Francis Maginn facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Francis Maginn
Francis Maginn
Born	1861 Mallow, County Cork, Ireland
Died	1918 Belfast, Ireland
Resting place	Belfast City Cemetery
Nationality	Irish / British
Education	Royal London Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb then Gallaudet University
Known for	Co-founder of the British Deaf Association / Superintendent of Ulster Institute for the Deaf

Francis Maginn (1861–1918) was an important person who helped improve the lives of deaf people. He worked as a missionary and strongly supported using sign language. He also helped start the British Deaf Association.

Early Life and Education

Francis Maginn was born in Mallow, County Cork, Ireland, in 1861. His father was a church leader, and his mother came from a wealthy family. When Francis was 5 years old, he became deaf because of a sickness called scarlet fever. His parents then sent him to the Royal London Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb. This was a special school for deaf children.

Francis did very well at school. When he was 17, he was offered a job as a junior teacher at the same school. He worked there for five years. After that, he went to America to study at the National Deaf-Mute College. This college is now known as Gallaudet University in Washington, DC.

Studying in America changed Maginn's view on life. He felt he could achieve much more. He spent three years at Gallaudet. He had to leave before graduating to be with his sick father. However, he was highly respected there and later received an honorary degree. After leaving Gallaudet, Maginn felt that deaf people in Britain were not treated fairly. He decided his life's goal would be to make life better for deaf people in the United Kingdom.

Working for Deaf Rights

When Maginn returned to Ireland in 1882, he wanted to create a national group for deaf people. He joined the Deaf and Dumb Correspondence Association. This group had many important deaf members.

His first attempt to start a national group was in 1888. It was called the Deaf-Mute Association. It aimed to "further the cause of the deaf and dumb." But it didn't last long and closed in 1889.

Even though the first group closed, Francis Maginn and James Paul kept trying. They were funded to attend an event in Paris, France. On their train journey, they promised each other to try again to start a national association. By the time they returned, other British delegates supported their idea.

Royal Commission on Deaf Education

In 1889, a report was published by the UK Royal Commission for the Blind, the Deaf and the Dumb. This report suggested that deaf children should have mandatory education. Before the report came out, many people shared their ideas with the commission.

One person was Alexander Graham Bell, who invented the telephone. He believed in teaching deaf children using only the "pure oral" method. This meant teaching them to speak and lip-read, without using sign language. Bell also suggested preventing deaf people from marrying each other, but the commission rejected this idea. Edward Miner Gallaudet, from the American university Maginn attended, also shared his ideas.

The commission's report was a response to the 1880 Milan Congress. This congress had banned sign language from schools for deaf children. This decision meant many deaf teachers lost their jobs in Europe and North America. The Egerton Report, like the Milan Congress, supported the oral system.

However, not everyone agreed. Rev. William Blomefield Sleight, a headmaster of a deaf school, was on the commission. He signed the report but had some strong disagreements. He believed that the oral system often failed deaf people later in life. He thought they would still use writing and finger spelling. He supported a "Combined Method." This method used finger spelling and signs for main teaching. It also taught speaking and lip-reading to those who could learn it.

Starting the British Deaf Association

In January 1890, a big meeting for deaf people was held in London. Francis Maginn shared his ideas for improving deaf education in Britain. He suggested forming a national group for deaf people. He believed in the American "Combined Method." This method used fingerspelling, Signed English, and lip-reading. It helped deaf people learn written and spoken English.

At the meeting, everyone agreed that a national group was needed for deaf people in the British Empire. Rev. William B. Sleight led the meeting. He allowed Maginn to speak early on January 18, 1890. Maginn spoke for about 30 minutes. He explained why an organized group was needed to protect the interests of deaf people in Britain. This included their education, morals, and social lives.

A special committee was set up to create the rules for the new group. It had six deaf men and six hearing men. Rev. William B. Sleight was the chairman. Maginn wanted only deaf people on the committee, but he was outvoted. He was one of the six deaf men on the committee.

The committee decided on a new name: "British Deaf And Dumb Association." Maginn pointed out that the word "dumb" was no longer used in America. However, the word stayed in their name until 1970. Maginn also wanted only deaf people to be members. But the committee decided to allow hearing members who cared about deaf people. These hearing members needed five deaf people to recommend them. Maginn strongly disagreed with this. He didn't like the idea of hearing people "helping" deaf people in a way that felt like they were in charge.

The Association officially started in Leeds on July 24, 1890. The rules for joining were discussed a lot. It was agreed that hearing people could join if they were interested in the welfare and education of deaf people. They needed five current members to recommend them.

Sleight, who was hearing, was chosen as the chairman. Maginn was given the role of regional vice-president. This was an honorary position with no real power. This was a disappointment for Maginn. He slowly stepped back from the Association. He decided to focus his energy on the Ulster Institute for the Deaf.

Maginn spent his later years working in Belfast until he passed away in 1918. The British Deaf Association did not have a deaf chairman until Jock Young in the 1980s. Their first deaf chief executive, Jeff McWhinney, was appointed in the 1990s.

Ulster Institute for the Deaf

Even though he didn't create the first fully deaf-led association in the UK, Francis Maginn found great success elsewhere. He left his role at the British Deaf Association. He went back to Belfast to focus on his work as the superintendent at the Ulster Institute for the Deaf. The deaf community in Ulster greatly appreciated his work there.

His Legacy

Francis Maginn is still remembered and respected by the deaf community in the UK and Ireland today. He is one of the few historical deaf figures from that time who is still talked about a century later.