Henry Croswell et al. in Church of St George in the East, Cannon Street Road, Stepney, East End of London - 2 November, 1879, 07:00 PM
from Transcript of the diaries of Henry Croswell, page 173:
O[rgan]. – A large one in the West Gallery was unused. A small one at the East end.
H[ymns]. – A. & M., a popular selection finishing up with an Evening hymn.
C[hoir]. – A large one unsurpliced. Would this be because of the surplice riots twenty years ago?
[The congregation numbered] 400. Few poor. There were big Charity girls.
Henry Croswell, Transcript of the diaries of Henry Croswell. In British Library, number 000826807, C.194.c.113 , p. 173. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1548352099935 accessed: 19 December, 2024 (By permission of the British Library.)
Listeners
Listening to
hide composers| Anglican church music | performed by the choir and organist of St George's in the East Church |
| hymns selected from 'Hymns A&M' | performed by the choir and organist of St George's in the East Church |
Experience Information
| Date/Time | 2 November, 1879, 07:00 PM |
| Duration | 1 hours 25 minutes |
| Medium | live |
| Listening Environment | in the company of others, indoors, in public |
Notes
Henry Croswell (1840–93) kept a record of his visits to churches in London over a period of more than twelve years (1872–85). He made methodical notes about the number of clergy, the churchmanship, the congregation, the sermon and the church architecture, as well as commenting on the music that he heard (the organ, the hymns and the choir). The above listening experience has been extracted from one of these records. Although dated 2/11/71 in the transcript, the position of the record within the whole suggests that the year should be 1879. ‘Hymns Ancient and Modern for use in the Services of the Church’ (1861; Appendix, 1868; Second edition, 1875; Supplement, 1889) was envisaged as an anthology of the best hymns available and became the most widely-used hymnbook in the Church of England during the late nineteenth century. William Henry Monk (1823–89) was musical editor. Croswell’s mention of the ‘surplice riots’ refers to a series of violent riots against the introduction of High Church ritual at St George’s in the East that took place between May 1859 and July 1860 (see http://www.stgitehistory.org.uk/media/ritualismriotspapers.pdf for further information).