| Description | Election list (printed) of candidates for places at the Merchant Seamen's Orphan Asylum, Bow Road, for the Board, Clothing, and Education of the Children of Merchant Seamen, Deceased; election to be held at the "London Tavern", Bishopsgate Street, 31 Aug 1846. The list includes the names and brief biographical notes of five girls and thirteen boys of which a total of twelve are from East London. The list is addressed in manuscript to the Rt. Hon. Earl Haddington, former first Lord of the Admiralty, 43 Berkeley Square. He was entitled to 36 votes but the ballot paper is unused. |
| AdminHistory | The Asylum was founded in 1827 and run jointly by the Port of London, and the Bethel Union, an umbrella evangelical group. It aspired 'to provide a home for the destitute offspring of British Merchant Seamen...rescuing them from poverty; wretchedness and vice when...calamity at sea had deprived them of their chief support' (1). Their fathers represented 'a class of men to whom this country is so much indebted for the political, social, and commercial position which it occupies among surrounding nations' (2).
The institution flourished for many years from premises in Bow Road. In 1848 and on the occasion of the building's twenty first anniversary, the charity opened its doors to 'subscribers and their friends' (3). It reaffirmed its mission 'to implant in their minds the principles of religion and morality' (4), in the hope that 'the prospect of an honest livelihood may be secured'. (5)
With the lease on Bow Road about to expire, new premises were built on a site in Snaresbrook, partly financed by donations from ship owners, and opened in 1862. The site included dormitories; facilities for schooling; recreation and an infirmary. Owing to financial and structural problems, the institution was relocated to Wokingham in the 1920s. The Depression caused a decline in income and numbers seeking admission and thus, the election process was no longer necessary. From 1935, the institution admitted fee paying boarders, often the offspring of naval personnel serving abroad, and charitably funded 'Foundationers'.
More recently, the charity has evolved into the Royal Merchant Navy Education Foundation, and works alongside other maritime charities (6).
Sources of information:
1/2/. 'Merchant Seamen's Orphan Asylum': p.4 in Morning Advertiser, Thursday, 31st August 1842
3/4/5. 'Merchant Seamen's Orphan Asylum': p.3 in London Evening News, Saturday, 16th September 1848
6. D/EX2363 Royal Merchant Navy Education Foundation (Merchant Seamen's Orphan Asylum) 1827-2017 (Berkshire Record Office) |