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Ancestry UK

West London Mission of the Methodist Church

The West London Mission was inaugurated in 1887 as an an evangelical effort to address what was viewed as the 'spiritual destitution' in London. Its focus was the West Central area, stretching from Great Queen Street in the east to Warwick Gardens in the west, and from Hinde Street in the north to Westminster in the south, an area in which Wesleyan Methodism was unrepresented except for two or three small mission rooms.

Preaching centres were initially established at St James' Hall, Piccadilly, and at Little Chapel Street (now Sheraton Street), with the Mission's first headquarters at Lincoln House, 60 Greek Street.

As well as its evangelical work, the Mission's activities grew to include a wide variety of social work with both adults and young people. Brief details of these are given below.

Crèche

  • Lincoln House, 60 Greek Street W1(1888-95)
  • Craven Hall, Foubert's Place (1895-1907)
  • Lincoln House, 60 Greek Street W1 (1907-11)
  • Wesley House, Kingsway WC2 (1911-80)

Rescue Home for Girls in Need of Care and Supervision

  • Winchester House, Walthamstow (1892-8)
  • Winchester House, 20 Manor Place, Paddington W2 (1898-9)
  • Winchester House, 5 Eastbourne Terrace, Paddington W2( 1899-1913)
  • Winchester House, 23 Ampthill Square, Camden NW1 (1913-18)
  • Sister Mabel Hostel, 1-5 Siddons Buildings, Drury Lane WC2 (1921-38)
  • Katherine Price Hughes House, 8 Doughty Street, Holborn WC1 (1937-57)

Working Girls' Hostel

  • Emerson Bainbridge House, 47 Cleveland Street W1 (1911-41)
  • Emerson Bainbridge House, Kingsway WC2 (1941)
  • Gertrude Owen House, 1-5 Siddons Buildings, Drury Lane WC2 (1948-51)
  • Gertrude Owen House, 15 Highbury New Park N5(1951-60)

Young People's Hostels

  • Emerson Bainbridge House, Kingsway WC2 (1941-5)
  • Emerson Bainbridge House, 47 Cleveland Street W1 (1947-68)
  • Fellowship House, 25-6 Norland Square, Notting Hill W11 (1947-71)

Maternity Hospital

  • Parkhurst, Parkhurst Road, Islington N7 (1922-39)

Unmarried Mother and Babies' Homes

  • 28 Highbury Grove, Highbury N5 (1951-8)
  • Henry Carter House, Camden Square, Camden NW1 (1953-4)
  • Hopedene, 15 Aubert Park (1963-85)

Unmarried Expectant Mother Home

  • Grove House, 1 Bolingbroke Grove, Wandsworth SW11 (1960-72)

Young Ex-Offenders Hostel

  • Men's Hostel, 1-5 Siddons Buildings, Drury Lane WC2 (1938-46)
  • Henry Carter House, Camden Square, Camden NW1 (1952-3)
  • Emerson Bainbridge House, 335-7 Clapham Road, Clapham SW9 (1971-84)
  • Grove House, 1 Bolingbroke Grove, Wandsworth SWll (1972-7)

Records

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Bibliography

  • None identified at present.

Except where indicated, this page () © Peter Higginbotham. Contents may not be reproduced without permission.