In the late 1860s, Alexander Balfour (1824-1886) and Stephen Williamson (1827-1903), partners in a Liverpool shipping firm, became concerned at the numbers of destitute and orphaned children at risk in Liverpool. While attending a conference in London, Balfour, along with another Liverpool shipowner, John Houghton (d. 1883), heard Annie Macpherson lecture on her work regarding child migration. They approached her to set up a branch in Liverpool, which she was unable to do due to other commitments. But her sister, Louisa Birt, was willing to come to Liverpool.

In November 1872, a public meeting was held in the Law Association Rooms in Cook Street, at which Birt explained the objects and methods of her work. It was resolved that a society be established in Liverpool to further this work, with the fundraising and management of the home to be kept separate from the London organisation. John Houghton offered the use of premises adjoining the old Byrom Hall Baptist Chapel in Byrom Street, free of both rent and running costs.

Formally opened on 1 May 1873, the purpose of the Liverpool Sheltering Homes was to rescue destitute and neglected children, train them, and to accompany groups to a new life in Canada. From a home there they were to be placed with families, though they were supervised until they reached the age of 18.

With the death of John Houghton in 1883, Liverpool Sheltering Homes had to make the payments for the rent and running costs of the premises, which were felt to be overcrowded and unsuitable. Work began to build a new Home in Myrtle Street, and this was opened on 16 November 1889, with a further block of adjacent land given to the Home in 1895.

Mrs Birt ceased active work in the Home in 1911 but the family involvement was continued by her daughter, Miss Lilian Birt. Mrs Birt died on 7 May 1915. The Home closed temporarily during the First World War, reopening in 1919. In 1925 it was amalgamated with Dr Barnado’s, who closed their own Home in Liverpool and operated out of Myrtle Street. Lilian Birt retired at the time of the amalgamation, though continued her involvement in an advisory capacity.

After the amalgamation, the Home was used as a migration and training centre for boys who had left school before they migrated to Canada. In the late 1920s, as migration to Canada ceased, it became used as a home for schoolboys. It was closed in 1935 and the building was purchased by the Corporation of Liverpool for use as a juvenile employment centre.