Mary Sumner House

Centralisation of the Mothers' Union in 1896 resulted in the appointment of a Central Secretary, for whose use a locker was hired in Church House, Westminster, and from 1899, rooms. Mrs Wilberforce, the Central President, proposed in 1916 that a central headquarters for the Mothers' Union be established in London. In April 1917, while funds for building suitable offices were being accumulated, the Mothers' Union established temporary offices at the first 'Mary Sumner House', at 8 Dean's Yard. In 1923 the foundation stone was laid for permanent headquarters nearby at Tufton Street, which were opened in July 1925. The House was entirely financed and furnished by the membership. At the heart of the building, which included offices, a hostel and restaurant, was a chapel built as a memorial to the husbands and sons of members who had died in the Great War.

Although occasional reference is made to the chapel in MU/MSH/1-2, the majority of the papers relating to the chapel are in MU/MSH/4-8.

Series MU/MSH/1-5 relate to the whole of Mary Sumner House, whether located at Dean's Yard or Tufton Street, and MU/MSH/6-10, concern specifically Mary Sumner House chapel (again, the chapels within both of the Mary Sumner Houses). Occasional reference to the chapel is made in MU/MSH/1-2