Clergy Orphan Corporation

The Corporation of the Sons and Friends of the Clergy is a charity resulting from an amalgamation in 2013. The two parent organisations date from 1655 and 1820, respectively. It exists to provide financial support to clergy of the Anglican Communion who are diocesan clergy in a diocese of the British Isles (including the United Kingdom and Ireland, and the Crown dependencies of the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man) or missionary clergy serving overseas with a society based in one of those countries. It also provides assistance to clergy widows, children, and orphans, and to members of Anglican religious orders within the British Isles.

The Corporation of the Sons of the Clergy was established in 1655 in response to the distress of the large number of clergymen who were dispossessed of their livings under the regime of Oliver Cromwell. Those who were loyal to the crown and adhered to the traditional form of service were displaced. One of the main instigators of the charity was Edward Wake, who was uncle of William Wake Archbishop of Canterbury. The founders were merchants of the City of London and priests of the Church of England, all of whom were themselves sons of clergymen. The first fund-raising events were on 8 November 1655, when a Festival Service was held in Old St Paul's Cathedral, followed by a dinner in the Merchant Taylors' Hall. Collections were taken at each and these events have continued ever since. The charity also had generous support from important and influential people.

When Charles II came to the throne, the supporters of the charity sent a message of loyal greeting and in 1678 the King granted the charity a Royal Charter. This Charter committed the administration of the “Charity for Releefe of the poore Widdowes and Children of Clergymen” to a “Court of Assistants”. The Court of Assistants consisted of a President, a Vice-President, three Treasurers and up to forty-two Assistants, elected each year from the Governors. The Court first met on 15 July 1678 in the Jerusalem Chamber at Westminster Abbey. The Corporation’s President was John Dolben, Bishop of Rochester and Dean of Westminster, whilst the Vice-President was Sir Christopher Wren.

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