Records of the Friends of Manchester Cathedral

Subscription books, minutes of the Friends' Council, Annual Reports, Correspondence.

When the Earl of Derby gave over the Derby Chapel to the people of Manchester in 1936 to become the chapel for the Manchester Regiment, the Friends of the Regiment Chapel were formed in order to fund the furnishing of the chapel to fit the new use as Regimental Chapel. This was a great success and so the Dean and Chapter decided to found a Friends' Association for the Cathedral as a whole in 1937 (See MS 21/5 - Chapter Register entries on 14 May 1935 onwards). At a meeting of Chapter on 24 Sep 1937, it was decided that appeals for 'The Friends of Manchester Cathedral' and for Memorials to Bishop Knox, Dean Welldon, the Bishop of Middleton, and Archdeacon Aspinall, should be made simultaneously and that an annual donation of 10/6d and upwards would qualify the donor as a Friend of the Cathedral. The form of the appeal was drafted and discussed at a meeting of greater Chapter on 7 Dec 1937. It was approved, with some slight alteration and the final draft was submitted to Canon Green on 14 Dec 1937. The appeal was then launched (CO 1/432) and the first entries in the Friends Subscription Book appear on the 24 Dec 1937. The appeal leaflet describes how for the first time in history, the Dean and Chapter are now responsible for the fabric of the whole Cathedral building, whereas previously the Churchwardens and Parishioners had been responsible for everything west of the Quire; help was needed, therefore, to maintain and enrich the Cathedral. At a meeting of Chapter on 23 Jan 1939, the Friends appeal is described as 'unsuccessful' and so a Festival Service is proposed to renew interest in the Friends on 2 May 1939 (CO 1/433), with an address by Lord Derby. The Friends have continued since then to the present day. Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother became the patron of the Friends at some point before 1962, and remained so until her death.