Welcome to Tooting180
Restoring the names, and dignity, of the forgotten children of Tooting
In the winter of 1848–49, nearly 200 children died in a cholera outbreak at a private pauper 'farm' in Tooting, South London. Their names were largely unrecorded in the histories. The man who ran the institution was tried for manslaughter, but ultimately acquitted. His name survived. Most of the children's did not.
Tooting180 is an ongoing research project to identify each of those lost children and tell their stories. With the help of volunteers and archival research, we are building a database of the boys and girls who passed through the Tooting and Brixton pauper farms — many of them poor, orphaned, or displaced by circumstance.
So far, we have:
- Identified 849 children who lived in the Drouet institutions in Tooting and Brixton
- Tracked 1,828 movements of children into and out of the homes
- Confirmed the identities of 24 of the 180 cholera victims
This is only the beginning. With your help we can recover more names, reconnect families scattered through the system, and give these children the dignity of remembrance.
Find out more about the Tooting180 project
On this day...
- Thomas HIGGINS died on this day in 1848.
- Mary ALLEN was admitted to Brixton Grove House on this day in 1849.
- Elizabeth BACK was admitted to Brixton Grove House on this day in 1849.
- Elizabeth BAKER was admitted to Brixton Grove House on this day in 1849.
- Jane BEARD was admitted to Brixton Grove House on this day in 1849.
- Louisa BELL was admitted to Brixton Grove House on this day in 1849.
- Ann BENNETT was admitted to Brixton Grove House on this day in 1849.
- Sarah BENNETT was admitted to Brixton Grove House on this day in 1849.
- Susan BENNETT was admitted to Brixton Grove House on this day in 1849.
- Britannia BROWN was admitted to Brixton Grove House on this day in 1849.
- Mary CHAPLIN was admitted to Brixton Grove House on this day in 1849.
- Mary CRONEY was admitted to Brixton Grove House on this day in 1849.
- Martha DACRE was admitted to Brixton Grove House on this day in 1849.
- Rosina EWER was admitted to Brixton Grove House on this day in 1849.
- Mary Maria FULLER was admitted to Brixton Grove House on this day in 1849.
- Emma GEORGE was admitted to Brixton Grove House on this day in 1849.
- Sarah GEORGE was admitted to Brixton Grove House on this day in 1849.
- Catherine GREEN was admitted to Brixton Grove House on this day in 1849.
- Charlotte GREEN was admitted to Brixton Grove House on this day in 1849.
- James GREEN was admitted to Brixton Grove House on this day in 1849.
- Mary Ann GREEN was admitted to Brixton Grove House on this day in 1849.
- William GREEN was admitted to Brixton Grove House on this day in 1849.
- Elizabeth GROUT was admitted to Brixton Grove House on this day in 1849.
- Mary Ann GROUT was admitted to Brixton Grove House on this day in 1849.
- Harriet HACKETT was admitted to Brixton Grove House on this day in 1849.
- Elizabeth HARRISON was admitted to Brixton Grove House on this day in 1849.
- Louisa HARRISON was admitted to Brixton Grove House on this day in 1849.
- Susannah HARRISON was admitted to Brixton Grove House on this day in 1849.
- Mary HART was admitted to Brixton Grove House on this day in 1849.
- Ellen HEMMINGS was admitted to Brixton Grove House on this day in 1849.
- Elizabeth HOLLIDAY was admitted to Brixton Grove House on this day in 1849.
- Hannah KETTERIDGE was admitted to Brixton Grove House on this day in 1849.
- Ann KITTERIDGE was admitted to Brixton Grove House on this day in 1849.
- Ann NEAL was admitted to Brixton Grove House on this day in 1849.
- Jane PARSONS was admitted to Brixton Grove House on this day in 1849.
- Emma POOLE was admitted to Brixton Grove House on this day in 1849.
- Harriet PRIOR was admitted to Brixton Grove House on this day in 1849.
- Elizabeth PROCTER was admitted to Brixton Grove House on this day in 1849.
- Caroline ROWSER was admitted to Brixton Grove House on this day in 1849.
- Priscilla SIMMONDS was admitted to Brixton Grove House on this day in 1849.
- Elizabeth SMITH was admitted to Brixton Grove House on this day in 1849.
- Jane THOMAS was admitted to Brixton Grove House on this day in 1849.
- Mary WELCH was admitted to Brixton Grove House on this day in 1849.
- Harriet WESTLEY was admitted to Brixton Grove House on this day in 1849.
- Sarah BENNETT left Brixton Grove House on this day in 1850.
- Elizabeth GROUT was admitted to Brixton Grove House on this day in 1851.
- Mary POPE was admitted to Brixton Grove House on this day in 1851.
Project status - May 2025
Recent additions to our archive include:
- Admission and discharge records from Newington St Mary, Clerkenwell Workhouse, and Southwark Christ Church workhouses
- Entries from Islington Infant Poor House mentioning Tooting
- Transcriptions of the inquests and trial
- Ongoing expansion of our searchable database
See our Analysis page for a deeper look at the stats
Chart 1. Pauper farm residents in the database, by gender