The New Orphan Houses, Ashley Down, commonly known as the Muller Homes, were an orphanage in the district of Ashley Down, in the north of Bristol. They were built between 1849 and 1870 by the Prussian evangelist George Müller to show the world that God not only heard, but answered, prayers. The five Houses held 2,050 children at any one time and some 17,000 passed through their doors before the buildings were sold to Bristol City Council in 1958.
Background
The work of George Müller and his wife with orphans began in 1836 with the preparation of their own home at 6 Wilson Street, Bristol for the accommodation of thirty girls. At that time, there were very few orphanages in the country - there was accommodation for only 3,600 orphans in England. Orphans tended to go to "homes for foundlings" or the workhouses,Garton, p 188 which were akin to slave labour. In his Annual Report for 1861, Müller informs that there is still "entirely inadequate accommodation" in the UK and that admission was by votes for most of the available homes. This, he said, made it "difficult, if not impossible, for the poorest and most destitute of persons, to avail themselves of them. ... .. Thousands of votes, sometimes even many thousands, are required, in order that the candidate should be successful. But the really poor and destitute have neither time, nor money, nor ability, nor influence, to set about canvassing for votes; and therefore, with rare exceptions, they derive no benefit from such Institutions".Annual Report 1861 pp 7-8 Although Müller ran the orphanage on Christian principles, no regard was made to the religious denomination of the orphan. Müller's only requirements for admission were that the child be born in wedlock, that both parents were dead and that the child be in needy circumstances.
Early days
On 20 November 1835, Müller had it in mind to open an orphan house in Bristol to prove that God not only existed but that He heard and answered prayer, and Müller set about doing so on 21 November. He prayed that he might be given £40 as an encouragement but by 23 November he received gifts of around £50 from unexpected sources. His reasons for establishing this work were "1. That God may be glorified, should He be pleased to furnish me with the means, in its being seen that it is not a vain thing to trust in Him; and that thus the faith of His children may be strengthened. 2. The spiritual welfare of fatherless and motherless children. 3. Their temporal welfare."Müller, p 143 He took inspiration from the large orphanage established in the 18th century by AH Francke at Halle, Germany.Müller, p 145 A public meeting was held at which Müller announced his intentions but that he would be making no appeal to any man for funding. It was his intention to receive only children who had lost both parents through death, to train girls for domestic service and boys for a trade.Müller, p 151 He prayed for £1,000 and staff to run the home, together with premises from which to operate. Although the £1,000 had yet to be received, 6 Wilson Street was fitted up for the orphans, Mr and Mrs Müller moving to 14 Wilson Street, and, on 11 April 1836, the first girls moved in. By 21 April, 26 children had taken up residence.Müller, p 171
Due to the number of applications being made to receive infants, a second house in Wilson Street, No 1, was rented, and this opened on 28 November 1836 for the care of infants. A piece of ground for use as a playground was also acquired.Müller, p 181 By 15 June 1837, the £1,000 prayed for had been received in full, by which time a considerable number of items had also been donated, either for use or for selling.Müller, p 145-181 It was now time to consider opening a third house in order to take orphaned boys into care. A large, cheap house in another area was found and a rental agreement was signed in late summer, but the neighbours objected and threatened the landlord with legal action so Müller withdrew on 5 October. That same day, he received £50 from a poor woman for the express purpose of furnishing a house for orphan boys. Müller took this as proof that God still wanted him to open a third house and, indeed, premises were secured on 21 October 1837 at No 3 Wilson Street for this purpose.Müller, p 207 A fourth house, No 4 Wilson Street, was opened for the reception of orphans in early July 1843.Müller, p 495
The Move to Ashley Down
On 30 October 1845, a letter was received from one of the neighbours, written on behalf of other residents in Wilson Street, complaining "in kind and courteous terms" about the serious inconvenience being caused by the presence of so many children. Müller went to prayer concerning this, and believed that God was directing him to buy land on which to build a purpose-built orphanage.Tayler, pp 45-46
The cost of building an orphan house for 300 children was £10,000. The very first donation for this new project was £1,000, received on 10 December 1845. "When I received it," Müller said, "I was as calm, as quiet, as if I had received one shilling; for my heart was looking out for answers. Day by day I was expecting to receive answers to my prayers; therefore, having faith concerning the matter, this donation did not in the least surprise me." Before the month was over, a second donation of £1,000 was received - more than one-fifth of the required sum had been received in the two months since Müller started praying. He continued his supplication to God and, amongst other unsolicited gifts, a single donation of £2,000 came in during the following summer, with another lump sum of £1,000 in the December. On 25 January 1847, Müller asked God to provide the balance of the required funds "soon". Within an hour, another single donation of £2,000 was handed in. The building fund now stood at £9,285 3s 9½d and topped £11,000 before the end of May that year.Tayler, pp 48-52
Müller then prayed for the land on which to build and was guided to a site in Ashley Down surrounded by fields, on sale at £200 an acre. He went to the landowner's home to speak to him, but was told that the owner was at his place of business. Müller duly went there to be told that the owner had returned home. Müller returned to his own home having left his card. The following morning, the landowner called to say that he'd had a sleepless night and believed that God was telling him to sell the land to Müller for £120 an acre. In 1845 Müller entered into a contract for the purchase of 7 acres (28,000 m2) of ground at £120 per acre (£0.03/m2) for "the accommodation, feeding, clothing and education of 300 destitute and orphan children". Three days later, local Christian architect Thomas Foster, asked if he might prepare plans and supervise the work gratuitously. On 25 January 1847, just over a year since he started praying for the building costs, Müller's records show that the building fund held £9,285 - all unsolicited gifts. The building was estimated to cost £10,000 to build but Müller did not enter into any contract until this sum had been received. Instead of starting the work, he waited until the full amount was in hand, and a few months later a further gift of £1,000 was received, giving him more than enough to erect the building. The cornerstone of what became known as The New Orphan House was laid on 19 August 1847. As it neared completion, Müller gave thought to the need for furnishings and again prayed. Shortly afterwards, he received a single donation of £2,000.Annual Report 1957-58 p 5 The donor was so anxious to remain anonymous that he came to Müller and gave the £2,000 in cash.Tayler, p 55
On 18 June 1849 the 118 orphans living in Wilson Street transferred to the new building. Müller waited for a month, to ascertain the costs of running the House, before accepting any further children - 170 new children were then admitted. Eleven trustees were appointed and the deeds enrolled at Chancery.Tayler, p 56
Expansion of the work
Some eighteen months later, Müller started to think about erecting a second House - he first discusses this in his journal on 5 December 1850. He mentions it again on 4 January 1851, when he receives a single donation of £3,000, Again, after much prayer, he made public his intention, on 28 May 1851, to build a second home for orphans. The cost was estimated to be £27,000 for land and construction, and another £8,000 for furnishing. Twelve months later, only £3,530 - a tenth of the amount required - had been received, but Müller was not discouraged.Tayler, pp71-74 By the end of the fourth year, the building fund stood at just over £23,059.Tayler, p 78 It was his original intention to build a home for 700 children but he found that the surrounding fields could not be sold at that time, under a clause in the late owner's will, so the plans were changed to build a smaller house for 400 children on the existing ground he owned, to the south of No 1 House. Building work started on 29 May 1855, and seven months later received a boost when a local glazier asked if he could provide all the glass for 300 large windows gratuitously.Tayler, p 80
At the end of the financial year, 26 May 1856, the building fund had a balance of just under £29,300. Müller came back from visiting the finished building on 18 September 1857 to find another unsolicited cheque for £1,000 had been left for the fund. Further sums came in and by 26 May 1858, £35,000 was to hand - sufficient to build a third house, which would take the number of orphans who could be accommodated to 1,000.Tayler, p 81-83
On 2 February 1858, plans started to be made for the erection of the third orphan house. Many significant donations were received during this time but on 20 June 1858, from a previously unknown benefactor, came a gift of £3,500, of which £3,350 was to be put to the building fund. The donor wished it to be sent before his imminent death to avoid delay and tax.Tayler, pp90-91 In September a site of eleven and a half acres was purchased, just across the road from the existing buildings, at a cost of £3,631 15s.
Müller's original plan was to accommodate 300 orphans on this site but felt that better use would be made if 400 could be housed. After discussions with the architects, however, he found that, for a little extra expense, he could build for 450 children instead. He at once prayed for the provision of the extra funds required and, on 4 January 1859, received a gift of £7,000, £4,000 of which he set aside for the building fund. Two days later £300 came in from an anonymous donor with the promise of a further £8900 later in the year. On 1 February, two gifts totalling £2,700 were received, of which £700 was applied to the fund. By the end of May, the fund held £41,911 15s 11d and, in early July, the construction work started.Tayler, pp 118-121
The building was completed and opened its doors to orphans on 12 March 1862. It was, like the other two Houses, plain in appearance. W Elfe Tayler reports that it contained 94 rooms, 36 on the ground floor, 35 on the first floor and 23 on the second floor. Two long dormitories each held 50 beds. Mr Haden of Trowbridge, an eminent heating engineer, installed modern and efficient kitchen and laundry equipment, together with ventilation and heating systems.Tayler, pp125-127
Before New Orphan House No 3 was even opened, Müller contemplated expanding the work even further by building two more houses capable of holding another 850 children. It was estimated that to do so would cost at the very least £50,000. As well as expecting God to provide this, Müller also prayed that the increased running costs, from £20,000 to £35,000 annually, be sent.Tayler p 131, 145