little part of Belgium on British soil’: The Belgian Institute in Bradford

On4 August 1914 Germany invaded Belgium and by November 1914 most of Belgium was under German occupation and Belgians were fleeing the country. Of the two million who fled, 250,000 came to the UK and over a thousand made their way to Bradford. On Thursday 15 October the first 218 Belgian refugees (77 men, 93 women and 48 children) arrived by train. The refugees were met by a welcoming committee of the great and the good of Bradford and crowds lined the streets and cheered and shouted their support. The refugees were from all walks of life, young and old, fit and wounded, former wealthy businessmen, specialist tradesmen and general workers. They were initially conveyed to the Central Baths where dormitories had been set up to provide temporary accommodation until more permanent arrangements could be made.

Louisa Pesel was a founding, influential and active member of the Refugee Relief Committee, sitting on all three sub-committees established to oversee the housing and support of the refugees. The Committee was sensitive to local authority rules that forbade any employment of refugees in local industries which meant competition with local workers. They needed to find a solution that allowed the refugees to work and earn within these restrictive regulations. The Committee also recognised that whilst the welcome of the people of Bradford was sincere and heartfelt and the refugees were relieved to have escaped the brutal conditions in Belgium, their aim was to return home. The Committee therefore decided to establish a Belgian Institute where refugees could socialise and work, a little part of Belgium on British soil. The Institute, which opened on 23rd November 1914, was at 26 Manor

Row and had a large assembly room for meetings and concerts, reading rooms, recreational rooms and workshops. Articles made in the workshops in out-of-class hours were paid at standard rates and after deduction for maintenance and pocket money the balance went to the credit of the refugee for repatriation.

Men were initially employed repairing boots for their compatriots or making furniture for the Institute and for their home country. The Belgian Government in exile, based in Le Havre, France, was furnished with items made at the Belgium Institute. Technical classes in woodwork and boot making, led by experienced and expert Belgian makers, were held under the auspices of the Bradford Education Committee. Refugee men were soon producing new boots and slippers, became adept model and toymakers, and made folding furniture and wooden trunks for use when they returned home. Women were engaged in dressmaking, millinery and knitting, refashioning used garments for themselves and those back home. Used bonnets were spruced up by varnishing them and adding recycled ribbons and artificial flowers. Louisa Pesel was a regular visitor to the Institute, providing advice and encouragement to the refugees.

As the war continued some of the refugees found local employment and others joined relatives or friends in other towns, but it is estimated that 600 remained. Of these some had been housed at Esholt Hall, seven miles north of central Bradford. The municipal Sewage Committee based there allocated three acres of its land for refugee use and under instruction from experienced Belgian gardeners, they successfully grew a range of garden produce. The Belgian high-yield horticultural methods were also shared with local farmers and producers in the wider Bradford community.

The operation of the Belgian Institute was monitored both by the authorities in London and by the Belgium Bradford Weekly Telegraph, 27/11/1914

A Recipe For Pancakes

Government, who contributed to the associated costs. Sir Ernest Hatch, Chair of the Government Commission on Belgian Refugees in a visit in 1915 declared that the Bradford Institute was, ‘a model for the rest of the country’ and it was imitated elsewhere with varying degrees of success. However, despite this financial support, additional funds were always needed and many fundraising activities and street to street collections were held across the district. For example, in December 1914 Louisa Pesel organised a two-day sale of Christmas souvenirs made by the refugees, the proceeds being used to buy material to be made into clothes for both the refugees and their Belgium compatriots. Assisted by M E Denis, a refugee at the Institute and formerly a restaurateur in Louvain, she published a booklet Entente Recipes in English, French and Flemish (1914), the profits going to the Belgian Compatriots’ Clothing Fund.

Louisa’s influence on the running of the Institute was significant and recognised in an article in The Yorkshire Observer on January 30th 1915, entitled The Belgian Guests at Bradford – Lightening the Sorrows of Exile. The writer thanks various people who supported the Institute and ends, ‘Another worker ought to be mentioned – Miss Pesel – whose all-embracing activities defy comprehension under one set official title. Without her the Institute would lose much of its animating spirit.’