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MONG the institutions of Bromley there is one which takes a very prominent, if not the foremost place, and that one is Bromley College, or, as it was originally called, Bishop Warner’s Hospital. AIt is notable alike for its antiquity, the original foundation dating back for more than 250 years, for the beauty of its structure and surroundings, and even more for the fact that it has continuously fulfilled, and still fulfils, the original purpose of its founder. There, in cloistered seclusion, but in close contact with the busy world of the High Street and the London Road, live forty widows of diocesan clergymen, each separately housed, and in part maintained, through the munificence of Bishop Warner and subsequent benefactors of the institution. Dr. John Warner, Bishop of Rochester, died in the twenty-ninth year of his bishopric, at the age of eighty-seven, on October 21st, 1666.1 A few weeks before his death he made a will by which he instructed his executors to provide out of his personal estate “ a Hospital or Almeshouse for twentie poore widowes of orthodox and loyall clergiemen, to be seated as near as conveniently may to the Cathedrall Church of Rochester.” By the terms of the will a preference was to be given to widows of clergy in the diocese of Rochester, but, failing a sufficient number of these, the hospital was to be available to clerical widows from any diocese. The will also stipulated that the office of chaplain should be held only by a member of Magdalen College, Oxford, the Bishop being himself a Magdalen man, and at one time Fellow of that College. The sum assigned to this purpose was £8,500. In order to carry out this generous and charitable design his executors (Sir Orlando Bridgeman, Lord Chief Justice; Sir Philip Warwick, Knt., Dr. Thomas Pierce, President of Magdalen, and Dr. John Lee, Archdeacon of Rochester) were directed to provide a suitable building, and, in addition to this capital sum, the testator further charged his private manor of Swayton, Lincolnshire, to the amount of £450 per annum, to supply a pension of £20 a year to each of the twenty widows, and a salary of £5 o a year to the Chaplain. It was not possible, owing to the cramped and confined conditions prevailing in the city of Rochester, to find a suitable site there, and therefore it was determined to erect the building at Bromley, where for so many centuries the Bishops of Rochester had possessed a palace, in which Warner himself had died. 1 The College commemorates Warner’s death on October 14th ; Archdeacon Tait’s investigations have established the 21st as the correct date. 169 *7 ° B r o m l e y , Kent By a deed in the possession of the Lee-Warner family, John Baynes, of London, Gent., conveys the land on which the College was erected to Sir Orlando Bridgeman and others. It is dated June 4th, 1669. The “ Buttings and Boundings,” or, in other words, the boundaries of the property, are precisely defined therein. A special Act of Parliament, passed in 1670, authorised the executors to build anywhere within the diocese, at their discretion, and as the Bishop’s will made no adequate provision for repairs, the executors, with the consent of the heir-at-law, raised an additional £5 per annum from the manor of Swayton, supplemented by a donation of £100 apiece from each of the executors, by which a fee-farm rent of £ 10 per annum was purchased, thus inaugurating the system of voluntary contributions which, from time to time, has been practised ever since, It is probable that the actual structure was begun immediately after the passage of the 1670 A c t; the actual date of its completion is not known. There is a tradition, not supported, however, by any documentary authority, that some part of the materials, especially the stone columns in the original cloister, were brought to Bromley from the ruins of the great Fire of London (1666). The original building consisted of one large quadrangle, with cloisters, which remains to-day almost as it was originally built. Two projecting wings in front serve as the houses of the chaplain and the treasurer. The chap lain’s house still fulfils its original purpose, but that of the treasurer has been long ago surrendered for the benefit of the College, and is let at a yearly rental as a private residence. The building is approached through a handsome wrought-iron gate, bearing the date 1666, supported by stone gate-posts surmounted by mitres. The style of the design, however, suggests to expert authorities that the gate is of the Early Georgian period, about 1720, to which the date of the founder’s will has been affixed. The entrance to the quadrangle itself is through a stone archway, over which are placed the arms of the founder impaled with those of his see, surmounted by a mitre, under which is the inscription : “ DEO ET ECCLESIAE. THIS COLLEGE FOR TWENTY POORE WIDOWES (OF ORTHODOXE AND LOYALL CLERGYMEN) AND A CHAPLIN WAS GIVEN BY JOHN WARNER LATE LD BISHOP OF ROCHESTER, 1666.” The archway leads into the cloisters, and abutting on the cloisters are the original twenty houses occupied by the beneficiaries of the bequest. They I /r<-•V^7« A' ;^ 'i < 7 i ief^A $/uMt1 ftmVMJL * 7 -’ if1 L . If hn mw, wftM/Mcw K :; " ; mm/Aej(m$ in c/t/n&riw ' \Zo. V^am(Jt>A.tf. 4/( f Aac £ ✓ %jlM0 ae/Uct I AccMjttAf cfcmiJiiM VJxfo A% ' w//t « ft, P W ? ■ ZC // & Mm 'ffjcyyi/Le Jfie/?,< M /£ MII l Mat fyncrthtCi t/WmiMw.x r 1k * :ii i ' y/lc ¥lA4l- Co*J-a^~^-£ #«- ^»L.U S^a/t^csy -Of-fX* ^ 4 ~ o / - / W Pt**4uvw ~e£ 4*ras) OsOcy*M*3 ^ 772T fr.H .Z*Os*£ ^%<_/3 ro 4 ,d *r+ j 73r»**^, a&'tyLyvf £fl.Ice-A /w n c^ £a^Ct, /^ c - 7*u^Cocr £ u>6-y ‘ cxa*i u2 7 7 L o** /^2.2.. ^ pmd-cA- /£u #__ (^r/x^c-rvoy auc/~ pAAt £?(n*c*x.c*£ * y ur^SC yw /-* * £ ajjyrYVyr+t-j •ft** 4{ %7Al. . 7Ao. /trY ?\ d /^ r &r>*J- tCi/txC- ri+A d~CLsysf\ 1 BROMLEY COLLEGE. The main entrance. BROMLEY COLLEGE. The first quadrangle. I t/t *4^ L\ . A c * + 4 &**!•*' V**- t o #1 ' prrrU, tr^ *rck.~* Bromley College *7 * are not exactly uniform, some being rather larger than others, but for the most part they consist of a hall, a sitting-room on the ground floor, a base ment kitchen, and two bedrooms on the first floor. Some of the occupants have constructed comfortable attics in the original roof space, thus enabling a daughter, or daughters, to live with their mother. On the east side of the original quadrangle was a small chapel. With the extension of the institution, however, this chapel was found to be insufficient and inconvenient, and was replaced by another which is described in its place in this chapter. The faculty for the demolition of the old chapel was granted by the Archbishop, and the new one was consecrated by Thomas Sprat, Bishop of Rochester, on October 30th, 1701. The total cost of the entire foundation, including presumably the charges on the Bishop’s Lincolnshire manor, could scarcely have been less than £10,000. _ The institution had not been long in existence before complaints were made by some of the widows that their pensions were not regularly distributed, and they claimed that such pensions with arrears ought to be paid to them by the existing holder of the Bishop’s manor o f Swayton, Mr. Lee-Warner. These complaints led to a lawsuit, the Grace Featley case, which was carried to the House of Lords, and of which it is now possible to give some account. In September 1925 an old chest was discovered in the College, which contained a mass of papers, most of them in a state of decomposition. Among these papers was the original Trust Deed, books of receipts from widows for their pensions, the agreement with John Baynes to buy the land, and a vellum deed and many legal papers connected with the Grace Featley case. It appears that the owner of Swayton Manor, Mr. Lee-Warner, had either refused to pay the widows’ pensions chargeable on the estate, or had fallen into serious arrears in payment. As a result the widows had incurred debts with the tradesmen of the town, who at last threatened to resort to legal action. Whereupon Mrs. Grace Featley assumed the role of the widows’ champion, and appealed to the Bishop of Rochester. But being herself subjected to pressure by one of her creditors, she secured in some way the services and support of a lawyer, William North, who threatened pro ceedings on behalf of thejwidows generally against Lee-Warner. Whereupon Lee-Warner came to Bromley, broke into Mrs. Featley’s house, threw her effects into the quadrangle, and installed a Mrs. Oliver in her place. North now took the case into Court, with the ultimate result, after an appeal, that Lee-Warner was compelled to reinstate Mrs. Featley, and to pay all arrears due to the widows. North also brought the matter before the Archbishop of Canterbury, who appointed a commission of inquiry. The inquisition, taken under this “ Commission of Charitable Uses,” March 28th, 1693, found that the terms of the Bishop’s will had, by this time, been duly executed with the exception that some arrears of pensions 172 B r o m l e y , Kent were still due. But the commissioners arrived at the conclusion that any flaws in administration were owing to the fact that no properly constituted trustees had been appointed for the inspection and administration of the charity. Consequently they enacted that the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of London, the Bishop of Rochester, the Judge of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, the Chancellor to the Bishop of Rochester, the Dean of St. Paul’s, and the Archdeacon of Rochester should be, in virtue of their office, trustees of the College, together with Sir Stephen Lennard, Sir John Shawe, and Sir John Morden, Barts.; Abraham Harrison and Philip Boddenham, Esqs., with full powers to make such orders and rules for the well government of the said College, and the due execution of the trust as to them should seem most meet and convenient. The holders of the various ecclesiastical offices above mentioned, as far as they still exist, continue to be the trustees of the College, together with other gentlemen elected by them, to the total number of eleven, no appoint ment having been made to replace the Judge o f the Prerogative Court when that office was abolished. For very many years a member of the Lee- Warner family has served as a non-official trustee. In 1735 a strong appeal for funds was issued in the form of a two leaved folio tract entitled The State of Bromley College in Kent, in which the writer urged that the money available for keeping the fabric in proper repair was altogether insufficient; that incumbents of the diocese of Roches ter, and indeed incumbents generally, seemed to have little realisation of the value of such an institution to themselves and their families. If only sufficient funds were forthcoming, the building might not only be put into proper repair, but extended so as to make provision for a larger number. The more generously benefactions were contributed from all dioceses, the greater the claims of all clerical widows to the benefits of the charity. It was long, however, before a response o f any importance was made to this appeal, and the College continued in a poor way. Some relief was afforded by an Act of Parliament, 1757, exempting the institution from the payment of taxes, but it was not till 1770 that the Rev. W. Hetherington of North Cray gave £2,000 for the benefit of widows, a bequest followed four years later by another £5,000 given by Dr. Zachaiy Pearce, Bishop of Rochester, for augmenting the yearly pensions of the widows and the stipend of the chaplain. In 1782 Mr. William Pearce, brother of the Bishop, left a contingent reversion of £12,000 to be applied to the extension of the institution, and in 1788 Mrs. Helen Bettenson of Chislehurst left £10,000 for the same purpose. As a consequence of these bequests a new quadrangle was begun for the accommodation of twenty more widows, and was completed in 1805. The new quadrangle is built on the same general plan as the original one, though rather wider. The two together form a connected and harmonious whole, breathing the very atmosphere of peace, contemplation, and retire- ^ /C'i/'Uc. fla il * 4 sj' f> 173 £ j 0 .airo rUran cupU~ as)/Zcdf»r t— /He j/A ~&r*L^/ce, £. /nT/itnrf^ asoUz *a ty/A/*/. ofp ft 17% . r <^ /f^A %*Af /3U~if7\ s/^^^ y j 2- /^ 2L ^ r __ t^ / f.^ , y.cr~*ALe, „__ y . * . X m -w ____ _ .. I <*—*£.} y*L^WaA^u*. . . _ •_ /“ V — fct^C ' /He Iftiri/r Layr/eh^SH., ttV'/b A*+£. Are, ^C~eoU~J /*rJ */- ' raA»^ vv) ^ SmA~ Ccr/'arfar^iee y-dao/zerf- a. -rutemdcv trt. .Sa-eue trt * 'y- y , , *• <9^cyj cv-irattj/ aS r£e Crfty<• ' X o ’)1 f~ f->w«r >y ^ yy/" A - /& . C f/ k -tf-1 a T^c^ U * t/fSf)aj}lhi>~tr> /Sr/^ - / ^ 2 ^7 • 3 6 j / / e c f Z m ^ / I/ vA i, ta O, V^cZ/Cueny, P tfc, S”'/rjC <^/\g^yyiCo ^ S (Jt-£ ] k t ~TllV lcAt CircSy, Pi e/C rUrtce/Ai*. etc**. s~*a£~r*3n. ~>u*ae /ir$£f $ ft R . y - 7 ? ‘-/6A'/\t~are£( Cr/,/*~ JJl*Z I Carl- 7Hl Short Account of BROMLEY COLLEGE TRUSTEES. Archbishop of Canterbury Bishop of London Lord Avebury Bishop of Rochester Sir Coles Child, Bart. Dean of St. Paul’s Capt. E. H. Lee-Warner Archdeacon of Rochester Sir Henry Lennard, Bart. Chancellor of Rochester A. C. Norman Esq. (Treas.) PATRONS. His Grace The Archbishop of Canterbury His Grace The Archbishop of York Sir T. H. Warren K.c.v.o. President of Magdalen College, Oxford. CHAPLAIN and SECRETARY. Canon Arthur Smythe Hichens, M.A.,B.D. by William Baxter. Bromley, Kent. August 1926. Price Cd. D r . J o h n W a r n e r , Bishop of Rochester. Born 1580. Died 1666. Buried in Rochester Cathedral. Bishop Warner suffered very much in the Great Rebellion. The above portrait from the College Chapel depicts his ascetic countenance chastened by suffering. Bromley College This charming old building, surrounded by beautiful chestnut, cedar, mulberry and other trees, and lawns, is the most interesting of the institutions in the town of Bromley in Kent, and is moreover the oldest and largest foundation in this country for the relief and honourable retirement of widows and daughters of clergymen of the Church of England. Similar foundations are generally attached to a Cathedral city, benefits being confined to widows of clergymen from that particular diocese, whereas, although here a preference is given to widows from the old diocese of Rochester, the benefits of Bromley College are not restricted to any diocese. ORIGIN. It was founded by Dr. John Warner, Bishop of Rochester who died on October 21st, 1666, in the 29th year of his consecration, and 87th year of his age. By his will, dated only five weeks before his death, he bequeathed £8,500 for the building of a " Hospitall or Almeshouse for twentie poore widowes (of orthodoxe and loyall clergymen), and a chaplin, to be seated as near as conveniently it may to the Cathedrall Church of Rochester.” To carry out this charitable design he directed his executors Sir Orlando Bridgeman Lord Keeper, Sir Philip Warwick Knt., Dr. Thomas Pierce, President of Magdalen College, Oxford, and Dr. John Lee, Archdeacon of Rochester, to raise a suitable building for the purpose, and further charged his Manor of Swayton, Lines., to the amount of £450 per annum, to provide yearly pensions of £ 2 0 for each of the widows, and <£50 for a chaplain. As no convenient spot could be found in the crowded area of the city of Rochester, it is not very surprising to find that Bromley was chosen as the site, (a ) for here, in his own Palace, the good Bishop breathed his last. (a) Sanction for this power was given by an Act of Parliament passed in 1670 Western Facade, FIRST BUILDINGS. A piece of land abutting upon the High Street, at the north end of the town, containing about four acres, was obtained from Mr. John Baynes cit. of London, gent, by agreement dated June 4th, 1669, and the building of an Institution, in accordance with the will, was probably begun in 1670, for a book of widows receipts, given to the Public Library by Mr. Last, bookseller of Bromley, and details from some papers found lately in a chest at The College (b ) , show that the widows were probably in residence in 1673, and certainly in 1674. This original building consists of the cloistered quadrangle situated nearest the High Street, around which are situated the first 20 houses, with a chapel in the centre of its east side. The west facade shows a noble archway, on which are seen the arms of the Founder and his See, and a dedicatory stone tablet, the whole being flanked by the Official residences of the Treasurer (c) , and the Chaplain, and approached by a broad pathway and steps, leading from a handsome wrought iron gateway— the main entrance from the High Street. The architect is unfortunately unknown, but certain facts seem to suggest that it may have been Sir Christopher Wren, the archi tect of Morden College, Blackheath, for the two buildings have several very strong points of resemblance, while Sir John Morden was, significantly, the first Treasurer of Bromley College. SUBSEQUENT BUILDINGS. Bromley College now consists of two quadrangles. This second or new one was built, east of the older foundation, and adding twenty more houses, at two periods, ten of the houses being completed by 1794 with Mrs. Helen Bettenson’s legacy of £10,000, and another ten houses with the legacy of £12,000 from Mr. Wm. Pearce, brother of Bishop Zachary Pearce; the whole being completed by 1805, forming together a second quadrangle which blends in style with the older one. (i) Sept. 1923—which contained a number of deeds, and papers in a decom posing state. These were examined by the writer, and a full list sent to the Trustees. They included, The purchase of the site, The original I rust Deed, Books of W idow’s Receipts for Pensions, etc. For full account see Bromley District Times Kith Oct., 1925. M The Treasurers have most generously never exercised their right to use their official residence, but given it up for the use of approved tenants, ’e rent going to the general funds. The Office has been filled, with the excep tion of 2 short periods, by a member of the Norman family o! Brorn y Common, since 1776 (117 years in all). Old Quadrangle. The College from the Air by Surrey Flying Service. North Lawn showing Sheppard College. t h e c h a p e l . This was inserted on the east side of the old Quadrangle and was probably of small dimensions, for, in 1701 a faculty (d ) was granted by the Archbishop for its demolition, and a new chapel was consecrated by Thomas Sprat, Bishop of Rochester on Oct., 30th of that year; its dimensions being 39ft long by 18ft wide.’ I his chapel was very dark and gloomy and soon, in its turn, became insufficient for the needs of the enlarged College. In 1863 therefore the chaplain, The Rev. H. C. Adams— author of schoolboy’s tales “ The Cherry Stones,” etc— collected £1806-2-6 for rebuilding the Chapel, which was carried out from the designs of Messrs. Waring and Blake, in Early Dec. style, producing a building better lit, by a clerestory, 56ft long by 20ft wide and 35ft high, with stalls for the widows, staff and visitors, eight windows (e ) filled with stained glass, representing scenes of female life from the Bible, and four blind windows exhibiting collections of coats of arms. On its walls hang portraits of Bishop John Warner, the Founder, and Bishop Zachary Pearce, also two memorial tablets, one to the Rev, James White, Chaplain from 1891— 1915, one of the Executors of General Gordon, the other to Mr. J. M. Holworthy, a Trustee for 25 years— by whose efforts a large amount was collected for repairs. SHEPPARD COLLEGE. This building, containing five houses, standing at the Eastern end of the beautiful North lawn, owes its existence to the fact that in 1840 Mrs. Sheppard, widow of Dr. Sheppard, Fellow of Magdalen Coll. Oxon. and sister of its famous President Dr. Routh, gave a sum of £ 7 ,6 5 0 for building and endowing five houses for daughters who had lived with their mothers in Bromley College. Having lived in the College herself, for many years, she was fully aware of the pathetic plight of some of these daughters, when obliged to turn out into the world on the death of their mothers at an advanced age, being themselves then old, and consequently without any qualifications to earn their living. In 1842 this benefactress made a further gift of £2,000, followed by another £2,000 for two out-pensions in 1843. (it) See Liber Muiiimentorum I. p. 129. (e) by Connor o f Birmingham. These daughters, besides a residence, receive £ 4 4 per annum and free medical attendance. The two out pensions of £ 3 0 each as stated above, were increased to five in 1907 by the gift of £3 ,0 0 0 by the Rev. D. Tait, Vicar of Bromley, and Dr. F. W. Joshua, executors of the late Mrs. Finnic of Malvern Wells, who left a large sum to be distributed in charity at their discretion, and to seven by a legacy from the Rev. H. A. Soames in 1921. The resident widows now receive pensions of £ 3 8 per annum except the five oldest, who have £ 4 4 given them. I he porter’s Lodge and carriage entrance way were provided in 1860 by money collected by the chaplain the Rev. IT C. Adams. In 1830 the piece of land east of the College, now a nursery garden, was in danger of being sold for building purposes, but by the efforts of the Treasurer, John Wells, Esq. and the Chaplain, the Rev. Ihos Scott, this, together with the picturesque cottage, was purchased from Mr. W m . Makepeace, thus ensuring the privacy and quietude of the College. GOVERNMENT. 1 rustees have been mentioned— These were appointed, under an Act of Queen Elizabeth dated 27th Oct, 1601, by the Commis sioners of Charitable Uses, in consequence of the non-payment of the Charity funds, and other troubles, arising from the action of the owner of the Manor whence the revenue came, causing a petition to be made to the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of Rochester. They promptly put the matter before the above named Commissioners, who, after a protracted Inquisition (/), on 28th March, 1693 decreed amongst other things that in future the proper government of the College must be ensured by the appointment of twelve Trustees, who were duly elected as follows. Seven, by virtue of their office for all time viz. Archbishop of Canterbury, Bishop of London, Bishop of Rochester. Judge of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury (r/). Chancellor to the Bishop of Rochester, Dean of St. Paul’s and Archdeacon of Rochester, the five others being Sir Stephen Lennard, Sir John Shaw, Sir John Morden, Barts., Abraham Harrison and Philip Boddenham, Esqrs. (/) Known as the •• Keatley Case as recited in a huge vellum found in the Chest already referred to. (?) The Office having lapsed, no fresh appointment was made, so there are now eleven Trustees. FINANCE. The Founder having made no provision for repairs, his Executors, by permission of the heir-at-law, charged the Manor of Swayton with an extra £ 5 per annum, but when later this was found to be insufficient, the Executors generously subscribed £100 each, and purchased a fee-farm, rent of £10 per annum. Even this did not meet the requirements, but subsequent bequests, and responses to solicitations for voluntary contributions, enabled the Trustees to meet their obligations almost down to the period of the Great War. Since 1914 however the cost of the upkeep has enormously increased, partly through the rise in price of materials and labour, and partly because the building, being old, requires more and more repair as time goes on, also the rates have practically doubled in late years, whereas the income remains stationary. To meet this state of things the Trustees were, some years ago, compelled to adopt one of two alternatives. (1) To suspend the election of new pensioners altogether. (2) To continue filling up vacancies on the understanding that ladies elected should have sufficient means to enable them to reside without pensions. The Trustees chose the second of these as the least objectionable. It will thus be seen that fresh funds are now urgently necessary, in order to carry out the object for which this beneficent institution was founded. Obviously £ 2 0 a year and a house were regarded as sufficient maintenance in the reign of Charles II, though such a sum would probably be represented by £100 a year to-day. The immediate need however is not the increase of the pensions but the provision of an extra endowment fund of about £30,000 in order that the building and grounds may be maintained in good repair, the claims of local taxation met (h), and all residents be in receipt of an income however small. In the past, private appeals for this ancient foundation have met with a gratifying response, and as no such appeal has been made for many years now, the Trustees venture to bring before all, into whose hands this pamphlet may come, the urgency of the situation at present, and the anxiety for the future, of so useful and necessary a charity. (h) The College was exempted from payment of Taxes by an Act of Parlia ment passed in 1757. BENEFACTIONS. (Other than those already mentioned). For Repairs. £ s 1666— Sir Orlando Bridgeman (Lord Keeper), yearly 10 0 1704—Dr. Thos. Plume, Archdeacon of Rochester, by will 100 0 1716—Dr. Thos. Tenison, Archbishop of Canterbury, by will 52 10 1737— Mr Clark, Archdeacon of Norwich 5 5 1757— Mr. Wilcoeks, for building East Wall 112 0 — Mrs. Swift, of Bromley, by will 10 0 1765—-Mrs. Wolfe (Mother of the General) 500 0 1767— Rev. A. Jephson, Rector of Crake, Durham, by will 2Q0 0 1768— Dr. Thos. Seeker, Archbishop of Canterbury, by will 500 0 1773— Earl of Thanet per Countess Dowager Gower 500 0 1784— Mrs. Rogers, by will 120 0 1793— Dr. John Thomas. Bishop of Rochester, Int. from 300 0 1821— Mrs. Goodwin of Huddleston, Yorks 500 0 -—Miss Jane Brooke of Norwich, Water Supply, etc. ... 230 0 1827— Magdalen College Oxon., for College Grove 20 0 1829— Geo. Norman, Esq., Treasurer (in his lifetime) 500 0 1838—Lord Farnborough 500 0 1854— Rev. J. T. B. Landon, Collected for Turret and Clock 126 0 1860- Peter Sutton, by will 100 .0 1861— Mrs. Green of Southampton, by will ... 100 0 1893— Rev. J. E. Newell, by will 1O00 0 1907— and since, sundry Trustees and others (donations) 1235 0 1921— Miss Catherine Crewe Beynon, by will 520 13 For Pensions. £ 1770— Rev. W. Hetherington of North Cray, (in his lifetime) 2,000 1774— Dr. Zachary Pearce, Bishop of Rochester (Widows and Chaplain) 5.000 1793—-Dr. John Thomas, Bishop of Rochester, (Widows then resident) 100 ' 1824— Mrs. Rose formerly in The College, by will 8.000 For Out-Pensions. £ 1823—Dr, Walker King. Bishop of Rochester, for 3 at £30 3,000 For Chaplains. 1774—Dr. Zachary Pearce, Bishop of Rochester (see Pensions) 1782— Mr. Wm. Pearce, brother of Dr. Zachary yearly ... 20 1787—Rev. Thos. Bagshaw Interest on ...... 200 For Medical Attendance. £ 1844—Sons of the Clergy Corporation, and Cholmondely Charities yearly 100 TREASURERS. 1695-1698 Sir John Morden 1776-1787 Janies Norman 1698-1719 Sir John Shaw 1788-1829 George Norman 1719- 1720 Rowland Tryon 1829-?1858 John Wells 1720- 1747 Wm. or Thos. Tryon 1855-?]860 Bp. Geo. Murray 1747-1768 Jones Raymond 1860-1881 Geo. Warde Norman 1768-1776 Peter Burrell 1882-1889 Chas. Loyd Norman 1889-present day Arc! mid Cameron Norman. CHAPLAINS. 1675 Thomas Leigh 1821 Thomas Scott 1683 Henry Dobson 1846 Charles Urquhart 1687 Thomas Goodwin 1846 Jas. Tim. B. Landon 1696 Thomas Brabourne? 1855 Henry Cadwallader Adams 1696 Harrington Bagshaw 1868 Mark D. French 1734 Thomas Bagshaw 1873 John Henry Worsley 1787 Wm. Partridge 1884 Walter Octavius Peile (Deputy for Price) 1789 Andrew Price 1890 Edgar F. C. Noott 1800 James J. Talman 1891 James White 1820 George Booth 1915 Willoughby Chase Parr 1820 Edw. G. A, Beckwith 1925 Arthur S. Hicbens ft Bromley College 'll ment, and the visitor is scarcely conscious that more than one hundred years divide one part of the structure from the other. In the course of the nineteenth century benefactions, testamentary and otherwise, were received by the College on such a considerable scale that it is only possible to make individual reference to the most important, the total sums thus contributed between 1821 and 1893 being about £30,000. Among these a donation by Miss Jane Brooke of Norwich in 1821 is worthy of special notice, for it was given to provide a water supply for the institution ; it has also provided a punning inscription, of which all traces have now disappeared : “ While round these College walls this water goes Forget we not the Brooke from whence it flows.” In 1824 a Mrs. Rose, at one time a pensioner in the College, who came into a fortune, left to it by will a sum of £8,000. About the same time, 1823, Dr. Walker King, Bishop of Rochester, left £3,000 in the 3 per cents, to provide a pension of £30 a year each to three non-resident widows. Other benefactions in the same period have made it possible to increase the widows’ pensions from the original £20 prescribed by Bishop Warner’s will to £38 in the case of all resident widows, except the five oldest who receive £44, this particular increase being the result of a benefaction from the Kev. J. E. Newell, a Vicar of Bromley. The present purchasing power of money, however, is so much less than it was that the increased pensions by no means represent their value at the original figure. No one can live to-day, rent-free, on £44 per annum, much less on £3 8. It has been necessary 3 make it a condition that every applicant for admission shall have some small private income. This, with the pension, free accommodation and free medical attendance, makes life at any rate possible, if not luxurious, for the pensioners.1 But by far the most important benefactions of the nineteenth century were those of Mrs. Sheppard for the building and endowment of Sheppard College, and the sums contributed personally or collected by Mr. Joseph M Holworthy of Bromley, and the Rev. J. E. Newell, for the purpose, originally of repairing, subsequently of completely rebuilding, the College chapel. In 1840 Mrs. Sheppard, widow of Dr. Thomas Sheppard, Fellow of Magdalen College, and sister of the famous president of that College, Dr. M. J. Routh, left a sum of £7,650 for the purpose of establishing what 1 At the time of writing (1927), the payment of pensions of £38 has been discon tinued in the case of those newly elected. Widows now elected are dependent on their private resources. The increased cost of rates and repairs have necessitated this step. Pensions will be resumed when the financial position improves. It is since this note was penned that an anonymous contribution of £30,000 has completely restored the financial fortunes of the College. 174 B r o m le y, Kent may be called a hostel in the grounds of the College for the daughters of widows, who, during the tenure of their mothers, had resided with them in the institution. The position of some of these ladies was a sad and pathetic one. On the death of their mothers, with whom perhaps they had resided for many years, they found themselves cast upon the world, without either the opportunities or the qualifications to make a living for themselves. It was to meet cases of this kind that Mrs. Sheppard resolved to build and endow, as an annexe to the College, and within the College grounds, an institution for pensioners’ daughters. The original gift was supplemented two years later by a further gift of £2,000 and in the following year, 1843, an additional sum of £2,000 was provided by Mrs. Sheppard in order to supply financial assistance in the form of out-pensions. The hostel which thus came into existence in 1840 is known as Shep pard College, and consists of a block of five houses in the north-east corner of the grounds, fronted by a lawn conspicuous for its cedar trees and a pro fusion of flowering shrubs. The College accommodates five maiden ladies, daughters of clergymen, who had previously resided with their mothers in the College proper. Each of them receives, in addition to a residence, £44 per annum and free medical attendance. Moreover, the two out- pensions of £30 provided by Mrs. Sheppard have been increased to five by the action of Archdeacon Tait of Rochester, and Dr. Joshua, as trustees for Mrs. Finnie, who, in 1907, left her fortune to these gentlemen to be used for charitable purposes at their discretion, and further increased to .seven by a bequest from Rev. H. A. Soames in 1921. Two inscriptions, one in Latin over the centre house of the building, and one in English, celebrate the munificence of the founder, and express its purpose. The latter inscription also commemorates the fact that' the first stone of the building was laid by Dr. George Murray, then Bishop of Rochester, and resident in Bromley Palace, on October 1st, 1840, His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury, William Howley, being at that time a trustee ; John Wells, Esq., being treasurer and trustee, and Thomas Scott, B.D., the chaplain. Among the daughters of residents in Bromley College, two may perhaps be signalised as of special interest: Miss Hildyard, who was one of the earliest teachers of Queen Victoria, by whom Miss Hildyard was presented with a residence in St. Katherine’s Hospital, Regent’s Park ; and Miss Mary Anne Gayton, who was the first to teach Mr. W. E. Gladstone his letters. This lady died in the enjoyment of the hospitality of Sheppard College in 1881, after a residence there extending over twenty-three years. Of the first and original chapel of the College nothing is known. It was replaced, as has been seen, in 1701. This new chapel,^constructed in 1 Sir John Morden was the first treasurer of Bromley College, and it is significant that when building his college at Blackheath he employed Sir Christopher Wren as his architect. Was Sir Christopher the architect of Bromley College ? /lu+t. Cu~£ aC*r-**-*~ 7+ f a^t<^ h V Che U. Cu CK*f>6+~C<^ J tTCiC *+«- *C SIf^l- /y'2_ut fllaS Ju. 4^c^7 A+rxy*t7il^ f * 7>r'yV\u^f Sarah and the angel. Eve and the serpent. Rahab and the spies. Moses and Pharaoh’s daughter. South Ruth and Naomi. Deborah triumphant. North side • side Nave. Rizpah watching the dead. Hannah praying. Nave. Elisha and the widow’s cruse. Solomon and the Queen o f Sheba. Esther and Ahasuerus. The son o f the Shunammite widow. 176 B r o m l e y , Kent Anna, the prophetess, and Simeon. The Nativity. South North The widow o f Nain. Christ with Mary and Martha. side side The widow’s mite. The washing o f Jesus’ feet by the Apse. Apse. woman which was a sinner. Wfao 1 On the chapel walls hang two portraits, the one of Bishop Warner, the other of Bishop Zachary Pearce. The portrait of the founder, by an unknown artist, supplied the place of an altar-piece in the original chapel. At the time of the construction of the new chapel the picture was removed to the chaplain’s lodge, where it remained until the chaplaincy of the Rev. Willoughby Parr, who has restored it to its appropriate place. The portrait itself, which is life-size, has been described by Mr. Philip Norman as “ a rather pathetic picture,” representing Warner at an advanced age, wearing a thin white moustache and an imperial, kneeling on a crimson cushion with gold tassels. His careworn, melancholy face perhaps reflects the experiences and sufferings of long ago, when, in the days of the Civil Wars and the Commonwealth, Warner was a wanderer and an exile, sadly contemplating the unquiet times which had deprived him of his office, had humbled episcopacy to the dust, and had brought Church and Monarchy to a common ruin. Two other portraits of Bishop Warner, somewhat similar in character, are in existence, the one at Walsingham Abbey, the seat of the Lee-Warners; the other in the President’s Lodge at Magdalen College, Oxford. The other portrait which hangs in the chapel of Bromley College is that of Bishop Zachary Pearce, a half-length by Edward Penny, 1768. Past benefactors to the College are still further commemorated by two mural tablets, one in honour of Mr. J. M. Holworthy, to whose efforts the chapel, in so large a degree, owes its existence, and one to the Rev. James White, one of the executors of General Gordon, and chaplain of the College from 1891 to 1915. *>. None of the sacred vessels belonging to the chapel are of any great antiquity. A chalice, dated 1784, was given by Anne Oare. A paten, dated 1797, was given by Anne Fawkes. There is an alms-dish of the same date, and a flagon of about 1857. The list of chaplains contains some noteworthy names. Among them the name of Bagshaw is conspicuous. The Rev. Harington Bagshaw became chaplain in 1696, and held the office, together with that of Vicar of Bromley, till his resignation in 1734. He was succeeded by his son, the Rev. Thomas Bagshaw, who, on the death of his father in 1739, became also Vicar of Bromley.5 He held the chaplaincy till his death in 1787. Thus, for only nine years short of a century, a Bagshaw ruled the College, and doubtless enjoyed the happiness which is derived from creating no history, for no record of any achievement of importance by the Bagshaws has come down to us, except that Thomas left £ zoo to increase the chaplain’s stipend. J h + i rt-Li^c/L ^-j rnc^e-^j 0 //^ - iriy crfiJ - ~^^-c 't? fT r ' S a / - £a^J-£l~ & ff-w m yt^/wQ,, t, 7?i.rTlvu^./^%, 3 •*-*-*- -j- < 1«£ JOHN WARNER (1581-1666), LORD BISHOP OF ROCHESTER 1637-1666, FOUNDER OF BROMLEY COLLEGE. From the oil painting in the College Chapel. 176] Bromley College 177 The rule of the Rev. Thomas Scott, who added to his ecclesiastical functions the duties and the dignities of a Justice of the Peace, is notable for something in the nature of a mutiny on the part of the ladies. A complaint was lodged with Mr. Lee-Warner against the arbitrary and meddlesome regulations of the chaplain, under which the pensioners were required to be within the College by 10 p.m., on pain of being locked out, and were also made liable to the forfeiture of their pension on such days as they did not attend chapel. It would be interesting to know what was the final result of this spirited resistance by the widows, but our materials only allow of an inference that a satisfactory arrangement or compromise was arrived at, for Scott continued to be chaplain for seventeen years after the incident, and it may be assumed, for want of records to the contrary, that peace and harmony prevailed. The chaplaincy of the Rev. James Landon (1846-55) was marked by the erection of the existing turret and clock,/a structural addition which 5 'mn-L/fi s~b was immediately followed by an era of extensions and alterations. The tenure of the Rev. H. C. Adams, extending over the thirteen years from 1855 to 1868, is notable for the erection of the porter’s lodg'ejm i860, for the so. repair of the old quadrangle, including the strengthening of the old chapel wall, and, in 1863, as has been seen, for the building of the existing chapel. The works, both of fiction and devotion, of Henry Cadwallader Adams have probably by now sunk into complete oblivion, but I can still recollect The Cherry Stones as being a part of the literary pabulum of my childish days, and the name of Adams, in those far-off times, was quite a household word. The memory of the Rev. James White, who was chaplain from 1891 to 1915, is still cherished with affection and respect by many of the older inhabitants of the town. Among many other useful services may be included the excellent article on the history of the College which he contributed to the Home Counties Magazine in 1899. From 1015 to 1925 the holder of the office of chaplain was the Rev. Willoughby^ Parr, distinguished alike by the urbanity of his manners, the / . c A c v y c - range of his culture, and the dignity, efficiency, and spirit of friendly com radeship with which he administered his trust. He himself, however, is inclined to rest his claims to fame mainly on the fact that he is the brother of Admiral Parr, for ever famous for his achievements in Arctic exploration. Since this chapter was written the Rev. Willoughby,'1?arr has resigned A A office, and Canon Arthur S. Hichens, the brother of the well-known novelist, was appointed his successor. L * r ’_'v /yu. by r+yg-c. Before his resignation Mr. Parr effected an important change in the conditions under which the chaplaincy was held. The stipulation of Bishop Warner’s will was that the chaplain of the College should have been at Magdalen College, Oxford. After much dis cussion and correspondence, it was agreed that if, after a certain fixed period, 12 i 78 B r o m l e y , Kent which might tun to five months, no Magdalen man could be found who was considered by the trustees to be suitable to undertake the duties of the office, the trustees should be allowed to nominate and elect to the chaplaincy, for that term only, a man from another house at their discretion. The plan was accepted by the Charity Commissioners, and made part of the constitution. The preference given by the founder to Magdalen men is maintained, though it is not now absolute, but conditional on Magdalen being able to find, within reasonable time, a man fitted for the work. Any account of this old foundation would be ungratefully incomplete without some reference to the services rendered to it by the family of Nor man. The office of treasurer has been held by five representatives of that family in the course of a century-and-a-half, and the existing representative of a name which Bromley will always hold in honour can look back with satisfaction on the fact that his great-great-grandfather, his great-grandfather, his grandfather, and father have, from the year 1776, as treasurers, rendered memorable service to the beneficent foundation of Bishop Warner of Rochester. ZACHARY PEARCE (1690-1774), LORD BISHOP OF ROCHESTER 1756-1774. From the collection of engravings at the National Portrait Gallery 178]