We do not know what the circumstances were but on May 2nd 1877 Harriet Forrester and her son Hugh Grant Forrester ended up in Brownlow Hill workhouse. On May 18th Hugh was separated from his mum and sent to Kirkdale Industrial School. Harriet came out the workhouse on 11th of September of the same year but Hugh remained at Kirkdale until the 14th of February 1883 (he was then 10) when he was then discharged into service, probably to help his mother at home. For more information read Kenny Marshall’s “Grandad and his roots”.
In 1857 the Industrial Schools Act was passed with the intention of resolving the problems of large numbers of juvenile delinquents roaming the streets of Liverpool at the time. As a result it was decided that the old Industrial school in Kirkdale that had been built earlier in 1843 would be extended with a new building that was completed in 1868. Accommodation was then increased from 1250 to 1900. Hugh may have considered himself lucky to live in a relatively new building. In 1906 this Industrial school was closed and became “Kirkdale homes for the aged and infirm”. This in turn was later demolished.
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