"As the city of Liverpool is largely dependent upon the sea for its commercial prosperity and greatness the profession of seafaring - the life of a sailor that is - has for more than a century had particular interest for residents in Liverpool. The knowkedge of how greatly the town was indebted to sailors who belonged to it, or who came to it from other ports, and of how unsuspecting and good-natured seamen were likely to become victims to the wiles of the evil disposed, led to the founding of the valuable and popular institution known as the Liverpool Sailors' Home.

This institution, which stands on the east side of Canning Place, had its origins in a movement which began about the year 1838, the objects of which were to found a Sailors' Home, Registry and Savings Bank for the increasing number of seamen who were frequenting the Port of Liverpool through the growth of the shipping trade of the Port.

In February 1845, the first practical step was taken, rooms being secured in Stanley Buildings, Bath Street, and being opened as a Seamen's Savings Bank, an Office for the Shipping and Discharging of Crews, and as a Sailors' Registry. On the 28^th of the same month the late Queen Victoria consented to become patron of the Liverpool Sailors' Home.

As set forth in the official statement of the objects and laws, the immediate objects of the Institution are: "To provide for seamen frequenting the Port of Liverpool, board, lodging, and medical attendance at a moderate charge; to protect them from imposition and extortion, and to encourage them to husband their hard-earned wages; to promote their moral, intellectual and professional inprovement and to afford them the opportunity of receiving religious instruction."

The cost of the building, exclusive of land, was £30,000. The architect for the building was Mr John Cunningham. The style of the exterior is Elizabethan, with features suggesting the business of the sailor. The internal arrangements were based on a plan of "flats" and cabins, there being a main hall the full height of the building, with a glazed roof in the centre, and the flats, each with its complement of cabins, lavatories and offices, being on the upper floors at the sides and round the main hall. Each of the flats was so arranged that its main passage lay along the border of the central hall, the side of the passage bordering the hall being protected by an ornamental rail, each flat, by this arrangement being open to the central hall and receiving light from the glazed roof. In the first complete year through which the Sailors' Home was open, the year 1853, 1,822 seamen and 410 apprentices boarded at the institution, 192 of them residing in it at least twice in the same year; the savings bank was largely used by the seamen, a balance of £3,079 being in hand on 31 December 1853. During the year, also, a total sum of £10,364 passed through the habnds of the cashier, to be remittes to the friends of seamen or otherwised dealt woth at their request, the said sum being in addition to the money placed in the savings bank.

On the evening of 29 April 1860, through the carelessness of a seaman, fire was caused, and the interior of the building was practically destroyed. The restored building was of more modern construction and arrangement internally than the building had been originally. The plan of having a central main hall, extending from the ground floor to a glazed roof, with flats and rows of cabins round the hall, was adhered to. The Institution has continued to be largely used by seamen as a home when in the Port of Liverpool, as a shipping office and registry, and a savings bank and an agency for remitting money to relatives. A library was furnished in the first building and was restored in the new building after the fire. Reading rooms, well supplied with newspapers and magazines, have been maintained from the first. Bagatelle boards, draught boards etc were provided and have been in hourly use. In 1881 a clothing store was opened in the building, at which seamen could supply themselves with articles urgently wanted. In 1882 a refreshment bar was introduced, and in the following year a billiarf room was opened.

With respect to the work in the interests of seamen done in connection with the Liverpool Sailors' Home, it may be recorded that outdoor officers of the institution meet all incoming vessels and bring any seamen to the Home who may wish to stay at it. Another officer devotes his time to ascertaining what berths will be available, and to assisting seamen to obtain berths. Seamen who enter the Home are advised to deposit their money with the cashier, and to draw upon their accounts as required. On leaving to go to sea, borders frequently deposit their advance notes or allotment notes with the officials, to be collected and for the amounts to be remitted to wives, parents and other relatives. A valuable feature of the work is the receiving of shipwrecked seamen, or of seamen sent home by English Consuls abroad on account of illness. The doors of the Institution are ever open to such, and, with the aid of the Shipwrecked Mariners' Society, seamen so received are, if necessary, enabled to proceed home, the travelling cost being defrayed by the society. Mr Marsden Hanmer, the Manager and Secretary of the Sailors' Home, acts also as the honorary agent of the Shipwrecked Mariners' Society in Liverpool.

Last year (1902) the number of seamen who boarded at the Home was 7,245. The sum deposited with the cashier was £31,073 13s 3d. The number of shipwrecked seamen received was 281, and 101 seamen were admitted who were sent to Liverpool by HM Consuls abroad on account of sickness.

The Home is under the control of a Committee, the members of which are, or have been, connected with old and influential shipping companies or mercantile firms in the city of Liverpool, the present Chairman being Mr W McC Nicholson. Among the shipping and mercantile houses of the city the Home has many warm and generous friends, who show their interest in it in various ways. Primarily, interest centres in the seamen who frequent the Port, by whose calling and exertions the great fabric of Liverpool's commercial interests is still being enlarged and made more valuable. As the Sailors' Home is in a very full and especial sense the Sailors' Institution, there is the desire to support it, to see it retains its wide popularity, and to prosper."

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