Bazaar that raised a pretty penny for restoration of town’s parish church
IN 1878, the Rev Canon Richard Vincent Sheldon began fundraising for the restoration of Ormskirk Parish Church.
Birmingham born Richard had brought his family to Ormskirk after a time spent in Hoylake Parish.
He became the Chaplain of the Ormskirk Workhouse, the Rural Dean for North Meols and Ormskirk and the Chaplain to the 13th Lancashire Rifle Volunteers.
Rev Sheldon had attended Queens College, Cambridge, from 1848, gaining his BA and MA and then being ordained as Dean at Lichfield in 1852.
He was appointed as Perpetual Curate of St Matthias, Liverpool, 18531858; Perpetual Curate of Hoylake, 1858-1870; Hon. Canon of Chester, 18751880 and Vicar of Ormskirk from 1870 until his death in 1884.
His death while convalescing on the Isle of Wight in 1884 aged 60 was a huge loss to Ormskirk parish as he had worked so hard on the church restoration.
A year after Rev Sheldon’s death, there was still much to be completed.
A total of £7,000 had already been spent, with the main expense being the repairs to the square tower and the lowering and relaying of the floor, which involved removal of many skeletons buried beneath, which were reinterred in the graveyard.
Reseating had cost a considerable sum too.
The Earl of Derby had funded the renovations of the Derby Chapel and the Marquis de Casteja had funded renovations in the Scarisbrick Chapel.
Work that was outstanding was the removal of the organ gallery from under the tower, the building of a vestry and the building of a place for the organ in the north side of the church.
The roofing needed replacing completely and the arcades also needed replacing.
To raise more funding for the ongoing project, in October 1885 a grand three-day bazaar was organised by the Church Restoration Committee, which included the Earl and Countess of Lathom and their daughters, and no effort was spared to make the event grand enough and spectacular enough to assure that sufficient funds were raised.
Lord Lathom had just been appointed Lord Chamberlain to Queen Victoria for the first time in June of 1885.
The bazaar took place in the Ormskirk Working Men’s Institute on Moor Street.
The layout of the bazaar included a huge mural of Church Street which formed the backdrop of the event.
There were nine stalls all containing useful and ornamental articles.
Apologies and best wishes for the event were sent by several notable people, including Miss Mary Augusta Gordon, sister of General Charles George Gordon of Khartoum, General Gordon had been killed at Khartoum at the start of 1885.
He lived with his sister in Southampton.
Mary Augusta most probably had donated items to be sold at the bazaar as she was acquainted with the earls of Derby and the BootleWilbraham family.
Lord Randolph Churchill also donated an item for sale at the bazaar and sent his apologies for his absence.
He had just been appointed Secretary of State for India under Prime Minister, Lord Salisbury, who was the father-in-law of Florence Bootle-Wilbraham.
All these families supported the Conservative Primrose League and they all knew one another well, Sir Randolph had been on weekend shoots with the Earl of Lathom and with The Prince of Wales, who had just months earlier visited Ormskirk and Lathom.
The Marquess of Hartington, Spencer Compton Cavendish, also sent a donation and his apologies for not being able to attend.
He was the Liberal MP for East Lancashire and former leader of the Liberal party, eight years after the bazaar he became the 8th Duke of Devonshire on the death of his father the 7th Duke.
The Earl of Lathom welcomed everyone to the bazaar and then introduced the Hon Colonel Frederick Arthur Stanley who went on to give a rousing speech and declare the bazaar open.
He was also the Secretary of State for the Colonies and went on to be the Governor General of Canada, founding the famous Stanley Cup and then he became Lord Derby in 1893.
The second day of the bazaar was declared open by the Countess of Lathom accompanied by her sister Lady Constance Stanley, wife of Colonel Stanley.
The most popular stall over the two days was that of the Hon Miss Alice Bootle–Wilbraham, eldest daughter of the Earl and Countess of Lathom, who had a collection of Venetian and bohemian glassware on the stall which sold extremely well.
The third day of the event continued to attract large crowds and was opened by the MP for Ormskirk District and former Mayor of Liverpool, Arthur Bower Forwood, Canon John Edward Woodrow who had come to the Ormskirk Parish in 1884 after Rev Sheldon’s death, led the whole three-day event with thanks to all those organising and donating.
Canon Woodrow continued the restoration programme at the church with great commitment and success.