UCL BLOOMSBURY PROJECT

History

It was opened in January 1891 by the Salvation Army as a hostel for ex-prisoners (The Times, 30 January 1891)

Its manager at the time of the 1891 census was Salvation Army Captain Thomas Hopkins, who lived there with his wife and son, a servant, three Salvation Army boarders, and thirty-five inmates

Its premises in Argyle Street had supposedly “formerly comprised a large store and chapel-at-ease. It consists of dormitory, dining-halls, workshop, library, etc, etc” (‘Our Prison-Gate Work,’ All the World: A Monthly Record of the Work of the Salvation Army in All Lands, December 1891)

In 1893 it was said to have 50 inmates, and to be in need of more space; the inmates were working at such things as wood-chopping and shoe-making (‘My Social Wing Tour,’ All the World: A Monthly Record of the Work of the Salvation Army in All Lands, August 1893)

It was also receiving letters from men still in prison, asking to be met (‘My Social Wing Tour,’ All the World: A Monthly Record of the Work of the Salvation Army in All Lands, August 1893); its name came from the original policy of Salvation Army officers waiting outside prisons to meet ex-prisoners as they left (‘Our Prison-Gate Work,’ All the World: A Monthly Record of the Work of the Salvation Army in All Lands, December 1891)

In 1894 the Salvation Army’s Colonel Barker and Major Lamb gave evidence to the Departmental Committee on Prisons about the Home, which they said had taken in 1197 former prisoners since 1891 (Minutes of Evidence Taken by the Departmental Committee on Prisons, with Appendices and Index, 1895)

By the time of the 1901 census it had expanded even more; now run by William Ayers and his wife Theresa, it held a staggering 84 boarders

It no longer exists