The idea of the north of England having its own school for the deaf originally came about through the interest of Manchester merchant, Robert Phillips, who was trying to find an appropriate school for a local deaf girl. Phillips contacted his good friend and fellow businessman, William Bateman, who had two children in the London Institution, with a view to placing the girl there. However, not only was the school full but there was a long waiting list and the same was true of the Birmingham Institution.
Philips decided to call a public meeting of fellow merchants, bankers and manufacturers to investigate what the level of support for a school for the deaf in Manchester might be.
At the meeting in the Exchange Dining Room in Manchester on 11th June 1823 a resolution was passed to form a Committee to secure benefactions and subscriptions for a new school to provide a means of education for those "debarred by the effects of nature from all intercourse with their fellows by the ordinary means of speech and hearing".
After a successful fund-raising campaign the first school was opened in Stanley Street, Salford on 28th February 1825 with an initial intake of 14 children, eight girls and six boys. It was soon apparent that there were in fact far more deaf children in and around Manchester than had at first been thought and that it would be necessary to find new premises. A suitable site was found adjacent to the Royal Botanical Gardens in Old Trafford and within two years the funds had been raised to build a new school which opened on 21st June 1837 - the same day that Queen Victoria ascended the throne. The cost of the new development was shared with what is now Henshaw's Society for the Blind who erected an identical building on the same site.
As pupil numbers grew still further along with the waiting list (40 candidates were awaiting admission by 1831) new premises became more and more necessary. Before they could be purchased much fund-raising was called for and a number of auxiliary societies were established around Manchester. In 1835 a plot adjacent to the Royal Botanical Gardens in Old Trafford was identified and purchased from Thomas de Trafford.
New school opens
The new school at Old Trafford was opened on 21st June 1837 - the same day that Queen Victoria ascended the throne. With the new building came new regulations. It was at this time that House Stewards, chosen from amongst the Governors or Committee, were first appointed to oversee the general smooth running of the establishment. In 1897, during her Diamond Jubilee, Queen Victoria conferred the title of Royal upon the Schools and this honour has been renewed in the reigns of succeeding sovereigns ever since.
Move to Cheadle Hulme
The Royal Schools remained at Old Trafford until the outbreak of the Second World War, when the Infant School was temporarily moved to The Manor in Middlewich. By this time Old Trafford had become increasingly industrialized and when it was time to return it was agreed that a more suitable site in the suburbs should be found. In 1956 the new premises opened on an 80-acre site in Cheadle Hulme. However it was not until 1982 that the final ties with Old Trafford were severed when the remaining students at the Talbot House Training School transferred over to Cheadle, where the school remains today.