St Mary the Blessed Virgin Parish Magazine June 2026
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Pigeon English.. Spring Park in PJ Sunday..
An English Wedding....
The Manor of Addington.....
A nonet of/ Wednesday walkers. Answers to English Wedding... Mothers' Union....
Pilgrimage to Rome..
Contents
(List of our Advertisers can be found on page 25)
No 1377
For Collects, Bible Readings and Services at St Mary's please see pages 10/13
St Mary's aims are Worshipping God and Loving our Neighbour.
It is interesting and informative. There is a potted history of St Mary's, details of many of the different groups within the church, the Hall Development Fund-raising, other activities and forthcoming events.
See website https://addington.org.uk/hall-hire
Parish Office email [email protected] and 01689 842167
Time is moving on and soon we will reach the longest day in the year. Our weather has been a bit of everything so far, very hot weather for the end of May and for children on holiday from school, followed by heavy rain the following week and variable temperatures in between. We can see the effects on our parks and gardens, the need for water followed by too much water, the effects of climate change on our world.
We pray for forgiveness for the damage that has been done to our world and give thanks to all those who make changes however small to their lifestyle to help to counteract that damage and leave creation in a better condition for those who follow.
We are lucky to have many green spaces around our parish, Selsdon Woods, Shirley Hills, Spring Park Common and Littleheath Woods where we can keep fit by walking and see many signs of new life in nature. At the beginning of June, I joined a group in Selsdon Woods for a sunset walk to see bat species that live there. Using Echolocaters, we found several spots where we could watch these amazing flying mammals hunt for insects, did you know that each bat needs around 3000 insects everyday to survive.
We are now settling into a period of vacancy where we are welcoming visiting priests to allow Barbara to take a regular break and many people are taking on new responsibilities within our parish. Do pray for the Churchwardens, PCC members and Penny our Administrator as they ensure that our services and mission activities continue to run smoothly.
If you would like to offer some support or notice something that is being missed, do talk to our Churchwardens or PCC members and help to fill the gaps.
Recently, I have been told twice how welcoming our church is to visitors and those starting to attend our church more regularly so many thanks for doing this and continuing to do so as we move forward
If you are planning time away with family and friends or exploring our local area, do give thanks for the beauty of our creation and be sure to take your rubbish home with you.
Love and prayers
Lindsay
Are you free on Tuesday afternoons? Why not come along to our house group meetings? We begin by reading and talking about a passage from the Bible and finish with a bring and share lunch.
Why not FEED YOUR SOUL and FEED YOUR STOMACH ?
If you'd like to join us we meet at 12 o'clock on the 2nd and 4th week of each month at Mary Innes' house, 89 Falconwood Road.
If you're interested have a word with Mary Innes, Neil Clark or Peter Bourne. We would love to see you.
Currently the printed copies of the magazine are either distributed by members of the parish, placed in the church porch or posted to ex Parishioners and friends of St. Mary's.
There is also a digital version that we send out to our readers, if you would like to receive future issues digitally please let me know.
Contact details are email [email protected] or contact the parish office on [email protected]
As Lindsay says in her piece, time is moving on. In my younger days or more correctly, my school days, the days leading up to the school summer holidays dragged by. Now as I am older
CORONA
I find the days and weeks flashing by with increasing speed year on year. | don't know about you but I seem to find it more and more difficult to find a quality time to sit and relax. This was brought home to me on our recent guided tour holiday to Croatia, when Sheila and I instead of having a slow start to the day, found ourselves going to breakfast at just after 7.30 local time (6.30 UK time) so as to be ready to go exploring the Istrian peninsula. The trips were very good and informative but very tiring, sometimes having to spend 5 to 6 hours on a coach and the 4 to 5 hours walking and sightseeing. There will be more on our Croatian adventure in the next magazine, always assuming there is time to write an article.
So what is the answer - well finding time to sit, relaxing in your favourite chair with the tipple of your choice to hand and immersing yourself in the June edition of St Mary's magazine.
In this edition, apart from the regular items such as Daily Prayers and Readings, news from Mothers' Union and Parish records page, the continuing history of the Manor of Addington there are lots of articles to interest you.
Firstly, appropriately enough there is a piece about St. Clement, you will see why when you read it. Jim rocks up to Abbey Road for a memorable day of singing and recording, I think his one regret was not being able to be photographed on the world famous Zebra crossing.
Who would have thought that “an English Marriage" would involve so many hidden words and phrases, have a good look and try to find them all. Good Luck. Towards to back of the magazine there is a travelogue of a Pilgrimage to Rome and Assisi made by four of our congregation.
We all know how important is Blood and so is donating blood, an ex- parishioner has given 100 such donations, receiving a certificate and badge.
Do you know your worth, an interesting sermon was given on this - see page 17.
Finally the next issue Summer (July/August) will be published at the end of July/early August.
(sung to the tune of the carol 'I Saw Three Ships come sailing in, On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day')
The moon is like a balloon, my love
With silver stars festooned, my love Where clouds of silk float by, my love Up in the heavenly sky, my love And each cloud is a bed, my love Where angels rest their heads, my love And when we say goodbye, my love They'll lift you up on high, my love
They'll place you on a cloud, my love
Wrapped in a soft warm shroud, my love And stars will light your way, my love Along the Milky Way, my love
And you shall dream sweet dreams, my love Be bathed in white moonbeams, my love Together in our hearts, my love
And there you'll lie in peace, my love Our prayers for you won't cease, my love And on that cloud you'll rest, my love
With Christ, forever blessed, my love written by Peter Bourne
If you would like your birthday included in the magazine please let me know. Phil Davison, Editor
+ We commend to God's loving care +
+ May they rest in Peace and rise in Glory +
Nathan Taylor
Artie Cole
In the absence of the weekly “Pews news”, a prayer list has been created and you are kindly asked to hold the following in your Thoughts and Prayers.
May God grant healing, wholeness and comfort to all who suffer, and give strength and compassion to all who care for them.
We commend to the loving mercy of God, Anne Tyler and pray for those who mourn them.
You may find it useful to know the deadlines for the next edition, in order to plan ahead: Copy date for the July/August magazine 23rd June 2026
Please e-mail your contributions to Phil at [email protected]
Silence and stillness, times for reflection and meditation, and a moment within each day to offer our prayers and concerns to God for ourselves, our community and our world are vital if we are to sustain our busy and active lives. Try to find space at the same time each day to be with God by yourself, just for five or ten minutes. You might like to follow this simple daily routine:
PRAYERS
• Anything that has struck you from the reading
BIBLE READINGS
• Look up one or both Bible readings. • Silence and quietness
• For your own family and friends and It is good sometimes to know that your own concerns
• For our neighbourhood and world • From the lists within these pages • Prayer of week
• The Lord's Prayer when you pray, especially if you are on your own, others in the parish are praying with you. If you pray at 8.30am, 5pm or 8pm then others will almost certainly be praying too.
June Sunday Prayers
Sunday 7 June - First Sunday after Trinity
O God, the strength of all them that put their trust in thee, mercifully accept our prayers; and because through the weakness of our mortal nature we can do no good thing without thee, grant us the help of thy grace, that in keeping of thy commandments we may please thee both in will and deed; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Sunday 14 June - Second Sunday after Trinity
O Lord, who never failest to help and govern them whom thou dost bring up in thy steadfast fear and love; Keep us, we beseech thee, under the protection of thy good providence, and make us to have a perpetual fear and love of thy holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
O Lord, we beseech thee mercifully to hear us; and grant that we, to whom thou hast given a hearty desire to pray, may by thy mighty aid be defended and comforted in all dangers and adversities; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Sunday 28 June
O God, the protector of all that trust in thee, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy; increase and multiply upon us thy mercy; that, thou being our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we finally lose not the things eternal. Grant this, O heavenly Father, for Jesus Christ's sake our Lord.
Readings are now taken from the Common Worship Lectionary and are the same readings used by the clergy in their Daily Prayer.
Mon I
June 2026
The Visit of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Elizabeth
Sun 14 The Second Sunday after Trinity
Acts 13.14b-26 or Galatians 3.23-end Luke 1.57-66, 80
Psalm 89.1-4, 15- 18* Matthew 10.40- end
Psalm 125
Matthew 16.13-19
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A SAINTLY DISCOVERY!
Soon after arriving at St. Mary's almost twenty years ago, I began running to the vicarage on a Thursday, to share in Morning Prayer at 8.30, and have carried on doing so, whenever I could, until Debbie left. By then there was no more running as we met via Zoom! We followed the Lectionary for Bible readings, Psalms and Prayers, and note which Saint's day is being observed. Some died a very long time ago, so I decided to find which was the first saint recorded in the Lectionary.
Clement it was, who died about 100 AD! The only other Clement that I remember was Clement Attlee who replaced Churchill after WW 2, which made my mother weep.
He was a Bishop of Rome, Pope and martyr and was true to his name, which means 'mild, gentle, kind and merciful'. In about 96 AD he wrote an Epistle to the Corinthians, which was a witness to the function and authority of the ministers of the Christian church. It also showed for the first time a Bishop of Rome intervening effectively in the affair of another church, and provides evidence for the residence and martyrdom of Peter and Paul at Rome. At some point, Clement was exiled to the Crimea for the skill and extent of his apostolic activities in Rome.
While in exile he was forced to work in the mines; he opened a miraculous supply of water, and preached to such good effect that again he made so many conversions that seventy-five church were needed! Could that happen now?!
He was killed by being thrown into the sea with an anchor round his neck; it was said that angels made him a tomb on the sea-bed, which was uncovered once a year when the tide was exceptionally low. That is not the end! Seven centuries later, the missionary brothers Cyril and Methodius, apostles of the Slav countries, 'miraculously recovered', so they said, Clement's body, piece by piece, together with the anchor! People must have believed them, as the relics were taken to Rome in 868, and were buried in the first church of San Clemente.
His usual emblem in art is an anchor; sometimes he is shown with a tiara, as the Pope's triple crown was called, and a cross with three branches. Representations of him can be seen in Chartres, Cologne and Bohemia ... and, one on a painted screen in East Anglia. The most famous of the forty-three churches dedicated to him in England is St Clement Dane in London, referred to in the Nursery Rhyme 'Oranges and Lemons', if you remember! Clement is also patron of the Guild of the Glorious and Undivided Trinity of London, that is, Trinity House, the
authority responsible for lighthouses and lightships.
Clement's Feast Day in the West, is 23rd November, a day later in the East.
I found Clement's life-story very interesting, so I may be tempted to make another saintly discovery!
St.Mary's Church, Addington Come and join us for a Community LITTER PICK Saturday 20th June
Meet at 10am outside The Kingsmen Forestdale Centre
Bags, picking sticks and disposable gloves provided
An unforgettable day at Abbey Road.
As an active member of Rock Choir, I attend a weekly Thursday morning session at Christ Church, Purley with my neighbour Cherrill. We sing from Ilam until 12.30 every week except in school holidays. There are between 60 and 70 members, divided into base, lower alto (me), upper alto and soprano (Cherrill). Our leader Valerie teaches several other choirs locally and in London. Rock Choir is a national 'institution' and every choir across the country will be singing the same songs. So, when I go off to Devon for my week's holiday, I can go with my sister-in-law to her choir session.
I must emphasise that all the Rock Choir leaders are very gifted singers and musicians which is important as they have to teach all the vocal parts and play music to a high standard.
This year, on Sunday 26th April our choir went to Abbey Road Recording Studios in St. Johns Wood. The great day arrived, as did the London Marathon, so public transport was something of a challenge. In all we numbered about 150, with members from other choirs, and assembled outside the studios.
Once inside, we were instantly aware of how deceptively large the three studios are. We divided into our four vocal sections and donned our headphones (cans, as we say in the trade!) and discarded our song sheets! After various introductions, our pianist Joshua got us going with Valerie conducting and encouraging. During the following two hours we recorded three songs: - 'Somewhere only we know' recorded by Lily Allen in 2013, 'Someone You Loved' (Lewis Capaldi), and lastly, a well known oldie 'A Little Respect'. Each song was recorded until the Music Director in the sound booth was satisfied.
Afterwards, we gathered on the Studio steps for a photo before having a look around the tiny Abbey Road Shop - I managed to resist the many varied items for sale except for 2 ‘Abbey Road' plectrums.
Sadly we were not allowed to take photos on the famous zebra crossing because of the traffic accidents on the busy road. However, it was a truly wonderful experience for us Rockies, never to be forgotten.
NB. The Abbey Road Studios first opened in 1931 with Sir Edward Elgar conducting 'Land of Hope and Glory' attended by major celebrities of the day. Since then, anyone who is anyone has recorded there, orchestras and Rock bands alike. Today theme tunes for films are still being recorded there and it has continued to develop technically. It is in constant use by people from all over the world.
Your Worth
Whilst staying with my sister in Derbyshire recently I heard a thought-provoking sermon given by the vicar at her local church. It began with him taking a £20 note from his pocket and holding up to the congregation. "Who would like to have this new, crisp, clean £20 note?" he asked. Everyone raised their hands. He continued, “Before I give it to sometime I'm just going to do something to it.” He then proceeded to scrunch up the pristine note into a tight crumpled ball in his hand, after which he opened it out and then held it up again. "Who wants it now?" he asked. Once again all the hands went up. Before I finally give it away I'm just going to do one more thing to it." He dropped it and trod all over it with the sole of his shoe, grinding it into the floor until it was very dirty. He picked it up and showed it to us once more. "Does anyone still want it?" he asked. Again, everyone raised their hand. "My friends,” the vicar continued, "you have all learnt a valuable lesson. No matter what I did to this money you still wanted it because it didn't decrease in value. It was still worth £20. Many times in our lives we are crumpled and crushed, dropped and ground into the dirt because of things we've said or done that didn't meet other's approval. It may leave us feeling worthless and unwanted, but no matter what anyone says or does to hurt you, you will never lose your worth in God's eyes. To Him, dirty or clean, crumpled or creased, you are still priceless."
Peter Bourne
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Early on in 2025 I managed to achieve 100 blood donations for the NHS. Because of this the Blood and Transplant people aim to recognise all such people by holding a Donor Recognition Ceremony and I was duly invited on Friday 27th March to the Millenium Gloucester Hotel in South Kensington for the occasion. I was able to take a guest so my son Matthew came with me, having benefitted from a blood transfusion when he was so seriously ill with heart problems. The event was in the afternoon and we duly arrived at the hotel before 2.00pm to join the great queue of people before we went in and again queued for our goodie bags. These contained a certificate, medal and badge. We then participated in the refreshments of sandwiches and tea/coffee. We then sat down and waited for the event to begin. We estimated there were about 200 people present.
The host for the afternoon was the Regional Community Engagement Manager, Beth Cross, who proceeded to introduce the speakers. The first person who spoke of how his family had benefitted was a father whose baby daughter had been diagnosed with two rare forms of cancer and had needed blood transfusions. They had helped prolong her life briefly but sadly she died as the cancer was not operable. The second person to speak was a young lady who had suffered from Sickle Cell disease and needed regular blood transfusions to help combat the pain of this disease. She spoke with biblical references to the parable of Jesus and the woman touching his clothes and being healed and of how she had been helped to live her life with less pain and worry about Sickle Cell. The third person to speak was someone who had received a heart transplant and was obviously very grateful for that.
All the speakers spoke movingly about how they had been helped, thanking all who had given their blood.
After this, there was a 'roll call' with everyone's names on the screen, about 10 at a time, and Ms Cross called out the names, one by one, and that person stood up for all to see! She had some interesting names to pronounce and had a little difficulty with 'Bowyer' but got there in the end! One person had given 250 blood/platelet donations and had started when he was 22 years old. We did start to try and work out how old he is now but, as Matthew said, it felt like a school maths test and we gave up!
It was good to be recognised but I realised that's not why I give my blood - I've been doing it over the years with the thought that many of my nearest and dearest couldn't give blood for whatever reason and as I could, what was stopping me – it really doesn't hurt and it's a chance to sit down for about an hour! I also thought about how the system has changed since I first started giving my blood and it's so much quicker now that there is an appointment system.
If you are interested in giving your blood you could ask me about it or go to the website - blood.co.uk
Specialist Solicitor with over 35 years experience
Like any club or organisation Spring Park Shirley Bowls Club attracts members from a wide and diverse range of skilled and professional backgrounds. Whilst most of our members are no longer working, we are able and indeed more than happy to accommodate members who are still in full or part time employment with our Wednesday evening, Saturday morning and first Sunday in the month sessions.
In addition to their lawn bowling our members have a variety of other interests and past times. Ranging from other sports (golf, badminton, table tennis etc), gardening, a season ticket to watch the local (or in some cases not so local) football team, singing in a choir, volunteering with local community and charity groups or giving guided walks around London.
One of our members, Dave Elkins, has recently taken the opportunity to combine two of his hobbies (lawn bowls at SPSBC and model railways with Beckenham and West Wickham Model Railway Club). Last season he hit upon the idea of incorporating the bowls clubhouse and green into one of their N gauge layouts. Over the years the clubhouse and green has been photographed from every conceivable angle (including from the air by drone) but as far as we know it had never been captured in miniature.
For those unfamiliar with railway modelling there are a number of different gauges (scales). A lot of clubs tend to model in the more popu- lar and readily available O, OO, HO or N gauges. N gauge (1:160 scale) is one of the smallest with T gauge (1:480) being the smallest and G gauge (1:22.5) being the largest. Some clubs will produce buildings, locomotives and rolling stock for their layouts from scratch materials. After photographing, carefully measuring and surveying the clubhouse and green, drawings were produced and work began on reproducing the same in miniature detail. Over the winter months our members have received regular updates on the progress being made and as you can see from the recent photo (of work in progress) the clubhouse with its large oak tree is instantly recognisable.
When the layout is finally completed (hopefully in the coming weeks) it will be exhibited at shows and exhibitions around the South East and wherever it goes so will part of our club, at least in miniature. For more information on viewing the model or on Beckenham and West Wickham Model Railway Club you should contact Greg on 07545 469610.
Alternatively, if you want to experience the real thing, we are open every weekday afternoon 2pm-5pm, Wednesday evenings 6.30pm- 8.00pm, Saturday mornings 10am-12pm and on the first Sunday every month 2pm -5pm. Beginners are very welcome and all equipment is supplied as is coaching. If you would like to know more, please contact Chris on 07518059127, email [email protected] or visit www.springparkshirleybowlingclub.co.uk.
The St Mary's Fundraising Committee is Launching the Cookbook and we need your help time
Submit your favourite recipe & make a donation of £5.00 Between Sunday 10 May & Sunday 6 September
Scan here for information on how to submit your recipe and make donation or Complete form available from the Events Committee
Thanks to everyone who came to church this morning in their PJ's to raise money for our church hall project.
We collected over £180 and had some fun!
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Following on from Christopher Parker's recent articles about the English language.... As you read this story see how many hidden words and phrases you can find relating to English as a language, including grammar, spelling and punctuation. Some are obvious, like ‘consonant' and 'colon,' but others are less easy to find as they are hidden in other words while others sound correct but aren't spelt as they should be. I think you'll be surprised. There are over 50 to find. Good luck.
An 'English' Marriage
A consonant walks into a bar and sits down next to a vowelly girl. "She introduces herself as Phenicia.
"Hi Phen" he says. "I'll alphabet you've never been here before."
"Of cursive I have," she replies. “I come here all the time. "For me, it's parse for the course."
The consonant remains stationery, enveloped by the vowelly girl's letter-perfect charm.
“Here's a cute joke,” he states declarative-ly. “Up at the North Pole St. Nicholas is the main Clause. His wife is a relative Clause. His chil- dren are the dependent Clauses. Their Dutch uncle is a restrictive Clause. Santa's elves are subordinate Clauses. As a group, they're all well-noun Clauses."
Then he lays on some more dashes of humour: "Have you heard about the fellow that had half his colon removed? He walked around with a semi-colon."
"Are you prepositioning me?" said the vowelly girl.
"I won't be indirect. You are the object of my preposition. Your beauty phrase my nerves. Won't you come to my place for a o-ordinating conjunction?"
"I don't want to be diacritical of you, but you're such a boldfaced character!" replies the vowelly girl. "Do I have to spell it out to you, or are you just plain comma-tose? I'm not your type so get off my case!" Despite his past perfect, he is, at present tense.
"Puh-leeze, gag me with a spoonerism!" she objects, "As my Grammar and other correlatives used to say, your mind is in the guttural. I resent your umlautish behaviour. You should know what the wages of syntax are. I nominative absolutely decline to conjugate with you for sure!"
"You get high quotation marks for that one," he smiles, “even if I think you're in a rather subjunctive mood about all this. I so admire 26
your figure of speech that I would like to predicate my life to you." So he gets himself into an indicative mood and says, "It would be appreciated by me if you would be married to me."
"Are you being passive aggressive?" she asks interrogatively.
"No, I'm speaking in the active voice. Please don't have a vowel movement about this. I simile want to say, 'Metaphors be with you!' I would never want to change you and become a misplaced modifier. It's imperative that you understand that I'm very, very font of you and want us to spend infinitive together.
"That's quite a complement,” she blushes — and gives him appositive response.
At the ceremony they exchange wedding vowels about the compound subject of marriage. Finally, they say, "I do," which is actually one of the longest and most complex sentences...a run-on sentence, actually...one that we all hope won't turn out to be a sentence fragment.
Then the minister diagrams that sentence and says, "I now pronouns you consonant and vowel.”
They kiss each other on the ellipsis and whisper to each other, "I love you, noun and forever."
Throughout their marriage their structure is perfectly parallel and their verbs never disagree with their subjects.
After many a linking verb, comma splice and interjection they conceive the perfect parent thesis. Then come some missing periods and powerful contractions, and into this world is born their beautiful little boy. They know it is a boy because of its dangling participle.
**How did you get on? Answers on page 36
Hilary's Reading Group
The group will meet at Lindsay's on Wednesday 1st July at 8.00pm to discuss
The Best of Intentions by Caroline Scott
The Manor of Addington, Part 8: The Leigh Family's Decline, by Dr. Christopher J. Parker
Following on from Parts 6 & 7 about the ascendancy of the Leigh family, it was almost inevitable that at some stage there would be a decline in their fortunes, if not monetarily, certainly in their influence. In Part 8 I will address this decline. My principal sources are www.british- history.ac.uk, specifically, 'Parishes: Addington', in A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 4, ed. H E Malden (London, 1912), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/surrey/vol4/pp164- 168 [accessed 5 January 2025]; Daniel Lysons, 'Addington', in The Environs of London: Volume I, County of Surrey (London, 1792), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/london-environs/voll/ppl -10 [accessed 21 February 2025]; 'Addington's ancient church has a place in nation's history', David Morgan, Inside Croydon, Posted on January 24, 2021 https://insidecroydon.com/2021/01/24/addingtonsancient-church-has-a-place-in-nations-history/ [accessed 17 February 2025]; https://ancestors.familysearch.org; https://www.wikitree.com; https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org; 'Saint Mary the Blessed Virgin, Addington, A Walk Around the Church 2024', text based on an earlier version by Pat Tongue (2000), revised and illustrated by Edward Forman (2020), with advice from Croydon Borough archivist Lindsay Ould, St Mary the Blessed Virgin, Addington; Gower, G., Notices of the Family of Leigh of Addington (London: Wyman, 1878); Warren, F., Addington, A History (Chichester: Phillimore & Co. Ltd., 1984); and https://gw.geneanet.org/. However, other sources were examined.
We left the story of the Leighs on a high, following the very successful career of Sir Francis Leigh. Francis passed away on 13 December 1644 [some sources state 17th November 1644] and was buried at Addington on 17 December 1644. His natural successor as Lord of the Manor of Addington and Thorpe and other sundry estates was his eldest son by his first wife, Woolley Leigh. However, strangely, Francis had left his 'Mansion House, woods and parks of Addington to his son William Leigh'. William was the second son of Francis by his second wife, Christian, and neither William, nor his children, were in the direct line of descent so far as Addington was concerned. Whilst Woolley Leigh's life has not been documented (I imagine because his father was the Lord of the Manor almost up until his own death and so Woolley would have been very much in his father's shadow), it is known
that Woolley had an obsession with gambling, and may be this was Francis' way of preventing his son squandering the family inheritance. Unfortunately, Woolley died on the 28 December 1644, 15 days later [41 days if you believe some sources). Indeed, had Woolley not have married and had no issue, the estate would have probably gone to his half -brother William. However, it is a matter of record that Woolley married Elizabeth Hare on 20 February 1638, who was a daughter of Sir John Hare of Stow Bardolph, and after the death of Woolley, she remarried a Sir John Lowther of Lowther. Fortunately, Woolley and Elizabeth had started a family, and they had had three children: John, who had died young; Jane, who married a Sir John Lowther, a Knight of Shire for Cumberland; and Thomas, who was the eldest son and his heir. Curiously, in some genealogies the aforementioned Sir John Lowther married Elizabeth Leigh following the death of her first husband, Francis! However, multiple Lowthers named John existed in the same generation, which is the root of the confusion.
Sir Thomas Leigh (1639-77), baptised on 4 November 1639, was just 5 years old when his grandfather and father died. As a minor he could not formally be the Lord of the Manor until he came of age. One assumes that either his mother or his half-brother acted as his guardian and trustee. Not much has been recorded about him other than that he married Hannah Rolfe, the daughter and heir of Anthony Rolfe of Tuttington. However, at age 21, at the coronation of Charles II in 1661, according to his tenure, Thomas made a mess of pottage called Diligrout and brought it to the king at his table as he was ordered by the court of claims. The king accepted the service, but did not taste of it. Apparently, Thomas was knighted on the same day and entered into his inheritance. Thomas' youngest son, also called Thomas, died after falling from a horse. It seems alcohol may have been a contributing factor. Thomas' second son, called Woolley, born 1664, aged 40, married Mary, daughter of Mr Hunt of Hevingham, Norfolk. Thomas (Jnr.) died there in 1715. Thomas and Mary had one son, also Thomas, and two daughters, Mary and Anne. Thomas, their grandfather died in 1677, and was succeeded by his son John.
Sir John Leigh (1660-91) was born on the 8 August 1660. He married on 28 January 1678 Catherine Barton, daughter of John Barton, a serjeant-at -law. There are few historic records of John's activities, apart from him attending the coronation of James II in 1685, where he presented his dish of 'dillygrout' as custom demanded, and was knighted the same day. John
and Catherine had produced an heir on 23 February 1681, which they also named John. Sir John Leigh died sometime between 2 September 1690 (the date of his will) and 17 March 1692, when his will was proved, and was succeeded by his son. However, his son was just 10 and the will stipulated that a Christopher Smith, of Clifford's Inn, London, was appointed guardian, because the testator was anxious that the manors and estates should remain within the family, even if the present heir should die without issue. In this case, his property should revert to his brother, Wolley Leigh, with the remainder to Sir Francis Leigh of Tring, Hertfordshire. They had a common ancestor in Sir Francis Leigh of Addington, who had married twice. Sir John Leigh was a child of the first marriage, and Sir Francis Leigh of Tring had descended from the other. However, John and Catherine's son, John, did make it to maturity under the care of his mother and the guardianship of the aforementioned Christopher Smith. Indeed, after the death of John, Catherine appears to have married Christopher Smith and later a William Walsham.
Sir John Leigh (1681-1737) of Addington and later of Bromley was born on 23 February 1681. He married on 21 March 1699 Elizabeth Lennard, daughter of Sir Stephen Lennard, who resided at Wickham Court down the road in West Wickham. On St. George's Day 1702 (23 April), John presented the ubiquitous 'dilligrout' to Queen Anne on her coronation, as required by the terms of the tenure of the manor. John and Elizabeth had three children: Francis (1702-1731, who died unmarried) and Elizabeth Katherine (born 1704, but died in 1705). The birth of their third child, Dorothy, in 1707, ended in tragedy with the death of both mother and child. They were buried together at Addington on the 25 April 1707.
Francis Leigh, son and heir of Sir John Leigh, attained his majority on 27 June 1723. His father's health, both body and mind, had deteriorated since the death of Lady Elizabeth to such an extent that Francis decided to assume control of the family estates himself, and he continued to do so until his own death in 1731.
Many years after Elizabeth died in 1707, the ailing Sir John remarried on 16 May 1733 Elizabeth Vade, daughter of William Vade, but there was no issue. This marriage was mired in controversy and allegations of skulduggery. John Vade's father, William, had been an apothecary from Bromley. Among many wealthy clients whom he was treating was Sir John Leigh at Addington, working alongside a Mr Douglas, a London surgeon of
the day. Sir John became dependant on Vade, not only as his medical attendant, but as one of his property management advisers. Vade was aware that Sir John was the last surviving male representative of the Addington branch of the Leigh family. It seems Sir John trusted him implicitly, and Vade persuaded Sir John, a sickly 55-year-old, to marry Vade's teenaged daughter, Elizabeth.
On 16 May 1733, the ceremony went ahead and was recorded in the Fleet registers for legal but clandestine weddings, presided over by a Fleet parson. A Fleet parson was a disreputable clergyman who performed clandestine, irregular marriages in or around the Fleet Prison in London during the 17th and 18th centuries. The Fleet Prison was a London debtor's prison, founded in 1197, rebuilt several times, and notorious for its corruption and chaotic internal life. Fleet Prison was located in what is now the City of London, on the eastern bank of the (now-culverted) River Fleet, roughly where Farringdon Street meets Ludgate Hill, just south of Holborn Viaduct, and immediately north of Ludgate Circus. If you stand on Farringdon Street today, opposite the junction with Fleet Place, you are essentially on the footprint of the old prison. It held debtors, bankrupts, people imprisoned for contempt of court, and their families (who often lived with them). It was a profit-mak- ing institution: prisoners had to pay for food, lodging, and even fees for entering or leaving the prison. The area around it was known as the 'Rules of the Fleet' a semi-lawless district where debtors who could pay for the privilege lived outside the prison walls but still under its jurisdiction. It became a centre for clandestine marriages, and clergy often disgraced, unbeneficed, or imprisoned for debt — performed them. The Marriage Duty Act of 1695 penalised clergy who married couples without banns or licence. But clergy in the Fleet were unbeneficed (not holding a parish living), outside normal ecclesiastical jurisdiction, often imprisoned for debt, and therefore beyond the reach of church discipline. This legal loophole meant they could not be prosecuted effectively, so clandestine marriage business boomed. A Fleet marriage was a clandestine or irregular marriage performed inside the prison, in the prison chapel, in chambers or in taverns and marriage houses in the surrounding "Rules of the Fleet”. These marriages were legal (because they were performed by ordained clergy), cheap, quick, anonymous and required no banns, no licence, and no parental consent. By the 1740s, over half of all marriages in London were Fleet marriages. Only with the
Marriage Act of 1753 (Hardwicke's Act) was the practice finally suppressed.
John and Elizabeth's wedding was a private-some might say secret— affair. The ceremony took place in the private house of a Mr Keighton of Long Lane, London. This was almost certainly the Long Lane, Southwark (SEI), located near Bermondsey, which runs east-west between Borough High Street and Tower Bridge Road, close to Bermondsey Street, Guy's Hospital, and Borough Station, and known for having elegant 18th-centu- ry homes built in the early 1730s. The only people present were the couple, William Vade, Mr Douglas and the officiating priest. Despite the clandestine nature of the wedding, there seemed to be no legal irregularity in the marriage, for the couple returned to Addington to live in the manor house, along with William Vade and Elizabeth's sister. The event caused much gossip and concern amongst the local inhabitants, for many of them in the village were dependant on the 'big house' for their livelihood, and they were naturally worried about their future. However, life slipped back into its usual pattern until Elizabeth, the young bride, died on 27 January 1736. With Sir John not having any living descendants, it was obvious that when Sir John himself died there would be a change of administration. You will recall that Sir John's father's will stated that in the event of his son John not having any issue, the assets would revert to Sir John's father's brother, Wolley Leigh, with the remainder to Sir Francis Leigh of Tring, Hertfordshire. If that happened, any plans that William Vade had to gain control of the estates through his daughter's marriage to the Lord of the Manor would come to nought. However, Sir John lived for nearly two more years until 16 November 1737, when he died between 9 and 10pm. What happened next is worthy of a novel...
A MINI QUIZ - A NONET OF SIMONS!
When Frank and I were on a tour of holy and interesting sites in and around Durham, our guide was a retired member of the cathedral staff. Daily he shared his knowledge of places and people, (some would call it 'gossip') but one evening, as we began the return journey to the student rooms that we were borrowing, he said, "Right, it's your turn to work. The New Testament mentions nine men called Simon. Let me know before the evening Prayer time how many you can find.
That is your challenge too! Can you quote their chapter and verse?
We have now been walking every Wednesday for 14 years!! (except during Covid).
Recently Liz who started walking at the very beginning received her 350 walks badge. Well done Liz, We welcome newcomers and are a very friendly group. We often have refreshments either half way round or at the end. We all support each other and are happy for your company, whether you can only come occasionally or nearly every time.
walks
A consonant walks into a bar and sits down next to a vowelly girl. "She introduces herself as Phenicia.
"Hi Phen" he says. "I'll alphabet you've never been here before."
"Of cursive I have,” she replies. “I come here all the time. “For me, it's parse for the course."
The consonant remains stationery, enveloped by the vowelly girl's letter- perfect charm.
"Here's a cute joke," he states declarative-ly. "Up at the North Pole St. Nicholas is the main Clause. His wife is a relative Clause. His children are the dependent Clauses. Their Dutch uncle is a restrictive Clause. Santa's elves are subordinate Clauses. As a group, they're all well-noun Clauses.”
Then he lays on some more dashes of humour: “Have you heard about the fellow that had half his colon removed? He walked around with a semi-colon." "Are you prepositioning me?" said the vowelly girl.
"I won't be indirect. You are the object of my preposition. Your beauty phrase my nerves. Won't you come to my place for a co-ordinating conjunc- tion?"
"I don't want to be diacritical of you, but you're such a boldfaced charac- ter!" replies the vowelly girl. "Do I have to spell it out to you, or are you just plain comma-tose? I'm not your type so get off my case!"
Despite his past perfect, he is, at present tense.
"Puh-leeze, gag me with a spoonerism!" she objects, "As my Grammar and other correlatives used to say, your mind is in the guttural. I resent your um- lautish behaviour. You should know what the wages of syntax are. I nomina- tive absolutely decline to conjugate with you for sure!"
"You get high quotation marks for that one," he smiles, "even if I think you're in a rather subjunctive mood about all this. I so admire your figure of speech that I would like to predicate my life to you.” So he gets himself into an indicative mood and says, "It would be appreciated by me if you would be married to me."
"Are you being passive aggressive?" she asks interrogatively.
"No, I'm speaking in the active voice. Please don't have a vowel movement about this. I simile want to say, ‘Metaphors be with you!' I would never want to change you and become a misplaced modifier. It's imperative that you un- derstand that I'm very, very font of you and want us to spend infinitive togeth- er."
"That's quite a complement,” she blushes — and gives him appositive response.
At the ceremony they exchange wedding vowels about the compound sub- ject of marriage. Finally, they say, "I do," which is actually one of the longest and most complex sentences...a run-on sentence, actually...one that we all 34
hope won't turn out to be a sentence fragment.
Then the minister diagrams that sentence and says, “I now pronouns you consonant and vowel."
They kiss each other on the ellipsis and whisper to each other, “I love you, noun and forever."
Throughout their marriage their structure is perfectly parallel and their verbs never disagree with their subjects.
After many a linking verb, comma splice and interjection they conceive the perfect parent thesis. Then come some missing periods and powerful contrac- tions, and into this world is born their beautiful little boy. They know it is a boy. because of its dangling participle.
NB. I won't explain the meaning of each answer but you can look them up on Goggle if you're interested.
J.B. SHAKESPEARE LTD
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Tel: 020 8688 1447 or 2003 and SELSDON/SANDERSTEAD 175 Selsdon Park Road, South Croydon CR2 8JJ. Tel: 020 8657 3616 - Chapel of Rest
24-hour service. Free parking in centre of Croydon. Funeral plans
UNION families
Christian care for St Mary's Mothers' Union
Wednesday 24th June 8.pm - Karen & Kevins holiday in Sri Lanka
Thursday 2nd July 2pm - Gaming
Wednesday 29th July 8pm- Martin Tanner on Al Thursday 6th August 2pm―TBA
Saturday 8th August 2pm - 150 Years of Mothers' Union - cream tea in the Hall
Wednesday 26th August 8pm - Harvest
Thursday 3rd September 2pm - Taste the Difference
Wednesday 30th September 8pm- Lyndsay talks about Shops in Croydon
Thursday 8th October 2pm - Fairtrade - Pass the Parcel
Wednesday 28th October 8pm - Fiona's Memories of Dance and Clare's Craft Sale
Wednesday 25th November 6.30pm - Fish and Chips at McDermotts Thursday 3rd December 2pm- Pre Christmas Tea Party
Wednesday 30th December 8pm- Christmas Party.
Meetings are at 2 The Paddocks unless otherwise stated. You are all welcome at our meetings.
Pat Heady
St Mary's Mothers' Union Branch Leader
Mary Sumner Prayer. 1876.
O, Lord let me touch as many lives as possible for thee; and every life I touch, do thou by thy spirit quicken, wether through the word I speak, the prayer I breathe, or the life I live. Amen.
In March the BBC broadcasted Songs of Praise, celebrating 150 years of the Mothers' Union. In our meetings we watched the programme and enjoyed singing along with the hymns. Afterwards we did a quiz. We had to identify the hymn from a line in it. Here is our quiz. How good are you?
I. 'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear.
2. There is only one God, there is only one King.
3. I will hold the Christlight for you.
4. Bring me flesh and bring me wine.
5. Someone's crying.
6. Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden.
7. Give me courage when the world is rough.
8. Get those children out of the muddy, muddy. 9. Sweet singing in the choir.
10. I was cold, I was naked.
Answers on page 47
Vine Food Bank your generous contributions - and please continue to leave items in the Food Box in the Church
Porch at any time.
Urgently needed at present are tinned Tuna, tinned Meat, and tinned Pasta and Pasta Sauces.
And always any non perishable Goods and Toiletries.
THANK YOU ALL
Many of you know that Peter Wilson, Lynn and Neil Clark and I travelled to Rome and Assisi in March this year on the Diocesan Pilgrimage.
The pilgrimage was organised by McCabe Travel and was offered to both Anglican and Roman Catholic Dioceses in Southwark. There were 50 pilgrims in our group and we were led by Bishop Christopher, Bishop Paul Hendricks, Auxillary Bishop for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Southwark, Dr Mark Oakley, Dean of Southwark Anglican Cathedral and Canon Michael Branch, Dean of St George's Roman Catholic Cathedral. About a month before we were due to go we were invited to Southwark RC Cathedral to meet others who were going as and get an overview of our accommodation and itinerary. One thing that I was pleased about was the opportunity for both Anglican Eucharists and Roman Catholic Masses during our trip and the ability to receive reserved bread from our priests where we would not be able to participate in the Catholic Masses in this way. When it was an Anglican mass, one of the Roman Catholic priests preached and our Anglican Clergy preached at the Catholic
Masses.
We met on a chilly March morning at Stansted Airport for an early afternoon flight to Rome. We had discovered that three fellow pilgrims were travelling from St Francis Monks Hill so we travelled in style in a minibus to the airport which saved us dragging our suitcases on trains and underground.
All the checking in was done for us and we were handed boarding cards and left to clear security and find our way to the plane. As we had been allocated seats on the plane, we sat with some of our fellow pilgrims and got to know them on the flight. In a couple of hours we landed in Rome, met our local guide, Georgio and transferred to our hotel by coach.
I had opted to share a room with one of our group, Katharine who is a Licensed Lay Pioneer in Southwark and I enjoyed getting to know her and sharing the Pilgrimage together. Hotel Pinewood was outside Rome to the North West and we had shared meals each evening followed by a time of reflection and prayers and a buffet breakfast each morning. On 38
our first day we were given headsets and receivers which allowed us to hear our guide, Georgio who acted as our tour guide to many of the churches and other venues we visited.
Our itinerary was very full, on the first morning we had breakfast at 7am and the coach left at 8am, we visited the churches of St John Lateran, St Mary Maggiore (where we saw the tomb of Pope Francis), drove past the Coliseum and Roman Forum and visited the Pantheon all before lunch at a local restaurant then a visit to the Anglican Centre in Rome where we were welcomed by Bishop Anthony Ball and celebrated our first Anglican Eucharist. After this we walked around Rome, stopping regularly for our Roman Catholic Priests who want to visit the many clerical clothing shops on the way and visited the Piazza Navona.
At the end of a long day, we boarded the coach back to the hotel, with a short time free for a cup of tea before our evening meal, time of reflection and prayer, finishing about 9.30 when many of us headed straight to bed. Unfortunately just before midnight, the fire alarm sounded and we had to evacuate our rooms and head outside the hotel. We think someone from another group had been smoking in their room and had set it off. After much confusion and several people still asleep in their rooms, we were allowed to go back to bed an hour later!
Each day was as full as the first as we left the hotel the next morning at 7.15 to find seats in St Peters Square to be part of the weekly papal audience, a great spectacle with a good view of Pope Leo travelling around the square in his Popemobile. After lunch we headed to visit the Catacombs of Domitilla and then finished with a visit to the Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls and a catholic mass.
On Thursday, we divided into three groups to visit the Vatican Museums, the first group entering through the security checks before 8am, I was in the second group so was able to drink a coffee before joining the queue. My group had a Vatican guide for the morning, Georgio and his son led the other two groups and many of us met up at a recommended restaurant near St Peter's for pizza or pasta for lunch. In the afternoon we went into St Peter's for a guided visit before heading back to the hotel for our evening meal and reflection time.
We also had to pack that evening as we were leaving Rome the following day to drive to Assisi
After breakfast at 6.30, we loaded our cases onto the coach and drove back into Rome for one more time to celebrate a private Catholic Mass in the crypt of the Basilica. It was a memorable moment to hear Mark Oakley, the Dean of Southwark preaching about St Peter just a few steps from the Chapel where St Peter's relics are kept.
Leaving Rome, we headed onto the Motorway and due to timings, stopped at a Motorway service station to buy and eat lunch. There was a good variety of food, served on china plates with proper knives and forks and glasses provided for water or soft drinks. We continued on our journey stopping at Santa Maria Degli Angel, This large church encloses a tiny church, the birthplace of the Franciscan order and the place where St Francis died. After our visit, we continued to Assisi to our hotel, Hotel Castello at the bottom of the hill. Once our rooms had been allocated and we had found them, we had a short time before walking up into Assisi to St Leonard's Church, an Anglican Church with beautiful wall paintings for an Anglican Eucharist and then some free time exploring before a welcome drink, dinner and time for reflection and prayer.
I hadn't realised before we travelled that 2026 is the 800th anniversary of the death of St Francis and that we were visiting at the time of great celebrations in the town. The relics of St Francis, usually concealed under the altar in the lower basilica have been placed on display for pilgrims to venerate so our itinerary on Saturday included a 7.30 international Holy Mass in Italian at 7.30am followed by joining the queue at 8.30 to view the relics, then meeting at local guide for a walking tour of the old town. We did insist that we needed to stop for a coffee in the main square before finishing the tour and finding ourselves some lunch. After lunch, we met at the Basilica of St Clare for a Catholic Mass and some of us also included a visit to St Maria Maggiore in Assisi where the remains of Carlos Acutis, a young football fan who died in 2006 and who was beatified in 2025 by Pope Leo. His body is encased in wax to preserve it and was very different from the skeletal bones of St Francis
which we saw in the same town. There were many young people visiting. Assisi at the time of our visit who seemed to relate to this young boy.
On our last day, Sunday, we had a free morning so could breakfast at a more reasonable time and explore Assisi on our own or in small groups. I walked up with two other readers and we browsed in the shops and sat in the square enjoying a cup of coffee and people watching. One thing that had disappointed me was the food, particularly in the Rome Hotel and the lack of variety for those of us who don't eat meat. I was able to find a small restaurant down a little alley that could provide me with a plate of truffle pasta and a chilled glass of wine which I savoured in the spring sunshine. In the afternoon, we were taken by minibus to the church of San Damiano where we celebrated our last Catholic Mass together and Bishop Rosemarie who was a fellow pilgrim preached on International Women's Day. After exploring the buildings where Francis had a vision to 'repair God's church', our minibuses took us up to the Hermitage on the slopes of Mount Subasio, the caves that Francis retreated to to reflect on his faith and purpose and walked through the woods where there are many sculptures expressing the saint and his life.
After one final dinner and time to share the highlights of our Pilgrimage, we packed our bags and left for Perugia Airport, only about 30 minutes from Assisi. Unfortunately we were delayed for about two hours due to fog at Stansted that morning and when we did finally get in the air, we descended straight through low cloud onto the runway and a slightly bumpy landing.
It was an amazing experience, very busy with not a lot of time to reflect on the amazing places we visited and realise their significance for the early church and the lives of St Francis and St Claire in Assisi.
Everyone in the group was very friendly and it was good to share meals and walk with new friends and get to know others better.
Lindsay
Photo I - Pope Leo at the weekly papal audience
Photo 2 - Pilgrims on our last night in Assisi
A Nonet of Simons - Answers.
Photo 3 - Basilica of St Francis in Assisi
I. Simon Peter. Matt. 4: v. 18. 2. Simon the Zealot. Matt. 10: v.4. 3. Simon a brother of Jesus. Matt. 13: v. 55.
4. Simon the Leper. Matt. 26: v. 6. 5. Simon of Cyrene, who carried Jesus's cross. Matt. 27: 32
6. Simon the Pharisee, who invited Jesus to a meal, where his feet were anointed with precious oil. Matt. 7: v. 40.
7. Simon the father of Judas Iscariot. John. 6: v 72. 8. Simon the Magician. Acts 8: v. 9.
9. Simon the leather worker, with whom Peter stayed. Acts 9: v. 43.
Here are the answers to quiz on Mothers' Union page
7. One more step along the road I go.
Eucharist Common Worship (Order One, in traditional language)
10.00am The Parish Eucharist and Junior Church
8.00am
6.30pm
Choral Evensong (4th Sunday of the month*)