The late 19th century was a time of social deprivation andgreat hardship for many children. The Reverend GeorgeStaite summed up the inhumanity of the era in a letter tothe Liverpool Mercury in 1881: “…whilst we have aSociety for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, can wenot do something to prevent cruelty to children?”However, social attitudes made a very clear distinctionbetween the public and private lives of Victorians. Eventhe famous reformer Lord Shaftesbury said to Staite: “Theevils you state are enormous and indisputable, but theyare of so private, internal and domestic a nature as to bebeyond the reach of legislation.”Liverpool banker, Thomas Agnew, on a trip to New York in1881, visited the New York Society for the Prevention ofCruelty to Children. He was so impressed by the charity,that on his return he set up a similar venture in Liverpoolin 1883, the LiverpoolSociety for the Prevention ofCruelty to Children.Following the creation of the Liverpool Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children

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