Manchester & Salford Boys’ Refuge : Great Ducie Street, Strangeways

Sited at the junction of Great Ducie Street and Francis Street, Strangeways, the refuge stood in front of an earlier boys’ refuge building and was designed in the “Queen Anne” style. The building was intended to move away from the workhouse image to something more domestic in character. Three separate and distinct homes were provided on the site. The largest of the homes was for 60-70 boys who have been rescued from the streets but had been found jobs outside the institution. Entered by a spacious hall from Great Ducie Street, the ground floor contained a reading room on the right and a visitors’ and games room on the left together with the Superintendent’s office. The ground floor was also intended to act as a club or meeting place for those who had left the refuge. At the corner of Francis St and Great Ducie Street was a shop while at the rear was a large gymnasium.  First Floor - dining room, four classrooms and the master and matron’s room. Second and third floors were divided into cubicles, each floor being provided with bathrooms and toilets.  Brigade Boys’ Home for the Caxton & Shoeblack Brigades - The central block housed 40-50 boys of which two thirds were generally shoeblacks and one third “Caxton Boys" who sold the society’s publications. In the basement were bathrooms and toilets, disinfecting closets to deal with the clothing of the children when first admitted, work rooms and play rooms. The ground floor  - Dining room, kitchen, day room and bookshop for the sale of the society’s publications while the upper floors contained the boys’ dormitories.  The third Training home - intended for emigrants to Canada. Accommodation for 50-60 boys.Basement contained workshops and a smithy to provide practical training before their departure.  The refuge was opened on 28 October 1890 by Dorothy Tennant, the newly-wedded wife of H.M Stanley, immediately prior to their departure to America. Dorothy Tennant had previously published a book of drawings of London street children.

On 4th January 1870 the Manchester & Salford Boys’ and Girls’ Refuge Society had opened their first building, a house in Quay Street with 25 beds as a night refuge for homeless boys. Over the next twenty years the work expanded to meet their neeeds.  The Bethesda Home for Crippled and Incurable Children opened in George Street Cheetham Hill on 4 January 1890 became the eighteenth branch of the institution.

MANCHESTER.—A Boys' Refuge in Great Ducie Street, Strangeways, is nearly ready for occupation, having been built from plans by Messrs Maxwell and Tuke, of Princess Street Manchester. Designed in the Queen Anne style, the structure occupies a site at the junction of two streets in front of the present Boys Refuge. The main frontage is faced with Ruabon terracotta and stone dressings, while terra cotta ornamentation and moulding, have been used freely. Three separate and distinct Homes are enclosed within the walls, in the largest of which it is intended to house lads rescued from the streets. A home will be provided here for 60 or 70 lads, each of whom will have a cubicle of his own. On the right of entrance is the reading room and on the left the games and visitors' rooms, while overlooking the entrance is the superintendent's office. The dining-room, four classrooms and the master's and matron s room are placed on the first floor. The second and third floors are divided into cubicles, and each floor is provided with bathrooms and lavatories. A large covered gymnasium is provided at the real In the centre of the block is the Caxton and the Shoeblack Brigades Boys' Home where provision is made for between 40 and 50 boys The basement of this division contains baths and lavatories, with disinfecting closets and work and play rooms. On the ground-floor are the dining-room, the kitchen, the dayroom, and a shop The dormitories are on the higher floors The remaining division of the block will be used as a touring home for intending emigrants to Canada, and accommodation is furnished for between 50 and 60 boys The day and dining rooms, the kitchen, and the ''fathers and mother's" room are on the ground floor, and dormitories, officers' rooms, and lavatories occupy the upper floors. At the rear of the buildings are additional workrooms. The interior is heated throughout with low-pressure hot-water pipes, constructed by Messrs Elliott, Olney, and Co Messrs. Robert Neill and Son are the contractors for the building, which has cost over £10,000. [Building News 28 March 1890 page 465]

THE BOYS’ REFUGE, STRANGEWAYS – The handsome new building is to be opened today by Mrs H M Stanley. It is an extension of the institution in Strangeways so long and honourably conducted under the name of the Boys’ Refuge. Designed in the Queen Anne style, the structure occupies a site at the junction of Great Ducie Street and Francis Street, in front of the old refuge buildings, the main frontage facing Ducie Street. There is nothing of the workhouse type about it. The architects, Messrs Maxwell and Tuke, aimed at producing a building which, whilst it should be a figure in the architecture of what is by no means an attractive thoroughfare at the same time should have a substantial and domesticated character. Three separate and distinct “homes” are combined within its walls. In the largest of these it is intended to house lads who have been rescued from the streets and who are now earning their living outside the institution. Accommodation is provided here for 60 or 70 lads. It is entered from Strangeways by a spacious vestibule. On the right is the reading room, and on the left the games and visitors’ rooms; whilst overlooking the entrance, the superintendent’s office commands a view of all the departments. A fairly large shop has an outlook from both frontages. As the ground floor will be used not only by the residents but as a club by others who have passed from under the control of the Committee, the dining room – a large well-lighted apartment, - four classrooms, and the master’s and matron’s room are placed on the first floor. The second and third floors are divided into cubicles, and each floor is provided with bathrooms and lavatories. A large covered gymnasium at the rear of the building gives the lads ample means for athletic recreation. In the centre of the block is the Boys’ Brigade Home where the Caxton and Shoeblack Brigades are housed. Provision is made for between 40 and 50 boys, of whom two-thirds will generally be shoeblacks and the remainder “Caxton” boys, or boys who sell the publications of the society. The basement of this division contains baths and lavatories, with disinfecting closets, in which the clothing of the children is dealt with as they are admitted. Work and play rooms also find a place in the basement. On the ground floor is the dining-room, the kitchen, the day-room,  and a shop, used for the sale of the society’s publications. The dormitories are on the higher floors. The remaining division of the block is intended to be used as a training home for intending emigrants to Canada, and accommodation is furnished for between 50 and 60 lads. In the basement is a workshop and a smithy, where the boys are taught such handicrafts as may prove useful to them in their future career. Life in this part of the institution is conducted as far as possible on the family principle. Although the Prison Mission is not an integral part of the society’s work, the new building makes provision for carrying on the operations connected with that branch of the charity with more efficiency that has hitherto been found possible. About 20,000 prisoners, it is computed, leave Strangeways gaol every year. Last year 10,000 discharged prisoners accepted invitations given at the prison gate and came to the mission-room, where they were given a meal and offered assistance to find work. The Committee, however, are mainly encouraged in this branch of their labours by the fact that through its means they have rescued a large number of boys and girls. Their new mission hall is in Francis Street. Messrs Robert Neill and Son are the contractors for the building, which has been erected at a cost not actually ascertained, but considerably exceeding £10,000. [Manchester Guardian 28 October 1890 page 9]

THE BOYS' REFUGE, MANCHESTER - For twenty years there has been carried on in the building shown in the rear of our illustration to-day a noble work in rescuing waifs and strays from the streets of the City of Manchester. The demand for accommodation has far outgrown the provision, and the trustees recently purchased the old shop property occupying the site of the building illustrated in our number of this week. The building consists of three separate and distinct homes, besides accommodation for what is known as a Prison-gate Mission. The homes are (1) the Working Lads' Home, which provides accommodation for 60 or 70 working lads, who are honestly earning their living and learning their trade, but who have mostly been *: from the slums of the city. There is a spacious entrance hall, with a large room on the left as a recreation room; on the right, another for reading room. In the basement there is a room for work, and behind is fitted up a large covered gymnasium. On the first floor there is a dining- room service, classrooms, visitors' rooms, and 12 dormitories, with bath-room, lavatories, and WC.'s. The next home is called the Brigade Boys' Home. These are lads that have been rescued from the streets, and are at present engaged as a shoeblack brigade, or some other occupation, and they receive an education fitting them to be drafted in due time into the Working Lads' Home, where they will remain till settled in life. The other home consists of a training home for lads being prepared for emigration to the colonies. In the basement there is a workshop, including wheelwright shop and smithy, where the lads are taught to do such work as will be useful to them upon the farms in the colonies. On the ground floor there is a dining-room and day- room, kitchen and offices, and private room for the father and mother of the home. On the upper floor is accommodation for between 40 and 50 boys. In the rear of these premises there are also workshops occupied by printers, who are lads from the streets who have been trained to the business. The entire cost of the building, exclusive of furniture and land, is about £12,000, which has been defrayed by private subscriptions. The architects are Messrs. Maxwell and Tuke, of 29, Princess-street, Manchester, and the buildings have been erected by Messrs. Robert Neill and Sons, of the same city. [Building News 30 January 1891. Page 62].

Reference    Manchester Guardian 28 October 1890 Page 9 - opening
Reference    Manchester City News 1 November 1890 Page 2 - opening
Reference    Manchester Faces & Places Vol 2 Page 29 November 1890
Reference    Building News 30 January 1891. Page 62 and illustration