Description:Home 7 was not one of the initial homes built in the Shenley Fields Cottage Homes complex. It was built a few years later – probably one of the two homes built in 1893 or 1905.
As one of the homes on the same side of the Drive as the school and sick bay, Home 7 was initially a home for boys. In 1948, it was still a home for boys, aged from 5 to 15. While most of the homes, by this time, were mixed, four were retained as being solely for boys in recognition that there were more boys in care at this time than girls. Home 7 was one of these. At this time, some of the older boys in the Home would have been working but permitted to stay in the home until they were on their feet. In this sense, the Home was acting, for the older boys, as a hostel for working children.
In 1949, the home changed its name to ‘Lilac View’, taking its name from plants growing on the site, as did many of the other homes.
In the 1960s, Mr and Mrs Kelly were houseparents. They were preceded, from approximately 1949 by Mr and Mrs Smith. Early housemothers included Miss Album in the 1940s, and Miss Waring in the 1920s.
In the late 1940s or early 1950s, Gussie, a dog belonging to the housemother, Barbara Smith, went missing from the home and the boys, together with Barbara’s daughter, wrote a letter about it to the News of the World. Their plea for Gussie’s return with their signatures was printed in the News of the World and the dog's subsequent return was photographed by the newspaper.
In 1966, along with all the other cottage homes, Lilac View became an independent unit, responsible for arranging its own placements and all purchasing. At this time, it was a short-stay unit with 14 beds.
By 1979, Lilac View still had accommodation for 14 children, and both boys and girls were in residence. In 1982, Social Services listed Lilac View as having 12 beds and as one of the ‘homes due to change function’. By 1986, it was no longer listed as a children’s home.
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Image: The housemother with the boys of Lilac View when Gussie the dog was returned c 1950.
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Source: This history was compiled by the Birmingham Children's Homes Project, an initiative to explore Birmingham City Council-run children’s homes between 1949 and 1990.