UCT Libraries

BC 1149 THE LADY BUXTON CENTRE ARCHIVE  

Manuscripts & Archives

University of Cape Town Libraries

 

donated to

The University of Cape Town Libraries

by

The Lady Buxton Centre

A List

Compiled by

Lesley Hart

(Peter Flandorp assisted in sorting of papers)

University of Cape Town Libraries

2001

CONTENTS

 

 

 

 

 

 

Introduction

 

A

History of the Centre

 

B

Reports

 

C

Minutes

 

D

Emergency Home

 

E

Dietetic Hospital

 

F

Mothercraft League

 

G

Trainees

 

H

Administration, staff and financial records

 

J

Property and maintenance

 

K

Pre-Primary

 

M

Photographs

 

N

Other welfare bodies

 

P

Legislation relating to child and family welfare

 

Q

Miscellaneous

 

LADY BUXTON CENTRE

The Lady Buxton Home first opened in Observatory in 1917.  The guiding force was Miss Mabel Elliott, who was the Honorary Secretary of the Society for the Protection of Child Life, who had helped to establish Child Welfare Clinics throughout the Cape Peninsula.  The Home was named after Lady Buxton because of her active interest in child welfare.

An Emergency Home had been run by the Society since 1910.  The purpose was to provide a temporary refuge for children when their parents were unable to care for them because of illness or poverty or owing to “destitution, neglect, or from some other cause”.

It was soon clear that the Observatory premises were less than satisfactory and the Home moved from there in 1920 and occupied a number of temporary premises, including a cottage in the Alexandra Hospital complex until a property in Paradise Estate was donated to the Home in 1923 and a new home built there.

Money was granted for the establishment of a Mothercraft Training Centre,and this opened in 1925, consisting of the Dietetic Hospital for Infants and a training centre for nurses wanting to specialise in mothercraft.  These mothercraft graduates became known as Athlone nurses, because of the patronage of HRH, Princess Alice of Athlone.

The training of nurses continued until 1975.

The Dietetic Hospital was for babies up to a year old who were having feeding difficulties.  There was also limited accommodation for mothers who were having difficulty in breastfeeding their babies.

The Mothercraft League was started in 1927.  This provided advice and support for mothers on the feeding and care of their babies. Advice was provided by letter to mothers as far away as neighbouring countries. In addition, advice was given at the Centre itself from the early days by the holding of Advisory Clinics.

By the late 1920s the Claremont premises were already becoming inadequate when in  1928 the Struben family donated the adjacent house and grounds to the Society for the Protection of Child Life and the Harry and Mary Struben Memorial Home was opened.  The Dietetic Hospital moved there from the Emergency Home.

In 1936 the Mabel Elliott Hall and new nurses’ wing were opened.

In 1939 the Buxton Nursery School was built and here the first training of pre-school teachers started in the Cape.

In 1975 the training of Athlone nurses came to an end, mainly because of financial problems and the withdrawal of a Government subsidy for the training. The closing of the Dietetic Hospital followed.  The Emergency Home continued, but has also since been closed.

In 1976 the Centre opened its new nursery school and a day care centre was established to meet the needs of working mothers. 

Some of the property was sold to the Western Province Preparatory School in 1983 and an Educare Centre built.

Today the Lady Buxton Centre consists of the Educare Centre and Clinic.  The Educare Centre caters for children from 6 months to 6 years and consists of three units: the Baby Unit, the Day Care Unit and the Pre-Primary Unit.

THE COLLECTION

The Collection consists of the administrative records of the Lady Buxton Centre from its founding until the 1980s.  A large part of the collection consists of the minutes of the various committees that managed the different units of the Centre, as well as some financial records.  There are also records of the children at the Emergency Home and Dietetic Hospital.  The records of the nurses who received mothercraft training at the Centre are included in the Collection.  The section of correspondence between the staff of the Mothercraft League and the mothers of South Africa and neighbouring countries is evidence of the support that the Centre provided to the welfare of children in the country as a whole.  There are also photographs of children, staff and fundraising events.

There are no restrictions on the use of the Collection, except that the names of children admitted to the Emergency Home may not be quoted.

 

BC 1149

LADY BUXTON CENTRE ARCHIVE

A

HISTORY OF THE CENTRE

A1

Various accounts and reports

A2

Visitors' Book, 1915-1945

A3

Visitors' Book, 1928-1986

A4

Constitution and regulations for running of Struben and Buxton Homes and financial regulations

A5

Information about the Centre in memoranda, reports, etc., 1928-1978

A6

Invitations, programmes

A7

Newspaper cuttings

A8

Correspondence re possibility of declaring an almond tree on the property an historical monument, 1973

A9

Information sheet on Harry Struben and Lady Buxton Homes, n.d.

A10

Advisory and Breastfeeding Clinics: information sheet

A11

Knox, Catherine: The Buxton Babies, 1917-1987. Draft

B

REPORTS

B1

Annual reports:

 

1947-1963; 1948-1963; 1983/84

B2

Monthly and annual reports to the Society for the Protection of Child Life, 1956-1966

B3

Monthly report of the Lady Buxton Home, Feb 1931

C

MINUTES

C1

Early committees

 

(Some of these may have developed into C2 or C3)

C1.1

Management Committee Minutes, 1917-1920

C1.2

Lady Buxton Home Management Sub-Committee Minutes, 1920-1924 (2 volumes)

C1.3

Lady Buxton Home Sub-Committee, 1924-1927 (2 volumes)

C1.4

Mothercraft Committee Minutes, 1925-1932 (3 volumes)

C1.5

Minute Book containing minutes of various committees, 1920-1921

C1.6

Meetings at Maitland, 1921

C1.7

Harry and Mary Struben Memorial Home Committee Minutes, 1928

C2

Lady Buxton Home and Mothercraft Training Centre Committee Minutes

 

Includes:

 

Home Committee Reports

 

Matron's reports

 

Pre-School Training Centre reports

 

Jul 1931-1938 (loose items)

 

1940-1941 (loose items)

 

Feb 1933-1941 (Bound volume; does not contain Home Committee and Matron's reports)

 

1942-1949 (Bound volume)

 

1942-1946 (many missing)

C3

Home Committee Minutes

 

Some years include:

 

Matron's weekly reports

 

Home Committee reports

 

1928-1940

 

1943-1944

 

1946-1948

 

1952-1953

 

1956-1966

 

1969-1982

C4

South African Mothercraft Training Centre and Lady Buxton Home Committee Minutes (in 1954 changed name to Mothercraft Committee; in 1973 changed name to Management Committee)

 

Jun 1949- Jul 1952

 

Feb 1950-Oct 1965 (o/s)

 

Nov 1965-May1972

 

Jun 1972-Dec 1975

 

Feb 1976-Aug 1980

 

Sep 1980-1981 (2 items)

C5

Building Sub-Committee Minutes

 

(1944-1945 called Joint Ground Planning Committee)

 

1944-Jul 1958

 

June 1958-Feb 1967

C6

Finance Committee Minutes

 

Aug 1927-Feb 1928

 

1964-1981

C7

Technical Sub-Committee Minutes

 

Jul 1929-1946; 1947-1955; 1955-1963; 1965

C8

Child Care Course Committee Minutes

 

(sometimes called a sub-committee)

 

1971-1981

C9

Staff meetings

 

1952-1981

C10

Athlone Mothercraft Nurses Association. General meetings.

 

1940-1959

C11

Other committees, 1968-1985 (many of them ad-hoc)

C11.1

Special committee for purpose of re-organisation of work at the Emergency Home, 1944

C11.2

Meetings re course for Junior Nursery assistants, 1968-1970

C11.3

Sub-Committee to discuss and make recommendations for advanced residential child care as a career, 1972

C11.4

Special Sub-Committee on future of mothercare training, 1972-1974

C11.5

Nursery School Committee, 1977-1981

C11.6

Pre-Primary sub-committee, 1985

C11.7

Creche Committee

D

EMERGENCY HOME

D1

Registers

D1.1

Admissions case book (914-2149), 1936-1948

D1.2

Admissions case book (2150-4909), Sep 1948-Jul 1965

D1.3

Admissions case book (4910-6635), Nov 1965-Aug 1982

D1.4

Patients register, 1958-1962 (this has register for Dietetic Hospital at back, 1957-1962)

D1.5

Patients register, 1977-1982 (Dietetic Hospital, 1962-1976)

D1.6

Case Entry Book, 1956-1969

D1.7

Case Entry Book, 1969-1982

 

 

D1.8

Admissions and discharges, 1976-1982

D1.9

Admissions and discharges, 1976-1982

D1.10

History Book of Home, 1955-1956

D1.11

Register of children in Home, 1965-1971

D1.12

Register of admissions, 1979-1980 (2 loose sheets)

D2

History sheets of children

 

1966-May 1982

D3

Detention orders for children

D3.1

Detention orders for children, 1977-1978; 1980-1983

D4

Case files of children (7), 1980s (restricted)

D5

Report books

D5.1

Jun 1962-Aug 1962

D5.2

Aug 1962-Nov 1962

D5.3

May 1963-Aug 1963

D5.4

Aug 1963-Nov 1963

D5.5

Aug-Oct 1964

D5.6

Oct-Dec 1964

D5.7

Jan-Apr 1982

D5.8

Apr-Jul 1982

D5.9

Jul-Oct 1982

D6

Emergency Home reports, Apr-Nov 1976

D7

Annual statistics submitted to Department of Social Welfare and Pensions, 1962-1977

D8

Correspondence, 1967 (1 letter)

E

DIETETIC HOSPITAL

E1

Registers

E1.1

Patients’ register, Jul 1935-Dec 1938

E1.2

Patients’ register, Dec 1938-Jan 1943

E1.3

Patients’ register, Jan 1943-Jan 1947

E1.4

Patients’ register, Jan 1947-Feb 1951

E1.5

Patients’ register, Feb 1951-Nov 1955

E1.6

Patients’ register, Nov 1955-Aug 1959

E1.7

Patients’ register, Sep 1959-Jun 1964

E1.8

Patients’ register, Jun 1964-Dec 1968

E1.9

Patients’ register, Jan 1969-Feb 1972

E1.10

Patients’ register, Mar 1972-Nov 1975

E2

Admission forms

 

1963-1969

E3

Report Books

E3.1

May 1958-Sep 1958

E3.2

May 1958-Sep 1958

E3.3

Dec 1958-Feb 1959

E3.4

May-Jun 1959

E3.5

Jun-Oct 1959

E3.6

Nov-Dec 1959

E3.7

Jun-Oct 1960

E3.8

May -Aug 1962

E3.9

Aug –Dec 1962

E3.10

Aug-Sep 1982

E4

Feeding orders for children, 1970s (H – W)

E5

Medication records of children, 1966-1967

F

MOTHERCRAFT LEAGUE

F1

Correspondence with mothers, in alphabetical order, 1963-1980

F2

Baby's record book

G

TRAINEES

G1

Athlone Nurses: Records of training

G1.1

1936-1939

G1.2

1939-1943

G1.3

1943-1946

G1.4

1946-1951

G1.5

1951-1955

G1.6

1955-1958

G1.7

1958-1961

G1.8

1961-1965

G1.9

1965-1969

G1.10

1970-1973

G1.11

1973-1975

G1.12

1971-1980

G2

Register of trainees, 1925-1975

G3

Prospectuses and information about training

G4

Correspondence about trainees, 1976

H

ADMINISTRATION, STAFF AND FINANCIAL RECORDS

H1

General correspondence, 1918-1985

H2.1

Financial records, 1928-1984

H2.2

Investments, 1969-1984

H2.3

Correspondence with accountants, 1983

H3

Administration

H3.1

General administrative records, 1926-

H4.1

Fundraising

H4.2

Donations, in chronological order

H4.3

Address lists

H5

Legal advice, 1978

H6

Administration of staff, [1920s]-1985

J

PROPERTY AND MAINTENANCE

 

(Buildings and equipment)

J1

Correspondence re boundary wall, 1970-1977

J2

Rainwater drainage pipe, 1973-1974

J3

General correspondence and records, 1974-1985

L

PRE-PRIMARY

L1

Parent-Teacher Association

 

Draft Constitution

 

Guidelines

 

Minutes, 1978-1991

L2

Newsletters and letters to parents, 1987-1989

L3

Administration: correspondence and financial records, 1987-1988

L4

Miscellaneous (play scripts, activities, etc)

L5

Equipment, catalogues, etc

M

PHOTOGRAPHS

M1

Staff (some oversize)

M2

Children (see also M12) (1 oversize)

M3

Buildings and property

M4

Emergency Home (3 folders) (some oversize items)

M5

Dietetic Hospital (some oversize items)

M6

Mothercraft Training Centre/Advisory Clinic

M7

Pre-Primary School

M8

Trainees (one oversize item)

M9

Staff facilities

M10

Donors and visitors to the Centre

M11

Fčtes and fundraising activities

M12

Album (inscribed to Matron “from Mary Fife”)

M13

Album: “50th birthday”, 1960

M14

Album of photographs of LBH Mothercraft Training School

M15

Album of photographs of Pre-Primary School, 1980’s

M16

Envelopes of negatives and photographs, mostly early photographs of children

M17

Miscellaneous and unidentified photographs (one oversize item)

N

OTHER WELFARE BODIES

N1

Society for the Protection of Child Life, Cape Town

N1.1

Annual report, 1976-1977

N1.2

Minutes, 1975-1977 (for 3 meetings)

N2

Dept of Health, Welfare and Pensions

 

Circulars, 1968-1981

N3

Child Care Information Centre

 

Directory of services, 1987

P

LEGISLATION RELATING TO CHILD AND FAMILY WELFARE

 

1960-1977

Q

MISCELLANEOUS

 

cutting from The South African Lady's Pictorial, Mar 1935: Ten years of babycraft: the Lady Buxton Home. (o/s)

 

Stencil for "Buxton marathon certificate". (o/s)

 

Various documents unrelated to the Lady Buxton Home

 

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