Guild of St Alban the Martyr Brotherhood of St John the Divine, Clapham

Shirley Fielding Palmer founded the Guild of Saint Alban the Martyr in 1851, probably inspired by Newman's suggestion that laymen should assist clergy in densely populated areas. It was formed from lay communicants, clergy being admitted as associates, and aimed to assist them in maintaining and extending the Catholic faith, to defend the faith against attacks of error and unbelief and to support the independence of the English Church from the jurisdiction claimed by the Church of Rome. Within the Guild were grades of fellows and brethren and an order of Sisters of the Poor. The brotherhood was divided into sections forming separate brotherhoods under the superintendence of a master e.g. the Brotherhood of Saint John the Divine, Clapham.