MARY ABBOTT'S, KENSINGTON, CHURCH OF ENGLAND DISTRICT VISITING SOCIETY***


Transcribed from the 1853 W. Birch edition by David Price, email
ccx074@pglaf.org.  Many thanks to Royal Kensington Libraries for allowing
their copy to be used for this transcription.





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


                                 TOGETHER

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

                                * * * * *

                                  1853.

                                * * * * *

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




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


                                PRESIDENT.
                   THE VEN. ARCHDEACON SINCLAIR, VICAR.

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

                                TREASURER.
                               Mr. CLARKE.

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

                                AUDITORS.
                   MR. WESTON.  MR. FREDERICK THOMPSON.

                                COMMITTEE.

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

                                COLLECTOR.
               ALFRED ELLIS, 16, _Lower Phillimore Place_.

                                * * * * *

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

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




GENERAL RULES.


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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




CONTENTS.

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




NINTH ANNUAL REPORT.


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

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

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

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

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

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



MATERNITY SOCIETY,


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

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



PAROCHIAL NURSERY, IN GREAT GROVE HOUSE.


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

To all who, in watching over the helplessness and innocence of infancy,
have learnt how delicate is the constitution, how difficult is the
rearing of a child, the Committee hopefully commend the cause of these
babes of toil.  To rescue them from the evils of a careless tending; to
preserve them from disease engendered by deleterious cordials,
administered by ignorant and impatient guardians to hush their cries; to
insure them the common blessings of light and air, of cleanliness and
warmth, is essentially a mother’s charity.  Nor will the lady, surveying
with a grateful heart, the commodious arrangement of the apartments of
her little ones, have her sense of gratification, in bending over the
cradle of her son and heir, diminished by the recollection that she has
been instrumental in procuring for the offspring of others, some amongst
those comforts so abundantly bestowed upon her own.  And