William James Gillum (1827 - 1910)

Born 1827 in Winchester, Hampshire, England, United Kingdom

Husband of Leonora Georgiana (Bell) Gillum — married 1860 in London, England

Died 1910 at about age 83 in London, England

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Biography

William James Gillum, born in Winchester in 1827, served in the army and lost his leg in the siege of Sebastopol in 1855 during the Crimean War. He returned to England in 1855 and decided to dedicate his life to helping homeless children.

In 1860, he married Leonora Bell, whose brother Evans was running a school in London. Gillum decided to buy Church Farm at Barnet in Hertfordshire for use as a school for poor London boys. Church Farm School was one of the industrial schools that were being established at the time to train boys in trades like repairing shoes, farming and tailoring, to save them from a life of crime. The architect Philip Webb designed the school building, which still stands today.

Boys were committed to the school through the magistrates court. The school was home to 100 boys at any one time. It was based on a farm and had pigs, sheep, chickens and cows. Many of the students learnt trades at the school and went on to set up businesses in the borough.

Gillum ran the school for 30 years, retiring in the 1890s. He died in London in 1910 .

Sources

• http://www.natgould.org/william_james_gillum
• http://www.times-series.co.uk/nostalgia/477457.A_school_for_street_urchins/?ref=rss
• http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/term_details.aspx?bioId=123554
• "England and Wales Census, 1891," database with images, FamilySearch (https://beta.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q6H9-ZPZ : accessed 24 November 2015), William James Gillum, East Barnet, Middlesex, England; from "1891 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO RG 12, Middlesex county, subdistrict, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.
• "England and Wales Marriage Registration Index, 1837-2005," database, FamilySearch (https://beta.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2DJV-59P : accessed 24 November 2015), William James Gillum, 1860; from “England & Wales Marriages, 1837-2005,” database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Marriage, Pancras, London, England, General Register Office, Southport, England.
• "England and Wales Death Registration Index 1837-2007," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2J75-Q79 : accessed 24 November 2015), William J Gillum, 1910; from "England & Wales Deaths, 1837-2006," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Death, Kensington, London, England, General Register Office, Southport, England.