St Ed's
The Website of
St Edmund's Parish Church
Roundhay, Leeds, England
Articles - Miscellaneous
Old Alresford - 1876
It was in 1876 that Mary Sumner, wife of the vicar of Old Alresford near Winchester, decided that a new organisation was needed in the parish and the first branch of the Mothers' Union was begun.
Mary Sumner started the Mothers' Union when she became a grandmother, being spurred into action when her eldest daughter gave birth to her first baby. Mary remembered her feelings of inadequacy as a new mother and felt the primary responsibility of mothers was to raise their children in the love of God. Mothers could only do this, she believed, if their lives were firmly rooted in prayer.
Mary gathered together the women of the parish in the Rectory but could not present her ideas due to nerves! She had to call them together a week later to explain the objects of the new society and to give out simple cards containing practical suggestions for members' lives.
In 1885 the Bishop of Newcastle, feeling he had little of relevance to say to a women's meeting made up of poor and anxious women at the Portsmouth Church Congress in 1885, called on Mary to speak. Despite her initial resistance, as at the time respectable women did not address public meetings, she agreed. The meeting responded to her address which a rousing ovation. The ensuing decision of the Bishop of Winchester to make the Mothers' Union a diocesan organisation was destined to change the lives of many far beyond the boundaries of the diocese of Winchester.
Mary Sumner could not possibly have imagined the Mothers' Union of today. Her idea, however, for improving and supporting family life through "a union of mothers" attracted such enthusiastic support that it was impossible for members not to share it with those they met. Today, 125 years on, the Mothers' Union has one million members in sixty countries sharing a common commitment to Christian family life and are united by prayer and action. All branches have been asked to hold an event to celebrate this anniversary and we would welcome your support.
Jean Livesey
http:/www.stedmunds.roundhay.org.uk/misc/alresford.htm
© St Edmund's Church, Leeds
Last Revised 30 September, 2001