Harris Orphanage, Preston

Harris Orphanage was opened in 1888 on Garstang Road, Fulwood. Garstang Road was also where St Vincent's Orphanage was sited.

Edmund Robert Harris was a lawyer by profession who made a fortune by investing in the railways just as they were coming into being in a big way in the nineteenth century. When he died he left a large proportion of his fortune to philapnthropic purposes including the orphanage.

The orphanage was relatively small in comparison to many others built at the time, being able to house 120 children. It was stipluated that the parents of the children had to have lived within eight miles of Preston for at least a year for their offspring to be admitted.

The orphange closed in 1982 and in 1985 the land was sold and the proceeds are used to fuind the work of the Harris Charity (External site).