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Saint Giles' Hospital opened in 1873 as Camberwell Workhouse Infirmary on a site adjoining the Havil Street Workhouses. Extensive new hospital buildings were erected between 1899 and 1903 by Camberwell Board of Guardians on part of the site adjoining Brunswick Square (now St Giles' Road) and Brunswick Road. The infirmary was renamed Saint Giles' Hospital in 1927. In 1930 Camberwell Board of Guardians ceased to exist and the hospital was transferred to the London County Council. By 1938 it had 810 beds.

In 1948 Saint Giles' Hospital became part of the National Health Service under the control of the South East Metropolitan Regional Health Board and Camberwell Hospital management Committee. On the reorganisation of the National Health Service in 1974, by now a 283 bed mainly acute hospital, it became the responsibility of King's Health District (Teaching) of Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham Area Health Authority. In 1982 it came under the control of Camberwell Health Authority based at King's College Hospital. On 1 April 1993 Saint Giles' Hospital became part of Optimum Health Services, an NHS Trust responsible for community health care services in Camberwell. Most of the hospital buildings were no longer required by the health service and many have been demolished. Saint Giles' Tower, a circular ward block opened in 1889, has been converted into flats. The remaining buildings were used for clinics, treatment centres and administration. In April 1999 the community health elements of Optimum Health Services were absorbed by a new trust, Community Health South London NHS Trust.

In 1860 the Saint Giles Christian Mission was founded by George Hatton, a member of the Bloomsbury Baptist Chapel. Originally called 'The Young Men's Society for the Relief of the Poor' and funded with help from the Bloomsbury Baptists, their object was to evangelise the district known as the Seven-Dials. Although their start was slow and difficult, in spite of the evangelical revival in the City, the persistence of the young men paid off and the original premises quickly became too small for the growing congregation. They achieved great success in work within the neighbourhood, undertaking home visits, teaching on thrift and temperance and assisting with gifts of bread, meat and coal bought with money raised from subscriptions.

By 1867 the Mission became independent from the Bloomsbury Chapel and continued its work at The King Street Hall Chapel until 1874, when one of the Deacons of the Chapel informed Mr Hatton that there was work to be done in Wild Street. The chapel in Wild Street was in a bad way and the Deacon thought it would be well - as Mr Hatton was carrying on good work - to take over the chapel and carry on his activities there. The property was conveyed to the Mission and after a successful fund raising, enough money was found to put the chapel into good use.

During this time another young man, William Morter Wheatley saw George Hatton preaching and was drawn to the work of the Mission after finding his own personal salvation at the meeting. He threw himself whole heartedly into his work and was instrumental in starting the probation work for which The Mission came to be known.

In 1877, what was known as Prison Gate work was started. The Mission set up huts outside Holloway, Pentonville and Wandsworth Prisons where newly discharged prisoners were offered breakfast and assistance often in the form of travel money to get home, clothing, and assistance with employment, as well as encouragement to take the temperance pledge. This work was highly commended by the press and helped spread the reputation of The Mission work as well as boosting funds and subscriptions. Work among first time offenders continued with the opening of a series of hostels and homes between 1880's and 1900. These catered for young offenders who were encouraged and supported to find work or enter the armed services.

As well as homes for young men and boys, The Mission opened homes for homeless and destitute women, particularly around the Seven Dials, Drury Lane area of London.

By 1894, The Mission had branched out and was opening holiday and convalescent homes and orphanages. A seaside home for convalescents in Hastings, a children's home in Southgate and a large ten bedroomed house with land to expand in Maldon, opened in 1899. Known as The Retreat, it started out as a children's holiday home and orphanage, and by 1909 included a convalescent home for children, an adults' holiday home and a home for aged Christians. The home continued until 1938 when partly due to pressure of funds and partly pressure from the children's department of the Home Office the various functions of the Retreat were separated out and rehomed in other more suitable places. The Retreat itself was sold in 1939 and with the proceeds of the sale properties at Herne Bay ('Fairlawn'), Castleham in Hastings and Crawley ('Heathersett') were bought.

During World War Two many of the properties were used by the Military or Civil Administration for air raid shelters or accommodation for army personnel so much of the work of The Mission was scaled back, although they continued to provide Christmas parcels, and to care for the homeless. Over the next ten year the welfare side of The Mission gradually wound down as post war costs of refurbishment and lack of manpower took their toll. Much of their work was taken on by the newly created National Health Services and it was felt that they should concentrate more on the non-secular aspects of the Mission.

The Mission's other work revolved around the Chapels in Wild Street and Arundel Square. The Wild Street Chapel opened in 1874 and was the heart of The Mission. The Wild Street Chapel continued until 1902 when it was acquired by the London County Council for the Kingsway Improvement. In a complex legal procedure the chapel was 'sold' to the LCC, however it was discovered that the Trustees of the chapel had no power of sale so an agreement for the purchase by the LCC of the existing chapel was made at a price that was equal to the site proposed to be conveyed to the Trustees together with the cost of building a new chapel. The purchase price was paid into court and the court sanctioned a petition by the trustees of the purchase of the new site. The new chapel was then built in 1905 on the new leased land and a piece of land at the side of the chapel, also leased from the LCC for the erection of a Boy's Home and ran by William Wheatley. The home and chapel remained until 1928/9 when they transferred to Islington. The home reopened at 29 Pemberton Gardens approved by the Home Office as a Probation Hostel, and the chapel moved to Arundel Square, Barnsbury where it opened in 1935, along with the Arundel Institute.

The Institute's goal was to foster the social activities for people of all ages in the thickly populated area in Barnsbury. This included running a Sunday School, Boys' and Girls' Brigades, Young Men's and Young Women's gymnasium, Grandfather's Club and using the hall for lectures and concerts. In 1944 The Arundel Christian Fellowship was created to formalise the membership of the congregation. The Mission and Institute continued into the 1950's providing a great programme of social clubs and events to the community, as well as more regular weekly services along with the Sunday worship. However the Mission had started to reconsider its role and found it increasingly non-secular and by the 1960's had begun to re-emphasise the evangelical nature of its work - it still retained the social aspect but added to this, Youth Fellowship and bible studies, and short services in the evenings during the social clubs along with a friendly hour after the main evening service which included informal hymn singing.

The Mission has continued to adapt and change to its community, and is still active today, maintaining an evangelical ministry in North London from which social needs in the area continue to be addressed. Activities and meals for older folk are provided, youth work is undertaken and counselling given for both young and old, as well as running holiday clubs and day trips.

The objectives and activities below taken from Charity Commission show a strong connection with the original work of the Mission:

The Mission's principal aims as contained in its Memorandum of Association, the most recent revision having been adopted on 10th July 1998, are as follows:
'To proclaim the Gospel of the Grace of God through Our Lord Saviour Jesus Christ; to meet and provide meals for prisoners on their discharge from prison, to carry on all activities commonly called 'Prison Gate Work', to assist discharged prisoners to redeem their past and obtain honest employment and to provide them with requisite clothing tools and outfit; to house , maintain and care for juvenile offenders on probation and help to train them into and maintain them at Boys Homes maintained by the Mission; to render assistance in cash or otherwise to husbands, wives, children and dependents of prisoners; to receive into Homes and assist men, women and boys bound over under the 'Probation of Offenders Act 1907'; to visit the sick and relieve the distressed poor. To protect the young and aged and to succour the weak; to provide and maintain holidays and Holiday Homes for poor children; to provide and maintain Homes and Orphanages for children of prisoners and other destitute children and to bring up all such children in the Protestant Evangelical Faith and according to the Text and doctrine of the Holy scriptures; to provide the children in the Homes with all necessary and proper clothing and with Medical and Surgical treatment; to provide and maintain Convalescent Homes for the deserving sick poor; to provide and maintain Homes for the poor; to provide Christmas Fare and entertainments and New Year treats for children and deserving poor; to carry on Sunday schools, Bible classes, evangelical missions, savings banks, boys and girls clubs and brigades and other forms of social work to increase in all possible ways the spiritual and moral welfare of all those who attend the schools, classes, missions and social works of the Mission' together with the means to facilitate the pursuit of the above objectives.

Poor relief was based on the Act for the Relief of the Poor of 1601 which obliged parishes to take care of the aged and needy in their area. Parish overseers were empowered to collect a local income tax known as the poor-rate which would be put towards the relief of the poor. This evolved into the rating system, where the amount of poor-rate charged was based on the value of a person's property. Early workhouses were constructed and managed by the parish. However, this process was expensive and various schemes were devised where groups of parishes could act together and pool their resources. As early as 1647 towns were setting up 'Corporations' of parishes. An Act of 1782, promoted by Thomas Gilbert, allowed adjacent parishes to combine into Unions and provide workhouses. These were known as 'Gilbert's Unions' and were managed by a board of Guardians.

Under the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, the Poor Law Commission was given the power to unite parishes in England and Wales into Poor Law Unions. Each Union was to be administered by a local Board of Guardians. Relief was to be provided through the provision of a workhouse. An amendment to the 1834 Act allowed already existing 'Gilbert's Unions' or Corporations of parishes to remain in existence, although they were encouraged to convert themselves into Poor Law Unions. Although there was some reorganisation of union boundaries, particularly in London, the majority of Unions created under the 1834 Act remained in operation until 1930. In March 1930 a new Local Government Bill abolished the Poor Law Unions and the Board of Guardians. Responsibility for their institutions passed to Public Assistance Committees managed by the county councils - in the metropolis either the London County Council or the Middlesex County Council.

Saint Saviour's Poor Law Union was formed in February, 1836. Its constituent parishes were Saint Saviour's and Christchurch, both in Southwark. Saint George the Martyr parish and Saint Mary Newington parish became part of the Saint Saviour's Union in 1869. The Saint Saviour's Union was renamed Southwark Union in 1901.

Saint Saviour's Workhouse was situated on Marlborough Street, while Saint George the Martyr had a workhouse on Mint Street. Saint Mary Newington had a workhouse on Westmoreland Road. The Union also constructed an Infirmary on Champion Hill, Dulwich. It is now Dulwich Hospital.

Source of information: Peter Higginbotham at The Workhouse website.

Saint Francis, Eltham was originally a daughter church of Saint John the Baptist, Eltham and was used as a mission church until 1962. Between 1946 and 1953, it appears to have been known as Talbot Settlement Number 2 and was located in a temporary structure in Hengist Road.

In 1953, a permanent church, designed by Ralph Covell, opened at the corner of Sibthorpe Road and Hengist Road.

Between 1981 and 2006, the church was leased to Horn Park Community Association.

From 2006, the church was used by the parish of Saint Saviour, Eltham.

The hospital was founded by Helen Levis, wife of Robert Mond, in July 1903. It was named the Saint Francis Hospital for Infants, after the Saint Francis Cripples' Home, whose premises the hospital took over. Later that same year, however, the name was changed to The Infants' Hospital, to avoid confusion with another institution of the same name.

In 1906 a purpose-built hospital was constructed in Vincent Square. This was financed by Sir Robert Mond as a memorial to his wife, the hospital's founder. The new hospital was opened in November 1907.

In 1923 the hospital was incorporated, and in September 1946 it was amalgamated with the Westminster hospital. In honour of this new connection the hospital's name was changed to the Westminster Children's Hospital.

From the start of the National Health Service in 1948 the hospital, as a member of the Westminster Hospital group, was part of the South West Metropolitan Region. In 1974 it formed part of the North West Thames Regional Health Authority and the South (Teaching) Health District. In 1982 it became part of the Riverside District Health Authority. The hospital was closed and it services moved to the new Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in May 1993.

The Saint Edward Mission, Taylor's Lane, Willesden, was founded by the parish church of Saint Mary, Willesden. Proposals were made in 1897 for a mission hall in Taylor's Lane for 200 people. It was built and in use by 1900. During and after the Second World War the hall fell into disuse. After two spells of commercial letting it was compulsorily acquired by the London Borough of Brent in 1974, for £8,900.

Edmonton Epileptic Colony was established at Silver Street, London in 1916 under the authority of the Metropolitan Asylums Board. It was founded for the treatment of male epileptic patients. In 1930 control of the Hospital passed to the London County Council. It was renamed Millfield Hospital in 1936 and later Saint David's Hospital. The hospital closed in 1948.

The Saint Christopher's Working Boys' Club was a youth club, based in Fitzroy Square. It was founded in 1894. It was supported by the University College London Christian Association and later by the students' Union. The club was wound up in 1946.

Saint Charles' Hospital was built as Saint Marylebone Infirmary situated in the Ladbroke Grove area of North Kensington. The hospital was opened by the Prince and Princess of Wales in 1881. Its name was changed to Saint Charles' Hospital when it was transferred from Saint Marylebone Board of Guardians to the London County Council in 1930. In 1948 it became part of the National Health Service and came under the control of the North West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board and the Paddington Group Hospital Management Committee. It now forms part of the Paddington and North Kensington District Health Authority.

Saint Charles' Hospital was built as Saint Marylebone Infirmary situated in the Ladbroke Grove area of North Kensington. The Prince and Princess of Wales opened the hospital in 1881. Its name was changed to Saint Charles' Hospital when it was transferred from Saint Marylebone Board of Guardians to the London County Council in 1930. In 1948 it became part of the National Health Service and came under the control of the North West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board and the Paddington Group Hospital Management Committee. From 1982 it formed part of the Paddington and North Kensington District Health Authority. In 1992 it became part of Parkside NHS Trust.

The North Eastern Fever Hospital was opened by the Metropolitan Asylums Board on 8 October 1892 to treat patients suffering from fever and diphtheria. It was situated in Saint Ann's Road, South Tottenham, London N15. In 1930 the London County Council took over the running of the hospital from the Metropolitan Asylums Board. In 1948 it became part of the National Health Service under the control of the North East Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board and Tottenham Hospital Management Committee. The hospital was renamed Saint Ann's General Hospital in 1949 or 1950. From 1982 it was the responsibility of Haringey Health Authority. It is now part of the Haringey NHS services.

Saint Alfege's hospital was established as the Greenwich Union Workhouse Infirmary. The Greenwich and Deptford Union Workhouse was built on a four-acre site on the south side of the Woolwich road. The complex was designed to house a total of 650 fit and 200 sick paupers but by 1851 the average weekly number of inmates had increased to over 1,000. As the numbers of poor in need of medical attention increased it became necessary to add an infirmary to the workhouse. The Board of Guardians added a new 400-bed infirmary block, the foundation stone was laid in 1874, and the Infirmary opened in 1876.

By 1885 two new buildings for the chronically sick had been started and in 1889 a further two new ward blocks with provision for 250 beds were approved. Conditions in the infirmary were spartan and there was no operating theatre or table. In 1898 the infirmary was approved as a Training School for Nurses, taking some 40 - 50 trainees. The plans of the Greenwich and Deptford Union Workhouse and Infirmary were presented at the Great Paris Exhibition of 1900 as a demonstration of what was being done in Britain for relief of the poor.

Between 1918 and 1929 gradual improvements were made to conditions in the infirmary - walls were plastered, electric lighting and central heating installed and x-ray and massage departments set up. In 1927 The Woodlands Nurses' Residence was opened by Princess Mary, Viscountess Lascelles in November and in 1928 a new operating theatre was opened; in 1929 when the Poor Law Authorities were disbanded the workhouse system was abandoned, leaving Greenwich with two hospitals, one for the acute and the other for the chronic sick, on the workhouse site. In 1930 the London County Council took over the administration of the infirmary and renamed it St. Alfege's Hospital after the saint who was murdered by the Danes at Greenwich.

In 1948 St. Alfege's Hospital became part of the National Health Service and was administered by the South East Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board. In 1960 the Regional Hospital Board issued a directive that the distinction between the two St. Alfege's Hospitals was to be abolished and that they should merge to become one comprehensive general hospital of 605 beds. In May 1963, the Minister of Health gave a Press Conference at which details of the new Greenwich District hospital were released. In 1972 St. Alfege's Hospital was replaced by Greenwich District Hospital.

A group of philanthropists opened the Destitute Sailors' Asylum in 1827 in a warehouse in Dock Street, in Whitechapel to provide shelter and food for shipwrecked and destitute sailors. It was soon realized that sailors who were not destitute also needed somewhere to stay when they were ashore as an alternative to the notorious boarding houses of the time, and a fund was started to build a sailors' home upon the site of the old Brunswick Theatre in Well Street (now renamed Ensign Street). The Committee for the Home had already begun finding berths for sailors in direct competition with the crimps, before the Home was opened in 1835. Agents were then employed to meet ships on arrival and persuade the men to stay at the Home. Other facilities provided by the committee included a sailors' bank, a slop shop, a chapel and an evening school. Later a school of navigation was opened. The Asylum was transferred to a new building in Well Street in 1836, renamed the Destitute Sailors' Rest and placed under the management of the Home.

Over the years various extensions were added to the Home to provide further accommodation until the buildings covered the whole of the site between Well Street and Dock Street. In 1882 a branch of the Home and a Rest were opened at Gravesend and the Well Street Rest was closed. The Gravesend Home and Rest were handed over to the Government during the First World War and afterwards were sold to the Shipping Federation for their new sea school. It soon became evident that provision was still needed for the destitute and the Beresford Rest was built in Wellclose Square near the Well Street Home in 1923. In 1851 a Mercantile Marine Office was opened in the Home and in 1854 the Secretary of the Home was appointed as the Shipping Superintendent. The Mercantile Marine Office moved to Tower Hill in 1873, but in 1895 part of the Home was demolished and a new Mercantile Marine Office and examination rooms were built in Dock Street for leasing to the Board of Trade. In 1893 the London School of Nautical Cookery was opened by the Home in conjunction with the London County Council. When the Merchant Shipping Act of 1906 made it compulsory for all British foreign-going ships to carry a certificated cook, the School was enlarged to help meet the extra demand. The Shipwrecked Fishermen and Mariners' Society rented a room at the Home from 1895 until 1958. The object of the Destitute Sailors' Fund had been to provide practical help through the Rest. When bomb damage prevented this in 1941, the men were accommodated at the Home. In 1947 it was decided to use the Rest Fund for the purpose of assisting the inmates of the Home in temporary need of help. At the Home a rebuilding programme was carried out between 1951 and 1961. However, by 1974 the Home was in financial difficulties and had to close at the end of that year.

Sailing Boat Association

The Sailing Boat Association was formed in 1888 to promote 'the interests of small boat sailing and to obtain a uniform system of measurement and time allowances'. It was decided that the Association should consist of recognized sailing clubs on the Thames between Oxford and Teddington and of such other clubs not sailing on tidal waters which might be willing to conform to the rules. It particularly catered for the Rater, half-Rater and later the Handicap Dinghy classes and was the earliest association to foster racing in sailing dinghies. In 1890 the Association began consultations with the Thames Conservancy on new bye-laws for steam vessels and sailing boats on the Upper Thames. In 1928 the Association decided to adopt the Yacht Racing Association rules in place of its own and it sought association with this organization. The Association was dissolved in 1947.

The Thames Sailing Barge Trust Exploratory Committee was formed in 1952 by a small group of enthusiasts who realized that sailing craft were disappearing from the trading life of Britain. Plans were made to raise public subscriptions to purchase a barge to be maintained perpetually in working condition under sail alone. The Trust was formed in 1954 and in 1956 acquired the sailing barge, MEMORY. At the same time the name of the Society was changed to the Sailing Barge Preservation Society to avoid confusion with other organizations. Trading proved difficult in 1959 because of lack of cargoes and also because the MEMORY sustained damage when run down in fog. In 1960 the Society decided to wind up its affairs and its assets were given to the Foudroyant Trust.

Michael Sadler, 1780-1835, was born in Snelston, Derbyshire. While he was still young he assisted the Methodist movement. In 1800 he moved to Leeds where he became an importer of Irish linens. He was Tory MP for Newark, 1829 and 1830, and for Aldborough, North Yorkshire 1831-1832. He moved unsuccessfully for the establishment of poor law in Ireland, and moved resolution for improving the living conditions of the agricultural poor in England, 1831. On 16th March 1832 Sadler introduced a Bill in the House of Commons that proposed limiting the hours of all persons under the age of 18 to ten hours a day. Parliament was unwilling to pass Sadler's bill, but in April 1832 it was agreed that there should be another parliamentary enquiry into child labour. Sadler was made chairman and for the next three months the parliamentary committee interviewed 48 people who had worked in textile factories as children. On 9th July Michael Sadler discovered that at least six of these workers had been sacked for giving evidence to the parliamentary committee. Sadler announced that this victimisation meant that he could no longer ask factory workers to be interviewed. He now concentrated on interviewing doctors who had experience treating people who worked in textile factories. In the 1832 General Election, Sadler's opponent was John Marshall (1765-1845), the Leeds flax-spinning magnate. Marshall used his influence to win the election and Sadler lost his seat in the House of Commons. Sadler's report was published in January 1833. The information in the report shocked the British public and Parliament came under increasing pressure to protect the children working in factories. His publications include: "An apology for the Methodists: being a copy of a letter to the Reverend Henry Stokes, vicar of Doveridge, Derbyshire. Containing some animadversions on one of his late discourses, and on a certain combination in that parish" (1797); "Catholic question. Speech of Michael Thomas Sadler, Esq. MP for Newark, in the House of Commons, on Tuesday, the 17th of March, 1829, at the second reading of the Roman Catholic Emancipation Bill" (1829); "The cause of the poor: The speech of M T Sadler, Esq. MP in the House of Commons, on Monday the 29th of August, on bringing forward his resolution for the permanent relief of the Irish poor" (1831); "Condition of the labouring poor: Speech of Michael Thomas Sadler, Esq. in the House of Commons, on Tuesday evening, October 11, 1831, on obtaining leave to bring in a bill for bettering the condition of the labouring poor of England" (1831).

Sadd Brown Library

Myra Eleanor Sadd Brown (1872-1938) was born in Maldon, Essex on 3 Oct 1872. Her parents were John Granger Sadd and Mary Ann Price and she was the tenth of eleven children. The family operated a firm of timber merchants and processors in the hometown of Maldon. Myra Sadd received a private education at a school in Colchester. She met Ernest Brown through her interest in cycling; they were married in 1896. The couple moved to Finsbury Park in London, and then to Hampstead. Myra and Ernest had three daughters and one son. Due to the commercial success of her husband's business Myra was provided with independent means. Myra was raised within a Congregationalist environment; later becoming a Christian Scientist. She was interested in artistic pursuits and avidly enjoyed Shaw's plays. Myra is particularly renowned for being a feminist. It is believed that prior to her marriage she purchased a small property giving her, as a ratepayer, the right to vote. In Hackney, Myra served as a Poor Law Guardian. Furthermore, she was a committed supporter of the women's suffrage movement; being a member of the Women's Social and Political Union. In 1912, Myra was arrested and imprisoned; she went on hunger strike and endured forcible feeding. Myra wrote a great deal on behalf of the suffrage cause; the 'Christian Commonwealth' being one such periodical which published her letters. Later, she became associated with Sylvia Pankhurst's East London Federation of Suffragettes, inviting East London women, travelling by bus, to visit her home near Maldon. Following WWI, Myra became an active member of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance (later known as the International Alliance of Women). She travelled widely throughout Europe attending conferences. This activity allowed her to indulge her interest in other cultures and countries, as did her periods of wintering in Italy and Egypt with her husband Ernest. Although Myra herself did not speak a foreign language, she insisted that her children should study French and German. The emerging Commonwealth became another area of interest to Myra. From 1923 she had been involved in meetings, which culminated in the formation of the British Commonwealth League (later the Commonwealth Countries League) in 1925. It was a feminist organisation devoted to the upholding of women's rights in the Commonwealth of which Myra became its Treasurer. In 1931 Ernest died of rheumatic heart disease. In 1937 Myra visited South-East Asia where she was present for the birth of her second grandchild. She then extended the tour to visit Angkor Wat and the Malaysian islands. Myra continued her journey to Hong Kong, planning to return via the Trans-Siberian railway. However, she suffered a stroke and died in Hong Kong on 13 Apr 1938. The British Commonwealth League established the Sadd Brown Library of material on women in the Commonwealth as a memorial to her. It was placed in the Women's Service Library, now The Women's Library. Myra's interest in the Commonwealth Countries League, and the International Alliance of Women, has been continued first by her daughter Myra Stedman, and subsequently by Lady Diana Dollery, her granddaughter, both of whom have been closely involved in the development of the Sadd Brown Library.

Johannes De Sacro Bosco (John of Holywood, or Halifax) was probably born at Halifax, Yorkshire, and is said to have studied at Oxford and to have settled in Paris c1220, spending the remainder of his life there. He was a mathematician and astronomer. He wrote texts on arithmetic, astronomy and cosmography, including 'Algorismus' (a textbook on arithmetic) and 'Tractatus de Sphera', composed c1233 and forming a fundamental medieval text on astronomy, based on Ptolemy and comprising chapters on the terrestrial globe, on circles, on the rising and setting of the stars, and on the orbits and movements of the planets. De Sacro Bosco died either in 1244 or, more likely, in 1256.

Sacred Harmonic Society

The Sacred Harmonic Society was founded in London as an amateur choral society in 1832 for the weekly practice of music of an exclusively sacred character. The first home of the Society was the Gate Chapel in Lincoln's Inn Fields. In 1836 it was granted the use of the larger Exeter Hall, focus of London's dissenting community and designed for religious and charitable meetings. The works of Handel were part of its core repertoire and the society also performed the major new works of Spohr and Mendelssohn, including the London première of Elijah in 1847. At the Handel Festival of 1859 the Sacred Harmonic choir numbered 2765. The Sacred Harmonic Society provided the nucleus for the nationally represented choir of the Trial Festival of 1857 (numbering 2000, with an orchestra of about 400), prior to the Centenary Festival of 1859, which inaugurated the triennial Handel Festival. In 1882, the Society disbanded after losing the use of its Exeter Hall base.

Jonathan Sacks succeeded Lord Jakobovits as Chief Rabbi on the first of September 1991 at the age of forty-three. He was born in London and educated at Cambridge, Oxford and London. He studied at the Yeshivat Tomhei Temimim in Israel and was ordained at Jews College, London. Sacks lectured in moral philosophy at Middlesex Polytechnic, and Talmud and Jewish philosophy at Jews' College where in 1982 he was the first incumbent of the Lord Jakobovits Chair in Modern Jewish Thought. In 1983 he was appointed Director of the Rabbinic Faculty there and in 1984 became Principal of the College. At the same time Sacks held successive rabbinic appointments at Golders Green Synagogue (1978-1982) and Marble Arch Synagogue (1983-1990). He also held academic appointments at London University and the University of Manchester and was Visiting Professor of Philosophy at the University of Essex. He was a member of the Central Religious Advisory Committee to the BBC and the IBA. In 1990 he gave the Reith Lectures.

Jonathan Sacks launched several initiatives early in his Chief Rabbinate and emphasised the need to reach out to Jews who felt in some ways neglected by the Jewish community; women, the young, people in small communities and in the provinces. He proclaimed a Decade of Renewal and in 1993 founded Jewish Continuity, a community-wide organisation aiming to invest in Jewish culture and education and in particular to encourage younger Jews to take interest in or further develop the study of their heritage. A Walkabout in Hyde Park was organised for the summer of 1992 and registered charities were invited to participate from both the orthodox and other sections of the community. An application was received from the Jewish Lesbian and Gay Helpline and the group was barred from taking part.

For the first time women were allowed to be full members of synagogue management boards and members of the United Synagogue Council. The Chief Rabbi set up a commission headed by Rosalind Preston, then a vice-president of the Board of Deputies. A report was published two years later. Certain advances were made. Sacks was criticised for not addressing some of the grievances.

In 1993 the Chief Rabbi's Awards for Excellence were introduced whereby ordinary people of merit throughout the country whose work had hitherto been unrecognised by the Jewish community at large received public awards.

The Chief Rabbi is a prolific author. His many books, articles, and papers have attracted wide attention. He is a gifted speaker and broadcaster. Like his predecessor, Lord Jakobovits, he is a prominent national figure and a much-noted publicist within and beyond the Jewish community.

Albie (Albert Louis) Sachs was born in Johannesburg on 30 January 1935, matriculated at the South African College School (SACS) in Cape Town in 1950, and attended the University of Cape Town, where he obtained the degrees BA. and LL.B. He started his practice as an Advocate at the Cape Town Bar in 1957 and worked mainly in the civil rights sphere until he was himself twice detained without trial by the Security Police. In 1966 he went into exile in England where he completed a Ph.D at the University of Sussex (1971) and taught in the Law Faculty of the University of Southampton (1970 - 1977). He was the first Nuffield Fellow of Socio-Legal Studies, at Bedford College, London, and Wolfson College, Cambridge.
In 1977 he took up a position as Professor of Law at the Eduardo Mondlane University in Maputo, Mozambique. From 1983 onwards he served as Director of Research in the Ministry of Justice. After nearly being killed by a car bomb in 1988 he returned to England. In 1978 Sachs became the founding Director of the South Africa Constitution Studies Centre, based at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London. In 1992 the Centre moved to the University of the Western Cape, where he was made Professor Extraordinary. He was also appointed Honorary Professor in the Law Faculty at the University of Cape Town. He took an active part in the negotiations for a new Constitution as a member of the Constitutional Committee of the ANC and of the National Executive of that organisation. He is currently a Judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa.

Saccone and Speed Limited, wine and spirits merchants, was established in 1839. H and G Simonds had acquired a large holding. The company was associated with Lawn and Alder which they set up as a limited company in 1954. By 1960 the parent company in Gibraltar had wholly owned subsidiaries in London and Morrocco with branches in Malta and South Africa. Whisky was sold in USA. In 1961 Courage, Barclay and Simonds acquired the balance of the share capital. By 1963 most of the home trade (function of Saccone and Speed London Ltd) was taken over by Charles Kinloch.

Edward Sabine was born in 1788 and joined the Royal Artillery in 1803. While stationed on the Niagara frontier of Canada he began his studies into natural history, which were eventually to encompass ornithology, meteorology and the study of terrestrial magnetism. The latter study was his particular specialism and led to his attachment to the Arctic expeditions of John Ross (1777-1856) in the Isabella (1818) and Edward Parry (1790-1855) in the Hecla (1819-1820). During his long career he rose to be a General in the Royal Artillery, President of the Royal Society, Knight-Commander of the Bath and a member of the informal "Arctic Council" that advised the Admiralty on Polar exploration. He retired from the Army in 1877 and died in 1883.

Born in Dublin in 1788, Sabine was a graduate of the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich. He retained his commission, eventually reaching the rank of General - but started scientific work at the end of the Napoleonic wars. He was recommended by the Royal Society to accompany John Ross on an expedition to seek the Northwest Passage in 1818, was with William Edward Parry on his 1819-1820 Arctic expedition, and on a pendulum expedition in 1821-1822 around the Atlantic to determine the true figure of the earth. He was most interested in terrestrial magnetism, in 1826 working with Babbage on the British Isles; in the 1830's he, Humphrey Lloyd, James Clark Ross and others completed the magnetic survey of the British Isles, which he repeated in 1858-1861. His career was distinguished by his successful promotion and administration of a world-wide effort to gather terrestrial magnetism observations, believing in the existence of two magnetic poles and that terrestrial magnetism was essentially the same as atmospheric phenomena. He played a key role both in the dispatching of a British expedition to the southern hemisphere in 1839 to establish a network of magnetic and meteorological observatories, and in its consequencies, motivated by intellectual curiosity and nationalistic zeal. Also, he and Sir John Herschel were in complete agreement on the desirability of seizing this opportunity to advance meteorology. Sabine took over from Lloyd the processing of the data, and between 1841-1861 he maintained a staff at Woolwich for data reduction. He also persuaded the British Association to acquire the King's Observatory at Kew to be the basic geophysical observatory for the Empire, providing standard data and equipment for colonial observations, until in 1871 it was transferred to the Royal Society. Sabine believed that data was not the end in itself, but a preliminary to theory. He was particularly active in the British Association and the Royal Society, shifting programmes from one to the other to gain his objectives, such as the Kew Observatory. He was distressed by the disputes over reforming the Royal Society, and with Grove played a leading reform role which answered the complaints of Davy and Babbage about the election of Fellows. However, he failed to move with the scientific times, in 1863 refusing the demand by younger naturalists for awarding the Copley Medal to Darwin in favour of Adam Sedgwick. Accused by Tyndall of neglecting natural history, he resigned the presidency of the Royal Society in 1871.

Richard Henry Sabin: born at New Barnet (Hertfordshire), 1904; studied theology at Cheshunt College, Cambridge; BA (Cantab); appointed London Missionary Society (LMS) missionary to Mbereshi, Northern Rhodesia (Zambia); ordained at New Barnet Congregational Church, 1932; married Lucy Mary Hawkins (d 1933), 1932; sailed to Africa, 1932; his service included work at the Bible School for the training of African ministers; married, secondly, Mary Gladstone Hayward (d 1989), 1938; two children, Pauline Mary (b 1939) and Christopher Hubert Henry (b 1940); resigned his connection with the LMS and accepted the pastorate of Claremont Congregational Church, Cape Town, 1941; returned to England, 1944; subsequently Africa Secretary to the United Society for Christian Literature, and minister of churches in Ilkley (Yorkshire), Great Yarmouth (Norfolk), and Wolverhampton (Staffordshire); died in Middesex Hospital, 1969. Richard Sabin's aunt, Margaret Sabin (1887-1978), also served the London Missionary Society at Mbereshi.

Margaret Katherine Sabin was born on 17 Apr 1887. She was educated at Camden School, with a scholarship of three years to the North London Collegiate School. From 1913-1914, she undertook a training course at Westhill, Selly Oak. She was a member of the Church at Lyndhurst Road, Hampstead, North London, and its associated Mission at Kentish Town. In 1919, she accompanied her sister on a two-year visit to China, where she observed the work of the London Missionary Society. In 1922, she returned by way of South Africa, and spent a few months at Hope Fountain. In 1926, she was appointed as an educational missionary with the London Missionary Society, and posted to Mbereshi, Northern Rhodesia. She remained in Mbereshi until 1948, assisting Mabel Shaw (founder of the Livingstone Memorial School) in building up the girl's boarding school and home. She died in 1978.

Sabah Veneers Ltd

Borneo Veneers Limited, incorporated in 1959, was half owned by British Borneo Timber Company and half by Plywoods Limited. British Borneo Timber Company supplied logs to Borneo Veneers Limited for veneer manufacture. Plywoods Limited purchased and sold the entire veneer output of Borneo Veneers Limited. Harrisons and Crosfield Limited (CLC/B/112) acted as secretaries of Borneo Veneers Limited. From 1963 Borneo Veneers Limited was called Sabah Veneers Limited.

Sabah Trading Company Limited, timber growers and merchants, was registered in March 1963 as Sabah Timber Company Limited. The name was changed to Sabah Trading Company Limited in October 1963 at the same time as British Borneo Timber Company Limited was re-named Sabah Timber Company Limited; see CLC/B/112-137.

Sabah Timber Co Ltd

Sabah Timber Company Limited was registered in 1920 as British Borneo Timber Company Limited, on an agreement between Harrisons and Crosfield Limited and British North Borneo (Chartered) Company. Harrisons and Crosfield Limited transferred the property and assets of China Borneo Company Limited to British Borneo Timber Company Limited. The company received timber cutting licences. Harrisons and Crosfield acted as secretaries and agents for British Borneo Timber Company Limited from 1920.

British Borneo Timber Company Limited supplied logs to Borneo Veneers Limited (established in 1959), which was half owned by British Borneo Timber Company Limited and half by Plywoods Limited.

In 1963 British Borneo Timber Company Limited was renamed Sabah Timber Company Limited. (It already controlled a company named Sabah Timber Company, registered in March 1963. The name of this company was changed in October 1963 to Sabah Trading Company Limited, see CLC/B/112-138). In the same year the name of Borneo Veneers Limited was changed to Sabah Veneers Limited (see CLC/B/112-139).

In 1972/3 Harrisons and Crosfield Limited acquired 50% of the shareholding in Sabah Timber Company Limited which became a subsidiary company. It became a wholly owned subsidiary in 1978.

Sabah Timber Company Limited acquired a number of other timber supplying companies including John Wright and Son (Redditch) Limited in 1969, William T Storer and Company Limited in 1970, Robinson, David and Company in 1969 and Pattinson and Company Limited in 1982.

In 1982 the last logging agreement ended and Sabah Timber Company developed an extensive timber and building supplies network in the UK and Ireland. In 1988 the timber and building supplies operations of Harrisons and Crosfield Limited were consolidated into a single corporate identity: Harcros Timber and Building Supplies Limited.

For historical notes on Sabah Timber Company see CLC/B/112/MS37392.

Sabah Plantations Ltd

This company was registered in 1961 as Borneo Plantations Limited, for production of palm oil, kernels and cocoa on land offered by the Borneo Government to the British Borneo Timber Company at Kalunpang, North Borneo, formerly leased by Darvel Tobacco Company (see CLC/B/112/MS38170). In April 1962 the name was changed to Sabah Plantations Limited. Harrisons and Crosfield acted as secretaries and eastern agents until 1982 when they were replaced by Harrisons Malaysian Plantations Berhad (CLC/B/112-080). From 1977-83 Harrisons Malaysian Estates (CLC/B/112-079) held 48% of the capital of Sabah Plantations Limited; from 1984 it held 100%. From 1982 the company was resident in Malaysia for tax purposes.

The Bishop of London was held to exercise responsibility for Anglican churches overseas where no other bishop had been appointed. He retained responsibility for churches in northern and central Europe until 1980, but his jurisdiction in southern Europe ceased in 1842 on the creation of the diocese of Gibraltar. In 1980, the Bishop of London divested himself of all overseas jurisdiction and a new diocese of 'Gibraltar in Europe' was established.

Saas Fee is a small town in the Saas Valley, Switzerland. It is popular with tourists and therefore a seasonal Anglican chaplaincy was established.

Saam Theatre Group

This oral history project was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and run by Saam Theatre Group. Its aim was to collect and present oral history testimonies of Iranian settlers in London. All the interviews were conducted by young London Iranians. The project ran from 2007-2008 and ended with an audio/visual exhibition of the finished interviews, which ran for three weeks from 1 May 2008.

William Ryland was appointed Chief Executive and one of two Deputy Chairmen of the new Post Office Corporation on its creation on 1 October 1969, the other Deputy Chairman being Whitney Willard Straight who remained as Deputy Chairman until 1974. Prior to this, from 1967 to 1969, Ryland had been the Managing Director of Telecommunications. The first Chairman of the Corporation was William Hall, 2nd Viscount Hall, who retained the position from 10 October 1969 until standing down in 1970. At this point, Ryland assumed the role of Acting Chairman before being confirmed as Chairman in 1971. He remained Chairman of the Post Office Corporation until 1977, at which point he was succeeded by Sir William Barlow. During his time as Chairman, Ryland also held the role of Chief Executive in addition to other titles.

Ryland assumed these posts at a particularly crucial and difficult time for the new Corporation. His period in office saw several major initiatives designed to reinvigorate the Post Office, such as attempts to introduce greater levels of mechanisation into the postal service. In 1974, the then government requested the production of a wide-ranging report into the possibilities of rationalising postal services and this led to a Select Committee on Nationalised Industries enquiry into the letter post in 1975. Ryland also oversaw the introduction of several new ancillary services, such as Expresspost, and an attempt to achieve a measure of industrial democracy. Perhaps the most significant event of his Chairmanship, though, was the national postal strike of 1971 when, for several weeks, virtually the entire postal service in Great Britain was closed down. Although the strike ended in a partial victory for the Post Office Corporation, Ryland realised that the Corporation would have to modernise to compete in the late twentieth Century. He thus oversaw moves to improve and increase mechanisation within the Post Office and the beginnings of a restructuring programme which would eventually see the privatisation of the telecommunications business.

During his tenure as Chief Executive and Chairman, Ryland made several appearances on television and radio. He was frequently interviewed on news and current affairs programmes, giving In 1970, for instance, an hour long interview in the form of a question and answer session with members of the public on the BBC Radio Four programme It's Your Line. Other media appearances included an interview on BBC Radio Two's Jimmy Young Show in December 1976 and various interviews on news magazine programmes such as Nationwide. Ryland also undertook numerous speaking engagements to organisations as diverse as the Cambridge University Management Group and the Mail Users' Association.

William Ryland was knighted for his services to the Post Office in January 1973.

Born; 1922, studied history at King's College London, 1941-1944, Captain in the Home Guard during World War Two; died 1994.

William Brenchley Rye was born on 26 January 1818. He was educated at the Rochester and Chatham Classical and Mathematical School. In 1834 he came to London and entered the office of a solicitor, where he met John Winter Jones, principal librarian of the British Museum. After working at several posts in the British Museum, he became the supernumerary assistant in 1844. Rye was responsible for supervising the removal and subsequent arrangement of the Thomas Grenville Library at the British Museum. In 1857, Rye became the assistant keeper in the department of printed books, where he remained until his retirement in 1875. Rye's principal published work was England as seen by foreigners in the days of Elizabeth and James I, 1895. This work comprised of a collection of narratives by foreign visitors. Rye died on 21 December 1901. Rye's younger son, Reginald Arthur Rye became the Goldsmith's Librarian at the University of London.

Andrew Rutherford was born in Sutherland in 1929. He was educated at Helmsdale School, George Watson's Boys' College, the University of Edinburgh and Merton College, Oxford University. From 1952 to 1953 he served with the Seaforth Highlanders, remaining a member of the 11th Bn (TA) until 1958. Rutherford was appointed Assistant Lecturer (1955) and Lecturer in English (1956-1964) at the University of Edinburgh; in 1964 he moved to the University of Aberdeen where he was Senior Lecturer, 1964, Professor of English, 1965-1968, and Regius Professor of English Literature, 1968-1984. During this period he was a member of the University Court, 1978-1984; Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, 1979-1982; and Senior Vice-President, 1982-1984. Rutherford left Aberdeen and became Warden of Goldsmith's College from 1984 to 1992, also serving as a Professor of the University of London, 1988-1992, and a member of its Court, 1990-1992. He retired in 1992, but returned to the University of London to serve as Vice-Chancellor from 1994 to 1997. He died in 1998. Andrew Rutherford wrote widely on subjects relating to English literature, most notably on Byron, on literature and war and on Kipling.

Lease and release was the most common method of conveying freehold property from the later seventeenth century onwards, before the introduction of the modern conveyance in the late nineteenth century. The lease was granted for a year (sometimes six months), then on the following day the lessor released their right of ownership in return for the consideration (the thing for which land was transferred from one party to another, usually, of course, a sum of money).

From the British Records Association "Guidelines 3 - Interpreting Deeds: How To Interpret Deeds - A Simple Guide And Glossary".

The author qualified at Leeds University in 1924, and was pathologist at the Royal Surrey County Hospital, Guildford. His signature is found inside the upper cover of the 1935 volume.

The Russian Refugees Relief Association was set up in 1946 to care for people forced to leave Russia and eastern Europe by the spread of Communism. As well as supporting refugees in the UK, the RRRA provided food parcels and other aid to Russians in Germany and Europe. The organisation generally acted to promote Russian issues and provide a service to those trying to locate family and friends. As the refugees in Britain became elderly, the Association purchased two houses in Earls Court, London, as hostels. They also provided a Russian language library. As its income gradually decreased, the Association's work was gradually superceded by other agencies, and it was wound up in 1968. Its assets were passed on to the Russian Benevolent Society.

The Russian Red Cross in Great Britain (founded in 1893), was revitalised around 1920, and set out to provide relief for people exiled from Russia and their children who found sanctuary in Great Britain following the Russian Revolution of 1917. Those exiles were people of all walks of life, many of whom found it difficult to adapt to a new way of life in a foreign country. Further emigration of Russians to the Great Britain occurred following World War Two, and comprised people who had suffered under both German and Russian oppression, or were escaping forced repatriation within the USSR.

In 1948, the International Red Cross rules that only the national Red Cross can function in a country and asked the Society to change its name and discontinue the use of the Red Cross emblem. The name was altered to the 'Russian Benevolent Society 1917'.

In the 1960s, the Society purchased three number of houses in the Chiswick area of London, including 56 Woodstock Rd, and 6 Arbinger Rd, and 16 The Avenue. These were run as hostels, particularly for elderly, ill or disabled people formerly from Russia, and were Russian speaking communities. The society also provided small grants to people in need or to relieve immediate distress. Its chief fundraising activities were an Annual Christmas Bazaar and two general appeals for funds each year.

The Society operates as an independent, non-political charity, registered under the War Charities Act 1940. The name was altered to the Russian Refugees Aid Society in 1978. Very few Russians were allowed to leave the USSR until its collapse in 1991. Since then the Society's focus has altered to providing immediate relief to refugees from the former Soviet republics, and assisting them in dealing with government authorities.