Henry Croswell et al. in St Stephen's Mission Church, 90 White Lion Street, Pentonville, London - 16 September, 1883, 07:00 PM
from Transcript of the diaries of Henry Croswell, page 351:
O[rgan]. – A small harmonium played by a youth who quite broke down several times.
H[ymns]. – Was Church Hymns but is now Bickers.
C[hoir]. – Six dirty little boys, ten silly girls, one baby, all dreadfully behaved and bold.
[The congregation comprised] 7 old women, ten children and the choir. […] Certainly it is a most unsuccessful mission of the L.D.H. [London Diocesan Home] Mission.
Henry Croswell, Transcript of the diaries of Henry Croswell. In British Library, number 000826807, C.194.c.113 , p. 351. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1552919749074 accessed: 18 January, 2025 (By permission of the British Library.)
Listeners
Listening to
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| Date/Time | 16 September, 1883, 07:00 PM |
| Duration | 58 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. ‘Bickers’ refers to ‘The Hymnal Companion to the Book of Common Prayer’ (1870, rev. 1877; and in a revised edition with tunes, 1890) compiled by Edward Henry Bickersteth (1825–1906). ‘Church Hymns’ (1871) and ‘Church Hymns with Tunes’ (1874) were publications of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (S.P.C.K.), under the musical editorship of Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900). This collection was the most successful of the competitors to ‘Hymns Ancient and Modern’ in the late nineteenth century, containing a larger number of hymns overall, and more hymns specifically intended for children and young people.