Prison Gate Mission

Going through some photographs today I came across this image in the archives. It shows men leaving Strangeways prison around the turn of the twentieth century.

At the gates of Strangeways prison

Before 1901 children were often sent to adult prisons for misdemeanours. Sleeping rough was a crime during the nineteenth century and any children found outside at night by a policeman were taken to the courts. Many found themselves behind bars for short periods of time.

This fact, along with the charity’s proximity to Strangeways prison, resulted in the Refuges starting a new service in 1887, the Prison Gate Mission. Every morning, as the gate opened to discharged prisoners, a simple breakfast was provided of coffee and bread and butter at a Mission Room. Here advice was given and note taken of the children. In the 23 years of its existence 265,959 men, women and children were helped.

At the Remand Home with a policeman

The Youthful Offenders Act of 1901 extended the use of alternatives to prison for young people. The charity already used the Children’s Shelter on Chatham Street, as an alternative to prison, where young people accused of a crime could be taken. Books remain within the archive collection detailing those who were admitted to the Remand Home and the felony they had been admitted for. In later years the charity received money from councils to look after a child on remand.

The Refuge saw these branches as important steps towards the rehabilitation of children who had committed crimes. Within the adult prisons there was a likelihood that the children would go on to commit further felonies. Within the supportive nature of the Refuges however, it was hoped the young people would develop into upstanding citizens.