William George VANDY - 1876-1941 - Evangelistic Mission in North London

[Rattus]

The phrasing strikes me as interesting: that he "conducted" an evangelistic mission. That could just as easily be a man wandering up and down the High Street on a Saturday afternoon - bible in hand and/or wearing a sandwich board - as a bricks and mortar church or chapel.

Maybe it's just the customary phrasing of its time, but I note that he wasn't a "participant in" or "supporter of" a mission, which would definitely imply something more formally organised.

If I was taking a stab in the dark, I might get in touch with the Salvation Army's International Heritage Centre: https://www.salvationarmy.org.uk/international-heritage-centre

"If you have an enquiry relating to family history, academic study, media research or any other aspect of our collections or Salvation Army history, please contact us. An initial enquiry we will answer for free and in-depth research may be carried out by our staff for a fee of £20 per hour. Please note it can take up to 5 working days to receive a reply from us."

Further down that page, "Subject Guide 2: Officer records" might be worth a read (I've only skimmed it). The online (CalmView) catalogue doesn't return any hits for 'Vandy'.

[Relsearcher]

Hi Rattus - yes, he could very easily have been wandering up and down the local high street preaching as using a room or hall somewhere!  In fact the word 'conducting' has me imagining him in a place like Speaker's Corner at Hyde Park!

I really don't know what to think about it, but I felt that as he held a respected job in the city and his wife was a local councillor based at Southgate Town Hall (very unusual for a woman at the time) that he might be erring to the more formal side of it and therefore have a regular meeting place for those who would attend his mission.  What do you think?  I could be totally wrong, and it could have all been very informal ... or not ... I guess some of the straightest people do the strangest things, and some of the strangest people do the straightest of things, so it's hard to tell!  I never heard he was strange though ...

Thanks for the Salvation Army tip - I shall approach them and see if they can help - I will let you know of any developments ...

Thanks again, Nina

[Relsearcher]

Hello Rattus (and others reading this!) - I have had a very swift reply from The Salvation Army International Heritage Centre - they have done a thorough check through their records on William's name, area of residence and other pertinent criteria, but sadly have drawn a blank.

If anyone has any other ideas, please let me know!

Many thanks, Nina

[Rattus]

Great that you have heard back so quickly and the lack of result doesn't surprise me.

I agree with you that his respected banking job and his wife's public position would imply a certain restraint/professionalism of approach. Clearly he was happy for his employer to know about his extra-curricular activities, though I wonder whether I can hear a certain amusement/bemusement in that 'conducted' phrasing.

It's rather frustrating, given his fairly distinctive surname and his wife's role as councillor, that nothing can be found in the newspaper archives (or at least, the online ones that I can access via my FindMyPast subscription anyway).

My next thought was to try the Enfield local archives, given the Southgate connection:

https://www.dugdalecentre.co.uk/page/local-studies-library-and-archive/

Once more, the online (CalmView) catalogue returns no hits for his surname.

The only other thing that occurs to me at the moment is whether or not he had any siblings or other family members with similar evangelistic leanings?

[Chris Doran]

You might try The London City Mission who in the past have been able to help with the missionaries they employed, but as with other, larger, denominations may not have anything on lay individuals even if they worked with them.

I have a similar problem to yours with my grandparents who are in a photo outside what looks like a small independent mission set up in a former shop, probably also in north London. As Rattus says, we really need local newspapers, but so far few have yet been digitised for London or the early 20th century.

[Relsearcher]

Hi Chris - thanks for the tip - I shall try The London City Mission - are they based in Southwark/Bermondsey?  I think I saw a building from the train window years ago on the way to Deptford ...

It's a shame not all the London local papers are online yet - they would be a goldmine of info for all sorts of things - maybe one day ...

Hi Rattus - I know - with such an unusual surname it has normally been pretty easy to follow my relatives through their lives.  Funnily enough, William had a younger sister Caroline who was heavily involved with The Salvation Army all her life - and all her Census Rtns, Passenger Lists, Marriage Cert etc all clearly state that - so I wasn't surprised when The Salvation Army found no mention of William as there has never been anything in such paperwork linking them.  Some years ago The Salvation Army sent me Caroline and her husband's papers - very detailed and fascinating.

Thanks for the link - although you have had a search already I shall have a look too, just out of interest's sake to see what papers they have in their archives ...

Thank you both for your pointers ... I shall keep digging - the info must be out there somewhere - just need to turn over the right stone to find it!

Nina