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
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