"At many of the dinners at which I have the pleasure of taking the chair, the charities in support of which they are given require more words to bring them to the notice of those who attend than the present one does. But though the specific nature of this institution relieves me from the necessity of entering upon any lengthened advocacy of its claims, it is not the less deserving of your hearty support in every respect. As you are aware, the Princess Helena College was formerly called the Adult Orphan Institution, and it has for its object the bringing up of daughters of officers of the Army and Navy and of clergymen. Its first meeting took place as far back as 1818, and in 1820 the institution was built. As Lord Sydney told you, it originated with a relative of his own. It was founded by her, and by my grand-aunt, Princess Augusta of Gloucester. King George IV. also took great interest in its welfare, allotting the plot of ground in the Regent's Park where the College now stands.
"The object of the institution is not only to provide a thoroughly good education for the daughters of officers and clergymen, but to send them forth into the world in a useful capacity; and I think you will agree with me that in the capacity of well-qualified governesses they go forth in the most useful manner. In the days when it was first instituted so much attention was not given to education as in our time, and you can therefore easily understand that as more highly efficient education is needed now for these young ladies there is a proportionate increase of expense. Like many other institutions, its expenditure has been greater than its receipts, and, as a consequence, it has been found necessary to somewhat alter its rules by admitting a certain number of paying students as boarders, and also by establishing day classes for the daughters of gentlemen. In order to fit the institution for this new sphere of operations it has been necessary to enlarge the building, and though, no doubt, the effect of this arrangement will be to increase receipts, the enlargement of the building has naturally entailed great cost, and in order to meet that charge I have to call upon you, gentlemen, to do all you can, by a most liberal contribution to-night, to enable the committee to meet their pecuniary difficulties. The best proof you can give me of the real interest you take in the welfare of this excellent institution will be to subscribe as handsomely as it is in your power to do. I am informed that a distinguished naval officer is acting as steward here to-night in gratitude for the benefit his daughters have derived in their education from a governess who was brought up at the Princess Helena College. I have mentioned before that the Queen is its patron. Her Majesty subscribes £50 a year to its funds, and on this special occasion she presents 100 guineas. The interest taken by my sister, the Princess, in its welfare is sufficiently proved by the fact that she is President of the Council of the College, and I have great pleasure in stating to you that it is by her express wish and recommendation that I am here to-night. I will, in conclusion, again ask you to let me feel by the liberality of your contributions that I have not failed in my duty as your Chairman."
The Secretary then read a list of donations and subscriptions, which, including those from the Queen and 100 guineas from the Prince of Wales, amounted to over £2060.
The College still flourishes at Ealing, a populous district, where day boarders are also admitted to the classes of the institution.
NEW HARBOUR AT HOLYHEAD.
June 17th, 1880.
To possess the best possible packet service between England and Ireland is a matter of national importance. In the old days of sailing ships the perils and uncertainties of the passage across the Channel were notorious. When steamships carried mails and passengers, and when the bridging of the Menai Straits for railway traffic had been achieved, it was necessary to provide improved harbour accommodation, and other works, both for convenience and safety, at Holyhead. These works included a spacious harbour, and a breakwater securing the additional space of a sheltered roadstead. The length of the North Breakwater is nearly 8000 feet. The harbour and deep-water sheltered roadstead are together between six and seven hundred acres in extent. It took twenty-five years to carry out the design, at a cost of about £1,500,000. This outlay included the works and buildings for Government use in the postal service. The engineer-in-chief was Mr. James Rennel, and on his death, in 1856, Mr. afterwards Sir John Hawkshaw.
To celebrate the completion of the works, the Prince of Wales visited Holyhead on the 19th of August, 1873, when he declared the Breakwater complete and the Harbour of Refuge open. The Duke of Edinburgh, Master of the Trinity House, Sir Frederick Arrow, Deputy Master, and many distinguished representatives of various departments of the public service assisted at the ceremony. Near the Lighthouse a gun-metal plate records the fact that the Breakwater, "commenced in 1845, was on August 19th, 1873, declared complete, by Albert Edward, Prince of Wales," in whose public life the proceedings of the day form a memorable event.
But there was yet much to be done for the Anglo-Irish route, viâ Holyhead. The communication had so increased that the North Western Railway Company found enlarged harbour accommodation a necessity for the benefit of their own traffic.