Together Trust Archive

As it approaches Mother’s Day it prompts reflection on what our relationships mean to us: whether that be with one’s biological mother; grandmother; step-mother; foster or adoptive mother, or any other influential female who plays a significant part in our lives. For some this may stir up feelings of confusion or sadness. For others this can be a happy time in which to share fond memories and create new ones together. For those young people who were in the care of the Refuges many may not have had a relationship with their mothers. The reasons for a child entering care were varied and complex. Some had faced the trauma of losing their parents at an early age to illness, or were removed from their situation either permanently or on a short-term basis. Regardless of circumstance, we should all have a person in our lives who provides us with the same sureties a mother does, be they female, or indeed, male. So as Mother’s Day approaches we ask ‘what is the role of a mother?’

I’ve been attempting to do some indexing recently of our very first admission book. The archive collection for the Manchester and Salford Boys’ and Girls’ Refuges and Homes is extensive. Every child that was resident in any of our permanent homes have been recorded in varying amounts of detail. From 1886 case files were compiled on each admitted child, which comprised of material such as admittance forms, investigation forms, declaration forms and letters. All of these case files have already been indexed. Before this however the children were recorded in our admission books giving details such as age, parents names, previous address and circumstances leading up to admittance. First admission book

There are of course many unknown facts about the charity but some are more obscure than others. Some of the lesser known facts are also some of our more noteworthy. The Manchester and Salford Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children badge

An account of a four year old boy admitted to the Refuge in 1889: “The boy reeled on the floor and had to be assisted to a seat. We thought it advisable to have him examined by a doctor who pronounced the poor little baby-boy to be drunk and ordered an emetic to be administered and the child to be put to bed, as otherwise it might prove fatal. It may not generally be known that making children drunk is at present no offence under the English law.” The Together Trust receives regular enquiries about the young people who have been in its care. Most are people researching their family history, trying to get some semblance of how their ancestors lived. Many are from Canada or America tracing those young children who were emigrated across the seas in search of a better life away from the slums of Manchester. A ragged child

"Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests but many a little child received there has had no mother’s arms outstretched to receive him, no place to lay his head." This was observed by William Edmondson, Secretary to the Manchester and Salford Boys’ and Girls’ Refuges and Homes, in 1921, when speaking of the charity’s Children Shelter on Chatham Street. The home was opened in 1883 to give shelter to children sleeping on the streets of Manchester. Up until 1920 it received 15,000 children through its doors, taking them out of the cold and into safety.  Children’s Shelter ‘Mother’ receiving a child from a policeman

Leonard Kilbee Shaw Today we are focusing on the life and work of one man – Leonard Kilbee Shaw – who was the founder of the Manchester and Salford Boys’ and Girls’ Refuges and Homes and the hero of our story….