'Found on the streets without friends': Belfast Charitable Society and child welfare in early-nineteenth-century Belfast

In 1774, the poorhouse was constructed; its declared purpose was caring for the infirm and diseased poor of the growing town of Belfast. Although the organisation had not originally planned for the admission of children, its role in this regard began in 1775, when it permitted two children to stay in the poorhouse with their mothers.

Today, the institution continues to engage in philanthropy and share its history with the wider public at its heritage centre called Clifton House. This thesis focuses on the pauper children who inhabited the Belfast poorhouse between 1800-1851. It will take the early history of the Belfast Charitable Society as a lens through which to explore the role of charitable organisations in the early nineteenth century Irish town.