establishes several important facts; and enables the reader to form a
just estimate of the care taken of the cure of souls in Paddington, by
bishop Mountain.
I think it not at all improbable that the “Vicarage House” had been made
into “a house for _two_ tenants,” by Sir Rowland St. John; for, so far as
I can discover, he was the first lessee who resided on the Paddington
estate. The lords of the manor had preferred to live in the monastery,
and the episcopal palace; and their lessees were only middle-men, whose
object was—as the object of this class very frequently has been—to get as
much out of the land-workers as possible, and give as little as possible
in return.
It is my opinion, however, that Sir Rowland St. John added very
considerably to the parsonage-house; and adopted it as his own residence,
(no uncommon thing at this period), by which it arrived at the dignity of
a manor-house; and, as the bishop had “left it unto his tenants” to do
what they pleased for the cure of souls, Sir Rowland, also in compliance
with the fashion of the time, kindly gave house-room to some poor
half-starved curate, who had never taken upon himself the ministry as a
money-getting profession, or having done so had found his expectations
most woefully deceived. The pay of his “reading minister” may astonish
those who do not remember the account given by Mr. Macaulay, or some
equally trust-worthy author, of the condition of the great majority of
the clergy in the seventeenth century.
The learned historian just referred to, states, what one may readily
believe, seeing what the lords of Paddington and Marylebone paid the
minister of those places, that “for one who made the figure of a
gentleman, ten were menial servants;” and he adds, “a large proportion of
those divines who had no benefices, or whose benefices were too small to
afford a comfortable revenue, lived in the houses of laymen.”
“The Ordinary,” in his “discretion,” or in his hurry to secure a more
lucrative preferment for himself—the see of London in Dr. Mountain’s time
was not the richest in England, and therefore not worth sticking to—had
forgotten to make any provision for that cure of souls in Paddington,
which devolved on him, and for which he was paid. “The reading
minister;” and afterwards Mr. Anthony Dodd, “the preaching minister,”
were glad therefore to become tenants in the great man’s house; having no
rectory-house to themselves, and not being provided with a sufficiency of
the rectory profits “to do divine service, to inform the people, and keep
hospitality.”
At this time, indeed, “a young Levite, such was the phrase in use, might
be had for his board, a small garret, and ten pounds a year, and might
not only perform his own professional functions, might not only be the
most patient of butts and of listeners, might not only be always ready in
fine weather for the bowls, and in rainy weather for the shovel-board,
but might also save the expense of a gardener or a groom. Sometimes the
reverend man nailed up the apricots, and sometimes he curried the coach
horses; he cast up the farrier’s bills; he walked ten miles with a
message or parcel; he was permitted to dine with the family, but he was
expected to content himself with the plainest fare, he might fill himself
with the corned beef and the carrots, but as soon as the tarts and
cheese-cakes make their appearance he quitted his seat, and stood aloof
till he was summoned to return thanks for the repast, from a great part
of which he had been excluded.” {127a}
This certainly was not a very cheerful state of things for the working
clergy and the people; and, although the _high dignitaries of the church_
had few kind words to bestow on Cromwell, or the Commonwealth, it will be
observed that the clergy and the people of Paddington had no reason to
regret the establishment of the Parliamentary Commission. The
commissioners wished to see the tithes let at something like their real
value: a new church built out of the rectory funds; and “a godly able
preaching minister” appointed, whose pay was to be something more than
the paltry stipend allowed by the lessee, previous to the Revolution; or
than poor Mr. Anthony Dodd’s liberal salary of twenty-eight pounds per
annum, for his two full services and two sermons “every Lord’s day.”
But, if the suggestions of the commissioners were not completely carried
out, the report of 1649 was not entirely unheeded, even after the
restoration of the episcopacy; for the trustworthy public notary,
Newcourt, tells us that Bishop Sheldon bound his nephews “to pay the
curate here eighty pounds per year, at the four most usual feasts, viz.
twenty pounds per quarter;” and he also informs us that “The church was
but small and being very old and ruinious was about the year 1678 pulled
down and new built from the ground, at the cost and charges of Joseph
Sheldon, knight, sometime Lord Mayor of the City of London, and his
brother, Mr. Daniel Sheldon, then lessees of the manor of Paddington.”
And one would have thought that the memory of these events would have
been preserved in less crazy heads than Mr. Dick’s; that the good example
set to his successors by Bishop Sheldon would have been followed; and as
the population of this place increased, and the value of the
rectory-lands was thereby increased, the religious wants of the people
would have been provided for out of these increased funds.
Two hundred pounds per annum, and the quantity of waste land for which
Bishop Porteus and his lessees agreed to give the parish fifteen pounds
a-year, is, as we have already seen, all that the liberal bishops of
London, for the last century, have provided for the cure of fifty
thousand souls, {127b} out of an estate which now yearly brings in thirty
thousand pounds; and which, like the population, must increase for many
years to come. Such paltry provisions for the cure of souls in
Paddington will be a lasting monument of disgrace to all parties
concerned in these transactions.
To smooth down the unmitigated selfishness developed in the several
private Acts of Parliament, which we have examined in a previous part of
this Work, it has been said “the system was in fault.” But when it was
enacted, that two hundred acres of land which had been claimed by the
church might be occupied by human beings, instead of cows and cabbage;
“the system” could as easily have provided suitably for the religious
education of the contemplated dwellers on this soil, as it did for the
increase in the stipend of a single curate; or as it did for the transfer
of two-thirds of the estate into the hands of lay lessees; and, when
permission was given by another Act, to extend the power of granting
building leases to four hundred acres of this estate, we find the rector
of the parish, the lord of the manor, the bishop of London—three
important personages in one—content with providing out of that estate an
increased salary of eighty pounds a-year for a single curate; and with
obtaining permission to give, “in case of need or convenience,” land
which cost the owners of this estate fifteen pounds a year, I think the
most charitable must say, that the inhabitants of this parish are not
indebted to “the system” alone, for all the paternal care which their
governors have bestowed on them and the cure of their souls.
Newcourt tells us Paddington “is exempt from the Archdeacon, and wholly
subject to the Bishop of London and his Commissary;” and that the church
is a donative of curacy in the gift of the bishops of that see, and is
“supplied by a curate by virtue of the bishop’s license, wherein is
committed to him the _cura animarum_.”
Whether Paddington has lost much by not having been overlooked by the
archdeacon—“the bishop’s eye”—I cannot pretend to say; but we see that
the rectory of Paddington, like that of many other places, overlooked by
archdeacons, has been allowed to become a sinecure; and the curacy to
exist without the means of cure; that the parson is a triune body; and
that _the rights_ of the parochial church belong much more to the bishop,
and his lay lessees, than to the excellent minister, to whom the “cure of
souls,” with a stipend few gentlemen could live on, and none perform the
necessary duties with, is so considerately bestowed. And, with such
scandals as this daily staring us in the face, is it very surprising that
the law, which heretofore reposed confidence in bishops, and assumed,
“that they will not consent to anything that shall be to the prejudice of
the church,” should have at length begun to discover, that its confidence
has been somewhat misplaced, and that all bishops cannot be trusted?
It certainly has been discovered that Parliamentary enquiries are
necessary in our day; and it has been found out, even by ecclesiastics,
that the appointment of ecclesiastical commissioners could no longer be
delayed if the church was to be saved. But ecclesiastical commissioners
are but men; the people, therefore, in every parish in England should
themselves look into their own ecclesiastical affairs; and demand with
one united voice the fulfilment of those religious duties to God and
God’s poor, which devolve on those who claim the lands of the church.
Sooner or later a demand so just must be fully recognised; and governors
will assuredly arise, who will have both the power and the will to
execute justice.
Such malversations as those which have been recently exposed by the Rev.
Mr. Whiston, and others, cannot last for ever; and the sooner the whole
system is altered, if it be the system that is in fault, the better for
all parties.
By returns moved for by our honourable member, Sir B. Hall, (to whom the
whole country is deeply indebted for the information on ecclesiastical
affairs which he has brought to light,) we find that the portion of the
“REVENUES of the SEE of LONDON, for the seven years ending thirty-first
December, 1850,” arising from the “SHARE OF PADDINGTON RENTS, &c.”
amounted to £56,939 1_s._ 6_d._, while the “share of the various payments
in respect of share of Paddington estate,” for the same period, amounted
to £1742 10_s._ 3_d._ The correctness of that return is certified to,
and signed “C. J. London.” {129}
The lay lessees received double this sum, as per agreement, so that for
seven years £170,817 4_s._ 6_d._ has been paid, _chiefly in the shape of
increased house-rent be it observed_, by that portion of the people of
Paddington, who have had the felicity of living on “The Bishop’s Estate.”
A law, which already exists, will affect the income of the next occupant
of the See of London, and therefore his relations to the rectory of
Paddington; and it has been hinted that something may be done, in that
event, for this parish. But the people of Paddington do not desire such
patchwork arrangements. They want that which the whole country is asking
for, and which cannot be much longer delayed—a law to regulate the whole
of the estates of the church; and there is one pleasing anticipation for
the people of Paddington in the contemplation of such a measure; viz.
that, whatever may be the effect of that law, it cannot make _their_
position worse than it is at the present time.
CHAPTER III.
ANCIENT CHURCHES—ACT OF PARLIAMENT CHURCHES AND
CHAPELS—CHURCH-YARDS—CHURCH-RATES—PARSONAGE-HOUSES—ECCLESIASTICAL
DIVISIONS—PLACES OF WORSHIP BUILT AND SUPPORTED BY VOLUNTARY
CONTRIBUTIONS, UPHOLDING THE STATE RELIGION; AND THOSE DISSENTING
THEREFROM.
IT is not worth while to enter into an elaborate enquiry, to shew that
the parish of Paddington was at one time included in the parish of
Tybourn, and that the ancient Tybourn church was the mother-church of the
whole of those districts, now included in the parishes of St. Mary
Abbot’s Kensington, Paddington, and Marylebone; but the facts and
arguments which have been already adduced to prove that Westbourn and
Tybourn were but synonymous terms; and that the modern manor of
Paddington was but a portion of the ancient Tybourn manor, may serve to
sanction such a supposition.
Maitland, Lysons, and other authors, tell us that the ancient church of
Tybourn was situated near the present Marylebone Court-house—i.e. beside
_the modern_ Tybourn; but the only evidence these authorities condescend
to give in support of their opinion, is, that in 1729, “a great quantity
of bones were dug up at this place.” They offer no proof, however, that
these bones belonged to the inhabitants of the ancient village of
Tybourn; neither do they attempt to shew that they were not the remains
of some of those who had died in London of the plague, which raged there
in the previous century. A writer in the Gentleman’s Magazine, part 1,
p. 315, 1809, seems to me, to be quietly quizzing those antiquarians who
accepted this story of the bones, when he tells the public that “in all
ancient documents, Mary la bonne (Mary the Good) is called Sancta Maria
de Ossibus, (Saint Mary of Bones).” Lysons, however, does not see the
joke, for he gravely replied in his second edition, “I have never seen
any in which it is so described.”
It may be worthy of remark, that the ancient Tybourn church, wherever it
was situated, was taken down in the year 1400, by order of the Lord
Chancellor, Bishop Braybrook, when the honors and estates of the noble
family who built and endowed this church, were in the keeping of a youth
barely seventeen years of age; {132} and that the Westminster monks
never, either by hook or by crook, obtained possession of this ancient
advowson. A rival establishment, however, was built either for them, or
by them, on their newly acquired property at Paddington, and, as we have
already seen, the spiritual direction of the Paddington district was
assigned to them as early as 1222; previous to which time a place of
worship had been built here; and for upwards of six hundred years this
small house, erected both for public worship and public instruction, was
deemed sufficient for rich and poor, saint and sinner, and to it an
unbought spot of consecrated ground was annexed, the quiet resting-place
of all those who had lived in Paddington.
So pretty was the church, and so tranquil seemed this country
burial-place, not a century since, that many of those who witnessed the
abominations committed in the consecrated grounds of London and
Westminster, longed to secure for their corruptible bodies a nook in this
village church-yard; and so manifest was this desire, during the whole of
the last century that, though the population of Paddington was
increasing, the burials here far exceeded the baptisms.
In Lysons’ “Environs,” this fact stands exemplified thus—
Years. Years. Average Annual Avenge Annual
Baptisms. Burials.
1702 to 1711 10.6 38.1
1740 „ 1749 16.6 193.3
1780 „ 1789 16.5 192.3
1790 „ 1794 36.6 244.6
And this addition of motionless mortality to the soil, like the
development of its resources by the increase of active life, formed but
an additional inducement to its insatiable lords to increase their
demands upon the people; for I find _from records still preserved_, {133}
that after they had obtained the Act which bound the inhabitants of
Paddington to pay a rent-charge for their “pretty church-yard;” and after
the infamous Act of 1795, the lord and his lessees were urgent in their
demands for a share of those fees, which were obliged to be levied on the
relatives of the dead, to secure the performance of those duties which
these rectors were already well paid to perform.
Of the earliest Christian temple erected in Paddington, I have nothing
more to say than what I have already said, excepting this, that in all
probability it was built and endowed by the first possessors of “the
Paddington Estate,” whoever they were; and, whatever were their sins
respecting that estate, _they_ must be exonerated from that amount of
refined selfishness which has enabled others to take the property
dedicated to God, and God’s poor, and leave the people to their own
resources for providing themselves with places of worship, and “the cup
of charity” for the aged and infirm.
St. Katherine’s, and St. James’s.
The “old and ruinous” church, pulled down about 1678, was, in the opinion
of that accurate observer, Newcourt, dedicated to St. Katherine; for,
says he, “I observed the picture of St. Katherine to be set up in painted
glass, at the top of the middle panel of the east window in the chancel,
where oftentimes the Saint, to which any church is dedicated, is placed.”
Newcourt does not tell us to whom the church, “new-built from the
ground,” was dedicated; but he saw none of the causes at work which
ensured its destruction in rather more than a century; and it could not
have been imagined by him that a policy would be inaugurated, and
completed, within a century and a half of the time at which he wrote,
which would be sorely puzzled to account for the existence of a church
built by those who were in receipt of the rectorial revenues. Such a
puzzle was not allowed to exist. Doubtlessly, Newcourt thought _the
name_ would have existed more than one hundred and ten years—the time the
church was allowed to stand—and indeed it does now exist in the _new_
parish church; but Newcourt omits to give it.
We find, however, by Willis’s Thesaurus of 1763, and by Lysons, that the
Sheldon church was dedicated to St. James.
This country church served Hogarth and Jane Thornhill for a Gretna-Green;
for here they were married, much against Sir James’s will, it is said,
{134} on the twenty-third of March, 1729.
Chaterlain’s series of views, dated 1750, contains _two_ of this church;
a near north-west view, not mentioned in the King’s Catalogue, British
Museum; and a distant view from the green, a copy of which is to be found
in the King’s collection.
St. Mary’s.
On the twenty-sixth day of February, in the twenty-eighth year of his
reign, George the third, granted by his letters patent to the Rev. Thomas
Hayter, the curate of the parish; the Rev. John Shepherd, the assistant
curate; and certain others; the power to beg “from house to house
throughout England, our town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, &c.” to enable them
to rebuild the parish church, which this Brief, and the preamble of the
twenty-eighth Geo. III, cap. 74—“An Act for rebuilding the parish church
of _Paddington_, in the county of _Middlesex_, and for enlarging the
church-yard of the said parish,”—tell us “is a very ancient structure,
and in such a decayed state, that it cannot be effectually repaired, but
must be taken down and rebuilt; besides which, the same is so small, that
one-fourth of the present inhabitants within the said parish cannot
assemble therein for Divine worship.”
Down to this time, the lords of the Paddington soil, or their lessees,
had furnished the tenants, who lived on this church-land, with some sort
of church accommodation; but another church was now required and was to
be built, although this _very ancient_ and _decayed structure_ was but
one hundred and ten years old; and the question naturally arose, who was
to build it? The then lessees; as the lessees had done in 1678? The
“Lord of the manor of Paddington;” as the then bishop is called? Or
these together? Neither the one, nor the other, nor the two combined.
It is no longer those who hold “the rectorial and other lands,” and whose
income from those lands has been increasing ever since the time of Bishop
Sheldon, who are to build churches in Paddington. The lord and his
lessees know their duty better than that. Begging boxes are to be sent
“from house to house throughout England;” and as that does not succeed,
those to whom a portion of the increased accommodation is to be offered,
are to be induced or compelled to furnish the necessary funds. Moreover,
at the expense of the people, (for the Act expressly declares the pews
shall be “rent-free,”) comfortable accommodation, “in or near the
chancel,” is to be provided for the lord of the manor of Paddington, “or
his or their lessee or lessees.” And although there is now no Dunstan’s
bailiff to dread, let those who doubt that the law had power in
Paddington at the end of the last century, as it has now, “to take by
force” this extra and new church-tax, look to the fourteenth,
thirty-fourth, and other sections of this _public_ Act; the _first_ of
the Paddington church building Acts.
Up to one shilling in the pound, on “the yearly rent of lands, houses,
shops, warehouses, vaults, mills, and other tenements,” forty-five
trustees—six of whom were clergymen—“or any _five_ or more of them,”
they, and their successors, had power to _assess_, and for the sum
assessed had power to _distress_, “in order to accomplish the good and
pious purposes of this Act.” Provided always, that the sum raised by
this and other means set forth in this Act, “shall not exceed in the
whole the sum of four thousand five hundred pounds, including the charges
in the enclosing the said waste ground and other incidental charges, and
of the procuring, obtaining, and passing this Act.”
“The said waste ground,” here spoken of, being _a portion of the enclosed
green_ {135} nicely measured and carved out—vide Act—which “The Right
Reverend Father-in-God, Beilby, Lord Bishop of London, is willing and
desirous” to give; and which he does give at a rent of six shillings a
year. First, having in this Act, and for the first time anywhere, so far
as I can discover, put in his claim to be “entitled to the waste ground
within the said parish (subject to commonage thereon).”
But the sum to which this Act limited the taxing, was found to be
insufficient; and another Act was required, “for enlarging the powers of,
and rendering more effectual, an Act, made in the twenty-eighth year of
the reign of his present Majesty, entituled, An Act for re-building the
Parish Church of Paddington, &c., &c.” This, the thirty-third Geo. III,
cap. 43, dated thirtieth April, 1793, contains all the whining for
further powers, which so commonly saluted the ears of his Majesty’s
faithful Lords and Commons when church-building Acts had to be separately
passed. {136}
And the prayer of those who asked, was answered; and a further sum was to
be raised by the means provided in the previous Act; but with this
additional screw—“That in every case where a justice or justices of the
peace shall grant a warrant or warrants of distress, for recovering of
any rate or assessment made under the said former or this Act, and a
sufficient distress cannot be found, it shall be lawful for such justice
or justices of the peace to commit the person or persons, against whom or
whose goods and chattels such warrant or warrants of distress may have
been issued, to the common gaol or house of correction for the said
county, there to remain without bail or mainprize, for any time not
exceeding one month, _or until payment of such rate or assessment_, _and
the costs and charges attending the recovery thereof_”—Section 2.
Further, desecration of the church-yard was permitted; and in spite of
all the thought which had been bestowed on the monuments and tombstones
in the previous Act, any decayed vault, tombstone, or grave, which
offended the sight of the officials, was now to be taken down, or
removed, after six months’ notice to repair had been given to “the owner
or owners of such vaults.” And the churchwarden or churchwardens, for
the time being, were empowered “to sell and dispose of such vaults for
the best price that can be got, and to apply the money arising therefrom
towards rebuilding or repairing the said parish church.”
And why were these extraordinary powers granted? Because the inhabitants
of Paddington were not “capable of raising without the further aid of
Parliament,” or were not willing to raise, “a further sum of one thousand
five hundred pounds,” to defray the expences required to _finish_ the
church-yard; and to pay “a considerable sum of money due on account;” and
because those who took the profits of “the rectorial and other lands,”
did not think it their duty to pay it for them.
How much more than these sums Saint Mary’s has cost, I cannot say; but I
presume they very nearly covered all the original expenses, as Lysons was
informed by a most excellent authority—a gentleman, who, in imitation of
the manifold offices held by the lord of the manor, was assistant curate,
parish-clerk, sexton, and vestry-clerk at the same time {137}—that the
total sum expended, amounted to £6000.
So much admired was this church at the time it was built; and so
picturesque an object it is said to have been, “particularly from the
Oxford, Edgeware, and Harrow roads;” that almost all the periodicals of
the day take some notice of it.
The Universal Magazine for January, 1793, gives an engraving of it, and
the village-stocks, by Eastgate, from a drawing by Earl; and in the same
Number there is an account of the building, in which the first stone is
said to have been laid “on the twelfth of August, 1788,” and the
consecration to have been “in Easter week, 1790.” Lysons, however, tells
us, Saint Mary’s was consecrated on the twenty-seventh of April, 1791;
the first stone having been laid, according to him, on the twentieth day
of October, 1788. As to the date of consecration, Lysons is certainly
right, as most likely he is in the other statement, having had so good an
authority as the curate, parish-clerk, &c., &c. to furnish him with these
and other facts which occurred in Paddington about the time at which he
wrote. On the day this church was consecrated, a sermon was preached in
it, and a collection made for the benefit of the Sunday School.
The following description of this church, given by the writer in the
Universal Magazine, was, in all probability, nearly correct, when
written: “It is seated on an eminence, finely embosomed in venerable
elms. Its figure is composed of a square of about fifty feet. The
centres, on each side of the square, are projecting parallelograms, which
give recesses for an altar, a vestry, and two stair-cases. The roof
terminates with a cupola and vane: on each of the sides is a door. That
facing the south is decorated with a portico composed of the Tuscan and
Doric orders, having niches on the sides. The west has an arched window,
under which is a circular portico of four columns, agreeable to the
former composition.”
Mr. John Plaw, of King Street, Westminster, is said to have been the
architect in this account; but Lysons, and Tennant, say Mr. Wapshot,
designed this mixed specimen of Tuscan, Doric, and non-descript
architecture.
The European Magazine, not to be behind its contemporaries in
delineations of the picturesque and beautiful, has an etching of the “New
Church at Paddington” by Malcolm; in which he has also shewn what one of
the Paddington ponds, already spoken of as existing in the time of Edward
VI, was “in the good King George’s reign.”
The old church and the new church are both engraved in the Gentleman’s
Magazine, supplement, 1795. The notice of the church there given, seems
to have been taken from Lysons, perhaps it was supplied by him; but there
is this additional statement, viz.—that the monuments which existed in
the former church were placed in a light vault underneath the present
structure.
And this church which has been built but sixty-one years and a few
months, has been for the last three or four years in jeopardy—not of
falling, but of sharing the fate of its predecessor; the same causes
having been at work to effect its dissolution, which led to the removal
of the Sheldon church:—viz., a population ill provided with
church-accommodation—a new parish church built—architects and builders,
anxious to shew their skill, still further—influential inhabitants
interested in the furtherance of their schemes, ready and willing to vote
the requisite supplies out of their neighbours’ pockets—a tempting piece
of ground in the immediate vicinity, “doing nothing”—a notion, in some
minds, that sundry reminiscences, connected therewith, might thus be
obliterated—and the prospect of an increase in burial-fees and pew-rents.
Fortunately, however, better counsels have prevailed; and this amount of
consecrated property is not yet doomed to be destroyed. St Mary’s,
though no longer the parish church, is to remain, a standing monument to
the erudition of those who once governed Paddington. These guardians of
the church and poor, not only knew which way the wind blew without the
assistance of a lettered vane; but understood Greek; as the unlettered
vane, and the inscription on the façade, testify. But as all _the
multitude_ who have attended St. Mary’s since it was built, have not been
able to sing, in the original, that song of the heavenly host which
contains the essence of Christianity; and as the English church does not
profess to teach people unknown tongues, or object to their worshiping
God in their own, it would have been as well to have given them some key
to those golden characters, which are so conspicuously placed on the
façade of this Pseudo-Greek temple. Those who desire, or require a
translation to that divine announcement, which has been so long hidden in
the original, will find it in the English edition of Luke’s epistle to
Theophilus, second chapter, and fourteenth verse.
The church-yard was enlarged, as already noticed, by virtue of the powers
of the fiftieth Geo. III., cap. 44. This Act, which was obtained on the
eighteenth of April, 1810, states, that whereas the population of the
parish of Paddington, hath lately much increased _and is likely still
further to increase_, it is expedient that THE CHURCH-YARD of the said
parish should be further enlarged.” But not a word about the enlargement
of the church, or increased church-accommodation, notwithstanding the
then present, and future state of the parish, is so clearly seen; and
although St. Mary’s could now no more hold one-fourth of the inhabitants,
than St. James’ had done. Seven hundred and forty pounds had been for
three years the average annual income from this grave-yard; the half of
which was received by the curate, to make up for the mean stipend allowed
by the rectors; the remaining half being paid to the rectors themselves,
for their land; so that to endanger this source of income, was a thing
not to be dreamed of. This appropriation of the burial fees, continued
till the whole of the church-yard was paid for; since which time the half
of the fees has been applied to the ordinary expenses of the church; the
other half going, as before, to the incumbent; and this may account for
the following entry in the Churchwardens’ account, for 1840.
“Paid to parish solicitor, his bill in respect of various
cemetery-bills in Parliament, £144 9_s._ 0_d._”
This yard, no longer the villagers’ unbought resting-place, in which the
almost sacred yew-tree {139} grew, had now become necessary for the
support of the church; it must be increased therefore, and every inch of
ground must be made the best of. Besides securing this income, another
object was attempted to be gained by this Act. The trustees were
empowered to contract for the purchase of any quantity of land, “not
exceeding three acres in the whole, _with_ or without _buildings
thereon_;” and “corporations, &c., were empowered to sell and convey.”
The “house for two tenants called the vicarage house;” had long since
been converted into the manor-house; and occupants, more profitable to
the Paddington Estate, than the curate, had been found for it; and the
house which I believe was afterwards built for a “Parsonage-house,”—a
house still standing close to the spot where the old church stood, and
which is depicted in John Carey’s map of 1797, as the “Parsonage,”—had
been, before this time, converted into the “manor farm-house.” {140a} In
fact, the curate had no residence provided for him in the parish. But at
the time of passing this Act, the old manor-house had been unoccupied for
some time, and was rapidly falling to decay for want of a tenant, whose
interest it was to keep it in repair; {140b} and the bishop and his
lessees having no further use for it, were anxious to sell; and so the
manor house, with a portion of its grounds, was purchased by the church
trustees.
The inhabitants, now, much to the chagrin of the schemers, began to find
out which way the wind blew; and seeing, (when it was too late,) how
their birthright had been sold, resolved to take this little bargain into
their special consideration—determining, if possible, to make the best of
it, as it had been bought, and to have some control over the receipts and
the mode of levying the income which was to be derived from the purchase.
This resolution had the effect of producing many parish squabbles, into
some of which even the venerable diocesan himself was dragged. In
attempting to regulate the fees to be paid for burials in “the new
ground,” certain resolutions were passed by the inhabitants in vestry
assembled, by which the bishop “feels himself affronted;” and he
declares, he “will not consecrate the new ground, till the offensive
resolution is rescinded.” The resolution is not, at once, rescinded. It
is resolved that it shall not be. But the bishop is to be informed no
offence was intended. All, indeed, that was intended by the people of
Paddington, at that time, seems to have been expressed by a resolution of
May, 1813; to the effect that “it would be a dereliction of their duty
not to leave to posterity the same _privileges_ they have enjoyed.”
But to speak of privileges now, was thought to be a joke by those who had
to deal with people, who, either in their innocence, or ignorance, had
permitted themselves to be cajoled out of far greater privileges than
this. Most assuredly, one could scarcely expect that such people, though
repentant, would be listened to; and the matter was ended by a peremptory
message from the bishop, in which he declares, “he knows of no privilege
belonging to the parish of Paddington, or any other parish respecting the
settlement of their own fees;” and that such fees will not be legal,
unless confirmed by his Court.
So, although the act for purchasing this ground passed on the eighteenth
of April, 1810, no portion of the new burial ground was consecrated till
the 9th of November, 1813; and the notion of inducing the parishioners to
give up the manor-house for a parsonage-house—which appears to have been
the scheme of the sellers, and some of the purchasers,—was not entirely
abandoned till 1825; but it was never consented to by the vestry.
The predecessor of the present minister was obliged to be non-resident,
for a considerable time, because he could find no house in the parish to
live in. He was anxious to be amongst those whose souls had been given
to his charge; and in September, 1820, we find he offers to give £200 out
of his own pocket, towards purchasing the manor-house, and promises to
endeavour to obtain a loan from Queen Anne’s Bounty Fund for the rest of
the sum, if the parish will but sell the house. Even a large
subscription-list was got up to purchase it. The inhabitants, however,
will not now give their consent even to a sale of the property. Having
witnessed what the bishop and his lessees got by purchasing the waste,
“in the Lanes and Road Ways dispersed in, about, and within the said
Parish of Paddington;” perhaps the inhabitants fancied that, by having
purchased the very kernel of this estate, they might have also become
possessed of some of those tegumentary portions of which their
predecessors had been so considerately relieved. But nothing daunted by
their refusal, either to give, or sell, and thoroughly knowing their own
powers, the managers of the parish bring this question again before a
meeting of vestry, held the following month, and the Chairman then
declares it to be carried; but on a poll being demanded, and taken, the
motion was found to have been lost.
This degree of independence did not at all satisfy the now losing party.
That the parishioners should begin to be awake to their own power, was a
thing not to be endured, and a local Act was devised for them, into which
trap they fell. In this Act, four rambling clauses are inserted as to
what may, and what may not, be done with the manor-house. And it may, if
a special meeting of the vestry shall think fit, “be thenceforth for ever
held and used as and for the parsonage-house and glebe-lands of the said
parish, or as a residence for the perpetual curate of the said parish and
his successors.” So impressed, however, were those vestrymen who had
been so recently elected under the detestable principles of Sturges
Bourne’s Act, with their duty to their fellow-parishioners; and with the
necessity there was not to outrage the general feeling thus publicly
expressed, that no sanction to part with their purchase could be obtained
even from them. But the old manor-house, which had been let by the
parish to a lady, who for some time kept a boarding-school there, was
doomed to destruction. Occupation did not lay the spectres who had
claimed this dwelling for their own. It was pulled down; the materials
were sold, and the ground on which it stood, with that portion of its
pleasure-ground which remained, was consecrated on the tenth of August,
1825, for the purpose of further increasing the size of the church-yard.
As all, rich and poor, young and old, were now crying shame on the
spiritual governors of the parish, for not finding their deputy with a
suitable residence, the bishops’ building Act of 1825,—acknowledging the
scandal, in these words, “and as the present curate of Paddington has not
any house attached to his curacy”—finds out “that it would be proper that
the said Lord Bishop of London, &c., should be at liberty to set apart,
appropriate, and to settle in free alms, part of the demised property, as
the site for a residence, &c.;” and by the seventeenth clause of the
sixth George IV., cap. 45, it is enacted, that the said William, Bishop
of London, &c., within five years from the passing of this Act, by
indenture, “enrolled in the High Court of Chancery,” should grant to
Charles Theomartyr Crane, or his successors, any quantity of the
Paddington estate, “not exceeding one acre,” to hold for himself and his
successors for ever in free alms, and that he, the said curate, shall be
“a body corporate for the purpose;” and that he may “receive, take and
hold such ground with any messuages and buildings thereon,
notwithstanding any of the laws against Mortmain, &c.”
Soon after this an acre of ground, _a small portion of_ “THE PARSONS
FIELD,” {142} was granted and settled on the curate for the purpose
named.
By a return granted by order of the House of Commons, twenty-first of
March, 1848, of all monies borrowed from the trustees of Queen Anne’s
Bounty, and not re-paid, I find that on the eleventh of October, 1830,
St. Mary’s Paddington curacy, borrowed £1,820. That £1,243 13_s._ 4_d._,
had been repaid, as principal, and £693 3_s._ 0_d._, as interest. This
sum, and upwards, I presume, was spent on this acre of freehold ground.
A comfortable looking residence, not six stories high, was built; and for
many years used as “the parsonage-house.” It is no longer, however, the
parsonage; having been sold with the land belonging to it, soon after St.
Mary’s ceased to be the parish church. This bargain was secured, as I am
informed, by the district surveyor for £3,525; I have also heard there
was some difficulty about effecting this sale; and that it was at last
managed through the agency of the church-commissioners, who out of the
purchase-money paid upwards of £80 towards the expenses of the sale. The
greater portion of the balance being applied, according to the benevolent
wish of the present minister of the parish, in the purchase of _two_
parsonage-houses; one for the new parish church, No. 13, Sussex-gardens,
on the north side of St. James’s; the other for the old church—No. 1, St.
Mary’s-terrace, the first of a row of eleven houses, built on a strip of
the former parsonage pleasure-grounds.
Bayswater Chapel.
Down to 1818, Saint Mary’s was the only place of worship, in connection
with the State-Religion, for the whole of the parish of Paddington.
So destitute of religious instruction and places of worship were the
suburbs of London, and many other populous places at this time, that the
State itself could no longer remain blind to the need. “A gracious
recommendation” came from the throne to the Parliament, and the people;
and the fifty-eighth Geo. III., cap. 45—“An Act for building and
promoting the building of additional churches in populous
parishes”—became a law on the thirtieth May, 1818. We are told by Mr.
Faulkner, in his History of Kensington, that Mr. Edward Orme, of
Bayswater, was the first private individual who built a chapel, after His
Majesty had pointed out this want of church accommodation; Bayswater
chapel, in St. Petersburg place, being built at his expense.
This chapel is, as Mr. Faulkner observes, a plain building; but
“possesses some advantages over many modern built places of worship.”
The stained glass window of which Mr. Faulkner speaks, has been removed
from this church; and the present pulpit would not, I imagine, be
considered of the fourteenth century, to which period Mr. Faulkner
attributed the one existing, when the History of Kensington was written.
This chapel, which is “capable of holding twelve hundred persons, was
opened on the fifteenth of November, 1818, by the Rev. Dr. Busfield,” the
first appointed minister. And from that day to the present, it has not
cost the parish of Paddington one shilling for its support: a fact so
impressive, that no comment or commendation is required. Badly enough
must those who wished to see a state-religion preserved, have thought
this chapel needed; for, from the returns made in compliance with
directions given to the commissioners appointed by the above-named Act,
we find that, at this time, in the parishes of Kensington and Paddington,
“there are no less than twelve thousand persons more, than could be
accommodated in the several places of worship.”
Connaught Chapel—now St. John’s.
For a single proprietor of the soil to have built one chapel which would
hold a tenth part of this unaccommodated population, was something; but
this could not satisfy the conscience of the good curate of Paddington,
who saw the population of his parish every day increasing.
From 1811, to 1821, the average rate of increase was two hundred souls,
per annum; from 1821, to 1831, eight hundred; and although, early in
March, 1826, Dr. Crane applied to the Church Commissioners for
assistance, it was not till July, 1839, that the plan for Connaught
Chapel was finally approved by them. There was no bishop, no lessees,
who could see their curate’s distress, and who would come forward with
the remedy. The want of the necessary funds to carry out the design; and
the death of Mr. Cockerill, the bishop’s surveyor, and the architect
originally employed; seem to have been the other chief causes of the
delay. For immediately after the first application to the commissioners,
we find that they “think a chapel capable of holding fifteen hundred
persons, _with seven hundred free sittings_ should be built;” and they
offer, from the funds entrusted to them by Parliament, £5,500 to
accomplish this object. Communication and correspondence take place
respecting this offer; and, within a week, the proposed grant is
increased to £6,000, _with the assurance that one __third of the number
the chapel will hold will suffice for the number of free sittings_.
This was in March, 1826. By July, 1829, the voluntary subscriptions,
amounted to £2,400; {145} which sum, with £59 18_s._ 6_d._, was placed in
the banker’s hands, in order that the building might be begun. Mr.
Cockerill’s first plan would have cost £11,020; this he was obliged to
modify from the circumstance of sufficient funds not being forthcoming.
£8,000 was the amount of his next estimate, but this plan he did not live
to carry out; and with its execution his son, the present Royal
Acadamician, was not entrusted. To Mr. Fowler, we owe the design for the
present building; his final estimate for which was £8,592 5_s._ 0_d._
Several ineffectual attempts have been made at different times, since
this church was finished, to induce the vestry to grant funds for its
enlargement. But in July, 1848, when the church-rate was in full play,
the demand could no longer be resisted; and on the fourth of that month,
it was resolved by the vestry, unanimously, that the west gallery of St.
John’s be enlarged, but at a cost not to exceed £700. The enlargement
was effected, and, so far as my knowledge goes, this is the only
resolution of the vestry, respecting the expenditure of money for
church-purposes, that has ever been observed.
This church, however, even in its brief existence, has been some expense
to others, besides those who have been accommodated by it. Down to 1839,
the minister received the stipend appointed him by the Church
Commissioners; the surplus pew-rents being paid to the churchwardens
towards the expenses of the church. Since that date no pew-rents have
been paid to the churchwardens of the parish, but they have had to pay
out of the parish funds upwards of £4,800, including the sum
above-mentioned.
St. John’s is not a copy of any particular period of middle-age art,
being built in the style designated pseudo-gothic. But it is not
necessary to give any particular description of this building; for I saw
by a model of it, which was honoured with an excellent place amidst the
multitudinous and never to be forgotten beauties of the Great Exhibition,
that Mr. Fowler’s original design was not completely carried out. Its
exterior, as finished, presents to us nothing offensive; and the interior
is well proportioned, well arranged, and, with the exception of the
painted window at the eastern end, contains nothing incompatible with a
religious feeling.
Although every one who wishes to receive instruction from the visible
remnants of the past, must admire the works of art as preserved to us in
the brilliant colours, and quaint symbolic designs, which modify “God’s
light” as it attempts to enter into the ancient temples dedicated to his
service; and although every one who can so feel, must detest the
barbarity of a Barebones—who is said to have thanked God every time his
zealous and mischievous weapon was raised from the demolition of the
Canterbury windows—yet I think it would be difficult to find any
satisfactory reason for the re-introduction of stained glass pictures,
and tinted glass, into the church windows of our day. Every reason I
have ever heard in favour of “the dim religious light,” or “the
scriptural story,” is equally powerful in favour of all other modes of
teaching by “stealing the senses.” If painted glass, why not painted
canvass? If one picture, why not a hundred? If candles on the altar,
why not lighted? If Puseyism, why not full-blown Romanism? But this is
only one of the many “first step to Rome.” And as in the case of St.
John’s window, which was the origin of this remark, these first steps are
not completed at once. How long it took to fill up the whole east window
of St. John’s I do not remember; but there were only a few Apostles there
at one time; and the “naughty boy”—who went to this church, more I fear
to look at this window than to say his prayers, or hear the very
excellent and learned ministers who preach there—asked his Ma, one day,
“why they did not write down the names of _those men_, so that he could
find out who they were?” When he was told they were the Twelve
Apostles—he said “Oh no, that can’t be, there are but ten, for I count
them every Sunday.”
The New Parish Church—St. James’s.
Twenty years ago, the bishop’s building Acts were beginning to tell in
real earnest; and from 1831 to 1841, the increase in the population of
the parish of Paddington, averaged _above __one thousand per annum_. Yet
the errors of the past were unnoticed by those who never wish to see
errors in high places; for it was not till the fifth of December, 1837,
that the local governors of Paddington saw the necessity, created by this
annual addition of a thousand souls to the parish, for increased means of
religious instruction, and public worship; and then their attention to
this necessity was aroused by their Reverend Chairman, who, on that day,
stated he was desired by the Bishop of London to call the attention of
the vestry to the great want of additional church room there was in the
parish—or more correctly speaking _on his estate_. The bishop sent word
“that he and the trustees had resolved upon a site for a new church; and
that he would submit the case, (of the destitution of this parish), to
the Metropolitan Church Committee; and would himself subscribe £300!”
{147}
The vestry, in obedience to this message, resolved “that an additional
church would be highly beneficial to the parish at large;” and a
committee, with full powers to carry out this resolution was at once
appointed. Expressions of praise escaped some lips; and the vestry did
not break up, as their minutes shew, without thanking the bishop for the
plot of ground on which the new church was to be built, and the liberal
subscription offered by him. Whether any one in the vestry remembered
the words of the polished nobleman, who said, “Praise, when it is not
deserved, is the severest satire and abuse,” I do not know; I am inclined
to believe that the majority of those who tendered their thanks to the
bishop, were sincere. But how oddly do those praises and thanks come
upon the reader, who has studied the history of the Paddington Estate!
This new Paddington church was to be built by subscription on a site
fixed by the owners of the Estate, at the western extremity of the Grand
Junction-road. And on the eighth of June, 1840, the committee report
“that a design adapted to the wants and means of the parish has been
selected by the vestry,” subject to the appropriation of the two great
subscribers; “the Metropolitan Churches Committee,” and “Her Majesty’s
Commissioners for building new churches.”
Plans were advertised for, and thirty-eight designs were received. “Five
of the most eligible” were selected; and the one with the motto, “Let
merit bear the Palm,” was especially recommended by the Committee to the
vestry. On this, as on many another occasion, however, _merit_ was
jostled out of the field by mediocrity, or something worse, and Mr.
Lindsey’s design was rejected on account of his having been induced to
increase the detailed cost of the building far beyond his original
estimate.
The structure, as it now stands, is said to be the result of the combined
genius of Messrs. Gutch and Goldicutt; and we are further told that this
precious specimen of “Brummagem Gothic,” was originally designed for a
Grecian building, but was altered to suit the “taste of the times.” Mr.
Vulliamy, one of the gentlemen who had responded to the advertisement,
felt his talent to be so scandalized by the acceptance of this clumsy
design, that he printed a letter, which he addressed to the vestry; in
which he points out that the successful candidate is very improperly, as
he thinks, an influential member of that board. This gentleman, was the
bishop’s surveyor, and the district-surveyor—two offices totally
incompatible. But who could be supposed to know better the tastes and
wants of the people of Paddington? So little did he know, however, that
his second, or amended design, was found to be so obtrusively ugly that
those who had adopted it could not see it carried out; and, although the
original estimate for this design was fixed at £8,600, another thousand
was readily added, in order that the deformity, which had been so
unanimously fixed on, might be again amended!
This church in all its present taste, the vestry agreed should become the
parish church; but it was not till March, 1845, that the Reverend
Chairman reported to the vestry that the Church Commissioners had
executed the deed to transfer the rights, &c., from St. Mary’s to St.
James’s.
A distinct understanding was come to at this time that the old church
should be enlarged. And “by these means,” says the report of 1840,
“accommodation will be provided for four thousand persons, or including
Bayswater chapel, which may hereafter be made a parochial chapel, for
more than five thousand persons, in a parish supposed to contain twenty
thousand souls.” The report goes on to state that each of the four
districts, into which the parish will be divided, “will be placed under
the immediate care of its respective minister or ministers; and these
important results will have been obtained _without any compulsory levy on
the parishioners_.”
Besides a miscalculation of at least four thousand in the then actual
population of Paddington, these reporters must have been very ignorant of
the previous history of the parish, or they must have had very bad
memories. We have seen how St. Mary’s was built, and how it was paid
for; and a church-rate enforced by warrants of distress, and these again
backed up by the certainty of imprisonment, till the rate and all
expenses were paid, I think one may call a compulsory levy. Even those
who lived in the parish the year before this report was written, had felt
the twitch of this clerical scourge,—not the last they were to feel by a
great number; for on the twenty-fourth of April, 1839, a church-rate was
made, and the Cash Accounts for the year ending, April, 1838–39, shew
that £850 5_s._ 9¾_d._ had been collected by “compulsory levy,” in these
years, “to pay off Mrs. Jenks’s last Church Bond Debt.” But how these
reporters could have forgotten the day ever memorable in the annals of
the present vestry of Paddington, I cannot imagine; nor how that on this
fifth day of May, 1829, when the church-rate was in danger, the Bishop of
London, the Viscount Bernard, the Honourable Mr. Mac’Donald, the Rev.
John Joseph Pike, and nine others,—having taken the oath of office, to
execute faithfully, impartially, and honestly, according to the best of
their skill and knowledge, the several powers and authorities reposed in
them—proceeded at once, with other vestrymen, to make a church-rate of
threepence in the pound; for so far as I can discover, this is the only
time the vestry of Paddington was ever honoured, at its sittings, by a
visit from the spiritual and temporal lord of the parish.
This congratulation of the Committee, respecting all the good that had
been done without any compulsory levy, was only the warming up, under
more favourable circumstances for the instant, of one that had been
tendered to the parish, when the first subscriptions for St. John’s were
announced. But for that half year, 1826, sixpence in the pound was the
amount of the church-rate levied, the full sum allowed by the law. And,
although there was no compulsory levy at the time this report was
written—none from 1839 to 1842,—yet there was one made in the latter
year, which continued to be made twice-a-year, down to 1851, continues to
be made annually now, and must be continued for years to come.
On the eighth of February, 1843, “the Committee for building the new
church in this parish, have the satisfaction of informing the
parishioners, that the church is nearly completed, and will be opened for
Divine service, on or before the first of May next, _provided sufficient
funds for that purpose are previously collected_.” So, “the immediate
aid of those persons who have not subscribed to this important
undertaking” is solicited, “to defray the whole expense, for which a
considerable sum is still required.”
But even St. James’s was not finished without a “compulsory levy;” for on
the thirtieth of June, 1843, the committee report that after paying
£10,000, other expenses had been incurred, and were about to be incurred,
which they hoped to raise by subscription. No further subscriptions were
forthcoming, however; and in August, 1844, the committee state to the
vestry that £950 is still due; that the clock and organ were not
subscribed for, as anticipated; and that there are other additional works
estimated at £300 more; all of which they beg to transfer to the especial
care of the ratepayers. These, as well as other sums, were paid out of
the church-rate by order of the vestry.
“The churchwardens’ account for the year 1843–44” shews the “total
expenditure for Saint James’s church, for the year ending April, 1844, to
have, been £2,190 12_s._ 5_d._, the whole of which, with the exception of
£200, “the first annual payment from the pew-rents,” was paid by the
Churchwardens out of the parish funds. This, however, was not all the
Churchwardens paid towards St. James’s; for in “the church-rate account”
for the ensuing year, the following item occurs, “January thirtieth,
1845, Paid Mr. Bishop, for organ at St. James’s Church, £497 12_s._
6_d._” There are other items, too,—balance of architect’s commission,
church plate, and printing—which bring the sum paid this year up to £753
8_s._ 4_d._, over and above the ordinary disbursements, which are this
year £100 more than the pew-rents paid to the churchwardens. Neither was
this church, which _was to have been built without_ “_compulsory levy_,”
paid for yet; for in the next year’s account, we find a “Cross Wall” in
the vaults paid for; roofing over the vestry room, at St. James’s church;
building new porches to the lobby entrances; and the “Turret clock.”
These four items amounted to £662 19_s._ 3_d._, the ordinary expenses
being increased by £246 14_s._ 11_d._, above the receipts, for other
church fittings. And on the twenty-fourth of December, 1847, there is
another £100 paid for re-glazing the windows with ground-glass; so that
before St. James’s was fairly done with, it had cost the rate-payers over
and above all subscriptions, £3,850 at the least—to say nothing of
interest of money borrowed, at a very high rate, to pay these sums.
{151a}
Trinity.
“The Holy Double Trinity,” as I once heard it called by the showman, who
pointed with his wand to the young lady with two triangles on her breast,
who is perched with that ornament, or symbol, in full view of all who
enter by the south door; her duplicate being in the same position over
the northern entrance. But for this notification, this church might be
taken to belong to saints of the masculine gender; the western door being
decorated by a gentleman on either side; one with the cross-keys, the
other with the cross-swords. But these Guardian Saints are not the only
images set up for our love or hatred; confidence or fear; instruction or
bamboozlement; on the walls of this church, or they would not be noticed
here. Trinity, “the pet church of Paddington,” the church on which
church-goers pride themselves as something that is worthy of this great
and important parish, is in fact, garnished all over with images, or
symbols, and may be considered a creditable mimick of antiquated masonry
on a small scale. On this building, both architect and mason appear to
have exhausted all the skill of their craft, to produce an edifice, which
shall transport the sense of sight, if not the mind it influences, to
those glorious middle ages, for the revival of which some few
enthusiastic ladies and gentlemen of the nineteenth century are working
so desperately. To be obliged to work with the materials of the
nineteenth, must be a sad drawback on their enthusiasm. These _artists_
devise all kind of means to give the charm of antiquity to their works,
it is true; but there is an air of newness about Trinity, and such like
buildings, which is any thing but pleasing, and which ill assorts with
any notion of veneration. Some centuries hence, if Trinity does not
share the fate of the Sheldon church, children may look on it with
something like awe; and grown-up persons with pity for that generation,
whose genius—able to make the lightning-force subservient to its will
{151b}—able to contrive machines to carry the material form to which that
genius is linked, sixty miles an hour with certainty and safety—able to
raise structures which surpass in size and beauty, anything the genius of
man ever before created, was yet unable to erect a house in which to
worship its God, except in mimickry of forms suitable to the intelligence
of past and darker ages. {152a}
At a distance, in Trinity, we see fair proportions and elegance of form,
pleasing to the eye of all who admire the architectural art; on closer
inspection, nuns and monks, and bishops, and kings, and monsters with
faces which disgrace humanity; and beasts so detestably ugly, or so
ridiculously grotesque, that young and old are arrested in their
progress, and compelled to ask the meaning of it all. I have asked many
persons, but none of them, being either masons or priests, could tell.
This, however, every sensible man is beginning to tell to his neighbour,
and pretty plainly too, that no priest or mason shall drag him back to
the decorations and deformities of the fourteenth century, of which
Trinity is a sufficient example. “The Holy Blessed Trinity” is not
understood when it is surrounded by an unintelligible mass of deformity;
and that which has no meaning for the people, must be as repulsive in a
material structure, as it is in a Divine Thought.
“Freemasons of the Church” do tell us, what those who are not freemasons,
can easily imagine, viz., that many of the grotesque and disgusting
gothic carvings, which still exist in and around the ancient churches,
were placed there by monks, or monkish masons, as caricatures of their
secular brethren, and others, who had offended them. Now, if the
monsters with heads as large as life, who grin and gape with horrible
contortions from the six pinnacles on each side of this church, are
intended to be the monumental effigies of twelve of the preceding owners
of the Paddington Estate, (those who have most grossly mismanaged and
abused it,) let us be told so; and then I have no doubt some of the
people of Paddington would enjoy the joke, as much as any Grand Master of
the masonic craft; but it is really too bad to stick up unintelligible
symbols, on and about that which is called a religious temple, and leave
all the uninitiated to guess at their meaning. The days for such
unenlightened and selfish craft are numbered; and the splitting of the
foundation walls of Trinity, may be looked upon as an emblem of their
fulfilment. {152b} _The people must be taught_; and that, too, without
any previous oath-taking. Colleges, and crafts, if they are worth
preserving, will endure without the pledges given to secrecy; if they are
not, no preliminary swearing will enable them to maintain their ancient
ascendancy. Priests and masons may fancy they still rule the world; and
it may be that they do; but however much they may wish it, their reign
will not be long, even if it is not now virtually ended. A third element
has been admitted to power. People are teaching themselves the
essentials of all government, and they must ultimately rule. Observers
have long since discovered, that unfettered genius has done more for the
world, than the most renowned systems; and they are no longer willing to
assist in upholding those educational establishments, whose very
foundations are laid in secrecy, cliquedom, and dogmata. To know what
kingcraft can do for us, we may consult the history of our own James’s
and Charles’s; to know what priestcraft has done for the world, we have
only to read William Hewitt’s Popular History of it; and to prove what
the masonic craft has not attempted to do, we have only to take a walk
into “Milton’s Golden Lane,” {153} or any other of the many wretched
lanes and alleys of this or any other large city. There is, however, an
Immaterial Essence in this world of ours which no craft or cunning _can_
“put down;” and, fortunately for the world, it is not _entirely_ in the
keeping of any craft.
The prelate who consecrated Trinity, is known to have been indulgent
towards practices in the church, which had long since ceased to be
observed. Reformation of some kind was found to be necessary, and
practices distasteful to reformers, were introduced. None of those
objectionable practices, however, were ever witnessed _within_ any of the
churches in Paddington; and this I look upon as an additional reason for
inducing the people to ask the bishop, their appointed governor, to
condescend to give them some satisfactory reason for the erection of
these “ornaments,” which he has consecrated, and for which they have to
pay. There is another course open to the bishop, which scarcely any one,
with the exception of the architect, would be grieved by his adopting.
But to erect this structure, fitted, to all external appearance, only for
the performance of the gorgeous histrionical ceremonies of the most
depraved period of the Roman or Anglican churches, the people of
Paddington have been, and still are, obliged to subscribe by “compulsory
levy;” and having been thus made instrumental, willing or unwilling, in
assisting to resuscitate the dry bones of a monster belonging to a former
period, they were then asked, (like other people similarly situated) by
their local governors, to assist them in laying the spectre that such
follies as these had again presented to the mind of the English public.
And how; and at what cost was Trinity built?
In 1843, on the fourth of July, the Rev. Chairman of the vestry, informed
that body, he had received a communication from the Rev. Mr. Miles,
expressing his readiness to contribute £4000 towards the erection of an
additional church in Paddington, upon a site already granted by the
bishop and his lessees.
This, the third site, provided out of the four acres to be granted,
according to the bishop’s last building Act, was a _deep hole_, which had
been left at the point of junction of the Bishop’s-road with the
Westbourn-terrace road; these roads having been raised by the Great
Western Railway Company, according to agreement with the owners of the
estate, when the railway bridges were built. So deep was this hole, and
so unfitted was it for the site of a church, that the parishioners would
have been money in pocket, if the vestry had politely thanked the bishop
and his lessees for their kindness in granting it, and bought the land
somewhere else. But then that would not have done for the bishop and his
lessees. They knew, and the builders who took their land knew, the
increased value a church would give to the neighbouring ground; and, as
it had been planned that the church would be better here than elsewhere,
here it must be, or no where; although the foundations did cost the
parishioners above £2,000; and although another thousand “would not have
been lavishly thrown away, _had the proper authorities been sufficiently
liberal in granting it_!”
On the tenth of July, at an adjourned meeting of the vestry, a committee
was appointed to take Mr. Miles’s letter into consideration, to confer
with the bishop, and to report to the vestry thereon. The only other
important business done at this meeting, was, to agree to borrow £2,000,
on the security of the church-rates, instead of £1,700, as had been
previously proposed. This was to be raised to pay the debts of St.
James’s, and the other churches. On the twelfth of June, the Vestry had
pledged themselves to raise £2,000 towards increased
church-accommodation, if the church commissioners would but pay the
£2,000 they had promised. On the eleventh of December, in the same year,
after receiving the report of their committee, the vestry agree to
increase this sum to £6,000; “which they presume will be sufficient for
the erection of a suitable church, with Mr. Miles’s donation, and such
other sums as may be raised by subscription, and obtained from the church
commissioners.” And on the second of January, 1844, a committee was
appointed, with full powers, to build the new church.
On the sixth of February, 1844, a letter was read from the church
commissioners, consenting to make a grant of £1,000 towards the proposed
new church; upon certain conditions therein mentioned.
On the fourth of March, the new church committee report “that they find
from the specification of the architect, that the expenses of
constructing the foundation, on the site allotted to the church, will be
so great as to prevent the possibility of erecting a suitable edifice
thereon for the sum at the disposal of the committee; and they therefore
recommend that £2,500 _more_ be borrowed.” On the ninth of March, it was
resolved, that this further sum should be raised; and on the fifteenth of
January, 1846, it was resolved, unanimously, by the Vestry, “That a sum
of £13,000 should be raised under the provisions of the church building
Acts, _on the credit of the church-rate_, _for the erection of Trinity
Church_!”
To make assurance doubly sure, this sum was again voted towards the cost
of building Trinity, on the twenty-sixth of March, 1846; and by the final
report and statement of the committee appointed to build this church,
dated twenty-ninth of March, 1847, we find the total cost of this
building to have been £18,458 11_s._ 3_d._; and says that report—
“The church accommodates 1,582 persons; 982 in pews; 600 in free
sittings.
The Lord Bishop of London presented the font.
The Rev. John Miles, the incumbent, presented the large stained glass
window, and the encaustic tiles in the chancel.
Henry Morris Kemshead, Esq. presented one of the stained glass
windows in the chancel; the other three were by subscriptions from
various persons.
George Gutch, Esq. presented the dial, fixed in the gallery under the
organ.
Thomas Cundy, Esq., the architect, presented the carved stone altar
piece.” {155}
A substantial parsonage-house, built at the north-west corner of the
piece of ground surrounding this church, is occupied by the minister, the
Rev. Mr. Miles, who is said to have given, in addition to his other
donations, £500 towards its erection.
The extreme liberality in the contributions of the present incumbent of
this church must be properly appreciated, even by those who do not admire
being charged with church-rates to make up a sufficient sum to build a
place of worship, into which they are never likely to enter; and the
greater part of the income from which has been previously secured on the
minister, as a good investment for the capital he may have advanced—a
plan of “getting up a church” now very much in fashion.
All Saints.
From 1841 to 1851, the population of Paddington increased on the average,
_above two thousand one hundred per annum_; and the bishop’s rents
increased in due proportion; but as the newcomers were almost all
strangers to the parish, they had never, perhaps, heard one word of the
History of the Paddington Estate. On this ignorance the owners of that
estate must have relied, when they determined to saddle the rate-payers
of Paddington with the expense of building and furnishing their churches,
and with every other charge incidental to that Estate. But to enable the
owners to carry out their project, the consent of the vestry of the
parish must be first had and obtained; and to give this consent the
vestry were not unwilling; for on the very day they voted away £13,000
for Trinity, they also bound themselves to raise, by rates and
subscription, _or by rates alone_, £6,000 more for another church. {156}
The site for this church—a portion of the old reservoir,—had already been
given up by the Grand Junction Waterworks Company, to the bishop and his
lessees, as agreed upon, and enacted, by the 7th and 8th Vic. cap. 30.
On the fifteenth of January, 1846, the vestry resolved, “that it is
expedient to build a church in Cambridge-place; and that a committee be
appointed to consider the subject in all its bearings, and report thereon
to the vestry.” This committee recommended that £4,000 should be raised
by a loan on the church-rates towards the cost of this new building, the
furniture, and fittings; that it hold 1,500 persons; and that the cost of
the building should be limited to £6,000; £2,000 of which, they
recommend, should be raised by subscription; but they recommend the works
to be begun, when the subscriptions amount to £1,500; but not before.
Their report was adopted by the vestry; it was at once resolved that the
£4000 should be raised; that their old friends, the church commissioners,
should be applied to for assistance; and that the vestry-clerk should
write to the bishop of London, apprizing him of the day’s proceedings;
requesting, at the same time, that directions may be given to have the
site of the church conveyed in the usual manner.
All this was to be carried into effect by the Trinity Church Committee.
On the third of March, a letter was read from the Church Commissioners,
expressing regret that the state of their funds and urgent claims from
various other quarters, would not permit them to make any grant of money,
this time, towards the proposed new church; but as no more of these
public funds could be obtained, the bishop sends word he will give £500.
On the twenty-sixth of March, a special meeting of the vestry is held, to
pass unanimously, three resolutions, to enable the vestrymen to charge
the rates with £19,000, for building Trinity and this church; they appeal
again to the Church Commissioners for _a nominal grant_ “_to establish
the validity of their proceedings_;” and, considering the good and pious
object, for which the application is made, the commissioners relent, and
grant _one hundred pounds_. After much difficulty £19,000, is at length
borrowed. But one Assurance Office, of high respectability, refused to
have anything to do with this loan, even after the lawyers had put the
parish to the expense of £32 17_s._ 10_d._ on account of it; £103 3_s._
being the amount of two other bills “for negotiating” this loan. {157}
But this sum was not enough to carry on the church account; another £1000
had to be borrowed of the banker, on the fourteenth of December, 1847;
and above £100 interest was paid on that sum before the loan was
returned. Some time after this, the committee report that the
subscriptions for All Saint’s Church amount to £1,635 2_s._ 10_d._; and
that the cost of the building has been £7,434 18_s._ 2_d._
This church is built in the early pointed style, and its internal
fittings and decorations are exceedingly plain. It is capable of holding
1,500 persons; 600 free seats, and 900 appropriated, or pew sittings.
The amount of church-rate, _collected_ for nine years, ending April,
1852, was £20,574 3_s._ 8_d._ Of this there was “balance in hand of
£1,607 15_s._ 2_d._;” but a debt of £14,500 was owing for churches which
had been built. This debt is bearing interest at the rate of
four-and-a-half per cent; and £900 is paid off annually. So that these
four churches will have cost the rate-payers of Paddington upwards of
£40,000, over and above all the sums given by the Church Commissioners,
Metropolitan Committee, bishop and lessees, all Parliamentary provision
of the sites, and all private subscriptions; and this sum of money, with
upwards of £10,000 paid for St Mary’s, and the church-yard, will have
been raised by “_compulsory levy_,” from rate-payers of all
denominations; while the receipts of “the rectorial and other lands” are
quietly pocketed by the rector and his lessees!
But I have heard rate-payers told, as a great consolation, “that the
churches of Paddington cost nothing in comparison to the churches of
Marylebone.” This however, may not be very consoling to those who know
the cost of the following:—
Wesleyan Metropolitan Chapels, which have been recently built.
“Poplar chapel is of the decorative style, 105 feet long, by 60 feet
wide; is built of Kentish Rag Stone, with Caen Stone dressings; will
seat 1,500 persons; and cost about £4,000.
The New North-road Chapel, Hoxton, is Anglo-Norman, in style; is 35
feet long, including the vestries, by 52 feet wide; built of Brick
and Bath Stone; will accommodate 1,200 persons; and cost £3,700.
The Chapel of St. John’s-square, Clerkenwell, is built of Brick and
Bath Stone; 70 feet long by 60 feet wide; will accommodate 1,300
persons; has a school-room, &c., and cost £4,000.
Jewin-street Chapel, is built in the Early English style; is 68 feet
by 52 feet; seats 1,100 persons; is built of White Brick and Bath
Stone; and cost £2,700.
The Islington Chapel, in the Liverpool road, measures 90 feet long by
54 feet wide; and will accommodate 1,500 persons. It is built of
Kentish Rag and Bath Stone; is in the decorated style and cost about
£6,000.” {159}
But the actual cost of the churches of Paddington, is not the whole of
the evil, though, considering all the circumstances, this is sufficiently
oppressive. These churches, after all, are not free: pew-rents are
obliged to be taken for the support of the ministers; the poor
parishioners have less than one-third of the room allotted to them, and a
considerable portion of this space is reserved for the best singers, and
most showy scholars of the church schools.
And after all this; after all the money raised “by compulsory levy” to
build, furnish, ornament and decorate; and after all the pew-rents are
paid; these churches do not pay their own ordinary expenses. No; not
after there is added to this income the portion of the burial-fees
received by the churchwardens; but this source of income, which has
averaged for many years more than £350 per annum, must soon cease. So
that dissenters and others, who reside even on a bishop’s estate, have a
fair prospect of being called on to pay a church-rate, after all the
churches which the rate-payers have built, shall have been paid for.
Towards defraying these ordinary expenses of the churches, the ministers
of Trinity, and All Saints, contribute fifteen per cent. of the pew-rents
received by them; the minister of St. James’s £200 per annum, the stipend
set aside for the whole cure; the minister of St. John’s, _nil_. While
for the last three or four years the pew-rents of St. Mary’s have more
than met the ordinary expenses of that church; although there have been
two Services performed in it daily during that period. And “increased
church accommodation is loudly called for in Paddington!” How will the
bishop of London, and his lessees, _now_ answer to that call? Will the
rate-payers of Paddington be left to answer it? Or, will the vestry of
this parish, elected under the provisions of Sturges Bourne’s Act, be
allowed, of their own mere motion, (without any reference to the
rate-payer, or without any efficient representation of the case “in all
its bearings,” to the bishop and his lessees), to take upon themselves to
spend more of the rate-payers’ property? We shall see.
What _can_ be done by those who care one pin about preserving a
state-church; by those who have ground-rents to preserve, and lands and
houses to be benefitted by offering to in-coming tenants church
accommodation, we have already seen. But another example of voluntary
church-building and self-support exists in this parish.
Mr. B. Macaulay tell us, when speaking of the revenues of the State,
“experience has fully proved that the voluntary liberality of
individuals, even in times of the greatest excitement, is a poor
financial resource when compared with severe and methodical taxation,
which, presses on the willing and unwilling alike.” Those who govern the
state-church, have had experience on this head; and without stopping
“voluntary liberality” they deem it necessary, so long as a
state-religion is upheld, to use “severe and methodical taxation;” and
they employ all the powers the law allows them, to compel the unwilling,
as well as the willing, to pay their appointed share of the particular
tax raised for its requirements. But it is questioned by some most
sincere and learned churchmen, whether this is good policy; whether the
people love the church any better for being obliged to pay church-rates,
when they see how the property claimed by the church is apportioned; and
where they see, as in this parish, church property, much more than
sufficient to supply their religious requirements, used, not for their
benefit, as it was originally intended, but for individual advantage.
But to shew how thoroughly the religious forms of the state-church _can_
be upheld by the voluntary system alone, even in a parish from which that
church has derived vast sums of money, and to which it has returned so
little, it is only necessary to mention that
The Chapel of the Lock Hospital,
is not only self-supporting, but a portion of the income derived from the
pew-rents annually goes towards the support of the hospital and asylum.
The pew-rents of the Lock Chapel, for the year ending the thirty-first of
December, 1851, amounted to £948 3_s._ 2_d._, {160} and this department
of a charitable Institution, “after bearing all the expenses incident to
its services, yielded to the Institution, the sum of £348 19_s._ 2_d._”
during the same period.
Another such an example as this, a third, might have proved too much; and
it was not allowed to exist, although the foundations of the building
were laid, and the means were in hand to raise the superstructure. The
correspondence between the proprietor of the intended chapel, and the
Bishop of London, on the subject of this new church, proposed to be built
at Westbourn Green, must be fresh in the memory of most readers of the
daily journals; and it is only necessary to refer those, who wish to know
the history of an attempt to erect another church in this parish upon the
voluntary principle, to that correspondence.
At the present time, the parish of Paddington is divided into five
ecclesiastical districts; and the episcopal form of church-government and
the present forms of the state-religion, are supported by accomplished
clergymen, attached to the various places of public worship.
The people of Paddington see in their own parish an exemplification of
that state of church economy, which is more or less prominently exhibited
all over the country; they know the extent of the church-lands here; they
know how they were acquired; they know for the performance of what duties
these lands were granted; they see how the income from these lands has
been disposed of; they know that the duties of providing for religion,
and for the poor, have been transferred from the holders of this
church-land, to those who occupy the houses which have been built on it;
and they know that a second Reformation is inevitable. So that, if the
church ministers of this parish could report to their bishop, that no
dissenter lived in this very profitable part of his diocese, it would
convey to him no more accurate notion of the feeling of the people
respecting the management of the state-church than the bishops conveyed
to Laud “on the very eve of troubles, fatal to himself, and to his
order,” when they reported to him “that not a single dissenter was to be
found within their jurisdiction.” {161}
That those dignitaries of the church, who have taken upon themselves the
disposal of the church-lands in Paddington, should have made such sorry
provisions for the promulgation and protection of their own creed in this
place, is much more surprising, than that they should have looked with no
favourable eye on the diffusion of doctrines which differed, in any
respect, from their own. To prevent, so far as in them lay, the erection
of any places of worship, save those in which were taught the particular
dogmas they reverenced, is but what experience teaches us, might have
been expected, as it is well known to be the common practice of every
dominant sect to permit no rival near its throne; or, if a rival is to be
tolerated without a systematic opposition, it must be one that is not
seriously antagonistic to its principles.
The Bishop of London, in his last Charge to his clergy, while guarding
them against a too great leaning to Popish practices, told them there was
less danger to fear from Rome, than from Germany. And, so far as danger
to the peculiar dogmas, and the histrionic ceremonies we have seen spring
up within the last few years, is concerned, all who know anything of the
“Reformation of the nineteenth century,” as it is being developed in
Germany, will readily admit. To get a good insight into the “Humane
Reformation” now in progress not only in Germany, but in England and
America, I must refer my readers to the little Work which has been
published for the English reader by the great apostle of this
Reformation, Johannes Ronge, and to which I have before alluded.
The present Bishop of London and his predecessors, I am credibly
informed, have considered it to be their duty to prevent, so far as in
them lay, the erection of any Dissenting place of worship in Paddington.
But some part of the Paddington Estate was leased without any restrictive
provisions of this nature, therefore the whole of the land in Paddington
is not now in the hands of a dominant church.
In 1816, a chapel, capable of holding six hundred persons, with
school-rooms on the basement story, was built in Praed-street, on ground
leased by the Grand Junction Canal Company.
This chapel, “The Tabernacle,” is now in the hands of a congregation of
Baptists, who, to purchase and repair it, incurred a debt of £2,000.
This they have paid off within the last ten years, over and above their
contributions for the support of their minister. They also educate
upwards of two hundred scholars; and twenty-three teachers give their
leisure on the day of rest for this purpose.
There is a freehold chapel in the Harrow Road, at the entrance to
Paddington Green; the Wesleyans have a chapel in the Queen’s Road,
Bayswater; and the Roman Catholics are now building a large church at the
western extremity of this parish, on a portion of that land, which was
bequeathed by the Lady Margaret, to the poor. Another chapel, called
“the Boatman’s chapel,” also exists in Paddington, on the ground leased
to the Grand Junction Canal Company. This place of worship, which is
capable of holding two hundred persons, was constructed out of a stable
and coach-house, at the expense of a few pious individuals, who saw how
much the poor boatmen wanted the advantages which accrue from religious
instruction, and how little likely they were to get it in a parish-church
which could not hold one-fourth part of the settled inhabitants. This
little place of worship is in connection with “Paddington Chapel”—a place
of worship belonging to the Independents. To attend the latter, the
people of Paddington have to cross the Queen’s highway; as they have, to
go to the chapels in John Street, and New Church Street.
These very commodious places of worship in St. Marylebone, are served by
learned men, who believe that the religion of the poor carpenter’s son
needs neither rich bishops nor rich endowments, to preserve its existence
in this world; and they are supported in this belief by a very
considerable number of tenants on the Bishop of London’s Estate.
CHAPTER IV.
SCHOOLS—CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS—PUBLIC ESTABLISHMENTS AND ESTABLISHMENTS
OF PUBLIC UTILITY.
A SUNDAY SCHOOL, in connection with the Church, was established in
Paddington, during the last century; but it was not till the beginning of
this, that any public means of instruction existed for the children of
the poor on week days. Lysons, in his second Edition, tells us that “A
charity school for thirty boys and thirty girls was established in this
parish in 1802;” and that it was “supported by voluntary contributions,
and the collections at an annual charity sermon.” This public day-school
for poor children was one of the first established in the outskirts of
London; and the school room was built on that land which is said to have
been given by Bishop Compton. But this building was but small; for it
held only one hundred children; and in 1816, it was discovered that there
were 1508 children under twelve years of age, living on the south side of
the canal only; and it was supposed that four hundred of these were
between seven and twelve years old.
The curate of the parish and other influential inhabitants, seeing this
great field open for profitable cultivation, got up a Committee, to
devise ways and means to effect so desirable an object. This Committee
reported to the vestry, in March, 1818, that “the Bishop of London, as
the most extensive proprietor as well as the patron of the church, &c.”
had been consulted on the propriety of establishing a school for three
hundred children; which they calculated might be supported for £175 per
annum, while the expense of building the school room, was estimated at
£650; and they further reported to the vestry, that the bishop expressed
“his hearty good wishes for its success.” But as “hearty good wishes”
did not build or endow the school, it was not built till some years after
this time; and then, not by the bishop, or his lay lessees.
As we have already seen, the proceeds of the sale of waste lands were
devoted to this purpose; Denis Chirac’s legacy, which, with interest, now
amounted to £170 3_s._ 10_d._, and a donation of £130 from Baron Maseres,
one of his executors, being added; and in 1828, the vestry resolved to
devote two-thirds of the proceeds of the copyhold estate to the support
of this school.
When the Act of 1838, relative to the freehold estates, was obtained, a
re-arrangement of these funds was made; and three-fifths of the whole
estates, freehold as well as leasehold, were appropriated “towards the
support of the _Paddington_ Parochial National and Infant Schools.” The
new school rooms were built in 1822 on Paddington Green, or rather on a
part of the site of the “town pool;” and in 1831, other school rooms, in
connection with that system which is called National, were built at
Bayswater.
In 1840 the parochial school-rooms of St. John’s district were erected in
Tichbourn Row; and the new schools, built at the back of Stanley Street,
and St. Mary’s Hospital, in the district of All Saints, were opened in
February, 1852.
The Rev. F. C. Cook’s “Report on Schools in the Eastern district,”
published in “Minutes of the Committee of Council on Education 1845,”
contains a full account of those schools then in operation; and the
following extracts are taken from it.
In 1845, the number of scholars was as follows, viz., in the schools on
Paddington Green, April fifth and sixth, “200 boys present, total 210;
115 girls present, total 131; 180 infants present, total 190.”
“Titchbourn Street, second of April, Boys present, 167; total, 190.
Girls present, 91; total, 109. Infants present, 151; total 200.”
“Bayswater, twenty-fifth April. Boys, 106; girls, 49; infants, 60.”
The masters and mistresses of these schools, and of the new school, have
kindly furnished me with the numbers now in attendance; they are as
follows:—
Boys. Girls. Infants.
Paddington Green 174 98 150
Bayswater 168 100 160
Tichbourn Street 184 113 217
All Saints 140 138 174
Total 666 449 701
Mr. Cook reported, that at the schools on Paddington Green, “the boys and
girls are instructed in two rooms, well-built, warmed and ventilated.
The building handsome, and well arranged.
“Boys: instructed by master, with pupil teacher, seventeen years old, who
was educated in the school. Arranged in six classes on the circulating
system. The rewards for medals are books, which cost about £5 per annum.
The attendance averages more than nine-tenths of the total number. Age
of boys between seven and twelve, excepting ten boys near thirteen years.
Many boys have been in school from infancy. There is an increase of
fifty since the last inspection. The fluctuation in the numbers not
considerable. Boys are very healthy and cleanly in appearance. The
discipline is nearly perfect.
“The general proportion of instruction in the several classes is somewhat
advanced since last year. In the first class of fifty boys, averaging
eleven years old, and three years in school, twenty-five work a sum in
practice, 9860874, at £35 10_s._ 6½_d._, with ease; the others compound
rules and proportion. Write exceedingly well from dictation, and some
good abstracts. Geography, grammar, and etymology well taught. Read
History of England fluently, and are acquainted with the facts. Learn
linear drawing, and music on Hullah’s method. The lower classes are
advancing in due proportion to age and time in school. The religious
instruction throughout is good.
“Generally speaking, methods of teaching are those of the National
Society.”
“Girls: instructed in two rooms, and four classes, by mistress, assistant
and monitors. From seven to thirteen years old; fifteen, between twelve
and thirteen.
“The manners of the girls are very pleasing, and the school is in good
order.
“All can read from easy narrative, to the third book and History of
England. Eighty read with ease in the third book. Good secular reading
books in all classes. Writing on paper, ninety in books, and from
memory, neat and accurate. Ciphering to compound rules, with practical
questioning. The first class learn geography and grammar very well; the
religious instruction in all classes is remarkably good. Needlework is
very well taught; thirty can fix a shirt.”
“Infants, one hundred and eighty. Conducted by a mistress; assistant
employed in managing, not in instructing the children. A handsome,
well-arranged school, with abundant apparatus. All infants between two
and six years. The infants are cheerful, orderly, clean, and fond of
their mistress. It is peculiar to the school that the mistress teaches
all the children to read, &c., without monitors. The result is that they
are more advanced than in good infant schools conducted on the usual
system; seventy read in books; twenty very well; and twenty write
sentences on slates, twenty, words; and thirty, letters; all elementary
subjects are well-taught. Children are well acquainted with scriptural
history, and give more intelligent answers on meaning of words and
sentences than is usual in good schools. The mistress is an able
teacher, and devoted to her duties.”
Mr. Cook adds, “I have recommended many clergymen to visit these schools,
as among the best and most complete in London.”
And he concludes this part of his report by saying, that “in addition to
these nine schools, it is intended to erect others in the neighbourhood
of the new church, which will make altogether provision for the
instruction of 2000 children, in a population of 25,000. The present
schools cost nearly £1,300 per annum.” The expenditure of these schools
varies, as a matter of course; and this sum must not be taken as the
present expenditure. The new schools will cost £400 per annum, in
addition to this sum; and I find that in 1847–48, the total expenditure
of St. John’s schools for the year, amounted to £591; the income being
made up of £336, subscriptions, donations, and collections; £140 paid by
scholars in the form of “school pence;” and £115 from other sources. By
another report I find that the sum paid by the children at Paddington
Green, amounted in the year to £130.
All these schools have received, and continue to receive, grants from the
Parliamentary Fund. For the year ending thirty-first of October, 1850, I
find the schools on Paddington Green, had an award of £135 10_s._;
Bayswater, of £67 10_s._; and St. John’s, of £65 10_s._, “to apprentices
and teachers, for their instruction;” with an additional grant of £9
7_s._ 2¾_d._, to St. John’s for “books and maps.” The Government grant
for the All Saints schools was £180; the cost of the site, £640, and the
building of these schools amounted, altogether, to £2,173 7_s._ 0_d._;
which sum was raised by donations and subscription from the inhabitants
of the parish, with the exception of the grant just mentioned, and one
hundred pounds given by the Bishop of London. But before these new
schools were erected, the population of Paddington numbered upwards of
46,000; and 1816, is the actual number of scholars on the books of the
twelve schools at the present time, (January, 1853).
From the “Blue Book,” which contains the answers to Questions on
education, printed by order of the House of Commons, twentieth March,
1835, we learn, that the first infant school in this parish was commenced
in 1833; that it then contained fifty children of both sexes, and was
supported principally at the cost of the individual who established it,
but partly by the payment of two-pence per week from the parent with each
child. We are also informed by this inquiry, that a school for fifty
females was established at Bayswater, and supported by Mrs. Sutcliffe, of
Orme-square. From this “Blue Book” we also learn, that to each of the
four “day and Sunday National Schools,” and to two of the Dissenters’
Sunday schools a lending library is attached, a most excellent provision
which has been extended since that period to the other schools; but the
books are obtainable only upon the scholars conforming to certain
regulations.
Although the reports of the Tichbourn-street, and Bayswater schools, were
not quite so favourable, in 1845, as the Paddington-green school; and
although from subsequent reports, we find the Paddington-green schools
suffered from change of teachers, while the others were more favourably
reported on, yet the published annual reports of the Inspector, to which
I must refer for further information, shew that, on the whole, the
schools of Paddington may be looked on as amongst the best of those which
follow the peculiar methods of teaching laid down by the “National
Society.”
The masters, and mistresses, and those who have the management of these
schools, evidently do their duty; and the instruction given is highly
valuable. But whether it was right to apply the proceeds of the sales of
waste lands, and three-fifths of all the charity estates of this parish,
exclusively to those schools which adopt the methods of teaching
instituted by the “National Society,” may, I think, be justly questioned;
seeing that the greater portion, if not the whole of that property, was
given to the poor _generally_, and not to those _only_, who were willing
to have their children taught a particular Catechism, and a particular
Belief.
Out of Paddington there are systems of teaching, which do not base
themselves on peculiar and sectarian tenets; and in which, learning
controversial portions of scripture, in “proof” of the truth of a
catechism, does not form an essential element. Many learned men, whose
religious principles cannot be called in question, do not approve of this
catechism, or of this teaching; and they believe the first Society
established, the British and Foreign School Society, advocate a system
more _national_ than that of the self styled National Society. “Rational
Schools,” too, are not unknown—even within “a stone’s throw of the High
Court of Chancery” {169}—but Dr. Birkbeck’s plan is _too rational_ for
the Parochial schools of Paddington.
The foundation stone of the “Westbourne Schools,” conducted on the
“Glasgow Training System,” was laid on the thirty-first July, 1850. This
excellent establishment, which is in connection with the Lock Chapel, is
built by the side of “the green lanes,” (the old road which led from the
Great Western-road to the Harrow-road,) and is now in full operation.
The different congregations of Dissenters, too, have schools attached to
their respective chapels; and the Roman Catholics have built a large
school room in connection with their new chapel.
There are, also, many excellent private schools in Paddington; but of
schools strictly private, I have nothing to say.
In July 1848, the “Paddington Wharfs Ragged Schools,” for infants, girls,
and boys, were opened in Kent’s place; but in December of the same year,
larger premises in Church-place were taken. These have been found too
small, and the Committee have incurred a considerable expense in making
them more convenient. The average attendance is set down in the third
annual report at one hundred and ten infants, thirty girls, and forty
boys. In the adult schools there were twenty pupils; and the scholars in
the evening and Sunday schools vary from forty-five to ninety. The
current expenses tor 1851, amounted to £206 7_s._ 5_d._
There are two small establishments at Bayswater for female orphans. The
one called the “Orphan Asylum,” was instituted in 1833, by Mrs. Sutcliffe
and other ladies connected with the private charity school, which was
supported for many years by that lady’s generosity. The other, called
the “Bayswater Episcopal Female Orphan School,” was established in 1839.
The former of these establishments contained fourteen female orphans in
1851, the current expenses for the year, being £251 4_s._ 2¾_d._ In the
latter, in the same year, there were sixteen orphans, and the expenditure
amounted to £335 17_s._ 6_d._ Both institutions are supported by
voluntary contributions.
Queen Charlotte’s Lying-in-Hospital, now situated in the New-road, was
originally established in Paddington; Lysons tells us the Naval Asylum
was removed to Greenwich from this place; and the “School of Industry for
Female Orphans,” which was “instituted in Church street, Paddington
Green, in 1786, for the maintenance and education of twenty-four
children” is about to be removed to their new premises in St. John’s
Wood-road.
“The Paddington Visiting Society,” was established in the year 1838; its
objects being “to promote the religious and moral improvement of the
poor, in co-operation with the parochial clergy, to relieve distress and
sickness, to encourage industry, frugality, and provident habits, and
generally, to cultivate a friendly intercourse between the poor and the
wealthier and more educated classes of society.” It was proposed to
effect these objects by means of district visiting, in connection with
provident institutions, and visiting societies or church associations.
The Provident Dispensary in Star-street; Provident Funds, and lending
libraries connected with the schools; and the Paddington Savings’ Bank,
have arisen out of this parent Institution. And, although some of the
district visitors may have been over ardent in pressing on the poor, the
necessity of observing certain forms, as one of the conditions of their
assistance, yet undoubtedly these associations have done much good. I
must refer to the annual reports of these charitable Institutions for the
detailed account of their operations; but I may mention here, that the
church association in connection with St. John’s District, collected
during the year 1851, £1,105 10_s._ 2_d._ besides £128 1_s._ 0_d._,
contributed to a fund, called the “additional curate’s fund,” “designed
for the increased visitation of the sick and poor at their own houses,
and the maintenance of a daily service in the church.”
The block of small alms-houses at present existing in the Harrow-road,
said to have been built in 1714, on a portion of what had been Paddington
Green, is the oldest charitable building in Paddington; but the
endowment, if there ever was one, has merged into other estates; for no
endowment now exists. Sixteen poor old women belonging to the parish,
are still supported there out of the poor rates; but the inmates think
themselves not so far degraded as they would be, if obliged to become
tenants of the great parish poor-house; although in the latter they might
have a less confined crib, and perhaps, a more generous diet; but _there_
they would not be free. Now they can ramble about at pleasure; and when
at home, for each little room is a home, they can dwell upon the
remembrance of those pretty little flower gardens, which formerly existed
in front of these almshouses, and which may have attracted them in their
younger days, when perhaps, they little thought of becoming the
recipients of alms. With the alteration of the Harrow-road, which added
“thirty feet in depth” to the church-yard, and I presume the same
quantity to that strip of the Green, which was so kindly offered to the
parish for four thousand pounds, and a portion of which was purchased for
£2,000, these little attractions vanished; and a considerable portion of
the “thirteen feet ten inches” of flower garden, which existed on the
north side of this charitable institution, now forms a part of the
altered road; while on the garden to the south, the vestry-room, the
police-station, the infant-school, and other buildings, have been
erected.
The great charitable Institution of modern Paddington, is St. Mary’s
Hospital, situated in Cambridge-place. “Its establishment was commenced
in 1843, and His Royal Highness Prince Albert was pleased to lay the
first stone on the twenty-eighth of June, 1845.” Thomas Hopper, Esq.
made the design gratuitously; and Mr. Winsland’s tender of £33,787 was
accepted for the building; which, when complete, was intended to hold 380
beds.
A portion of this building, “with all the requisite appurtenances,
capable of containing 150 beds,” was opened for the reception of fifty
patients on the thirteenth of June, 1851; 332 patients were admitted into
the wards of the Hospital, during the first six months; the average
duration of their stay being twenty two days.
Mr. Winsland’s original tender was for the whole building, included “in
five separate divisions;” and a certain portion was to have been
completed within a specified period, but the sudden death of the
contractor is said to have thrown some obstacles in the way of its
progress. There must have been some alteration, too, in the original
design, or some sad miscalculation in the contract; for instead of a
building capable of containing 380 beds having been erected for £33,787,
I find by a “statement and appeal” published by “the Bond of Governors”
in 1851, that there had been expended the end of that year £33,806 5_s._
3_d._ “on account site and building,” _as it then existed_: £1,776 6_s._
9_d._, in addition, had been expended in furnishing; and £1,223 3_s._
2_d._, for the maintenance of the fifty beds for six months. The
estimated sum “to maintain the establishment of 150 beds, and to defray
the expense of out-patients,” was calculated at £4,400 per annum; £300
additional being required to support the maternity department.
At the present time there are 150 beds for patients, the total number the
present building is capable of containing; and attendance on the practice
of this Hospital is now recognised by the medical examining boards—the
medical staff having been complete from the first opening of the
establishment. This staff consists of three Physicians, and three
Assistant Physicians; three Surgeons, and three Assistant Surgeons; a
Physician-Accoucheur; a Surgeon-Accoucheur; an Ophthalmic-Surgeon; and an
Aural-Surgeon; all of whom perform their respective duties gratuitously.
There are also two resident medical officers, and a Dispenser. There is
a paid Secretary; an Assistant Secretary; a Collector; a Matron; and a
Chaplain; and the establishment is managed by a certain number of
Governors elected on building, special, house, finance, and medical
committees; subject to a code of laws, and, in most instances, to the
will of the whole body of Governors.
“Every subscriber of three guineas or upwards annually, is eligible to be
elected an annual governor; and every individual, making a donation of
thirty guineas or upwards in one sum, is eligible to be elected a life
governor.”
“Every governor, in addition to the privilege of recommending in and
out-patients as a subscriber, has the right to attend at all, or any
weekly, quarterly or special boards, and to speak and vote on all
questions, and to vote on all elections which shall come before such
board; &c.,” but “no governor is entitled to vote on an election, until
he shall have been a governor for a period of three calendar months.”
“Annual subscribers of twenty-five guineas, or _donors_ of 500 guineas in
one sum, have an unlimited right of recommending in-patients.
“Annual subscribers of ten guineas, or _donors_ of 100 guineas in one
sum, may recommend an unlimited number of in-patients, one in-patient
only at a time in the Hospital.
“Annual subscribers of three guineas, or _donors_ of thirty guineas in
one sum, may recommend three in-patients annually, and eighteen
out-patients.
“Annual subscribers of two guineas, or _donors_ of twenty guineas in one
sum, may recommend two in-patients annually, and twelve out-patients.
“Annual subscribers of one guinea, or _donors_ of ten guineas in one sum
to the maternity fund, may recommend three patients annually _to that
department_; and three additional patients for each guinea annually
subscribed, or each donation of ten guineas in one sum.”
But, although great sums have been already subscribed, and although these
inducements to subscribe have been held out to the charitable, the
Hospital is already in debt; and the advertisements declare that “to
maintain the present number of in-patients, and to supply medicine for a
very large number of out-patients, the amount of annual subscriptions is
quite inadequate.”
From what has been seen in the previous part of this Work, it may have
been thought that the site of this Hospital, with the whole of its
enclosed ground, was the gift of the Bishop of London and the trustees of
the Paddington Estate; but from a printed statement, dated the tenth of
July, 1846, I find that this is not the case. The ground which was to be
given up, according to the provisions of the 7th and 8th Vic. chap. 30,
as a site for this Hospital, is said to consist “of upwards of three
quarters of an acre;” “its value was stated to have been estimated at
£3,885;” but “the trustees of the Hospital were required to pay £1,000,
as an indemnity to the Grand Junction Water Works Company, to whom the
ground had been leased.” Further, the Committee “deemed it expedient to
purchase, at an expense of £2,000 two adjoining pieces of ground, in
order that the future governors of the institution should not be
restricted in their operations for want of space.”
These pieces together, made “an acre and a quarter of land, being nearly
half an acre more than the present site of St. George’s Hospital.”
Within a few yards of this large building, there is another charitable
medical Institution, called the “Paddington Free Dispensary, for the
Diseases of women and children.” This Institution, also, is supported by
voluntary contributions; and a consulting physician; a consulting
surgeon; two physicians; a surgeon; a dentist; and a secretary; give
their gratuitous services to this charity. The report of 1851, states
that 5,280 patients had been “admitted during the last year;” the
expenditure of the whole establishment being but £218 18_s._ 0_d._
In the same street—Market-street,—there is a “Refuge for the Destitute”
supported by voluntary contributions. Here the houseless poor, to the
number of 100, may obtain a bed and breakfast during the winter months;
and here, winter and summer, the manager and his wife have been
maintained for some years in very easy circumstances. {174a}
For the regular poor of the parish, a very excellent house has been
built, at a cost of £11,431 9_s._ 11_d._, on a portion of five and a
quarter acres of “the Upper Readings,” purchased of the Bishop of London
and the trustees of the Paddington Estate for £5,168 15_s._ 0_d._
{174b}—By an “extract from the statistical and financial statements of
accounts of the Board of Guardians,” I find that for the half year ending
Michaelmas, 1851, the total number of paupers relieved was 1,054,
viz.—in-door, 88 males; 126 females; 117 children. Out-door, 122 males;
289 females; 312 children. The collective number of days being 37,171.
I also find, from the same official document, that there was an increase
of 36 in-door, and a decrease of 160 out-door paupers as compared with
the corresponding half of the previous year; that the total expenditure
for the relief of the poor, amounted to £2,995 16_s._ 0½_d._; that the
sum of £1,130 10_s._ 8_d._ was repaid for “workhouse loan and interest;”
and that the whole cost of the establishment for this half-year was
£4,237 16_s._ 8½_d._—£4,500 having been called for to meet the
expenditure. The financial account closed with a balance in hand of
£1,154 10_s._ 1_d._
From the same kind of printed document, for the half-year ending
lady-day, 1852, I find the total number of paupers relieved, was 1,070;
viz., in-door, 70 males; 139 females; 101 children; out-door, 135 males;
290 females; 335 children; being a decrease of 120 out, and 26 in-door
paupers, as compared with the corresponding half of the previous year;
the collective number of days, being 36,738. The in-maintenance and
clothing for this half-year, amounted to £892 16_s._ 9_d._; the
“establishment and common charges,” to £830 6_s._ 2½_d._; the out-relief
to 1,056 7_s._ 10¾_d._; the lunatic charges to £315 14_s._ 7_d._; and the
extra medical fees to £27 4_s._ 0_d._, making the total expenditure for
the relief of the poor this half-year £3,122 9_s._ 5_d._ Payment of
interest, registration fees, &c., increased this sum to £3,474 18_s._
11_d._ The amount called for this half-year was £2,700 0_s._ 0_d._, and
£410 2_s._ 1_d._, was the amount of balance in hand.
The Lock Hospital, which adjoins the Work-house, was removed from
Grosvenor-place to its present site, in 1842. This institution was
founded in 1737, and no less than 60,502 patients have been treated at
this Hospital since that date. The number of in-patients for 1851, was
388; of these 193 were females, and 195 males; during the same period 785
persons were attended to, as out-patients. Attached to this charity, and
indeed forming an important portion of it, is “the Asylum.”
“The Lock Asylum was founded in the year 1787, by the Rev. Thomas Scott,
the venerable commentator. It then occupied a building in connection
with the old Lock Hospital. In 1842, it was removed to its present site,
and in 1848–9, enlarged to its present dimensions. When first founded,
the Asylum received only sixteen inmates; in 1842, it was enlarged so as
to receive twenty; it is now capable of containing 100.
Since the foundation of the Asylum, 1,175 female patients of the Hospital
have been admitted, a majority of whom have been provided with
situations, restored to their friends, or otherwise comfortably settled
in life.
There are now forty-seven in the Asylum.
Needlework is taken in at the Asylum, and the payment for it constitutes
a valuable addition to the receipts of the Institution. A laundry is
open also for the washing of those families who may be willing, by
sending the work, thus further to benefit the Asylum.”