The Belfast Charitable Society faced many hurdles in raising the money to build the Poor House, but by October 1768 they were in a position to start collecting material to begin construction. The Charitable Society were extremely grateful to the philanthropic individuals who continued to support the work of the Society after the initial lottery schemes had finished. On this day in October 1768 the Board sent a letter of thanks to John Kennedy Esq of Cultra for granting the society free liberty to quarry stones and lift sand from his estate.
Part of the Kennedy Estate at Cultra was sold in 1961 to the Northern Irish Government for a new museum site. Today if you visit the Ulster Folk & Transport Museum, you can still see the quarries which formed part of their land.