St George's House Northern Police Orphanage Harrogate

Aileen Geraghty
Peter Geraghty (548) has been in touch to say that his wife Aileen, a lovely lady, died in hospital on Thursday 1^st. July. Her funeral will take place on Wednesday, July 14^th at 12.30pm at the Garrison Chapel, Aldershot, Hampshire.

Peter & Aileen both regularly attended our Harrogate reunions over the past few years. Many of you will have had the chance to meet Aileen on these occasions and will know what a charming lady she was. We will miss her.

I know you will all join me in extending our sincere condolences to Peter and his family, on their loss.
Inserted 05/07/2010

FIREFIGHTERS battling a "suspicious" blaze at one of Yorkshire's top hotels have this afternoon recovered a body.

North Yorkshire Police said more than 130 guests were moved out of the Majestic Hotel in Harrogate.

Fire crews were called to the historic building at around 5am.
It is thought the blaze may have started in one of the top-floor rooms.
Eyewitnesses reported seeing flames coming from the roof of the hotel.
Around 60 firefighters were brought in to tackle the blaze at the hotel, which is located in 12 acres of gardens in the heart of Harrogate.

As old boys and girls of St George's are aware, this is the hotel that the St George's reunions are held every year, the most recent event being just a few weeks ago in April.

Averil Paroli
Averil Paroli, New Zealand born eldest daughter of St George’s old boy Peter Taylor (560) and his wife Vera, has agreed to learn Frontpage program (used to construct the St George’s website) and to familiarize herself with the workings of the site. The reason for doing this is to ensure that we have some form of editorial continuity into the future and to try to have a seamless handover should the need arise.

Background:
Averil is married to Beni Paroli and they have 4 boys. Sam 23, Matthew 21, Joe 19, Daniel 17.
The family home is in Otaki, on the Kapiti Coast, Wellington.

She has undertaken various studies over the past few years and has achieved:
National Certificate in Computing.
Diploma in Business.
Diploma in Accounting.

Averil works in the office for a local food warehouse distribution company, in the role of Accounts/Payroll manager.

Averil, who was born profoundly deaf, is an expert lip reader and a couple of years ago underwent a Cochlear Implant operation (a device that provides hearing sensations for severely and profoundly deaf individuals who derive no significant benefit from hearing). This requires a whole new experience for Averil who has to learn to put to word meanings to new sounds. This takes time because it is like learning a new language, her use of the telephone is progressing but is still challenging.

Averil Paroli

Alan Outhwaite
We have just received word that Alan Outhwaite has died aged 69 on Thursday 4^th February.
His funeral will be held on Thursday 18^th February at St Mary’s R C Church, Knaresborough at 11am and afterwards at Harrogate Golf Club.
Alan Outhwaite was Superintendent of St Andrew’s from 1984 – 2004 and over that time was very supportive of our St George’s group.

Superintendents and CEO's of The Police Treatment Centres.

Miss Emma Chapman      1898
Miss V. Donkin                  1903
Miss E. H. Thompson       1906 - 1938
Mrs S. Gibbons                  1938 - 1961
Mr. Frederick Robinson   1961 - 1970
Mr. Reg Webb.                 1970 - 1984
Mr. Alan Outhwaite         1984 - 2004
Mrs. Katherine Martin     2004 - 2007
Mr. P. Grant                      2007 - 2007 (Acting CEO)
Mr. Michael Baxter         2007 to date.

Our condolences and thoughts go to his family.

Grace Kirk, nee Thorpe (392)
We have just learnt that Grace Kirk, nee Thorpe, passed away in October 2009.
Grace and her brother Herbert came originally from Nottingham and entered St George’s in 1929.

John Redpath (573)
Word has just been received that John Redpath passed away a few weeks ago. He died peacefully in his sleep.
John, originally from Northumberland, entered St George's along with his brothers Thomas & Howard, in 1945

His funeral was attended by many of his old friends and family and by many of the much loved staff at the nursing home where he stayed for the last few years of his life.

A new page has been added to our website, named St Andrew's.
The article covers the history of The Police Treatment Centres (St Andrew's). It also includes some diagrams and photos of the early days, from the original building design, right through to the present time.
It is an interesting summary and well worth reading.
Inserted 22/8/2009

Frederick Robinson
We received the following email from Janet Bolton, daughter of Frederick Robinson, who was the man put in charge of the closure and sale of St George's.

"My Father (Frederick Robinson OBE ) was put in charge of closing the Orphanage down, and finding homes for the children. We moved to Harrogate in November 1954 and actually stayed in St George's until a house was found for the family. He was a lovely man, and him and my Mother used to go and visit some of the children who had been placed with foster parents etc. This was particularly in the Yorkshire area. After the home was closed down he went on to be in charge of St George's Police Convalescent Home for a number of years, until he retired totally.
He actually retired from Halifax Borough Police as Inspector and Chief Clerk to do the job in Harrogate.
He was a very dedicated man to his job and very thorough in everything he did. He died in 1975".

Frederick & Clare Robinson.
See the article on the 'From the Past' page. Inserted 7/5/2009

If you have any suggestions, corrections or additions you would like to have included or made to the website, contact:

                                                                         Peter G. Taylor
                                                                         54 Makora Road,
                                                                         Otaihanga,
                                                                         Kapiti Coast,
                                                                         Wellington. 5036
                                                                         New Zealand.
                                                                         Tel: 0064.4.2981138
                                                                         Fax: 0064.4.2981238
                                                                         email: stgeorgesharrogate@gmail.com

Websites grow by linking to each other. Can you help us by linking your website to ours ? Let us know if you would like us to reciprocate.