The facade of the Night Asylum for the Houseless and House of Industry for Indigent Females, St Enoch Wynd, c 1844.
A particularly severe winter in 1837-1838 raised widespread public concern about the plight of the homeless. The Night Asylum for the Houseless opened on 28 May, 1838, run by a board of directors with William Campbell of Tullichewan as president. A former granary in St Enoch's Wynd, near Argyle Street, was converted to provide suitable overnight accommodation for around 100 people.
In 1839 a school for destitute children was opened in the building. It was felt that "respectable females" who were unemployed and without family or friends were especially "deserving" and so in 1842 a branch known as the House of Industry for Indigent Females was opened. There was space for thirty women who were charged 3 shillings (15p) a week, but were provided with work during the day.
Hard times and an increasing population meant that the building soon proved inadequate, and a new Asylum was opened in North Frederick Street in 1847. St Enoch's Wynd was swept away when St Enoch Station was built in the 1870s.
Reference: Heatherbank Museum of Social Work, print 6185c
Reproduced with the permission of Glasgow Caledonian University, Heatherbank Museum of Social Work
Keywords:
asylums, charities, granaries, homeless shelters, homelessness, hostels, House of Industry for Indigent Females, Night Asylum for the Houseless, schools, single men, single women, St Enoch Station
You have 98 images in your photo album.
