James
Throup, a student from the School of English at the University of Sheffield, is
currently spending time in the archives uncovering some of the fascinating
documents which tell the history of Sheffield.
His third blog post takes a look at Sheffield's House of Help for Friendless Girls...
Picture
the scene: A summer night in Sheffield, 1889. Most of the city is thick with
slumber. A few stragglers and stray revellers ghost the near deserted streets
round Paradise Square. In Oakdale House, the ‘House of Help’, all is quiet. Suddenly,
a stern knocking at the door breaks the stillness of the night. A drowsy warden
prises herself away from the soft embrace of sleep, grumbling but not too
surprised, what with admissions coming at all hours. Even at 2am, like tonight.
The Police Constable drops off a young woman named Eliza Price. Eliza had been living
with her sister ‘but has quarrelled with her and came to Sheffield’, where ‘she
has been leading an immoral life but would be glad to go to a house’. The House
of Help is willing to do what it can.
Initially
established as a Free Registry in Fawcett Road in the late 1880s, the ‘House of
Help for Friendless Girls and Young Women’ was an institution that provided aid
for those in need. In later years, it was more often referred to as Oakdale
House. The house closed in 2005.
The
credo of the institution was ‘to give help and support to girls and women who
are homeless and friendless’ (Hawson, 1985), but also to save them from immorality
and vice. A specific criterion was initially drawn-up to judge those worthy of
admission:
1. Young women who have
fallen from virtue and desire to redeem their character.
2. Young girls who have lost
one or both parents or have living parents, should these parents be of loose
character.
3. Girls coming into the
town by train, or otherwise needing temporary lodgings are received either day
or night.
4. Girls of good character,
who are not able to go to situations for want of clothing are provided with
outfits which are afterwards paid for.
5. Help is given to
friendless girls who have recovered from illness in hospitals and have been
compelled to pawn their clothing.
6. No girl or woman, being
intoxicated or uproarious in conduct can be admitted at any time to this
institution.
The
house sought to bridge the gap for girls who wanted to improve their situation
but lacked the necessary means to do so. Food and board were provided, as were
clothes, and the opportunity to learn sewing, reading, and writing. Moreover,
the house would also set the girls up with potential employers.
Leafing
through the Case Books for 1888-1913, I was shocked to discover how young some
of the girls admitted were, and how desperate their plights. Maria Moran
appealed to the house of help on 13 August 1889, and was
only 14 at the time. Her reason for application reveals a tragic tale of
parental neglect:
‘Came alone and begged for admission as she
& the other children were neglected by their drunken parents…
Had been living with her
parents but was half afraid & almost naked & was often turned out at
night by her parents and sheltered by neighbours’
Though
she was received at St. Joseph’s Home on 24 October, ‘until
some other arrangements could be made for her’, her parents turned up and
reclaimed her; not long following, Maria appealed again to the House of Help.
Many of the other cases follow a similar pattern, whereby the parents of young
girls were unable or unwilling to care for their children.
Another
tragic case is that of Emma Howard. Admitted on 27 March 1889,
when she was 17, the reason for application reads:
‘Has three married sisters
in Sheffield but says none of them are respectable. A few days after her return
to House of Help it was found she was subject to fits’
Consequently,
she was ushered to a doctor, who ‘said that she was not likely to get better’.
Placed
in a workhouse on 12 April 1889, she was later transferred to
Wadsley Asylum. After spending time being shuttled back and forth between the
workhouse and the House of Help, she gained a situation, but went missing from
her last known address. Her entry closes by noting that she ‘left one evening
saying she was going to the theatre & did not return’.
Cases
like these are echoed throughout the history of the House of Help, going some
way to indicate how myriad the problems were that resulted in girls seeking
admission. Although in earlier years the focus was on prevention and rescue,
particularly concerning those girls suspected of immorality, in later years the
biggest problem affecting the house seems to be the high number of girls with
mental health issues. Whatever the problems facing the house, whatever the
stories of plight brought before their doors, they were always willing to help
out in whatever way they could – and for that their efforts should always be
commended.
James
Throup
‘Residents’
Papers: Case Book 1888-1913’ Sheffield Archives: X158/5/1/1
‘One
Hundred Years Forward: A century of the House of Help – Sheffield’s Oldest
Hostel for Women’ (1985) Margaret Hawson, Sheffield Local Studies Library:
361.3 S
‘Annual
Reports for the House of Help 1892 – 2003’ Sheffield Archives: X158/2
‘Photographs:
Various [20th cent]’ in Sheffield Archives: X158/7
The Sheffield and District Family History Society have indexed the first six Case Books from Sheffield Archives. You can search their online index for names here: http://baseportal.com/cgi-bin/baseportal.pl?htx=/sheffieldfhs/House_of_Help
