Together Trust Archive

Christmas was always a wonderful time for the children of the Manchester and Salford Boys’ and Girls’ Refuges and Homes. Thanks to the generosity of the general public, who contributed special gifts of money to the charity at this time of year, every home across the two cities was able to sit down to Christmas lunch and entertainment. Every child also received a small gift of a muffler or a toy.  Annual Christmas Bazaar

The country fell silent on Saturday to mark the signing of the armistice between the Allies and Germany at 11am on 11 November 1918. It signified the end of World War One, after four long years of fighting.  Poppy display outside the Together Trust, 2014

Our project Deep Pockets and Dirty Faces has now come to an end. It has been a fascinating journey through the archives for our young people as they discovered stories about not only the charity’s own history , but also what Manchester was like in the nineteenth century. 

Our admission books are at the very heart of our archive collection. We have many records relating to the administration of the charity: how it was managed; who was in control; what needed doing on a day-to day business; how money was collected and spent. These are hugely important records to show who we were. However, it is the individuals who tell the real story, not only about the charity itself but also about the evolution of childcare and the social conditions that were experienced in each decade of the Together Trust’s history . Orphan Home Admission Book

We are excited to announce we have a brand new  search engine on our Together Trust website to help people see if their ancestors were ever in one of our Manchester homes . New search facility

Today a chance encounter in the archive has brought up an interesting case. It stems from an admission to the Homes on the 12th May 1909 and involves a first for the charity and for the city of Manchester. Lizzie after admission

This week's blog has been compiled by Robert Atherton, a student at Poynton 6th form, who has been on a week's long placement as an archive student at the Together Trust. Alongside various other duties, Robert has been cataloguing some of our case files from the 1930s and has picked out one file to research and compile a blog on.

We came across a newspaper article in the archive the other day, written by an individual who was ‘investigating the results and prospects of juvenile emigration’. Concentrating on those sent to Marchmont Home , the writer visited 50 boys and girls in the area surrounding Belleville over three weeks. Outside Marchmont Home

Deep Pockets and Dirty Faces has seen more of its work displayed at Cheadle Library. As the charity now resides in the area on Schools Hill, it allows some of the work completed by young people from the area to have their project on display and inform the local community about the history of the Together Trust .  Display at Cheadle Library

We’re celebrating our 96 th Together Trust Family Fun Day tomorrow here on our Cheadle campus on Schools Hill. As always, we’ll be welcoming ‘Graham Fisher's International It’s a Knockout’ , as well as having a funfair, stalls and a cafe.   IAKO team, 2016 The festival remains a celebration of the Together Trust as well as a way of raising money for the charity. Throughout the years, the event has always been seen as a way of bringing the community together and introducing the public to the work being completed in the different services. Artist Impression of Belmont Fete, 1923 As always we have fingers crossed for dry weather for tomorrow. As is often the case, black clouds are forecast on the horizon. The Together Trust has a series of newspaper clippings running from 1920 onwards and describing the various festivals over the years. Perhaps unsurprisingly the headlines often took on a similar theme. “Rain an unwelcome visitor to Belmont”, “Successful Cheadle effort de...

The Together Trust is pleased to announce that some of the work from its Deep Pockets and Dirty Faces project is now on display at Manchester Central Library . Costumes, artwork and material from the archive is on display within the exhibition area and audio clips and images can be viewed on the Library’s digital screens.  Costumes on display in the Reading Room

In our last  blog  we left our Sheffield Reporter in the schoolroom of the Central Refuge on Francis Street. Today we’ll be following him as he tours the rest of the building, shedding a light on how the Refuge operated back in 1881. Firewood workshop in the courtyard

Over the next few blogs we’re going to be looking in more depth at the Central Refuge in Strangeways. The following description comes from the ‘Sheffield Reporter’, whose journalist made a visit to the home in May 1881. This was a reconnaissance trip to see if there could be a similar set up for the children of Sheffield, as an alternative to the workhouse or industrial schools. Central Refuge, Francis Street

This rather lovely photograph below shows one of our boys, Charles, dressed in the uniform of the charity’s Newspaper Brigade. The group was formed ‘for the purpose of counteracting the pernicious influence of bad books by the introduction of pure literature, in a cheap and an attractive form, into the homes of the people’ ( The Quiver : an illustrated magazine for Sunday and general reading [1894]). Charles in uniform   Those admitted to the Brigade were not usually resident in one of the charity’s homes. On application, a form was completed to determine place of birth, position of family, the education standard passed, and whether "he has been used to selling papers”. Once admitted, conduct was closely watched, parents, or guardians, visited periodically and a report of behaviour and the condition of home was completed. When the boys were old enough, the Committee undertook to find them regular employment. It will be noted that the service was strictly for boys, the R...

We’ve spoken before on this blog about the Remand Home that was set up in 1910 as part of the Children’s Shelter on Chatham Street. The archives reveal separate admission books for the Remand Home from this date, although magistrates were using other homes belonging to the charity from 1896 to house boys who had been convicted of a crime. Ra ilings on the roof top of the Remand Home

In 1921, in celebration of the Manchester and Salford Boys’ and Girls’ Refuges and Homes jubilee, a new book was published. Written by William Edmondson, Secretary of the charity between 1894 and 1920, it told the story of the first 50 years of the Refuges. It is the only published history of the charity and concentrates on individual stories, attempting to provoke sympathy in the reader and encourage donations or aid. For those interested in the charity’s Victorian work, it offers an introduction to the services, key staff and stories of the children who lived in the homes. Making Rough Places Plain, 1920

As it is St. Patrick’s Day today, it seemed only apt to look into our Irish heritage at the charity. We’ve seen a number of boys and girls pass through our different homes and services over the years who hail from the Emerald Isle. Our most famous Irish connection however is our founder himself, Leonard Kilbee Shaw . 

As today is International’s Women’s Day it seems only fitting to dedicate this week’s blog to all of the women who have worked for and cared for the children in our charity over the years. Some we have talked about before;  Annie Shaw  for example dedicated over 50 years of her life to the Manchester Refuges, being an active member of the committee and taking a particular interest in the Cheetham Hill Homes, which included the 6 Orphan Homes , Bethesda , Tetlow Grove  and Rosen Hallas; Harriet Smethurst worked for the charity for 37 years as Matron of Rosen Hallas, travelling across to Canada every year with her party of girls and Miss Pickford ran Bethesda, caring for all the ‘delicate children’ that entered through its doors.  Annie Shaw (left)

The charity is very aware that in 3 years time we will be celebrating our 150th anniversary. It’s a huge milestone in the history of the Together Trust and gives us a chance to reflect back on the many different services and activities we’ve provided over the last century and a half.  Our 150th isn’t the only anniversary we celebrate in 2020 however. It also notes 100 years since the charity moved its offices out of Manchester into the leafy suburbs of Cheadle , where we have remained ever since. It is important for this occasion not to be overshadowed and to recognise the important connection we have with Cheadle and its community. Cheadle Village, c. 1950s

Our case files that sit at Manchester Archives take up around 11.5 linear meters in space. Each case file, which exist from 1886, contains details of every single child that entered one of the Manchester Refuges’ Homes. These can vary in content for the genealogist searching for details on their ancestor’s past. Some contain only an application form. To many this is the most important find, as it details previous addresses, family members and circumstances leading up to admission. Other files can be bursting at the seams with documents pertaining to that individual’s life.  Envelopes for case files

Some of our archives are having another little journey south to be displayed as part of a new exhibition at the Central Family Court in London. The exhibition entitled 'Respected and Protected: The Rights of Children ', focu ses on these entitlements through the ages and how these have changed and adapted over time. Respected and protected?

We’re catering to our American readers on the blog this week with another tale from Northfields, Massachusetts. The charity emigrated 12 boys to Dwight Lyman Moody’s Training Homes in 1883 with a view to their being prepared for ministerial or missionary work. Leonard R. Shaw and his TWELVE

Somehow we find ourselves in 2017 and celebrating yet another birthday for the Together Trust. The 4 th of January saw us reach the grand old age of 147. In three years time we’ll hit 150 years and plans are already afoot to honour this momentous occasion. So let’s go back to the year it all began and explore Manchester as it used to be. PH.4.2.21 Boys on Steps