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346:, Charlotte Sharman was dependent on donations for the support of her orphans, or as she liked to call them 'her little people'. She worked with a very strong principle that she would never go into debt whatever the circumstances. People gave her all sorts of gifts, not just money. She established a charity with eight
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to look after them. At this time she had no intention of starting her own homes and passed on around 30 girls to George Müller for admittance to his homes in
Bristol. Mary Ann was one of the first she cared for, a child of 11 who was living in appalling conditions with her paralysed and fever-ridden
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where
Sharman was a member. He suggested she write a pamphlet about her need of a home to care for girls. There were other homes around but entrance was competitive, and a great deal of influence, votes, and money was often needed to gain admittance to them. In response to the pamphlet finance came
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brought the two to SE 11 where
Charlotte Sharman willingly took them in. When Walter reached five years old Sharman felt he was getting too old to stay with his sister in a girl's home and applied for him to be taken into George Müller's home. He was accepted there in September 1873 and after nine
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and opened her first home for 13 girls. The home provided "home and domestic training to destitute orphan girls". Within three months the house was filled with 18 children aged three to 13 years old. By 1870 three houses were being occupied in and off West Square. Another was added that summer to
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In 1871 the census indicates that the nursery branch of the orphanage was located at 32, West Square, with 36 residents. A second house in 23, West Square, held 5- to 8-year-olds, again with 36 residents. At 22 West Square
Charlotte lived with her mother who worked as her accountant. Around the
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John C Carlile, a close friend, paid
Sharman the tribute of being a woman of faith, an apostle of practical religion, kind, intelligent, sharp witted and humorous. He wrote, "When she prayed the heavens opened." Among her other friends were the famous evangelical preacher
189:. He worked in a shoe factory at the time. Her mother was the daughter of William West, a gardener who won a silver trophy award for his development of the garden in the centre of West Square. West Square was to become the main place of his granddaughter's orphanages.
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By 1873 Sharman was caring for 206 children. The mansion was in very poor condition, and the order to pull it down led to
Sharman deciding to build her own orphanage. On 22 July 1875 the foundation stone of the 'Orphans nest' was laid by the
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Two young orphans at that time were Walter and Kate
Lindsell. Kate was seven and her young brother only two years nine months when their mother died shortly after their father, leaving the family orphaned and destitute. Poor relatives from
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corner in 14 South Street a third house known as 'The
Mansion' for over 8s held 93 residents. This house was made available to Sharman by the Vicar of Botolph for a low rent and was also used as a school.
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where she had acquired an old building called 'the castle'. The last wing of the new building was completed in 1884. The building still exists and currently (2010) houses the administrative offices of the
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Sharman established a reputation for very high standards of health. For many years the death rate in the homes was less than the rate in the healthiest towns, being under 1% and in some years nil.
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Records held at the London
Metropolitan Archives. Sharman's orphanage in Austral Street, West Square. The records are incomplete and only cover 1877–1916 but also relate back to earlier days.
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Girls were received at any age, but if they were over 12 years of age a satisfactory reference was required as to character. Regular workhouse cases were not admitted.
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The following year saw her buy a freehold house called 'The Cedars' in
Gravesend. She opened it for 40 children, and a further 24 children were located in a house in
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146:. She, in the course of her lifetime, cared for and educated over 1,200 destitute children. The lady was an apostle of practical religion.
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by Londoners of the time, and was the younger daughter of Frederick (Thomas) and Phoebe Sharman. Her year of birth was the same year as
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As a child Sharman was physically very frail, and her mother educated her at home because of her delicate constitution.
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and produced an annual report which became known as her 'small little blue books'. The orphanage was described as "
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offered to her by a benefactor rent free. In 1896 she went on to buy a house named 'The Limes', in Mount Pleasant,
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403:. Marguerite Williams. The Religious Tract Society, 193?. There is also a German version of this book called
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with her sister in a school set up by their parents. In 1861 she lodged with Phoebe in 148 Windmill Street,
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At her Jubilee year 1912, 348 girls were in care. A thanksgiving service was held in her honour at
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The idea of a home to care for her girls came from the Reverend Samuel Martin, minister of
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Booklet written by Charlotte Sharman "Remembering the Way. The Story of the Orphans Home"
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Born in the parish of St George the Martyr and baptised 23 January 1833 RG4/4202
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in, and on 6 May 1867 she rented the house next to her mother in
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years left Müller's homes to be apprenticed as a shoemaker in
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Also known as Thomas according to the 1841 Census record
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456:. Marguerite Williams. The Religious Tract Society.
48:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
405:Charlotte Sharman, die Mutter der Tausend Kinder
454:Charlotte Sharman. The Romance of a Great Saint
407:, by Marguerite Williams and Paul LeSeur, 1929.
401:Charlotte Sharman. The Romance of a Great Saint
263:. Kate later returned to Hornchurch, married a
173:She and her sister Phoebe were baptised in the
378:Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury
200:After her home education Sharman worked as a
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177:in Walpole Road. Her father was a general
123:(1832–1929) was a Christian woman who ran
215:who vividly portrayed the horrors of the
108:Learn how and when to remove this message
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46:adding citations to reliable sources
154:Sharman was born on 19 May 1832 in
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503:20th-century Congregationalists
498:19th-century Congregationalists
33:needs additional citations for
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508:English Congregationalists
493:20th-century English women
488:19th-century English women
329:Archbishop of Canterbury
211:This was highlighted by
371:Charles Haddon Spurgeon
325:Randall Thomas Davidson
483:People from Southwark
278:Duchess of Sutherland
175:Congregational Church
364:Tribute from friends
185:, in the borough of
42:improve this article
355:interdenominational
295:Imperial War Museum
57:"Charlotte Sharman"
335:Running principles
317:Dr Campbell Morgan
313:Westminster Chapel
238:Westminster Chapel
121:Charlotte Sharman
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40:Please help
35:verification
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478:1929 deaths
473:1832 births
327:, the then-
243:West Square
160:The Borough
129:West Square
467:Categories
352:Protestant
271:Orphanages
256:Hornchurch
196:Beginnings
125:orphanages
68:newspapers
290:Gravesend
265:carpenter
217:workhouse
206:Gravesend
202:governess
183:Newington
158:, called
156:Southwark
136:Gravesend
132:Southwark
373:and the
348:trustees
306:Hastings
179:labourer
315:led by
286:Hampton
187:Lambeth
168:Bristol
140:Hampton
82:scholar
142:, and
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232:Homes
150:Youth
89:JSTOR
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