HL Deb 23 May 1867 vol 187 cc931-2
THE EARL OF SHAFTESBURY

asked the noble Earl at the head of the Government, Whether any inquiries had been made into the case of the six young ladies who had run away from the convent at Glossop and arrived at Sheffield, and there had been taken to another convent in that town; and whether he could give the House any information on the subject?

THE EARL OF DERBY

said, although his right hon. Friend the Secretary for the Home Department had been making inquiries into the subject, he did not himself see what there was to inquire about. It would appear that these six young ladies had run away from a convent or school at Glossop; but they were not bound by vows, or anything of that kind; the youngest was thirteen, the eldest twenty. They travelled twenty-five miles to Sheffield, and arriving there at twelve o'clock at night, they applied at the police-station to know where they could obtain a lodging for the night. They were told that there was in Sheffield a similar institution to that which they had left, and upon application to the Superior they were admitted into that institution. The police-officer, as he thought, displayed good judgment in asking the Superior of the convent at Sheffield whether the young ladies could be taken in for the night. He did not, indeed, know where the police could at that hour of the night have discovered decent lodgings for these young ladies, unless by taking them to an institution of a character similar to the one they had left; for it should be borne in mind that those young ladies did not in any way complain of the character of the Glossop institution, but merely of the ill-treatment which they stated they had received at a particular school. As his noble Friend had only given him notice of his question a short time before the meeting of the House, he had not been able to ascertain the result of the inquiries made by the Home Secretary.

THE EARL OF SHAFTESBURY

wished to know whether the police had exercised any power of detention over these young ladies?

THE EARL OF DERBY

signified that they had not.

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