Emmanuel Congregational Church was built in 1877 on Barry Road, East Dulwich. At first it was only a temporary iron structure but a stone church was constructed in 1891. The iron chapel was used as a Sunday School until 1989 when it was replaced by a hall. The Church was sold in 1972 when the Presbyterian and Congregational Churches merged to form the United Reformed Church. The hall was renovated and reopened as Christ Church in 1988.
Hare Court Congregational Church was founded in 1688 in Hare Court, off Aldersgate in the Copyright: City of London. In 1857 the church was moved to Saint Paul's Road, Canonbury. It is now Harecourt United Reformed Church.
New Court, one of the earliest nonconformist chapels in London, dates from 1662 when under the Act of Uniformity Doctor Thomas Manton was ejected from the church of Saint Paul's, Covent Garden. He established himself as a nonconformist minister in a chapel built for him in Bridges Street in the same parish. The church remained there until 1682 when as a result of the Five Mile Act it was forced to close due to the imprisonment of its minister, Richard Baxter. James II's Declaration of Indulgence in 1687 enabled another nonconformist minister, Daniel Burgess, to re-open the chapel and after nine years the congregation moved to more substantial premises in Russell Court, Drury Lane, to a building between an old burial ground and the theatre.
On the expiry of the lease in 1705 another move was necessary and a new building was erected in New Court, Carey Street. The congregation remained there for over a hundred and fifty years and as a result the chapel thereafter was known as New Court Chapel.
While at Carey Street the chapel was attacked by a mob supporting Doctor Sachaverell, a high church fanatic who had preached a libellous sermon against dissenters, and this caused it to close for a short time. It was also during this period that New Court was specified as being a Congregational chapel for the first time. Until then the differences between the Presbyterians and Congregationalists had not been well defined. Thomas Bradbury, a minister who had come to New Court from a nearby nonconformist church at Fetter Lane, stipulated that the chapel should be run on the Congregational model.
The extension of the Law Courts in 1866 forced the congregation to move again and a new church was built at Tollington Park. Mission premises at Lennox Road were acquired in the 1880s. The Tollington Park premises were sold to the Roman Catholic church in 1959 (it is now Saint Mellitus Roman Catholic Church). The congregation moved to new premises on Regina Road in 1961 where it remained until its closure in 1976.
The Streatham Hill Union Chapel was built in 1829 on Brixton Hill; this was a union of Anglican and dissenting congregations under the Reverend J. Hunt. The union was an uneasy one and in 1837 the Anglicans decamped to found Christ Church, Roupell Park; while in 1840 the Baptists established the new Salem Chapel in New Park Road, leaving the Chapel to the Congregationalists.
In 1850 the Reverend Hunt was persuaded to leave, and under the new ministry of Reverend John Hall the Streatham Hill Congregational Church emerged. In 1871 the old chapel was demolished and replaced by the present church; the school and hall were built in 1878. In 1972 the church became a congregation of the United Reformed Church with the name Brixton Hill United Reformed Church.
Balham Congregational Church was situated on Balham High Road, Balham, Wandsworth. It was founded in 1879.
As a result of missionary activity from Woodford Congregational Church, Horn Lane, a chapel was erected in Globe Road, near Ray Lodge, in 1865. From 1886 onwards a resident minister was appointed. In 1900 a new, Gothic church, designed by F. Boreham, and costing £3,500, was built in Snakes Lane East, near the chapel, which remained in use as a mission-room until its purchase by the New Apostolic church. An institute was added in 1920. In 1930 Ray Lodge Congregational church became independent of the parent church at Woodford. It is now part of Ray Lodge United Reformed Church.
Source: A History of the County of Essex: Volume 6 (1973), pp. 352-358.
The Algernon Road Congregational Church, Loampit Vale, Lewisham, was founded in 1887. It seated 150 and was part of the London Congregational Union Riverside District. In 1972 it joined the United Reformed Church on the merger of the Congregational and Presbyterian Churches.
The Lewisham High Road Congregational Church, Brockley, was founded in 1842.
The Congregationalists are said to have founded a congregation in a private house in 1909 although increased numbers eventually led to their renting a hall. The church building in Villiers Road was registered in 1913. This was an iron building given by the friends of Penge (Kent) Congregational Church. A more permanent building was erected adjoining it and registered in 1932.
From: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 4: Harmondsworth, Hayes, Norwood with Southall, Hillingdon with Uxbridge, Ickenham, Northolt, Perivale, Ruislip, Edgware, Harrow with Pinner (1971), pp. 52-53.
Upper Clapton Congregational Church on Upper Clapton Road was founded in 1815. When the Congregational and Presbyterian Churches merged in 1972, it became Upper Clapton United Reformed Church.
The congregation of Harlesden Congregational Church met in a constitutional hall in Saint Mary's Road, Harlesden before the foundation stone of the chapel was laid at the corner of Church and West Ella roads in 1899. The Chapel and an adjoining lecture hall were registered in 1901. Declining numbers led to the leasing of the chapel to a film company in around 1962; the congregation held services in the hall.
From: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 7: Acton, Chiswick, Ealing and Brentford, West Twyford, Willesden (1982), pp. 242-246.
Wood Green Congregational Church was registered in 1864, three years after meetings had started in schoolrooms nearby. The building, the first permanent nonconformist church to serve the new houses of Wood Green, was estimated to hold 500 and in 1873 was criticized as too large. It was classical in style, with roundheaded doors and windows, pilasters, and a pedimented front facing Lordship Lane at the corner of Redvers Road. The congregation was united with Harringay Congregational church in 1964, whereupon the Wood Green Church building was acquired by the local authority as an arts centre.
From: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 5: Hendon, Kingsbury, Great Stanmore, Little Stanmore, Edmonton Enfield, Monken Hadley, South Mimms, Tottenham (1976), pp. 356-364.
At Lancaster Road an iron church was used from 1880 until a permanent building was opened by Christ Church in 1885. In 1909 a Congregational Institute was built near by in Armfield Road and services were held there, while the building in Lancaster Road became a hall. In 1917 the congregation separated from Christ Church, under the name of Armfield Road Congregational church, but in 1937 the building in Lancaster Road was reoccupied and enlarged and in 1938 it was rededicated as Lancaster Road Congregational Church.
From: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 5: Hendon, Kingsbury, Great Stanmore, Little Stanmore, Edmonton Enfield, Monken Hadley, South Mimms, Tottenham (1976), pp. 250-253.
Alexandra Park (Whitefield Memorial) Congregational Church was founded by Congregationalists who first met at the house of Doctor Mailer in Alexandra Park Road. Many, before moving to the new suburb, had worshipped at the Whitefield Tabernacle in Leonard Street, Finsbury. A building east of the corner with Albert Road was opened in 1907 and members of the Finsbury Tabernacle automatically became members of the new church, which at first was called Whitefield Tabernacle but was recertified as Alexandra Park Congregational Church in 1922. The church, of red brick with stone dressings, had seating for 550 in 1972. A two-storey brick hall was built on the north side in 1932 and a lower hall was added to the back in 1965.
From: A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 5: Hendon, Kingsbury, Great Stanmore, Little Stanmore, Edmonton Enfield, Monken Hadley, South Mimms, Tottenham (1976), pp. 356-364.
The Old Gravel Pit meeting house, Chatham Place, was built in 1715 by Presbyterians from the Mare Street meeting following a disputed ministerial appointment. In 1811 the lease was taken over by a Congregational church which had been formed in 1804 and had been meeting in a hall at Homerton College. In 1869 the congregation ordered a new building on Lower Clapton Road. A large stone church was designed by Henry Fuller in a Romanesque style; it was ready in 1872. The church was renamed 'Clapton Park Congregational Church'. It is now Clapton Park United Reformed Church.
The Ebenezer Chapel, King Street, Hammersmith, was founded in 1774 although the chapel was not ready until 1784. In 1855 the congregation moved to the Albion Congregational Church, Dalling Road, Hammersmith. The church subsequently closed and is now occupied by the Salvation Army.
The Horbury Congregational Chapel was constructed in 1848-1849 to designs by architect J Tarring, situated on the junction of Ladbroke Road and Kensington Park Road. The Chapel was an offshoot of the Congregational Church on Hornton Street. The Chapel closed in 1935 and was renamed Kensington Temple, owned first by the Church of the Foursquare Gospel and then by the Elim Pentecostal Church.
Harley Street Congregational Chapel, Bow, was founded in 1836. In 1903 it had 363 members and 450 students in the Sunday School. The chapel was closed in 1927 and converted into the Mile End and Bow Great Synagogue.
The New Tabernacle Congregational Church, Old Street, was founded in 1832. It was called the 'new' Tabernacle church to distinguish it from the Methodist Tabernacle at nearby Moorfields, which had been founded in 1732. it was closed in 1950.
Hoxton Academy was a training school for Congregational ministers, founded in 1782. The school moved to the Hoxton premises in 1791 and remained there until moving to Highbury in 1826 and becoming Highbury College. The Hoxton Academy Chapel was a mission church founded by the New Tabernacle Church.
Bedford Park Congregational Church was situated in Streatham. It was founded in 1885.
The Craven Chapel was opened in 1822 on part of the site of the former Carnaby Market. The project was financed by Thomas Wilson, a retired merchant who from 1799 onwards had devoted himself to the building and repair of Congregational chapels. Wilson particularly wished to open a chapel in the Westminster area, and in 1821 he obtained a site from Lord Craven. The foundation stone of the chapel was laid in March 1822 and the building was opened for worship on 11 December 1822.
A Congregational church was formed on 25 April 1823, but no permanent minister was called and for the next eight years the congregation was served by visiting preachers. In May 1831 the Reverend John Leifchild was appointed as minister of the chapel. During his ministry the Craven Chapel attracted a large congregation, many of the members living 'scattered over half London'. Leifchild retired in 1854, but the congregation appears to have remained fairly numerous under his immediate successors, for early in 1874 a lecture hall and schools were opened on the north side of Foubert's Place. These were planned to replace the basement school-rooms which were part of the original chapel plan. Work was begun in the spring of 1873.
By 1894, however, the congregation seems to have felt that it could no longer continue in the area and the leases of both the Craven Chapel and Craven Hall were assigned to the West London Mission of the Methodist Church. Four years later the lease of the chapel expired, and the building was converted into a stable for the Lion brewery in Broad(wick) Street. In 1907 the West London Mission sold the lease of the hall to Messrs. Liberty. The hall is now used as a warehouse, and the chapel for industrial purposes.
From: 'Marshall Street Area', Survey of London: volumes 31 and 32: St James Westminster, Part 2 (1963), pp. 196-208.
Fetter Lane Congregational Church was founded in 1660 on Fetter Lane, near High Holborn and Chancery Lane in the City of London. In 1894 falling membership forced a move to Leyton, where the church merged with an existing congregation worshipping in a temporary iron church. A new permanent church was constructed in 1899 on Langthorne Road, in a 17th century style which recalled the original Fetter Lane Chapel. The name Fetter Lane Congregational Church was adopted for the Leyton church. It is now a United Reformed Church.
The New Broad Street Congregational Meeting House was founded in 1727. New Broad Street is situated in the City of London, near Finsbury Circus.
The Canning Town Congregational Church, Barking Road, originated in 1855, in services conducted at Plaistow Marsh by Thomas Perfect, who had been converted at Brickfields by Robert Ferguson. Although lacking formal training, he served successfully as pastor until he retired in 1884. In 1860 a small chapel was built in Swanscombe Street. This was superseded in 1868 when a new building was erected in Barking Road, Plaistow, but remained in use as a mission hall. Another mission hall was maintained at North Woolwich from about 1879 to 1907. Under F. W. Newland the Mansfield House university settlement became closely associated with the church, its boys' club being centred at the Swanscombe Street hall, which was rebuilt in 1891. The Canning Town church reached its peak membership of 261 in 1902. F. W. Piper devised a scheme to unite under his superintendency most of the Congregational churches in the area, as the South West Ham mission. Canning Town, Victoria Docks, and their missions came together in 1906, and were joined in 1909 by Greengate. The object of the mission was to ensure pastoral care for churches too poor to support separate ministers, but the traditions of independence were too strong: Greengate left the union in 1914 and Victoria Docks in 1917. Canning Town continued to call itself the South West Ham mission until 1923. All its buildings were badly damaged in the Second World War. Swanscombe Street, wrecked in 1940, was later demolished. The Barking Road church, twice bombed, was derelict from 1941. Its dwindling congregation continued to meet elsewhere in various borrowed premises, under the leadership of Mrs. M. Angel, widow of a former minister. Through her efforts a smaller church, opened in 1949, was erected on the foundations of the old one. She died in 1959 and the church closed almost immediately.
From: 'West Ham: Roman Catholicism, Nonconformity and Judaism', A History of the County of Essex: Volume 6 (1973), pp. 123-141.
Turnham Green or Gunnersbury Congregational church originated in meetings held in a lecture hall from 1873. The Hall burnt down in 1875, and a plot was bought on the south side of Chiswick High Road, registered in 1882. Attendance in 1903 was 157 in the morning and 161 in the evening. The church, of stock brick with stone dressings in the Early English style, seated c 450 and included classrooms on lower floor. From 1963 the church leased as a store and was demolished in the 1980s. Services were held in a hall from 1963 to 1974. The congregation then joined Brentford Congregational church and the local Presbyterian church as Chiswick United Reformed church.
From: 'Chiswick: Protestant nonconformity', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 7: Acton, Chiswick, Ealing and Brentford, West Twyford, Willesden (1982), pp. 93-95.
The Wycliffe Congregational Church, Stepney, was founded in 1642 on Philpot Street.
Christ Church Congregational Church, Cranbrook Road, started in an iron building in 1895, mainly through the work of Robert Pettigrew. It was formally constituted in 1896. In 1906 it was joined by the members of Wycliffe Congregational Church, Stepney. Christ Church had changed its name to Wycliffe in 1904, in anticipation of this union. The Stepney church was sold, and in 1907 the united congregation built a new Wycliffe on the Ilford site.
From: 'The borough of Ilford', A History of the County of Essex: Volume 5 (1966), pp. 249-266.
Christ Church Congregational Church, Cranbrook Road, started in an iron building in 1895, mainly through the work of Robert Pettigrew. It was formally constituted in 1896. In 1906 it was joined by the members of Wycliffe Congregational Church, Stepney. Christ Church had changed its name to Wycliffe in 1904, in anticipation of this union. The Stepney church was sold, and in 1907 the united congregation built a new Wycliffe on the Ilford site.
From: 'The borough of Ilford', A History of the County of Essex: Volume 5 (1966), pp. 249-266.
Southwark Park Congregational Church was founded in 1863. It was situated on the junction of Lower Road and Hawkstone Road, Rotherhithe.
Highgate Presbyterian Church, at the corner of Hornsey Lane and Cromwell Avenue, was opened in 1887. In 1967 the Church merged with the Highgate Congregational Church on Pond Square to form the Highgate United Reformed Church. Until 1982, worship was mainly based in the Cromwell Avenue church. This building was then converted to an apartment block within its gothic shell and with the sale proceeds and other funding the major refurbishment of Pond Square Chapel was undertaken. Pond Square Chapel re-opened in 1984 for worship.
Source: http://www.highgateurc.co.uk/
The first organised congregationalism in the area covered by the Southern Province (the area south of the River Thames) was the Surrey Mission formed in 1797 by James Bowden of Tooting, established to organise the visits of ministers to villages with the object of teaching the Gospel. The mission was not however purely congregational and increasingly there was a need for the development of organised congregationalism in its own right.
The Surrey Congregational Union was formed in 1863 'to promote the union and efficiency of the churches, and the spread of evangelical religion, to advance the principals of Nonconformity and to uphold and enlarge civil and religious freedom'. Main work was aiding smaller churches and fostering new congregations in the districts. It included the London geographical area of the ancient county of Surrey up to River Thames. With the extension of the London Congregational Union, churches belonged to both Unions until 1946 when a line of demarcation was agreed and the London Union was extended south. The Surrey Union formed part of the Southern Province of the Congregational Union of England and Wales.
In 1972 the United Reformed Church (URC) was formed following the union of the Presbyterian Church of England and the Congregational Church of England and Wales. The URC is divided into 13 Synods or Provinces and throughout England, Scotland and Wales there are around 1750 URC congregations served by some 1100 ministers, both men and women. The Church is governed through democratic Councils. The Synods give practical help to churches in legal and property matters, encourage training, discuss matters of faith and policy and provide links to Assembly. Each has a Moderator who is a minister with a pastoral and leadership ministry within each Synod Province. The Southern Province Trust was formed in 1981. In 2003, the Registered Office for the Southern Province was based at the Synod Office, Croydon and covered 7 districts and 181 churches.
The Streatham Hill Union Chapel was built in 1829 on Brixton Hill; this was a union of Anglican and dissenting congregations under the Reverend J. Hunt. The union was an uneasy one and in 1837 the Anglicans decamped to found Christ Church, Roupell Park; while in 1840 the Baptists established the new Salem Chapel in New Park Road, leaving the Chapel to the Congregationalists.
In 1850 the Reverend Hunt was persuaded to leave, and under the new ministry of Reverend John Hall the Streatham Hill Congregational Church emerged. In 1871 the old chapel was demolished and replaced by the present church; the school and hall were built in 1878. In 1972 the church became a congregation of the United Reformed Church with the name Brixton Hill United Reformed Church.
The Needlework Guild was founded in 1913 as a branch of the London Women's League of the Congregational Church. They aimed to supply Congregational churches with new clothes that could be distributed to the needy. During the First and Second World Wars they made clothes for refugees and bombed-out families as well as bandages and other hospital supplies and sandbags.
In 1950 the name was changed to The Needlework and Handicraft Guild to reflect the increasing number of products such as toiletries made for distribution to churches for sale at bazaars. However, the 'Handicraft' addition was dropped in 1954. When the Congregational Church merged with the Presbyterian Church in 1972 the Guild membership grew as former Presbyterians joined.
In 1992 it was decided to change the name of the Guild which was considered misleading as the Guild was not strictly speaking a 'guild' and as the 'needlework' implied that they made church vestments and cloths. In 1994 the name 'Capital Care and Concern' was adopted. However, in 1999 the society was closed as it was becoming increasingly difficult to attract members.
The Congregational Missionary Society was formed in 1836 with the principal aim of working to provide communities in Canada and North America with ministers. The Society changed its name to the Colonial Missionary Society soon after its formation. Its work was restricted to the British colonies, and later its work would spread out from its base in North America. The Colonial Missionary Society was linked to the Congregational Church, which is reflected in its early name, and the administrative Board or Committee was a committee of the Congregational Church. These close links lessened over time, but a link was always maintained. The Society's object was 'the promotion of education and religion in the British colonies', and in 1834 the Congregational Union made representation to the London Missionary Society, who agreed to donate the sum of £1000 towards provision of ministers for the colonies. The first minister appointed was the Revd H Wilkes, who left for Montreal, Canada, in 1836. The Society grew rapidly, and by 1842 had established mission stations in Wellington, New Zealand, and Canada. By the end of the 19th century, work had expanded to include missions in South Africa, Australia and the British West Indies.
The Society was organised through a main Committee or Board, with a Treasurer and Honorary Secretary. Originally staff were unpaid, but gradually salaried officials were appointed to run the administration. The headquarters of the Colonial Missionary Society were originally at the Congregational Library, Bloomfield Street, Finsbury Circus, London, but moved to the Memorial Hall, Farringdon Street. Sub-committees dealt with the day-to-day administration of the Society, with a North sub-committee and a South sub-committee having geographical responsibilities for regions north and south of the equator. By the 1890s, an Eastern and a Western sub-committee had been formed to deal with stations in areas such as Jamaica, Rhodesia and South Africa. The Colonial Missionary Society became an incorporated body on 16th October 1897. In 1956 it changed its name to the Commonwealth Missionary Society, and in 1966 it merged with the London Missionary Society to form the Congregational Council for World Mission.
Conimbricense compiled a volume of material written by poets, the most well known being Pedro António Joaquim Corrêa Garção. Garção was born 29 April 1724, in Lisbon; studied Humanities in Lisbon; died 10 November 1772.
This company was an investment trust, with a registered office in Norfolk Street, WC2, investing chiefly in cable, telephone and telegraph companies.
Born in 1877; 2nd Lt, King's Own Scottish Borderers, 1897; served with Tirah Expedition Force, North West Frontier of India, 1897-1898; Lt, 1898; Capt, 1901; served in South Africa, 1902; Adjutant, Volunteers, Kings Own Scottish Borderers, 1903-1905 and 1907-1908; Adjutant, Territorial Force, 1908-1911; Adjutant, Officers Training Corps, 1913-1914; Maj, 1914; served in World War One, 1914-1918; commanded 7 Bn Kings Own Scottish Borderers, 1915-1916; 2nd in Command, Officers Cadet Bn, 1917-1918; died in 1958.
The Connop family is a large one, but the dominant figure in the collection is the first Newell Connop. His date of birth is unknown; his father, Richard Connop, married the daughter of George Newell (hence Newell's unusual Christian name) evidently a man of some substance, since Newell and his sister Susanna inherited 12 houses in the Mile End Road through their mother (ACC/0801/0951). Newell himself married in 1775, Sarah the daughter and heiress of John Woodham, a wealthy distiller whose business, with which Newell also seems to have connections, was in Shadwell, but who owned substantial lands in the Enfield area.
Newell and Sarah had eight children; none of their three daughters Sarah, Emma and Ann married, and of their sons, John the eldest went into the Church, and married Katherine Stewart the god-daughter and heiress of Stephen Wilson. She inherited from him Bradfield Hall and other property in Berkshire, and in Hatfield, Herts, which in due course descended to their only child Emma Wilson Connop (ACC/0801/1054-1080). Richard and Henry both entered the army and were successful, Richard becoming a general and Henry a lieutenant-colonel; the former as far as we know never married but Henry had three children by his marriage to Mary Lucas.
Newell junior had no children, but Woodham, the last brother, and his wife Emily Burgess had 2 sons and 5 daughters, the eldest son William Woodham becoming the senior member of the next generation. His brother, the third Newell, married Ann Yarde Ball whose marriage settlement and related papers form part of the collection (ACC/0801/1140-0055) and had 10 children, including boys with the names Richard, Henry, Woodham and Newell. This repetition of family names does not always make it very easy to disentangle the generations. As mentioned before, a certain amount of Connop land found its way into their hands through marriage or inheritance; thus Newell's uncle John Connop married Elizabeth Bridges, niece and heir of John Dell; his namesake, Newell's son married Stephen Wilson's heiress, and John's brother Woodham married Emily Burgess whom one must assume to be John Burgess' heir, since the Burgess property is not sold to the Connops. In 1830, before his death Newell transferred a good deal of his property to his children, the deeds forming a group in collection (ACC/0801/1081-1125). His own affairs form the preceding group, much concerned with his property, but also including the affairs of people whose executor he was (ACC/0801/0950-1053). The last group concerns the miscellaneous affairs of his children and grand-children (ACC/0801/1126-1225).
Eric Conrad was a refugee from Vienna, a lawyer, who later became a chartered acountant. He joined the Pioneer Corps and subsequently transferred to the Intelligence Corps. He was awarded the American Bronze Star for causing the surrender of German troops at Cherbourg. On the surrender of Hamburg, 5 May 1945, he became an announcer on Hamburg radio and was then transferred to the music department which he helped to restart.
Peter Conradi worked as Iris Murdoch's authorised biographer and was co-executor of her estate. Conradi was a close friend of Murdoch and her husband, John Bayley, in the 1980s and 1990s. Conradi, a Professor of English, wrote his PhD on Murdoch's Platonism and edited her book of essays Existentialists and Mystics: Writings on Literature and Philosophy, published in 2007. Conradi published his autobiography of Murdoch in 2001, titled Iris Murdoch: A life, which was chosen as 'Book of the Year' by critics including Margaret Drabble and P D James.
Peter Conradi worked as Iris Murdoch's authorised biographer and was co-executor of her estate. Conradi was a close friend of Murdoch and her husband, John Bayley, in the 1980s and 1990s. Conradi, a Professor of English, wrote his PhD on Murdoch's Platonism and edited her book of essays Existentialists and Mystics: Writings on Literature and Philosophy, published in 2007. Conradi published his autobiography of Murdoch in 2001, titled Iris Murdoch: A life, which was chosen as 'Book of the Year' by critics including Margaret Drabble and P D James.
Dame Jean Iris Murdoch was born on 15 July 1919 in Dublin; later moving with her family to Brook Green, Hammersmith. Murdoch was educated at Froebel Demonstration School at Colet Gardens; Badminton School, Bristol from 1932 and Somerville College Oxford; winning scholarships to both Badminton and Somerville College.
At Oxford, Murdoch was influenced by the classicist, Eduard Fraenkel, and her philosophy tutor Donald MacKinnon and soon joined the Communist Party. Murdoch gained a first in Classics in 1942 and was employed as assistant principal in the Treasury, 1942-1944; later joining the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, working in London, Brussels and Austria. Murdoch returned to London in 1946, winning a place at Vassar College and a Commonwealth Scholarship, however as she had declared herself a communist on her application for an American visa, her application was denied. Murdoch studied at Newnham College, Cambridge, 1947-1948 and won a philosophy tutorship at St Anne's, Oxford, where she stayed until 1963, she later worked as a lecturer at Royal College of Art for four years.
Murdoch's first book Sartre: Romantic Rationalist was published in 1953 by Bowes and Bowes in a series titled 'Studies in Modern Thought' and her first novel Under the net was accepted for publication. She went on to write many books including The Bell, 1958, which achieved great commercial success and The Red and the Green, 1965, concerning the Easter rising, reflecting her Irish background. Murdoch was appointed DBE in 1987 and presented with an honorary degree from Kingston University in 1993. In 1997 Murdoch was diagnosed as suffering with Alzheimer's disease and died in Oxford on 8 February 1999.
Publications include: Existentialists and Mystics: Writings on Literature and Philosophy, 1997; A Fairly Honourable Defeat, 1970 and Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals, 1992.
No further information.
The Conservative Club was founded in 1840, situated at 74 St James's Street. The Club House was designed by George Basevi and Sidney Smirke. It was erected between 1843 and 1845. The club merged with the Bath Club in 1959.
The Conservative Group for Homosexual Equality was a voluntary organisation founded in 1976 to lobby Conservative Party opinion in favour of gay rights and to provide a political balance within the gay movement. The group was revived in 1980, and a constitution drawn up and adopted on 28 March 1981, establishing an elected Executive Committee to oversee the running of the Group. CGHE was succeeded by TORCHE (Tory Campaign for Homosexual Equality), which now has upwards of 400 members within the Conservative Party.
Constance Howard (1910-2000) joined the staff of Goldsmiths' College as a part-time tutor. She went on to found and become Head of the Department of Embroidery (later Textiles) in the College's School of Art, 1947-1975. She is seen widely as a leading pioneer in the making and teaching of embroidery as an art form. The Resource and Research Centre is named after her and was established by her successor, Audrey Walker, in 1980. In 1996 the Friends of the Study Collection was formed to extend and enhance information about this unique resource. Pieces are purchased for and donated to the Collection on the understanding that they will be made available for hands on research and study. The Centre regularly organises lectures and exhibitions, and the many slides and textiles housed there are being digitised as an ongoing project to provide a 'virtual' resource.
The Constance Road Workhouse/Institution was founded in the Parish of St Giles in Camberwell, and existed from 1892 to 1937. In 1914 the title 'Workhouse' was changed to 'Institution'. In 1929 a Local Government Act transferred the care of Poor Law hospitals to the local County Councils, who were also given responsibility for the sick in their area. London County Council took over the parish of St Giles. The Institution became St Francis Hospital in 1937.
The Constitutional Reform Centre was founded in 1984 to investigate the reform of the British constitution and government. The work of the CRC is controlled by an advisory board, and includes holding conferences and commissioning investigations into areas of constitutional reform. These have included the role of planning enquiries, the development of a written constitution, the civil service, and the intervention of the European Commission. The Centre has also organised a series of seminars under the aegis of the Rt Hon Leslie George Scarman, Baron Scarman of Quatt. A working party has investigated company political donations and benefits to business of good government. Publications include the Constitutional Reform Quarterly Review and CRC Politics Briefings. The CRC has worked with other organisations, notably the National Committee for Electoral Reform, and the Campaign for Fair Votes.
The Consultative Committee of Constitutional Women's Suffrage Societies (1916-1918) was established in Mar 1916 by the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies in response to the government proposed changes to the national electoral register, to take effect at the end of the First World War. Its first meeting was held on 5th May and on the committee were representatives of twenty societies, with three more joining the following year. The first Chair elected was Eleanor Rathbone, the honorary secretary was Dr Gwynne Vaughn (replaced by Miss Ayrton Gould in 1917), the treasurer was the Countess of Selborne and the secretary was Helen Wright. It was through the medium of this committee that the suffrage societies co-ordinated the constituent societies efforts and petitioned the government for the inclusion of women's suffrage in the franchise Reform Bill. The committee's efforts were initially unsuccessful: the government's Electoral Reform conference that took place in Oct 1916 to address the issue initially refused to allow the Consultative Committee to give evidence. However, when Asquith was deposed from the premiership in Dec 1916, they were able to present their arguments to the authorities. In particular, the Consultative Committee was able to organise a Joint Parliamentary Committee comprising an equal number of MPs and women's representatives, which was active during the passage of the bill and produced a report in Jun 1917. When the prospect of a positive outcome became clear, the Consultative Committee called a conference in Jan 1918 to consider the possibility of joint action by Women's Societies after the passing of the Electoral Bill in the fields of political, economic and social equality between the sexes. The constitution was changed to accommodate these changes and 1918 it became the Consultative Committee of Women's Societies Working for Equal Citizenship.
The creation of the Consultative Committee of Women's Organisations (1921-1928) in 1921 was very much at the behest of Lady Nancy Astor. Lady Astor was the first elected woman to take her seat in the House of Commons in 1919. After one year there, she had become concerned with the inefficacy of the women's groups' pressure on parliament. She organised a conference on the issue attended by a range of women's organisations as well as public, professional and academic women and sympathetic male MPs. At the meeting, it was agreed that its resultant report was to be discussed by a committee of interested organisations. This became the Consultative Committee of Women's Organisations in Mar 1921. It had no executive authority but functioned solely as a forum in which women's issues would be discussed and from which recommendations as to joint action between constituent bodies could be issued. Lady Astor was President until 1928 and her political secretary, Hilda Matheson, was Secretary during the early period. The committee focussed on co-ordinating the efforts of women's groups to lobby members of parliament for legislation to improve women's legal status. However, divisions appeared in the movement in the mid-1920s that would bring the group to an end. Disputes over whether to work solely for the equality of the sexes or to support women's increased independence through the provision of family allowances and similar social welfare projects led to the withdrawal of the National Union of Societies for Equal Citizenship from the group in 1928. The Committee was dissolved in Oct 1928.
The Convalescent Home for Children was founded in 1869 in Cromwell House, Highgate, once owned by Oliver Cromwell's eldest daughter. It was established by the Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street, as a rest home outside the City where children could recuperate. There were 52 beds.
From: 'Highgate: Part 1 of 2', Old and New London: Volume 5 (1878), pp. 389-405.
William Martin Conway, was born on 12 April 1856 at Rochester; educated at Repton School and from 1875 at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied history, graduating BA in 1879 and MA in 1882. He was a Cambridge University extension lecturer from 1882 to 1885. Conway climbed extensively in the Alps as an undergraduate, and was elected to the Alpine Club in 1877. In 1881 he published the Zermatt Pocketbook, the model for a series of Conway and Coolidge's Climbers' Guides. Conway was responsible for many beautiful mountain names, such as Wellenkuppe, Windjoch, and Dent du Requin.
Conway became Roscoe Professor of Art at University College, Liverpool, in 1885; published books on Reynolds, Gainsborough, early Flemish artists, and Albrecht Dürer; later resigning from his Liverpool position in 1888, moving to London, where he frequented the Savile Club, gave lectures, and published a book on the art of the ancient world.
In 1892 Conway led a large-scale mountaineering expedition to the Karakoram Conway's large party surveyed the Baltoro glacier and the region around K2, and ascended Pioneer Peak on Baltoro Kangri, which at 6890 metres may have constituted an altitude record at the time.
After publishing a book about the Karakoram in 1894, he walked the length of the Alps with two Gurkha soldiers, forming the basis of a popular book, The Alps from End to End,1895. He received a knighthood in 1895 and shortly afterwards made an unsuccessful bid to win a seat in Parliament as a Liberal. In 1896 Conway surveyed in Spitsbergen, In 1898 Conway travelled south to climb Illimani in Bolivia and Aconcagua in Argentina with two alpine guides.
In 1901 he was offered a term as the Slade Professor of Fine Arts at Cambridge; resumed writing art history, including works on Tuscan art, the great masters, the Van Eycks, and Giorgione. He resigned the Slade Professorship in 1904. He served as President of the Alpine Club from 1902 to 1904; first President of the Alpine Ski Club in 1908; was a Fellow of Royal Geographical Society, 1893-1937 and was awarded the Founders Medal of the Royal Geographical Society in 1905.
In 1917, Conway was appointed Director-General of the Imperial War Museum, an honorary post which he retained until his death. He received an honorary LittD from both Durham and Manchester in 1919.
Conway served as a trustee of the Wallace Collection and the National Portrait Gallery and was active in the Society of Authors and the Society of Antiquaries. He was one of the first to realize the value of the systematic and comprehensive collection of photographic records of architecture and art and he presented his own collection of 100,000 photographs to the Courtauld Institute of Art. In later years he published several autobiographical works: Mountain Memories, 1920, Episodes of a Varied Life, 1932, and A Pilgrim's Quest for the Divine, 1936. He died on 19 April 1937.