Port of Hull Society Sailors' Orphan Home One Place Study

Profile managers: Ruth Jowett [send private message] and One Place Studies Project WikiTree [send private message]

Port of Hull Society Sailors' Orphan Home One Place Study

This profile is part of the Port of Hull Society Sailors' Orphan Home One Place Study.

This location is also registered with the Society for One-Place Studies.

• Official Website
• WikiTree Profiles that link here

Name

The organisation behind this institution has had a number of names over the years, the various names reflecting the changing emphasis of the organisation's work:

• The Port of Hull Society for the Religious Instruction of Seamen (1821 - 1917)
• The Port of Hull Society's Sailors' Orphan Home (1917 - 1950)
• The Sailors' Children’s Society (1950 – 1990)
• The Sailors' Families Society (1990 - 2011)
• The Sailors' Children’s Society (2011 - present)

Geography

Continent: Europe

Sovereign State: United Kingdom

Country: England

County: Yorkshire

GPS Coordinates: 53.744444, -0.3325

Elevation: 0.0 m or 0.0 feet

History

In 1821, following a public meeting in St Mary’s Boys’ Schoolroom, Hull, The Port of Hull Society for the Religious Instruction to Seamen was founded. The original purpose was to provide for the spiritual welfare of sailors and fishermen in the port, particularly those who had served in the Napoleonic Wars. A floating chapel was created on a sailing vessel The Valiant which was moored in the Humber Dock: before long this became a meeting place for sailors and their families.

Before long the society extended its remit to include the physical welfare of the men and their families: a school for sea apprentices was opened in 1824, followed by the Sailors Orphan Institute in 1837. Initially the Orphan Institute was concerned with clothing and educating the children of deceased seamen and rivermen. In 1862 an orphan house was opened where they could provide "board, lodging and education for the orphan children of sailors and rivermen" (Lifebelt & Anchor, p. 68). The institute occupied a property at 12 Castle Row, before movng to a larger property at 8 Spencer Street.

The former Sailors Orphan Home, in Park Street

In 1867 the society purchased a large property, Thanet House, in Park Street which was adapted and extended to accommodate around 100 orphans: this purchase was largely funded by a generous donation from the philanthropist Titus Salt. The property was subsequently further extended to enable it to accommodate some 200 children of deceased mariners from ports along much of the East Coast of England as well as from inland ports.

By 1892 more applications for places at the orphanage were being received than could be accommodated, and further expansion of the Park Street home was not possible. In line with the latest thinking, the society planned to build a community of smaller homes where the children could live in family-style groups. A site at Newland, on the outskirts of the borough was acquired and the first of these new homes was officially opened in 1895. These would become known as the Newland Cottage Homes. The Newland site would eventually comprise ten residential homes, arranged round a central green space, along with a school, sanatorium and other buildings. The buildings were named after some of the major benefactors of the organisation.

This study considers the home and its residents whilst at Park Street. A separate (linked) study could be created for the years at Newland. Any such study would, however, be limited due to data protection regulations ensuring that records of identifiable persons are closed for 100 years: currently only the censuses of 1901 and 1911 are readily available (1921 is available at additional cost, but is expected to be more readily available in about 2025).

Population

Click the link to access the page with a table of those enumerated in the relevant census.

Although not resident in the homes, this study will also consider patrons, trustees, committee members and others who were influential in the formation of the society and the management of the institution during the years at Park Street. It's possible that in the future this may become its own project, which could be extended to later years and also include other activities of the society, such as mission work in Hull and other ports.

Notables

Many of the "notables" associated with the organisation (including Royal Patrons) are listed on the page of patrons, trustees, committee members and benefactors so are not also linked here. This section is reserved for orphans or staff of the institution who went on to become notable.

• Albert Edward Sayers DSC RNR (1871-1918)

Tasks

• Find the home in the censuses: 1871, 1881, 1891 - done Jowett-548 11:34, 12 June 2022 (UTC)
• Create profiles for those enumerated in the home (staff and children)
  • Port of Hull Society Homes - 1871 census
  • Port of Hull Society Homes - 1881 census
  • Port of Hull Society Homes - 1891 census
• Create profiles for patrons, trustees etc. - Port of Hull Society Homes - Patrons, Trustees etc
• Write full biographies for all profiles
• Connect all profiles to the worldwide tree
• Consider other, linked, projects/studies
  • Newland Cottage Homes (1895 - 2004)
  • Missionary work to seamen: floating chapel in Hull, missions in other ports
  • Separate patrons, trustees etc. from this study into a new sub-project

Sources

• 'Public services', in A History of the County of York East Riding: Volume 1, the City of Kingston Upon Hull, ed. K J Allison (London, 1969), pp. 371-386. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/yorks/east/vol1/pp371-386 [accessed 10 June 2022].
• 'Education', in A History of the County of York East Riding: Volume 1, the City of Kingston Upon Hull, ed. K J Allison (London, 1969), pp. 348-370. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/yorks/east/vol1/pp348-370 [accessed 10 June 2022].
• Celebrating 200 Years in 2021. (Sailors Children’s Society, https://sailorschildren.org.uk/ : accessed 10 June 2022).
• Sailors’ Orphan Homes, Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire. (Children’s Homes, http://www.childrenshomes.org.uk/HullSailors/ : accessed 10 June 2022).
• A History of Hull from Baine’s Gazetteer (1823). (GENUKI, https://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/YKS/ERY/Hull/HullHistoryBaines/HullHistory12 : accessed 10 June 2022).
• The Port of Hull Society and Sailors' Orphan Homes (1907), Lifebelt and Anchor. Goddard, Walker & Brown: Hull.
• The Records of the Sailors' Children's Society. (Hull History Centre Catalogue, https://catalogue.hullhistorycentre.org.uk/catalogue/C-DSSF?tab=description : accessed 9 August 2022).