Belfast Charitable Society

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.

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

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.

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Wikipedia