Catalogue description Barnet Guardians Committee

The Committee

[For minutes of the Guardians' Committee 1930-1948 see HCC37A/1-24]

Institution

[For Welfield Register of Inmates 1912-1964; Visitors Book 1869-1956 and Record of Inspections by Visitors 1933-1958 see HSS10/5/4-6]

Children

[For records of Rosendale Childrens Home 1925-1948 and Guyscliffe Childrens Home 1941-1955, see HSS8/1, 2]

[For Admission Register of Wellhouse Nursery 1947-1954, see HSS8/3/1]

[Covered the Barnet, East Barnet and Welwyn Garden City Urban Districts and Barnet, Hatfield and Welwyn Rural Districts - i.e. the Hertfordshire portion of the former Barnet Union plus the former Hatfield Union.

The Guardians Committee inherited the Hatfield Poor Law Institution (Welfield, the eighteenth century former parish workhouse), the Barnet Poor Law Institution (Wellhouse, built in 1836); Wellhouse hospital, built during the First World War as a military hospital, and the Barnet children's homes (Rosendale and Guyscliffe - see HSS8/1,2), together with Wellhouse (Maternity) Home, opened in April 1930. The Casual ward at Barnet closed in September 1933. During the Second World War the residents of Wellhouse were evacuated to Western House, Ware (see HSS3/5). In 1948 Wellhouse and the hospital were transferred to the Regional Hospital Board while Welfield became a County Council home for the elderly (see HSS10/5)]