iJ1C5W UNIVERSITY Of ILLINOIS JI3h sponsible for its return to the library from which it was withdrawn on or before the Latest Date stamped below. Theft, mutilation, and underlining of books are reasons for disciplinary action and may result in dismissal from the University. UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN THE HISTORY OF ST. THOMAS’S CHURCH, REGENT STREET. THE HISTORY OF ST. THOMAS’S CHURCH, REGENT STREET, IN THE CITY OF WESTMINSTER. ARTHUR G. JACKSON, ASSISTANT CURATE. LONDON: PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR. 1881. CHISWICK PRESS : C. WHITTINGHAM AND CO. TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE. ^ 2 6'jt'/3 in P/2-l TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAP. PAGE I. The Oratory ........ 7 II. The Eighteenth Century . . . . . .16 III. From the beginning of the Nineteenth Century to the formation of Regent Street . . . . .23 IV. From the formation of Regent Street to the present day.28 V. The Life of Thomas Tenison . . . . •34- Appendix I. The Clergy ....... 38 Appendix II. The present work of St. Thomas’s . . 42 Appendix III. Streets and Courts in the Parish . . .46 \ THE HISTORY OF ST. THOMAS’S CHURCH, REGENT STREET. CHAPTER I. THE ORATORY. O begin the history of St. Thomas’s at the very beginning, we must go back to the time of more than eight hundred years ago. There was then rising, under the care of King Edward the Confessor, the great Abbey Church of St. Peter at Westminster. It was built on the site of a former church, in which had been a chapel dedicated to St. Margaret. When this chapel was pulled down, a church was erected some thirty feet from the north side of the Abbey, dedicated in honour of the same saint. This in time became the parish church of all Westminster, and so it remained until the year 1353, when a little chapel near the 8 THE HISTORY OF village of Charing was made into a parish church, with the northern portion of St. Margaret’s parish attached to it, under the title of St. Martin’s-in-the- Fields. For three centuries this arrangement continued undisturbed until, during the Great Rebellion, the Earl of Bedford began to build a large number of houses upon the Convent Garden,—a piece of conse¬ crated ground formerly belonging to the Abbey of Westminster, and used for the burial of the dead. The increased number of inhabitants, caused by the erection of these houses, led to a division of the parish of St. Martin, and the church of St. Paul, Covent Garden, was built by the Earl of Bedford in the year 1645, and made into the parish church of that neigh¬ bourhood. The town still grew westward, and soon after the Restoration the religious feelings of London were stirred to their very depths by the Great Plague of 1665, and the Great Fire of the following year. Men perceived in these visitations the manifest hand of God outstretched in judgment, and the following half century was a time of much religious zeal and fervour, when many churches were built, and spiritual ordi¬ nances were highly valued. In the year 1673, the parish of St. Anne, Soho, was separated from St. Martin’s ; and the present church of St. Anne was built and consecrated nine years later, Dr. Thomas Tenison being at that time rector of St. Martin’s. On July 13th, 1684, St. James’s, Piccadilly, was consecrated, and Dr. Tenison became its first rector. He perceived the necessity for additional church ST. THOMAS’S CHURCH . 9 accommodation for the rapidly increasing popu¬ lation of his parish, and had not long occupied his important position before he obtained a suitable site for a new church. There was a piece of ground on the west side of King Street, Golden Square, which had probably been Church property for a period of more than six centuries. It was an appurtenance of the Manor of East Greenwich, and this manor with all its appur¬ tenances had been granted by a niece of King Alfred the Great to the church of St. Peter at Ghent. It remained the property of that church till the reign of King Henry V., when under the Act for suppres¬ sing alien priories throughout England, it passed, for a brief space, into the hands of the crown. Henry V., however, speedily settled it upon the Carthusian Priory at Shene, and it was held by that body until 1530, when Henry VIII. appropriated it to himself. With the brief interval of the Great Rebellion, it con¬ tinued crown property from that time. Assuming then, as we may fairly do, that this particular piece of ground had always been an appurtenance of the manor, it is interesting to know that, with the com¬ paratively brief interval of one hundred and sixty- two years, the site of St. Thomas’s has been dedicated to religious uses ever since the days of Alfred the Great. At the time that Dr. Tenison obtained possession of this plot of land, it was held on a lease granted by Charles II. to Sir William Pulteney, and had been sublet by him in 1671 to one Roger Looker, a gar¬ dener, for the yearly rent of £8 5s. o d. on a lease of io THE HISTORY OF forty-five years. An extension of this lease to fifty years was granted to Looker’s widow, at an increased rental of <£50 a year for the additional five years. In November, 1687, Dr. Tenison purchased Mrs. Looker’s interest in the lease, and held the ground of her at a pepper-corn rent. He immediately pro¬ ceeded to erect upon it a chapel of a temporary character, which he styled an Oratory or Tabernacle. It was built of timberwork, on a brick foundation, at a cost of <£900, a person of quality having given the materials, and a good part of the charge having, it was stated, 1 been defrayed by a noble legacy left to the Archbishop for Church purposes. The erection of this structure had so far advanced by April, 1688, that Dr. Tenison was able to put forth the following handbill : 2 — “ npWO fmall Schools, perfectly Free, having been eretted for fome time in the Parifhes of St. Martin's in the Fields , and St. 'James's bVeJlminJler ; (That of St. Martins about Five Years} and of St. James's, from the time that it was made a Parifh) : And it having been perceived that great Benefit hath arifen from thefe fmall Beginnings, both in relation to the eafe of poor Houfe- keepers, and the Learning and Good Manners of their Children ; Encouragement has been taken partly from thefe, and partly from other motives, to attempt fomething greater in this way. “Accordingly, The Dean of Peterborough, and Dr. Tenifon (their Parifhes of Convent-Garden, and St. Martin's in the Fields having an¬ ciently been but one) have Agreed (fo far as concerneth thefe Parifhes) to fettle a School, with the help of fome Judicious and 1 By Dr. Burd, Morning Preacher at the chapel, in the preface to his sermon preached on Nov. 8th, 1702. 2 MSS. Cod. Miscell. Lambeth, vol. 952. ST. THOMAS'S CHURCH. 11 Charitable Perfons, under the Library of the Parifh of St. Martin's, for Boys of the faid Parifh, and of Convent Garden. “And the faid Dr. Tenifon, with the Advice of the faid Dean of Peterborough and by the like Charitable Help, does purpofe in the Tabernacle nigh Golden Square in St. James's Parilh, to fettle another School for Boys of that Parifh alone, there being as yet no Public School there. Both Schools (by God’s Afliftance) will be opened the Week after Eajler- Week, and they will be managed by the fame methods; as for Example. “I. The children fhall be duly Inftrudted in the Principles of Chriftian Religion, and Care taken that their Manners be formed accordingly. “ II. Such as have not learnt already, fhall be taught true Reading and Writing, with Singing Pfalms according to the Grounds of Mulick. “III. Youth being generally defigned in this great Place, for Trade and Navigation, they fhall be taught Arithmetick, and other parts of Practical Mathematicks. “ IV. They fhall be inftrudted in the Latin and Greek Tongues, as far as is neceffary for the Employments for which they fhall be found fit. V. They that have a fpecial Genius that way, fhall be inftrudled in fuch Learning as may fit them for the Univerfities. “ Mafters are provided, of Piety, Ability, and Diligence, for the carrying on of thefe Ends : And they fhall be maintained without any Charge to the Perfons who fend their Children, Provided their Fortune be not fo apparently Great, that to fpare them would be an Abufe of Charity. And for fuch who are both Able and Willing, what they give fhall be put into a Common Stock towards the fupport of the Refpedlive Schools, and towards the Putting out of fuch Poor Boys as fhall be found fit for Apprentices, and the Breeding of fuch Poor Boys for the Univerfities, as fhall be judged by the faid Dodtors and the Mafters of the Schools, to be of very Promifing Parts, and Good Temper. “ Aprill 14, 1688.” 12 THE HISTORY OF The date of the Tabernacle is thus shown to be 1688, that memorable year in which King- James II. committed the seven bishops to the Tower, and in which William of Orange landed at Torbay. On Jan. 27th, 1692, Dr. Tenison obtained from King William and Queen Mary a grant of the free¬ hold of the ground “ for good and charitable causes,” and also a lease of an adjoining plot, for ninety-nine years, at a nominal yearly rent of twenty shillings. The whole plot measured two hundred feet from east to west, by ninety-six feet from north to south. It extended from King Street (which was described forty years later as “ a pretty good street, having divers very good houses fit for gentry,” x ) on the east to “ Marybone Lane alias Swallow Street” on the west. The Oratory, which measured sixty-five feet by sixty feet, stood on the site of the present building, and the house which is now the Dispensary occupied the remainder of the frontage towards King Street. It was then in the occupation of Sir William Rich, and had a large garden behind it. The schoolmaster’s house stood at the west end of the Tabernacle, and had also a garden ; and these buildings and gardens covered the whole of the freehold ground. The leasehold property consisted of a large yard lying between the freehold and Swallow Street. Having thus obtained possession of the land, and having tested, by a few years’ experience, the pro- 1 Seymour’s “ Survey of the Cities of London and Westmin¬ ster,” 1735. ST. THOMAS’S CHURCH. 13 bable success of his scheme, Dr. Tenison (who had in 1694 been made Archbishop of Canterbury) pro¬ ceeded to take steps to give it permanence. On the 10th of September, 1700, he executed a Deed of Settlement 1 by which he conveyed the Tabernacle and land, together with the sum of <£500? to nine trustees, for the endowment of the “ Chapel or Tabernacle, and the soil or ground whereon the same standeth, to be for ever hereafter used, enjoyed, and employed as a public Chapel or Oratory for divine service, according to the Liturgy and orthodox prac¬ tice of the Church of England, for the ease and con- veniency of the inhabitants of the parish of St. James.” The rents and profits of the land, and the interest of the £5 00, together (it is painful to add) with “ all the monies arising by the Pews erected in the said chapel,” were to be applied to the following pur¬ poses :— First: “ to find and provide from time to time for ever hereafter, two able and orthodox Ministers of God’s word, to be Preachers in the said Chapel.” Second : “ to find and provide for ever hereafter, a sufficient Reader, to say divine service in the said Chapel every day throughout the year, morning and afternoon.” Third: “ to find a clerk to officiate in the said Chapel.” 1 The abstract of this Deed, and much of the information con¬ tained in the following pages, is taken from two volumes of Minutes of the trustees, most courteously placed at the writer’s disposal by Mr. J. Redman, the present Clerk to Archbishop Tenison’s Trust. H THE HISTORY OF Fourth: “To find and provide for ever likewise hereafter one or more able and sufficient School¬ masters or Schoolmaster, to teach and instruct six¬ teen poor boys, natives and inhabitants of the parish of St. James. The said boys to be taught to read, write, cast accounts, and such other parts of mathe¬ matics as may the better qualify them to be put out apprentices to such honest trades and employments as shall be thought meet for them. No boy to be admitted till he hath passed the age of nine years, nor to continue longer than five years in the school.” Fifth : “ For ever hereafter to keep the said chapel houses and premises in good repair, and also to find and provide a Ringer, Pew-keeper, fire and candles, and other necessaries.” Sixth : In case of any surplus arising, it was to be set aside “ for the repairing of the said tabernacle and houses,” and for other expenses arising in the performance of the Trust. The Preachers, Reader, Clerk, and Schoolmaster, were to be nominated by the rector of St. James’s for the time being, with the consent of at least five of the trustees, and were to hold their appointments for life. The sixteen boys were to be nominated and appointed in the same way. Power was given to the trustees to remove and displace either Clergy, Schoolmasters, Clerks, or Boys, in case they “ wilfully neglected the duty belonging to their respective offices or places, or became of evil life or conversa¬ tion, or for other reasonable causes should be judged unfit for their said places, or unworthy of the said charity.” ST. THOMAS'S CHURCH. 1 5 Power was also given to the trustees to modify the rules for the management of the Charity, pro¬ vided always that consent should be obtained of the Archbishop of Canterbury for the time being, who was appointed Visitor. This power of altering the arrangements of the Deed was exercised by the trustees at their very first meeting, held on Friday, March 7, 1 1700. With the desire, apparently, that the education of the boys should be in the hands of a clerk in holy orders, they decided that “ When the schoolmaster’s place shall become vacant, it shall be annexed to the Reader, and so fit and qualified a person shall be chosen therein, as shall be worthy of and deserve both salaries/’ They also increased the number of free boys to thirty-six, and admitted fourteen boys who were able to pay for their schooling ; and for teaching these boys, and reading divine service twice a day in the chapel, they agreed to give to the Reader a stipend of <£34 a year, paid quarterly. 1 At this period, it should be remembered, New Year’s Day was on the 25th of March. March 7th, 1700, was therefore subse¬ quent to September 10th, 1700. CHAPTER II. THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. HE Oratory, as we have seen, was only a timberwork structure, and by the year 1702 the trustees found that the building was “ so very crazy and badd,” that it would be dangerous to continue it any longer, and that money on repairs would be but thrown away. They accordingly decided to build a new chapel, “ much more convenient and large, and further from the street than the present.” The =£500 which the Archbishop had given by the Deed of Settlement had been lent at five per cent, to the trustees for com¬ pleting St. Paul’s Cathedral. This sum was to be called in and spent upon the building, and the re¬ mainder of the cost was provided by a mortgage on the house occupied by Sir William Rich. The last services in the old Tabernacle were held on Sunday, February 15, 1 702, and the congregation migrated to the French Chapel in Swallow Street during the rebuilding. On the 5th of March, 1 702, at about three o’clock in the afternoon, the foundation-stone of the present HISTORY OF ST. THOMAS'S CHURCH. 17 church was laid in the north-east angle of the site by Mr. Justice Tulley, and Captain Outing, one of the trustees. It was a block of Portland stone, eighteen inches long by fourteen inches broad, with the fol¬ lowing inscription cut on its upper side:—“ This chapel was rebuilt, l 702, Thomas, Lord Archbishop of Canterbury being Founder and principal Bene¬ factor.” The work of building was strenuously pushed forward; an organ was ordered at a cost of <£230; and by August in the same year such pro¬ gress had been made that the trustees desired Isaac Newton, Esq. (afterwards the celebrated Sir Isaac Newton), one of their number, “to wait on my Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, to know his Grace’s plea¬ sure relating to the consecration of the new chapel.” It was found that great delay would ensue if the opening were deferred until the chapel was conse¬ crated, and it was accordingly determined to open it without that ceremony on Sunday, October 4th. This resolution was carried out, and the chapel was opened on that day with services at “ the usual houres of near Tenn and Three.” The trustees and congregation appear to have been highly pleased with their new place of worship, and Dr. Burd, the morning preacher, publicly pronounced it to be “ a decent and pretty chapel.” 1 1 In “ Pietas Londinensis,” a little book published in 1714, and now rare, it is stated that the Oratory in King Street “is now a very spacious and beautiful chapel, wherein is an excellent and extraordinary organ, fine capacious galleries on both sides, a large Altar-piece, and chancel paved with marble, two large branches, and other ornaments.” B i8 THE HISTORY OF It was well furnished with the accessories of wor¬ ship. A velvet and gold pall or carpet, presented by Lady Drake, covered “the Communion Table and Head,” 1 and the altar-plate consisted of two silver- gilt chalices, with covers, of about 25J- ounces weight each, two silver-gilt flagons, and a silver-gilt salver of about 31 ounces in weight. 2 There was also a green serge cloth for the altar, embroidered and fringed, with two silk tapestry-work cushions. The whole expense of rebuilding the chapel, with vestry, lodge, and school, together with part of the cost of the organ, was ,£2,072 185. 8 ±d. The build¬ ing measured seventy-five feet by seventy feet, and was estimated by the trustees to hold 2,200 people. But the haste in which it was erected probably caused carelessness on the part of the workmen to be overlooked ; for by the year 1713a serious defect was discovered in the south wall and roof, and had to be repaired at considerable expense, the plan of the repairs having been first submitted to Sir Chris¬ topher Wren. The chapel was now in full working order, with its three clergy and thirty-six free scholars. Four services were held in it daily 3 at the hours of six 1 The “Head” of the Communion-table was probably a shelf or ledge for candles, such as may be seen in several London churches built about this period. 2 This altar-plate was converted into its present shape in 1872. 3 There were also four services on every week-day in St. James’s, St. Anne’s, and St. Paul’s, Covent Garden. In 173 5 there were nineteen services every day in seven Westminster churches. In the same churches in 1881 the total number of daily services is only nine. ST. THOMAS'S CHURCH. 19 and eleven in the morning, and three and six in the afternoon. Two services with sermons were held every Sunday, and the Holy Communion was cele¬ brated once a month and on festivals. The school hours were from seven o’clock to eleven in the morning, and from one till five in the afternoon ; the morning school being an hour shorter in the winter. The boys attended service at St. James’s on cate¬ chising days, and at the chapel on Sundays and festivals. So many of them as were capable were taught to sing “ the common psalm tunes used in the church and chapels of the parish.” The pew system was also in full force, and it will scandalize the upholders of free and open seats to read the following quaint list of charges :— “ Agreed yt ye Rates of the severall intended seats in the Chapel (compareing them with others of note &c) be sett at the following proportions, viz. “For each p’son in a Front Gallery, for every Quarter to be paid still beforehand—Four shillings. “For each in a Second Gallery to be paid at ye same time and after ye same manner—Two shillings. “For each in a Back or Third Gallery, etc.—One shilling and sixpence. “For each in ye few Fourth Back Gallerys, etc.—One shilling. “For each in ye Prime Places be¬ low, etc.—Three shillings. “For each in ye Second Places be¬ low, etc.—Two shillings and sixpence. “For each in ye Third Places be¬ low, etc.—Two shillings. 20 THE HISTORY OF “ For each in ye Fourth Places be¬ low, etc.—One shilling and sixpence. “For each in ye Fifth Places be¬ low, etc.—One shilling.” The following extracts from the minutes of the trustees’ proceedings are interesting, as throwing light on the history of the chapel, and on the cus¬ toms of the times :— April i 2, l 703. “ Agreed that a Type 1 be sett up over ye Pulpit on two iron bars or supports, as soon as may be, not above 7 or 7 j- foot high.” “ Agreed that ye Altar Piece and place be in due season painted with good cedar colour, and well var¬ nished, the oval Glory blew, and moulding well gilt; in case it exceed not Tenn pound, which His Grace voluntary proposed to give for yt End.” May 20, 1703, “Agreed that only part of the mouldings of the Altar piece and door be gilt. And that in the midst of the oval be drawn a large Bible opened, with the following words in fair print hand inserted ‘ This do in Remembrance of MeeJ with the chap and verse.” 1703. The French preachers at the Swallow Street Chapel ask for some pecuniary allowance for the use of their chapel by the congregation of the Tabernacle. The trustees are unable to give any money, but promise to show “ a constant kind re¬ gard to them, not only as Refugees, Persecuted Christians, Exemplar Persons, etc., but also as good Neighbours, Friends, and Brethren.” * “A canopy over a pulpit sometimes bore this name.”—Lee’s “Glossary of Liturgical and Ecclesiastical Terms.” ST. THOMAS’S CHURCH. 21 1705. “A Dial set up in the chapel at the ex¬ pense of Sir Isaac Newton.” l 708. “ The Union Arms approved of.” 1710. “ Ordered that the Agent, in the name of this Trust, go to the persons chiefly concerned in the Bear Garden now setting up by Benjamin Street, near the chapel, and acquaint them that if they pro¬ ceed with such a nuisance so near the chapel and serious a neighbourhood, all lawful causes shall be taken to remove them to a greater distance.” 1717. “ Dr. Clarke was desired by the Board to move the approaching Board of St. James’s Vestry that they would please to direct some legal course might be taken to prevent the frequent disturbances by rude boys, complained of by the congregation at the chapel.” 1723. The morning preacher’s stipend was raised to =£70 a year; the afternoon preacher’s to <£55 ; the reader’s to £64. 1747. A new purple velvet altar cloth pur¬ chased. 1766. The pulpit, reading-desk, and clerk’s seat were moved to the east end of the chapel. 1767. A new organ was built by Mr. Byfield, the old one being removed to Berwick Street Chapel. 1768. The house and premises adjoining the chapel in King Street were leased to Mr. Carbonell for thirty-one years, at an annual rent of <££2 10s. 1791. The east window glazed with ground glass. 1796. The pew rents should bring in £374 4s. od. per annum. Many pews being empty, only 22 HISTORY OF ST. THOMAS'S CHURCH. <=£270 15s. 3d. was actually received. In the fol¬ lowing year the deficiency was d£lo8 6s. 6d.; the next year ,£140 3s. 9 d .; and in 1799, =£159 16s. 3d. The chapel was also at this time becoming very much out of repair. It should be added, to make the story of the cen¬ tury complete, that in 1765, by her will dated May 2nd, Mrs. Alice Knightsbridge directed the divi¬ dends of <£200 of her stock in the Three per Cents, to be laid out yearly in the purchase of bread, to be distributed at King Street Chapel by the church¬ wardens or overseers of the parish of St. James, Westminster, at Christmas and Whitsuntide, among the poor housekeepers within the said parish. This bread is now distributed at St. James’s. CHAPTER III. FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY TO THE FORMATION OF REGENT STREET. N the 22nd of September, 1800, the cen¬ tenary of the chapel and school was solemnly observed, and the trustees were so much pleased with the excellent n which one of the scholars,—George Grubb,—acquitted himself in the delivery of a speech on that occasion that they increased the bounty of £6, to which he would have been entitled on leaving the school, to =£20, in token of their approbation. In the following year, during the war with France, the trustees granted the sum of £100 towards pay¬ ment of a debt contracted in raising a military corps in the parish. In 1805 it was found that the timbers and board¬ ing of the chapel floor were in a totally decayed state, and that a number of other repairs and altera¬ tions were necessary. These were effected at a cost of <£3,162 7s. 9 d. The number of seats was slightly diminished, but the rents were at the same time 24 THE HISTORY OF raised ; so that it was calculated that the 792 seats, if fully occupied, would bring in =£665 per annum. The altar-vessels were regilded at the same time at a cost of =£34 12s. 6a?., and new velvet hangings were purchased for altar, pulpit, and desk. Two plain mahogany chairs with kneeling-stools were placed at the ends of the Holy Table. In 1814 the crown granted a new lease of the leasehold property for ninety-nine years, for a fine of <£556 paid down, a net annual rent of <£106 5s., and the trustees to lay out not less than <£580 in repairs, to spend £ 1,000 in building two new houses, and to insure all the property. The trustees sub¬ let the property immediately on leases of sixty-one years, for fines of £ 1,055 paid down, annual rents amounting to £130, =£1,450 to be spent in building and repairs, and the whole to be insured by the tenants for £3,350. But the chief event in the history of the chapel at the beginning of the present century was the making of the new street “ from Marylebone Park to Charing Cross that, namely, which is now known as Regent Street. It was found that a great portion of the property of the trust would be required, and nego¬ tiations between the trustees and the commissioners for making the street began in 1815, and continued for six years. The final settlement which was ar¬ rived at was as follows :— With the exception of the chapel itself, almost the whole of the freehold property of the Charity,— ST. THOMAS'S CHURCH. 25 namely, the house in King Street with the yard attached, on part of which now stand Nos. 174, 176, and part of 178, Regent Street, together with the large vaults running all round beneath the chapel,— was leased by the trustees to the crown, for a term of ninety-nine years from 1821, at an annual rent of <£72 los. The small remaining portion of the free¬ hold land, over which the new street was to pass, was sold to the commissioners for £80 10s. The trustees’ interest in the lease of the ground over which Regent Street now runs, and of the plot on which Mr. Colman’s house now stands, was as¬ signed to the commissioners on their payment of an annual profit-rent of <£20 10s. during the remainder of the term. At the same time the trustees pur¬ chased the parcels of ground (previously held on lease) on which now stand the vestibule and belfry and the house at No. 172 a, Regent Street, for the respective payments of £6 12s. and £451 10s. On the latter piece of ground they built an entrance facing Regent Street, and a vestibule, with school¬ room over it, between Regent Street and the chapel. These were from the plans of Mr. Nash, the architect of Regent Street, and a very heavy expense, amount¬ ing to £3,238 15s., was incurred thereby by the trustees. It is stated that a fine was paid at the same time by the Commissioners of Land Revenue, but the amount is not known: It is said to have been in¬ vested in the Three per Cent. Reduced Stock, in which the trustees had already invested considerable 26 THE HISTORY OF accumulations from the seat-rents. The expense which they had incurred in the alterations caused them to sell =£1,600 of this amount, and the residue then amounted to <£3,500, yielding an annual divi¬ dend of c£i05d With the rents from the property amounting to £93, this made a yearly income of <£198, to which were added the pew-rents, amount¬ ing to about <£500, making a total of nearly <£70O a year. The result of the negotiations thus appears to have been that the trustees incurred a great imme¬ diate expense and a considerable diminution of annual income, whilst the crown acquired a long lease of a good house, large vaults, and of ground on which now stand three houses in Regent Street and part of a fourth, for the small yearly payment to the charity of <£93. Looked at from this distance, and possibly without all the circumstances being accu¬ rately known, it hardly seems to have been a satis¬ factory bargain so far as St. Thomas’s is concerned, though highly profitable to the crown. The title of “St. Thomas’s,” by the way, first appears at this period. In 1823 the agent of the trustees reported “ that it had been suggested to him that the principal entrance to the chapel being now in the new street, the name ought to be altered, and humbly proposed that it be St. Thomas, after the name of the Founder.” The trustees, however, decided that the title inscribed upon the new entrance 1 Charity Commissioners’ Report, vol. xxiii., 1837. ST. THOMAS'S CHURCH. 27 should be “ Archbishop Tenison’s Chapel and School, 1823.” A plan of the chapel at this period shows it to have been closely seated with high-backed pews. A gal¬ lery extended all round, with the exception of a small break just over the altar, and a pulpit and reading- pew stood north and south before the altar as they do now at St. James’s. The vestibule leading from Regent Street measured twenty-nine feet by twenty feet, and the school-room was over it. It led into an octagonal lobby, from which doors opened on the south to the vestry, on the north to the chapel- keeper’s rooms and a yard, and on the east, through a narrow passage, into the chapel. Doors at the east end of the chapel, in King Street, gave access to the staircases leading to the gallery. The ground in the hands of the trustees was reduced in length by the Regent Street alteration from two hundred to one hundred and thirty-six feet. A view of the entrance to the chapel from Regent Street is in the possession of Messrs. Carbonell and Co. It appears to have been plain and heavy, and consisted of a gloomy archway, closed by an iron gate, above which was a large round-headed window, lighting the schoolroom. CHAPTER IV. FROM THE FORMATION OF REGENT STREET TO THE PRESENT DAY. HE formation of Regent Street put, as it were, a seal upon the change which had gradually been taking place in the cha¬ racter of the population around the chapel. Though a duke still lived in Argyll Place, we no longer find a bishop’s house in Chapel Court, nor a baronet’s in King Street. The flood of commerce, which is ever flowing from the east and driving the aristocracy further westward, had at last overflowed the district. The heads of the great houses of business were now the magnates of the neighbourhood, and the “ divers very good houses fit for gentry ” became the homes of the many workpeople in their employ. The in¬ vention of gas seems an appropriate symbol of the new order of things, and in 1828 we find the trustees causing inquiries to be made as to the comparative cost of gas or oil for lighting the chapel. The result of the inquiry was in favour of gas, and in the follow¬ ing year the chapel was lighted therewith. The salaries of the pew-openers had to be raised in con- HISTORY OF ST. THOMAS’S CHURCH. 29 sequence,—on account, it is to be presumed, of the loss of their perquisites in the shape of candle- ends. In 1847 the chapel was cleaned and repaired at an expense of £7 20. A subscription was raised for filling the east window with stained glass, and the present window was inserted at a cost of <£102 10s. 6 d. It is obviously far behind the taste and style of the present day, but it was one of the earliest attempts made to recover the lost art of staining glass, and is an interesting memento of the piety of the gene¬ ration which is passing away. In December, 1848, the Rev. H. W. Burrows (now prebendary of St. Paul’s Cathedral) and the Rev. H. A. Douglas (afterwards Bishop of Bombay), were appointed reader and preacher, and soon mani¬ fested their appreciation of the changed condition of the population surrounding the chapel. If there be any excuse for what is known as the pew- system in a neighbourhood consisting exclusively of the wealthy, there is absolutely none where the people are chiefly poor ; and so these two energetic men seem to have perceived. It was hardly to be expected in those days that the trustees would make all the seats free, for experience had not then taught church people that a free and open church with the weekly offertory is more successful from a financial point of view than one in which the old system of pew-rents prevails. But the clergy were determined to make an effort to obtain at least a considerable increase of accommodation for the 30 THE HISTORY OF poorer parishioners, and they accordingly addressed to the trustees the following letter :— “ The undersigned beg to represent to the Trustees of Archbishop Tenison’s Chapel that the proportion of free seats in it is smaller than in ordinary churches, the number being 141, including window sills, only 44 of which, those in the middle aisle, are obvious to the sight, many of the others being in out of the way parts of the chapel, and therefore probably unknown to the poor, who do avail themselves of those that are well situated. On the other hand, there are many thousands of poor in the immediate neighbour¬ hood, nearer to this chapel than to any other church in the parish, and whose natural place of worship it would therefore be, if it did not present such an ex¬ clusive appearance as it does at present. “ The undersigned, therefore, venture to suggest to the Trustees the desirableness of enfranchising at least the Pews against the walls on each side, con¬ taining 106 sittings; and they recommend this the more because in those against the north wall only 18 sittings are let, and in those against the south wall only 3, whilst one pew, it is believed, has not been let for twenty years. These sittings are now let for 12s. a year apiece, and it is hoped that the persons now renting them may equally to their own satisfaction be accommodated in other parts of the chapel. “5th Feb. 1849.” In reply to this letter the trustees consented to ST. THOMAS’S CHURCH. 31 allow the seats next the wall to be free for the pre¬ sent, and ordered a plate labelled “ free ” to be fixed on each. But a potent agency was at work which was at last to bring about the destruction of that evil system which had all along hindered the realization of Arch¬ bishop Tenison’s noble scheme, and which has almost alienated the working classes from the Church of England. It was ceasing to pay. In 1850 the stipends of the clergy had to be lowered in conse¬ quence of the inadequacy of the funds at the trustees’ disposal. In 1851, two members of the congrega¬ tion who re-coloured the gallery of the chapel, did so at their own risk, leaving it to the trustees to re¬ pay them whenever the funds should permit. In 1852, the reader’s stipend was again reduced, and though the rector preached a special sermon at the chapel, and a collection was made for the expenses, the amount received was only <£15 lOs. The ac¬ count at the banker’s was overdrawn, and the avail¬ able assets were not sufficient to pay the various salaries due ; indeed, there was a balance against the Trust of nearly a hundred and twenty-five pounds. Affairs were in this condition at the appointment in 1853 of the present rector of St. James’s, the Rev. J. E. Kempe. He at once took the matter energeti¬ cally in hand, and was ably assisted by Mr. F. Crane, the senior churchwarden of St. James’s. The ves¬ tibule of the chapel was converted at Mr. Crane’s suggestion into a dwelling-house and shop (No. l 72 a, Regent Street), by which the Trust became benefited 32 THE HISTORY OF to the extent of <£350 per annum. This proceeding called forth a strong protest from the clergy and congregation of the chapel, and also from some of the newspapers, but the trustees gave satisfactory answers to the objections, and especially pointed out that the vestibule was no part of the chapel itself, and had only been erected at the time when Regent Street was formed, and thus possessed neither sanc¬ tity or antiquity to plead for its preservation. Mr. Kempe also collected a fund of <£1,200 for the re¬ storation of the chapel, and Mr. £rane succeeded in obtaining subscriptions for such an enlargement of the organ as made it virtually a new one. The font was also purchased at the cost of about <£15. A suggestion was made about this time that the chapel should be converted into a district church, and negotiations with that object were carried on for several years with the various authorities. One re¬ sult was that the Philistines, in the shape of the Charity Commissioners, stepped in, and deprived the chapel of the school which had been its inseparable companion for a hundred and eighty years ; appro¬ priating to it in its new form a fourth part of the income of the Trust. The other result was that the chapel had a district 1 assigned to it, and was conse¬ crated under the dedication of St. Thomas, on Satur¬ day, Nov. 20, 1869, by the present Bishop of London. The patronage of the benefice was vested in the rector of St. James’s, and the status of the minister 1 A list of streets and courts in the district is given on page 46 . ST. THOMAS’S CHURCH. 33 became that of an incumbent; though under a recent Act of Parliament 1 he may, upon the next voidance of the rectory of St. James’s, be styled a vicar, “ for the purpose of style and designation only.” Under the scheme of the Charity Commis¬ sioners a sum of not less than <£8o or more than ,£120 was set aside from the endowment for the pay¬ ment of an assistant curate, and the remainder of the income, after providing for the repairing and in¬ surance of the chapel, furnished the incumbent’s stipend. The Rev. W. J. Richardson, who had been a minister of the chapel since 1856, was appointed the first incumbent, and immediately proceeded to make changes which are too recent to be spoken of here at large. Suffice it to say that he and his advisers saw the absolute necessity of popularizing the church by the abolition of pew-rents, and the adoption of a more hearty style of service. And the present over¬ flowing congregations, the large staff of clergy and lay workers, the liberal offertories, and, above all, the increased attendance of the poor, and their ever¬ growing attachment to the church, are at once the witness to his foresight and the guerdon of his courage. 1 31 and 32 Viet., cap. 117. C CHAPTER V. THE LIFE OF THOMAS TENISON. HE history of St. Thomas’s would be in¬ complete without some account of the eminent man by whom it was founded. Thomas Tenison was born in the year 1636, in the parsonage-house of the little village of Cottenham, Cambridgeshire, his father being the Rev. John Tenison, B.D., rector of Mundsley, Nor¬ folk, and his mother, Mary, the daughter of Thomas Dowson, of Cottenham. After being carefully trained by his father in the rudiments of learning, he was admitted one of Archbishop Parker’s six scholars in the Grammar-School of Norwich, and at the age of seventeen was elected scholar of Corpus Christi College, at Cambridge. In 1657, during the Great Rebellion, he took his B.A. degree, but had no inten¬ tion at that time of seeking for holy orders, in con¬ sequence of the persecution which the Church was then undergoing. Two years later, however, he was privately ordained at Richmond, Surrey, by Duppa, Bishop of Sarum, and soon after the restoration of HISTORY OF ST. THOMAS’S CHURCH. 35 the monarchy was appointed vicar of St. Andrew’s the Great, at Cambridge. In 1667 he left St. An¬ drew’s, being appointed vicar of Holywell-with-Need- ingworth, Hunts. About the same time he married Anne, daughter of Dr. Lowe, the master of his col¬ lege. In 1674 he was chosen by the parishioners of St. Peter Mancroft, Norwich, to be the parish priest of their grand old church. He continued here till 1680, when he was appointed rector of St. Martin’s- in-the-Fields. In the latter days of King James II. he distinguished himself by his firm opposition to the Romanizing influence of the Court, and if not actually one of those who invited William of Orange to England, was in their confidence and acquainted with their purposes. In 1685 he became first rector of the newly-formed parish of St. James’s, Piccadilly, and on the accession of William and Mary gained speedy promotion, being made Archdeacon of Lon¬ don in 1689, Bishop of Lincoln in 1692, and Arch¬ bishop of Canterbury in 1694. He lived to crown Queen Anne and King George I., and on Decem¬ ber 14, 1715, died of gout, in his seventy-ninth year, and was buried in the chancel of St. Mary’s, Lambeth. Whatever opinion may have been formed by various persons 1 of the share which Dr. Tenison 1 e.g. by Dean Swift. There is a little book in the British Museum entitled, “ Characters of the Court of Great Britain,” drawn up by John Macky, Esq., at the direction of the Princess Sophia in 1706. Mr. Macky has a great deal to say about many of the leading men of the day, but of Dr. Tenison he only re¬ marks :—“ He is a plain, good, heavy man, now much in years, 36 THE HISTORY OF took in the change in the monarchy, or of his con¬ duct after his consecration, especially with regard to the silencing of Convocation, in which he was the chief instrument, it seems to have been universally admitted that in the earlier part of his life he was a most earnest and zealous parish priest. When the plague broke out at Cambridge, while he was vicar of Great St. Andrew’s, the other members of the college to which he belonged left the neighbourhood; but he fearlessly remained behind to discharge his pastoral duties. While rector of St. Martin’s he was remarkably liberal to the poor, and it was ascertained that during the great frost of 1683 he gave alms from his own private purse to the extent of over =£300. Some of his note-books, which are still pre¬ served at Lambeth Palace, testify to his goodness and liberality to his poor parishioners. As a pro¬ moter of church-building he has left a threefold witness to his zeal in St. James’s, St. Thomas’s, and St. George’s, Hanover Square; and though the chapel which he erected in Conduit Street no longer remains, the rich endowment which his forethought provided for it is still a means of promoting and sustaining the Church’s work. But as a man may be known by his friends, it is perhaps the highest possible tribute to Dr. Tenison’s worth that he was the intimate friend and associate and wearing out; very tall, of a fair complexion, and seventy years old.” To this character there is a marginal note in the handwriting of Dean Swift, to the following effect:—“ The most good-for-nothing prelate I e n Jer knew." ST. THOMAS’S CHURCH. 37 of such men as Bishop Ken, Robert Nelson, Sir Isaac Newton, and John Evelyn. The words of the last-named writer will form an appropriate con¬ clusion to this brief sketch of the Archbishop’s life and character : 1 — “ He is of an exemplary holy life, takes great pains in constantly preaching, and incessantly em¬ ploying himself to promote the service of God, both in public and private. I never knew a man of more universal and generous spirit, with so much modesty, prudence, and piety. I esteem him to be one of the most profitable preachers in the Church of England ; being also of a most holy conversation, very learned and ingenious. The pains he takes, and care of his parish, will, I fear, wear him out, which would be an inexpressible loss.” 1 “ Evelyn’s Diary,” vol. ii., p. 174. APPENDIX I. THE CLERGY. HE following is a list of the clergy of St. Thomas’s from its foundation to the present time:— MORNING PREACHERS. Date of Appointment. 1700. Dr. Burd. 1703. John Turner. 1704. Richard West. 1714. Joseph Willcocks, D.D. 1721. A. A. Sykes. 1757. Gregory Sharpe, D.D. 1771. Robert Pye, D.D. 1788. R. C. Blayney. 1825. H. W. Simpson. 1830. R. C. Coxe. 1841. W. H. Brookfield. 1842. A. B. Hazlewood. 1846. G. F. Goddard. (Now rector of South- fleet.) HISTORY OF ST. THOMAS’S CHURCH. 39 Date of Appointment. 1848. H. A. Douglas. (Afterwards Bishop of Bombay.) 1849. W. H. Bodley. 1851. T. H. Jones. (Now rector of Ashwell.) 1852. J. Lawrell. (Afterwards vicar of St. Mat¬ thew’s, City Road.) 1834* A. P. Morris. (Now vicar of Leeds-with- Bromfield.) 1856. W. J. Richardson. (Now vicar of Great Milton.) AFTERNOON PREACHERS. 1701. John Garnet. 1703. Timothy Goodwyn, D.D. 1704. Thomas Hazley. 1718. A. A. Sykes. 1721. S. Dunster, D.D. 1727. Samuel Grove. 1769. William Gilbank. 1798. John Armstrong. 1837. C. H. Gaye. 1847. Upon Mr. Gaye’s resignation the office was joined to that of Reader. READERS. 1700. Moses Holway. 1701. Edward Smart. 1704. Marcus Toilet. 40 THE HISTORY OF Date of Appointment. 1714. William Stockwood. 1721. W. Colton. 1725. J- Berjen. 1727. —Brackenridge. 1736. G. Wilkinson. 1737. J. Wilkinson. 1762. Lluellin Davies. 1764. W. Gilbank. 1807. D. Lewis. 1815. W. Gilbank. 1829. R. C. Coxe. 1839. C. H. Gaye. (Now vicar of Swilland.) 1847. W. H. Brookfield. 1848. H. W. Burrows. (Now Prebendary of St. Paul’s, and vicar of Edmonton.) 1851. J. H. Thomas. (Archdeacon of Capetown, and now vicar of Hillingdon.) 1856. J. G. Cowan. (Afterwards vicar of St. John’s, Hammersmith.) 1863. The office of Reader was amalgamated with that of Preacher under the title of Minister, the Rev. W. J. Richardson being appointed to hold it. ASSISTANT MINISTERS. 1865. Horatio L. Nicholson. (Now vicar of St. Paul’s, Southsea.) 1868. F. H. Remington. (Afterwards rector of Kirkley.) ST. THOMAS’S CHURCH. 4i INCUMBENTS. Date of Appointment. 1869. W. J. Richardson. 1877. W. T. Greive. 1871. 1873. 1874. ASSISTANT CURATES. J. N. Nicholson. E. Steele. (Now vicar of St. Neot.) W. J. K. Little. (Now rector of St. Alban’s, Manchester.) 187 5 - E. H. Walters. (Now chaplain of Christ Church, Oxford.) 1875. A. G. Jackson. 1878. J. T. Smith. 1879. A. Bathe. 1880. W. J. Sevier. APPENDIX II. THE PRESENT WORK OF ST. THOMAS’S. HE population of the district attached to St. Thomas’s was given in the census of 1871 as 4,526. The census returns for 1881 have not been made at the time e pages are written, but there is reason to think that there has been a very large increase during the ten years. Houses have been pulled down in Drury Lane, Bedfordbury, and other not very remote parts of London, and the result has been that St. Thomas’s district is overcrowded, not only with respectable artisans, but with a considerable percentage of a lower class, amongst whom theft and other crime is far too common. In addition to these two classes, there is a large body of young people who are em¬ ployed in the great shops of Regent Street and the neighbourhood, and a considerable number of persons of every rank and class, who, though not actually living in the district, are attracted by divers reasons to the church and worship there habitually. To meet the requirements of all these different classes of people, many services are held in the church weekly, HISTORY OF ST. THOMAS’S CHURCH. 43 and the number is increased in Advent, Lent, and other solemn times. The followingservicelist is taken from“St.Thomas’s, Regent Street, Parish Magazine” for 1881 :— Sundays. —Holy Communion, 8 a.m., 9.30, and noon; Matins and Sermon, 11 ; Litany, 3.30; Cate¬ chism, 4; Evensong and Sermon, 7 p.m. Daily. —Holy Communion, 8 a.m. ; Matins, 8.30; Evensong, 8.30 p.m. Holy Days. —Additional Celebration at 7 a.m. Wednesdays. —Litany, 12 noon. Thursdays. —Additional Celebration, 7 a.m. Fridays. —Litany, 12 ; Sermon or Instruction, 9.0 p.m. Holy Baptism. —At Evensong on Tuesdays, 8.30 p.m. Catechism. —Sundays, 4 p.m. Confirmation. — On Maundy Thursday, at St. James’s, Piccadilly. Names of candidates should be given to the clergy before Lent. Holy Matrimony. —Marriages can be celebrated in St. Thomas’s. Notice of banns, &c., to be given at the Vestry. Visitation and Communion of the Sick. —Sick parishioners desiring the sacraments, should send notice to one of the clergy. Burial of the Dead. — The bodies of deceased parishioners may be brought to the church for ser¬ vice before being taken to the cemetery, if due notice be given to the clergy. Churching of Women. —Before Evensong on week- 44 i THE HISTORY OF days, or Litany on Sundays, Wednesdays, and Fri¬ days. Counsel and Advice .—The Rev. W. T. Greive at¬ tends in the upper vestry on Wednesdays at 3.45 p.m. • the Rev. A. G. Jackson on Fridays after Litany and Evensong, and on Saturdays at 8.0 p.m.; the Rev. A. Bathe on Saturdays from 4 to 5, and from 8 to 9 p.m.; the Rev. W. J. Sevier on Wednesdays, at 12.15 p.m. The clergy may be seen at any other time by appointment. Private Devotion .—The church is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday schools are carried on, and upwards of twenty classes for religious instruction are held weekly during the winter and are largely attended. A branch of the St. Margaret’s Sisterhood, East Grinsted, is at work in the parish, and between sixty and seventy lay persons are actively engaged in assisting the four clergy in their labours. The number of communions made during the year 1880 was over 7000, and the amount contributed for Church purposes, through the offertory and other¬ wise, was upwards of <£1,200. There are five guilds in connection with the church, to which about two hundred and fifty persons belong, and various other agencies are employed in the effort to win back the mass of the population to the Church of their fathers. The clergy and lay workers are sadly crippled in their labours by the lack of any building in which meetings and classes could be held, and their pecu¬ niary resources are strained to the utmost in paying ST. THOMAS’S CHURCH. 45 the large rents demanded for the rooms which they are compelled to hire. Would that some generous and wealthy person might come forward to give a site and build a mission room in the immediate neighbourhood of the church ! In the hope that the perusal of these lines may kindle in the heart of some reader a desire to assist in what is being done at St. Thomas’s for God and the poor, it is here added that the clergy will at all times gladly give any information about the church and parish. The Sisters at No. 14, Golden Square, will also welcome any assistance,—personal, pecu¬ niary, or otherwise,—in their arduous missionary labours. Should any profit arise from the sale of this little book, it will be devoted by the writer to the further¬ ance of a work amongst the criminal classes of the parish, in which he is deeply interested. APPENDIX III. STREETS AND COURTS IN THE PARISH. district-parish assigned to St. Thomas’s 1869 consists of the following streets i courts : — Name of Nos. of the Street. Houses. Argyll Street • 17-33 Argyll Place . 1-9, 14, 15 Beak Street 1-7 Boyle Street All Carnaby Street All Chapel Court . All Clifford Street . 1-12 Cross Street All Cross Court All Foubert’s Place All George Place . All Great Marlborough Street. . 23-26 Green Dragon Yard . All King Street All Little Argyll Street . All HISTORY OF ST. THOMAS’S CHURCH. 47 Name of Nos. of the Street. Houses. Little Marlborough Street . All Lownde’s Court All Marlborough Court . All Marlborough Row All Marlborough Street . 3-5 Marshall Street . 38-54A Naylor’s Yard . New Bond Street All 18 New Burlington Street 1-9 Old Burlington Mews All Old Burlington Street . 14-24 Oxford Street . 325-335 Pugh’s Place All Regent Street (east side) . 156-270 Regent Street (west side) . . 169-193; 235-253 Savile Passage . All Savile Row . 22-29 Silver Street . 13-27 South Row 6, 7 Swallow Passage All Tyler Street All Tyler’s Yard . . . 4A-6 West Street 11-17 Published, monthly , price twopence. ST. THOMAS’S, REGENT STREET, PARISH MAGAZINE, containing notices of Services, Meetings, and other parochial events, and forming a complete record of parish history. Edited by one of the clergy. Annual Subscription, for one copy posted monthly, half-a- crown. Copies may be purchased at the Vestry. All communications should be addressed to “The Editor, St. Thomas’s Vestry, Regent Street, W.” H! s ' - s ~ B p § af§ | CFQ oo** ^*.0 X 3 % o —»ckmgs nirred in the ^eks,” said Mr. ^s n represents-1 were heard by the caretaker and her nephew, who was with her in the church at the time. She came and informed me, while the man waited outside. No one could have passed him without beingfseen, but when 1 arrived the church was|empty. PATTERINGS OF FEET. curate, the Rev. •saa qensn ireq} oai}ob ojoih naaq 3Aeq 3 }3qDtd sAep }siq aqp SuunQ -nopisod jq} ui ^uamoAoiduii uu }o u 3 is on ;nbsajd ye si 3 isqx '^auouj joj ^sonbQj jsq^oue iqUI S3ApSUI3q; 9AJOS3J JJIAV t< SpUBUI ■ap ,, aq^ peq* pun ‘qseAiaAa Apjata o; paAoqoq si ^nq ‘ppoAoq oq; aj}}9?3 o; pauuoj zaaq seq uoissirauio;) Dipeaiioidqq y «HSV;A3AH ATHHHW >, *■ tt ' a on ‘•an j/r ‘m >qsrg SUB STRANGE STORY OF A LONDON CHURCH, A mysterious apparition lias been seen Hi St. Thomas 5 Church, Regent-street. The story of the ghostly figure is fold by the Rev, Clarence May, the vicar, who I asserts that it 'appeared to him per- j son ally. He is partly supported by other people, who state that noises were heard; by them before the appearance of the j spirit. ^ j 44 The events have occurred in the : f course of the last three weeks,'* said Mr. May, to a “ Daily Express ” represents-j tive yesterday. t “Uncanny knockings were heard by | the caretaker and her nephew, who was with her ini the church at: the time,, -She o r came and informed me, ;#piile the man waited outside. No oni|, : could have passed him without beinglseen, but when; 1 arrived the chinch was|gmpiy. PATTERINGS 6 f FEET. Mlj | . “ A few days later, my ^curate, the Rev. John Evitt, heard pattexfings of feet, although no one was in the church. “' Lastly, at eight o’clock one morning I entered the church and distinctly saw a cassocked figure kneeling in the side chapel. U 1 thought it was a priest. It rose .and walked past the altar to the sacriaty on the other side. I followed, expecting to nfeefc the worshipper in the. vestry. Ng one was there. The figure had vanished. “The form was quite normal in size and appearance, and had a decided limp The last two rectors have both been lame, but there is a decided reason, which J would rather not disclose, for the reappearance of the last. ^ The matter is now in the hands of L 4die Psychical Research. Society. THE CHURCHES OF LONDON St. Thomas, Regent-street By a Special Correspondent The church of St. Thomas, which is hidden in a narrow turning off Regent- street, on the right hand side, going north, might be hard to find if it had not a pugnacious bell to give effective notice of its existence. When I attended its morning service on Trinity Sunday, however, there were not quite fifty people in the congregation. The service, described as a Solemn Eucharist, was just one more of the in¬ numerable compromises between the Communion Service . and the Mass, which, by their infinite variety, make attendance at High Church services such an adventurous business; one can never, tell what queer contradiction will be found next. At this service, for instance, although the ritual of the church has reached the point at which incense is used, there were eight communicants. In honour of the feast the Athanasian Creed was sung in procession at the begin¬ ning of the service, with a thurifer leading the way, while the Celebrant was attended by a crucifer and two acolytes. The Missal Prayers of the Celebrant’s entrance were said" at the foot of the Altar during the singing of the Proper Introit; thereafter the Prayer Book order was strictly followed for a while. The two New Testament Com¬ mandments were said instead of the Old Testament ten. The; Proper Gradual, Offertory, and Com¬ munion were sung and followed in each case by a hymn. The ceremonial offering of the Bread and Wine and the Lavabo were according to the Missal, and the bell was rung at the Domine non sum dignus , as well as at the Sanctus and Elevation. But these interpolations were not allowed to disturb the Prayer Book order of the service, nor were there any omissions from that order. Sept. 2, isss TH of Commons at the close of the last Parliament. Among the Judge’s other literary works are “Bubbles from Canada,” “ An Historical and Statistical Account of Nova Scotia,” and “ The Old Judge ; or, Life in a Colony.” Judge Haliburton was twice married. He was an honorary D.C.L. of Oxford. ARCHDEACON" COXE. The venerable Richard Charles Coxe, M.A., Archdeacon of Lindisfarne, in tne diocese of Durham, whose death has just occurred, was popularly known and much esteemed for many years as minister of Archbishop’s Tenison’s Chapel, in Regent-street. He was educated at Worcester College, Oxford, wheie he graduated in 1821, taking a second class in classics Immediately after obtaining his degree, he was elected a Fello w of Worcester College. He was ordained in 1823, and, after much other clericil duty, became minister of Archbishop Tenison’s Chapel. This appointment he left, in 1841, on being nominated to the vicarage of Hewcastl e-on-Ty ne. In that town he laboured with great fervour and diligence until 1853, when he was made Archdeacon of Lindisfarne, to which is attached the endowment of the vicarage of Eglingham, near Alnwick. He, in 1857, became a Canon-Residentiary of the. Cathedral of Durham. He was, in 1852-3, selected Preacher before the Uni v e* sit}' of Oxford, Archdeacon Coxe was the author of several volumes of poetry and of many theological works. Major and Brevet-Colonel Charles Richard Mitohwil Wood, son of Field-Marshal Sir Evelyn Wood, was married at noon on Saturday at St. Thomas’s Church, Regent-street, to Mies Olive Mary Mike, daughter of Major and Mrs, Miles, of Bade, Cornwall. The Boy Scouts of Nelson's Own, 9fcb Hoiborn, formed a guard of honour outside the eharch. The little building in which the marriage took place has great historical interest. It is absolutely the oldest Roman Catholic Chapel in London; was sacked during the Gordon riots, and was several times mentioned by Charles Dickens in 11 Barcaby Rudge, Church Congress. —By special desire Messrs. Keit,h & Co., will exhibit at the Ecclesiastical Art Exhibition, a very fine Selection of their choicest Church Plate and Metal Work, including amongst other objects of interest, the Golden Censer for St. Thomas's, Kegent-street, and several very beautifully jewelled Chalices executed by this firm.—[A dvt. rite 0 7l uC V(TLtSf^^i it St. Thomas’s, Regent-street.— An offering of an unique character has just been made to this church, in the shape of a golden censer. The gift of the congregation and parishioners, it is the conception and execution of one of the assistant priests, Rev. H. Maepherson, and is designed to I take the place of the somewhat shabby brass one hitherto in use there. The censer is 10 inches in height, and is a specimen of the beautiful work¬ manship of Messrs. Keith and Co., of Soho. The chains are of 18 carat gold, weighing 5 ounces, and the other parts are of 20 ounces standard silver, best water gilt. The design is Mediaeval, and the upper part pierced with crosses and fleurs- de-lys. Round the band runs the legend “ Ad majorem Dei gloriam,” with floriated scroll work and the sign of St. Thomas between the words. On the base, outside, is a prayer for those who gave it, and underneath an anathema on any one who diverts it to secular use, with the date. The I church of St. Thomas has long been a fortress | of Catholic tradition, and “ the faith once deli¬ vered to the Saints and is one of the few churches (now happily increasing), in London where the “daily offering” is perpetually made. The secret of its success has been the perfect unity and harmony prevailing throughout. That curious lususnaturce , “the Aggrieved Parishioner” is non-existent in this parish, and if generated, would be the product of gin-palace and bribery. The only conceivable grievance would be if the immemorial use and ritual were watered down, in which case there would probably be “an exceed¬ ing great army ” of aggrieved parishioners. W e understand the censer will be exhibited at the Church Congress, with the Bishop of Hereford’s pastoral staff, and other works of Messrs. Keith’s celebrated firm. V v w f ^ 9 J ^ ^ ~ — v ~ Reg ent-street, W.—At St. Thomas's Church the usual Palm processions took place on Palm Sunday, the congregations being crowded at every service. The Stations • of the Gross were held on the evenings.of Monday,; Tuesday, and Wednesday in ''Holy Week, with addresses by] the Rev. A. Bathe and the Rev. W. J. Sevier. On Good Friday the Three Hours’ Service was conducted by the Vicar (the Rev. P. T. Bain- brigge), and before Evensong an outdoor pro¬ cession started from the church and passed through the parish with choir, acolytes, and clergy in cassocks and surplices, procession ad crucifix and baimerkbeiug used. Short addresses were given at different halting-places by the Rev. A. Bathe. On Easter Hay there were Celebra¬ tions at 6, 7, 8, 9.30, and 12, the 9.30 as well as the noon Celebration being rendered with music, • - -r.'V- ’ * incense, &c. At the Children’s Service, at there was solemn Magnificat with p;rdcessffin| about 150 Sunday-school children taking part ni the latter, many carrying banners. Incense was used, and the officiating priest vested in cope, at this and at the other processions (before High Celebration and at Evensong). The festival services were repeated dn Low Sunday. I he music used at High Celebration was , that of Mozart’s Second Mass throughout, with the same composer’s Avc VcTwn . At Matins the service was Tours’ in F, and at Evensong Calkin m B flat. The church has had many valuable gilcs ox late, including magnificent sanctuary lamps ana silver mounted altar cruets, and a new white altar frontal. The latter was used for the first titrie on Easter Day, and is one of the most beautiful in the country. The splendid and brilliant old embroidery upon it has been brought from Spain, and is in itself a work of art. The congregations, the total of communicants, and the'offertories again shew a gratifying increase upon the record of the preceding Easter-tide. The offertories on Good Friday were given to the House of Charity, Soho; and at Easter were, as usual, Easter offerings to the hard-working vicar, r at the MARCH 9, 1921 me principal the Stock ExcfH London Coiifej movement of 28, Throgmorton Street, E.C.2 Telephone; London Wall 7494 n-ir-A I) it > qi on;