WILSON STREET ORPHAN HOMES

1. READ THE TEXT AND ORDER THE PARAGRAPHS.

____He rented at a low rent a house in No. 6 Wilson Street using it as a home for 30 girls aged from seven to twelve
years of age. As soon as that Home opened, he realized he needed another home for children less than seven years
of age. In the October of 1836 he managed to rent No. 1 Wilson Street. He was determined to open a third Home for
boys aged seven and over. Müller was offered another house in Wilson Street to rent, No. 3, and that opened as an
Orphan House for boys on October 21st 1837.

____As the number of houses that Müller rented as Orphan

Homes grew so did the problems with the neighbors in Wilson
Street where they were all situated. Things came to a head at
the end of October 1845. Müller received a letter from one of
the Wilson Street residents, drawing Müller’s attention to the
Orphan Houses were causing. He outlined the pros and cons.

____At the beginning of 1840 Müller went and visited his father
in Germany. The old animosity between them was gone. There
was a clear affection. While his father was weak, he joined
Müller in prayers and reading the Bible. It was the last time he
saw his father who died the month after Muller’s visit.

____The cholera epidemic and the great number of orphans who were forced into the workhouse or to live on the
streets caused George Müller to realize that he has to do something immediately. In 1835 he declared the intention
to open an Orphan Home where there would be no charge for admission and no restriction on grounds of class or
creed. Two days after the public meeting he received his first donation for the orphan home – one shilling. A couple
of days later someone offered some furniture – a large wardrobe.

2. Here you have some of Müller’s thought about moving or not from Wilson Street due to the problems with the
neighbours. Classify them in the chart.

1. Neighbours don’t enjoy the noise of the children.

2. God has clearly given us Wilson Street location and made houses available.
3. Because of the amount of residents in each house, they are causing drainage problems.
4. More houses on Wilson Street could be rented and one used as an infirmary.
5. There are no playgrounds on Wilson Street for the children to play in.
6. There are no gardens at any of the Wilson Street Houses.
7. If rented houses are done away with, the only alternative is to build. We would need a great sum of money.
8. In times of sickness, everyone is too close together. None of the houses has an extra single room to isolate a
sick child.
Reasons for moving from Wilson Street Reasons for remaining on Wilson Street
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3. What happened these years?

1835 –
1836 –
1837 –
1840 –
1845 –

4. Find these words / phrases on the text, underline them and figure out their meaning from the context.
- On grounds of:
- At a low rent:
- Aged:
- Animosity:
- Things came to a head:
- Outlined: