Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1911-1912 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
0.05 linear meters
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Hugh Price Hughes, a Wesleyan Minister in London, founded the West London Mission in 1887 as part of the Forward Movement in Methodism which stressed that faith had to be expressed in social and political as well as personal life. The Inaugural meeting of the then West Central Mission was on 21st October 1887 with the Sermon at St. James' Hall, Piccadilly preached by C.H. Spurgeon. The West London Mission remained at St. James' Hall which was a popular Concert Hall, until 1905 when it was demolished to form the Piccadilly Hotel. The Mission moved to Exeter Hall, another concert hall, in the Strand.
In 1906 the Methodist Conference gave the Mission its own building, the Wesleyan Chapel at Great Queen Street. The building was later condemned by the LCC and the Mission were temporarily housed in the Lyceum Theatre, while on Great Queen Street at the old site a new place of worship, Kingsway Hall, was under construction. Kingsway Hall opened in 1912 and enjoyed nearly 70 years of occupation until it was sold in the eighties after the amalgamation of the Kingsway Circuit and Hinde Street; the Mission returned to the West End to Thayer Street/Hinde Street.
In the early days, much of the day to day work went on in smaller chapels and halls in the middle of slum areas where social needs were great. These buildings such as Craven Hall at Fouberts Place were used for a wide variety of activities not just devotional but social, education and welfare. However, this use of smaller halls was dropped after the First World War in favour of the new Kingsway Hall premises.
Since its beginning the West London Mission has been involved with social work. One of its first services offered was a Crèche. There were also job registries and men's social department catering for the unemployed, dispensaries and free surgeries, a poor man's lawyer service, a Home of Peace for the Dying, a home for homeless girls - The Winchester House, and a clothing store. In the 1920s and 1930s the social work of the West London Mission expanded. They set up hostels for abandoned mothers and for girls in London without jobs and in 1923 a Mission Maternity Hospital was established. The Social work continued and now includes St. Luke's and St. Mary's Hostels for men and women, Emerson Bainbridge House for young offenders and the Katherine Price Hughes house set up in 1937 and which now provides accommodation for men and women on probation and bail.
Repository
Archival history
LMA/4269 1911-1912 Collection 0.05 linear meters Methodist Church of Great Britain x United Methodist Church x Wesleyan Methodist Church x Primitive Methodist Church
Hugh Price Hughes, a Wesleyan Minister in London, founded the West London Mission in 1887 as part of the Forward Movement in Methodism which stressed that faith had to be expressed in social and political as well as personal life. The Inaugural meeting of the then West Central Mission was on 21st October 1887 with the Sermon at St. James' Hall, Piccadilly preached by C.H. Spurgeon. The West London Mission remained at St. James' Hall which was a popular Concert Hall, until 1905 when it was demolished to form the Piccadilly Hotel. The Mission moved to Exeter Hall, another concert hall, in the Strand.
In 1906 the Methodist Conference gave the Mission its own building, the Wesleyan Chapel at Great Queen Street. The building was later condemned by the LCC and the Mission were temporarily housed in the Lyceum Theatre, while on Great Queen Street at the old site a new place of worship, Kingsway Hall, was under construction. Kingsway Hall opened in 1912 and enjoyed nearly 70 years of occupation until it was sold in the eighties after the amalgamation of the Kingsway Circuit and Hinde Street; the Mission returned to the West End to Thayer Street/Hinde Street.
In the early days, much of the day to day work went on in smaller chapels and halls in the middle of slum areas where social needs were great. These buildings such as Craven Hall at Fouberts Place were used for a wide variety of activities not just devotional but social, education and welfare. However, this use of smaller halls was dropped after the First World War in favour of the new Kingsway Hall premises.
Since its beginning the West London Mission has been involved with social work. One of its first services offered was a Crèche. There were also job registries and men's social department catering for the unemployed, dispensaries and free surgeries, a poor man's lawyer service, a Home of Peace for the Dying, a home for homeless girls - The Winchester House, and a clothing store. In the 1920s and 1930s the social work of the West London Mission expanded. They set up hostels for abandoned mothers and for girls in London without jobs and in 1923 a Mission Maternity Hospital was established. The Social work continued and now includes St. Luke's and St. Mary's Hostels for men and women, Emerson Bainbridge House for young offenders and the Katherine Price Hughes house set up in 1937 and which now provides accommodation for men and women on probation and bail.
Received in 2000 (B00/050).
Press cuttings relating to the opening of Kingsway Hall, part of the West London Mission, Methodist Church, 1911-1912.
Chronological.
Available for general access.
Copyright: Depositor
English
Fit
Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm
For more papers relating to Kingsway Hall and the West London Mission see LMA/4057, LMA/4474, N/M/008 and N/M/043.
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997. January to March 2009 Press Newspaper press Press cuttings Architecture Nonconformists Buildings Religious buildings Chapels Nonconformist chapels Religions Ancient religions Christianity Protestantism Protestant nonconformity Methodism Religious groups Christians Protestants Protestant nonconformists Methodists Missions Missionary work Religious activities Churches Religion London Methodist Mission (West) Circuit x West London Methodist Mission Kingsway Hall , West London Methodist Mission Holborn London England UK Western Europe Camden Europe Nonconformity
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Received in 2000 (B00/050).
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Press cuttings relating to the opening of Kingsway Hall, part of the West London Mission, Methodist Church, 1911-1912.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Chronological.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Available for general access.
Conditions governing reproduction
Copyright: Depositor
Language of material
- English
Script of material
- Latin
Language and script notes
English
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
For more papers relating to Kingsway Hall and the West London Mission see LMA/4057, LMA/4474, N/M/008 and N/M/043.
Finding aids
Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm
Allied materials area
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Existence and location of copies
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Description control area
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Rules and/or conventions used
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Language(s)
- English