Eldon Square Bus Concourse, 'T.H. Bainbridge'

Bronze plate attached to the brick wall. Originally commissioned for the opening of new headquarters for the Poor Children's Holiday Association (PCHA) which estabished hoilday homes, orphanages and sanatoriums for children, by Prince George. T.H. Bainbridge (1842-1912) was the second son of E.M. Bainbridge, founder of Europe's first department store. He was a Methodist and supported the local YMCA. There is a separate roundel with a relief portrait of Bainbridge looking left. With an inscription beneath it "THIS HALL IS ERECTED TO/ THE GLORY OF GOD AND/ IN LOVING MEMORY OF/ THOMAS HUDSON BAINBRIDGE/ WHOSE LIFE WORK AND/ SIMPLE FAITH HELPED AND/ BRIGHTENED THE LIVES OF/ MANY IN THE NORTH-EAST COUNTRY/ AND WHO ABOVE ALL LOVED/ LITTLE CHILDREN. IT IS GIVEN/ BY HILDA HIS DAUGHTER AND/ HER HUSBAND GERALD FRANCE/ TO HELP THE WORK AMONGST/ CHILDREN/ 6TH OCTOBER 1933". The PCHA headquarters were demolished to make way for Eldon Square in the 1970s and the commemorative tablet was relocated to the wall of the bus station. Has been put into temporary storage [in 2007] whilst Eldon Square is redeveloped. Will be cleaned and restored before being re-erected in a new location. Moved again to north-east corner of Eldon Square in 2008. Unveiled 21 October 2008.