CHURCH ACCOMMODATION AT PLUM STEAD. (Hansard, 6 June 1856)

THE MARQUESS OF BLANDFORD
said, he wished to call attention to the existing want of church accommodation in the parish of Plumstead, and to the claims upon the Government in respect of property and employment of labour in the 1104 parish. He was unwilling to delay the progress of public business; but as he considered that the Government was bound to make suitable provision for the moral, social, and religious convenience of those whom it employed, when the parochial means for that object were deficient, and knowing that expressions recognising that obligation had already fallen from some of Her Majesty's Ministers, he therefore wished to draw from the House such an expression of their opinion as might justify the Government in proceeding to do that which it was already their wish and desire to accomplish. With that view he rose to call their attention to the present state of the parish of Plumstead, in reference to church accommodation. The population of that parish had, from 1841 to 1851, increased from 2,816 to 8,373 persons, which increase was chiefly occasioned by the employment given at Woolwich Arsenal to such a large number of persons by Government; but he regretted to state that the church accommodation remained without any addition. The present parish church could accommodate only about 400 people, and was situate a mile and a half from the arsenal. It was true there were in the parish other places of worship. There was a Roman Catholic Chapel and a Dissenting Meeting-House. A memorial had been addressed to the War Department from the Archbishop of Canterbury and other dignitaries of the Church, in which a representation was made to the Government of the state of the parish. That memorial stated that the parish of Plumstead, in which the Arsenal of Woolwich was situate, had, since the commencement of the war, advanced from a population of 2,000 persons to 12,000. The increase was represented as being in some degree attributable to the increased amount of activity in the Government works. Nevertheless, there was a permanent population created by the Government works, which was not affected either by the increased activity consequent upon the war, or by the number that would be discharged during the peace. In 1841 the census stated that there were five houses building in the parish. In 1851, according to the Census Returns, there were no less than 1,556 houses building. He was informed by the incumbent of the parish that there were three or four families on an average residing in each of the houses there; and that the accommodation was, therefore, very inadequate 1105 for the population. As he had previously stated, there was no other accommodation for attendance on Divine worship, in addition to the one Protestant church, than one Dissenting Chapel and one Roman Catholic Chapel. The late Vicar stated that he offered £1,500 towards a new church, but all he could get in the shape of subscriptions was £260. Government only granted £100 towards the church, and that sum was so inadequate that he had lodged it in a bank, where it had since remained. The only other assistance the Vicar could obtain was £110 from the Church-building Commissioners, and £70 or £80 from the Incorporated Society. Government had, after many applications, recognised its duty towards the children of those it employed, and consented to give £1,000 towards the erection of schools, the incumbent undertaking to raise £1,000 more. The Government had also undertaken to erect a school in the Arsenal. That, he would confess, was doing something, though they had done it tardily. What the Vicar now wanted was, that the Government should contribute £2,000 towards the building of a church, he undertaking to provide £2,000 more. He based this application on the ground of the Government owning so much of the property in Plumstead. The acreage of Plumstead was about 3,000 acres, and the marshes were almost exclusively owned by the Government. The principle which he contended for was admitted in the case of Woolwich, where £7,000 had been granted for the building of a chapel in the dock-yard, and in the provisions made by the Government for the religious instruction of the coastguard and others in its employ. At Waltham Abbey and other places the principle was also admitted; and he could see no reason why what was now asked for should not be conceded. The principle was likewise recognised and acted upon by private individuals and firms, such as Messrs. Marshall, of Leeds, who had erected a church and schools for their operatives; Price's Candle Company, and several others. The importance of religious teaching in the case of the military, as in that of all other classes of society, would not be denied. Then, let them remember the large sums that had recently been spent in rejoicings for the peace. He valued the peace as much as any one, and did not quarrel with the expenditure for those rejoicings; but he 1106 thought that the Government should show themselves ready to acknowledge the blessings of tranquillity by liberally bestowing grants for churches on their own property. He would now beg to move the Amendment of which he had given notice.

§ MR. MONSELL
said, he could assure the House that the Minister for War felt as strongly as any one the duty of the Government in respect to those matters which the noble Marquess had brought before the House; and he (Mr. Monsell) thought the noble Marquess would act wisely if he now left the case in the hands of the Government. The Government were fully aware of their responsibility, and they had not been neglectful of the moral and religious state of the operatives they employed in the district referred to by the noble Marquess. A sum of £1,000 had, since June last, been granted by the Government towards the erection of schools in connection with the Established Church; and sites had been granted for a Roman Catholic Church and a Presbyterian Church, those several denominations undertaking to contribute certain sums. The school in the Arsenal had also been much improved and enlarged. At the time the £100 was given towards the new church a different state of circumstances existed. He could assure the noble Marquess that he would be quite safe in leaving this matter in the hands of the Government.

§ MR. JAMES MACGREGOR
said, that as a resident in the district he could speak from personal knowledge of the wants of the neighbourhood, and while admitting the extent to which the Government had responded to the demands for drainage, schools, and other improvements, he would refer to the liberality of Sir Culling Eardley in the adjoining parish of Erith, who had provided a site and built a church, and expressed a hope that the Government would make provision for the spiritual destitution of the population, which the Arsenal and other public works had brought together in Plumstead.

§ SIR JOHN PAKINGTON
said, he did not quite collect, from what had fallen from the right hon. Gentleman the Clerk of the Ordnance, what the particular intention of 1107 the Government with respect to the claim now before them was. The noble Lord (the Marquess of Blandford) had made out a very clear case; but considering the liberality—the very judicious liberality—displayed by the Government in the case of the Plumstead school, and also bearing in mind the very proper spirit in which the right hon. Gentleman (Mr. Monsell) had met the statement of his noble Friend, he was led to hope that the Government were disposed to meet in a spirit of liberality the requirement which they themselves had created, especially as they had a precedent in the case of Waltham Abbey. He trusted, therefore, that the Government would discharge the duty which devolved upon them in respect of church accommodation at Plumstead; and after what had fallen from the right hon. Gentleman the Clerk of the Ordnance, perhaps his noble Friend would think it more judicious not to press his Motion.

THE MARQUESS OF BLANDFORD
said, he would not, after the statement of the right hon. Gentleman the Clerk of the Ordnance, that the matter would continue to receive the consideration of Her Majesty's Government, press his Motion.