old Aquarium was in the summer of 1877 absorbed in the new buildings of St. Bede's college which were opened in 1880; a central block was completed in 1884. More than two thousand boys have since passed through the school, and in 1910 one hundred and eighty boys were taught within its walls.
The diocese was comparatively well equipped in regard to elementary schools, but in other respects the diocesan organisation was deficient. Vaughan soon placed the whole administration on a thoroughly business footing. The diocesan synods which had been held every seven years were made annual. The system of administering the affairs of the diocese through deaneries was developed. Each dean was made responsible for the proper management of all the missions within his deanery. A board of temporal administration was appointed annually at the synod to advise the bishop on matters of finance, and to control schemes for new expenditure. The bishop was insistent that earnest efforts should be made to reduce the indebtedness of the missions and diocese. When he left Salford after fourteen years, the general debt had been reduced by 64,478l.
As a result of a census of the catholics of Manchester and Salford and a thorough inquiry into the various dangers menacing catholic children the bishop issued in November 1886 a pamphlet, 'The Loss of our Children,' in which he announced and justified the formation of the ' Rescue and Protection Society.' Ten thousand catholic children were declared to be in peril of their faith. It was shown that eighty per cent, of the catholic children who left the workhouses of Manchester were lost to the catholic church. The bishop resolved on a crusade of rescue. Much money and many workers were needed. He gave at once l000l., together with the whole of the episcopal mensa, or official income, each year until he went to Westminster. 'Rescue Saturday' was established to make collections throughout the diocese every week on 'wages night.' Within three years litigation had removed all catholic children from protestant philanthropic homes, and a sufficiency of certified poor law schools for catholic children was soon established. The report of the Rescue Society for 1890 showed that seven homes, including two certified poor law schools, had been bought or built, and that in them 536 destitute children were maintained. In the same year 1515 cases were dealt with by a central committee, which met every Thursday at the bishop's house, and 8385 by district committees in various parts of the diocese. In the same period 234 children were adopted by catholic families in Canada. The cost was 159l. a week; 2000 people were taking an active part in the rescuing and protecting of the children.
Vaughan identified himself with the resistance of the English catholic bishops to certain claims put forward on behalf of the regular clergy in regard to the right to open schools without the authority of the diocesan, to the division of missions and the attendance at synods. In 1879 Vaughan joined in Rome the bishop of Clifton, the Hon. W. Clifford, who was the principal agent of the English bishops there, and a decision was substantially given in their favour in the bull 'Romanes Pontifices' on 14 May 1881.
In the general position of denominational schools in England, Vaughan took early a strong stand from which he never departed. In 1883 he had convinced himself that without the help of parliament the catholic, like all denominational schools, must perish. He therefore began a campaign in favour of financial equality between the voluntary and the board schools, starting the voluntary schools association. Branches sprang up over the country, while its programme received the sanction of Manning and the hierarchy. Its demands were formulated in February 1884. The agitation was thenceforth carried on with immense vigour, especially in Lancashire.
The bishop mixed freely with men of all denominations in Manchester. He was a frequent speaker at public meetings on temperance, sanitation, and the better housing of the poor. He advocated the establishment by the local authority of covered recreation grounds for public use, I urging that amusements should tend to unite and not divide the family group. He was the founder of the Manchester Geographical Society, and he frequently attended the discussions before the Chamber of Commerce, where, on occasion, his missioners from Mill Hill were invited to give an account of the countries they were helping to open up.
On the death of his father in December 1880 Vaughan succeeded to a life interest in the entailed estate at Courtfield. He arranged to receive 1000l. a year; and, subject to that annuity, he renounced his interest in the property. Of his seven brothers, six, including the eldest four, were priests at their father's death.
