Notes&Queries

James Mayne [cce-id 70753], curate of Bethnal Green

by Richard Palmer

The story of James Mayne, curate of Bethnal Green between 1823 and 1842, has been highlighted by Patsy Kensit in the BBC1 programme Who Do You Think You Are? It provides a fascinating insight into the problems posed for the Church of England in the East End of London by rapidly expanding population and the consequent social problems in the first half of the nineteenth century. Mayne was also a literate, one of the non-University educated clergy, and he provides an example of the careers of a group of clergy often neglected in the history of the Church.

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