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Opening of the Liverpool Seaman’s Orphan Asylum

This useful institution has been erected in Newsham Park by local subscription, for the relief, as the name implies, of the destitute orphans of our seamen. It is designed to accommodate 400 &mildren, but at present funds will only permit of the reception of half that number; endeavours, however, are being made to raise an endowment fund of 20,000l. The Orphanage was opened on Wednesday week by the Duke of Edinburgh amid much ceremony. A procession of some 1,500 sailors marched to the Orphanage from the town, despite the pouring rain, and arranged themselves round the building to welcome the Prince, while in front of the institution was a grand stand with some thousands of spectators. About four the Duke arrived, and was received at the chapel doors by a guard of honour, the National Anthem from the band of the 19th Regiment, and three cheers from the sailors. The President of the Orphanage, Mr. Ralph Brocklebank, and the Executive Committee then conducted the Duke into the chapel, crowded with privileged spectators, and where the 200 children, dressed in neat sailor like costumes, sang the hymn “for those in peril on the sea.” The Duke went over the various rooms of the Orphanage, and finally proceeded to the dining room, where the opening ceremony took place. This merely consisted of an address to the Duke, presented by the President, a suitable reply from his Royal Highness, and a declaration that the institution was now open, and a brief prayer and address from the Archbishop of York. [343]

Bibliography

“Opening of the the Seaman’s Orphanage, Liverpool, by H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh.” The Graphic 10 (30 August 1874): 348. Source: Hathi Trust online version of a copy of the periodical in the New York Public Library. Web. 28 July 2021.

Created 27 July 2021