Description

Admin History:

Hull Sailors' Home Society was established in 1856 to establish a genuine sailors' home where seamen could stay comfortably in clean and healthy surroundings rather than being exploited by unscrupulous landlords. In June 1859 they succeeeded in purchasing premises in Salthouse Lane from the Governors of the Bank of England. In 1903 the home was closed for extensive alterations from July 1903 to Feb 1904 when the entrance was changed from Salthouse Lane to the new Alfred Gelder Street Electric lighting and bathrooms were also installed. In 1919 a scheme was drawn up for the reconstruction of the Salthouse Lane home and it was proposed that the Hull Sailors' Home Society amalgamate with the Mariners' Church and Sailors' Rest Society, Posterngate. This idea was dropped but eventually, in November 1943, the Sailors' Home together with all of its assets, were handed over to the organisation known as the Missions to Seamen. The Sailors' Home on Salthouse Lane/Alfred Gelder Street then became known as the Missions to Seamen Hostel under the flag of the 'Flying Angel.'

The Mission to Seafarers is a society of the Anglican church which cares for the spiritual and practical welfare of all seafarers regardless of nationality or faith. It was founded by an Anglican clergyman by the name of John Ashley who was holidaying near the Bristol Channel in 1835, who discovered that no one ministered to the men aboard ships. He appointed himself the chaplain to these seafarers and established the Bristol Mission in 1837, thus becoming the founder of the Mission to Seamen. Over the next fifteen years Rev. John Ashley visited over 14,000 ships at sea and sold over 5,000 Bibles and prayer books to British seamen. It was on February 28 1856 that the Mission to Seamen was officially founded, followed by a constitution two years later, stating the society's main goal to be "the spiritual welfare of seafaring classes at home and abroad." The society's flag was also designed at this time, and is based on a verse from the Book of Revelation:- "Then I saw another angel flying high overhead, sent to announce the good news of eternity to all who live on earth, every nation, race, language and tribe."

The centenary of the Mission to Seamen was celebrated in 1956, by which time there were centres in 81 ports. The year 2000 saw the Mission to Seamen become the Mission to Seafarers, which encompasses all who earn a living at sea, regardless of gender, nationality, or rank. There are currently full time chaplians and/or centres in over 100 ports worldwide, and represented in some 200 others by honorary chaplains. The society still faces numerous challenges. Even though the shipping industry has dramatically changed over the years, many of the problems seafarers faced during the early years of the mission's establishment still exist today, such as stranded crews, safety issues, living conditions, isolation, and lost lives in shipping casualties.

Description:

Includes Hull Mariners' Church and Sailors' Rest Society Records 1796-1977, Hull Sailors' Home Society Records 1858-1943, and Hull Mission to Seafarers/Seamen Records 1913-2002