Ladies’ Jubilee School
The original school was founded in 1808 as a girls’ charity to mark the Golden Jubilee of King George III and was built on New Bridge Street in Manchester in 1810. (See William Atkinson: Jubilee or Ladies’ Female Charity School).,
Opened in 1912 and built to the designs of Isaac Taylor, the new school prmises on Bury Old Road could accommodate up to 60 girls aged 7 to 11 years. During World War I it became a Red Cross Hospital. In 1939, the school moved to “Lerryn” on Carr Wood Road in Bramhall, the former home of Sir Robert McDougall, a former chairman of the charity, and in 1958 it merged with the Manchester and Salford Boys’ and Girls’ Refuges and Homes. The Bury Old Road building now houses the Manchester Jewish Community Centre and a Jewish special needs school. “Lerryn” in Bramhall has since been demolished. [Richard Fletcher]
The rebuilding of the original school was first considered at the Jubilee School Annual Meeting of October 1909. At the Annual Meeting in October 1910, the subscribers were reminded in the report, that the lease of the land on which the school stood has terminated, and that the occupancy could be determined on short notice. A plot of land on which to build a new school had been purchased. It contains 7,064 square yards, and was situated on the Bury Old Road, one of the healthiest sites within three miles of the Manchester Exchange. An appeal was made for funds to enable the Committee to meet the cost of the new building. [Manchester Guardian 28 October 1910 page 8]
A USEFUL CHARITY EXTENDED - The new building of the Ladies' Jubilee School for Girls which has been erected on Bury Old Road, in the Heaton Park district was formally opened yesterday by the Bishop of Manchester. The school, dates back to 1806 when it was established in a house in Broughton Lane. Salford, for the purpose of maintaining and educating poor girls, especially orphans, with a view to fitting them for domestic service. It was then known as the Lancasterian School. In 1809 it was decided at a town's meeting to celebrate the Jubilee of George III by building new: premises for the school. By means of a subscription list in the "Manchester Mercury" amounting to £1,117 and a legacy of £500 from Thomas Henshaw the Committee were enabled to put up a building on a site in New Bridge Street (now opposite Victoria Station) which was then overlooking open land on the borders of Strangeways Park. The name of the Ladies' Jubilee School was then assumed. The work continued to be conducted here on an expanding scale until the recent removal, at which time the number of girls the school was able to train was 40. The new building in Bury Old Road has been designed to accommodate 60 girls, but the Committee do not feel justified in extending the work of the school until they received a considerable augmentation of funds. Alan F. Maclure, who presided at the opening ceremony yesterday, stated that the cost of building the school, including the purchase of the site, was nearly £8,000. To meet this the Committee had realised invested capital to the extent of £5,900. The amount which had been contributed towards the building fund was about £3,400, so that a considerable sum of money, at least £4,000, had still to be raised in order to replace the borrowed capital and to provide additional endowment which would justify an increase in the number of girls maintained. [Manchester Guardian 13 November 1912; page 7]
The school was opened by the Bishop of Manchester; Lord Derby, who had promised to perform the opening ceremony, being too ill to leave his home.
Note: This part of Bury Old Road lies wholly within the Salford boundary, thus the posal address is given as Salford M7. The site itself lies entirely within the Crumpsall district of Manchester.
Reference Manchester Guardian 9 October 1909 page 1 – annual meeting
Reference Manchester Guardian 28 October 1910 page 8 – annual meeting
Reference Manchester Guardian 13 November 1912; page 7 - opening
Reference childrenshomes.org.uk including photo
