This is seventeen days before Alfred’s death on the 5th May 1897, and about six weeks before Frank’s wedding a month later on the 6th June.
PROVIDENCE (Row) NIGHT REFUGE AND HOME.—On Easter Sunday at the Providence (Row) Night Refuge and Home, Crispin Street, Spitalfields, E., in accordance with the custom of the late Mgr. Gilbert, a special dinner, consisting of hot soup, meat, potatoes, and bread, was provided for the inmates, who numbered over 300. In the absence of the Hon. Manager, Mr. Alfred Purssell, through illness, his son, Mr. F. W. Purssell, presided, and was supported by the Rev. M. Fitzpatrick, the Misses Purssell, Miss B. G. Munk, Mr. and Mrs. Secrett, Mr. J. W. Gilbert (Secretary) &c.
In the men’s refectory, Mr. F. W. Purssell gave a short address. He said that they came there on behalf of the Hon. Manager and the committee to bid the inmates welcome to the refuge. Whilst deeply regretting the misfortune which had forced them to accept its hospitality, he trusted that it might be the means of reinstating them in life. Although it was very hard to be poor, poverty was not necessarily a disgrace. The refuge had been established by the late Mgr. Gilbert to help the deserving poor, and his work was still being continued. There was every prospect this year of a revival in trade owing to the many public celebrations which were to take place, and he (Mr. Purssell) hoped that when Easter came round next year, all the inmates present would have homes of their own. In conclusion, he announced that the Rev. Mother would give each inmate sixpence as an Easter gift on leaving the refuge next morning. Three ringing cheers for the Rev. Mother and the Sisters of Mercy, and for Mr. Purssell were followed by dinner, which was served by the Sisters. The visitors then proceeded to the women’s room and to the servants’ homes, in each of which Mr. Purssell addressed a few kindly words to those present. During the course of the afternoon oranges were distributed, and additional fare was given at the tea in the evening. Altogether the poor people had a very enjoyable day, and the Sisters and visitors must have been gratified at the joy and happiness to which they by their help contributed.
The above text was found on p.36, 24th April 1897 in “The Tablet: The International Catholic News Weekly.” Reproduced with kind permission of the Publisher. The Tablet can be found at http://www.thetablet.co.uk .
The Providence (Row) Night Refuge was founded in 1860, and heavily supported by Alfred Purssell, and his children, and sons-in-law almost from its foundation. Wilfrid Parker, Alfred Purssell’s son in law, was chairman of the committee in 1931, Wilfrid’s nephew George Bellord was also on the committee. George’s father, Edmund Bellord (Agnes Purssell’s husband) had also chaired the committee. Frank Purssell had also been on the committee, and deputised for his father at times.
Princess Mary c 1930
In the course of its seventy years’ history the Providence (Row) Night Refuge has several times had the honour of welcoming members of the Royal House within its walls. The Prince of Wales visited the Refuge about four years ago; and on Friday last week Princess Mary presided at the annual Founder’s Day celebration, the third princess to accept the performance of that function; her Royal Highness’s predecessors were Princess Alice of Athlone, who presided in 1913; and Princess Marie Louise, in 1924. Founder’s Day at Crispin Street is always an occasion for enlisting the sympathy, by presence, of a distinguished chairman; no fewer than eleven Lord Mayors of London, it may be noted, and five Chairmen of the London County Council, have been among those presiding in pastyears. This year, the visit of Princess Mary gave added distinction to the occasion, and the present Lord Mayor, Alderman Sir William Phene Neal, attended among those who welcomed Her Royal Highness and expressed their welcome in words. With the Lord Mayor were the Bishop of Cambysopolis, representing His Eminence the Cardinal Archbishop; Viscount FitzAlan, the senior trustee of the charity; Alderman Sir Harold Downer, K.C.S.G.; Sheriff Collins ; the Mayor of Stepney (Mr. M. H. Davis, L.C.C.); Captain W. W. Parker, M.B.E., Chairman of the Committee; Sir John Gilbert, K.C.S.G., K.S.S., Secretary; Adele Countess Cadogan, and others.
Her Royal Highness, attended by Miss Dorothy Yorke as Lady-in-Waiting, took the chair. A bouquet was presented by Bona Leather, of St. Aloysius’ Secondary School, Clarendon Square, N.W. The speeches followed. First of all the Lord Mayor, expressing gratitude to the Princess for the honour of her presence, extolled the work of the Night Refuge and commended as an example the action of market workers in the City who had subscribed fifty pounds to its funds. Lord FitzAlan associated himself with the words of welcome ; and the Bishop, who followed, remarked, as representing the Cardinal, that His Eminence, in whose name he thanked Her Royal Highness for honouring the institution, took a deep interest in that as in all other good works in the Archdiocese. His lordship referred also to the beneficent labours of the Sisters of Mercy at Crispin Street, labours, he said, which included work that in its result often meant more than the value of food and shelter to the poor and needy who sought the Refuge. Monsignor Butt was followed by Sir John Gilbert, who briefly related some salient facts and figures in connection with the work, as, for instance, that since 1860 the Refuge has provided nearly 2,600,000 free nights’ lodgings, and 5,200,000 free meals, upon an organization plan aimed at securing the benefits of the deserving.
Princess Mary and the other guests afterwards paid a visit to the various parts of the Refuge. They found everything in its customary’ order ; the inmates for the night had been admitted as usual at five o’clock, and the only circumstance marking the rejoicing for the visit of Her Royal Highness was a special meal, provided by an anonymous benefactor and more satisfying in its character than any banquet of cakes and ale.
The valuable link between the Home and the Corporation of the City of London may be noted from an examination of the charity’s list of officers in the annual report. Sir John Knill, treasurer and a trustee, was Lord Mayor of London, 1909-10; Sir Henry T. McAuliffe, a trustee, has served for many years upon the Common Council and is Deputy-Alderman for Bishopsgate; Sir Harold Downer, a member of Committee, was Sheriff in 1924 before his election last year as Aldermanfor Coleman Street Ward. Similarly, an extensive “second generation” of workers for Monsignor Gilbert’s institution will be recognized. Sir John Knill’s offices were formerly held by his father, the late Sir Stuart Knill, London’s first post-Reformation Catholic Lord Mayor; as mentioned above, Captain W. W. Parker, son of the late Sir Henry Watson Parker, a well-known City lawyer, fills the chair of the Committee, as did his father-in-law, the late Mr. Alfred Purssell, a former member of the Corporation and the great personal friend of the Founder ; Mr. George Bellord has succeeded his father, the late Mr. Edmund Bellord, thirty four years a member of Committee and twenty-six years its chairman ; Mr. Joseph Towsey joined the Committee upon the death of his father, the late Mr. William Towsey, an original member with a record service extending from 1860 to 1926; Mr. J. Arthur Walton is the son of the late Hon. Mr. Justice Walton, a trustee for many years. Finally, Sir John Gilbert, a nephew of the Founder, will this year complete thirty-five years’ work as Secretary.
Princess Mary has had a letter sent to Sir John Gilbert expressing her deep interest in all she saw at the Refuge. Her Royal Highness wishes to show that interest by a grant from Queen Mary’s London Needlework Guild.
The above text was found on p.22, 2nd May 1931 in “The Tablet: The International Catholic News Weekly.” Reproduced with kind permission of the Publisher. The Tablet can be found at http://www.thetablet.co.uk .
The Providence (Row) Night Refuge was founded in 1860, and heavily supported by Alfred Purssell, and his children, and sons-in-law almost from its foundation. Wilfrid Parker, Alfred Purssell’s son in law, was chairman of the committee in 1931, Wilfrid’s nephew George Bellord was also on the committee. George’s father, Edmund Bellord (Agnes Purssell’s husband) had also chaired the committee. Frank Purssell had also been on the committee, and deputised for his father at times.
Alfred Purssell’s letter, probably from 1896,
Jamaica Buildings,
St Michael’s Alley,
Cornhill, London
EC
The Honorary Manager of the Providence (Row) Night-Refuge & Home, Mr Alfred Purssell, C.C., presents his respectful compliments to Her Grace The Duchess of Newcastle, and begs once more to plead for this most deserving charity.
During the Winter Months, the Refuge provides every night nearly three hundred night’s lodgings, suppers & breakfasts to homeless wanderers free of cost. From the foundation of the Refuge thirty six years ago by the late Rev. Dr. Gilbert, nearly one million two hundred and fifty thousand night’s lodgings suppers and breakfasts have been provided.
The work of the charity does not end at “feeding the hungry” and “harbouring the harbourless”. It is also the means of enabling many of those, who find shelter within the walls of the Refuge, to begin life afresh, and to obtain again a position for themselves in the world. Those, for example, who through dire necessity, to save their families from starvation or worse, have parted with their tools, are enabled to recover them: sellers of fusees (large matches), flowers, newspapers, bootlaces, and the like, without hope or money, are supplied with a little stock: rent is paid and a small allowance granted to mothers and children, when the breadwinner through sickness is unable to work: the ragged are also clothed and situations obtained for them.
It is specially desired to call the attention of the charitable to some distinguishing marks of the Charity. In the first place it is absolutely non-sectarian. There are no questions as to nationality or creed. Whilst there is accommodation in the Refuge, no bona-fide applicant is refused, the sole passport necessary being genuine poverty and want. Secondly no effort is spared to secure the benefits of the Charity for the really deserving. The imposter, the professional beggar is soon detected. All the inmates are called upon to make a statement as to their last employment, and the cause of their misfortune, which is afterwards inquired into. By this means the benefits are secured for the bona-fide poor. It must be distinctly understood however that the poor applicant is not kept waiting for relief, but is lodged and fed, whilst the investigation is proceeding. Nor are the fallen debarred from participating in them, truth being considered a guarantee of desire to amend.
This winter special help is needed. There are no signs of any diminution in the poverty and distress around us. If the weather is severe, the sufferings of the poor will be materially increased. At times so great do their misery and wretchedness become, that those who are attempting to alleviate the distress are well nigh discouraged. The thought that hundreds of men, women and even children have in the depths of winter no home but the streets is simply appalling. There is a worse aspect to the question than this. How many of our poorer brothers and sisters in this vast metropolis are driven to crime. As degradation, by the want of food and shelter. Men and children become thieves; women and girls, alas! Barter their most valuable possession, their priceless innocence for food and shelter. These unfortunate ones find in the Refuge the means of reforming their lives, and of turning their backs for ever on the sinful past.
Will you kindly help the Committee of the Providence (Row) Night Refuge and Home in their great work amongst the poor? If you could pay a visit to it, one night during the winter months, and see for yourself the good that is being done by it, you would willingly do so.
Hear the opinions of some who have visited it:- Mr James Greenwood, the “Amateur Casual”, writing in the “Ludgate Monthly” has said “Outcasts of all kinds and from all parts find shelter there, and all are sure of something for supper and a bed, and a big roll, and a mug of cocoa ‘as a comforter’, “before they start on their way next morning…. The Managers of the Home have been thus unostentatiously engaged for many years, and the good they have effected is incalculable.”
The late Mr Montague Williams Q.C., in “Later Leaves” says of this Refuge: “There is no more Excellent institution…. The place is beautifully clean…. This institution, which is not nearly so well known as it deserves to be, is in the heart of Spitalfields.”
The “Daily Chronicle” has said: “Christianity is certainly not played out at the corner of Crispin St., and Raven Row, although it may be doubled, whether it ever found more depressing material to work upon.”
As an example of the distress, which exists in our midst may be mentioned that in the Refuge last year, amongst those assisted were an Architect, an Optician, clerks, waiters, valets, woodcarvers, ivory-turners, weavers, painters, a professor of music, a linguist, certificated teachers, dressmakers, domestic servants, etc., etc.
In addition to the Refuge, there are two homes, one for Servants, who partially support themselves by work, the other where women out of engagements can board and lodge at a small cost per week, whilst searching for situations.
An especial appeal for help is made this year, in order that funds may be raised to extend the work, which has now been carried on so effectively for thirty-six years. The Refuge was founded by the late Rev. Dr. Gilbert in 1860 with fourteen beds. It has now accommodation for nearly three hundred. Will you assist in extending the good work?
The smallest donation will be gratefully acknowledged, and the heartfelt prayers of the hungry you help to feed, of the houseless you help to lodge, the naked you help to clothe, the fallen you help to brighter and happier lives will be bound to
MR. W. W. PARKER Mr. Wilfred Watson Parker, M.B.E., T.D., of Towersey Manor, Thame, died on November 29th.
The second surviving son of the late Sir Henry Watson Parker, President of the Incorporated Law Society, who died in 1894, Mr. Parker was sixty-eight years of age. His mother was Marian, daughter of the late James Rorauer, of the Treasury. Mr. Parker was educated at Beaumont, as were his two brothers, and afterwards followed his father’s profession as a solicitor. In 1898 he married Miss Frances Charlotte Purssell, third daughter of the late Alfred Purssell of Hampstead.
The Requiem Mass was at Westminster Cathedral on Thursday.
The above text was found on p.46, 4th December 1937 in “The Tablet: The International Catholic News Weekly.” Reproduced with kind permission of the Publisher” The Tablet can be found at http://www.thetablet.co.uk .
PARKER—PURSSELL.–On June 30, at St. Dominic’s Priory, Haverstock Hill, by the Very Rev. F. A. Gasquet, D.D., Wilfrid Watson, second surviving son of the late Sir Henry Watson Parker, of Hampstead, and Lady Watson Parker, of 22, Upper Park-road, N.W., to Frances Charlotte, third daughter of the late Alfred Purssell, C.C., of Hampstead.
There are a number of reasons for including this. Partly it is a great article, and part of English Catholic triumphalism as the community starts to feel more secure in itself. It is also included because there are almost a dozen members of the wider family there. In no particular order:
Mr. W. Smith, M.P, He is Alfred O’Bryen’s father-in-law.
Judge Bagshawe, appears at a lot of family weddings,and his brother,the Very Rev. Canon Bagshawe, D.D., the Bagshawes are referred to as “cousins” in Fr. Philip O’Bryen’s obituary. Quite what the relationship is I’m still not sure because I can find no evidence to date.
Sir (George) Sherston Baker, Bart., is Irene Roper Parkington’s father in law, and she is Dorothea Bidwell (nee Roper Parkington)‘s sister.
Sir H(enry). W(atson). Parker, is Charlotte Purssell’s father in law.
Mr. F(ield). Stanfield, is the brother-in law of both the Bagshawes, and his daughter Henrietta marries Joseph Walton’s son, Joseph Arthur.
Mr. A(lfred). Purssell, – Alfred Purcell is already quite a major character. His daughter (Frances) Charlotte marries Wilfred Parker, Sir Henry Watson Parker’s son, and his grand-son Alan O’Bryen marries Marie Bidwell, whose mother is Dorothea Bidwell (nee Roper Parkington).
Mr. H(erman). Lescher, His sister-in-law Mary O’Connor Graham Lescher (nee Grehan) married her father’s step-mother’s nephew, Frank Harwood Lescher. She is a first cousin to the O’Bryens (Alfred, Philip,Ernest, Rex, and Mary) because her father Patrick Grehan III is Celia O’Bryen’s brother.
Mr. Cary-Elwes, This could be a number of people because there are quite a few Cary-Elwes. The most likely candidates are either Charles Cary-Elwes who married Edythe Roper Parkington in 1897, and is one of John Roper Parkington’s sons in law or possibly his uncle Arthur. If it is Charles, he would be very young, twenty four, to be attending such a grand gathering. It is unlikely to be his father, who is almost always referred to as Capt Cary-Elwes.
Major Roper Parkington, Good old JRP has a habit of turning up to practically anything. By this point he was a highly sucessful wine importer, and City business man. As seen from above, one of his daughters married George Sherston Baker’s son, and another married Charles Cary-Elwes, and his grand-daughter Marie married Alan O’Bryen, Ernest’s son.
Mr. J. Walton, Q.C., Joseph Walton’s son, Joseph Arthur marries Field Stanfield’s daughter Henrietta
What it also does is give a clear idea of a tight social circle, that is also very inter-related.
The Tablet Page 5, 15th April 1893
THE BANQUET AT THE MANSION HOUSE.
Egyptian Hall, Mansion House, London
The brilliant scene at the Mansion House on Wednesday night marked at once the crowning hour of an honourable career, and in some sort the closing of a chapter in the story of English Catholicism. A very sympathetic audience listened to the Lord Mayor, when, lapsing for a moment into a strain of personal reminiscence, he told how from earliest manhood onwards he had laboured in silence for the good of the city, and all the world has now witnessed his great reward. And when we speak of the reward which has come to him in his 70th year, for all his patient service of the City of which to-day he is the Chief Magistrate, we are thinking less of the proud position he has won than of those golden opinions which the manner of his winning it has brought to him from all sorts and conditions of men,.
If ever a man in the hour of realized hope could look back upon a stainless record, or attained the object of a long and honourable ambition with the knowledge that in the pursuit of it he had never swerved, even by the hesitation of moment, from the path of the highest right, that man is the present Lord Mayor. In his case the battle of duty was fought in the open, steadily and unflinchingly, and his conduct has earned the recognition and the gratitude of men, of whatever creed, who care to see the triumph of truth and principle over shuffling and insincerity. But it will do more than that, it will do more than add to the general esteem in which Mr. Alderman Knill is held by all who know him. His steadfast constancy to Catholic principle upon that large and public stage, where all the greatness of the City was behind him to act as a sounding-board to his words, will give new heart to many a poor co-religionist for whose obscure trial or sordid troubles the world has neither heed nor care.
Many a little hidden tragedy and loss of self-respect, away in villages and remote country towns, as well as here in London, may be averted by this one conspicuous example of Catholic faithfulness ; and long after Mr. Alderman Knill has passed away the memory of that famous day in the Guildhall when he risked the ambition of a life-time, for many a tempted man may help to dip the trembling scales on the side of fidelity and truth. But, as the Cardinal hinted the other night, the career of the Lord Mayor offers another lesson. In his case, to the tenacity and courage which make, perhaps, the groundwork of his character, have been added not only a singular simplicity and directness of purpose, but also qualities which are less often associated with that resoluteness of which he has given such signal proof.
Throughout all this quarrel Mr. Alderman Knill has borne himself not only as a fearless and honourable man, but always with the considerateness and the unvarying courtesy of a Christian gentleman. The silken glove has been oftener felt than the iron hand, he has never fought for trivialities or shown himself unbending except for essentials, and he has been ever ready to respect the scruples, and, when that was possible, even the prejudices of his opponents. It was impossible not to think of these things on Wednesday evening, and not to regard that glittering scene as in some sort the fulfilment of a career. The time of struggle and doubt, indeed, was over long ago, and for many months the Lord Mayor has held with assured ease, his office of Chief Magistrate of London. He has offered his splendid hospitality to all that is famous and distinguished in the land, and looked down upon more brilliant crowds. But the sight of the guests who had gathered at his bidding on Wednesday night to do honour to the Cardinal must have affected him in a different and a quite separate way.
In that famous banqueting hall, officially presided over by the Lord Mayor and the Sheriffs of the City were the representatives of all Catholic England. The Cardinal and the Bishops, Peers and Members of Parliament, the clergy, Judges and leaders of the Bar, journalists, architects, naval and military officers, country gentlemen, artists, merchants, the officers of the leading Catholic associations—all that goes to make up the world of English Catholicism was there. Never since Cardinal Pole was invited by the Mayor and citizens in the year 1554, had a Prince of the Church been thus officially received, and never assuredly for three hundred years and more had there been such an assemblage of Catholics within the walls of the city.
To many that scene seemed like a visible triumph spread out before the eyes of the man who presided there so quietly and graciously and yet had risked so much for conscience’ sake, and risking it had struck such a signal blow for religious freedom and so vindicated for Catholicism its rightful position before the people. But whether considered, as it was designed, as an opportunity for offering public welcome to the Cardinal, or as, in fact, it also became a demonstration of regard for a host whom his guests delighted to honour, this memorable banquet was an unqualified success.
THE BANQUET.
Lady Knill, Wife of Sir Stuart Knill, Lord Mayor of London (1892-1893); copyright.City of London Corporation;
The banquet accordingly took place on Wednesday evening, when Cardinal Vaughan and the Bishops of the English Catholic Hierarchy, and a large gathering of the Catholic clergy and laity, met at the Mansion House. The guests, who numbered upwards of three hundred, were received by the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress in the Reception Hall. Cardinal Vaughan, on entering, was met by the City Marshal, and, preceded by two torch-bearers carrying lighted candles, was conducted into the building. Here he was received by the Lord Mayor, who, with his mace and sword-bearers, advanced to meet his Eminence. All the Bishops wore their silk robes and chains. After the greeting, the guests passed into the Egyptian Hall, where the banquet was served. On the left side of the Lord Mayor sat the Cardinal, and on the right side the Duke of Norfolk.
Besides these, the invited guests were : The Earl of Denbigh, the Bishop of Clifton, Archbishop Scarisbrick, 0.S.B., the Earl of Albemarle, K.C.M.G., the Bishop of Liverpool, the Earl of Westmeath, the Earl of Gainsborough, Lord William Nevill, the Bishop of Nottingham, Lord Braye, the Bishop of Birmingham; the Right Rev. Lord Petre, the Bishop of Newport and Menevia, Lord Norreys, Admiral Lord Walter Kerr, the Bishop of Shrewsbury, Lord Beaumont, Lord North, the Bishop of Emmaus, Lord Arundell of Wardour, the Bishop of Northampton.
Lord Herries, the Bishop of Southwark, Lord Emly, the Bishop of Leeds, Lord Morris, the Right Hon. the Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, the Bishop of Middlesbrough, Lord Clifford of Chudleigh, the Bishop of Portsmouth, the Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle, Lord Acton, the Bishop of Cisamus, the Bishop of Salford, the Right Hon. the O’Conor Don, the Bishop of Priene, Mgr. Gilbert, Mr. Justice Matthew, the Hon. Mgr. Talbot, D.D., the Very Rev. Provost Wenham, Mr. Austin, M.P., the Very Rev. Canon Bamber, Count de Torre Diaz, the Very Rev. Canon Purcell, the Hon. A. Petre, the Very Rev. Canon Keens, Mr. W. Smith, M.P., the Rev. Father Sidgreaves, F.R.A.S., Sir Walter de Souza, the Rev. Dom Gilbert Dolan, Sir G. Errington, Bart., the Very Rev. F. A. Gasquet, D.D., Sir G. Clifford, Bart., Mgr. Carroll, Sir Philip Rose, Bart., the Rev. Bernard Vaughan, S.J.
Sir W. Vavasour, Bart., Mgr. Cahill, Sir Percy Grace, Bart., Mgr. Carr, Judge Stonor, Mgr. Johnson, D.D., the Rev. G. S. Delaney (chaplain), Colonel Vaughan, Mgr. Howlett, D.D., Judge Bagshawe, Mgr. Fenton, Sir C. M. Wolseley, Bart., Mgr. Clarke, D.D., Sir W. Blount, Bart., Mgr. Motler, Sir W. Hamilton Dalrymple, Bart., Mgr. Williams, Sir Sherston Baker, Bart., Mgr. McKenna, Sir R. Bamewell, Bart., General Sir A. Herbert, K.C.B., Sir H. W. Parker, the Very Rev. G. Callaghan, the Very Rev. Canon McCave, D.D., the Very Rev. W. T. Gordon, the Very Rev. R. Butler, D.D., the Rev. F. Rymer, D. D., the Very Rev. F. M. Wyndham, Mr. R. Berkeley, the Mayor of Barnstaple, Mr. Percy Fitzgerald, the Very Rev. Canon Barry, Mr. C. A. Scott-Murray, the Very Rev. Canon Akers, the Mayor of Gravesend, the Very Rev. Canon Murnane, Mr. J. S. Croucher, Mr. Hussey Walsh, the Very Rev. Canon Bagshawe, D.D.,
Chevalier Sperati, the Very Rev. Canon Fannan, Mr. N. Synott, Mr. Britten, Mr. E. Wolseley, Mr. J. P. Wallis, the Very Rev. Canon O’Callaghan, Mr. J. Hunt Lilly, the Very Rev. Canon Moore, the Very Rev. Canon O’Halloran, the Very Canon Lalor, Captain Richey, Mr. G. W. Winzar, Mr. James Coen, Mr,. John Knill, Mr. Soulsby, Colonel E. Burnaby, Mr. R. Pargeter, Mr. S. J. Nicholls, F.S.A., Mr. B. F. Costelloe, the Very Rev. Canon Franklin, Mr. G. Whitlaw, the Very Rev. Canon Wilson, 0.S.B., Mr. J. Kenyon, Mr. J. T. Perry, the Very Rev. Canon Randerson, Mr. G. A. Bouvier, Mr. W. Farren, Mr. E. W. Beck, the Rev. G. Richardson, Mr. S. Gatti, Major Gape, Mr. F. de Bernhardt, the Rev. A. B. Gordon, Mr. J. Wallace, Mr. A. Hornyold, Mr. H. W. Bliss, Mr. J. Borrajo, Mr. F. Whitgreave, Junr., Mr. J. Dunn, the Very Rev. Canon Grady, Mr. L. T. Cave, The O’Clery, the Very Rev. M. Kearney, the Rev. C. Tochetti, Mr. Arthur A’Beckett, Mr. A. J. Blount, the Very Rev. M. Gaughren, the Rev. J. Holder, Mr. E. de Lisle, F.S.A., Mr. A. Boursot, the Very Rev. Canon Scott, D.D., the Rev. Dr. W. Barry, Mr. S. Tapprell Holland, Mr. R. A. Harting, the Very Rev. Canon Luck, the Rev. T. F. Gorman, Mr. W. Hays, Mr. P. Wittan, the Rev. G. B. Cox, the Rev. E. J. Watson, Mr. W. M. Honneybun, Mr. E. Tegart, Mr. W. Langdale, Mr. T. Rawlinson, Mr. Edward Petre, Mr. L. Eyre, the Very Rev. J. Procter, Mr. J. H. Pollen, the Rev. Bernard Ward, Mr. J. H. Powell, Mr. F. Stanfield, Mr. A. Purssell, the Very Rev. Provost Dawson, the Very Rev. M. Kelly, D.D., Mr. F. R. Ward, Mr. W. S. Lilly, the Very Rev. Canon Brownlow, the Very Rev. J. P. Bannin, Mr. Lane-Fox, Mr. Wegg-Prosser, the Rev. J. Minnett, the Very Rev. F. Henry, Mr. J. St. Lawrence, Mr. Wilfrid Ward, the Very Rev. Canon Mackintosh, the Rev. D. E. Dewar,
Mr. H. Lescher, Mr. S. Lickorish, Mr. Fitzherbert Brockholes, Mr. Bolton, Mr. Cary-Elwes, the Rev. F. J. Sheehan, the Rev. M. Fanning, Colonel H. Walpole, the Rev. Father E. Badger, Mr. Snead Cox, Mr. H. Stourton, Mr. C. R. Parker, the Rev: E. Pennington, the Rev. Father Eyre, S.J., Mr. J. B. Hardman, Mr. W. Meynell, the Rev. F. Skrimshire, Mr. C. A. Buckler, Mr. Lister Drummond, the Rev. A. White, M.R., the Rev. Dr. W. J. B. Richards, Mr. Everard Green, the Rev. C. A. Cox, the Rev. W. Barry, Mr. Santley, the Rev. E. Buckley, Mr. A. Oates, the Rev. E. Martin, Major Roper Parkington, Mr. J. McAdam, Mr. Borff, Mr. E. Bellasis, Mr. E. D. Purcell, the Rev. W. Fleming, M.R., Colonel Tully, Mr. Murphy, Q.C., Mr. L. C. Lindsay, the Rev. T. Graham, D.D., Mr. G. Blount, Mr. J. Walton, Q.C., Mr. W. Wilberforce, the Rev. D. Skrimshire, Mr. A. B. Glewy, the Rev. R. Buckler, Mr. E. J. Fooks, Mr. C. Gasquet, Mr. T. Meyer, Mr. A. B. Kelly, Mr. F. R. Langton, Mr. Basil Fitzherbert, the Rev Dr. Moyes, Mr. St. George Mivart, F.R.S., the Rev. R. C. Bone, the Rev. W. Ignatius Dolan, the Rev. J. S. Vaughan, Major Trevar, the Rev. Father Hayes, S.J., Mr. J. Brand, Mr. Ogilvie Forbes, Mr. S. D. Williams, Mr. J. Steuart, Mr. W. H. Bishop, Mr. J. S. Purcell, C.B., Mr. J. V. Hornyold, Mr. J. Incledon, Mr. Albert A’Beckett, Mr. W. D’Alton, Mr. C. Kegan Paul, Mr. W. H. J. Weale, Mr. A. R. Dowling, Mr. A. C. Wood, F.S.A., Mr. Hillier Gosselin, Mr. W. H. Lyall, Mr. H. D. Harrod,F.S.A., Mr. C. R. Parker, Jun., Mr. R. Cafferata, Mr. R. Woodword, Mr. W. S. Craig, Mr. Wilfrid Herbert, Mr. W. Pyke, Mr. J. Hosslacher, Dr. O’Reilly, Mr. P. P. Pugin, Mr. Washbourne, Mr. F. T. Silvertop, Mr. W. Keatinge, Mr. E. Hibbert, Mr. W. Keane, Mr. R. H. C. Nevile, Mr. Casella, Mr. W. G. Freeman, Mr. J. S. Hansom, Mr. F. M. Lonergan, Mr. J. P. Munster, Mr J. F. Caulfield, Mr. C. Kent, Mr. R. Sankey, Mr. R. W. Berkeley, Mr. J. B. Carney, Mr. R. J. Walmesley, and Mr. C. T. Layton.
After the tables were cleared, The LORD MAYOR rose to propose the first toast,—That toast, he said, always uppermost in the hearts of Englishmen, and especially citizens of London, the health of the Sovereign, under whose gentle sway the country has lived and prospered for more than fifty years—her Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria. Since the very commencement of her reign, said Alderman Knill, all have been fully conscious that she has entered into the griefs and joys of every one of her subjects, and that she has the desire to alleviate those sorrows, and to participate in their rejoicings. Their loyalty was almost warmed to love when they recognized her great sympathy with her Catholic subjects in all their troubles. To her all homage was due ; and their prayers were, that she who had ever been an example in the acknowledgment of her dependence upon a Higher Power, might be long spared to rule over them and see her people united and contented. Following the old tradition still retained in the great city’s walls, he prefixed the health of him, the great Head of the Church, Christ’s Vicar, who, seated on Roman Heights in incense laden atmosphere, kept an ever watchful eye on every portion of his vast flock ; to him who raises up his mighty voice to lead in all emergencies—the Holy Eather who speaks to all as children. He asked them to drink to the” Pope and the Queen.” The LORD MAYOR proposed the second toast—” The Prince of Wales, the Princess of Wales, and all the Royal Family.” We love and reverence them, he said, as our fellow-citizens. Almost every one of our Princes has connected himself with one of our Guilds, and like our much loved Queen, they are always ready and willing to do all in their power to help the needy and suffering. Whenever any dire calamity strikes the land,one of our Princes or Princesses comes forward to assuage the grief and remedy the evil. He trusted that H.R.H. the Princess of Wales might soon again be restored to health—she, our Peerless Princess whom all loved and honoured.
In rising to propose the third toast, that of “His Eminence Cardinal Vaughan,” the LORD MAYOR said that it was customary at this juncture to say something about our Defensive Forces and Legislative Houses, but their special purpose of meeting together was to do honour to Cardinal Vaughan. Let him do that. He (the Lord Mayor), had endeavoured to bring together not only representatives of one body, but representatives of trade and guilds, of art and science and literature, peers, commoners, sculptors, poets and historians, our professors and scholars —all had come to pay their tribute of love and homage to his Eminence. He (the Lord Mayor), as Chief Magistrate of the great City of London, felt unworthy in this, his 70th year, of being allowed such an honour as to entertain his Eminence, and he assured his guests that he should never forget that honour. It was with the greatest pleasure that he wished his Eminence the best of blessings and the best of health to contend with the work he had before him. He had the virtues and actions of all his predecessors, and he invited all to drink, with all sincerity of heart, the health of his Eminence Cardinal Vaughan.
CARDINAL VAUGHAN, who was warmly greeted on rising to reply, said that he heartily thanked the company for the great honour they had paid to his colleagues and himself. He felt conscious of his unfitness in many ways for the post in which he had been placed. But he could assure them that he felt in no manner discouraged, and that he should always do his very best. (Cheers.) The honour paid to him and his colleagues that night was the greater and the more acceptable when they recognized in the Lord Mayor not only a genuine Englishman but a typical Catholic layman. (Cheers.) He had upheld his great religious principles in a way that had won for him the admiration of the whole world. (Cheers.) That great municipal hall had from time to time been placed at the disposal of various religious bodies, who, by their position and by their work, had a claim to an opportunity of furthering projects which they wished to carry out for the good of their fellow creatures. He rejoiced that an opportunity had now been afforded to the religious body to which nearly all those present belonged of meeting together in the same place. They, too, had at heart the interests of the community at large. (Cheers.) Their history was bound up with the history of England ; their religion was at the basis of civilization; they represented, as strongly and as consistently as any body of men to be found in the country, the vital and noble principle of Christian education. (Cheers.) They contended not merely for the traditions of their creed, but for the great principle of natural law that parents ought to be able to educate their children in such schools as they decided upon and thought fit. (Cheers.) In doing this no one ought to be subject to any loss or deprivation. (Cheers.) They demanded a jealous watchfulness over parental liberties, and they would withstand any education system which they believed to be destructive of those liberties. In this they felt that they were acting in common with the great majority of the people of this country. (Cheers.) He was glad, in replying to the compliment which the Lord Mayor had paid them, that he should have been enabled to declare in that great hall how devotedly attached the whole Catholic body in England were to the civil institutions of the country and to the maintenance of Christian and parental liberties. (Cheers.) They all feel deeply grateful to the Lord Mayor for his kindness to them on that memorable occasion. (Cheers.)
The DUKE OF NORFOLK, in proposing ” the health of the Lord Mayor,” said all Catholics were grateful to him for the kind thought that prompted him to bring them together in that splendid hall in this Low Week. That week had, as far tack as he could remember, been the traditional week for Catholic reunions. The Bishops had always met then to take counsel with one another, and for the arrangement of their pastoral work. The Catholic School Committee, the body to whose special care had been entrusted all that concerned the vital’ work of Catholic primary education, had also chosen that week for their deliberations. So too the annual reception at Archbishop’s House had been timed to suit the convenience of the many Catholics who came to town for Low Week. In other years, however, they had done their several work and then gone their several ways without thought of any common trysting place. This year the kindness of the Lord Mayor had led him to offer them his splendid hospitality, and afford them one more common meeting ground, at the Mansion House. He eulogized the qualities of the Lord Mayor, saying that he represented— and represented well—the beating heart and centre of that vast empire to which they all belonged. He concluded with a reference to the fact that the Lord Mayor had just entered upon his 70th year, and then went on to say that his hearers might not be so well familiar with another little piece of family history. Mr. Alderman Knill had a grandson who had had the temerity to begin his seventh year precisely when the Lord Mayor was beginning his 70th. He (the Duke) thought they were well justified, therefore, in hoping that another generation of citizens might be ruled from the Mansion by a scion of the house of Knill. The LORD MAYOR, in reply, said he felt the great honour that the Duke of Norfolk had paid him. He was indeed proud to be at the head of this dear city of London, and loved his name to be connected with its name. He had endeavoured, as every one in his position would, to do his duty, and he trusted that to the last day of his life he would act on the principle of doing openly what his conscience ordered him. He loved his fellow-citizens and had endeavoured and would endeavour to put away any prejudice in favour of his co-religionists, and act justly and impartially by all.
The following was the Menu :
POTAGES. Tortue et Tortue Claire.
POISSONS. Tranches de Saumon a la Morny,Turbot. Blanchaille
RELEVES Timbale a la Bayonne, Escalopes de Cailles a la Monte Carlo.
ENTREES. Cote d’Agneau. Canetons aux Petits Pois. Jambon au Madere.
ENTREMETS. Chaudfroid a la Strasbourg. Bavarois aux Conserves. Gelees aux Pistaches.
RELEVES Fanchonettes a la Biscottini. Supremes d’Abricots a la Creme.
DESSERT.Bombe a la Francaise. Crotites a L’Indienne.
The following was the programme of music performed during dinner by the Coldstream Guards’ Band (by permission of Colonel J. B. Sterling) :
GRAND MARCH “The Silver Trumpets’ Viviani.
SELECTION “Haddon Hall” Sir A. Sullivan.
VALSE ” Serenade ” O’Meta.
SELECTION ” Cavalleria Rusticana” Mascagni.
ENTR’ ACTE “La Colombe” Gounod.
MENUET DE MANON Massenet.
SELECTION “La Mascotte” Audran.
VALSE “Espana” Waldteuftl. PART SONG “Sweet and Low” Sir, J. Barnby.
SELECTION “II Mercante de Venezia” Pinsuti. CONDUCTOR: MR. C. THOMAS.
The following was the programme of vocal music sung after dinner by Master Ernest Howland, Master Harold Ohlson, Mr. John Bartlett, Mr. Edgar Pownall, Mr. A. Sinclair Mantell, and Mr. Charles Radburn, of the choir of the Pro-Cathedral, Kensington :
GRACE.
“GOD SAVE THE QUEEN.” “AD MULTOS ANNOS.”
“The Crusader” ” Spring” “Sing we and chaunt it” “Village Blacksmith” “Stars of the Summer Night” “When Evening’s Twilight” Pinsuti. Macfarren. Pearsall. Hatton. Hatton. Hatton.
THE TOAST OF “THE POPE AND THE QUEEN : SUBSEQUENT ISSUES.
At a meeting of the Court of Common Council on Thursday afternoon, Mr. W. 0. Clough, M.P., asked the Lord Mayor if he was correctly reported in that morning’s paper, as having, at a banquet at the Mansion House the previous night, placed the name of the Pope before that of the Queen in submitting the first toast to his distinguished guests. The Lord Mayor, who was cheered on rising, said he had very great pleasure in answering the question put to him. When he accepted the office of Lord Mayor he assumed that every one understood that he would not allow anything whatever to interfere with his conscientious convictions. He had taken care ever since he had been at the Mansion House to do nothing whatever to interfere with the scruples, or even the prejudices, of his fellow-citizens, and he had cordially given the use of the Mansion House to every religious body which was doing work in this great metropolis. While saying that, he believed that, as a Catholic, he had a right to receive as his own honoured guests those of his faith to whom he looked up with high reverence and respect. It was his original intention to make the banquet a private one, and not to invite the press, but it was represented to him that if that were done it might be thought that he was ashamed of what he was doing. That was certainly not the case. In regard to the particular toast, he said he was glad to follow the example of the City Guilds and others, who invariably recognized a High Power, and gave their first toast in the form of “Church and Queen.” He gloried that that was so in the City of London, and though he had not been able to take part in the spiritual devotions of his fellow-citizens, he rejoiced in their manifestations of religious devotion. Following that principle, he, addressing guests who looked upon the Holy Father in Rome as the head of their Church, as he did, coupled the name of the Pope with that of the Queen, not abating in so doing one jot of the loyalty and affection which they entertained for her gracious Majesty. The Lord Mayor was loudly cheered on resuming his seat.
Mr. Clough reserved the right to raise the question on another occasion.
The decade between 1861 and 1871 seems to be a pivotal one for the family. There is a definite sense of some succeeding, whilst others do nothing like as well; and by the start of the 1870’s there appears to be almost a gulf between the two remaining branches of the family.
Mile End Road, E.1
Joe has already emigrated to Australia, and has married again, in 1860; though it is not clear whether his first wife is still alive in London. By 1860, he had gone bankrupt twice. He was first bankrupted in 1839, when his address was given as 33 Crown Row, Mile End Road, London, and had a brief spell in a debtor’s prison; he would have been 24.
He went bankrupt again in 1850, where he was described as a butcher & cowman, at 3 Wellington Street Bethnal Green. On the second occasion, William Purssell, his younger brother, appears to have stepped in and acts as his assignee – i.e, the person appointed to sort out his financial affairs.
Royal Exchange, Cornhill and Threadneedle St
John Roger has also gone bankrupt, probably in 1854. His slightly hubristic attempt to rival the established Purssell business in Cornhill, with his own business in Ludgate Hill, and Regent Street doesn’t seem to have worked, and by 1861, he is using the premises at 162 Regent Street as a photographer’s studio. Having said that, he is still describing himself as a confectioner in the census that year. He emigrates to Australia sometime in the 1860’s, but returns by the end of the century. His wife Eliza calls herself a widow, in the 1871 census, when she was living at 19 Lincoln Street, Mile End with their five youngest children. She describes herself as a house-owner, so obviously had some money. At least four of their seven children seem to have emigrated to Australia as well. Crucially, JR’s youngest, and only, daughter remained in London; and it’s with her, and her family, that he lives with on his return. So at least one of the children knew their father was still alive.
By 1861, things have progressed on the business front as well. James Purssell and his family moved to New York in 1857; he had originally been in partnership with William, dissolving the partnership in 1854, and then laterly in partnership with Alfred until 1857, with the move to New York, as shown from the notice in The London Gazette.
NOTICE is hereby given, that the Partnership hereto-fore subsisting between us the undersigned, James Purssell and Alfred Purssell, as Biscuit Bakers and Confectioners,under the style or firm of James and Alfred Purssell, in Cornhill and Finch-lane, in the city of London, is this day dissolved by mutual consent.—Dated this 14th day of October, 1857.
So by 1861, Alfred was in sole control of the Purssell business in London. He is thirty years old, the father of a two year-old daughter, and a widower.
Alfred married Laura Rose Coles in the spring of 1857 at St George the Martyr, in Southwark. He was twenty six, and she was two years younger. Laura Rose was born in Blackheath on 19th March 1833. By the time they were married, Queen Victoria had been on the throne almost twenty years, but even so they were born during the reign of William IV.
Laura Rose and Alfred’s marriage was short-lived, she died on 22nd February 1860, aged just twenty seven, at 8, Highbury Crescent West in Islington, about half a mile away from the site of the old Highbury stadium. Rather touchingly, Alfred and Laura Mary were living in “Laura House” in Blackheath in the mid-1860’s.
Anyway, back to who is where in 1861.
Brighton Pavilion
Alfred, his daughter Laura Mary, and his eldest sister Charlotte, are all staying with William and Eliza Purssell at 18 James Place, Brighton.
William Purssell describes himself as a retired confectioner, aged forty four; and may well have retired as early as 1854 when he dissolved the partnership he had with James. Fifty year old Charlotte describes herself as a fund-holder, implying she, too, has retired, and Alfred describes himself as an employer of fifty heads. That is a 25% increase in staff numbers over the last ten years, so business is expanding.
Also staying the night of the census, are three servants, a cook, housemaid, and a nurse; and twenty-eight year old William Jones, a manufacturer of artificial flowers from Plymouth, where he is employing fifteen people.
Regent Street, London, c.1860
Back in London at 10 Union Place, Newington, in Lambeth, John Roger is still calling himself a confectioner, dabbling in photography, and according to photolondon.org placing advertisements in The Times in March, and May that year for the photography business in Regents Street.
He is a thirty-six year old father of four sons, and the household also has two young female house servants. There is no trace of his nine year old son Edward, nor seven year old Albert after the 1861 census, though the younger two, Francis, and Charles are living with their mother ten years later, along with Arthur,Augustus, and Eliza.
Illawarra c.1885
All of Eliza’s traceable sons appear to have gone to Australia. Francis emigrated on the Illawarra, arriving in New South Wales on the 6th Aug 1883.
Charles George seems to have emigrated some time after 1881, and died in Australia. Arthur, also, appears to have emigrated; and Augustus appears to have emigrated, married, and died in Australia as well.
Virgo Fidelis Convent, Norwood
By 1871, Alfred has re-married, and had more children. Mother St George is in the convent in Norwood. Charlotte Purssell Jnr has died in London in 1869. James is in New York. William is dead. John Roger Purssell is presumed to be in Australia.
229 Mile End Road c.1910
And finally, their mother Charlotte Purcell is living in Mile End, at 350 Mile End Road, aged eighty-one, with Mary Isaacs, a sixteen year old servant girl; and her daughter-in-law, Eliza (William’s widow) is living at 2 Satin Road, Lambeth, also with a servant. In her case, nineteen year old Louisa Cox, from Banbury, in Oxfordshire.
O’BRYEN, Mrs. Gertrude Mary, widow of Ernest
Adolphus O’Bryen, Esq., late Mayor of Hampstead,
upon whom it was H.M.’s intention to have conferred the honour of Knight Bachelor, has been granted the precedence of a Knight’s Widow.
The Tablet, Page 22, 6th September 1919
Lady O’Bryen
The many friends of the late Mr. Ernest O’Bryen, Mayor of Hampstead 1913-1919, who deeply lamented his untimely death last April at the early age of 53, will greatly rejoice that His Majesty the King has ordained that the widow of the late Mayor shall have the title and precedence, which she would have had if her husband had lived to receive the knighthood which His Majesty had intended to confer upon him. Lady O’Bryen is the youngest daughter of the late Mr. Alfred Purssell, and was married to the late Mr. Ernest O’Bryen in 1898.
During her long term of office as Mayoress of Hampstead, she earned great popularity for her large share in the many war works with which her husband was so intimately associated. Her efforts in connection with the Belgian Refugees will serve as an example of the devoted work which gained for her the grateful esteem of the citizens of Hampstead, irrespective of creed. In 1914, the Mayor formed a committee for assisting these refugees, which between October and December of that year dealt with a very large number of them, some 18 hostels being opened locally for their accommodation. For four years this committee continued its work, under the direction of Lady O’Bryen, finding employment for and looking after the interests of the refugees. Just before the Armistice about 300 were, still under the care of the committee.
Alfred Purssell is Gertrude Purssell’s (Lady O’B) father. He is one of nine children of Roger Purssell and Charlotte Peachey as shown by this copy from a family bible. Alfred himself had seven children. Five girls and two boys
Laura
Lucy
Alfred Joseph
Frank
Agnes
Charlotte
Gertrude
The Purssells were variously described as confectioners, bakers, tea importers, and by 1871, Alfred described himself as a wine merchant. In the census in 1881, he is living in Clapham as a widower, with five servants. (a housekeeper, cook, housemaid, parlourmaid, and a children’s maid.)
Alfred Purssell
Alfred was also a member of the Court of Common Council in the City for many years. He was a Trustee of the Bridge House Estates, who were responsible for building Tower Bridge as shown on the plaque on the north side of the bridge.
He is listed as a guarantor of the International Exhibition of 1862 – not the Great Exhibition (£100), which also lists him as a Member of the Society of Arts, and he is listed as a founder of Westminster Cathedral.
As part of the initial search for who was who in the photos, I also traced this print in the London Metropolitan Archives, which confirmed that our picture was Alfred.
And then finally from the Tablet, Page 22, 22nd February 1930
Mr. Purssell served for many years as a member of the Court of Common Council for the Ward of Cornhill, of which the present Lord Mayor is Alderman. If memory serves, he was Chairman of the Bridge House Estate Committee when the Tower Bridge was opened.
Not quite true; he was on the committee, but not the chairman. But he was at the opening ceremony.
This was almost the first thing I searched on. We sort of knew that he had been Mayor of Hampstead, but not that it had been throughout the First War. In fact, from 1913 until his death in 1919 (six terms in total). He is easily identified in the garden party photo sitting next to the Cardinal. The decoration he’s wearing is a bit odd, and I suspect it’s possibly a papal decoration. He was granted a knighthood, but died before being done; but Lady OB was given the title anyway.
We also had pictures of him being the Mayor in the photo collection
The next thing I found was this obituary.
The Tablet, Page 28, 3rd May 1919
ALDERMAN ERNEST A. O’BRYEN.
We regret to record the death of Alderman Ernest A. O’Bryen, Mayor of Hampstead, which took place on Saturday night, at the age of fifty-three years, following on an operation from which he at first seemed to be progressing favourably. Educated at Stonyhurst and Cooper’s Hill, he spent some ten years in the Indian Forest Service in Upper Burmah, shortly after its annexation. He retired from the service in 1897 and married in the following year, Gertrude, daughter of the late Alfred Pursell. In 1913 he was elected Mayor of Hampstead, first Catholic to hold that position, and held it till his death. In 1916 he was President of the Stonyhurst Association and the same year was elected a Vice-President of the London Circle of the Catenian Association. During the war he took a leading part in making arrangements for the feeding and accommodation of Belgian refugees, and he also organised and equipped hospitals for the British Red Cross and St. John Ambulance. In 1915, Alderman O’Bryen was instrumental in raising the 183rd Howitzer Brigade and the 138th and 139th Heavy Batteries of Royal Garrison Artillery.
The funeral took place on Wednesday. The Requiem Mass was celebrated at St. Dominic’s Priory, Haverstock Hill, by Father Bodkin, S. J. Among those present were Mrs. O’Bryen and her five children, Mr. and Mrs. A. J. Winstanley, Captain and Mrs. Parker, Mr. Alfred Pursell, Mrs. Edwardes, Mr. and Mrs. E. J. Bellord, Mr. Frank Pursell, Mr. Alfred O’Bryen, Mrs. Rex O’Bryen, Mrs. Basil O’Bryen.
This helped a lot. Working on an obvious hunch that everyone named is a close relation, and a bit of digging, we have the soon-to-be Lady OB with her four sisters and two brothers, two brother-in-laws, and it appears the wife of a brother-in-law. All eminently Googleable.
And not a difficult step to get to Dr John Roche O’Bryen, his father………..
The valuable link between the Home and the Corporation of the City of London may be noted from an examination of the charity’s list of officers in the annual report. Sir John Knill, treasurer and a trustee, was Lord Mayor of London, 1909-10; Sir Henry T. McAuliffe, a trustee, has served for many years upon the Common Council and is Deputy-Alderman for Bishopsgate; Sir Harold Downer, a member of Committee, was Sheriff in 1924 before his election last year as Alderman for Coleman Street Ward. Similarly, an extensive “second generation” of workers for Monsignor Gilbert’s institution will be recognized. Sir John Knill’s offices were formerly held by his father, the late Sir Stuart Knill, London’s first post-Reformation Catholic Lord Mayor; as mentioned above, Captain W. W. Parker, son of the late Sir Henry Watson Parker, a well-known City lawyer, fills the chair of the Committee, as did his father-in-law, the late Mr. Alfred Purssell, a former member of the Corporation and the great personal friend of the Founder ; Mr. George Bellord has succeeded his father, the late Mr. Edmund Bellord, thirty four years a member of Committee and twenty-six years its chairman ; Mr. Joseph Towsey joined the Committee upon the death of his father, the late Mr. William Towsey, an original member with a record service extending from 1860 to 1926; Mr. J. Arthur Walton is the son of the late Hon. Mr. Justice Walton, a trustee for many years. Finally, Sir John Gilbert, a nephew of the Founder, will this year complete thirty-five years’ work as Secretary.