How long has Christ Church magazine been running?  

The oldest copy we have is this from January 1885, when the then vicar Walter Thompson wrote “I hope our Parish Magazine will be welcomed by all. It will come as a friend once a month.  I have long wished for this ” missing link ” to be forged” – implying that this was the first year of issue. However, it is Volume XV, Issue 1, so there must have been 14 more years of the magazine sometime between 1840 and 1885, so our church magazine has just reached 150 years of circulation!

Interestingly, the oldest church magazine is believed to be that of St Andrew’s, Sonning, running since 1869. So ours may be a close second!

Christ Church 129 years ago

“Windsor Castle, July 10, 1893”.

“The Queen wishes once again to express to her people how much gratified and touched she has been by the great loyalty and devotion to herself and her family which have been so strikingly evinced on the occasion of the marriage of her beloved grandson, the Duke of York, and his dear bride, the Princess Victoria Mary of Teck.

“It is, indeed, nothing new to the Queen, for in weal or woe she has ever met with the warmest, kindest sympathy, which she feels very deeply. She knows that the people of her vast Empire are aware how truly her heart beats for them in all their joys and sorrows ; and that in the existence of this tie between them and herself lies the real strength of the Empire.

“With them the Queen joins in fervent prayer and wishes for the welfare and happiness of her dear grandchildren.

(Signed) VICTORIA R.I.”

(written about the wedding of Prince George, Duke of York, and Princess Mary of Teck. Prince George would later become King George V. This was the first royal wedding in England since the death of Prince Albert in 1861)

Celebration of a Royal Wedding

I am able to put in a few words this month about the Royal Wedding; an event which has called forth from all classes in the country an amount of enthusiasm nearly equalling the year of the Queen’s Jubilee. And, indeed, we have cause to rejoice in hope at the prospect which it opens out to us. At the Jubilee we looked back on the past; at the Royal Wedding we look forward into the future; and when we know that the Royal Bride and Bridegroom have already given proof that their aim in life is to serve God faithfully, and promote the highest good of all classes in our country, I say, we have cause to rejoice at the prospect. It means a continuance in high places of those virtues which have made the Queen loved as the Great Mother of her people. In Stone, the hearty and loyal character of the celebration gave general satisfaction. There was gladness on every hand, whether we consider the 400 aged poor entertained at luncheon in the Town Hall, or the children and young people numbering nearly 2,000 who with flags and banners walked in grand procession to the Common Plot. The scene there was one to be remembered. The great gathering of all around the Royal Standard to sing the National Anthem, the sports at different parts of the field, the gathering to the several centres for tea, and the general effect of bands, tents, children and parents made a most pleasing and animated picture.

I am glad to say that so far as our responsibilities at Christ Church went, everything passed off smoothly. The lady teachers had worked mightily the evening before in preparing provisions for 580 scholars.  The day remained beautifully fine and closed without a hitch. The general arrangements and the character of local celebration did honour to Stone and was worthy the occasion.

Your affectionate friend and vicar, Walter J. Thompson