will bless the whole of Italy: an orphanage for abandoned evangelical children
– who otherwise would be taken back into the arms of the Roman Church’.
Returning from a spell in England, where more than likely she had spent
time collecting funds for the work, on 17 February 1870 Mrs Boyce spent
L27,835 purchasing a building and surrounding land adjoining the Mayor’s
property. Two years later she added to this by buying two more plots of land.
Having spent well over L38,000, Louisa was then to go on to pay for the
reconstruction work on the building which transformed it into a dormitory
and workshops where the children would be taught shoemaking, carpentry
and tailoring. Benemann’s memoirs suggest that the funds for all this work
were increased by Mrs Boyce’s decision to sell some of her father’s medals.
(... to be continued: full version available online)
Nicky Raddon
Peter Meadows 1958