Seamens Mission.

[Ian Malcolm]

I remember enjoying the hospitality of three Missions - in Bahia Blanca, Durban and Rotterdam. In Liverpool, I stayed and made use of Atlantic House in Hardman Street, an excellent Roman Catholic institution used by all seafarers.

[cappy]

I remember enjoying the hospitality of three Missions - in Bahia Blanca, Durban and Rotterdam. In Liverpool, I stayed and made use of Atlantic House in Hardman Street, an excellent Roman Catholic institution used by all seafarers.

stayed in atlantic house 1957 or 58......pretty decent mission ......but stayed in one in i think birkenhead not so hot ...went back that way years llater but it was gone .....think it had been a cinema in earlier times not sure about that though.......stayed in the mission of the helping hand in oz a long dorm abouta foot between the beds ...filled with penfolds plonkies..........farting and shiting themselves all night 2 dead in the morning ...now that was a proper dosser....happy days cappy

[Thomas F Harrison]

I spent many a night at the Seamans Mission facing the cunard building Also at The Liverpool Sailors home just before it closed. I remember it was freezing and I warmed myself up with some rum. Opposite was the Gordon xxxx something house which was OK and you always got a good breakfast . Can anyone remember this building and its full name. I also drank in The Liver pub in Liver street

[Captain Kong]

The Sailors Home was in Canning Place and just across the road round the corner was the `GORDON SMITH INSTITUTE FOR SEAMEN` four shillings bed and breakfast in the dormitory, where you put your suit under the mattress and shoes under the pillow.
Sailors Home, own cabin but at a cost of Four Shillings and Six pence a night inc. Breakfast.
Cannot remember any Mission behind the Cunard Building , only Tom Halls alehouse and the Overhead Railway
Cheers
Brian

[Peter Wharton]

I spent many a night at the Seamans Mission facing the cunard building Also at The Liverpool Sailors home just before it closed. I remember it was freezing and I warmed myself up with some rum. Opposite was the Gordon xxxx something house which was OK and you always got a good breakfast . Can anyone remember this building and its full name. I also drank in The Liver pub in Liver street

Kingston House.

[Thomas F Harrison]

The Sailors Home was in Canning Place and just across the road round the corner was the `GORDON SMITH INSTITUTE FOR SEAMEN` four shillings bed and breakfast in the dormitory, where you put your suit under the mattress and shoes under the pillow.
Sailors Home, own cabin but at a cost of Four Shillings and Six pence a night inc. Breakfast.
Cannot remember any Mission behind the Cunard Building , only Tom Halls alehouse and the Overhead Railway
Cheers
Brian

The Mission to Seamen was at the bottom of Water Street facing the pool and near albert dock. Mixed up my location aftermany changes.
I well remember the Gordon Smith Institute.. anybody got any memories of that place. I remember it being clean and a good breakfast but I might be dreaming that lol.

[john walker]

No one appears to have mentioned 'Atlantic House ' in Hardman street I stayed there in the 70's what happened to that establishment?

[gray_marian]

#48,10/9/2009 Excerpt from the Liverpool Echo John

LONG before Liverpool was named ‘the world in one city’, a city centre club reached out the hand of friendship to sailors from all over the globe. Atlantic House on Hardman Street opened its doors to seamen from every country, showing foreign visitors true Liverpool hospitality from the roaring 20s until its closure in 1984.

Part hotel, part ballroom, part chapel, it was open seven nights a week, 52 weeks a year, and watched over by the port’s Catholic chaplain, for many years Father John O’Connor.

Despite being run by the church, it welcomed sailors of all faiths, with Anglicans, Quakers, ******s and Hindus happily living, eating and dancing under the same roof.

The idea of a club to host all sailors began in 1922 when a group of laymen asked the Archbishop of Liverpool to appoint a port chaplain. The job went to Father Odo Blundell who rented a room in the Sailors’ Home at the Pier Head and set up a canteen where he held regular dances.

He continued until 1934, when Father O’Connor took over and opened a new club in the old White Star building in Bootle, and then at the parish hall on Little Howard Street.

In wartime it came into its own, remaining open through the dark nights of the bombing, through the grim days of the Atlantic convoys, through the times when rescued sailors came in from torpedoed ships with nothing more than the borrowed clothes they stood in.

And then in 1945, the grand new Atlantic House was built. Paid for, like the cathedral on nearby Brownlow Hill, from the pennies of the poor and the pounds of the wealthier, it cost £160,000 to build and had 92 single bedrooms, 13 doubles and two family suites.

Opened in 1947 by the Duchess of Kent, it housed a restaurant, a television room, a laundry and a confessional box.

But best of all, there would be dances with a live band most nights.

Under Father O’Connor’s watchful eye, 350 Liverpool girls were admitted as volunteer dancing partners and hostesses. But the rules were strict: No drinks and no dates (except that with a priest’s approval a hostess could help a foreign sailor to shop for gifts for his wife and family).

Every girl wanting to apply was given an interview, and a long waiting list for places formed.

Every night at 10.30pm the ballroom was transformed into a chapel, with a partition sliding back to reveal the altar.

Father O’Connor, in priestly vestments, conducted Benediction. The dancers became worshippers as the chairs from around the tables became kneeling stools. And then at the end of the service, nightcaps were served – of milk.

“We get through a crate of milk every night at 11pm,” said Father O’Connor in 1959.

In the 50s and 60s, a thriving jazz and blues scene grew up at Atlantic House. Sailors from all over the world brought their own musical inspiration, fusing Latin, American, Asian and European influences.

Mary Maxwell’s husband Don was the pianist, and she recalls many happy nights at dances there.

“Don played the piano in the band there, where I met him,” explains Mrs Maxwell. “He also played gigs in all the clubs down Upper Parliament Street which had a vibrant blues and jazz scene well before the pop scene of the 60s.”

Sadly Don died last year, but he is remembered by the city’s blues and jazz lovers for his superb musicianship and inventive playing.

“While at Atlantic House, Don orchestrated music for charity shows such as Oklahoma and his recordings went all over the world, with a favourite being the last waltz where he transposed a Chopin Nocturne into waltz time and it became his signature tune,” says Mrs Maxwell.

Over the years Atlantic House was extended to accommodate more sailors, and continued to provide them with a much-needed home from home.

But following a fire in 1980, and a decline in sailors visiting the port, it was sold to the owners of the nearby Kirkland’s Wine Bar, and became Cafe Kirklands and the Hardman Hotel, a smart new hotel and leisure complex.

Over the years it has been used as student halls and is now Liverpool Jaxx Club Culture.

But to the sailors, girls and volunteers who frequented it for more than 50 years, it will be forever Atlantic House.

“I am sure there are many people who will recall the great dances at Atlantic House,” says Mrs Maxwell. “It opened its doors to all nations and never refused or discriminated against anyone – even at a time when I recall many dance halls in Liverpool did so.”

[happy daze john in oz]

Just announced on the news tonight Seaman's Mission in Melbourne to hold an exhibition.

Having a clean up the CEO discovered in the upper level of the mission a room long forgotten. Inside artifacts going back well ,over 100 years.
Letters from seamen, ships log books, religious artifacts and many other bits and pieces.

The exhibition open to all from Friday.

[Hazel Stringer]

I called into the Seamens Mission for a couple of beers yesterday at least I thought that I was in the mission until I looked out of the window and seen the artwork on the minibus's it is now Liverpool Seafarers Centre.Since 1856 it was known as The Mersey Mission To Seamen and about 15 years ago it merged with the Stella Maris after both the Liverpool branches of Stella Maris closed their doors.I wonder is it that it is not PC to use the word "Mission" anymore maybe because of it's religious connotations.
Regards.
Jim.B.

Hi all,

I was wondering if any records for the Seamen's mission or Merchant Navy Manning Pool Liverpool still exist for the immediate post WW2 period? If so where would I find them?