Monthly Archives: May 2020

Apprenticeships were a integral part of the running of the Poor House, offering the children a chance to learn a trade or skill in order to support themselves in the future. On 25th May 1822, John Delany was apprenticed to Thomas Alexander Stewart (1786-1847), to 'learn the trade of farming' for 6 years. However, this apprenticeship was extraordinary as John Delany was to leave Belfast entirely and start a new life in Canada. Often children were apprenticed within the Belfast area or in some cases Scotland, but John was the first child from the Poor House to leave for Canada. Delany [...]

Belfast Charitable Society had put in place a form of lockdown once cholera was found to be present in the town. However, they initiated other important precautions to protect the residents of the Poor House. Convalescence Home The Poor House Infirmary and the other hospitals worked jointly to deal with cholera cases in Belfast. This meant that some people who had sufficiently recovered from cholera would need to come into the Poor House. However, Belfast Charitable Society were conscious that these individuals may bring the disease into the already crowded institution. The Board decided to open a convalescent home at one [...]