Girls' Home, Bath Row, established in 1851, to provide shelter for young women of good character, when out of situations. A free registry is kept, and over 300 girls avail themselves of the Home every year.
Girls' Training Institution, George Road, Edgbaston, was opened in 1862, to prepare young girls from twelve to fifteen, for domestic service.
Industrial and Reformatory Schools.—Gem Street Industrial School, for the recovery of boys who had began a life of crime, was opened in 1850, and at the close of 1883 it contained 149 boys, under the charge of nine officers.
According to the report of Her Majesty's Inspector, the boys cost 7s. 8d. per head per week, but there was an industrial profit of £601 11s. 4d., £309 0s. 11d. having been received for hire of boys' labour. The Treasury paid £1,350 14s., the rates no less than £1,007 18s. 11d., and subscriptions brought in £83 13s. Of 125 discharges, only 40 per cent, were reported to be doing well, 4 per cent, convicted, 16 per cent, doubtful, and as many as 40 per cent, unknown.—Penn Street School, an establishment of a similar character, was certified in Jan., 1863. There were 60 boys and 5 officers. The boys cost only 5s. 6d. per head per week. The school received £67 16s. 11d. from the Treasury, £275 0s. 10d. from the rates, £93 2s. from subscriptions, and £100 9s. 3d. from the hire of boy labour. There is an industrial profit of £136 19s, 11d. Of 37 discharges 70 per cent, are said to be doing well, 6 per cent, to be re-convicted, 3 per cent, dead, and 21 per cent, unknown.—At Shustoke School, certified in February, 1868, there were 130 boys, under 11 officers. The boys cost 6s. 8d. per head per week. £1,580 17s. 11d. had been received from the Treasury; £1,741 16s. from the rates, of which, however, £1,100 had been spent in building, &c.; industrial profit, £109 3s. 7d. Of 27 discharges 74 per cent, were reported to be doing well, 18 per cent, to be convicted, 4 per cent, to be doubtful, and 4 per cent, to be unknown.—Saltley Reformatory was established in 1852. There were 91 boys under detention and 16 on license at the time of the inspector's visit; 9 officers. This school received £1,371 14s. 3d. from the Treasury, £254 19s. 1d. from the rates, and £99 16s. 6d. from subscriptions. The boys cost 6s 8d. per head per week, and there was £117 9s. 10d. industrial profit, representing the produce of their labour. Of 74 boys discharged in 1879-81, 69 per cent are reported to be doing well, 19 per cent. to be reconvicted, and 12 per cent. unknown.— At Stoke Farm Reformatory, established in 1853, there were 78 boys under detention, in charge of 10 officers; and 19 on license. Stoke received £1,182 19s. 8d. from the Treasury, £102 17s. 6d. from the rates, and £100 from subscriptions. The boys cost 6s. 11d. per head per week, and there was an industrial profit of £18 14s. 11d. Of 62 boys discharged in 1879-81, 76 per cent, were reported to be doing well, 16 per cent. to be convicted of crime, 5 per cent. doubtful, 11/2 per cent. dead, 11/2 per cent. unknown.
Licensed Victuallers' Asylum, Bristol Road, founded in 1848, to receive and maintain for life distressed members of the trade and their wives or widows.—The Secretary is Mr. H.C. Edwards, The Quadrant, New Street.—See. "[Trade Societies]."
Little Sisters' Home.—Founded in 1864, by three French and two English members of the Catholic "Order of Little Sisters of the Poor," the first home being at one of the large houses in the Crescent, where they sheltered, fed, and clothed about 80 aged or broken-down men and women. In 1874 the Sisters removed to their present establishment, at Harborne, where they minister to nearly double the number. The whole of this large family are provided for out of the scraps and odds-and-ends gathered by the Sisters from private houses, shops, hotels, restaurants, and bars of the town, the smallest scraps of material crusts of bread, remains of meat, even to cigar ends, all being acceptable to the black robed ladies of charity daily seen in the town on their errand of mercy. Though essentially a Catholic institution, the "Little Sisters" bestow their charity irrespective of creed, Protestants being admitted and allowed freely to follow their own religious notions, the only preference made being in favour of the most aged and destitute.
Magdalen Asylum and Refuge.—First established in 1828, the chapel in Broad Street being opened in 1839. Removed to Clarendon Road, Edgbaston, in 1860. There are usually from 35 to 40 inmates, whose labour provides for great part of the yearly expenditure; and it is well that it is so, for the subscriptions and donations from the public are not sent in so freely as could be wished. The treasurer is Mr. S.S. Lloyd.
Medical Mission.—Opened in Floodgate Street, Deritend, in 1875. While resembling other medical charities for the relief of bodily sickness, this mission has for its chief aim the teaching of the Gospel to the sick poor, and in every house that may be visited. That the more worldly part of the mission is not neglected is shown by the fact that the expenditure for the year ending Michaelmas, 1883, reached £643.
Night Refuges.—Mr. A.V. Fordyce, in July, 1880, opened a night asylum in Princess Road, for the shelter of homeless and destitute boys, who were supplied with bed and breakfast. The necessity for such an institution was soon made apparent by larger premises being required, and the old police station, corner of Bradford Street and Alcester Street, was taken. This has been turned into a "Home," and it is never short of occupants, other premises being opened in 1883, close to Deritend Bridge, for the casual night-birds, the most promising of whom are transferred to the Home after a few days' testing. A somewhat similar Refuge for Girls has also been established, and if properly supported by the public, these institutions must result in much good.
Nurses.—Tim Birmingham and Midland Counties' Training Institution for Nurses, organised in 1868, has its "Home" in the Crescent. It was founded for the purpose of bringing skilled nursing to the homes of those who would otherwise be unable to obtain intelligent aid in carrying out the instructions of their medical attendants. The subscription list for 1882 amounted to £282 1s., and the sum to the credit of the nurses pension fund to £525 1s. The committee earnestly appeal for increased support, to enable them to extend the work of the institution, from which at present the services of four nurses are granted to the District Nursing Society, Newhall Street, for attendance on the sick poor. The staff included 66 trained nurses, with 18 probationers, the latter passing for their training through the General, Children's, and Homoeopathic Hospitals. The nurses from the "Home" attend on an average over 500 families in the year, those from the District Society conferring their services on nearly 200 other families.