Transcribed from the 1846 Geo. Nichols edition by David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org.  Many thanks to the Royal Borough of Kensington Libraries for allowing their copy to be used for this transcription.

SECOND
ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
KENSINGTON
CHURCH OF ENGLAND
DISTRICT
VISITING SOCIETY.

LONDON:
PRINTED BY GEO. NICHOLS, EARL’S COURT, LEICESTER SQUARE.
February 3, 1846.

p. 2^*_*^*  The Secretaries will be happy to give all the information in their power to any Subscriber or Parishioner who may wish for it upon any point not fully treated of in the Report of the Committee.

p. 3KENSINGTON
CHURCH OF ENGLAND DISTRICT VISITING SOCIETY.

PRESIDENT,
THE VEN. ARCHDEACON SINCLAIR, Vicar.

VICE-PRESIDENTS,
Hon. W. S. S. LASCELLES, M.P.   Sir J. CONROY, Bart. K.C.H.
Sir HENRY WILLOCK, K.L.S.

TREASURER,
Mr. SHEPHARD.

JOINT SECRETARIES,
Rev. C. A. STEVENS.  Mr. CLARKE.
Rev. T. R. BRANFOOT.

AUDITORS,
Mr. WARNER.  Dr. WADDILOVE.

COMMITTEE,

COLLECTOR,
ALFRED ELLIS, 13, Hornton Street.

p. 4KENSINGTON
CHURCH OF ENGLAND DISTRICT VISITING SOCIETY.

At the Second Annual Meeting of the Members and Friends of the above Institution, held at the National School, on Tuesday the 3rd of February, 1846,

The Venerable Archdeacon Sinclair, President,
In the Chair,

A Report of the Society’s proceedings during the year 1845 having been read, it was proposed by Sir Henry Willock, seconded by the Rev. J. H. Howlett, and

Resolved unanimously—

I.  That the Report now read be approved by this Meeting, and that it be printed and circulated under the direction of the Board of Management; and that their recommendation respecting the Seventh General Rule be carried into effect.

It was proposed by the Rev. Dr. Hessey, seconded by Mr. Weigall, and

Resolved unanimously—

II.  That the System of District Visiting through the intervention of the Laity, based as it is upon the highest Christian principles, is a function of the Church, the due exercise of which is full of promise of the greatest advantage, both in things temporal and spiritual; and that the results of the operations of this Society afford a most satisfactory exemplification of the assertion.

p. 5It was proposed by Dr. Waddilove, seconded by the Rev. H. W. Jermyn, and

Resolved unanimously—

III.  That the establishment of Provident Funds, whose tendency is to give a powerful impulse to the promotion of habits of providence, frugality, and self-reliance, at the same time that they confer immediate benefit on the poor, is a most important auxiliary to the operations of this Society, and contributes in a high degree to the effecting of that moral and religious improvement which is the great end and object of all its endeavours.

It was moved by Mr. Merriman, seconded by Mr. Warner, and

Carried unanimously—

IV.  That the best thanks of the Society be given to the Treasurer, for his constant regard to the advancement of the Society and its objects, and for his valuable labours in the more immediate execution of the office he holds; and that he be requested to continue his kind services.

It was moved by the Rev. J. W. Sheringham, seconded by Mr. Pickering, and

Carried unanimously—

V.  That the thanks of the Meeting be given to the Board of Management, and the Auditors, for their careful attention to the objects of the Society, in endeavouring to provide for the welfare of the poor; and that they be respectively re-elected, with the substitution of the names of Mr. Cooke and Mr. James N. Merriman in the room of those of the Rev. H. Penny and Mr. Murray, who have vacated the office of Members of the Board.

It was moved by the Rev. T. R. Branfoot, seconded by Mr. Merriman, and

Carried unanimously—

VI.  That the most cordial thanks of the Society and of the Parishioners, are due to the Visitors for their valuable endeavours to ameliorate the temporal and spiritual condition of the poor.

p. 6It was moved by the Rev. J. H. Howlett, seconded by Mr. Hay, and

Carried unanimously—

VII.  That the cordial thanks of this Meeting be offered to the Secretaries, the Rev. C. A. Stevens and Mr. Clarke, for their most efficient discharge of the important and laborious duties of their office; and that they be re-elected; and that the Rev. T. R. Branfoot be elected joint Clerical Secretary.

It was moved by Mr. Shephard, seconded by the Rev. Dr. Hessey, and

Carried unanimously—

VIII.  That the thanks of the Meeting be given to the Venerable the President, for the interest he has evinced, and the superintendence he has exerted, in the management of the operations of the Society; and also for his kindness in presiding over the present Meeting, and his able and obliging conduct in the Chair.

^*_*^*  Ladies or Gentlemen who may be desirous of taking charge of Districts as Visitors, are requested to communicate with the Secretaries, who, in the event of vacancies occurring, will inform them thereof.

^*_*^*  Forms used by the Society, will be supplied on application by Mr. Birch, High Street.

p. 7GENERAL RULES.

1.  This Society shall be called the “Kensington Church of England District Visiting Society.”

2.  The object of the Society shall be to improve the temporal and spiritual condition of the Poor of Kensington.

3.  A Fund for that purpose shall be raised by Subscriptions and Donations; Subscriptions to be due on the first of January in each year.

4.  Annual Subscribers of not less than One Guinea shall be Members of the Society.

5.  The business of the Society shall be conducted by a Board, consisting a President, Vice-Presidents, a Treasurer, Secretary, and Committee of Management.  The Vicar to be President, ex-officio; the Curates, Members of the Committee; other twelve members to be elected at the yearly general meeting of the Society.  A report of the proceedings of the Board shall be presented annually at the General Meeting, and published for the information of the Parishioners.

6.  The Board shall meet on the first Tuesday in every Month to audit accounts submitted, and decide upon cases referred.  Three Members to form a quorum.

7.  That the operations of this Society shall be extended over that portion of Kensington which is in connection with the Clergy of St. Mary Abbot’s Church.

8.  The Visitors shall all be Members of the Established Church; their business shall be, to keep a List of all the families in their several Districts, according to a prescribed form; to inquire into all cases recommended; to administer relief; and to circulate Books and Tracts upon the List of this Society.

p. 89.  Relief shall not be given in any case by the Visitor to a larger amount than 2s. a week for adults, and 1s. for each child, nor continued for a longer period than four weeks, without the sanction of the Board, at its monthly meeting.  The Board, however, shall not be subject to the same restrictions.

10.  Relief shall be administered by orders on Shopkeepers chosen by the Board, and not in money, except in extreme cases.

11.  No applicant of notoriously immoral character shall be relieved; but relief shall not be refused to any person on account of his religious persuasion.

12.  No person shall be relieved who has not resided three months in the Parish, and has not occupied the same house or lodging, unless good reason be assigned.

13.  Subscribers to the Society may recommend cases for inquiry and relief.  Recommendations may be sent to the National School House, from whence they will be forwarded daily to the Visitors.  Money remitted to any of the Parochial Clergy for the relief of particular families shall be appropriated to that purpose, if they are found to be proper objects of charity; otherwise it shall be returned to the Donor, or, with his consent, added to the general fund.

14.  Visitors will be expected to forward their Books for the consideration of the Board the day before the monthly meeting, or they may attend the meeting in person, or by substitute.

15.  A Parochial Lending Library shall be provided by the Board, together with a supply of Books and Tracts, to be either given, lent, or sold, by the Visitors.  No Book or Tract to be sold at a lower rate than half-price.

16.  Cases of sickness shall always be reported by the Visitors to the Parochial Clergy.

17.  The Board, at its monthly meeting, shall supply the Visitors with funds proportioned to the probable wants of their several Districts.

p. 9SECOND ANNUAL REPORT.

The Committee of the District Visiting Society, in presenting the Second Annual Report of their proceedings, feel that they have every ground for renewing the congratulations which they were last year able to offer to the Society, on the advantages which have accrued to the parish through its instrumentality, and also, on the prospects of continually increasing benefits, as its plans become more fully matured, and its operations more clearly developed and in consequence more completely effective.

Since the last Annual Meeting changes have taken place in the ECCLESIASTICAL ARRANGEMENTS of the parish, which, having the effect of removing the Northern Districts from the superintendence of the Clergy of St. Mary Abbot’s, render necessary an alteration in the Seventh General Rule of the Society.  The Committee accordingly recommend that the Rule be now modified, so as to confine the future operations of the Society to that portion of Kensington which is under the ecclesiastical charge of the Vicar.  It is right to mention that arrangements made by the Clergy of St. John’s and St. James’s are expected to provide for the requisite attention being paid to the wants of the poor within their respective localities.

Having now had two years’ EXPERIENCE of the DIFFICULTIES which must beset every endeavour to produce a substantial and permanent improvement in the condition of so extensive a mass of population, whose individual elements are so unsettled and fugitive;—the Committee have had a fair opportunity of judging of the practical working of the Rules that were originally adopted, and of the plan and operations which has from the first outset been acted upon.  The result, they are prepared to say, amply justifies the discretion by which those Rules and p. 10that plan were dictated.  It is a sufficient confirmation of the opinion they hold, that throughout the whole of the Metropolitan portion of the Diocese the same general system of District Visiting, the same active co-operation of Laity with Clergy in the work of charity, and the same general course of action, have been acknowledged as the only effectual means of coping successfully with the pressing evils arising from an overflowing population, from ignorance, improvidence, and vice; and that, under the sanction and direction of the Bishop, they have been almost universally brought into action. [10]

There is one point bearing strongly upon the difficulties the Committee have had to encounter, to which they are desirous of directing especial attention; namely, how much the endeavours of the Society to ameliorate the condition of the poor would be facilitated, if greater care were taken by the donors of charity to make full inquiry into the CHARACTER and CIRCUMSTANCES of APPLICANTS, before administering relief.

It is found that applicants at the doors of residents belong in general to one of three classes:—

The first class consists of PERMANENT MENDICANTS; who have a more or less constant residence in this or other parishes, and are supported exclusively by the donations of charitably disposed, but undiscriminating, individuals.  Instances can be pointed out, of persons who it is believed have lived in Kensington for years, professing for the most part to have some nominal occupation, yet in fact subsisting entirely upon means obtained by such systematic mendicancy.  p. 11As they readily state their trade and abode when interrogated, their tale—which is but too commonly a tissue of mere invention, or at best only partially correct—is at once assumed to be true.  In the event of further inquiry being instituted at their abode, the same story of course is told; and probably supported by the interested evidence of the other dwellers in the same house, who generally derive their subsistence by similar means.  Relief is given; the idle and the impostor encouraged; and by so much the industrious and respectable labourer discouraged and injured, the suffering and the unfortunate deprived of their due.

The second class is that of VAGRANTS, or TRAMPERS.  These have no settled home, [11a] but sleeping at the nightly lodging houses, at some of the various Refuges in London or elsewhere, or in the vagrant-ward at the workhouses, wander about from parish to parish and from town to town continually; frequenting the various watering-places in their respective seasons, and succeeding ordinarily in reaping a rich harvest from the ready liberality of visitants.  The tale that is now most commonly and most effectually pleaded by them is that of distress from want of work.  But though unquestionably there are cases of this description, it is yet certain that whatever their assertions, a small proportion only of such applicants are willing to work, even if the opportunity be offered them. [11b]

p. 12To those wanderers, whose cases are really those of sickness or urgent destitution, the humane consideration of the Board of Guardians of this parish has provided that every care and attention shall be paid immediately upon proper application being made to the Master of the work-house.

The third class, which may be designated as that of OCCASIONAL MENDICANTS, is composed of persons included in the permanent population of the parish; who, having always been accustomed to rely for their chief or sole support during the winter upon the bounty they can obtain by begging at the houses of benevolent individuals, are not, while still encouraged to do so, to be diverted by any exertions of the Society from a course which experience has proved to be so profitable.  They feel, for the most part, a very natural aversion from any system of discriminating charity.  They have, they appear to think, a kind of prescriptive right to an equal portion with their neighbours of all relief administered, irrespectively of their own moral or social character, and of their circumstances and wants as compared with those of others.  They are urgent in their importunity to the Visitor, and instead of being thankful for what assistance he has it in his power to afford them with justice to more deserving and pressing cases, become loud in their murmurings and expressions of anger; and in some instances have gone so far, after insulting conduct to the Visitor, as to carry their complaints to various residents, who, unaware of the true facts, have perhaps been led by their statement to form very erroneous and unjust opinions of the working of the Society. [12]  The Committee, with accounts of the whole expenditure of the Visitors, and the particular circumstances of the various cases before them, p. 13together with many independent sources of information respecting the character and habits of such applicants, have it in their power to bear most ample testimony to the discretion and discrimination with which the funds at their disposal have been administered.  And they confidently call upon the subscribers and the parishioners generally, to support the Visitors in their arduous, and too often thankless, labours; and to second them in their endeavours to bring about a permanent amelioration in the condition of the deserving poor.

That a great and remarkable diminution has taken place in the number of applicants of this class at the houses of the residents since the institution of this Society, is felt and confessed in almost all quarters.  And if in any instances it has appeared, or has been thought, that no such diminution has occurred, the Committee, from documents before them, cannot help being satisfied that the cause and the remedy of the evil lie equally in the hands of those who suffer from such applications.  So long as relief is given at the doors without full inquiry, so long will persons of this class be found to ask for it: so long as bounties are conferred without respect to character and circumstances, so long will mendicants be encouraged to exist in the same state of debased and dependent pauperism. [13]

p. 14It is evident that one of the first objects to be sought, both in respect of time and importance, is to FIX and SETTLE the population. [14]  The means and measures which immediately present themselves are those whose tendency is, on the one hand, to encourage and assist the laborious, deserving, and permanent portion of it: and, on the other hand, to initiate, and stimulate the growth of providence and industry in those who have not yet learned the necessity and the duty of striving to help themselves and to improve their own condition; and at the same time to check the migratory and mendicant habits of that class of persons, the term of whose residence in any one place usually depends exclusively upon the limits of the indiscriminate benevolence of charitable individuals in the neighbourhood.  Such measures are those which the Committee have taken; and in endeavouring by their means to attain the end desired, they trust they shall in future receive the full co-operation of those parishioners who, with every desire of doing good to the utmost of their power, yet may have sometimes been unawares throwing away valuable resources upon unworthy objects; upon persons, at all events, whose cases are not THE MOST deserving cases of industry, respectability, sickness, and distress.

These, then, are the classes of persons of whom it may be safely affirmed that a very large majority of the APPLICANTS FOR RELIEF AT THE HOUSES of the residents is composed.  And this statement will, the Committee hope, exhibit the strong necessity of discriminating inquiry being made previously to relief being afforded, not only in order to avoid giving encouragement to such persons, but also in justice to the really deserving poor, in order that they (whose cases are p. 15for the most part known only to the District Visitors and the Clergy) may receive that assistance and relief which all will confess to be their due, and every one desire that they should obtain.

Most earnestly do the Committee appeal to the Members of this Society and the parishioners in general, to consider the importance—the Christian duty—of administering the proportion of their income which they set apart for charitable purposes, in such a manner as may produce THE GREATEST amount of good.  That duty clearly is, not only to “distribute,” but to “distribute to the necessity” of their brethren.  To perform this effectually, a knowledge of that necessity, as it really exists, must be acquired: which implies an intimate acquaintance with the habits and circumstances of families, and with their various grades of desert and of distress.  This, again, can only be attained by a watchful superintendence, exercised for a length of time over them by the same persons—as by a permanent Visitor, or the Clergy.  Of these, then, let inquiry be made respecting such applicants; they will be at once willing to state whether, in their opinion, they are or are not fit objects of relief and encouragement.  To these, who possess the most certain means of information that are attainable, let any, [15] who are desirous of affording assistance beyond a mere annual subscription, apply.  They will recommend to their notice, not the most importunate and clamorous, but the most necessitous and the most deserving.  They will point out as fit recipients of encouragement not the professed beggar, nor the impostor, nor the vagrant, nor the idle, nor p. 16the improvident, nor the drunkard, nor the irreligious; but those, who are aged, or infirm, or sick, or “maimed, or halt, or blind;” those, who are honestly and diligently striving, with perhaps but a single downward step [16] between them and pauperism, to maintain their position as respectable and profitable members of society; those, who are anxiously endeavouring to avail themselves to the utmost of their spiritual privileges and advantages, in order to fulfil their duty in their several relations of life, to God, their neighbour, and themselves.

The Committee turn with pleasure to the notice of the BENEFITS which have been permitted to flow from the exertions of the Society.  And here they naturally begin by adverting to that IMPROVEMENT in the TEMPORAL CONDITION of the poor, which all experience proves to be an indispensable preparation for the higher and more important advantages.  For it is almost universally found that, below a certain point, the moral and intellectual are absolutely concurrent with, and vary as, the physical wants of a population.  The miserable effects of too long continued toil and exertion without adequate repose and nutrition, with insufficient clothing, exposure to cold, damp, and deficient ventilation, and other privations to which the poor are too often subjected, invariably extend their influence over their social condition and habits, and affect materially their position as moral and intelligent beings; bearing powerfully upon matters with p. 17which at first sight they might appear to have little connexion. [17a]

The anticipation expressed last year of an increased appreciation of the Provident Funds by the poor, has been more than justified.  The number of depositors to the Coal Fund, which in 1844 was 388, in 1845 has been 581.  The sum deposited in 1844 was £160; in 1845 it amounted to not less than £263.  In the St. Mary Abbot’s division the amount of deposits has actually been doubled.  The total value of coals dispensed has been £320, instead of £200 as in 1844.  The most remarkable increase is in the districts of Jennings’ Buildings, among the Irish; of whom, in 1844, 14 depositors laid by £6; in 1845, 68 have deposited £33.  In another district, in Charles Place, the number of depositors has increased from 3 to 17.  In Campden Place 73 out of 125 families, and in Southend 36 out of 50 received coals at Christmas, averaging in quantity from three to four sacks each:—the fruits of their own industry and providence. [17b]

p. 18Clothing Funds have been established in eleven districts.  The number of depositors has been 100; and the amount distributed in articles of clothing to them, £33.  It is confidently hoped that a considerable increase in the number of Subscribers and in the amount of Subscriptions to the District Visiting Society may enable the Committee to establish a general measure; which for want of sufficient funds has been hitherto of necessity postponed.

The above facts speak for themselves.  That in the second year of its establishment upwards of ONE-THIRD of the whole poor population—and consequently a much larger proportion of the permanent and industrious part—should have been persuaded and encouraged and enabled, by the means of this Society, to lay up for themselves a winter provision of what is so essential to the comfort and health of their families, would demonstrate at once, even were this the only point of attention, and these the sole benefits caused to the parish, that neither have the Visitors been inactive, nor their exertions and the plans of the Society unproductive of valuable results.  If these facts proved nothing more, they would at least prove this, that the respectable and industrious poor are willing and anxious to help themselves if encouraged to do so; that, unless when their ignorance has been insidiously imposed upon, they are desirous of considering the rich as their friends, and indeed look to them to give that encouragement, and that, if it be given, they will return the fullest and most desirable reward to their benefactors, by proving that their help has been of real benefit to them, not only in their outward circumstances, but also in their improved moral and intellectual tone of feeling and habit of life.  These facts give an earnest that each succeeding year will continue to add materially to the efficiency of the Society, and to the amount of good produced through its means.  The most difficult and most important step is secured; the CONFIDENCE p. 19OF THE POOR in the Visitors and in the Society. [19]  And thus a foundation is established for a superstructure of operations, the fruit of which, under the Divine blessing, will assuredly be that of continually increasing advantage, temporal, moral, and spiritual; and whose effects will be found in the present and future happiness of both him that giveth and him that receiveth—of both Visited and Visitor.

Other POINTS OF CONGRATULATION which last year offered themselves to the Committee have this year not less of prominence.

The large number of Baptisms which was then exhibited, 100 above the ordinary average, has been in 1845 scarcely diminished.  It is believed that very few above the age of mere infancy now remain who have not been baptized.

The Triennial Confirmation which will in the present year (on the 9th of June) be held in Kensington Church will, there is good ground for believing, be attended by a large number of persons who through the exertions of the Visitors and the Clergy have been brought to feel an anxious desire to avail themselves of this sacred rite.

Few points of attention are of more importance than that of obtaining SITUATIONS or EMPLOYMENT by the Visitors for the poor in their respective districts.  Whether they regard the removal of young persons from vicious associations to positions in private families where they may have not only the advantage of advice and direction in the duties of life, but also the forcible influence of moral and religious example; p. 20or whether they consider the benefit derived from providing openings of honest livelihood [20a] for those who perhaps have long been struggling against bitter distress and consequent urgent temptation; the Committee feel that it is impossible to overrate the importance of the subject.  The instances which have been reported tend strongly to confirm their estimation of it, at the same time that they demonstrate the value of the assistance given by the Visitors in this respect. [20b]

The opening of a new National School for boys in the Gravel Pits will, it is hoped, have the effect of reducing the excessive pressure on the Town Schools; the fulness of p. 21which has hitherto placed a considerable difficulty in the way of the exertions of the Visitors and Clergy.

A somewhat similar difficulty has prevailed with respect to the inadequate extent of ACCOMMODATION at Kensington Church as compared with the population.  It is not easy or satisfactory to impress upon the poor the duty of public worship, except in the anticipation of a more proportionate amount of accommodation being before long provided.

The Visitors have been during the two years instrumental in circulating upwards of 2000 TRACTS: and the Committee have the greatest satisfaction in reporting that there is reason to know that of those families who are in a position to avail themselves of the use of the Holy Scriptures and of the Liturgy of the Church of England, very few are unprovided with both Bible and Prayer book. [21]

In order to afford means of enabling the Visitors to carry out more satisfactorily their endeavours to raise and improve the condition of the poor parishioners, a Loan Library has been just established, in compliance with the fifteenth rule of the Society.  But it being necessary to reserve a certain sum in hand to meet extraordinary calls upon the Treasurer, it has been found impossible to appropriate more than a very small and inadequate portion of the funds to this purpose.  The Library has in consequence only been brought into action over a very limited number of districts.  The Committee trust that this representation will produce a very considerable increase of DONATIONS for the ensuing year, so as to enable p. 22them to bring so valuable and important an institution to bear upon the whole parish.

In dosing their Report, the Committee are anxious to express their cordial THANKS to those Medical Gentlemen whose attendance and advice at the Dispensary and attention to the wants of the poor at their homes, are productive of so much important benefit to them.  It is impossible to speak too strongly of the advantage derived to the parish by their arduous and exemplary labours; which, though gratefully appreciated and acknowledged by the immediate recipients of the benefit, are perhaps not sufficiently, as they cannot be too well, known to the body of the parishioners.

And they desire to express most warmly the sense they have of the assiduous and successful exertions of the Ladies and Gentlemen who have taken the initiative in the work of charity as Visitors of the poor. [22]  Under discouragements and annoyances of no trifling description—against coldness p. 23and suspicion—in spite of fraud and imposture—they have yet persevered in the exercise of their privilege as members of the Church, in following the example of Its Divine Head, who “went about doing good.”  The Committee trust that as these labours, and the operations of the Society in general, become year by year more effective, and their results more fully ripened, there will be found to have sprung up a more intimate connexion among the different classes of the community: one which, founded on an interchange of beneficence on the one hand and gratitude on the other, and supported and cemented on both by Christian sympathy and love, cannot fail in being productive of important advantages to the welfare of all concerned.  If it be the ordinary duty of the Committee, while administering the funds at their disposal, to adopt such measures as shall enable the poorer classes to perceive and fulfil what is due from them in this interchange; it is now their office to point out to the wealthier and educated classes, who may be anxious for the opportunity, how they may perform their part.

A blessing is promised in Scripture upon HIM THAT CONSIDERETH THE POOR.  It is hoped, that every member of the Church who enjoys wealth, or even competence, will ‘consider’ conscientiously in what manner his exertions for the relief of indigence and the advancement of religious improvement may be most judiciously directed; what talents he possesses, not only of property, but of time, and influence, and connexion; and in what way those talents may be most beneficially and effectually applied. [23]  It is hoped, that the necessary relation of Christian principles to active charity p. 24will, from year to year, be more generally and more practically acknowledged: that every one will learn to feel that for practice as well as principle of Christian love he is absolutely accountable: that it is therefore imperative upon him for the benefit of others, and at the same time pre-eminently for his own, to take a lively personal interest in concurrence and co-operation with the Clergy, in endeavouring to secure the temporal, moral, social, and spiritual welfare of those who from their position in rank and in neighbourhood are in a measure committed to his charge and care.

The Committee can scarcely be wrong in entertaining the belief, that were this personal co-operation effectually carried out, there would result, under the blessing of God, a far nearer approximation than now exists, to what every Christian must anxiously and from his heart desire—Unity in Church and Nation “in one holy bond of Truth and Peace, of Faith and Charity.”

p. 25TREASURER’S REPORT.

The Treasurer, in presenting to the Donors and Subscribers the BALANCE SHEET for the past year, begs to call attention to the decrease in the number of both Donors and Subscribers.  Although it was not to be anticipated that the former would be kept up to the same extent as in the first year of the establishment of the Society, when a large outlay was to be met, it was not unreasonable to expect, that both the number of the Subscribers, and the aggregate amount of their subscriptions, would have considerably increased as the operations of the Society, and the great benefits resulting therefrom, were more generally known.  It is earnestly hoped that when the foregoing Report has been circulated through the parish, and the large amount of good that has been effected through the agency of the Society has been thereby brought under the notice of the inhabitants, its claims on public liberality will be better appreciated; and that no one who is blessed with the means will hesitate to contribute of his abundance, so as to enable the Society to carry out all those beneficial measures intended for the amelioration of the temporal and spiritual condition of his poorer and less favoured brethren, which were proposed at the formation of the Society, but from which it has been hitherto most reluctantly withheld by want of the requisite funds.

The Treasurer also begs to express his regret at the small amount collected in the ALMS BOXES at the Parish Church, in comparison with the number who attend the several services; it is gratifying, however, to observe that in one or two instances a larger amount has been deposited as a THANK OFFERING—examples which, it is hoped, may be frequently followed by those who have experienced any special blessings.

The Treasurer wishes it to be distinctly understood that he would thankfully receive Donations or Subscriptions of however small an amount, as it is the wish of the Society to afford an opportunity to ALL CLASSES to assist, as far as their circumstances will permit, and each according to his power, in the furtherance of the great work of practical Christian charity.

p. 26The Treasurer in Account with the Kensington District Visiting Society.

SUBSCRIPTION ACCOUNT.

JOHN SHEPHARD, Treasurer,
ALFRED WADDILOVE / GEORGE WARNER } AUDITORS.

9th February, 1846.  Examined and found correct.

p. 27DONATION ACCOUNT.

JOHN SHEPHARD, Treasurer.

ALFRED WADDILOVE / GEORGE WARNER } Auditors.

9th February, 1846.  Examined and found correct.

p. 28ALPHABETICAL LIST OF STREETS, &c.,
INCLUDED IN THE DISTRICTS OF THE
KENSINGTON DISTRICT VISITING SOCIETY.

^*_*^*  Members recommending any case for inquiry, are requested to state exactly the residence of the applicant, and the No. of the District from the following list.

^*_*^*  Communications respecting persons resident in Streets, &c., not in this list, should be made to the Clergy of the respective portions of Kensington or Notting Hill.

p. 31LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS AND DONORS,
Corrected to December 31st, 1845.

^*_*^* It is particularly requested that any error in the following list may be notified to the Treasurer or Secretaries.

^*_*^* Subscriptions and Donations may be paid either to the Treasurer, Secretaries, or Collector.

Subscriptions may be given in favour of any particular District, if desired.

Subscriptions and Donations received after December 31, 1845, will appear in next year’s list.

Geo. Nichols, Printer, Earl’s Court, Leicester Square.

FOOTNOTES

[10]  See the Second Report, lately published, of the “Association for promoting the Relief of Destitution in the Metropolis, and for improving the Condition of the Poor, by means of Parochial and District Visiting, under the superintendence and direction of the Bishop and Clergy.”  It contains a large amount of most interesting information.  Copies may be obtained by application to Mr. Haly, at the Office of the Association, No. 4, St. Martin’s Place, Trafalgar Square.  The Secretaries of this Society will also endeavour to obtain copies for any parishioner who may express a wish to that effect.

[11a]  Very frequently, however, they assert that they are resident, and have long been resident, in the parish.  Without hesitation they name their abode; which is often stated to be at a particular house in Gore Lane.  No one unacquainted with the minute circumstances of each street would suspect that the number they take care to select is one which does not exist in Gore Lane at all.  The deception is of course only detected when the case is recommended to the District Visitor for inquiry.

[11b]  It appears from the last Report of the Mendicity Society, who have had opportunities of proving the fact upon an extensive scale, and have endeavoured to apply such tests for the purpose as might discriminate fairly between the idle and the unfortunate, that of 3289 applicants, who, being able-bodied men, were offered work at stone-breaking, only 839 availed themselves of it, 1630 did not work at all, and 820 worked only one day.  “Facts which, after making all reasonable allowances, would lead to the conclusion that about three-fourths of the above applicants, were persons who were quite satisfied to lead a life of idleness, and determined to use no exertion to earn a subsistence.”

[12]  The following instance, among others, which show forcibly the necessity of caution in this respect on the part of Residents and Subscribers, appears in a communication from a Visitor to the Secretaries:—“I have this day refused to give any relief in Mrs. —.  Firstly, because she appears to be forming a habit of making a regular weekly application, on each Saturday.  Secondly, because anything given in the District seems to be considered by her as justifying her in making application.  Thirdly, because she uses bad language to her children, and shows violence of conduct and temper.  Without naming other reasons, it may suffice to say, that I have seen no one feature in her case entitling it to so much attention, on account of character, conduct, or circumstances, but the reverse.  She told me that she had acquainted a lady yesterday, that I had not been in the District during the last fortnight; I have been there three times this week, and given relief where required.  A glance at the accounts will show that the —’s have, when occasion has demanded it, participated largely in the funds of the District Visiting Society; and that great caution is necessary to prevent them and others from obtaining a regular winter allowance.”

[13]  “The present demoralizing system of begging—a thing so ruinous in its effects, that the major part of the delinquents with which our prisons are filled, owe their progress in crime to the encouragement given to idle habits by the false feeling of charity acted upon by the public, in the promiscuous dispensation of alms to those who are seldom, if ever, deserving of them.”—Report on Poverty, Mendicity, and Crime, to the House of Lords in 1839, by W. A. Miles, Esq.

[14]  In some districts the greatest inconvenience has been felt from their unsettled condition.  The following is but one out of several similar complaints on the part of Visitors:—“I have found the people thankful for the little they receive.  But they are such a moving race, that before I get acquainted with their habits they are off to another quarter, and new people fill their places; this to me is most unsatisfactory.”

[15]  “The present month, has afforded further evidence of the discontent and disappointment produced by undiscriminating bounty.  The gift of bread or coals to a certain number of families taken indiscriminately, or to every poor person, in such a locality, is not only indiscreet but unjust, and impedes the exertions of a society whose principle is to discover and encourage the good, to deter the bad.”—Report of a Visitor, February, 1845.

[16]  “The month of February appears to be the most trying to the poor of this district.  Their little savings, if any, have been exhausted; their clothes and furniture are gradually being taken to the pawnbroker; hunger and cold are producing disease, unless timely help is afforded. . . .  The clock is generally the first article sent to the pawnbroker; then the wife’s articles of wearing apparel; the children’s shoes, the husband’s coat and waistcoat; and afterwards his tools, his spade, his saw, &c.  The last portion of property, is the bedding and furniture, when shavings are substituted.  Such seem to be the regular gradations of distress.  The last, happily, has seldom been witnessed since the first month or two of the Society’s operations in this district.  It was pointed out to me to-day in another place.”—Report of a Visitor.  February 1845.

[17a]  A subject intimately connected with that noticed above, viz. the relation between IGNORANCE and SOCIAL MISERY, has received some remarkable illustrations from the practical operations of this Society.

It would appear from the amount of relief administered in certain districts, selected for the calculation on account of their remote distances from one another, and from their containing a labouring population exclusively, that, although subject to modifications from the peculiar character and condition of the inhabitants, or from circumstances of an accidental nature in each case, yet the same law is found in the mass to prevail throughout; physical distress and want of Education are exhibited as co-existing in a direct ratio.

Omitting, for brevity, 80 families of intermediate degrees of education, it appears that of the remaining 100 families respecting whom the calculation was made, the amount of relief required by those in which neither father nor mother could read, or one of them imperfectly, has been actually twice as much per head as by those in which either father or mother could read and write well.

The attention of the Committee was drawn to this important subject in consequence of the Report of an Intelligent Visitor.  The result of his experience shows that, in his district, “distress has been very much in proportion to the deplorable ignorance of the recipients.  More than half the relief has been given to persons who could neither read nor write.”

Upon this fact he has founded an energetic appeal for measures to be taken to provide for the education of the adult population, so far as practicable.  The Committee trust that the liberality of the Subscribers may put it into their power to co-operate with the Clergy in adopting measures for the purpose, which the limited means at their disposal have up to this time rendered impossible.

[17b]  It seems desirable to mention that in both the years 1844 and 1845 the benefits of the Coal Fund have extended over the whole of Kensington—St. Mary Abbots, St. John’s, and St. James’s.  A Coal Fund and Clothing Fund have also been established in St. Barnabas’ District supported by local contributions.

[19]  “It very gratifying” writes a visitor, “to observe the alacrity with which the women went to their boxes to get out their Clothing Fund cards and money.  [The deposits were collected weekly by the Visitor in person.]  The exchequer of the poor in this, an Irish district, generally consists of a few shillings deposited within a very small box carefully kept within two or three other boxes, or at the bottom of an old chest.  On no one occasion has any bad money been offered to him.  The money is generally, indeed invariably, paid by the females.  The confidence with which they give their money is a trait not to be unnoticed; it being often difficult to prevent them paying their money in the street, and without any card or check.  When the Visitor has been prevented from calling at the time appointed, they have very frankly and very properly reminded him of it.”

[20a]  It not unfrequently happens that residents have needle-work, charing, or other work to be done, and are at a loss to know where to find respectable persons to undertake it.  A reference to a District Visitor will both supply their want and at the same time obtain employment for some deserving individual to whom it may prove an invaluable assistance.  A large number of sempstresses, charwomen, laundresses, &c., depend solely upon the work which they are casually able to obtain.

[20b]  The intervention of the Visitors has been productive of most valuable assistance in many other respects.  The following instances have been reported as occurring in a SINGLE district:

Mrs. A. came to me in great distress in consequence of her goods being about to be seized for rent.  She owed about a pound; she begged of me to save them.  She stated that in about a fortnight she should go out as a monthly nurse, and then she should be able to pay.  She had told her landlord this but he was inexorable.  In consequence of my opinion of her character, I called on the landlord and reasoned with him, and begged a little time for the poor woman; which he granted me.  She has since discharged the debt.

In another instance:—“B. had been long out of work; at last he got employment; but on the first week, late on Saturday night, he came to me in great perplexity to tell me that his landlord to whom he owed 3s. 6d. had entered the house during the time his wife and himself had been out, and turned his children and little furniture into the street and locked the door; and where to put his head under with his family he did not know.”  The immediate intervention of the Visitor succeeded in obtaining from the landlord permission for the poor family to stop there until they could get some other habitation.

. . . “I found Mrs. C. lying in extreme debility from inflammation of the chest, and in great distress of mind from fears of her destitute condition.  She said it appeared almost like an interposition of Providence that I had come to see her. . . .  She told me that she and her husband had partly gained a living by selling vegetables to a lady, and by occasionally being employed by her; but for some cause they had been discharged from their employment and ordered not to come near the house.  She wished me to get her an interview with the lady, as soon as she could get out.  I ventured to write to her stating all the particulars.  She promptly, the next morning, sent to tell the woman to come as soon as she was able.  An interview taking place, the secret came out that the lady’s cook wanted to obtain that a tradesman in town whom she knew should supply her mistress; and accordingly had represented the poor woman to her as imposing and ungrateful.  On vindicating her own character, the lady restored her to her former position.  I have since been enabled to give them a character from personal observation that has enabled them to get the charge of a gentleman’s house, who is so satisfied with them that he has personally thanked me.  The poor couple’s gratitude has been great to the Society for thus rescuing them from poverty and disgrace, and placing them in comparative comfort.”

. . . “I had known D. and his wife to be cleanly, industrious, and upright people; but the husband having a serious attack of illness was laid up three months, during which time the rent accumulated to £4.  The landlord seized on their furniture, which if it had been sold, must have broken up their home for ever.  She applied to me in her distress.  On making her case known to the managers of the District Visiting Society, they obtained (from private sources) a loan of the part she was not able to make up, and saved them from destruction.  A part of the money that was lent has been returned.  The continued illness of the man I believe to be the only reason why the whole has not.”

[21]  Any person may obtain Bibles and Prayer Books at the prices of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, by applying at the depôt at the Girls’ National School Room, on any Monday, between one and two o’clock only; the Mistress having kindly consented to take charge of them.

[22]  The following short extracts from reports by various Visitors will exhibit some of the difficulties with which they have to contend, as well as many grounds of encouragement and anticipation of better things to come.

“Of the persons in this district, there is much to be hoped from the gratitude of the families who have been relieved, and from the symptoms of self exertion that are beginning to exhibit themselves, shown by the subscriptions to the Coal and Clothing Funds.”

“The people have generally appeared quiet and cheerful, and have shown every outward mark of respect and gratitude for the assistance rendered them by the Society.”

“I feel convinced that the trifling assistance supplied during sickness or the temporary want of employment, has been in many instances of the greatest importance to the sufferer, sometimes saving his little all from the pawnbroker, and enabling him to struggle through his difficulties.”

“The District Visiting Society’s funds are highly beneficial in my district; and have been so especially in S’s case; also F’s, and B’s, M’s, and B’s.  All has been most gratefully received.  I feel great comfort in knowing much good has been done. . . .  There is severe distress in my small district. . . . ”

“In a district,” it is reported, “where one day was remarkable if spent without some disgraceful scene of drunken brawling taking place, a day of brawls has now become the day to be remarked. . . .  The most profligate characters have left the district, finding they have not the attention paid them that others have. . . .  Christmas day (last) was spent without one drunken scene; a circumstance unknown for many years—almost within the memory of the ‘oldest inhabitant.’”

Several instances have occurred of famines of bad character having migrated first from district to district, and then, finding that each successive Visitor was aware of their character and withheld relief from them, have finally emigrated from the parish altogether.  In two instances in particular, families of a very bad class left, giving out that it was in consequence of the inspection of the Visitor.  It is needless to add that by all respectable poor, the attention and personal interest of the Visitor is invariably courted, and gratefully acknowledged.

[23]  Individuals who desire to visit personally and to relieve from their own resources a small number of poor families, but who are unable to take charge of a District, are requested to communicate with the Clergy upon the subject.  It will not be difficult to make arrangements by which such benevolent persons may be provided with a field of labour proportioned to the time and the funds at their disposal.