Charles Reed
Encyclopedia
Sir Charles Reed MP FSA (19 June 1819 – 25 March 1881) was a British
politician who served as Member of Parliament
for Hackney and St Ives
, Chairman of the London School Board
, Director and Trustee of the original Abney Park Cemetery
Joint Stock Company, Chairman of the Bunhill Fields
Preservation Committee, associate of George Peabody
, lay Congregationalist
, and owner of a successful commercial typefounding business in London. He was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries
, and was knighted by the Queen at Windsor Castle in 1874. As a pastime he collected autographed letters and keys.
Minister Dr Andrew Reed, founder of the London Orphan Asylum at Clapton and other notable charitable institutions, who had studied theology under the Rev. George Collison
. He is commemorated at Abney Park Cemetery
with a tall obelisk of polished red granite.
Charles Reed married Margaret Baines (youngest daughter of Edward Baines M.P. from Leeds, and sister to Sir Edward Baines the Nonconformist politician and newspaper editor). Their third son, Talbot Baines Reed
(1852–1893), who was born in Hackney on 3 April 1852, was the author of highly rated story books for boys. Their second son, Andrew Holmes Reed (1848–1892) is commemorated with his brother Talbot at Abney Park Cemetery
by an eye-catching Celtic cross executed by O'Shea
in Kilkenny
using sparkling grey Irish granite. Their eldest son, Charles Edward Baines Reed (1845–1884) entered the Congregational ministry and served as secretary of the British and Foreign Bible Society
. He met with an accidental death in the Engadin
e and was buried at Pontresina
.
, which is said to have been the most distinguished 19th-century school in the enlightened tradition of Ainsworth
. The school's name was the idea of religious writer John Allen
(d. 1839), who adopted the Madras system of schooling under which older pupils are appointed as 'monitors' and take partial responsibility for supervising the younger boys. Allen began the school in 1817, moving to larger premises at 208 Mare Street in 1821.
Reed began the business side of his career in 1836 as an apprentice to a firm of woolen manufacturers at Leeds. In 1839, with his friend Thomas Edward Plint, he started and edited a magazine called The Leeds Repository, and on returning to London he co-founded the firm of Tyler & Reed, printers and typefounders
in 1842. Reed changed business partners several times, becoming a partner in the famous Fann Street Foundry off Aldersgate Steeet
in 1866 (which thereby became 'Reed & Fox'). The Fann Street business formed the basis for his own typefounding business Sir Charles Reed & Sons, whose office at 33 Aldersgate Street is illustrated.
The 'Reed' company name continued into the twentieth century long after Charles Reed's death, though under the proprietorship of Stephenson Blake & Co. who had bought bought Reed's business interests. At one time Reed's had been the larger of the two firms but it had difficulties in financing a modernisation programme as typography changed, and its once valuable equipment became out of date. Indeed Stephenson Blake's acquisition was thought at the time to be very generous as it looked to be buying little other than the Reed's name and reputation. Not long after, however, thorough cataloguing of Reed's typefaces proved to be a treasure trove. Designs such as the Clarendon typeface, which Charles Reed had originally acquired from Robert Besley & Sons of the Fann Street foundry, became very marketable once re-cast using new technology. Several of Reed's typefaces are now available for use in font collections on our computers, such as Clarendon, which is now owned by a German company (as a trademark of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG
licensed through Linotype Library GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG).
Charles' son Talbot Baines Reed (1852–93), an author of books for boys, wrote the standard reference work on the history of typefounders
in England, which went through may editions. It was said to be the most complete historical study in existence in any country before its editions were supplemented by new research in the 1950s.
lifeboat and Sir Charles Reed. Founded in 1867, the Fund was originally established to help support seamen who risked their own lives to save others off the coast near Broadstairs. The following account is attributed by R. M. Ballantyne
to Sir Charles Reed himself:
"Eight boatmen of Broadstairs [and their lugger
—the Dreadnought] had for years done good service on the Goodwins
. One night they went off in a tremendous sea to save a French barque
; but though they secured the crew, a steam-tug claimed the prize
and towed her into Ramsgate
Harbour. The Broadstairs men instituted proceedings to secure the salvage, but they were beaten in a London law court, where they were overpowered by the advocacy of a powerful company. In the meantime they lost their lugger off the coast of Normandy, and in this emergency the lawyers they had employed demanded their costs. The poor men had no means, and not being able to pay they were taken from their homes and lodged in Maidstone Gaol
. He (Sir Charles) was then staying in Broadstairs, and an appeal being made to him, he wrote to The Times
, and in one week received nearly twice the amount required. The bill was paid, the men were liberated and brought home to their families, and the balance of the amount, a considerable sum, was invested, the interest to be applied to the rewarding of boatmen who, by personal bravery, had distinguished themselves by saving life on the coast."
In 1870 Charles Reed was elected to the newly founded London School Board
that was created following William Forster's
Elementary Education Act
of the same year which led to end of Ragged school
s and other ad hoc charitable provision for the poor.
The London School Board was the first directly elected body covering the whole of London, and a pioneer for its time in other respects too - women were entitled to vote for its board members and also to stand for election as politicians.
Reed subsequently became vice-chairman and chairman. He died in office in 1881.
for the Liberals. He chose Holms again as his running mate in the two-seat constituency and this time Gill lost by only a small margin. However, Liberals were always returned until the constituencies of North, Central, and South Hackney were created in 1885.
Reed had an interest in London's open spaces and their educational benefits, and became a subscriber to the Abney Park Cemetery
, a joint stock company
in whose trust lay parkland once owned by Lady Mary Abney, in which Dr Isaac Watts
had written hymns. The associated members sought to maintain the site for its religious associations and for its value as open space. It was the only surviving example of a landscape designed by the nurseryman George Loddiges
and boasted an arboretum
of 2500 trees and shrubs. As the only New World cemetery design in Europe it had commissioned an entrance in an Egyptian revival style, to reflect its non-denominational character. The originality of the design and the motive force for acquiring and preserving the site had been George Collison
, its first secretary, whose father had tutored Reed's father.
Reed, with a firm understanding of the historical importance of the landscape and its educational value, won election as a director of the company for 16 years between 1866 and 1881 and became a principal influence during its last decades as a joint stock company. Reed himself is buried there. Soon after Reed died, the cemetery was made over on 11 April 1882 to a new company run on commercial lines. This laid out a new cemetery at Chingford Mount
in 1883-4. Others at Hendon Park
and Greenford
followed.
The Bunhill Fields
burial ground is an ancient open space. Until its closure in the mid-19th century, many historically important people (particularly those whose religious beliefs dissented from the Established Church), chose this as their place of quiet interment on the edge of the City.
The poet Robert Southey
gave Bunhill Fields the memorable appellation: the Campo Santo of the Dissenters; a phrase that also came to be commonly applied to its "daughter" cemetery at Abney Park. This was a reference to its historical importance as a burial place for religious figures such as John Bunyan
and Dr Isaac Watts
.
In a move to prevent the land from being built upon on expiry of a longstanding lease, the Corporation of the City of London formed a special Bunhill Fields
Burial Ground Committee in 1865, which became formally known as the Bunhill Fields Preservation Committee. The committee, appointed by the Corporation, consisted of twelve advisors under Reed's chairmanship. Following the work of the committee, the City of London Corporation obtained an Act of Parliament in 1867 for the Preservation of Bunhill Fields
Burial Ground as a public open space with seating, gardens, and for the restoration of some of its worthiest monuments, including one to Daniel Defoe
funded by The Christian World and unveiled by Reed. The new park was opened by the Lord Mayor on 14 October 1869.
, for whom Reed moved the motion of 10 July 1862 granting Freedom of the City of London. He also developed the Guildhall Library
of the City of London, while he was a councillor. His longstanding interest in social and educational improvement in The City of London was also reflected in membership of the Court of Common Council and in membership of the board of the City of London School
.
In the religious field he was active in the London Missionary Society
, the British and Foreign Bible Society, the London Sunday School
Union, and the Religious Tract Society
. Returned to Parliament again in 1880 for St Ives
in Cornwall
, he voted against his party in the Bradlaugh debates, deploring Charles Bradlaugh
's atheism.
High Road, on 25 March 1881. He is buried at Abney Park Cemetery near the Church Street entrance, in a grave marked by a grey granite obelisk
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
politician who served as Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Hackney and St Ives
St Ives (UK Parliament constituency)
St. Ives is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-History:...
, Chairman of the London School Board
London School Board
The School Board for London was an institution of local government and the first directly elected body covering the whole of London....
, Director and Trustee of the original Abney Park Cemetery
Abney Park Cemetery
Abney Park in Stoke Newington, in the London Borough of Hackney, is a historic parkland originally laid out in the early 18th century by Lady Mary Abney and Dr. Isaac Watts, and the neighbouring Hartopp family. In 1840 it became a non-denominational garden cemetery, semi-public park arboretum, and...
Joint Stock Company, Chairman of the Bunhill Fields
Bunhill Fields
Bunhill Fields is a cemetery in the London Borough of Islington, north of the City of London, and managed by the City of London Corporation. It is about 4 hectares in extent, although historically was much larger....
Preservation Committee, associate of George Peabody
George Peabody
George Peabody was an American-British entrepreneur and philanthropist who founded the Peabody Trust in Britain and the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, and was responsible for many other charitable initiatives.-Biography:...
, lay Congregationalist
Congregational church
Congregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing Congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs....
, and owner of a successful commercial typefounding business in London. He was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries
Society of Antiquaries of London
The Society of Antiquaries of London is a learned society "charged by its Royal Charter of 1751 with 'the encouragement, advancement and furtherance of the study and knowledge of the antiquities and history of this and other countries'." It is based at Burlington House, Piccadilly, London , and is...
, and was knighted by the Queen at Windsor Castle in 1874. As a pastime he collected autographed letters and keys.
Family
Charles Reed's father was the well-known Hackney philanthropist and CongregationalCongregational church
Congregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing Congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs....
Minister Dr Andrew Reed, founder of the London Orphan Asylum at Clapton and other notable charitable institutions, who had studied theology under the Rev. George Collison
George Collison
George Collison was an English Congregationalist and educator associated with Hackney Academy or Hackney College, which became part of New College London - itself part of the University of London.-Early life:...
. He is commemorated at Abney Park Cemetery
Abney Park Cemetery
Abney Park in Stoke Newington, in the London Borough of Hackney, is a historic parkland originally laid out in the early 18th century by Lady Mary Abney and Dr. Isaac Watts, and the neighbouring Hartopp family. In 1840 it became a non-denominational garden cemetery, semi-public park arboretum, and...
with a tall obelisk of polished red granite.
Charles Reed married Margaret Baines (youngest daughter of Edward Baines M.P. from Leeds, and sister to Sir Edward Baines the Nonconformist politician and newspaper editor). Their third son, Talbot Baines Reed
Talbot Baines Reed
Talbot Baines Reed was an English writer of boys' fiction who established a genre of school stories that endured into the second half of the 20th century. Among his best-known work is The Fifth Form at St. Dominic's. He was a regular and prolific contributor to The Boy's Own Paper , in which most...
(1852–1893), who was born in Hackney on 3 April 1852, was the author of highly rated story books for boys. Their second son, Andrew Holmes Reed (1848–1892) is commemorated with his brother Talbot at Abney Park Cemetery
Abney Park Cemetery
Abney Park in Stoke Newington, in the London Borough of Hackney, is a historic parkland originally laid out in the early 18th century by Lady Mary Abney and Dr. Isaac Watts, and the neighbouring Hartopp family. In 1840 it became a non-denominational garden cemetery, semi-public park arboretum, and...
by an eye-catching Celtic cross executed by O'Shea
O'Shea and Whelan
O'Shea and Whelan was an Irish family practice of stonemasons and sculptors from Ballyhooly in County Cork. They were notable for their involvement in Ruskinian gothic architecture in the mid-19th century....
in Kilkenny
Kilkenny
Kilkenny is a city and is the county town of the eponymous County Kilkenny in Ireland. It is situated on both banks of the River Nore in the province of Leinster, in the south-east of Ireland...
using sparkling grey Irish granite. Their eldest son, Charles Edward Baines Reed (1845–1884) entered the Congregational ministry and served as secretary of the British and Foreign Bible Society
British and Foreign Bible Society
The British and Foreign Bible Society, often known in England and Wales as simply as Bible Society, is a non-denominational Christian Bible society with charity status whose purpose is to make the Bible available throughout the world....
. He met with an accidental death in the Engadin
Engadin
The Engadin or Engadine is a long valley in the Swiss Alps located in the canton of Graubünden in southeast Switzerland. It follows the route of the Inn River from its headwaters at Maloja Pass running northeast until the Inn flows into Austria one hundred kilometers downstream...
e and was buried at Pontresina
Pontresina
Pontresina is a municipality in the district of Maloja in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland.-History and name:The city was first mentioned in medieval Latin documents as pontem sarasinam in 1137. In 1237 it was mentioned as de Ponte Sarraceno and in 1303 as ponte sarracino...
.
Schooling
Charles Reed was educated at Madras House, Mare Street, HackneyMetropolitan Borough of Hackney
The Metropolitan Borough of Hackney was a Metropolitan borough of the County of London from 1900 to 1965. Its area became part of the London Borough of Hackney.-Formation and boundaries:...
, which is said to have been the most distinguished 19th-century school in the enlightened tradition of Ainsworth
Robert Ainsworth (lexicographer)
Robert Ainsworth was an English Latin lexicographer, and author of the well-known compendious Dictionary of the Latin Tongue. He was born at Eccles, near Salford, Lancashire in September 1660...
. The school's name was the idea of religious writer John Allen
John Allen (religious writer)
John Allen was an English dissenting layman and religious writer.Allen was born at Truro in 1771, educated there by Dr. Cardue, and afterwards kept an academy for thirty years at Hackney, where he died on 17 June 1839....
(d. 1839), who adopted the Madras system of schooling under which older pupils are appointed as 'monitors' and take partial responsibility for supervising the younger boys. Allen began the school in 1817, moving to larger premises at 208 Mare Street in 1821.
Business career
Type foundry
A type foundry is a company that designs or distributes typefaces. Originally, type foundries manufactured and sold metal and wood typefaces and matrices for line-casting machines like the Linotype and Monotype machines designed to be printed on letterpress printers...
in 1842. Reed changed business partners several times, becoming a partner in the famous Fann Street Foundry off Aldersgate Steeet
Aldersgate
Aldersgate was a gate in the London Wall in the City of London, which has given its name to a ward and Aldersgate Street, a road leading north from the site of the gate, towards Clerkenwell in the London Borough of Islington.-History:...
in 1866 (which thereby became 'Reed & Fox'). The Fann Street business formed the basis for his own typefounding business Sir Charles Reed & Sons, whose office at 33 Aldersgate Street is illustrated.
The 'Reed' company name continued into the twentieth century long after Charles Reed's death, though under the proprietorship of Stephenson Blake & Co. who had bought bought Reed's business interests. At one time Reed's had been the larger of the two firms but it had difficulties in financing a modernisation programme as typography changed, and its once valuable equipment became out of date. Indeed Stephenson Blake's acquisition was thought at the time to be very generous as it looked to be buying little other than the Reed's name and reputation. Not long after, however, thorough cataloguing of Reed's typefaces proved to be a treasure trove. Designs such as the Clarendon typeface, which Charles Reed had originally acquired from Robert Besley & Sons of the Fann Street foundry, became very marketable once re-cast using new technology. Several of Reed's typefaces are now available for use in font collections on our computers, such as Clarendon, which is now owned by a German company (as a trademark of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG
Heidelberger Druckmaschinen
Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG is a German precision mechanical engineering company with head offices in Heidelberg . It is a manufacturer of offset printing presses sold globally. The company has a worldwide market share of more than 47% in this area and is the largest global manufacturer of...
licensed through Linotype Library GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG).
Charles' son Talbot Baines Reed (1852–93), an author of books for boys, wrote the standard reference work on the history of typefounders
Type foundry
A type foundry is a company that designs or distributes typefaces. Originally, type foundries manufactured and sold metal and wood typefaces and matrices for line-casting machines like the Linotype and Monotype machines designed to be printed on letterpress printers...
in England, which went through may editions. It was said to be the most complete historical study in existence in any country before its editions were supplemented by new research in the 1950s.
Lifeboat fund
There is a fund associated with the BroadstairsBroadstairs
Broadstairs is a coastal town on the Isle of Thanet in the Thanet district of east Kent, England, about south-east of London. It is part of the civil parish of Broadstairs and St Peter's, which includes St. Peter's and had a population in 2001 of about 24,000. Situated between Margate and...
lifeboat and Sir Charles Reed. Founded in 1867, the Fund was originally established to help support seamen who risked their own lives to save others off the coast near Broadstairs. The following account is attributed by R. M. Ballantyne
Robert Michael Ballantyne
R. M. Ballantyne was a Scottish juvenile fiction writer.Born Robert Michael Ballantyne in Edinburgh, he was part of a famous family of printers and publishers. At the age of 16 he went to Canada and was six years in the service of the Hudson's Bay Company...
to Sir Charles Reed himself:
"Eight boatmen of Broadstairs [and their lugger
Lugger
A lugger is a class of boats, widely used as traditional fishing boats, particularly off the coasts of France, Scotland and England. It is a small sailing vessel with lugsails set on two or more masts and perhaps lug topsails.-Defining the rig:...
—the Dreadnought] had for years done good service on the Goodwins
Goodwin Sands
The Goodwin Sands is a 10-mile-long sand bank in the English Channel, lying six miles east off Deal in Kent, England. The Brake Bank lying shorewards is part of the same geological unit. As the shoals lie close to major shipping channels, more than 2,000 ships are believed to have been wrecked...
. One night they went off in a tremendous sea to save a French barque
Barque
A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts.- History of the term :The word barque appears to have come from the Greek word baris, a term for an Egyptian boat. This entered Latin as barca, which gave rise to the Italian barca, Spanish barco, and the French barge and...
; but though they secured the crew, a steam-tug claimed the prize
Marine salvage
Marine salvage is the process of rescuing a ship, its cargo, or other property from peril. Salvage encompasses rescue towing, refloating a sunken or grounded vessel, or patching or repairing a ship...
and towed her into Ramsgate
Ramsgate
Ramsgate is a seaside town in the district of Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century and is a member of the ancient confederation of Cinque Ports. It has a population of around 40,000. Ramsgate's main attraction is its coastline and its main...
Harbour. The Broadstairs men instituted proceedings to secure the salvage, but they were beaten in a London law court, where they were overpowered by the advocacy of a powerful company. In the meantime they lost their lugger off the coast of Normandy, and in this emergency the lawyers they had employed demanded their costs. The poor men had no means, and not being able to pay they were taken from their homes and lodged in Maidstone Gaol
Maidstone (HM Prison)
HM Prison Maidstone is a Category C men's prison, located in Maidstone, Kent, England. The prison is operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service.-History:...
. He (Sir Charles) was then staying in Broadstairs, and an appeal being made to him, he wrote to The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, and in one week received nearly twice the amount required. The bill was paid, the men were liberated and brought home to their families, and the balance of the amount, a considerable sum, was invested, the interest to be applied to the rewarding of boatmen who, by personal bravery, had distinguished themselves by saving life on the coast."
London School Board
London School Board
The School Board for London was an institution of local government and the first directly elected body covering the whole of London....
that was created following William Forster's
William Edward Forster
William Edward Forster PC, FRS was an English industrialist, philanthropist and Liberal Party statesman.-Early life:...
Elementary Education Act
Elementary Education Act 1870
The Elementary Education Act 1870, commonly known as Forster's Education Act, set the framework for schooling of all children between ages 5 and 12 in England and Wales...
of the same year which led to end of Ragged school
Ragged school
Ragged Schools were charitable schools dedicated to the free education of destitute children in 19th century England. The schools were developed in working class districts of the rapidly expanding industrial towns...
s and other ad hoc charitable provision for the poor.
The London School Board was the first directly elected body covering the whole of London, and a pioneer for its time in other respects too - women were entitled to vote for its board members and also to stand for election as politicians.
Reed subsequently became vice-chairman and chairman. He died in office in 1881.
Hackney's first MP
Two parliamentary seats were allotted to Hackney by the Representation of the People Act, 1867 and Charles Reed became, in 1868, the first MP to be elected to represent Hackney, along with John Holms. As a member of Britain's first Liberal government, he faced a vigorous opponent at the next election in April 1874, when Gladstone was defeated. Lieutenant William Gill stood against him for the Conservatives with support from the Independent newspaper, which dubbed the constituency notorious hitherto as a hotbed of Radicalism. The vigorous Conservative campaign increased its poll share from 10 per cent to 31 per cent, but Gill still came bottom of the poll. However, the ballot was called into question on procedural grounds, with the result that a new election had to be called three months later. Charles Reed's place was taken by Professor FawcettHenry Fawcett
Henry Fawcett PC was a blind British academic, statesman and economist.-Background and education:Fawcett was born in Salisbury, and educated at King's College School and the University of Cambridge: entering Peterhouse in 1852, he migrated to Trinity Hall the following year, and became a fellow...
for the Liberals. He chose Holms again as his running mate in the two-seat constituency and this time Gill lost by only a small margin. However, Liberals were always returned until the constituencies of North, Central, and South Hackney were created in 1885.
Abney Park Cemetery
Abney Park Cemetery
Abney Park in Stoke Newington, in the London Borough of Hackney, is a historic parkland originally laid out in the early 18th century by Lady Mary Abney and Dr. Isaac Watts, and the neighbouring Hartopp family. In 1840 it became a non-denominational garden cemetery, semi-public park arboretum, and...
, a joint stock company
Joint stock company
A joint-stock company is a type of corporation or partnership involving two or more individuals that own shares of stock in the company...
in whose trust lay parkland once owned by Lady Mary Abney, in which Dr Isaac Watts
Isaac Watts
Isaac Watts was an English hymnwriter, theologian and logician. A prolific and popular hymnwriter, he was recognised as the "Father of English Hymnody", credited with some 750 hymns...
had written hymns. The associated members sought to maintain the site for its religious associations and for its value as open space. It was the only surviving example of a landscape designed by the nurseryman George Loddiges
Loddiges
The Loddiges family managed one of the most notable of the eighteenth and nineteenth century plant nurseries that traded in and introduced exotic plants, trees, shrubs, ferns, palms and orchids into European gardens....
and boasted an arboretum
Arboretum
An arboretum in a narrow sense is a collection of trees only. Related collections include a fruticetum , and a viticetum, a collection of vines. More commonly, today, an arboretum is a botanical garden containing living collections of woody plants intended at least partly for scientific study...
of 2500 trees and shrubs. As the only New World cemetery design in Europe it had commissioned an entrance in an Egyptian revival style, to reflect its non-denominational character. The originality of the design and the motive force for acquiring and preserving the site had been George Collison
George Collison
George Collison was an English Congregationalist and educator associated with Hackney Academy or Hackney College, which became part of New College London - itself part of the University of London.-Early life:...
, its first secretary, whose father had tutored Reed's father.
Reed, with a firm understanding of the historical importance of the landscape and its educational value, won election as a director of the company for 16 years between 1866 and 1881 and became a principal influence during its last decades as a joint stock company. Reed himself is buried there. Soon after Reed died, the cemetery was made over on 11 April 1882 to a new company run on commercial lines. This laid out a new cemetery at Chingford Mount
Chingford Mount
Chingford Mount is an area in South Chingford . The name refers to the shopping area located around A112/A1009 crossroads , though it is also used for the hill leading north from the crossroads to Chingford Old Church...
in 1883-4. Others at Hendon Park
Hendon Park
Hendon Park is a 12 hectare London suburban park situated north west of Charing Cross. It borders the Northern Line and Hendon Park and Northern Line Railway Cutting are a Local Nature Reserve.-History:...
and Greenford
Greenford
Greenford is a large suburb in the London Borough of Ealing in west London, UK. It was historically an ancient parish in the former county of Middlesex. The most prominent landmarks in the suburb are the A40, a major dual-carriageway; Horsenden Hill, above sea level; the small Parish Church of...
followed.
Bunhill Fields
Bunhill Fields
Bunhill Fields is a cemetery in the London Borough of Islington, north of the City of London, and managed by the City of London Corporation. It is about 4 hectares in extent, although historically was much larger....
burial ground is an ancient open space. Until its closure in the mid-19th century, many historically important people (particularly those whose religious beliefs dissented from the Established Church), chose this as their place of quiet interment on the edge of the City.
The poet Robert Southey
Robert Southey
Robert Southey was an English poet of the Romantic school, one of the so-called "Lake Poets", and Poet Laureate for 30 years from 1813 to his death in 1843...
gave Bunhill Fields the memorable appellation: the Campo Santo of the Dissenters; a phrase that also came to be commonly applied to its "daughter" cemetery at Abney Park. This was a reference to its historical importance as a burial place for religious figures such as John Bunyan
John Bunyan
John Bunyan was an English Christian writer and preacher, famous for writing The Pilgrim's Progress. Though he was a Reformed Baptist, in the Church of England he is remembered with a Lesser Festival on 30 August, and on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church on 29 August.-Life:In 1628,...
and Dr Isaac Watts
Isaac Watts
Isaac Watts was an English hymnwriter, theologian and logician. A prolific and popular hymnwriter, he was recognised as the "Father of English Hymnody", credited with some 750 hymns...
.
Bunhill Fields
Bunhill Fields is a cemetery in the London Borough of Islington, north of the City of London, and managed by the City of London Corporation. It is about 4 hectares in extent, although historically was much larger....
Burial Ground Committee in 1865, which became formally known as the Bunhill Fields Preservation Committee. The committee, appointed by the Corporation, consisted of twelve advisors under Reed's chairmanship. Following the work of the committee, the City of London Corporation obtained an Act of Parliament in 1867 for the Preservation of Bunhill Fields
Bunhill Fields
Bunhill Fields is a cemetery in the London Borough of Islington, north of the City of London, and managed by the City of London Corporation. It is about 4 hectares in extent, although historically was much larger....
Burial Ground as a public open space with seating, gardens, and for the restoration of some of its worthiest monuments, including one to Daniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe , born Daniel Foe, was an English trader, writer, journalist, and pamphleteer, who gained fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe. Defoe is notable for being one of the earliest proponents of the novel, as he helped to popularise the form in Britain and along with others such as Richardson,...
funded by The Christian World and unveiled by Reed. The new park was opened by the Lord Mayor on 14 October 1869.
Other public activity
Reed was widely involved in other philanthropic circles. He was an associate of George PeabodyGeorge Peabody
George Peabody was an American-British entrepreneur and philanthropist who founded the Peabody Trust in Britain and the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, and was responsible for many other charitable initiatives.-Biography:...
, for whom Reed moved the motion of 10 July 1862 granting Freedom of the City of London. He also developed the Guildhall Library
Guildhall Library
The Guildhall Library is administered by the Corporation of London, the government of the City of London, which is the historical heart of London, England. It was founded in the 1420s under the terms of the will of Lord Mayor Dick Whittington...
of the City of London, while he was a councillor. His longstanding interest in social and educational improvement in The City of London was also reflected in membership of the Court of Common Council and in membership of the board of the City of London School
City of London School
The City of London School is a boys' independent day school on the banks of the River Thames in the City of London, England. It is the brother school of the City of London School for Girls and the co-educational City of London Freemen's School...
.
In the religious field he was active in the London Missionary Society
London Missionary Society
The London Missionary Society was a non-denominational missionary society formed in England in 1795 by evangelical Anglicans and Nonconformists, largely Congregationalist in outlook, with missions in the islands of the South Pacific and Africa...
, the British and Foreign Bible Society, the London Sunday School
Sunday school
Sunday school is the generic name for many different types of religious education pursued on Sundays by various denominations.-England:The first Sunday school may have been opened in 1751 in St. Mary's Church, Nottingham. Another early start was made by Hannah Ball, a native of High Wycombe in...
Union, and the Religious Tract Society
Religious Tract Society
The Religious Tract Society, founded 1799, 56 Paternoster Row and 65 St. Paul's Chuchyard, was the original name of a major British publisher of Christian literature intended initially for evangelism, and including literature aimed at children, women, and the poor.The RTS is also notable for being...
. Returned to Parliament again in 1880 for St Ives
St Ives (UK Parliament constituency)
St. Ives is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-History:...
in Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
, he voted against his party in the Bradlaugh debates, deploring Charles Bradlaugh
Charles Bradlaugh
Charles Bradlaugh was a political activist and one of the most famous English atheists of the 19th century. He founded the National Secular Society in 1866.-Early life:...
's atheism.
Death
Reed died at Earlsmead, Page Green, TottenhamTottenham
Tottenham is an area of the London Borough of Haringey, England, situated north north east of Charing Cross.-Toponymy:Tottenham is believed to have been named after Tota, a farmer, whose hamlet was mentioned in the Domesday Book; hence Tota's hamlet became Tottenham...
High Road, on 25 March 1881. He is buried at Abney Park Cemetery near the Church Street entrance, in a grave marked by a grey granite obelisk
Obelisk
An obelisk is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top, and is said to resemble a petrified ray of the sun-disk. A pair of obelisks usually stood in front of a pylon...
.
Further reading
- Stephenson Blake, R. Millington, Oak Knoll Press/British Library: 2002
- Memoir of Sir Charles Reed, C.B.E.Reed, Macmillan:1883