NSPCC

The information in this section is an edited version taken from Llanelli - Birth of a Town a CdRom by William and Benita Rees

A Short History of the NSPCC

The Victorian era was noted for its economic successes but life was extremely harsh for a large number of children. Social deprivation and brutal attitudes meant that many children experienced cruelty and neglect at the hand of desperate or uncaring parents and guardians. Very often children were forced to work long exhausting hours, in factories, cotton mills, mines or the many industrial enterprises associated with the Industrial Revolution. Many others had to beg in the streets often starving or in need of medical attention. The only option for many young girls was prostitution and what more or less amounted to slavery.

As a young man, the Revd Benjamin Waugh worked as a Congregational minister in the slums of east London and every day he witnessed the cruelty and deprivation experienced by large numbers of children. This was a time when abuse of children, unlike cruelty to animals, was not a criminal offence.

1841 The Revd George Staite, vicar of Ashton-Hayes in Cheshire, summed up the inhumanity of the situation in a letter to the Liverpool Mercury in 1881 which included the following: “ . . . whilst we have a Society for the Prevention of cruelty to animals, can we not do something to prevent cruelty to children?”

This was a time when parental power was absolute and the belief in it so strong that the famous reformer, Lord Salisbury, advised the Revd Staite that: “The evils you state are enormous and indisputable, but they are of so private, internal and domestic a nature as to be beyond the reach of legislation and the subject, indeed, would not, I think, be entertained in either House of Parliament.”

1884 Waugh worked tirelessly to help such children and campaigned vigorously to draw public and Government attention to their sufferings. In 1884 he helped to set up the London Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children as the first national charity dedicated to child protection and was appointed joint Honorary Secretary. News of his pioneering work spread rapidly.

1889 In 1889, the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children was founded with the Revd Benjamin Waugh as Director and Queen Victoria as Royal Patron. In 1889 the NSPCC employed 29 Inspectors, who in that year alone dealt with 3,937 cases of child abuse and neglect. The first Prevention of Cruelty to Children Act (1889) was largely the result of five year’s lobbying by Benjamin Waugh and his supporters.

1891 Although the April 1891 edition of the official NSPCC journal The Child’s Guardian, announced that a public meeting had been held at Swansea to form a branch of the NSPCC, it seems that this branch did not meet with much success in its early days

1894 Nationally, by 1894, the NSPCC was able to help bring about the Prevention of Cruelty to Children Act, which allowed children to give evidence in court and recognised mental cruelty. The NSPCC was funded by local voluntary fundraising. and the need for their services was great.

1896 The Swansea & District Branch that had got off to a shaky start was actually inaugurated in May 1896 and investigated cases throughout Glamorganshire, Cardiganshire, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire.

1900 By 1900 the number of Inspectors had increased to 163.

1902 During 1902 the Carmarthen Llanelly (sic) and District Branch of the NSPCC was established and it included all of Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire and part of Cardiganshire.

1904 Parliament had granted Society Inspectors the power to take children from abusive or neglectful homes.

1905 By 1905 the NSPCC had helped over 1 million children.

Societies

1939 By 1939 the NSPCC had helped five million children.

1940 On 27 February 1940, The Llanelly (sic) & District Branch was formed at a public meeting in the Brodie Hall of the YMCA building Stepney Street. Besides Llanelli, the new branch included Ammanford, Cross Hands, Hendy Llandybie, Llwynhendy, Pembrey, Penygroes, Pontyberem and Tumble.

The Llanelly & District Branch continued to be served by the Inspector based in the remaining Carmarthen & District Branch.

1941 In May of 1941, a local office was established at Room 14, Top Flat, Lucania Buildings, Stepney Street. In the 15 months to the end of May 1941, 115 cases were investigated in the Branch, concerning the welfare of 228 children and to support their work the Llanelli & District Branch raised £342 8s 10d.

1945 In the second half of 1945 the Llanelli & District Branch gained its own Inspector who was independent of Carmarthen and he was based at a new local office at Penybryn, 64 Felinfoel Road, Llanelli.

1948 Following the State Welfare reforms of 1948 the Society continued to grow alongside the local government children’s services. Female Visitors were introduced to help to meet the growing demand for family support services.

1965-1966 The local office moved from Penybryn, 44 Glenalla Road.

1971 From 1 July 1971 inspectors were organised into local Groups. Llanelli came within the Swansea and West Wales Group, which was centred on a Group Office at Room 7, 2nd Floor, Powell Duffryn House, Adelaide Street, Swansea. This became known as the West Wales Group from 1975-1976.

1986-1987 During 1986-1987, group working by Branch Inspectors was replaced by the South West Wales Child Protect Team at Swansea and styled the Swansea and South West Wales Child Protection Team.

Many thanks to the Practice Learning Manager, NSPCC, Cardiff, for providing information.