Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1909-1960 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
5.75 linear metres
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.
Another aspect of the work of the Mission was Open Air Ministry. There were open air services on the streets every evening and in Hyde Park on Sundays which included the Mission brass band. One of the most well known open air preachers was the Reverend Lord Donald Soper whose outdoor work began in 1927 at Tower Hill and in 1942 at Speakers' Corner.
The Mission now has its home at 19 Thayer Street.
Repository
Archival history
N/M/002 1909-1960 Collection 5.75 linear metres 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.
Another aspect of the work of the Mission was Open Air Ministry. There were open air services on the streets every evening and in Hyde Park on Sundays which included the Mission brass band. One of the most well known open air preachers was the Reverend Lord Donald Soper whose outdoor work began in 1927 at Tower Hill and in 1942 at Speakers' Corner.
The Mission now has its home at 19 Thayer Street.
Deposited in 1971 (AC/71/024) and 2004 (B04/079).
Quarterly Meeting minute books, 1899-1940; Executive Committee minute books, 1897-1942; Finance Committee minute books, 1890-1938; Special Finance Committee minute book, 1927-1933; Holiday Committee minute books, 1907-1948; Local Preachers' Quarterly Meetings minute books, 1925-1940; Relief Committee minute books, 1907-1950; Workers' Meetings minute books, 1927-1942; papers regarding Emerson Bainbridge House, 1909-1922; Gertrude Owen House Committee minute books, 1950-1960; Hungerford Club Council minute books, 1944-1960; Katherine House (The Sisterhood) visitors book, 1891-1923; Katherine Price Hughes Hostel Committee minute books, 1948-1954; Kingsway House Committee minute books, 1949-1958; papers of the Lumsden Trust, 1910-1926; papers of the Old Hopdene Trust, 1931-1964; financial accounts, 1891-1956; Finance Committee correspondence, 1922-1939; West London Mission letter book, 1896-1904; Quarterly schedules, 1890-1902; Circuit schedule book, 1917-1920; 2nd London District Sunday School schedules, 1925-1933; North West District Sunday School schedules, 1934-1942.
Minute books, visitors books, and collected papers: N/M/002/1-106; Correspondence and Schedules: N/M/002/107-114.
Available for general access.
Copyright: Depositor
English
Fit
Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm
See also LMA/4474.
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 Religions Church administration Ancient religions Christianity Protestantism Protestant nonconformity Methodism Religious groups Christians Protestants Protestant nonconformists Methodists Administration Organisation and management Church societies Religious organizations Nonconformists Religion Churches London Methodist Mission (West) Circuit x West London Methodist Mission Religious buildings Buildings Architecture Religious institutions Nonconformity
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Deposited in 1971 (AC/71/024) and 2004 (B04/079).
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Quarterly Meeting minute books, 1899-1940; Executive Committee minute books, 1897-1942; Finance Committee minute books, 1890-1938; Special Finance Committee minute book, 1927-1933; Holiday Committee minute books, 1907-1948; Local Preachers' Quarterly Meetings minute books, 1925-1940; Relief Committee minute books, 1907-1950; Workers' Meetings minute books, 1927-1942; papers regarding Emerson Bainbridge House, 1909-1922; Gertrude Owen House Committee minute books, 1950-1960; Hungerford Club Council minute books, 1944-1960; Katherine House (The Sisterhood) visitors book, 1891-1923; Katherine Price Hughes Hostel Committee minute books, 1948-1954; Kingsway House Committee minute books, 1949-1958; papers of the Lumsden Trust, 1910-1926; papers of the Old Hopdene Trust, 1931-1964; financial accounts, 1891-1956; Finance Committee correspondence, 1922-1939; West London Mission letter book, 1896-1904; Quarterly schedules, 1890-1902; Circuit schedule book, 1917-1920; 2nd London District Sunday School schedules, 1925-1933; North West District Sunday School schedules, 1934-1942.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Minute books, visitors books, and collected papers: N/M/002/1-106; Correspondence and Schedules: N/M/002/107-114.
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
See also LMA/4474.
Finding aids
Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Publication note
Notes area
Note
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
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