Josiah Mason Orphanage

Erected on part of the Charity estates, at a short distance from the Chester Road, is of brick with dressings of Tower Hill and Derbyshire and Shrewsbury stone, in the Italian style, from designs by Mr. J.R. Botham, architect, of Birmingham. There are two towers, one 150 feet high serving as a ventilation shaft for the entire building. The other containing a clock which strikes the hours upon a bell of 25cwt and Cambridge chimes on 4 bells, and cost £600.

The foundation stone of the Orphanage was laid by Sir Josiah Mason himself privately, 19 Sept 1860 and the building was finished and first occupied in 1868. In addition to an expenditure of £60,000 on the building, the founder endowed the institutions with land and building estates of the estimated value of £200,000. No publicity was given to this munificent gift until the twelve months prescribed by the statute had elapsed after the date of the deed, when, on the 29th of July 1869 the Institution and the estates were handed over to seven trustees, who, together with the founder composed the Board of Management; on his death in 1881, the trustees were increased by the appointment of seven others by the Town Council of Birmingham.

The inmates of the orphanage are to be "lodged, clothed, fed, maintained, educated" and brought up at the exclusive cost of the orphanage income. The education is elementary including reading, writing, arithmetic, geography and history; the girls are also instructed in household and domestic duties. The religious education is unsectarian. There is no restriction whatever as to locality, nationality or religious belief, but candidates for admission must be strictly orphans ie The legitimate children of parents who are both dead.

In 1874 an additional and separate wing was built, consisting of dormitories and a school room for 120 boys, connected with the main building by a large dining hall, capable of holding 500 inmates. The Institution is now available for 200 girls, 120 boys and 30 infants, all of whom meet together for meals and prayers.

The rules permit the admission of boys from seven to ten years old, who leave at fourteen, and of girls from four to ten years old, who leave at fifteen. Certificates are required of the marriage and death of the parents, and of the birth of the child. Admissions are made by the trustees at quarterly meetings held in January, April, July and October in each year; application for admission must be made on a form supplied by the secretary on application, from whom also any further information may be obtained. All letters are to be addressed, "The Secretary, Sir Josiah Mason's Orphanage, Erdington, Birmingham".

There is a mortuary chapel in the grounds, in which the remains of Sir Josiah Mason and his wife are interred; he died at his residence, Norwood House, Erdington, 16th June 1881.

The reading public have been lately informed far and wide of a munificent act of thoughtful charity on the part of Mr. Josiah Mason of Birmingham, an act involving the appropriation of as large a sum of money as that devoted by Mr. Peabody to the improvement (more of less) of the condition of the poor of London: that this was determined on and commenced two years before the American philanthropist announced his first donation; that the two donors were born within a few days of each other, commenced life in the humblest manner, and were the builders of their own great fortunes.
It seems that as far back as 1858 Mr. Mason established in the village of Erdington, about four miles from Birmingham, an Orphanage for the reception of 30, and afterwards 50 children, and this institution he maintained entirely at his own cost. Desiring to engage in some large work of charity, he resolved in the first place to extend the Orphanage on its original site. By degrees, however, this plan was expanded, and Mr. Mason determined to erect a new Orphanage in another part of Erdington for the reception of 300 children, two-thirds of these being girls and one-third boys.

The new building in Bell Lane, Erdington, was commenced in 1860. Owing, however to the endowment consisting of land, it was necessary that, in order to validate the gift, the donor should live 12 months after the deed had been registered, and therefore, no public announcement was made in reference to the charity. The statutory period expired in July, and then without ceremony, Mr. Mason handed his munificent gift of £260,000 to the appointed trustees, thus divesting himself of all control over the property, and devoting it formally to public uses.

The trust consists at present of seven gentlemen, residents in or near Birmingham. At the death of Mr. Mason the number of trustees is to be raised to fourteen, of whom one half are to be elected by the town council of Birmingham. The trustees are always to be laymen and Protestants. The endowments consist in total of 1,032 acres, of which 220 acres are in Erdington, the remainder being in other parts of Warwickshire and Worcestershire. About 2.5 acres consists of building land in the centre of Birmingham. The rental values of the Orphanage estate are said to be of £10,000 a year even now, with a prospect of doubling in a few years.

Source:
The Builder 1869 Vol XXVII 18th September 1869 p.744
Submitted by Alan Longbottom.