Huddersfield and District Deaf and Dumb Institution

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Initially known as the Huddersfield and District Deaf and Dumb Association, it was the predecessor of the present-day Huddersfield Deaf Centre situated at 53a Trinity Street since 1987.

History

According to his obituary, the association was founded by Francis Fryer Abbey in the 1870s, and was a local branch of the Yorkshire Association.

At a meeting held in 1881, it was reported that the objectives were:

  1. to continue the secular and religious education of adult deaf and dumb among the poorer classes after they leave school
  2. to find useful employment for such persons
  3. to visit the deaf and dumb at their homes during sickness, and to encourage them to cultivate habits of sobriety, frugality, and domestic piety
  4. to encourage the adult deaf and dumb to employ their leisure hours in self improvement

In 1884, it was reported that the association only took "£30 a year out of the public pocket" but was supporting "some sixty deaf and dumb persons with a central clubroom."[1]

Following his death in January 1915, Francis Fryer Abbey's funeral procession commenced from the institute, then situated at 30 Ramsden Street, to the cemetery at Birchencliffe.[2]

Notes and References

  1. "Scraps and Hints" in Huddersfield Chronicle (29/Apr/1884).
  2. "The Late Mr. F. F. Abbey" in Huddersfield Daily Examiner (19/Jan/1915).