House_of_Mercy
House of Mercy
Former clerical institution in the United Kingdom
For other uses, see House of Mercy (disambiguation).
Houses of Mercy were Anglican institutions that operated from the mid 19th century[1] to the mid 20th.[2] They were to house "fallen women",[3] a term used to imply female sexual promiscuity or work in prostitution. Many women entering were unmarried mothers, an unacceptable situation at that time.[4]
England
- Bristol: This home[5] was in Ashley Road, Bedminster.[6]
- Stroud: The home was in the village of Bussage.[7]
- Chester: The home was in Lache lane.[8]
- Clewer: The Clewer House of Mercy was at Clewer near Windsor in the county of Berkshire.[9][10] William Henry Hutchings was Warden from 1865 to 1884 when he became rector of Pickering.[11] He was succeeded by Thomas Thellusson Carter.[12]
- Great Maplestead: This was known as the 'St Alban's House of Mercy'.[13]
- Horbury: This home, founded in 1859,[14] was near Wakefield.[15] The home celebrated its Golden jubilee in 1909.[16]
- Lostwithiel: While chaplain of Bodmin Jail, the Rev. W. F. Everest founded a Cornish home.[17]
- Newcastle upon Tyne: This was in Salters Road, Gosforth.[18]
Wales
As an Anglican charity, the homes attracted many notable sponsors, such as
- Catherine Gladstone: She was the wife of four times Prime Minister, William Ewart Gladstone.[22]
- The Hon Pascoe Charles Glyn: He was a partner in the banking firm of Messrs Glyn, Mills, Currie & co.[23]
- Frances Selby Brodrick: She lived at Eaton Terrace, SW1.[24]
- Fanny Thursby: The widow[25] of The Rev William Ford Thursby, Rector of Bergh Apton.[26]
- Steinbach, Susie (2004). Women in England 1760–1914: A Social History. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 127. ISBN 1-4039-6754-7.
- 'A Bristol Miscellany', Patrick McGrath (ed) p200: Bristol, Bristol Record Society, 1985 090153866X.
- Staley, V. (1908) The Catholic Religion. Oxford: A. R. Mowbray & Co.; p. vii (preface written in 1893)
- David Knight, ‘Gurney, Henry Palin (1847–1904)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 26 Feb 2017
- Isba, Anne (2006). Gladstone and Women. London: Hambledon Continuum. p. 102. ISBN 1-85285-471-5.