Huddersfield and District Deaf and Dumb Institution
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:
- to continue the secular and religious education of adult deaf and dumb among the poorer classes after they leave school
- to find useful employment for such persons
- to visit the deaf and dumb at their homes during sickness, and to encourage them to cultivate habits of sobriety, frugality, and domestic piety
- 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]