Visited with vw and dhl. I got the lead from a non exploring mate. We heard that there was nothing in Liverpool worth doing, and we thought different....
Before 1869 there was no institution in Liverpool for the support and education of the orphans of British seamen. The first move to interest the people of Liverpool in the possibility of establishing such an institution was made by a group of leading Liverpool ship-owners who were concerned by the increasing need for such provision.
On 16 December 1868 the first move was made to interest the people of Liverpool In the possibility of the establishment of an institution where the orphan children of seamen would be cared for.
The sponsors of the project comprised a group of ship-owners and merchants who for sometime had been concerned how best to help the widows and families of Merseyside men lost at sea or who had died as the result of an accident or through natural causes. Members of the public were invited to attend a meeting at the Mercantile Marine Service Association Rooms on 16 December 1868, at which the resolution to found such an establishment was proposed by Ralph Brocklebank and Bryce Allan, both leading ship-owners and philanthropists. James Beazley, another leading ship-owner, was invited to take over the chairmanship of the executive committee formed to further the plan to establish an orphanage.
Within a few months the financial position was such that the General Committee which had been set up was able to look round for a suitable temporary home.
On 9 August 1869 the Liverpool Seamen's Orphan Institution opened in temporary accommodation in Duke Street, and by the end of that year there were 60 children in residence.
Such were the beginnings of the Seaman's Orphanage in rented premises in Duke Street which accommodated 46 boys and 14 girls, but the enthusiasm of the people of Merseyside was demonstrated on 7 April 1870, when Liverpool Town Council approved a resolution under which a gift of land at the northeast side of Newsham Park should be given to the committee to enable them to build a Seaman's Orphanage, which would in due course open.
Liverpool Town Council gave 7,000 square yards of land at the northeast side of Newsham Park to the committee to construct a Seaman's Orphan Institution. On 31 January 1874 the children from the temporary home in Duke Street were transferred, together with 46 newcomers. In addition to the 200 children at the orphanage, the committee also looked after children on an outdoor relief basis.
From the outset the education of the children was given top priority, and from 1892 the boy's school, and from 1898, the girl's school were administered strictly under government regulations, and the institution received a share of the Parliamentary Grant from the Education Department.
By 1899 it was recorded in the annual report that there were 321 children in the orphanage, while 508 were receiving outdoor relief in the form of monetary grants and clothing. Although children of all denominations were assisted, with preference given to the claims of orphans of British seamen connected with the Port of Liverpool, the prayers were from the Church of England and the scholastic and religious instruction were under the supervision of the Chaplain.
The formal opening of the institution took place on 30 September 1874, the ceremony being performed by the Duke of Edinburgh, the “Sailor Princeâ€, fourth son of Queen Victoria. In May 1886, the Queen herself visited the Institution, and granted the orphanage the privilege of adding her name to the list of patrons.
The First World War brought problems, and in 1918 one thousand orphans were being assisted. Royal appreciation of the work was shown from time to time by visits to Newsham Park, and following a visit by H.M. Queen Mary and the Princess Royal in 1921 the King was pleased to bestow upon the institution the title “Royal†and also to grant to it a Royal Charter of Incorporation.
The years were marked by continuing and steady progress as recorded in the annual report and the proceedings at the annual meetings, which were always held in the town hall, presided over by the Lord Mayor then in office.
During the Second World War it was necessary to evacuate the children to the comparative safety kindly offered by Mr E.B Royden. a devoted friend and committee member, at his home “Hill Barkâ€, Frankby, Wirral. Here the children remained throughout the war where they flourished in the more countrified atmosphere.
In 1946, preparations were made for the return to Newsham Park, but the committee members were becoming increasingly concerned over the possible effect on the orphanage of the great expansion in the country's social services.
Following the new social service benefit schemes there were unmistakable signs that surviving parents were less responsive to the suggestion that there was room in the orphanage for their offspring, this attitude was understandable as it was frequently only as a last resort that the majority of mothers would agree to such a parting.
These changes led to a gradual decline in the number of children living at the orphanage. Additional new legislation prohibited children under 11 years of age being educated at the same school as older children, and made it illegal for young children to live in a school of an institutional character.
Although well endowed, financial difficulties were increasing and there seemed little prospect of bridging the widening gap between income and expenditure.
Before 1869 there was no institution in Liverpool for the support and education of the orphans of British seamen. The first move to interest the people of Liverpool in the possibility of establishing such an institution was made by a group of leading Liverpool ship-owners who were concerned by the increasing need for such provision.
On 16 December 1868 the first move was made to interest the people of Liverpool In the possibility of the establishment of an institution where the orphan children of seamen would be cared for.
The sponsors of the project comprised a group of ship-owners and merchants who for sometime had been concerned how best to help the widows and families of Merseyside men lost at sea or who had died as the result of an accident or through natural causes. Members of the public were invited to attend a meeting at the Mercantile Marine Service Association Rooms on 16 December 1868, at which the resolution to found such an establishment was proposed by Ralph Brocklebank and Bryce Allan, both leading ship-owners and philanthropists. James Beazley, another leading ship-owner, was invited to take over the chairmanship of the executive committee formed to further the plan to establish an orphanage.
Within a few months the financial position was such that the General Committee which had been set up was able to look round for a suitable temporary home.
On 9 August 1869 the Liverpool Seamen's Orphan Institution opened in temporary accommodation in Duke Street, and by the end of that year there were 60 children in residence.
Such were the beginnings of the Seaman's Orphanage in rented premises in Duke Street which accommodated 46 boys and 14 girls, but the enthusiasm of the people of Merseyside was demonstrated on 7 April 1870, when Liverpool Town Council approved a resolution under which a gift of land at the northeast side of Newsham Park should be given to the committee to enable them to build a Seaman's Orphanage, which would in due course open.
Liverpool Town Council gave 7,000 square yards of land at the northeast side of Newsham Park to the committee to construct a Seaman's Orphan Institution. On 31 January 1874 the children from the temporary home in Duke Street were transferred, together with 46 newcomers. In addition to the 200 children at the orphanage, the committee also looked after children on an outdoor relief basis.
From the outset the education of the children was given top priority, and from 1892 the boy's school, and from 1898, the girl's school were administered strictly under government regulations, and the institution received a share of the Parliamentary Grant from the Education Department.
By 1899 it was recorded in the annual report that there were 321 children in the orphanage, while 508 were receiving outdoor relief in the form of monetary grants and clothing. Although children of all denominations were assisted, with preference given to the claims of orphans of British seamen connected with the Port of Liverpool, the prayers were from the Church of England and the scholastic and religious instruction were under the supervision of the Chaplain.
The formal opening of the institution took place on 30 September 1874, the ceremony being performed by the Duke of Edinburgh, the “Sailor Princeâ€, fourth son of Queen Victoria. In May 1886, the Queen herself visited the Institution, and granted the orphanage the privilege of adding her name to the list of patrons.
The First World War brought problems, and in 1918 one thousand orphans were being assisted. Royal appreciation of the work was shown from time to time by visits to Newsham Park, and following a visit by H.M. Queen Mary and the Princess Royal in 1921 the King was pleased to bestow upon the institution the title “Royal†and also to grant to it a Royal Charter of Incorporation.
The years were marked by continuing and steady progress as recorded in the annual report and the proceedings at the annual meetings, which were always held in the town hall, presided over by the Lord Mayor then in office.
During the Second World War it was necessary to evacuate the children to the comparative safety kindly offered by Mr E.B Royden. a devoted friend and committee member, at his home “Hill Barkâ€, Frankby, Wirral. Here the children remained throughout the war where they flourished in the more countrified atmosphere.
In 1946, preparations were made for the return to Newsham Park, but the committee members were becoming increasingly concerned over the possible effect on the orphanage of the great expansion in the country's social services.
Following the new social service benefit schemes there were unmistakable signs that surviving parents were less responsive to the suggestion that there was room in the orphanage for their offspring, this attitude was understandable as it was frequently only as a last resort that the majority of mothers would agree to such a parting.
These changes led to a gradual decline in the number of children living at the orphanage. Additional new legislation prohibited children under 11 years of age being educated at the same school as older children, and made it illegal for young children to live in a school of an institutional character.
Although well endowed, financial difficulties were increasing and there seemed little prospect of bridging the widening gap between income and expenditure.
