The first meeting of the vestry in the new building took place on the
ninth of October, 1860, and shortly afterwards it was determined to
celebrate the public opening of the large hall with an inauguration
dinner. A committee being formed for the purpose the necessary
arrangements were made, and on the thirtieth of November one hundred and
twenty of the most influential parishioners, presided over by Viscount
Chelsea, with the county members as their guests, commemorated the
completion of a building, which it may be permitted the vestry to hope,
will be of service to the ratepayers and the parish. The report and
balance sheet of the dinner committee is printed in the Appendix No. 18
(pages 65–66).
After the dinner the first public use of the hall was given gratuitously
on three days to the Chelsea, Brompton, and Belgrave Dispensary, and by
means of an oratorio, “The Creation,” on one day; a lecture by the Rev.
J. B. Owen, of St. Jude’s Church, on another; and a concert on a third
day, that useful local charity realised nearly one hundred pounds.
Having obtained a license for public music and dancing, the applications
for the hire of the hall were soon found to be so numerous that a
committee was appointed to regulate the letting, and they drew up the
scale of charges which was approved by the vestry, and will be found at
page 67. A debtor and creditor account in connexion with the letting of
the hall will be also found at pages 68–69.
One of the most important applications referred to the letting committee
was from the proposed Literary and Scientific Institution, that the suite
of rooms on the east side of the building might be set apart for their
use. The letting committee made a special report upon the subject, to
the vestry on the eighteenth December, and a deputation from the council
of the institution, consisting of the Rev. F. Blunt, Messrs. McCullagh,
Lawrance and Mead, with Mr. Bull, the honorary secretary, had an
interview with the vestry. The report which is printed at page 70, read
in connection with the following resolution which was passed by the
vestry, will explain the nature of the engagement subsisting between the
two bodies:—“Resolved, that the suite of rooms upon the ground floor
(east side) including the lighting and warming of the same, and the use
of the Hall for forty nights during the year, including the lighting,
warming, and cleaning of the same, be let to the council of the
Institution for £50 per annum, payable half-yearly, from Christmas next.
The tenancy to be subject to six months’ notice of determination by
either party at any time.” A debtor and creditor account for one winter
quarter will be found at page 74.
Upon the application of the vestry, Sir R. Mayne, the chief commissioner
of police, appointed a standing for ten cabs at the King’s Road end of
Robert Street, exactly opposite the hall; but unfortunately the
post-office authorities were unable to comply with their request that a
pillar letter box might be placed near to the hall.
The vestry hall buildings are insured in the Union Assurance Office for
six thousand pounds; and the fixtures, fittings, and furniture, in the
Manchester Fire Assurance Office for seven hundred pounds.
Ten thousand pounds, the sum originally borrowed, not having been
sufficient to complete the building together with the fitting and
furnishing, an application was made to the metropolitan board of works
for their sanction to a further loan of two thousand pounds; and as it
was necessary to accompany that application with a statement of the
entire estimated cost, and to fortify it with a memorial from the vestry,
those documents, as they contain much matter of interest, are printed at
pages 75 and 72–73.