Part 1

Transcribed from the 1853 W. Birch edition by David Price, email [email protected]. Many thanks to Royal Kensington Libraries for allowing their copy to be used for this transcription.

NINTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE ST. MARY ABBOTT’S, Kensington, CHURCH OF ENGLAND DISTRICT VISITING SOCIETY,

TOGETHER

WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF THE DIFFERENT SOCIETIES SUBORDINATE OR AFFILIATED TO IT.

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1853.

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KENSINGTON: PRINTED BY W. BIRCH, TERRACE, HIGH STREET.

ST. MARY ABBOTT’S, KENSINGTON, Church of England DISTRICT VISITING SOCIETY.

PRESIDENT. THE VEN. ARCHDEACON SINCLAIR, VICAR.

VICE-PRESIDENTS. SIR J. CONROY, BART., K.C.H. SIR HENRY WILLOCK, K.L.S.

TREASURER. Mr. CLARKE.

JOINT SECRETARIES. THE REV. THE CURATES. MR. WARNER.

AUDITORS. MR. WESTON. MR. FREDERICK THOMPSON.

COMMITTEE.

MR. BAILEY. MR. GOODEVE. DR. BAYFORD, D.C.L. MR. HUGHES. MR. BELLWORTHY. REV. J. H. HOWLETT. MR. C. BUNYON. MR. MERRIMAN. MR. COOKE. MR. J. N. MERRIMAN. MR. ELLIS. MR. CARRICK MOORE.

COLLECTOR. ALFRED ELLIS, 16, _Lower Phillimore Place_.

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_Ladies or Gentlemen who may be desirous of taking charge of Districts as Visitors_, _are requested to communicate with the Secretaries_, _who_, _in the event vacancies occurring_, _will inform them thereof_.

_The Secretaries will be happy to give all the information in their power to any Subscriber or Parishioner who may wish for it_, _upon any point not fully treated of in the Report of the Committee_.

GENERAL RULES.

1. THIS Society shall be called the “ST. MARY ABBOTT’S KENSINGTON, CHURCH OF ENGLAND DISTRICT VISITING SOCIETY.”

2. The object of this Society shall be, to improve the temporal and spiritual condition of the Poor of Kensington.

3. A Fund for that purpose shall be raised by Subscriptions and Donations; Subscriptions to be due on the first of January in each year.

4. Annual Subscribers of not less than One Guinea shall be Members of the Society.

5. The business of the Society shall be conducted by a Board, consisting of a President, Vice-Presidents, a Treasurer, Secretary, and Committee of Management. The Vicar to be President, ex-officio; the Curates, Members of the Committee; other twelve members, to be elected at the yearly general meeting of the Society. A Report of the Proceedings of the Board shall be presented annually at the General Meeting, and published for the information of the Parishioners.

6. The Board shall meet on the first Saturday in every Month, to audit accounts submitted, and decide upon cases referred. Three Members to form a quorum.

7. The operations of this Society shall be extended over that portion of Kensington which is in connexion with the Clergy of St. Mary Abbott’s Church.

8. The Visitors shall all be members of the Established Church; their business shall be, to keep a List of all the families in their several Districts, according to a prescribed form; to inquire into all cases recommended; to administer relief; and to circulate Books and Tracts upon the List of this Society.

9. Relief shall not be given in any case by the Visitor to a larger amount than 2s. a week for adults, and 1s. for each child, nor continue for a longer period than four weeks, without the sanction of the Board, at its monthly meeting. The Board, however, shall not be subject to the same restrictions.

10. Relief shall be administered by orders on Shopkeepers, and not in money, except in extreme cases.

11. No applicant of notoriously immoral character shall be relieved; but relief shall not be refused to any person on account of his religious persuasion.

12. No person shall be relieved who has not resided three months in the Parish, and has not occupied the same house or lodging, unless good reason be assigned.

13. Subscribers to the Society may recommend cases for inquiry and relief. Recommendations may be sent to the National School House, whence they will be forwarded daily to the Visitors. Money remitted to any of the Parochial Clergy for the relief of particular families shall be appropriated to that purpose, if they are found to be proper objects of charity; otherwise it shall be returned to the Donor, or, with his consent, added to the general fund.

14. Visitors are requested to forward their Books to the Secretaries, for the consideration of the Board, the Saturday before the monthly meeting.

15. A Parochial Lending Library shall be provided by the Board, together with a supply of Books and Tracts, to be either given, lent, or sold by the Visitors. No Book to be sold at a lower rate than half-price.

16. Cases of sickness shall always be reported by the Visitors to the Parochial Clergy.

17. The Board, at its monthly meeting, shall supply the Visitors with funds proportioned to the probable wants of their several Districts.

CONTENTS.

PAGE BLANKETS 22 COAL FUND 20 CLOTHING FUND 21 WINTER CLUB 21 PROVIDENT CLUB 21 WORK SOCIETY 23 MATERNITY SOCIETY 13 PAROCHIAL NURSERY 14 INFANT SCHOOL 15 CHRIST CHURCH NATIONAL SCHOOL, GORE LANE 18 JENNINGS’ BUILDINGS SCHOOL 16 ANALYSIS OF RELIEF GIVEN 24 DISTRICT VISITING—ITS PRACTICAL WORKING 25 —RESULTS 28

NINTH ANNUAL REPORT.

In putting forth, for the information and satisfaction of the Parishioners of St. Mary Abbott’s, the Ninth Annual Report of the KENSINGTON CHURCH OF ENGLAND DISTRICT VISITING SOCIETY, the Committee feel constrained to call the serious attention of all residents blessed with the will and power of exercising a discriminating charity to the several subscription lists annually put forth from the date of its foundation. A comparative view of the balance sheets of its receipts and expenditure, from the time that the several Ecclesiastical Districts were separated from the Mother Church will reveal facts, which no impartial person can consider in creditable keeping with the progress that has taken place in the numbers and respectability of the population. Large areas of formerly vacant ground, both in the New Town and on Campden Hill, are now covered with houses, in the occupation of tenants who must possess competent, if not abundant, means. In Palace Gardens, mansions have sprung up, which, in all the appliances of a luxurious and tasteful civilization, throw into the shade the neighbouring Royal residence. The value of rateable property is now assessed at a sum that very largely exceeds its registered amount six years ago. From such data, and arguing from the general benevolence of the English character it would not have been unreasonable to expect a corresponding advance in the sums set apart for Christian Almsgiving. This natural hope has not been justified. The reverse is the case. Year by year the contributions have been falling off, until between the revenues of 1846 and 1852, there exists no less a difference than 150_l._, being considerably more than a third of the entire income from those sources. Nor must it be supposed that the continued erection of habitations adapted to the requirements of families moving in the upper and middle walks of life has been unaccompanied by any provision for the accommodation of the numerous classes who wait upon and minister to their wants. In one street alone a considerable number of small dwellings, containing from six to eight rooms, have recently been built, by which comfortable lodgings are secured to upwards of five hundred new inhabitants, of whom a large majority, on any failure of health or employment, would become eligible candidates for temporary relief. Under the pressure of circumstances thus doubly adverse, with a sphere of usefulness steadily increasing, yet decreasing supplies wherewith to occupy it profitably, it may be a matter of surprise to some, that the operations of the Society have been so efficiently and perseveringly maintained. But the solution of the problem is to be sought in the tendency of those operations themselves. The alleviation of physical misery was but one, and not the most important one, amongst the many objects, which engaged the attention of its first managers. To forestall the occurrence of distress, by stimulating and encouraging provident habits, was, in temporal affairs, their main purpose. The principle of forethought was systematically wrought into the mind of each applicant for help. Hence, in proportion as the love of the rich waxed cold, the energy of the poor strengthened; and though the bounty of the former diminished, the savings of the latter augmented until the Deposits in the Coal, Clothing, and Winter Clubs have more than doubled the amounts collected by subscription. These constitute a reserve fund always available to its members, in seasons of unlooked for privation. Ordinarily, the man who has money in each of these Clubs requires no extraneous assistance; he is sufficient for himself. His three grand winter wants, fuel, raiment, and rent, are all provided for. This independence enables him to understand the pleasures of an honest industry; raises him above the influence of any trifling fluctuation in his trade, and educes at once and fosters the invaluable characteristic of consistent self-respect. The establishment of safe and remunerating investments for the earnings of the prudent artizan is a boon, which soon returns an ample interest to a neighbourhood. As their intention and working becomes known and comprehended, they are thankfully appreciated by the more thoughtful portion of the operative body, who soon learn that by the exercise of a due economy and regular apportionment of their wages, it is quite possible to anticipate the ordinary exigencies of the future, and live independent of eleemosynary aid. That this result has taken place in Kensington is demonstrable from the subjoined table, which shows the sums spent by the Visitor in a district where the population has increased an eighth in three years before and after the introduction of the Clubs. It would probably be found a fair type of the system.

Money expended. Money deposited. 1847 £13 12 9 £11 16 3 1850 7 0 0 18 18 3 1852 10 5 6 26 0 10

The Winter Club deposits amounting last year to £8 1_s._ 6_d._ are not included in the summary. Enough however will have been adduced to indicate in what way the reduced resources of the Institution have hitherto sufficed for its actual necessities. But the causes that have led to the deficiency in its income are yet to be explained.

These may be stated as arising first from the death or change of residence of many original supporters; and, secondly, from want of acquaintance on the part of new comers with its existence. Nor should this be a matter of much surprise; since, in every populous parish, so many Institutions for the temporal and spiritual advantage of the working-classes are necessary to be maintained, that comparatively few of those, who do not make a conscience of inquiring into their condition, are aware of either their number or relative importance. This remark applies with peculiar force to suburban districts such as Kensington, where a large proportion of the heads of families proceed early in the morning to transact their daily business in London, and do not return until the evening. The fault of their ignorance is not however to be charged to the Committee of the Society, who do all in their power to make known its title to assistance, both by the publication of Reports, and the appointment of a collector, whose business it is not merely to gather old, but also to solicit new subscriptions. But in many instances, the servants are prohibited from receiving printed appeals by a general order, which, of course, renders nugatory any communication that might be addressed to their masters through the medium of the Press. This is a hardship on both parties, in that the very individuals who are the first to complain of the apparent omission, are the involuntary victims of their own direction, and continue deprived of a satisfactory channel for the administration of their alms; while the Charity advocated in the pamphlet intended to be left at their houses suffers in the full amount which might otherwise have been placed at its disposal. There are some cases on the other side, in which the clergy have been requested by persons immediately on their entrance into the Parish to supply them with a list of the benevolent Institutions requiring succour. It would be well were this example more universally followed. None would then complain of being overlooked.

With these preliminary observations the Committee proceed to the more grateful task of giving an account of their stewardship in the past year; and as the best means of exhibiting the organisation now existing in St. Mary Abbott’s, and informing the public of the comprehensive scheme of charity, to which they are invited to take a part, the present Report will bring in order under notice, the graduated agencies of beneficence that are exerted upon the poor throughout the several stages of their lives.

As that which refers to its very earliest period, it may be advisable to commence with some account of the

MATERNITY SOCIETY,

which, after an independent course of active usefulness for above thirty years, has been in some measure affiliated to the District Visiting Society, though still retaining the valuable superintendence of those ladies, under whose judicious management it has been productive of such essential service. Its purpose is to provide bags of baby-linen and other fitting articles for respectable married women during the month of their confinement; these are entrusted for distribution to the members of the Committee, who usually grant them on the recommendation of a subscriber, or of the Visitor of the District in which the applicant resides. A copy of the New Testament is sent at the same time, which is often not without its influence in suggesting to the recipient the promise that, though in “sorrow she is to bring forth children, notwithstanding she shall be saved in child-bearing, if she continue in faith, and charity, and holiness, with sobriety.” Those possessing larger means, who have been preserved in this great peril and danger, need not be told that next to the accustomed offering at the Altar, there is no more appropriate object for the pecuniary acknowledgments of a thankful spirit, than an Institution claiming to ameliorate those very sufferings from which they have in mercy been so recently delivered.

But the question of support and maintenance soon follows upon the birth of the infant. The poor mother cannot afford to remain at home all day to tend her child. What then becomes of her babe? Shall it be consigned to the care of some aged neighbour, at a cost of a third part of her daily earnings; or must the education of an elder daughter be interfered with, that she may become its nurse? Both these pernicious alternatives have been superseded by the

PAROCHIAL NURSERY, IN GREAT GROVE HOUSE.

This establishment consists of two good sized airy rooms, in a quiet part of the town, fitted up with cradles, mattresses, and other articles of infantile furniture, for the reception of babies, whose mothers are engaged in daily employment. A small yard or playground is attached, where the children old enough to run alone may take their exercise without any fear of the dangers incidental to the streets. The charge of this infant family is confided to an experienced matron, who with the assistance of a competent nursery-maid, conducts the affairs of her Lilliputian kingdom to the satisfaction of the many parents interested in its prosperity. During the past year, the attendances of infants have reached the startling number of 2788, being 286 beyond those recorded in the last Report. The payments for their safe keeping have exceeded £20, while the reduction in expence to their mothers is calculated at no less amount than £278 16_s._

To all who, in watching over the helplessness and innocence of infancy, have learnt how delicate is the constitution, how difficult is the rearing of a child, the Committee hopefully commend the cause of these babes of toil. To rescue them from the evils of a careless tending; to preserve them from disease engendered by deleterious cordials, administered by ignorant and impatient guardians to hush their cries; to insure them the common blessings of light and air, of cleanliness and warmth, is essentially a mother’s charity. Nor will the lady, surveying with a grateful heart, the commodious arrangement of the apartments of her little ones, have her sense of gratification, in bending over the cradle of her son and heir, diminished by the recollection that she has been instrumental in procuring for the offspring of others, some amongst those comforts so abundantly bestowed upon her own. And if, as is presumed, our boys and girls are taught, in advancing youth, to set apart, on principle, a certain percentage of their allowances for purposes of Christian love, where will they find an object for their sympathies more in unison with their age and feelings than one devoted to the reception of children far younger and more feeble than themselves?

At the age of two years, the infants are transferred to one of the three Schools of the District. Of these, that in Church Court, which, as the feeder of the central National School, has enrolled upon its books about one hundred and fifty scholars between the ages of two and seven years, receives the great proportion. The rest, for the most part, are absorbed by either the Jennings’ Buildings or the Gore Lane School, each of which possess a prescriptive right to mention in these pages, not only from the grants they have severally obtained, but from the position they hold in the Parochial organization.

JENNINGS’ BUILDINGS,

is a purlieu of the town, leading out of the High Street, and is the chosen settlement of the Irish Romanists. It consists of a series of courts and alleys which, for closeness and filth, are probably without a parallel westward of St. Paul’s. Being a _cul de sac_, unlighted, irregularly paved, and indifferently supplied with water, its best disposed inhabitants find it difficult to cultivate the habits of civilized life. The majority give the matter up, and seek in alcoholic and other stimulants, an antidote against wretchedness, malaria, and disease. Nowhere are the evils of overcrowded chambers more apparent. Single rooms frequently shelter two, and even three families. Its choicest district exhibits a return of forty families to eighteen houses; of one hundred and sixty persons, exclusive of lodgers, sleeping in thirty nine rooms. The entire population, inclusive of Palace Place, must exceed one thousand five hundred souls. Prior to the erection of the present School, it was impossible for ladies to penetrate its recesses. The Police entered its retreats in couples. In 1847 the work of reformation commenced; since then a steady progress has been made. At first, the school was emphatically a ragged school; its scholars were literally running wild and half naked in the streets; they outraged alike propriety and decency. Gradually, a change has been wrought. Cleanliness and obedience are rule, where formerly dirt and turbulence prevailed. Gifts of serviceable clothing to the elder and most regular pupils of both sexes have introduced some appreciation of tidiness and self-respect. Above all, the systematic visitation of its Ladies’ Committee and their friends, has been productive of most humanizing effects. Slight attempts are recognizable, on the part of the residents, to render their locality less decidedly objectionable. They have, at least, before them a higher standard, which a few are endeavouring to reach. The teaching of the children has thus reacted on the mothers; and though from the constant importation of fresh immigrants the battle must be fought uphill, there can be but little doubt on which side the victory will rest at last. But with the Homeric hero it is fair to wish for light. Granted the day and the contest must be successful. It is the ignorance of the Irish, that is the nurse of their misery; lighten this darkness, and as the clouds of superstition and prejudice roll away, whatever germs of good, and they are many, now lie undeveloped in their hearts, will blossom beneath the genial rays of knowledge, and bring forth fruit in season. Already thirty children have gone from this school to earn their own living in the states of life to which it has pleased God to call them; and if in their different situations they are practising, as the reports of their employers testify, the virtues of honesty, sobriety, and industry, of gentleness and modesty, there can be no undue assumption in attributing this happy issue far more to discipline and precept, than to nature or example.

The average of attendances during the past year is about sixty-five, though this number has, at times, been considerably exceeded. The expenditure for rent, books, master, &c., is £114, of which only £61 is obtained by regular subscriptions. But it most assuredly becomes all who have at heart the interests of Scriptural religion, who desiderate the spread of Gospel Light, and love the truth as it is in Jesus, to combine in strengthening by both personal and pecuniary aid, an Educational Institution, abundantly blessed in the rescue of many children from heathenism, vice, and crime. It is planted in a Missionary Field of no ordinary importance; stretched before our very doors, almost as much untilled and unsown as the sterile wastes of Paganism. One isolated spot it has, whence all that is green and refreshing in its barrenness proceeds—its District School. Shall _its_ vegetation wither for lack of Alms and Prayers to water the young and vigorous shoots?

Nor has the attempt to extend the National System of Education to the Eastern portion of the Parish proved less satisfactory.

THE GORE LANE SCHOOL