Catalogue description East London Auxiliary of the National Sunday School Union

The collection consists of:

S/ELA/1 Minutes of Annual General Meetings

S/ELA/2 Minutes of the General Purposes [Sub] Committee/Council

S/ELA/3 Annual Reports

S/ELA/4 Statistical Returns

S/ELA/5 Financial Records

S/ELA/6 Photographs

S/ELA/7 Newspaper Cuttings

S/ELA/8 Printed material re Annual Meetings and Conferences

S/ELA/9 Miscellanous printed material re East London Auxiliary

S/ELA/10 General miscellanous printed material

National Sunday School Union, East London Auxiliary

The bulk of these records (S/ELA/TH/8618) were deposited on indefinite loan by Mr H.Twine in August 1994. The remainder (S/ELA/TH/8795) were also deposited on indefinite loan by Mr H.Twine in March 1998.

The East London Auxiliary of the National Sunday School Union was formed in 1814 as an interdenominational society to help to promote Sunday Schools in the East London area.

The Auxiliary was at its peak in 1875 with 136 Sunday Schools in its Society and with a total number of some 41,979 children attending these schools. A celebration of the Sunday School Union was held in Victoria park in 1880 with an estimated attendance of between 80,000 and 100,000 people; many of the processions that took part that day were led by bands from all over the East London area.

Numbers started to decline in 1902 when the schools East of the River Lea formed the West Essex Authority. This had many negative effects for the ELA, and numbers of children attending the schools and the Churches signed up to the ELA started to decline. For example in 1906 27,000 children attended the schools but within ten years less then half this number were attending.

Attendance stayed fairly stable then until after the Second World War when numbers again started to fall. In 1935 there were 46 churches which belonged to the Auxiliary ( see following list) but in 1964 this number had been drastically reduced to only 13 schools, this left only 1028 children in total attending Sunday Schools which were part of the ELA.

During this period the Auxiliary adopted many new constitutions resulting in some name changes. On its formation it was known as the "East London Auxiliary Sunday School Union". In 1936 it changed its constitution and was then known as the "East London Auxiliary National Sunday School Union". In 1968 and 1969 the ELA again changed its constitution and was known as the "East London Auxiliary of the National Christian Education Council".

After the annual meeting in 1994 arrangements were made to wind up the affairs of the East London Auxiliary due to falling attendances at Sunday School and a loss of interest by churches and the East London Auxiliary of the National Christain Education Council was eventually dissolved in 1996.

SUNDAY SCHOOLS IN THE EAST LONDON AUXILIARY 1935

As listed in the Annual Report of 1936

Hoxton House

Shoreditch Tabernacle

Shoreditch Methodist Mission

Bethnal Green Central

Grove Road Baptist

Victoria Hall

Abbey Street

Bethnal Green Road Congregational

Friends First Day

Memorial Hall, London Street

Nichol Street Mission

Bedford Institute

Old Mahogany Bar

Seamen's Christian Friends

Brunswick (Late Ebenezer)

Love Lane Mission

John Knox

Stepney Meeting House

Lycett Methodist

Stepney Central

Albion Street

Burdett Road Congregational

East London Tabernacle

Latimer

Christ Church, Watney Street

Coverdale

Limehouse Methodist

Piggott Street

Salmon Lane Mission

John Pounds

Cotton Street

Poplar Methodist

Trinity

Emery Hall

Manchester Road (Cubitt Town)

St Pauls (Presbyterian)

Stebondale Street

Bow Baptist

Bow Road Methodist

North Bow Congregational

Old Ford Methodist

Out and Out Mission

Berger Hall

Bruce Road Congregational

Devons Road Baptist

Poplar and Bromley Tabernacle

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