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City & Village Tours: 0845 812 5000 info@cityandvillagetours.com
Our unique and story rich day tracing the history
of philanthropy and including a visit to the elegant
Foundling Museum in Bloomsbury has attracted
wonderful feedback especially from National Trust,
NADFAS and historical societies. Available
throughout the year the day is a wise choice for the
colder months. Book a date before 19 May 2013
and the day will also include a visit to the Foundling
Museum’s special exhibition telling the hidden
stories of the tokens mothers left with their babies
in the hope that one day they might be reunited.
"
And now abideth faith, hope, charity,
these three;
but the greatest of these is charity
."
Corinthians 13:13 (King James Version)
On this day you meet our guide in the City of
London at 10-30am for morning refreshments at
the beautiful café in the very modern Salvation
Army International Headquarters, a stone’s throw
from the Millennium Bridge. Suitably refreshed the
day begins on foot for a comfortably short walk in
the lanes and yards between the river and St. Paul’s.
This little stroll sets the scene for today’s story
telling the story of the earliest forms of charity.
From the great monastic houses, such as the London
Blackfriars came the terms pittance and dole.
Moving into the middle ages the guilds and livery
companies emerged as burial and benefit societies
founding almshouses for aged craftsmen.
The City, the East End and the West End each
contribute to our story, so next by coach to hear
of philanthropists including George Peabody,
Dr. Barnardo, Fred Charrington
and General Booth.
Charitable work was a rare way for middle class
women, especially in the nineteenth century, to
undertake useful and challenging work so we also
learn about Clara Grant’s Farthing Bundles and the
prison work of the Quaker Elizabeth Fry – herself a
member of the charitable Gurney family who had set
up drinking fountains for the poor and troughs for
their horses throughout London.
For lunch we set down by Lambs Conduit Street in
Bloomsbury where there is a good choice of pubs
and cafes for lunch. This is a fascinating corner of
London, just a short walk from Russell Square it
forms an inner London village with beautiful old
properties on Great Ormond Street and interesting
shops on Lambs Conduit Street itself. Pop into
Persephone Books to browse beautiful editions of
overlooked works by female authors and be sure to
put your head around the door at the Lamb pub to
see one of London’s last remaining
snob screens
–
a Victorian pub feature that obscures the faces of
customer and barman to make for discreet and
confidential imbibing.
Faith, Hope & Charity