Charitable work work began in the city more than 300 years ago. We can trace this back to the
17th Century and it is amazing how, over the years, the number of charitable
institutions in Liverpool grew to aid the population.
The earliest Liverpool charities,
were the almshouses. In 1684 twelve almshouses were built by David Poole near
the bottom of Dale Street; in 1692 Dr. Silvester Richmond founded a small group
of almshouses for sailors' widows in Shaw's Brow,(William Brown Street) and in
1706 Richard Warbrick established another small group, also for sailors'
widows, in Hanover Street. Successive small gifts during the 18th century,
amounting in all to over £2,500, increased the endowment. In 1786 the
almshouses were consolidated and removed to Arrad Street (Hope Street). They
are administered in part by the corporation, in part by the rector, in part by
trustees.
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Site of Mount Pleasant Almshouses, Arrad Street, showing the workhouse where the Roman Catholic Cathedral now stands, Liverpool 1848 |
In 1708 the Bluecoat Hospital was founded by the Rev. R. Styth, one of the rectors, and by Bryan Blundell, master mariner, as a day school for fifty poor boys, on a site granted by the corporation in School Lane. Blundell, through gifts and collections, raised sufficient funds for the erection of a permanent building where they could be housed. The building, still standing, was begun in 1714 and completed in 1718. The number of inmates being 250 boys and 100 girls. In 1905 the school was removed to a spacious and handsome new building on open ground in Wavertree. The Bluecoat Hospital ranked as the premier charity of the city, and always received the warm support of Liverpool merchants.
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Bluecoat Hospital Liverpool by Henry Travis 1843 |
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The Royal Infirmary.1890. |
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Chapel of the School of the Indigent Blind, 1829 |
In addition to the Bluecoat Hospital, already described, the following institutions exist for the rescue of children:—Female Orphan Asylum (1840), Orphan Asylum for boys (1850), Infant Orphan Asylum (1858), each accommodating 150 inmates; the Sheltering Homes for Destitute Children (1872) who annually trained and send out to Canada 250 children; the Seamen's Orphan Institution provided for 350 children; the Indefatigable training ship (1865), with which was connected, prepared about 250 boys for the mercantile marine; the Lancashire Navy League Sea training Home did similar work; the Children's Friend Society (1866) maintained a Boys' Home; the Newsboys' Home which took in sixty-five street boys; and there was a group of homes for training poor girls, chiefly for domestic service, including the Magdalen Institution (1855) for fifty girls; the Mission to Friendless Girls (1862); the Preventive Homes (1865) for forty-four girls; the Training Home for Girls (1894) for thirty-two girls; and the Bencke Home; while the Ladies' Association for the Care and Training of Girls maintained four distinct homes.
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LSPCC Islington Sqaure |
The Lancashire Female
Refuge (1823) maintained a home for women coming out of prison, and was the
oldest charity of its kind. The Discharged Prisoners' Aid Society did the same
work in a more general way. For fallen women there are the Female Penitentiary
(1811), the Benevolent Institution and Rescue Home (1839), the Home of the
Midnight Mission (1875), and the Home of the Liverpool Rescue Society (1890).
For the Aged. there was
the Widows' Home (1871); the Homes for Aged Mariners (1882), including a large
central building founded by Mr. William Cliff, and seventeen detached cottages
in the grounds in which married couples may live; and the Andrew Gibson Home
for the widows of seamen (1905).
In addition there were
also Pension Charities. These were numerous. The Aged Merchant Seamen and
Widows' Fund (1870) gave 166 small pensions in 1906; the Governesses Benevolent
Institution (1849) distributed £900 per annum in pensions; the Seamen's Pension
Fund was founded by Mr. T. H. Ismay in 1887 with a capital of £20,000, to which
Mrs. Ismay later added £10,000 for seamen's widows; the Shipbrokers' Benevolent
Society (1894) distributed annuities of not more than £30 to old employees; and
the Merchant Guild administers ten distinct pension funds, chiefly for the
relief of distressed persons of the middle and upper classes; it awarded 179
pensions in 1906, the largest being of £42.
Miscellaneous Charities
also exited but there are too many to list, however we must mention the
Sailors' Home, founded in 1852, which provided cheap lodging and help for
sailors when they were paid off. In 1809 the Society for Preventing Wanton Cruelty to
Brute Animals was founded making the local branch of the R.S.P.C.A. an older
body than the national institution. The David Lewis Club and Hostel had the
immense Rowton House with a very handsome club attached.
The city is renowned for its charitable works which continue right up until the present day, (links below) with charities such as Zoe's Place the local Baby Hospice, Macmillan Cancer Support and the Lord Mayor's Charity Appeal, which has helped raise over £1 million for local good causes. This is the charity of the first citizen of Liverpool.
The city is renowned for its charitable works which continue right up until the present day, (links below) with charities such as Zoe's Place the local Baby Hospice, Macmillan Cancer Support and the Lord Mayor's Charity Appeal, which has helped raise over £1 million for local good causes. This is the charity of the first citizen of Liverpool.
Liverpool’s Lord Mayor’s Charity Appeal has helped raise over £1m for a variety of local good causes in recent years.
If you think you can help raise money for The Lord Mayor’s Charity, please contact Liverpool Town Hall on 0151 233 4651 or email town.hall@liverpool.gov.uk
You can make a donation to the Lord Mayor’s Charity (charity No. 229539) by texting “LMAY18 £X” TO 70070 (X is £1, £5, £10).
Links
Sources
Liverpool
Central Library
Liverpool
Records Office
British History
National Archives
Trans.
Hist. Soc., papers in vols. xi, xiii, xvi, xxxi.
Streets Of Liverpool
Streets Of Liverpool
By Robert
F Edwards
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