census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
he and his family were recorded as living at Union Place, Newington
Newington, London
Newington is a district of London, England, and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It was an ancient parish and the site of the early administration of the county of Surrey...
, in the borough of Lambeth
Lambeth
Lambeth is a district of south London, England, and part of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is situated southeast of Charing Cross.-Toponymy:...
. He worked in a shoe factory at the time. Her mother was the daughter of William West, a gardener who won a silver trophy award for his development of the garden in the centre of West Square. West Square was to become the main place of his granddaughter's orphanages.
As a child Sharman was physically very frail and her mother educated her at home because of her delicate constitution.
Beginnings
After her home education Sharman worked as a governessGoverness
A governess is a girl or woman employed to teach and train children in a private household. In contrast to a nanny or a babysitter, she concentrates on teaching children, not on meeting their physical needs...
with her sister in a school set up by their parents. In 1861 she lodged with Phoebe in 148 Windmill Street, Gravesend, Kent
Gravesend, Kent
Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, on the south bank of the Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex. It is the administrative town of the Borough of Gravesham and, because of its geographical position, has always had an important role to play in the history and communications of this part of...
but after her sister’s marriage she could no longer carry on teaching. Around this time she became aware of the plight of orphan children.
This was highlighted by Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
who vividly portrayed the horrors of the workhouse
Workhouse
In England and Wales a workhouse, colloquially known as a spike, was a place where those unable to support themselves were offered accommodation and employment...
, the lot of poor children, and the evil of child slavery
Child slavery
-History:In the past, many children have been sold into slavery in order for their family to repay debts or for crimes. Sometimes this is also to give the children a better life than what they had with their family....
. Sharman began to take girls from off the streets and those bound for the workhouses and put them with families of friends that she knew. She had 13 girls in various places that she cared for. Sharman provided them with clothes and paid the foster parents to look after them. At this time she had no intention of starting her own homes and passed on around 30 girls to George Muller
George Müller
George Müller , a Christian evangelist and Director of the Ashley Down orphanage in Bristol, England, cared for 10,024 orphans in his life...
for admittance to his homes in Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
. Mary Ann was one of first she cared for, a child of 11 who was living in appalling conditions with her paralysed and fever ridden grandmother.
Homes
The idea of a home to care for her girls came from the Reverend Samuel Martin, minister of Westminster ChapelWestminster Chapel
Westminster Chapel is an evangelical church that has been based in central London since 1840. Situated in Buckingham Gate, just from Buckingham Palace and just off Victoria Street, the chapel has long been a popular place of worship for Evangelical Christians. The current building, seating around...
where Sharman was a member. He suggested she write a pamphlet about her need of a home to care for girls. There were other homes around but entrance was competitive and a great deal of influence, votes, and money was often needed to gain admittance to them. In response to the pamphlet finance came in and on 6 May 1867 she rented the house next to her mother in West Square
West Square
West Square is an historic square in south London, England, just south from St George's Road. The Square is within the London Borough of Southwark, but as it is located in postcode it is commonly said to be in Lambeth....
and opened her first home for 13 girls. The home provided “home and domestic training to destitute orphan girls”. Within three months the house was filled with 18 children aged three to 13 years old. By 1870 three houses were being occupied in and off West Square
West Square
West Square is an historic square in south London, England, just south from St George's Road. The Square is within the London Borough of Southwark, but as it is located in postcode it is commonly said to be in Lambeth....
. Another was added that summer to make it four.
In 1871 the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
indicates that the nursery branch of the orphanage was at 32, West Square with 36 residents. A second house in 23, West Square held 5-8 year olds, again with 36 residents. At 22 West Square Charlotte lived with her mother who worked as her accountant. Around the corner in 14 South Street a third house known as ‘The Mansion’ for over 8s held 93 residents. This house was made available to Sharman by the Vicar of Botolph for a low rent and was also used as a school.
Two young orphans at that time were Walter and Kate Lindsell. Kate was seven and her young brother only two years nine months when their mother died shortly after their father leaving the family orphaned and destitute. Poor relatives from Hornchurch
Hornchurch
Hornchurch is a large suburban town in England, and part of the London Borough of Havering. Hornchurch is in North-East London .It is located east-northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the locally important district centres identified in the London Plan. It comprises a number of shopping...
brought the two to SE 11 where Charlotte Sharman willingly took them in. When Walter reached five years old Sharman felt he was getting too old to stay with his sister in a girl’s home and applied for him to be taken into George Muller
George Müller
George Müller , a Christian evangelist and Director of the Ashley Down orphanage in Bristol, England, cared for 10,024 orphans in his life...
's home. He was accepted there in September 1873 and after nine years left Muller’s homes to be apprenticed as a shoemaker in Street, Somerset
Street, Somerset
Street is a small village and civil parish in the county of Somerset, England. It is situated on a dry spot in the Somerset Levels, at the end of the Polden Hills, south-west of Glastonbury. The 2001 census records the village as having a population of 11,066...
. Kate later returned to Hornchurch, married a carpenter
Carpenter
A carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....
and brought up a family of five children.
Orphanages
By 1873 Sharman was caring for 206 children. The mansionMansion
A mansion is a very large dwelling house. U.S. real estate brokers define a mansion as a dwelling of over . A traditional European mansion was defined as a house which contained a ballroom and tens of bedrooms...
was in very poor condition and the order to pull it down led to Sharman deciding to build her own orphanage. On 22 July 1875 the foundation stone of the 'Orphans nest' was laid by the Duchess of Sutherland. Samuel Morley
Samuel Morley
Samuel Morley may refer to:*Samuel Morley , recipient of the Victoria Cross*Samuel Morley , British Member of Parliament and philanthropist*Sam Morley , full name Samuel Robertson Morley, American football player...
MP presided. On 6 May 1876, exactly nine years after opening her first home the North wing of the new building was completed. During the building process Sharman moved some of the residents of the smaller houses to Hampton
Hampton
-In Australia:*Hampton, Queensland*Hampton, Victoria*Hampton East, Victoria*Hampton Island*Hampton Park, Victoria-In Canada:*Hampton, New Brunswick*Hampton, Nova Scotia*Hampton, Ontario*Hampton, Prince Edward Island-In the United Kingdom:...
. When the North Wing was opened some of these Hampton residents were moved back but others were sent to Gravesend
Gravesend, Kent
Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, on the south bank of the Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex. It is the administrative town of the Borough of Gravesham and, because of its geographical position, has always had an important role to play in the history and communications of this part of...
where she had acquired an old building called 'The castle'. The last wing of the new building was completed in 1884.
The following year saw her buy a freehold house called 'The Cedars' in Gravesend. She opened it for 40 children and a further 24 children were located in house in Tunbridge Wells offered to her by a benefactor rent free. In 1896 she went on to buy a house named 'The Limes', in Mount Pleasant, Hastings
Hastings
Hastings is a town and borough in the county of East Sussex on the south coast of England. The town is located east of the county town of Lewes and south east of London, and has an estimated population of 86,900....
. At this time there were 264 children under her charge of which 200 were in West Square.
At her Jubilee year 1912, 348 girls were in care. A thanksgiving service was held in her honour at Westminster Chapel
Westminster Chapel
Westminster Chapel is an evangelical church that has been based in central London since 1840. Situated in Buckingham Gate, just from Buckingham Palace and just off Victoria Street, the chapel has long been a popular place of worship for Evangelical Christians. The current building, seating around...
led by Dr Campbell Morgan. King George V
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
and Randall Thomas Davidson
Randall Thomas Davidson
Randall Thomas Davidson, 1st Baron Davidson of Lambeth GCVO, PC was an Anglican bishop of Scottish origin who served as Archbishop of Canterbury from 1903 to 1928.-Background and education:...
the then Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
both sent their congratulations on her achievements.
Running Principles
Girls were received at any age but if they were over 12 years of age a satisfactory reference was required as to character. Regular workhouse cases were not admitted.Like her mentor George Muller
George Müller
George Müller , a Christian evangelist and Director of the Ashley Down orphanage in Bristol, England, cared for 10,024 orphans in his life...
, Charlotte Sharman was dependent on donations for the support of her orphans or as she liked to call them 'her little people'. She worked with a very strong principle that she would never go into debt whatever the circumstances. People gave her all sorts of gifts not just money. She established a charity with 8 trustees and produced an annual report which became known as her ‘small little blue books’. The orphanage was described as “Protestant interdenominational” and the girls went to chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
on Sunday mornings and church in the afternoon.
Sharman established a reputation for very high standards of health. For many years the death rate in the homes was less than the rate in the healthiest towns, being under 1% and in some years was nil.
Tribute from friends
John C Carlile, a close friend, paid Sharman the tribute of being a woman of faith, an apostle of practical religion, kind, intelligent, sharp witted and humorous. He wrote, "When she prayed the heavens opened". Among her other friends were the famous evangelical preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon and the Social reformer Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of ShaftesburyAnthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury
Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury KG , styled Lord Ashley from 1811 to 1851, was an English politician and philanthropist, one of the best-known of the Victorian era and one of the main proponents of Christian Zionism.-Youth:He was born in London and known informally as Lord Ashley...
. At a time when another woman, Elizabeth Fry
Elizabeth Fry
Elizabeth Fry , née Gurney, was an English prison reformer, social reformer and, as a Quaker, a Christian philanthropist...
, was working hard for prison reform, this woman dedicated herself to the plight of young orphans and rescued hundreds from the cruel streets.