Corporation of the Sons of the Clergy The Charity for the Relief of Poor Widows and Children of Clergymen

Corporation of the Sons of the Clergy The Charity for the Relief of Poor Widows and Children of Clergymen

The Charity was incorporated by charter dated 1 July 1678, at the instigation of a group of loyalist Anglicans who were concerned to alleviate the lot of needy dependants of Anglican clergy who had suffered for their orthodoxy during the time of the Commonwealth. The incorporation marked a stage in the consolidation of charitable efforts directed to that end, and the primary class to benefit from the activities of the Corporation were the widows of sequestered clergy. Formally named "The Charity for the Relief of poor Widows and Children of Clergymen", the Corporation gradually came to extend its benevolence more widely within that general heading as the years passed.

The popular title "Sons of the Clergy" is an indication of the large proportion of sons of clergymen who were active in the Charity, but also probably shows a sense of "pietas" felt by orthodox laity toward the faithful clergy. The phrase was inherited from the Festival of the Sons of the Clergy.

The Corporation and the Festival: The circle of Anglicans whose efforts led to the incorporation of the Charity had for many years previously been pursuing the aims formulated in the Charter of 1678 by means of the annual Festival of the Sons of the Clergy. This enabled the raising of money at a solemn service, held in a prominent church in the Capital, and a grand feast to follow, at which the liberal benefactions of the wealthy were solicited. The origins of the Festival are obscure, the first extant Sermon preached on such an occasion being dated 1655.

The Festival, with its organisers and administrators, must be regarded as the parent of the Corporation. No doubt practical experience showed the creation of a Corporation to be the best means of ensuring orderliness and continuity in the administration of such a Charity. If the annual benevolence of the Festival attracted offers of endowment by estates, which would yield a regular and permanent income, the creation of a body corporate would be the only way of avoiding the tiresome necessity of continual renewal of trustees to make up for depletions by death. It was just this legal difficulty which led eventually to the vesting in the Corporation of the Sons of the Clergy of a number of private charities with similar objects. One such was Palmer's Charity, which brought the Corporation some lands in rural Holloway; and these with the growth of London, became the Corporation's principal landed estate.

The purchase of estates was, indeed, one of the early concerns of the Charity, once incorporated, and its landed interests eventually came to extend over many parts of England and Wales.

The Festival, with its Stewards and Secretary, and the Corporation, with its Court of Assistants and Registrar, continued as separate, though closely linked, entities, and the same people were often active in both. The funds raised at the Festival were administered separately until in the 1830's they were handed over to the Corporation to administer though still as a separate fund.

The Organisation of the Corporation: The Charter of Incorporation, whose text was copied out at the beginning of more than one Court Book, lays down the organisation of the Charity which it has retained ever since, and which still continues to function. The Corporation consists of a large number of Governors who meet at a General Court held on the second Thursday in each November. The first Governors, men of substance and standing, were nominated by Charter, and all subsequent appointments were made at the General Court.

The Charter also nominated the first Court of Assistants, composed of a President, Vice-President, three Treasurers and 42 Assistants. This court is responsible for the conduct of business of the Charity, it meets at varying intervals throughout the year, and appointments to it lie with the Governors.

At the first meeting of the Court of Assistants on 15th July 1678, choice was made of a Register, later called Registrar, to be the principal permanent official of the Corporation. Unlike the abovementioned officers, the Register received payment for his services, which required legal knowledge, and approximated to the functions of a general secretary and solicitor.

Amongst other minor officials was the Messenger, who convened meetings and probably at times acted as a rent collector. There was never a large staff of permanent officials. Unlike the Messenger, the Registrar still continues to function at the head of the permanent administration.

There seems to have been a permanent accountant at least since 1726, but this official is less easy to trace in the records. Apart from the Treasurers' Accounts, the Ledger of 1771 is the first survivor of any series of financial records. Before 1726 this work seems to have been in the hands of a Committee for Methodizing the Books.

Various Committees were appointed from time to time, but in the 17th and 18th centuries they generally give an impression of informality, and were often appointed ad hoc. It was not until about 1840 that any considerable reorganisation took place within the Corporation, and at that time the three principal permanent Committees of Estates, Finance and Petitions were formed.