The Belfast Charitable Society has been based at Clifton House since it opened in 1774. The Society has long played an historic role in the development of Belfast and the welfare of its people. The Society was founded by a group of leading industrialists and philanthropists in 1752 to build a Poor House and Infirmary for the most vulnerable citizens of Belfast.
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Some of the first recorded minutes of the Society noted that: “a poor-house and hospital are greatly wanted in Belfast for the support of vast numbers of real objects of charity in this parish, for the employment of idle beggars who crowd to it from all parts of the North, and for the reception of infirm and diseased poor.” The Belfast Charitable Society was responsible for the foundation of social welfare, the supply of clean water, Belfast’s first hospital, the beginnings of a police service, funeral services and a municipal burial ground all began with the launch of the Society. The Belfast Charitable Society celebrated its 260th anniversary in 2012 and remains an important influence in Belfast.
The Society has been associated with many notable families and individuals in Belfast including Mary Ann McCracken and William Drennan
Founders
Henry Joy was a member of the printing family who founded the Belfast Newsletter. Henry Joy became one of the most diligent fundraisers for the Charitable Society and was appointed as one of three ‘key-carriers’ entrusted with safe guarding the lottery money raised to build the Poor House Robert Joy Brother of Henry Joy, Robert founded the 1st Belfast Volunteer Company in 1778. The Volunteers were initially set up for the defence of Belfast against possible invasion from French or American forces but it was from this organised military group that the radical Volunteer Movement sprang. It was Robert Joy who researched the building of the Poor House, produced the drawings and supervised the building, leading to a complete amateur designing Clifton House.
Valentine Jones was a merchant with West Indian interests – Belfast’s trade with the West Indies was more important than its trade with continental Europe. He was at the Society’s inaugural meeting in August 1752. The Valentine Jones dynasty, which had premises at Winecellar Entry off High Street, Belfast, were wine merchants and rum and sugar importers who had established a thriving agency in Barbados where they bought goods from the planters and also sold goods to them.
Thomas McCabe (United Irishmen) was a prominent protestant businessman with a goldsmith and watch –making business. He prospered in business and bought a small estate called Vicinage behind the Poorhouse, where St.Malachy’s College now stands. On one occasion in 1786 in the Assembly Rooms he was asked to join in a scheme to float a slave ship company, but he refused. Thomas was also a member of the United Irishmen. His shop in North Street was repeatedly attacked by government troops because of his involvement with the United Irishmen.
John Holmes was a founding member of the Belfast Bank. Known as the ‘Bank of the Four Johns’, it soon was doing decent business in the town. Indeed, such was the extent of their success that other merchants in the town set up a rival partnership. Holmes was sent by the Society to London to negotiate with Lord Donegall for rights to water for the Poor House and to discover whether elm, lead or iron pipes would be best to use in Belfast’s new water system.
Dr Robert Stevenson was called on to set broken legs, treat cancers and in 1777 he carried out the first anti-smallpox injections. Not only did he carry out the first vaccine injections for the disease but the Poor House requested for him to ‘do the needful in this matter’ and treat the children of the Poor House. Five years on from his initial Smallpox vaccination work, Dr William Drennan brought forward a scheme of inoculation for the Poor House. When Dr Stevenson died he left £1,000 to the Belfast Charitable Society and was buried in the New Burying Ground at Clifton Street Cemetery.
Waddell Cunningham was the founding president of the Belfast Chamber of Commerce and first president of the Harbour Board. Reputedly the richest man in Belfast, he attempted to establish a slave trading company in Belfast in 1786. The “Belfast Slaveship Company” was opposed strongly by Thomas McCabe, another founding member.
Present
Today the Belfast Charitable Society continues to promote, protect and enhance the philanthropic heritage of the Society through the direct intervention and collaborative working for the benefit of the community. The Society's vision is to be the recognised leader in the provision of progressive, relevant and philanthropic charity throughout Belfast and beyond, whilst preserving and promoting the built heritage and history associated with the institution.