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Faith in the
City ~ Past and present ALTHOUGH the centenary
of the death of Florence Caroline Duncombe occurred last year we are being
particularly reminded of this lady during 2002 as the ciborium given in her
memory by the residents of St Ursula's Home in 1902, in which her own jewels
were set, is 100 years old this July and the current Trustees of the Charity,
established when the home was sold, have paid for the repair and re-conditioning
of this sacred vessel which is in regular Sunday use. The original invoice for
the manufacture of this ciborium and setting of the jewels by Jewellers to the
Princess of Wales in 1902 shows a cost of £35 and now valued at some 100-fold. Who was this lady and benefactress of S. Alban's?
Florence was the youngest daughter of the Very Reverend the Hon Augustus
Duncombe, formerly Dean of York and Lady Harriet Duncombe, herself the
daughter of the 6th Marquess of Queensbury. They had three sons and three
daughters. She came from fighting stock for the Dean did much to encourage
Anglo Catholics in the days of the Catholic Revival, preaching in St Paul's
Knightsbridge on the 6th
Anniversary of the Church Union in 1865. In 1877, within a week of Fr.
Tooth being locked up in Horsemonger Gaol, the York Branch of the Church
Union, of which the Dean was a member, convened a large and influential
meeting of Churchmen in York and present were Canon Gregory (to eventually
come to St Paul's, London) and Canon Carter (of Clewer fame) who was later to
become Master of the Society of the Holy Cross 1878-79). In 1708 Sir Charles
Duncombe had been Lord Mayor of London and he left his fortune to Ursula
Duncombe who married Thomas Browne of the City of London who then assumed the
name of Duncombe Florence died at 49, Berkeley Square, in 1901, the home
in which her Mother and the Miss Duncombes lived following the death of the
Dean in 1880. For some twenty years Florence and her sister Eleanor had the
charge of a large Mother's Meeting at the Eton Mission in Hackney Wick and
every Tuesday, in all weathers, the two sisters were to be found hard at work.
Her chief work during the last twelve years of her life was, however, in our
own parish where in 1890 she founded a most useful house - St Ursula's Home,
next to the Clergy House. Originally the two houses forming the Home were
private dwellings, the property of Prudential Insurance Co. from whom they
were leased. Fr. Suckling, in the Parish Paper September 1901, wrote
of the origin of this good work as being a response to "the many letters
constantly received from gentlemen and ladies, chiefly clergymen and
professional men, asking for places where their daughters who had come to
London for work, might find board and lodging and something of home care; the
parents often adding that "it would be of greatest comfort to them if
they could place their daughters in some house under the wing of such a church
as S. Alban's, Holborn" The matter having been talked over with myself,
Miss Florence Duncombe at once took it up with a characteristic eagerness, as
if it had been the very work God had
given her to do. Bishop Walsham How had said that the comfort and value of
such a work "was impossible to over-estimate" She dedicated time and talents to this with expensive
alterations and improvements for the comfort of the inmates but in order to
keep her highest aim ever before herself and the residents, her greatest care
was in the oratory with its Morning and Evening Prayer as the centre of the
House. A finely worked brass Altar arrived and paintings by the skilful hands
of Sister Catherine Ruth, of All Saints, Margaret St (some of which are now on
permanent display in the Tower in our Centre) decorated the oratory. Fr.
Suckling added that " her joy was great at the increasing response to
Catholic teaching in all its beauty, but this never hindered her true
liberality of mind and interest towards those who could not as yet accept the
full teaching. Her distress at any want of principle, and her anxiety for the
future welfare of those who left the House, was very marked." Her death came suddenly. "She was so bright, so
active and so brave, that many had not noticed that for some time past she had
been suffering; she was working at St Ursula's on Thursday 8th August but on Friday she could hold
up no longer and in the afternoon of the 1 & it was decided that in order
to try to save her life there must be an operation, skilfully performed by Sir
W. Bennett." As the Vicar was away, Fr. Russell was sent for and the
reports were full of hope so that it came as a greater shock when she passed
away on Sunday evening 18th. Fr. Russell had been with her two hours before
and even then reported that she was going on admirably. Fr Suckling and Fr Russell received the body in church in
the evening of 22nd and a Requiem Mass at 7.00am the following morning with many
of her friends communicating. The Office for the Dead was said at 7.40 am and a
second Requiem Mass at 8.30am by the Vicar with a large congregation. At the
conclusion of the Mass the coffin was removed to St Pancras Station, to be laid
to rest near Calwich Abbey, Ellastone, Staffordshire, the scene of her early
childhood and the seat of her father and then her eldest brother, Major Duncombe,
to which Fr Russell went to conclude the service at the grave. "The church
and the churchyard were filled with poor," wrote the Church Times. "At
the conclusion of the service the old Staffordshire custom was followed; the
peal called "the welcome home" was rung on the bells. At Helmsley in
Yorkshire, where is the principal scat of the Duncombe family, and where the
late Dean is buried, and also at York Minster, bells were tolled during the time
of the burial." The deep interest that she so obviously took in S. Alban's
was emphasised in her will that "should St Ursula's carry on" the money she left
be devoted to the Home. 'She founded it to help our parish," Fr Suckling was
able to say and "it is to be a memorial of her kind help and good wishes to us."
Her estate valued then at £23,759 made other provisions to the Bishop of
Zululand, the Mother Superior of Ascot Priory (£1,000) and the Fabric Fund of
York Minster (£500). A Requiem Mass was said in the St
Ursula's Oratory on 130 September. With the money that she left it was eventually agreed with
the Charity Commissioners that purchase of the houses could be made and in 1908
a Scheme was sealed and in the following year extensive renovations and
improvements were made and exteriorwise it was then much as we see it now. Full
occupation of the renewed Home followed on 11th September 1909 The earliest records of the Charity and its Trustees date
from the first Meeting in that year, written in the then recorded as housing
twenty-nine residents, five best copperplate style, in a bound ledger. From the
beginnings frequent reference is made to the local drunken and noisy habits from
neighbouring dwellings - hopefully not the Clergy House! - and it reached a
peak, recorded in the Minutes of 4th February 1911: "Several of the former
residents of St Ursula's had left because of the drunken and noisy habits of the
residents of Evelyn Buildings and the nightly quarrelling and filthy language
which went on night after night." The Lady Superintendent was instructed to
contact the Medical Officer of the Health and Sanitary Inspector of Holborn
Borough Council and if the noise was not abated to contact the police and Mr.
Walke, the Landlord of the offending premises. The action seemed successful for
two weeks later the Minutes record that the noise had abated. In 1912 it was
described as "better but bad at intervals" and after 1913 disappears
from reference in the Minutes. Fr Frith, the third Vicar, was Chairman for two meetings of
the Trustees in March and July of 1917 and at the Meeting of 18th April 1918
announced his resignation as Vicar. (He left to get married). There was an
overdraft in the accounts of £ 184 and sale of the House was then considered. Fr Ross, who succeeded him, chaired his first Meeting in
1919 and the Accounts for 1918 then revealed a credit balance of £50. The House
was fully occupied and the rental raised to 27/6d per week per room. The age
limit was set at 27, but by 1939 it was agreed that those over this age who had
been resident, were allowed to stay. In 1924 the Lady Superintendent was paid £60 p.a. and
after meeting expenses of relaying of the Dining Room floor the accounts showed
a healthy balance of £132. When Fr. Eves launched an Appeal for the construction of a
Social Centre in the Parish in 1938 a publication shows the photograph of the
Hostel and details the "family" atmosphere among the residents under
Miss Bullivant as Superintendent as well as other Parish activities. It stated
that the Sisters of the Community of S. John the Baptist, Clewer were living
there. "They work among the sick and poor in the Parish, especially among
the women and girls, so that the House is therefore both a Mission House and an
Hostel" Although the
church (and the Social Centre) were burnt during the blitz in 1941, during Fr
Eves' incumbency, no damage was sustained to the Home, Sisters and five
Staff. Although the exterior was repainted in the following year the wartime
shortages prevented the interior decoration that the then Trustees had planned.
Mr. and Mrs. Horace Patterson were appointed as Trustees (parents of our Friend,
Audrey Patterson) and during an illness of Fr Eves, Mr. Patterson held the
Chair. In Fr Priest's time, Audrey was to follow in their train as a Trustee. From then on there appears to be no shortage of eligible
residents and in 1972 there were thirty-two and it was agreed that with the
church rebuilt, and the Sisters having departed from the Parish, the Chapel be
converted into a Staff Sitting Room and a quiet room for residents. In 1975 Miss Bailey retired and Doris Smith was appointed
Lady Warden, having been Deputy since 1973, and Rose Abbott as Cook. It was with
great pleasure that we were able to welcome Doris and Rose at the Easter Day
Parish lunch this year, the centenary year of the Ciborium. The changing
situation in the social life of the City was reflected in the Trustees' decision
in 1975 to permit the admittance of boy friends to the Common Room provided they
left by 10.30pm! Miss Niblett, the Parish Worker, occupied an Office in the
Hostel from which many of her social activities within the parish were centred
and the Home became the residence of several elderly ladies and daily
communicants during Fr. Startup's time and beyond. By 1984 it was becoming obvious that the large expense of
modernisation costs obviously required to make the Home acceptable and the
decline in those wishing to reside under the prevailing conditions meant that
the Trustees came reluctantly to the decision that the sale of the building was
necessary and it was sold on the 21st December 1.984 to the St Pancras Housing
Association. It currently serves as a residence for single women and the
interior has been extensively modernised and improved. The Registered Charity continues; the Vicar is ex officio
and four Co‑Optative Trustees are selected to serve for a period of five
years. Another Friend, Gwen Harris (and a former Churchwarden) is currently
serving, as also Ronnie Molock (current Churchwarden) and the author. The rental
the Trustees receive and the interest from the capital investment have continued
to benefit the parish and the church ever since with such practical assistance
as provision of the new Celebration Hymnal and the English Hymnal for the
congregational use, Church Notice Boards, Repairs to the school statue of Our
Lady, donations to the Poor Fund, as well as installation of telephones in the
Clergy House on each level. In previous years there has also been a major
contribution to the PCC Accounts to meet the deficit, as Peter Catterall our
former Treasurer constantly reminded us in the Annual Accounts, but for the past
few years this has not been required, as stewardship has improved the cash flow
situation in our church. The silver gilt Ciborium, in which are set pearls,
amethysts, diamonds and carbuncles, carries the inscription; Pray
for the soul of Florence Duncombe, Foundress of St Ursulas Home who fell asleep
in Christ August 18th 1901 |
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Copyright © 2007
S. Alban the Martyr, Holborn
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