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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => London and Middlesex => Topic started by: Keith Sherwood on Tuesday 15 June 10 20:36 BST (UK)
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Hi again, Everyone,
Does anyone know anything about the an institution calling itself the "Missionary School of Islington", in Upper Street, Islington in the 1881 Census.
There seems to be a C.of E. clergyman in charge, and there are 25 students, all in their early twenties. Against each young man's name is the occupation: "Student Mythology".
Perhaps the enumerator misheard, or is there some significance in this term...?
Very best wishes, keith
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Hi,
Could it be Student of Theology?
Bob
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Against each young's man is the occupation: "Student Mythology".
Perhaps the enumerator misheard, or is there some significance in this term...?
I strongly suspect that whoever filled in the census form put 'student of theology', which has been misread by the enumerator and entered as what looks like 'student of meology' ;D
Jennifer
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Bob and Jennifer,
Thanks, that's pretty much what I imagined it to be...
I'm just wondering how prevalent these missionary colleges were (In London...in England, generally) at this time. I know that the individual I'm looking at in the list of 25 men went out to India, and spent the rest of his life out there as a missionary. Did the Church of England set up these colleges, or how were they financed?
keith
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this website will probably be interesting for you to read, Keith
http://www.ampltd.co.uk/digital_guides/church_missionary_society_archive_general/editorial%20introduction%20by%20rosemary%20keen.aspx
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Dazey999,
Very, very interesting - it looks as though the College at Islington was at the forefront of affairs. My individual was a manual worker on the railways as a young man, and so some of the teaching at the College may well have been quite challenging to him. I imagine that he must have had some kind of patron or someone who believed that this was a life he might be suitable for, someone he must have met or heard about when working on the railways down on the south coast of Sussex,
Regards, keith
p.s. I don't suppose anybody who knows Upper Street well could tell me if the building(s) used as the College still exist today...?
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I'm afraid it seems the building was demolished in 1915 and flats called "Sutton Dwellings" were built on the site.
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Hi
Could this be what was being studied?
"Meology has roots in humanism, secularism, and relativism. The manifestation of meology is revealed in pluralism and tolerance. Meology professes that any belief in any god is acceptable if the individual deems it truth. The danger of meology rests in the twin spineless creatures of compromise and convenience. Meologists will compromise for acceptance and yield to society for convenience. Meology is all about the person and preference and rejects biblical truth." (Green '04)
Ray
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Hi, the Church Missionary Society is alive and very well today and it is a direct desendant of the Clapham set and William Wilberforces initiative.
CMS archives are held at the University of Birmingham and can be viewed upon application.
those who would have been in such a college would have been students of theology.
In the matter of finance, this would have come from private citizens who were CMS supporters, as it does now.
charlotte
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Dazey999,
Thanks very much for that - one always hopes that the buildings where one's ancestors lived or worked or studied might still be there to go and gaze at, but never mind. Perhaps that archive in Birmingham might have photographs of the place in Upper Street before it made way for something else - thanks for that link, Charlotte. I may well contact them to see what they have on Edward Guilford and the College.
And that's an entirely plausible interpretation of a badly transcribed/handwritten entry in that 1881 Census, Ray. It's not a word I've come across before...
Many thanks for all those early morning contributions to this thread!
Regards, keith
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Keith
This is worth reading from A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 8: Islington and Stoke Newington parishes
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=9522
Ray
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Ray,
Wow! That's almost too much to take in all at one go...A couple of years ago I visited the Library in St John's Street and bought a book in their Local History section entitled: "Islington Chapels", published by the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England, which is a facinating read about all the religious meeting places in the area. Used to go and watch Arsenal quite a bit, and had no idea at the time that there were so many of these chapels in the roads and streets around the old and new stadium.
Thanks very much for that,
keith
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hi keith, have only just read these posts as I remembered the odd rumour of a missionary in my family, and found a John Martin in the same 1881 census of the Missionary College in Upper st. who might be an ancester of mine.
I googled a few miss-spellings and then found the term, 'Missiology', which seems to fit. (although it does appear to be a relatively new term, I'm not sure when it was first used.) Here is the definition from Wikipedia:
'Missiology is the area of practical theology that investigates the mandate, message, and mission of the Christian church, especially the nature of missionary work. Missiology is a multi-disciplinary and cross-cultural field of study incorporating theology, anthropology, history, geography, theories and methods of communication, comparative religion, Christian apologetics, methodology, and interdenominational relations. "Inherent in the discipline is the study of the nature of God, the created world, and the Church, as well as the interaction among these three.'
I also came across some old photos on flicker that might be of interest:
www.flickr.com/photos/29482804@N06/sets/.../detail/
I now need to do some more census searches etc. but thanks for all the info. What an interesting place it must have been!
jenny