Records of Dr Garrett's Home, collected by staff. Includes ephemera, newspaper cuttings, correspondence etc.
OTHER RECORDS
Architectural drawing for the Home its many additions can be found in the Colwyn Foulkes Collection and Conwy Building Control Plans:
" CMaps & Plans 23/2/900 (1930s)
" CMaps & Plans 23/2/1209 (1944)
" CMaps & Plans 23/2/1213 (1945)
" CMaps & Plans 21/2/3/1/1 (1958 and 1970s)
Dr Galloway Garrett practised in the poorer part of Salford and both he and his wife Catherine were committed Socialists and Labour members on the local Board of Guardians. By 1916 his health had deteriorated so badly that he was forced to convalesce himself and went to Conway to recover. It was there that the idea of opening a home for sick children from industrial Lancashire took shape.
Dr and Mrs Garrett acquired a house on Conway Morfa which benefitted from excellent fresh air and access to the sea and began to operate a convalescent Home for children under the umbrella of the Manchester Board of Guardians. Later the administration of the Home was taken over by the City of Manchester Health Authority.
Dr Garrett died in 1923 but Mrs Garrett was determined to carry on the Home in his memory, and she ran it tirelessly until her own death in 1938. After that, it was augmented and administered by the City of Manchester until 1988 when, due to budget cuts, it was decided to close the Home. It was quickly demolished and a new housing estate now occupies the site.
No internal records of the Home are held in Conwy Archive. If its records have survived, they should be in the custody of Manchester Social Services or the Manchester Record Office. There is still a Dr Garrett's Memorial Trust Fund that supports several charities. It is managed by Gaddum House, 6 Great Jackson Street, Manchester.
The documents and photographs in this collection are the result of efforts by staff who worked at the Home, to preserve something of its history and of the work it did in providing country holidays for urban children.
This collection is open for research. Access to some documents may be restricted due to Data Protection legislation, Conwy Archives will advise where this is the case. For details and opening hours see http://www.conwy.gov.uk/en/Resident/Libraries-Museums-and-Archives/Archives/Archives.aspx.
