Mary Ann McCracken, the Ladies’ Committee and the Belfast Poorhouse, 1827-1851

The Belfast Charitable Society, founded in 1752, remains the most enduring charitable organisation in Belfast to have provided relief to the poor and its poorhouse – now Clifton House – was established in 1774 for this purpose. The Ladies’ Committee was responsible for caring for the girls and women who resided within the institution as well as the girls who were apprenticed in the surrounding town. It consisted of fifty-six middle-class women, and was led by the formidable radical and philanthropist Mary Ann McCracken (1770-1866). Lauren Smyth, a historian at Clifton House, will use the organisation’s records to examine the ways in which Mary Ann McCracken and the Ladies’ Committee improved childcare within the poorhouse as well as the challenges they experienced. This talk is part of a programme of activities to mark the 250^th anniversary of Clifton House.