Ridgeway Wesleyan Methodist church originated in the late 1880s, when a Wesleyan mission was opened in a temporary hall in Mill Hill. In 1893 a red-brick chapel in the Perpendicular style was built. At first the church was under the control of Hendon Methodist church, but in 1970 it was linked with Goodwyn Avenue Methodist church.
John Wesley preached in Hillingdon and Uxbridge in 1754 and 1758, but there is no other evidence of 18th-century Methodist activity. By 1851, however, there were five Methodist meetings in Hillingdon. The Methodist Central Hall was erected in 1930 at the junction of High Street and Park Road. In 1957 Lawn Road Primitive Methodist congregation was amalgamated with that of Central Hall. The Central Hall was renovated and extended in 1959 to meet the increased demand.
Highgate or Jackson's Lane Wesleyan Methodist church was opened in 1905, on a site at the corner of Archway Road. The building included a Sunday school and was designed by W. H. Boney of Highgate. The church seated 650 and the schoolroom 400. Jackson's Lane was well known during the 1960s for its counselling centre. The church was closed in 1976.
Mattison Road church, later renamed Harringay church, opened in 1891 as an iron tabernacle (a pre-fabricated timber framed structure clad with corrugated iron which could quickly be assembled from a kit to provide a building until a more permanent structure could be constructed). The tabernacle was replaced by a permanent church and halls in 1901. Originally part of the Caledonian Road circuit of the Primitive Methodists, it joined the Finsbury Park circuit after the Methodists' union in 1931. In 1903 membership was so high that Mattison Road was described as the chief Primitive Methodist church in London. The church closed in 1963 and became a Roman Catholic church.
The Bath Road Methodist Church, Hounslow West, was opened in 1956. Before this, services had been held in the Hounslow Heath schools in Martindale Road since about 1930.
There was said to be a congregation of about 30 Wesleyans at Isleworth in 1810, but they did not open a chapel until 1829, in North Street. A new chapel was built in 1924 in Twickenham Road, just south of North Street.
Acton Green Wesleyan Methodist church originated in meetings held in a house in Antrobus Road. In 1885 a chapel and school were constructed in Steele Road, Acton Green. This church was rebuilt in 1930 on the same site by Smee and Houchin in the style of the Methodist Central Halls at Westminster. The new building had two halls, classrooms, vestry, and others rooms split over two levels.
The College Park Primitive Methodist chapel was built in 1897 at the corner of Harrow Road and Victor Road, College Park. It was closed in 1958.
Earlsmead United Methodist Church and Central Hall, Tottenham had its origins in meetings over a shop in Saint Ann's Road, which led to the building of Earlsmead Bible Christian hall, registered in the High Road in 1886. The hall came to be used by Methodists from the nearby Westerfield Road hall. In 1909 the congregation joined the United Methodist Free Churches and opened a second chapel in the High Road, converting the older chapel into a schoolroom. Earlsmead United Methodist church was recertified as Central Hall in 1935. It had seating for 750 and was closed in 1953.
Northumberland Park Primitive Methodist church was founded in 1870. The church was constructed on the north side of Northumberland Park almost opposite Worcester Avenue and was registered in 1872. It was sold to the Calvary Church of God in Christ in 1971.
West Green Road Primitive Methodist church began in a temporary building, registered in 1877 but out of use by 1896. A new chapel of yellow brick was constructed on the south side of West Green Road opposite Belmont Road, in 1888, registered in 1894. The building was sold in 1969 and became the Derby Hall Christian Assembly room in 1972.
Trinity Wesleyan Methodist chapel was built in 1899 at the corner of Walm Lane and Dartmouth Road, Willesden. The church was closed in 1948.
Harlesden United Methodist Church was founded in 1869. Since September 1932 it has been called Harlesden Methodist Church. It was damaged by enemy action in 1941, and rebuilt in the 1950s on its present site.
Willesden Green Primitive Methodist chapel was opened in the High Road, Willesden Green by 1897. The church was rebuilt in 1904 but closed in 1963.
The first Methodist Chapel in Harrow was established at London Hill, Roxeth, by 1809. A new chapel in Lower Road was opened in 1855. This building subsequently became the Welsh Church. In 1905 the Methodist congregation moved to larger premises in Bessborough Road, Harrow.
The London County Council, among its other powers taken over from the Board of Works, had the right to purchase the undertakings in London of the tramway companies. Between 1892 and 1903 the Council gradually acquired all the London undertakings. These were horse-drawn and not fully interconnected. The Council unified the whole into one system, converted it to electricity, reduced the fares to a half-penny for a two mile journey, introduced workmen's fares and other concessions and provided some all night services. As part of the system, the subway under Kingsway was constructed and the power station at Greenwich was built. Special powers were obtained to continue the tramways over certain bridges and along the Victoria Embankment.
In 1933 the whole tram network passed to the newly formed London Passenger Transport Board who entirely discontinued the trams.
The first known Baptist Church in Crouch End was formed in 1807 and met in what was called the Broadway Hall, once part of the outbuildings of Old Crouch Hall. It continued until 1837. From 1879-1889 a second Baptist congregation met in the Broadway Hall, until the increasing urbanisation of the area, bringing an increased population, led to the erection of a more permanent chapel and the formation of the Ferme Park Baptist Church in 1889, located on the corner of Ferme Park Road and Weston Park. Ever growing congregations resulted in a new chapel being built adjacent to the old, between 1897-1900. The Baptist Chapel merged with the United Reformed Church in 1973 and opened on the same site as the Union Church in 1980.
Park Chapel on Crouch Hill was opened in 1855. Alterations increased its seating to 1,017 in 1877 and 1,430 by 1894. After further extensions it had the largest Congregationalist attendances in Hornsey. The chapel and its halls formed a popular social centre, accommodating Hornsey British school until 1877. The Grove mission was apparently established in 1881 and served from Park chapel in 1951.The Chapel amalgamated with Ferme Park Baptist Church to form Union Church, Crouch End in 1974.
Mount View Congregational church was founded to serve Stroud Green. A hall was opened in 1887 and used for worship until the completion of a larger building in 1893. The church was closed and demolished in 1935.
Hornsey British school was built in 1864 and opened in 1865, largely through the efforts of Russell Maynard, a member of Park chapel. The schoolrooms, for boys, girls, and infants, adjoined the chapel. The school was supported by voluntary contributions in 1870 but received a parliamentary grant from 1871. Between 1871 and 1873 the average attendance rose from 94 to 177. Hornsey school board took over the premises in 1875 and later moved the pupils to Park Road school.
Source: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 6: Friern Barnet, Finchley, Hornsey with Highgate.
The Local Government Act 1894 made provision for local self-government in England and Wales in the form of parish councils for every rural parish with a population of 300 and upwards. The existing rural and urban sanitary authorities became the new district councils. Further re-arrangement of districts was carried out by review, by county councils under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1929.
Rating remained in the hands of the parish overseers in 1894, although under the Public Health Act 1875 a general district rate was levied by the urban authorities. The Rating and Valuation Act 1925 abolished the rating powers of the overseers of the poor and named the new rating authorities as the councils of every county borough and urban and rural districts. A consolidated rate - 'the general rate' - replaced the confusion of various separate rates. In addition, a new valuation list was to be made for every rating area, to come into force on either 1 April 1928 or April 1929, followed by a second list in 1932, 1933 or 1934. Instructions were given in the act for draft valuation lists and records of totals to be made.
Summary of constituencies of Sunbury and Staines District Councils:
Sunbury Urban District Council:
Sunbury UDC included Sunbury Common, Charlton and Upper Halliford, Shepperton (including Lower Halliford and Shepperton Green), Ashford Common and Littleton. By the Middlesex (Feltham, Hayes, Staines and Sunbury-on-Thames) Confirmation Order, 1930, the parish of Shepperton and parts of Ashford and Littleton were transferred to Sunbury Urban District on the dissolution of Staines Rural District. As a result of local government re-organisation in the Greater London area, Sunbury Urban District was transferred to the administrative county of Surrey with effect from 1 April 1965.
Staines Urban District Council:
Staines UDC included Staines, Ashford, Laleham, Stanwell (including Stanwell Moor and Poyle). As a result of local government re-organisation in the Greater London area, Staines Urban District was transferred to the administrative county of Surrey with effect from 1 April 1965.
Staines Rural District Council:
Staine RDC included Ashford, East Bedfont with Hatton, Cranford, Hanworth, Harlington, Harmondsworth, Laleham, Littleton, Shepperton, Stanwell (part). On the dissolution of Staines Rural District in 1930, East Bedfont with Hatton and Hanworth were transferred to Feltham Urban District, Cranford and Harlington to Hayes and Harlington Urban District, and Harmondsworth to Yiewsley and West Drayton Urban District. The remaining areas were transferred to Sunbury and Staines Urban Districts, as detailed above.
In 1974 the Urban Districts of Sunbury and Staines became part of Spelthorne Borough Council, in the administrative county of Surrey.
A Methodist circuit is normally a group of churches in a local area served by a team of ministers. A minister will have pastoral charge of one or more churches, but will preach and lead worship in different local churches in the circuit, along with local preachers. The arrangements for leading worship in a circuit are drawn up in a quarterly Plan.
The German Evangelical Reformed Church was established in London in 1697 by Protestant refugees fleeing religious oppression in the Palatinate. William III permitted services to be held in the chapel of the Savoy Palace. A new church built in Duchy Lane, Savoy, on the site of a French Church was consecrated in 1771. It was closed and demolished in 1816 to make way for the construction of Waterloo Bridge. A new church was consecrated in 1819 in Hooper Square, Leman Street, Whitechapel, which was in turn demolished as the site was required for railway purposes. The replacement church built in Goulston Street, Whitechapel, in 1886-1887 was destroyed by bombing in 1941.
The Local Government Act 1894 made further provision for local self-government in England and Wales by establishing parish meetings for every rural parish and parish councils for every rural parish with a population of 300 and upwards. The existing urban and rural sanitary authorities became the new district councils, thus Staines Local Board of Health, set up in 1872, became Staines Urban District Council and Staines Rural District Council was formed out of the Staines Union Rural Sanitary Authority. Under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1929 a rearrangement of county districts was carried out by review by Middlesex County Council. Staines Rural District Council was dissolved in 1930 and the constituent parishes were transferred to neighbouring urban districts.
Summary of local authorities in Staines:-
Staines Local Board of Health, 1872-1894
Staines Urban District Council, 1894-1974, comprising:
1894-1930 Staines, Stanwell (part from 1896)
1930-1974 Staines, Ashford, Laleham, Stanwell (including Stanwell Moor and Poyle).
Staines Rural District Council, 1894-1930, comprising:
Ashford, East Bedfont with Hatton, Cranford, Hanworth, Harlington, Harmondsworth, Laleham, Littleton, Shepperton, Stanwell (part).
The Methodist Church in Britain is arranged into over 600 Circuits, which in turn are grouped into 32 Districts covering Great Britain, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. Each District is supervised by a District Synod. A Circuit is normally a group of churches in a local area served by a team of ministers. A minister will have pastoral charge of one or more churches, but will preach and lead worship in different local churches in the circuit, along with local preachers. The arrangements for leading worship in a circuit are drawn up in a quarterly Plan.
A Methodist circuit is normally a group of churches in a local area served by a team of ministers. A minister will have pastoral charge of one or more churches, but will preach and lead worship in different local churches in the circuit, along with local preachers. The arrangements for leading worship in a circuit are drawn up in a quarterly Plan.
A Methodist circuit is normally a group of churches in a local area served by a team of ministers. A minister will have pastoral charge of one or more churches, but will preach and lead worship in different local churches in the circuit, along with local preachers. The arrangements for leading worship in a circuit are drawn up in a quarterly Plan.
The Brunswick Church was constructed in 1834 while the Zion Church, Neate Street, was constrructed in 1855.
A Methodist circuit is normally a group of churches in a local area served by a team of ministers. A minister will have pastoral charge of one or more churches, but will preach and lead worship in different local churches in the circuit, along with local preachers. The arrangements for leading worship in a circuit are drawn up in a quarterly Plan.
Brentford is now part of the Richmond and Hounslow Methodist Circuit.
In 1850 the North London Railway began operating services from Camden Town to Poplar, and then on into the East End. In 1851 the line was extended to Hampstead where it joined with the London and North Western Railway, and in 1858 it was connected to a branch of the London and South Western Railway to Richmond. In 1865 the line was further extended in the east so that the terminus was Broad Street station, situated adjacent to Liverpool Street Station.
By 1900 Broad Street station was the third busiest in London (after Liverpool Street and Victoria). During the Second World War the line was badly bombed and the East End portion was closed. Trains continued to run to the badly damaged Broad Street station, but the development of Tube and bus networks had significantly reduced the passenger numbers. The station was not repaired and the main part of it was closed in 1950, although two platforms continued to operate.
In 1963 Richard Beeching was appointed Chairman of the British Transport Commission with the brief to reduce British Rail spending. He achieved this by announcing extensive cuts in what has become known as the 'Beeching Axe'. Broad Street was one of the stations earmarked for closure. However, local opposition saved the station and it continued running until 1985 when it was finally closed. The Broadgate office development stands on the site.
In 1979 the line between Richmond and Dalston via Gospel Oak became the North London Line, and in 2010 is part of the London Overground network.
In 1850 the North London Railway began operating services from Camden Town to Poplar, and then on into the East End. In 1851 the line was extended to Hampstead where it joined with the London and North Western Railway, and in 1858 it was connected to a branch of the London and South Western Railway to Richmond. In 1865 the line was further extended in the east so that the terminus was Broad Street station, situated adjacent to Liverpool Street Station.
By 1900 Broad Street station was the third busiest in London (after Liverpool Street and Victoria). During the Second World War the line was badly bombed and the East End portion was closed. Trains continued to run to the badly damaged Broad Street station, but the development of Tube and bus networks had significantly reduced the passenger numbers. The station was not repaired and the main part of it was closed in 1950, although two platforms continued to operate.
In 1963 Richard Beeching was appointed Chairman of the British Transport Commission with the brief to reduce British Rail spending. He achieved this by announcing extensive cuts in what has become known as the 'Beeching Axe'. Broad Street was one of the stations earmarked for closure. However, local opposition saved the station and it continued running until 1985 when it was finally closed. The Broadgate office development stands on the site.
In 1979 the line between Richmond and Dalston via Gospel Oak became the North London Line, and in 2010 is part of the London Overground network.
A 'Slate Club' was a group who saved money in a common fund towards a specific purpose. For example, a small amount might be paid into the club each week, to be paid back in a lump sum at Christmas. The name derives from the early practice of keeping the accounts on a slate. Such clubs were often run by churches for the benefit of their poorer congregation.
Originally built in 1820 as a Congregationalist chapel called Holland Chapel, the building which was to become Christ Church, North Brixton was taken over as a proprietary chapel by the Reverend F Crossman. It became a Chapel of Ease to Saint Mark's Church, Kennington and when in 1855 Canon McConnell Hussey became its minister, he converted the leasehold land to freehold. He also arranged to have the district formed into a separate parish and to have the church consecrated, reseated and enlarged by the addition of an apse at his own expense. The church was consecrated on 9 October 1855. In 1891 the Reverend W. R Mowll was appointed. He was responsible for the building of a parish hall and the rebuilding of the old church which, dilapidated beyond repair, was closed in 1899 and demolished. The new church was consecrated by the Bishop of Rochester on 5 December 1902.
The details of the foundation of the school are not well understood. It appears that a certain Thomas Johnson left £80 to charity - and the money went to the parish of Christ Church. Then, in 1708, the Bishop of London left another £80 to the Parish. The Rector and Church wardens put these two sums together towards the clothing and education of up to 20 boys in the Parish. Later, 'well disposed persons' between them left £190, which was used with the other money to found a 'free' school in the Parish. Property was 'conveyed' to the Rector and the Church wardens to help 'any further improvements in learning and good education' - though this education was to be based on the principles of the Established Church.
The schools applied to become Public Elementary Schools in September 1857. The original situation of the school buildings was in Green walk (Holland Street), on the north side of Southwark Street. In 1897, the buildings moved across Southwark Street to Bear Lane. In 1901, the boys and girls departments were amalgamated, and the schools were completely reorganised in 1931, in conjunction with Saint Saviour's school.
The Charities derive from the will of George James Cholmondeley, who died in 1830; thereafter action was taken in Chancery ensured that the interests of both family and Charities were safeguarded. The trustees of the Charities were the Archbishops of Canterbury and of York, and the Bishop of London.
Several 'classes' of grant or donation were provided - for postmasterships at Merton College, Oxford, to clergy and to widows and daughters of clergy, for exhibitions for sons of clergy, for apprenticing sons of clergy, for the education of daughters of clergy for teaching, to the Clergy Orphan Corporation to National and Infant Schools and to charitable institutions in London. Allocation of funds to these 'classes', or the range of the 'classes', was varied from time to time by deed under the hands of the trustees.
In 1963 the Charity Commissioners ordered a new scheme with an additional trustee, and in 1965 a further scheme with new trustees - the Corporation of the Sons of the Clergy, founded in the 17th century with similar objectives, with which the Cholmondeley Charities already had a close link. Towards the end of the 19th century the Treasurer of the Cholmondeley Charities had been the Registrar of the Corporation; in 1917 his son succeeded as Treasurer but not as Registrar, and the two administrations were separated. In 1949, however, on the death of the then Treasurer, the Registrar of the Corporation was appointed Treasurer, and on the resignation of the Secretary of the Cholmondeley Charities at the beginning of 1970, the administrations again became one, and the funds merged.
The Cowdray Club was established in 1922 and remained in existence until 1974 when it merged with the Naval and Military Club in Piccadilly. Its original name was The Nation's Nurses and Professional Women's Club Ltd, and its accounts and legal agreements used this name throughout. The First Viscountess Cowdray did much to promote the nursing profession. As Annie Pearson, the wife of Weetmar Dickinson Pearson, a successful engineering contractor (Pearson and Son), her life had taken her to Spain, Mexico, New York, Egypt and Malta. She left her mark in her humane care for her husband's employees and in the gift of Cowdray Hospital to Mexico City. She was a supporter of district nursing, being associated with the Queen's Institute of District Nursing, and active in establishing nursing services in many rural districts of England and Scotland. She provided seven Queen's Nurses at her own expense.
Following the creation of the College of Nursing in 1916, Viscountess Cowdray became involved with fundraising for The Nation's Fund for Nurses for the Creation of a Benevolent Fund for Nurses and the endowment of the College of Nursing. This involvement led to the idea of a gift of a social club for nurses and professional women which "should provide a centre for intercourse and recreation and which should also furnish some of those creature comforts which we associate with the word 'Home'". To this end the Cowdrays purchased 20 Cavendish Square from Mr and Mrs Asquith.
The house was originally built in 1703 and possessed a staircase decorated by Sir James Thornhill. It was converted into a club by Sir Edwin Cooper and later given a new facade after the purchase of neighbouring properties by the College of Nursing in 1928-1930. The building belonged to the College of Nursing and was leased to the club.
The membership of the club was on a basis of 55 per cent nurses, 35 per cent professional women and 10 per cent women without professional qualifications. The College of Nursing had a 50 per cent representation on the council of the club. For much of its existence, the club had over 4,000 members.
The Charity was incorporated by charter dated 1 July 1678, at the instigation of a group of loyalist Anglicans who were concerned to alleviate the lot of needy dependants of Anglican clergy who had suffered for their orthodoxy during the time of the Commonwealth. The incorporation marked a stage in the consolidation of charitable efforts directed to that end, and the primary class to benefit from the activities of the Corporation were the widows of sequestered clergy. Formally named "The Charity for the Relief of poor Widows and Children of Clergymen", the Corporation gradually came to extend its benevolence more widely within that general heading as the years passed.
The popular title "Sons of the Clergy" is an indication of the large proportion of sons of clergymen who were active in the Charity, but also probably shows a sense of "pietas" felt by orthodox laity toward the faithful clergy. The phrase was inherited from the Festival of the Sons of the Clergy.
The Corporation and the Festival: The circle of Anglicans whose efforts led to the incorporation of the Charity had for many years previously been pursuing the aims formulated in the Charter of 1678 by means of the annual Festival of the Sons of the Clergy. This enabled the raising of money at a solemn service, held in a prominent church in the Capital, and a grand feast to follow, at which the liberal benefactions of the wealthy were solicited. The origins of the Festival are obscure, the first extant Sermon preached on such an occasion being dated 1655.
The Festival, with its organisers and administrators, must be regarded as the parent of the Corporation. No doubt practical experience showed the creation of a Corporation to be the best means of ensuring orderliness and continuity in the administration of such a Charity. If the annual benevolence of the Festival attracted offers of endowment by estates, which would yield a regular and permanent income, the creation of a body corporate would be the only way of avoiding the tiresome necessity of continual renewal of trustees to make up for depletions by death. It was just this legal difficulty which led eventually to the vesting in the Corporation of the Sons of the Clergy of a number of private charities with similar objects. One such was Palmer's Charity, which brought the Corporation some lands in rural Holloway; and these with the growth of London, became the Corporation's principal landed estate.
The purchase of estates was, indeed, one of the early concerns of the Charity, once incorporated, and its landed interests eventually came to extend over many parts of England and Wales.
The Festival, with its Stewards and Secretary, and the Corporation, with its Court of Assistants and Registrar, continued as separate, though closely linked, entities, and the same people were often active in both. The funds raised at the Festival were administered separately until in the 1830's they were handed over to the Corporation to administer though still as a separate fund.
The Organisation of the Corporation: The Charter of Incorporation, whose text was copied out at the beginning of more than one Court Book, lays down the organisation of the Charity which it has retained ever since, and which still continues to function. The Corporation consists of a large number of Governors who meet at a General Court held on the second Thursday in each November. The first Governors, men of substance and standing, were nominated by Charter, and all subsequent appointments were made at the General Court.
The Charter also nominated the first Court of Assistants, composed of a President, Vice-President, three Treasurers and 42 Assistants. This court is responsible for the conduct of business of the Charity, it meets at varying intervals throughout the year, and appointments to it lie with the Governors.
At the first meeting of the Court of Assistants on 15th July 1678, choice was made of a Register, later called Registrar, to be the principal permanent official of the Corporation. Unlike the abovementioned officers, the Register received payment for his services, which required legal knowledge, and approximated to the functions of a general secretary and solicitor.
Amongst other minor officials was the Messenger, who convened meetings and probably at times acted as a rent collector. There was never a large staff of permanent officials. Unlike the Messenger, the Registrar still continues to function at the head of the permanent administration.
There seems to have been a permanent accountant at least since 1726, but this official is less easy to trace in the records. Apart from the Treasurers' Accounts, the Ledger of 1771 is the first survivor of any series of financial records. Before 1726 this work seems to have been in the hands of a Committee for Methodizing the Books.
Various Committees were appointed from time to time, but in the 17th and 18th centuries they generally give an impression of informality, and were often appointed ad hoc. It was not until about 1840 that any considerable reorganisation took place within the Corporation, and at that time the three principal permanent Committees of Estates, Finance and Petitions were formed.
The Revd. Ralph Davenant, Rector of Whitechapel, provided for the building and staffing of a school for forty boys and thirty girls in the parish of Whitechapel by a deed of settlement dated 11 June 1680 (ref. A/DAV/I/13) and by his will proved 26 February 1680/81 (PRO ref. PROB 11 365). It was not, however, until 1686 that the trustees obtained a faculty to build a school and school houses on the Lower Burial Ground in Whitechapel.
Over the years the Foundation had a number of benefactors including an unknown woman who gave the sum of £1,000 in 1701. The money was used to buy an estate, Castle Farm at East Tilbury, Essex.
In the early nineteenth century the school was visited by Dr. Andrew Bell, who was famous for his monitorial system. The system was adopted and proved a great success. At the same time it was felt that there was a need for a public school for the education of the poor of the area. This school, known as the Whitechapel Society's School, was founded in 1813 and also built on part of the Lower Burial Ground.
By the mid nineteenth century there was a need felt for more advanced education than that provided by Davenant's School or the Whitechapel Society's School. In 1854 an Order was made under which the charities known as the Whitechapel Charities were to be appropriated and used for another charitable purpose, the establishment of The Whitechapel Foundation Commercial School. Among these charities was that of Thomas Holbrook (1644). The school opened in Leman Street in 1858 and was very successful.
In 1888 a revised scheme for the administration of the Whitechapel Charities and Davenant's Foundation was published by the Charity Commission. A secondary school for boys, the Foundation School, was to be provided and three elementary schools for boys, girls and infants, to be known as the Davenant Schools. The latter continued under the School Board for London and LCC Education Committee until the Second World War. They were not reopened after the War and finally closed in 1950.
The new building for the Foundation School was completed in 1896 but an extension was soon needed and a new wing was built in 1909. The school acquired a high reputation especially in the teaching of modern foreign languages. In 1930 the school celebrated the 250th anniversary of the Foundation and the name was officially changed from Whitechapel Foundation School to Davenant Foundation School. There was an increase in the numbers on the roll at this time and the Governors wished to improve their existing buildings rather than move to a new site. The outbreak of war brought these negotiations to a close.
The school was evacuated to Chatteris in the Fens and remained there throughout the war. When the school returned to London work started on rebuilding the Whitechapel premises which had been badly damaged. Following the Education Act 1944 the school applied for and was granted the status of a voluntary aided grammar school, an earlier application for direct grant status having been rejected. In 1956 the Ministry of Education suggested that the school should be transferred to another area where there was need of a grammar school. It was decided to move to Essex as nearly half the pupils were from that county. A site was chosen close to the LCC housing estate at Debden and despite objections permission was eventually granted in 1960. The school moved to Essex in 1965 and the new building was officially opened in 1966.
Further research might perhaps establish links with other philanthropic Societies of the time, but the Association does not seem to be recorded in London Charities, 1871-72.
The Foundling Hospital was established by Royal Charter on 17 October 1739 by Thomas Coram as a refuge for abandoned children. Its creation in the eighteenth century was unique, and even 120 years later the Hospital was the only institution for the admission of illegitimate children listed in a 1863 charities directory for London.
Returning to Britain in 1719 after establishing a shipwright's business in America, Coram was appalled at the numbers of dead and dying babies he saw in the streets of London, and the failure of the establishment to care for these children. Foundling (i.e. illegitimate) children had been cared for at Christ's Hospital from its foundation in 1552, but a decision to admit only legitimate orphans was taken in 1676. From this date onwards, therefore, the only option for illegitimate children was to be placed in a parish poorhouse, where extremely high mortality rates prevailed and childcare facilities were non-existent. Coram campaigned for twenty years in order to gain support for his scheme. A major difficulty was overcoming widespread prejudice towards illegitimacy, but he managed to enlist the support of many leading members of the aristocracy, the city, the arts and the sciences by a series of petitions to which they signed their names.
The first temporary location of the Hospital was a house in Hatton Gardens, children being admitted there from March 1741 onwards. The following year the foundation stone of the new Hospital was laid on land acquired from the Earl of Salisbury in Lamb's Conduit Fields, Bloomsbury, an as yet undeveloped area beyond the city. The Hospital was designed by Theodore Jacobsen as a plain brick building with two wings and a chapel, built around an open courtyard. By 1747 work had begun on the Chapel. Although not completed until 1753, it was in use before that date, most notably on 1 May 1750 when George Frederick Handel, a patron of the Hospital, directed a performance of the Oratorio 'Messiah' to mark the presentation of the organ to the Chapel. The Hospital received a great deal of patronage from the arts. The painter William Hogarth, a governor of the Hospital, decided to set up an art exhibition in the court room of the new buildings, encouraging other artists to produce work for the Hospital. As a consequence, by the late eighteenth Century the Hospital had become a fashionable place to visit.
Admission to the Hospital was initially restricted because of the lack of funds. Infants were to be less than two months old and in good health to qualify for entry, and admissions were made on a first come first served basis. Once a child had been accepted he or she was baptised and thereby given a new name. The child was then boarded out to a dry or wet nurse in the country. These nurses were mostly in the Home Counties but could be as far away as West Yorkshire or Shropshire. The nurses were monitored by voluntary inspectors. On reaching 3 years of age, the child was returned to the Hospital to receive basic schooling and he or she would remain there until apprenticed out to trades or service, or enlisted in the armed forces.
In 1742 the numbers of mothers bringing children to the Hospital was so great and the admissions procedure so disorderly that it was decided to adopt a ballot system to decide which children were admitted. By 1756 the Hospital was forced to ask Parliament for funds. As a consquence for the next four years the Hospital functioned as a quasi-public body receiving government support. In return for that support, however, the Governors were obliged to accept every child presented to them. A number of branch hospitals were established to cope with the large number of children received during this period of 'indiscriminate admission' (1756-1760). These were in Aylesbury, Barnet, Westerham, Ackworth, Chester and Shrewsbury and records survive in the collections for these hospitals, particularly Ackworth Hospital.
In 1760 the period of indiscriminate admission was ended when Parliament withdrew its support and the Hospital was forced to temporarily stop admitting children. When admissions resumed a new system was adopted which involved mothers submitting written petitions to the Hospital which were then assessed by committee. This petition system formed the basis of all subsequent admissions to the Hospital and the survival of these petitions in the collection provides a valuable insight into the backgrounds and circumstances of the mothers. Although the Hospital had been set up primarily for the care of illegitimate children, the Governors also began to accept children of soldiers killed in war.
The administration of the Hospital remained largely unchanged until 1926 when the buildings and surrounding estate were sold for £1,650,000. Throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the area around the Hospital had been transformed. In 1780s the Hospital had decided to lease out its land to developers who proceeded to build squares, streets, and town houses (the rent from which provided the Hospital with much needed regular income). By 1920s, and in keeping with the trend to move schools and institutions outside of central London to healthier environments, it was felt that the proceeds of selling the estate would secure financially the continued work of the Hospital. Accordingly the estate was sold, the Hospital buildings were pulled down and the children moved to temporary premises at Saint Anne's Schools, Redhill, Surrey, until a new site was found for them at Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire. When the new school opened in 1935, the Governors decided that it should be named Thomas Coram School, and the title Foundling Hospital was dropped.
The Hospital did not lose its connection with the Bloomsbury site for long, however. The site had been bought by a property speculator, James White, who intended to transfer Covent Garden Market there. He was forced to abandoned this plan due to strong local opposition, and with the assistance of Lord Rothermere, three-quarters of the site was purchased from him to form a children's playground for the locality. This became known as Coram's Fields. The remaining quarter was re-purchased by the Foundling Hospital and became their headquarters at 40 Brunswick Square. Some of the internal fittings saved from the old Hospital buildings were transferred to the new offices, as were the Foundling art collections.
It soon became evident that the income from investing the proceeds of the sale was surplus to the requirements of the Hospital and decisions were made to broaden the work of the charity by assisting kindred voluntary organisations, most notably the Cross Road Club (a home for mothers and babies), the Foundling Site Nurseries (residential and day care centres) and Saint Leonards Nursery School. Records relating to these institutions can be found in the collection.
In 1954 the Governors, influenced by trends towards non-institutional forms of caring for children, disposed of the school at Berkhamsted (now known as Ashlyn's School), transferring it to Hertfordshire County Council, and returned children to their foster homes. It was felt that the children would benefit from a more conventional home life, attending local schools and mixing with other children. In 1953 the organisation changed its name to the Thomas Coram Foundation for Children, reflecting these developments. More recently the charity has been renamed Coram Family. It is still dedicated to working with deprived and disadvantaged children, providing adoption and foster care services, and promoting research into child welfare.
In January 1874 the majority of the council of the Working Women's College, then in Queen's Square, London, resolved to throw open the college to men as well as women. Some members of the council 'unwilling to see the only institution in London, devoted exclusively to the improvement and culture of working women, closed to many of them', resolved to establish a separate college where they could continue to carry out the aim of supplying to working women higher education than had been generally within their reach. The appeal they launched met with such a warm response that in October 1874 the college for working women was opened at 5 Fitzroy Street under the chairmanship of Dr John Storrar. Here the college remained until 1879 when it moved to number 7, which was to be its home for the next 78 years.
In very great measure the foundation of the College for Working Women was due to the inspiration of Miss Frances Martin who served it as one of its honorary secretaries from 1874 until 1920, and then as president for the remaining 2 years of her life. She died in 1922 aged 93. In order to perpetuate the memory of its foundress the college was renamed in 1927 the Frances Martin College.
In 1957 the lease of 7 Fitzroy Street expired and, the search for suitable alternative premises having proved unavailing, the working men's college came to the rescue, offering accommodation in their own building in Crowndale Road, NW1. The offer was gladly accepted.
The circle of Anglicans whose efforts led to the incorporation of the Corporation of the Sons of the Clergy charity had for many years previously been pursuing the aims formulated in the Charter of 1678 by means of the annual Festival of the Sons of the Clergy. This enabled the raising of money at a solemn service, held in a prominent church in the Capital, and a grand feast to follow, at which the liberal benefactions of the wealthy were solicited. The origins of the Festival are obscure, the first extant Sermon preached on such an occasion being dated 1655.
The Festival, with its organisers and administrators, must be regarded as the parent of the Corporation. No doubt practical experience showed the creation of a Corporation to be the best means of ensuring orderliness and continuity in the administration of such a Charity. If the annual benevolence of the Festival attracted offers of endowment by estates, which would yield a regular and permanent income, the creation of a body corporate would be the only way of avoiding the tiresome necessity of continual renewal of trustees to make up for depletions by death.
The Festival, with its Stewards and Secretary, and the Corporation, with its Court of Assistants and Registrar, continued as separate, though closely linked, entities, and the same people were often active in both. The funds raised at the Festival were administered separately until in the 1830's they were handed over to the Corporation to administer though still as a separate fund.
The Society for Organising Charitable Relief and Repressing Mendicity was founded in 1869. It was more commonly known by its short title, the Charity Organisation Society (COS). It was later known as the Family Welfare Association. Its formation arose out of concern over overlapping charities in London, whose activities, it was feared, led to pauperisation and a waste of resources. Its founders sought to promote a more scientific approach to charity based on the principle that relief should only be given after a thorough investigation of the applicant's circumstances and character and that relief should be sufficient to prevent him becoming a pauper. Its objects included promotion of co-operation between charitable agencies and Poor Law authorities.
In the 20th century the COS played a major role in pioneering the proper training of social workers and in the development of social work as a profession. It was responsible for the appointment of the first hospital almoner at the Royal Free Hospital in 1895. The Council appointed a Committee on Training in 1897 and arranged a series of lectures which district secretaries on probation were expected to attend. In 1903 the School of Sociology was opened as an offshoot of the COS, although an independent body; it decided to merge with the London School of Economics in 1912. In 1915 the COS began its own twelve-month course of training in social work in conjunction with Bedford College. It also provided practical experience for students from other courses. Consequently the work of the district offices became increasingly dominated by salaried professional social workers and the role of the volunteer decreased in importance. The COS also played an important role in the setting up of Citizens' Advice Bureaux (CAB), an idea developed in response to the numbers of people seeking guidance and advice during the Munich Crisis in 1938. The London Council of Social Service and the COS jointly established some 80 CAB in London by the outbreak of war in 1939. Each bureau was autonomous, with a local management committee, and there was a national central committee. The COS was responsible for the CAB in inner London. They proved so useful that the service was continued after the end of the war. In 1946 the COS was renamed the Family Welfare Association (FWA) to reflect its changed role and to emphasise its principal function as a family casework agency.
Shirley Fielding Palmer founded the Guild of Saint Alban the Martyr in 1851, probably inspired by Newman's suggestion that laymen should assist clergy in densely populated areas. It was formed from lay communicants, clergy being admitted as associates, and aimed to assist them in maintaining and extending the Catholic faith, to defend the faith against attacks of error and unbelief and to support the independence of the English Church from the jurisdiction claimed by the Church of Rome. Within the Guild were grades of fellows and brethren and an order of Sisters of the Poor. The brotherhood was divided into sections forming separate brotherhoods under the superintendence of a master e.g. the Brotherhood of Saint John the Divine, Clapham.
Until 1945 Hornchurch was part of the Romford parliamentary constituency. The party for the Hornchurch Urban District Council area was the Hornchurch Central Labour Party, which sent delegates to the Romford Divisional Labour Party. In 1945 Romford was split into the Barking, Dagenham, Romford and Hornchurch parliamentary constituencies, and on 15 March 1945, Hornchurch Divisional Labour Party was formed. Hornchurch Constituency Labour Party is an alternative title for this body. As a result of the redistribution of parliamentary boundaries in 1969, the Hornchurch Constituency Labour Party ceased to exist in March 1971. Its successor was the Havering-Hornchurch Constituency Labour Party.
Until 1945 Hornchurch was part of the Romford parliamentary constituency. The party for the Hornchurch Urban District Council area was the Hornchurch Central Labour Party, which sent delegates to the Romford Divisional Labour Party. In 1945 Romford was split into the Barking, Dagenham, Romford and Hornchurch parliamentary constituencies, and on 15 March 1945, Hornchurch Divisional Labour Party was formed. Hornchurch Constituency Labour Party is an alternative title for this body. As a result of the redistribution of parliamentary boundaries in 1969, the Hornchurch Constituency Labour Party ceased to exist in March 1971. Its successor was the Havering-Hornchurch Constituency Labour Party. The constituency of Hornchurch was abolished in 2010, and was replaced by the new seats of Hornchurch and Upminster and Dagenham and Rainham.
In 1627 John Marshall, a gentleman resident in Axe Yard (now Newcomen Street), Southwark, left property in trust for various charities, including the erection of a new church. This was to be called Christ Church, and was to be built in a part of Saint Saviour's Parish in which the population had increased significantly. Money was also left to pay for a minister, provide university scholarships for poor Southwark students, and hold a weekly lecture. Instructions were given that the remainder of the money should be used for "the Mayntenance and Continuance of the sincere preaching of God's most holie Word in this Land for ever". Under this section of the will the Charity made grants to poor clergy and now contributes grants towards the provision of housing for the clergy.
The 1855 Marshall's Charity Act allowed the Trustees greater freedoms, including the right to make grants towards the construction of new churches. A later Charity Commission Scheme gave them the power to make grants towards the restoration and repair of existing churches in Kent, Surrey or Lincolnshire.
For more information see the charity website at http://www.marshalls.org.uk/history.html (accessed July 2010).
The King's Fund was established in 1897 as the Prince of Wales Hospital Fund for London for the purpose of raising money for the Voluntary Hospitals within a seven mile radius from Charing Cross. A letter by the Prince of Wales was published in 'The Times' on 6 February 1897 inviting subscriptions in celebration of the 60th anniversary of the reign of Queen Victoria.
The first distribution of grants by the Fund took place in 1897/1898 and amounted to £57,000 however, it was the intention of the Prince and the founding members of the first General Council that the Fund woud become a permanent body with sufficient captial to produce an annual income for distribution. On 1 January 1902 the Fund was renamed King Edward's Hospital Fund for London and in 1907 the Fund was incorporated by an Act of Parliament.
As the amount available for distribution grew so did the remit of the Fund. The initial seven mile limit from Charing Cross was extended in 1924 to nine miles and in 1940 to the whole of the Metropolitan Region. The Fund also began to include Convescent Homes in its annual distributions.
Thanks to its financial success, the Fund soon began to have a considerable influence on the work and administration of the London voluntary hospitals and its activities soon diversified into inspecting hospitals and encouraging a more rational distribution of health services across the growing expanse of the city, for example they were instrumental in the move of King's College Hospital to Camberwell, South London. The King's Fund also began to undertake a number of pan-London roles, for example by opening and operating a service of emergency admissions to hospitals and encouraging combined fund raising appeals. The Fund as part of the conditions of its grants required hospitals to submit particulars of their accounts and this led to the introduction of a uniform system of hosptial accounts. They also began to be the representing body of the voluntary hospitals in debates about health and welfare policy.
At the end of the First World War many voluntary hospitals were in considerable difficulty owing to lack of resources. A Hospital Commission was set up for the country to administer a government grant, with King Edward's Fund acting as the coordinating body for the London area. As a result, the Fund overhauled its own constitution into five main committees, Finance, Distribution, Hospital Economy, Revenue and Management. Several special committees were established in the 1920s to investigate various matters, including pensions schemes for nurses and hospital staff, provision of ambulances, and for road casualties.
The establishment of the National Health Service (NHS) in 1948 led to a reappraisal of the work of the King's Fund. Instead of giving maintenance grants to the now tax-funded health service, it concentrated its resources on developing good practice in the NHS and opened a number of new services to provide training, learning and sharing opportunities for NHS staff including the Division of Hospital Facilities (opened 1948, became The Hospital Centre), the College for Ward Sisters (opened 1949), the Catering Advisory Service (opened 1950), th Hospital Administrative Staff College and the School of Hospital Catering (opened 1951) and the Staff College for Matrons (1953). The Fund's colleges were amalgamated in 1968 to become the 'King's Fund College' and in 1997 a change and leadership centre was established. Leadership development is still continued under the Leadership and Development Team.
Post NHS the Fund also became the home of numerous development projects to improve the quality of health care and opened a specialist health services library in Camden Town. The range of projects ranged enormously from investigations into the use of disposal goods in hospital wards through to the investigation into the design of the hospital bed-stead in the 1960s. In the 1980s, the King's Fund established a unit to analyse health policy issues and a service offering organisational audit to health services. It was also in this era that the Fund widened the scope of its activities to look at social care and public health becoming an influential organisation in health policy, pioneering the development of patient choice in the NHS, of partnerships between health and social care, and of the arts in health. It also began working to tackle health inequalities in London working with the Greater London Authority and other health agencies as well as continuing its work analysing national health policy and developing new ways of working in the NHS and social care services.
In 2008 the Fund was granted a Royal Charter which in effect gave a new set of governance arrangements, which include a modern version of the original objectives. Allowing the Fund to remain an independent and expert body able to exercise influence and use ideas to change health care.
The 1820's saw the foundation of two schools at the Oval, Kennington. After raising the necessary voluntary subscriptions, the boys' school opened at the end of 1824 and the girls' school in the spring of 1825. The name proposed for the schools was the Kennington and South Lambeth National School, but they were soon referred to as the National Schools or District Schools, even the Oval Schools. In reflection of the close links with Saint Mark's Church, the name was later changed to Saint Mark Kennington Schools. The school is now known as Saint Mark's CE Primary School.
The Kensington Welfare Association was a local branch of the London Diocesan Council for Welcare.
The London Diocesan Council for Penitentiary, Rescue and Preventative Work was founded by the Diocesan Conference of 1889 at the suggestion of Bishop Frederick Temple. There already existed numerous homes and refuges for 'fallen women' and 'endangered girls', including the Diocesan Penitentiaries at Fulham and Highgate, the Women's Mission to the Fallen, the Men's League for the Rescue of Harlots, the Lady Guardians' Committee helping unmarried mothers in workhouses and the Metropolitan Association for Befriending Young Servants carrying out preventative work with domestic staff. Much of the initial work of the Council was to achieve some sort of co-ordination of these different organisations. An office was established in Church House, Westminster, and a secretary was hired. The rapid expansion of the Council, from ten homes in 1893 to fifty homes and twenty-four local societies in 1900, was largely owing to the work of the Ladies' Committee.
The homes included Saint Mary's Home for younger girls in Bourdon Street, run by the Sisters of Saint Peter, which became known for innovation in the matter of general education and constructive practical training. The Blue Lamp Refuge, established in the 1890s, was open 24 hours, offering a place of safety for local prostitutes. In 1901 Saint Agnes House was opened as a training house for the Council's workers.
The Council also worked with men, through the Men's Committee. The main emphasis of their work was education in personal and public morality through lectures, sermons and the distribution of literature. Some of their pamphlets were described in annual reports as requiring 'the most delicate consideration', implying that they addressed matters of sexual behaviour. The First World War increased the work of the Committee and they lectured in military camps. However, after the war the Committee was disbanded and the work continued by another organisation, the White Cross League.
After the First World War the Council found itself in a poor financial situation, necessitating a move of offices, to Little Grosvenor Street, and the redundancy of their secretary. In addition the workers felt a growing feeling of depression, finding the girls increasingly difficult to influence. Generous but grants from the Ministry of Health for their 'voluntary maternity and child welfare services' helped to tide over this awkward period. The emphasis and balance of the work slowly changed, with fewer, but better, homes and more outside workers, some based in maternity hospitals and venereal disease hospitals, befriending and providing after-care for patients. Inter-diocese co-operation increased and regular meetings were held for the exchange of ideas, including the formation of the London and Southwark Diocesan Moral Education Committee. Work with prostitutes was gradually decreased, as the Women Police were seen to be undertaking this work. However, a drive for better sex education for both sexes was begun, with literature distributed and lectures held.
The Second World War brought problems for the Council, as several homes were destroyed by bombing and its workers were called away to war-work. This coincided with an increase in the number of illegitimate children. This led to a change in policy. Where previously the mother's right to keep the child and the father's duty to maintain it were stressed, more thought was now given to the welfare and future of the baby, which meant that where appropriate adoption was encouraged.
In 1943 the Ministry of Health placed statutory obligations on local authorities to provide for unmarried mothers and children. The Council therefore became more closely united with welfare services. Regular grants were paid by the London County Council, whilst the Diocesan Council made strenuous efforts to increase its own private income, firstly through the Women's Offering Fund and then through a periodical contribution according to the Diocesan quota.
The Council changed its name to the 'London Diocesan Association for Moral Welfare', in the 1970s changing it again, to the 'London Diocesan Council for Welcare'.
The 'London Aged Christian Society for the permanent relief of the decidedly Christian poor of both sexes, who have attained sixty years and who reside within seven miles of Saint Pauls Cathedral' was founded in 1826 at a provisional meeting held at 32 Sackville Street, at the 'Religious and Charitable Societies House' by a group of men 'in consequence of the great interest that has lately been excited at the Western part of the Metropolis on behalf of the aged Christian poor' (A/LAC/1/1).
The group consisted of William Newman, a grocer and tea-dealer of 21 Cockspur Street; William Adeney, a tailor of 16 Sackville Street (for many years the sub-treasurer); Mr Palmer and Benjamin Palmer upholsterers of 175 Piccadilly; Edward Swaine, a whip maker of 224 Piccadilly and Richard Sawyer, an engraver of 43 Dean Street.
The Earl of Rocksavage (later Marquess of Cholmondeley) was the first president and continued in office until his death in 1870. At the second meeting Henry Drummond was proposed as Treasurer and began a long association with Drummonds Bank.
Two committees were established, the main (gentlemen's) committee and a ladies committee. Members of the former were 'monthly to visit and relive the poor pensioners in their own habitations', such members were known as almoners (A/LAC/1/1), while members of the ladies committee visited and interviewed applicants, who, if approved, went on the gentlemen's rotas. The ladies were known as visitors. Subscribers were entitled to recommend pensioners. In 1892 the two committees were amalgamated.
The principle, which was enunciated at every annual general or anniversary meeting was a 'deep sense of the Scriptual obligation to do good especially to those who are of the household of faith'.
For many years the Society relied on the support of individual contributors but from 1854 to 1888 West Street Episcopal Chapel maintained an association in aid of the Society's funds and in the Society made its first public appeal. The Society welcomed the Old Age Pensions Act in 1909 but maintained its belief that there was still a need for its work. In 1885 the idea of an almshouse was first proposed and the provision and maintenance of almshouses became a large part of the Society's work.
In 1913 the Society left 32 Sackville Street for Denson House in Vauxhall and is now to be found with the Field Lane Foundation at Vine Hill.
The association began life as the Saint James Society in 1824, as its early meetings were held at Saint James Clerkenwell. In 1903 it expanded and became known as the London County Association of Change Ringers. In 1911 the association formed separate Northern and Southern Districts with separate officers but responsible to the overall association via its General Body officers and meetings - this situation lasted until World War II when the district operation was suspended. In 1929 the association had 'North Southwark Diocesan Guild' added to its title, but this was dropped in the early 1970s, and the title altered to London County Association of Church Bell Ringers.
The London Chess Club was founded in 1807, and held meetings in Tom's Coffee House in Cornhill, City of London. It was possibly replaced in 1852 by the City of London Chess Club.
The London Dispensary was founded in 1777 for the provision of free medicines and healthcare. It was at first situated in Primrose Street, Bishopsgate, but moved to Artillery Lane and then to No. 27 Fournier Street, where it remained between 1828 and 1946. It served Spitalfields, Mile End, Whitechapel, Shoreditch, Norton Folgate and Bethnal Green.
In 1809 sermons were preached to raise money for the Dispensary, these noted that since 1777 nearly 99,000 patients had been seen. A letter of recommendation from a governor was needed in order to see one of the doctors. When a patient was cured they had to send an official letter of thanks to the governor who recommended them, otherwise they would not be allowed further treatment.
The Dispensary was closed in 1946 when the National Health Service was created. Remaining funds were given to the Mildmay Mission Hospital.
From: 'The Wood-Michell estate: Fournier Street', Survey of London: volume 27: Spitalfields and Mile End New Town (1957), pp. 199-225.