Joining us for worship this morning were Judy Bellingham and her daughter Francesca from New Zealand.
Judy writes:
Both my parents and my grandparents worshipped at St Judes. My parents were married here on May 22, 1948, John and Elisabeth Bellingham. My paternal grandparents were May (née Sutton) and Ernest Bellingham, and my maternal grandparents, Tom and Irene Scripps. May Bellingham’s funeral was at St Judes in February 1982. My mother was a foundation pupil at Henrietta Barnett School, and her sister, Frances Cawood, still lives in the Suburb in The Orchard. Prior to being widowed she lived at 42 Temple Fortune Hill. I think her late husband, Colin Cawood, may have sung in the choir at St Judes. My paternal aunt and uncle were also stalwarts of St Jude’s: Stephen and Mary Graves. They lived on Erskine Hill and in the 1960’s Stephen was Mayor of Hendon.
My father served at the altar at St Jude’s until we emigrated to New Zealand, first in 1951, and for a second time in 1958. He was ordained in the Diocese of Wellington in 1962. After the sudden death of my mother in 1970, he returned to London to seek comfort and solace from his family, and then came back to NZ. He was the Archbishop’s Commissary for the West Indies, as Archbishop Alan Knight was his godfather. (So you see, my connections run very deep, and although I live so far away and my family, apart from my children, are all in the UK, this means a very great deal to me).
Judy got in touch with the vicar to try to find out more about a painting she owned by local artist Beth Zanders. Judy and Francesca are seen above in the Vicarage rooms looking at the church's own small collection of Beth's work.
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Father William Masters Vicar of St Jude's 1955 -1962 by Beth Zanders |
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The high altar prepared for Advent. Painting by Beth Zanders. |