A Roll of Honour displayed in the chapel at Snaresbrook Crown Court commemorates the former pupils of the Wanstead Infant Orphan Asylum who served and died in the First World War. The memorial takes the form of a metal plaque, the top of which is decorated with embossed roses and foliage. The names are presented in alphabetical order and include the year in which each pupil left the asylum.
The plaque has been added to at a later date with a roll of honour commemorating former pupils who served in the Second World War.
Opened in 1843, the Infant Orphan Asylum in Wanstead was part of a charitable institution to care for orphaned children descended from so-called ‘respectable’ families, usually those from middle-class backgrounds who had fallen on hard times. The school was later renamed The Royal Wanstead School and closed in 1971. It is now Snaresbrook Crown Court.