CORPORATION OF THE SONS OF THE CLERGY

A/CSC

CORPORATION OF THE SONS OF THE CLERGY

1273 - 1954

The records of the Corporation deposited on permanent loan in the London County Record Office comprise all the surviving records except those still required for the transaction of business. The division was made approximately at the year 1900; but some material of a later date, such as expired leases, has been included in the deposit, while a certain number of earlier documents has been retained.

Many different categories of record have survived, but in most cases the survival is haphazard rather than selective or complete. The magnificent series of Court Books containing the minutes of the annual General Courts, and of the Court of Assistants, is clearly the principal source. It survives entire. Treasurers' Accounts on the other hand, exist only for the years 1722-46 and 1802 onwards; while, apart from two books of miscellaneous committee minutes covering 1707 to 1784, there are no regular committee minutes until 1840. Estate material shows the greatest fluctuation in survival. Title deeds have been preserved fairly fully for some estates, for others a quantity of leases granted by the Corporation have been preserved, while in some cases an amount of correspondence, reports, and other miscellanea survive. Such related material is almost all modern, but it is among the title deeds that the oldest documents belonging to the Corporation are to be found (Hatfield Broad Oak Estate).

Although continuity of series is not a general characteristic of the Corporation records, and a certain proportion of what survives is comparatively unimportant detritus, the archives do present a reasonably representative whole from which a good idea of the workings of the Charity can be obtained. A comparison with the archives of the Foundling Hospital, another national charity of comparable age, shows an immensely larger mass of records than the Corporation possesses. It should, however, be borne in mind that, with the exception of the Almshouses which it administered in Westminster for some years early in the 18th century, the Corporation has never extended its activities beyond the providing of financial support for its beneficiaries: it has not attempted to run its own charity schools, etc.

The books, which fall fairly easily into series and groups, were readily separable from the deeds and other papers; but the many bundles and boxes of these which remained were in a state of some confusion. Such labelling of bundles as existed for the estate material was generally reliable as far as it had been carried out, but there was little order among the material within each estate, and not all the material for each estate could be found together in one place. The remainder of non-estate papers was the most difficult category to identify and arrange. When sorting was taken beyond the preliminary stage, a considerable number of the existing bundles were found to be in meaningless juxtaposition and many bundles revealed obvious stray items which belonged elsewhere.

The method adopted to present the non-estate material in the most intelligible and accessible way has been to arrange it as follows: the backbone series of Court Books, with all other series of minutes, together with letter books and such key documents as the Charter of Incorporation and the Grant of Arms, have been made the centre of the first and principal group called "General Administrative Records". This group contains a wide variety of documents which have accumulated over many years of business, out of which the following categories have been separated.

The second group called "Financial Records" contains all the purely financial documents, (accounts, ledgers etc.) of a general and comprehensive nature, which stand on their own, and are not concerned with such specific and limited categories of financial transaction as grants to petitioners or income from estates. Documents concerned with Petitions and Grants, i.e. the process whereby the Charity functioned in relation to its beneficiaries, are included in group three, which is thus concerned with the main outgoings of the Corporation.

Group four, "Donations, Subscriptions and Bequests," is concerned with the income of the Corporation other than from its estates. The estate material is placed in groups 5 - 7, the first containing general estate material such as the Rental Books, the latter containing title deeds, leases and allied material for each particular estate. It seems to have been the practice of the Corporation to keep its estate correspondence and miscellanea with the title deeds for each estate, and this method has been retained.

Most folded papers have been flattened and boxed. Deeds, with the exception of small early ones which have also been opened out flat, have been kept folded and have also been boxed.

Each individual document has been assigned a reference number, which begins in every case with the letters A/CSC/. In cases where each item has not been described separately in the list, e.g. 1751-1850, Extracts from Probates A/CSC/469. sub-numbers have been used in numbering the actual documents. Sub-numbers have also been used for series of like documents such as Registrar's Letter-books: the whole series has one number, and each component in the series is distinguished by a sub-number. This method is particularly useful in the case of series which continue to grow, such as the Court Books, since it allows for the eventual deposit of further items in a series without disturbing the original numeration.

<span class="wrapper"><p>The surviving Records of the Festival of the Sons of the Clergy are somewhat disappointing in that, with the exception of the Festival organisers' Minutes from 1775, there is virtually nothing earlier than the 19th century. These records are listed separately and do not form part of the present work.</p> <p>The work referred to in the List as Pearce's Book is "The Sons of the Clergy, Some Records of 275 Years" by Ernest Harold Pearce, Litt.D., D.D., F.S.A., Bishop of Worcester, Treasurer of the Corporation, London, John Murray, 2nd edition revised, 1928. This history of the Corporation contains a great deal of information, and has been found most useful in writing this introduction. The book was designed primarily as a popular account to act as a piece of publicity for the work of the Corporation. Consequently the material is not always arranged in the most convenient way for the reader seeking specific information, and references are not given. Nevertheless, there is a great deal of interesting and reliable material to be found in it. The second edition is a re-issue of the original edition of 1904 which was prepared for the 250th Festival.</p> <p>A large quantity of detailed information regarding the Corporation is to be found in the report made by Francis Offley Martin for Lord Brougham's Commission (Commissioners on Charities 32nd Report, part VI, page 803, published 1837). This gives a very valuable factual account of the various funds and endowments of the Charity at that date set out clearly and in detail.</p></span>

English

3213 files

These archives of the Corporation of the Sons of the Clergy were deposited in the London County Record Office (County Hall, Westminster Bridge, London, S.E.1) on condition that all records for the past 100 years which contain reference to beneficiaries shall be regarded as confidential. Searchers who wish to consult such categories of record should first obtain the consent of the Registrar to the Corporation (Corporation House, 6 Woburn Square, London, W.C.1). Other categories of record and all records more than 100 years old are available for searchers without any special restrictions.

Deposited in the London County Record Office, County Hall, London, S.E.1. January 1958, December 1958, and subsequently.

(Ac.nos. 58.4, 58.79, 59.11, 59.43, 60.9, 60.10).

On their transfer, the records were found in the main to be in a good condition. The undesirable conditions of storage mentioned in the N.R.A. Report of 1957 had not had time to wreak any serious damage. The older volumes exhibit a fragility in their bindings which is only to be expected. The paper is sound though delicate at the edges. Most 19th century bindings, especially the financial records, demonstrate the massiveness favoured by that age, and also the durability of the binders' work. Some of the older papers, such as the 17th and early 18th century Petitions and Vouchers, have suffered from too much exposure to the noxious contents of the London atmosphere and are consequently much discoloured, and fragile. In the case of bundled papers, this applies only to the first and last items in the bundles, and the majority of loose papers are quite sound. A very small proportion of the estate papers, chiefly but not all relating to the Stowe estate, has suffered a good dousing in recent years. Those papers affected are now recognisable by discolouration, and by a severe diminution of legibility, which can usually be overcome by the use of ultra-violet light. In one instance, wet had reduced a bundle of papers to a solid block of papier-maché, which is probably beyond the help of the repairer.

The fragmentation of many categories of Corporation records is readily understandable when it is remembered that the "Hall" mentioned in the Charter as a meeting-place for the Corporation did not become an effective reality until the 19th century. In its early days the Court of Assistants, and the various Committees which it appointed, met at a variety of places to transact business. During the 17th century meetings are recorded at the Jerusalem Chamber, Westminster Abbey, at Ely House, Holborn, and at Doctors Commons; places which reflect the interest in the Charity shown by John Dolben (Dean of Westminster), Peter Gunning (Bishop of Ely), and Thomas Tyllot (Register to the Corporation).

The natural custodian of the gradually growing corpus of records would be the Register, and with certain exceptions the records tended to be kept wherever the Register carried on his work. This is the consistent thread which explains their perambulations in the 18th century, and their numerous moves must have accounted for many losses.

In 1712 an arrangement was made with the Dean of St. Paul's Cathedral for the use of the Lord Mayor's Vestry there for meetings of the Court and for keeping of documents. Two years later the Chapter House of the Cathedral was in use for meetings and it is probable, though not certain, that the records were removed there.

In 1725 the Corporation acquired the lease of a house in Salisbury Court, and the Register acquired the function of housekeeper there. This was the Corporation's home until 1756 when a brief return was made to the Chapter House of St. Paul's Cathedral; a move which was associated with the then Register's appointment as receiver to the Dean and Chapter.

On the Register's resignation in 1759, this arrangement had to be terminated, and the next year saw the Corporation Office at No.13, Paper Buildings, Inner Temple. In 1788 when a new Register was appointed, the records were moved to a new address at No. 5 Coney Court, Grays Inn, which in 1790 was changed to 5, Grays Inn Square, and in 1795 to No. 10 Bedford Row.

1804 saw the appointment of a new Registrar and a move to No. 64, Chancery Lane. Presumably the records were also transported to the new Registrar's premises. It was not until 1805 that No. 2, Bloomsbury Place became the settled home of the Corporation, which acquired the lease of the property in 1808, and at last the possession of a Corporation House. The last move was in 1928 to the present Corporation House, No. 6, Woburn Square.

In 1949 some of the Corporation records, held by their solicitors, were listed for the British Records Association. Already in 1934 a schedule had been compiled of the Corporation's records kept at Hoare's Bank. But the first list to be made which can be considered at all comprehensive is the Report prepared for the National Register of Archives in May 1957, and its Supplement. This gives summary information concerning many trunks, boxes and parcels of records, in addition to the series of books.

The deposit in the London County Record Office (recommended in the N.R.A. report) was made in two parts. On 22nd Jan. 1958 the main bulk was transferred, including a number of large parcels not mentioned in previous lists. On 17th Dec. 1958 the 3 boxes which were listed in 1949 were transferred. Subsequent deposits consisted of single stray items only.

Not all the items listed for the National Register of Archives were deposited, some being retained for current use by the Corporation. It was apparent that the contents of a few of the boxes which had been listed in 1957 had been re-arranged; but with one exception all the records which existed at the time the two earlier lists were made (1949 & 1957) still survive, and those which do not appear in this present list are at Corporation House. The one exception is a batch of documents relating to the Barnet Estate, which includes documents dating back to 1426, amongst which are some copies of manorial court rolls belonging to Saint Alban's Abbey. These documents, listed in 1949, were not included when the other records in the care of the Corporation's former solicitors were transferred to the County Record Office in Dec. 1958, and efforts by the Corporation, the British Records Association, and the County Archivist, have so far been unavailing to trace them.

Since the above was written, some of the Barnet deeds have come to light, though not all; and at the same time a large quantity of records relating to the Adstone estate were discovered. All these are included in the list.

The Charity was incorporated by charter dated 1 July 1678, at the instigation of a group of loyalist Anglicans who were concerned to alleviate the lot of needy dependants of Anglican clergy who had suffered for their orthodoxy during the time of the Commonwealth. The incorporation marked a stage in the consolidation of charitable efforts directed to that end, and the primary class to benefit from the activities of the Corporation were the widows of sequestered clergy. Formally named "The Charity for the Relief of poor Widows and Children of Clergymen", the Corporation gradually came to extend its benevolence more widely within that general heading as the years passed.

The popular title "Sons of the Clergy" is an indication of the large proportion of sons of clergymen who were active in the Charity, but also probably shows a sense of "pietas" felt by orthodox laity toward the faithful clergy. The phrase was inherited from the Festival of the Sons of the Clergy.

The Corporation and the Festival.

The circle of Anglicans whose efforts led to the incorporation of the Charity had for many years previously been pursuing the aims formulated in the Charter of 1678 by means of the annual Festival of the Sons of the Clergy. This enabled the raising of money at a solemn service, held in a prominent church in the Capital, and a grand feast to follow, at which the liberal benefactions of the wealthy were solicited. The origins of the Festival are obscure, the first extant Sermon preached on such an occasion being dated 1655.

The Festival, with its organisers and administrators, must be regarded as the parent of the Corporation. No doubt practical experience showed the creation of a Corporation to be the best means of ensuring orderliness and continuity in the administration of such a Charity. If the annual benevolence of the Festival attracted offers of endowment by estates, which would yield a regular and permanent income, the creation of a body corporate would be the only way of avoiding the tiresome necessity of continual renewal of trustees to make up for depletions by death. It was just this legal difficulty which led eventually to the vesting in the Corporation of the Sons of the Clergy of a number of private charities with similar objects. One such was Palmer's Charity, which brought the Corporation some lands in rural Holloway; and these with the growth of London, became the Corporation's principal landed estate.

The purchase of estates was, indeed, one of the early concerns of the Charity, once incorporated, and its landed interests eventually came to extend over many parts of England and Wales.

The Festival, with its Stewards & Secretary, and the Corporation, with its Court of Assistants and Registrar, continued as separate, though closely linked, entities, and the same people were often active in both. The funds raised at the Festival were administered separately until in the 1830's they were handed over to the Corporation to administer though still as a separate fund.

The Organisation of the Corporation.

The Charter of Incorporation, whose text was copied out at the beginning of more than one Court Book, lays down the organisation of the Charity which it has retained ever since, and which still continues to function. The Corporation consists of a large number of Governors who meet at a General Court held on the second Thursday in each November. The first Governors, men of substance and standing, were nominated by Charter, and all subsequent appointments were made at the General Court.

The Charter also nominated the first Court of Assistants, composed of a President, Vice-President, three Treasurers and 42 Assistants. This court is responsible for the conduct of business of the Charity, it meets at varying intervals throughout the year, and appointments to it lie with the Governors.

At the first meeting of the Court of Assistants on 15th July 1678, choice was made of a Register, later called Registrar, to be the principal permanent official of the Corporation. Unlike the abovementioned officers, the Register received payment for his services, which required legal knowledge, and approximated to the functions of a general secretary and solicitor.

Amongst other minor officials was the Messenger, who convened meetings and probably at times acted as a rent collector. There was never a large staff of permanent officials. Unlike the Messenger, the Registrar still continues to function at the head of the permanent administration.

There seems to have been a permanent accountant at least since 1726, but this official is less easy to trace in the records. Apart from the Treasurers' Accounts, the Ledger of 1771 is the first survivor of any series of financial records. Before 1726 this work seems to have been in the hands of a Committee for Methodizing the Books.

Various Committees were appointed from time to time, but in the 17th and 18th centuries they generally give an impression of informality, and were often appointed ad hoc. It was not until about 1840 that any considerable reorganisation took place within the Corporation, and at that time the three principal permanent Committees of Estates, Finance & Petitions were formed.