St Philip’s Free Industrial School / Gem Street School / Ansell School / Tennal School
TENNAL PHOTOGRAPHS
I have been given a large numberof photographs
of boys at Tennal and at Forhill in the early 1950s.
If you were there, there may be photos of you. Please see below for details.
Tennal’s roots are in the 19th century when Birmingham’s first ragged school was founded as St Philip’s Free Industrial School in 1847. As a ragged school, free education was given to poor children who would not be able to afford it.
The school moved to Gem Street in 1850, and finally to its ultimate home of Balden Road in 1902. In 1873, girls were moved out and the school became for boys only.
In 1902, it was renamed Harborne Certified Industrial School. In 1925, it was renamed again, this time as Ansell.
In 1933, Tennal, as it was known then, became an approved school. As such, boys were sent to the school by the juvenile courts to serve a period of time after being convicted of an offence.
In 1972, Tennal became an assessment centre.
Tennal closed in 1984.
In January 2000, a police investigation (Operation Camassia) was instigated following a number of complaints about the abuse of children at Tennal in the 1970s and 1980s. As a result of the investigation which lasted a number of years, several former staff members were convicted and a number of victims were offered financial compensation.
Classroom
Above and below: winter 1952
Orchard and sports field
Start of alterations
New block (Nov 1952)
Carol was searching through family papers and found a photo album created by a relative of her husband.
Many boys in Forhill and Tennal have been photographed between 1950 and 1957. The photographs of the buildings and grounds above were also in the collection.
FORHILL & TENNAL
The album has photos of boys at Forhill and boys at Tennal but it iis not possible to know which boys were at which place.
There are some general photos of boys posing in groups or busy in activities in the school but also several specific events were captured:
Abergele September 1950
Army cadets 1951
Earlswood Whitsun 1951
Sports Day 1951
Abergele Camp 1951
"The Site"
Earlswood - Whitsun 1951.
Sports Day. August 1951.
"Camp - from sea wall"
Abergele Camp 1951
Earlswood Camp Whitsun 1952
Sports Day 1952
Army Cadets 1952 or 1953
Christmas Entertainment 1953
Sports 1953/1954/1955
Skegness Camp 1955
Above and below:
Skegness Camp 1955
"Lord Mayor Inspects Army Cadets"
Prize Day October 1955
In addition to the above events, there are more general photos from 1950 through to 1975. Some of the photographs have names of the boys, some do not.
It would be great if we could get these photographs to the people featured in them or their close families.
If you (or a close family member) were at Tennal or Forhill in this period, please let me know and we can try to link you with the photos you are in. Please message me at hello@formerchildrenshomes.org.uk
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Please note: we make no charge for getting photographs to the people pictured in them as children. The service and any postage charges are covered by the money raised through adverts on this site and sales of books.
Looking for records:
To get your care records from your time at Tennal (or Forhill), you will need to make a subject access request to Birmingham City Council.
The form you will need to complete is here:
Making a subject access request
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