![Mechanics' Institute 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Mechanics%27_Institute_2.JPG)
The Mechanics' Institute, 103
Princess Street, Manchester
Princess Street is one of the main streets in the city centre of Manchester, England. It begins at Cross Street and runs approximately eastwards across Mosley Street, Portland Street and Whitworth Street until the point where it continues as Bro ...
, is notable as the building in which three significant British institutions were founded: the
Trades Union Congress
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre
A national trade union center (or national center or central) is a federation or confederation of trade unions in a country. Nearly every country in the world has a national tra ...
(TUC), the
Co-operative Insurance Society (CIS) and the
University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology
The University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) was a university based in the centre of the city of Manchester in England. It specialised in technical and scientific subjects and was a major centre for research. On 1 Oct ...
(UMIST). In the 1960s it was occupied by the Manchester College of Commerce. It has been a
Grade II* listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
since 11 May 1972.
History
Early years
The institute, which was
one of many, was established in Manchester on 7 April 1824 at the Bridgewater Arms hotel. Its purpose was to provide facilities for working men to learn the principles of science through part-time study. The original prospectus of the institute stated
The most notable of the founders were
William Fairbairn
Sir William Fairbairn, 1st Baronet of Ardwick (19 February 1789 – 18 August 1874) was a Scottish civil engineer, structural engineer
Structural engineers analyze, design, plan, and research structural components and structural systems ...
,
Richard Roberts,
George William Wood
George William Wood (21 July 1781 – 3 October 1843) was an English businessman, Member of Parliament and leading member of civil society in Manchester.
Life
George William Wood was born in Leeds, the son of William Wood, a Unitarian minister ...
,
George Philips,
Joseph Brotherton
Joseph Brotherton (22 May 1783 – 7 January 1857) was a reforming British politician, Nonconformist minister and pioneering vegetarian. He has been described as the first vegetarian member of parliament.
Biography
He was born in Whittington ...
and
Benjamin Heywood
Sir Benjamin Heywood, 1st Baronet (12 December 1793 – 11 August 1865) was an English banker and philanthropist.
Early life
Benjamin Heywood was born on 12 December 1793 in St Ann's Square, Manchester. He was the grandson of Thomas Perciva ...
. The last of these chaired the first meeting, became the leading patron and is often considered to be the founder. Many of these men shared similar interests, such as being
Unitarians and members of the
Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society
The Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, popularly known as the Lit. & Phil., is one of the oldest learned societies in the United Kingdom and second oldest provincial learned society (after the Spalding Gentlemen's Society).
Promine ...
, aside from a desire to improve the commercial, industrial and technological life of Manchester. In this regard, Brotherton stood out as a deviation from the norm, for example in politics and religion. Others among the founders were James Murray, Thomas Hopkins, J. C. Dyer and Phillip Novelli, all of whom were later significant figures in the
Anti-Corn Law League
The Anti-Corn Law League was a successful political movement in Great Britain aimed at the abolition of the unpopular Corn Laws, which protected landowners’ interests by levying taxes on imported wheat, thus raising the price of bread at a time ...
.
In 1825 the first building in England expressly designed for use as a mechanics' institute was erected for its use in Cooper Street, off Princess Street, in Manchester.
[Frangopulo, N. J., ed. (1962) ''Rich Inheritance''. Manchester: Education Committee; p. 85] This was demolished in the early 1970s.
Although the original purpose of the institute was maintained, it was increasingly the case that emphasis was placed also on the wider social aspects of the organisation. Heywood's initial optimism regarding the moral upliftment of a significant number of working men through technical education was tempered by the realisation that tiredness and even employment status impeded its achievement. From around 1830, the scope of education was widened to include more elementary aspects, there were proposals to set up reading groups in surrounding areas that would be supplied with books from the institute's library, and also moves to encourage involvement in sports and in general social events. Mostly led from the top, although occasionally the result of explicit demands from its membership, the changes included the creation of a room for reading newspapers, a change in the type of lectures, which became less rigidly based on scientific topics, as also did the library stock, and events such as concerts, exhibitions and excursions played a more important role. Facilities for educating women and children were also introduced but, for example, a request to begin classes in history was rejected because of fears that it would lead to debates about politics.
This institute organised the first City exhibition in 1837 and this led to a large number of similar exhibitions in English industrial towns and cities.
By the 1840s, the exhibitions included thousands of casts, busts and masks relating to the fashionable subject of
phrenology
Phrenology () is a pseudoscience which involves the measurement of bumps on the skull to predict mental traits.Wihe, J. V. (2002). "Science and Pseudoscience: A Primer in Critical Thinking." In ''Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience'', pp. 195–203. C ...
and were attracting over 100,000 visitors. The
Manchester Phrenological Society
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...
used its facilities.
Relocation
The institute moved to the current building in 1855. The building was designed by
J. E. Gregan in an Italian
palazzo style
Palazzo style refers to an architectural style of the 19th and 20th centuries based upon the '' palazzi'' (palaces) built by wealthy families of the Italian Renaissance. The term refers to the general shape, proportion and a cluster of characteri ...
and was Gregan's last work. It consists of three tall storeys with a basement and blind attic storey and is constructed of brick with stone dressings. "It set a standard for the scale of the commercial warehouses which were to follow, but the nobility and purity of the design sets it apart from its neighbours."
The inaugural meeting of the Trades Union Congress was held in the building, 2–6 June 1868. In 1882 it was decided to establish a technical school, the Technical School and Mechanics' Institution; it opened in September 1882.
[ This was the beginning of the institution later known as UMIST.
]
Present day
As of 2002 the building contained archives from the National Labour History Museum, which were subsequently relocated with that museum.
Alumni
* Mary Louisa Armitt
Mary Louisa Armitt (31 July 1851 – 24 September 1911) was an English polymath. She was a teacher, writer, ornithologist and philanthropist. She was the funder and founder of the Armitt Library, Ambleside.
Life
Armitt was born in Salford, Lanc ...
who founded the Armitt Library
The Armitt Museum, also known as the Armitt Museum and Library, is an independent museum and library, founded in Ambleside in Cumbria by Mary Louisa Armitt in 1909. It is a registered charity under English law.
History
The library was founded b ...
was educated here.[Eileen Jay, ‘Armitt, Mary Louisa (1851–1911)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200]
accessed 13 Nov 2015
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See also
*Grade II* listed buildings in Greater Manchester
There are 236 Grade II* listed buildings in Greater Manchester, England. In the United Kingdom, the term listed building refers to a building or other structure officially designated as being of special architectural, historical or cultural ...
*Listed buildings in Manchester-M1
Manchester is a city in Northwest England. The M postcode area, M1 postcode area of the city includes part of the city centre, in particular the Northern Quarter (Manchester), Northern Quarter, the area known as Chinatown, Manchester, Chinatown, ...
References
Sources
* Pevsner, Nicholas; Hartwell, Clare & Hyde, Matthew, ''The Buildings of England: Lancashire — Manchester and the South East'' (2004) Yale University Press
External links
Manchester Mechanics' Institution archive
University of Manchester Library
The University of Manchester Library is the library system and information service of the University of Manchester. The main library is on the Oxford Road campus of the university, with its entrance on Burlington Street. There are also ten other ...
.
{{Authority control
Grade II* listed buildings in Manchester
Trades Union Congress
University of Manchester