I recently had the opportunity to see the original of the St Boniface Monthly Parish Paper of March 1943. I was only allowed to handle it wearing gloves and then only briefly. Fortunately, its owner was kind enough to send me a scan of it, which I have read avidly, delighting in a piece of our parish history.
I imagine this was the forerunner of the parish magazine. It is just 4 pages, sized something near A5 (although in old imperial sizing, of course) and is priced 1d. There is a lot in it of interest to present-day readers.
It starts with an inspirational motto from Psalm 127 and then lists the names of the Vicar (Rev. Harold Fryer), churchwardens, PCC secretary and treasurer. It then outlines the Sunday services for the month. There are three services each Sunday with 8am Holy Communion and Evensong every Sunday, and Sung Eucharist and Mattins alternate Sundays.
The letter from the Vicar is next, where he encourages people to prepare for Lent. He also outlines his plans to change the schedule of Sunday services.
There is a report of the Annual Church Meeting (not many turned up) and a series of miscellaneous notes, some quite chatty: Mr H has given up his role of Vicar’s Warden due to his bad leg (and how it hurts) and Mrs B has broken her leg in an accident. The altar flowers are not as fresh or prolific as they should be due to the scarcity of flowers (this is wartime) and their high price.
The Lent services and discussions are outlined, as well as the Vicar’s sermon plans (these are quite deep and challenging). He encourages people to come to church more during Lent.
There are reports from the Mothers’ Union and Sunday School, where numbers are growing and more teachers are needed. The Vicar comments how little religious teaching is done in schools.
There is a report on the sale of the school land. This was the Senior School and the land is now occupied by Selwood’s. The school building had become too expensive to maintain so in 1939 the new Secondary School of North End (this building is now the Fire and Police HQ – see photo) was built, taking those children who did not go to Barton Peveril Grammar School. The old Senior School closed, and the buildings and land were sold. The report goes into much detail of the finances of the sale.
There is then a list of the church sidesmen for the month (two each week, no women) and the altar servers (one for each service, again no women).
The collections for the previous month are listed according to where the money went: Church expenses: £6 17s 2d; Quota: £4 8s 8d; Clergy Orphan Corporation: £4 3s 6d; Bloemfontein Misson: 13s 6d; Altar Fund: 16s 6d; Sunday Schools: £4 1s 9d.
Lastly, there is a list of the psalms and hymns for the month, details of recent baptisms and a funeral.
This was a fascinating snapshot of church life eighty years ago. One thing I noticed missing was any reference to the war, which was still in progress – apart from the complaint that flowers were scarce and expensive. At this time, there were still air raids, particularly over Southampton, which meant that many people from the city came to Chandler’s Ford for safety. The raids also meant that local people would have been forced to go to their local shelters: occasionally bombs were dropped over Chandler’s Ford as the pilots offloaded their lethal cargo.
At this time there were also many shipping losses in the Atlantic Ocean. In fact, 27 merchant vessels were sunk in March 1943. If any Chandler’s Ford men were involved, it was yet to be reported.
D-Day and its disruption to our village, as troops mustered, had not yet happened – this would be the following year.
I imagine these global events would not be mentioned in the Parish Paper as air raids had become frequent occurrences and perhaps not worth commenting on. Only if local people died would it be mentioned.
With thanks to Stuart Allen for the opportunity to see this document.
THE ROYAL NAVY DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR © IWM (A 23763)
I would suspect that the reason there is no mention of wartime activity is the restrictions in force at the time on reporting specific incidents, such as ship sinkings.
About the same time, my late father’s RN corvette was sunk, and the first his parents knew was when my grandmother, then a nurse in the QARNNS, was assigned to the ward at Haslar RN hospital where he and his shipmates were being treated;
I believe the opening remark was “oh, that’s where you are” and the second was a disparaging remark about the several weeks growth of beard acquired since being fished out of the sea covered in bunker oil.
He later went on to work for the Admiralty’s Department of Miscellaneous Weapons Development, but that is another story.
What the vicar appears to be suggesting as a proposal for changing the format of morning services appears to have already been implemented!
I wonder whether any parish church has a Mattins service today? I can remember (just about) schedules where eucharist was celebrated once or twice per month (sometimes followed by a shortened eucharist), but now it seems pretty much eucharist every week. But also, many churches have dispensed with the early-morning and/or evening services.
about 30 years later, Northend School moved (back) to Chandlers Ford, anagramised its name, and became Thornden
I remember Rev. Fryer – he was vicar when I joined the choir in the 1950s. I even have a photo of him, along with the choir and other members of the clergy, taken in 1957. Where did all those decades go!!
My grandmother Kathleen was paid domestic duties at St Boniface and resided with the family…any photos would be appreciated…..