Belfast Charitable Society
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The Belfast Charitable Society, founded in 1752, is Belfast's oldest charitable organisation. It continues its philanthropic work from Clifton House which the Society opened, originally as the town's
poor house A poorhouse or workhouse is a government-run (usually by a county or municipality) facility to support and provide housing for the dependent or needy. Workhouses In England, Wales and Ireland (but not in Scotland), ‘workhouse’ has been the ...
and infirmary, in 1774.


History

In 1752 a group of Belfast's leading merchants agreed that "a poor-house and hospital are greatly wanted in Belfast for the support of vast numbers of real objects of charity in this parish, for the employment of idle beggars who crowd to it from all parts of the North, and for the reception of infirm and diseased poor". The growth of the town's port and the textile industry had been drawing in poor, often destitute, labourers and their families, from the surrounding districts. The town's burgesses, the exclusive nominees of the Earls (later Marquesses), of Donegall, had made little or no provision to alleviate their frequent and chronic distress. The Society raised money through a lottery scheme and subscription and, following formal recognition by act of Parliament, opened the doors of Clifton House in 1774. Erected on land donated by
Arthur Chichester Arthur Chichester, 1st Baron Chichester (May 1563 – 19 February 1625; known between 1596 and 1613 as Sir Arthur Chichester), of Carrickfergus in Ireland, was an English administrator and soldier who served as Lord Deputy of Ireland from 160 ...
, the first
Marquess of Donegall Marquess of Donegall is a title in the Peerage of Ireland held by the head of the Chichester family, originally from Devon, England. Sir John Chichester sat as a Member of Parliament and was High Sheriff of Devon in 1557. One of his sons, Sir ...
on the northern edge of the town, it combined 36 person poorhouse and 24 bed infirmary., Although it was not an issue for the Society, in 1786 members were divided by the attempt of two of the charity's "Founding Fathers",
Waddell Cunningham Waddell Cunningham (1729 - 1797) was wealthy merchant and civic leader in late eighteenth-century Belfast, Ireland, who, both in his business ventures and political interventions, was opposed by the nascent democratic spirit of his time. He cut ...
and Thomas Greg, to float a Belfast slave-trading company. The partners owned a sugar estate on the island of Dominica, as did the physician to the Poor House, Dr William Haliday. The visit of the celebrated escaped slave and author,
Olaudah Equiano Olaudah Equiano (; c. 1745 – 31 March 1797), known for most of his life as Gustavus Vassa (), was a writer and abolitionist from, according to his memoir, the Eboe (Igbo) region of the Kingdom of Benin (today southern Nigeria). Enslaved as ...
in 1791 capped the success of the abolitionist opposition in the town, led by another of the Society's principal subscribers, Thomas McCabe. That same year, with fellow subscribers and abolitionists, Dr William Drennan, John Campbell White, William Tennant, Robert Simms and
Samuel Neilson Samuel Neilson (17 September 1761 – 29 August 1803) was an Irish businessman, journalist and politician. He was a founding member of the Society of United Irishmen and the founder of its newspaper, the Northern Star (newspaper of the Society of ...
, McCabe formed the
Society of United Irishmen The Society of United Irishmen was a sworn association in the Kingdom of Ireland formed in the wake of the French Revolution to secure "an equal representation of all the people" in a national government. Despairing of constitutional reform, ...
. Proclaiming the union of Protestant, Catholic and Dissenter it sought the overthrow of Ireland's Anglican Ascendancy (represented in Belfast by prerogatives of Lord Donegall) and the establishment in Dublin of a representative government. The resulting association of the Charitable Society with political "subversion", emboldened the government to requisition Clifden House during the
1798 rebellion The Irish Rebellion of 1798 ( ga, Éirí Amach 1798; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ''The Hurries'') was a major uprising against British rule in Ireland. The main organising force was the Society of United Irishmen, a Irish republicanism, ...
as a military barracks. Society did not to recover use of the building until 1800. As a visiting physician to the Poor House, in 1782 Drennan had trialled smallpox
variolation Variolation was the method of inoculation first used to immunize individuals against smallpox (''Variola'') with material taken from a patient or a recently variolated individual, in the hope that a mild, but protective, infection would result. Var ...
, the practice of inoculating the skin of healthy people with
smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
to prevent a more serious case of the disease. When in 1800, the Poor House quickly filled again to full capacity, the Society permitted Haliday to conduct trial smallpox
vaccination Vaccination is the administration of a vaccine to help the immune system develop immunity from a disease. Vaccines contain a microorganism or virus in a weakened, live or killed state, or proteins or toxins from the organism. In stimulating ...
( Edward Jenner's much safer practice of using
cowpox Cowpox is an infectious disease caused by the ''cowpox virus'' (CPXV). It presents with large blisters in the skin, a fever and swollen glands, historically typically following contact with an infected cow, though in the last several decades more ...
) on the Poor House children, provided the consent of parents was obtained. In 1827, following a visit to Belfast by the social reformer
Elizabeth Fry Elizabeth Fry (née Gurney; 21 May 1780 – 12 October 1845), sometimes referred to as Betsy Fry, was an English prison reformer, social reformer, philanthropist and Quaker. Fry was a major driving force behind new legislation to improve the tr ...
,
Mary Ann McCracken Mary Ann McCracken (8 July 1770 – 26 July 1866) was a social activist and campaigner in Belfast, Ireland, whose extensive correspondence is cited as an important chronicle of her times. Born to a prominent liberal Presbyterian family, she comb ...
(sister to the executed rebel leader,
Henry Joy McCracken Henry Joy McCracken (31 August 1767 – 17 July 1798) was an Irish republican, a leading member of the Society of the United Irishmen and a commander of their forces in the field in the Rebellion of 1798. In pursuit of an independent and democrat ...
) formed the Ladies Committee of the Belfast Charitable Society. Thanks to the efforts of the committee, and over objections of more conservative subscribers to the Society, a school and nursery were set up for the Poorhouse children. McCracken insisted on teachers of high quality and special ability and on play hours in which children would have free use of their time. She and the committee also established a system of industrial apprenticeships. The exponential growth in Victorian Belfast led to the foundation of other philanthropic bodies who also sought to address disadvantage and by 1882 the last child had left the Poor House. Through the 20th century Clifton House was a residential and nursing home. After the Belfast Charitable Society celebrated its 250th anniversary in 2002, it decided to build a new nursing home at nearby Carlisle Circus. This allowed for a redevelopment of Clifton House. The historic buildings now include a residential home and sheltered accommodation apartments (operated by Radius Housing) and a heritage and conference centre which the Society operates as a social enterprise.


See also

*
Irish Poor Laws The Irish Poor Laws were a series of Acts of Parliament intended to address social instability due to widespread and persistent poverty in Ireland. While some legislation had been introduced by the pre-Union Parliament of Ireland prior to the ...


Notes


Sources

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External links


Official website
{{Authority control Irish Poor Laws Organisations based in Belfast 1774 establishments in Ireland Medical and health organisations based in Northern Ireland Poor law infirmaries