The Wesley Historical Society Welcomes You and Values Your Interest

Wesleyan and Methodist heritage is an integral part of the history of countries worldwide and we welcome everyone who is interested in their own roots, culture and history to visit the pages in this web site.

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NEWS AND EVENTS

Details of all of Wesley Historical Society Meetings, see Events page or click here.

The Proceedings of the Wesley Historical Society, Cumulative Index to Volumes 51 to 60,
is now available on the Biblical Studies.org.uk website. The direct link is https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/whs/51-60-index.pdf

Do you have a query? See the "Frequently Asked Questions" on the About Us page.

FEATURE ARTICLE

Where is Wesley House?

If you search online, you will find many answers. When I looked, Google returned 180 million hits in 0.79 seconds. It featured Wesley House, Cambridge of course, but also properties in Winchcombe, Mousehole, Redruth, Alnwick, Cheltenham and Sheffield, to name a few. One is a campsite; another a student accommodation block. According to one advertisement, Wesley House, Leatherhead 'provides the perfect blend of modern technology, contemporary design and classic architecture - a beautiful office environment tailored to modern business needs.' Further afield, Wesley House on the island of Anguilla offers visitors ‘beach chairs and umbrellas, snorkelling gear and pool toys’.

For the less adventurous, I suggest a visit to Wesley House in Battersea, south London. This is in Mallinson Road, not far from Clapham Junction station, at number 90. There are three terraced houses each with sculpted heads above the bay window. On the left is what seems to be a generic figure of a Greek or Roman goddess; to the right is Mallinson House, graced by a similar sculpture; and in the centre stands Wesley House, adorned by this rendering of John Wesley's head.      

 

Mallinson Road was developed in the late nineteenth century as part of an estate bult by the Conservative Land Society, which acquired the land in 1868. This was one of the freehold land societies which originated in the 1840s and were used by wealthy landowners and industrialists to swing votes in key parliamentary constituencies by creating cheap freehold properties, each of which would entitle the householder to a vote. The Conservative Land Society had been selling small freehold building plots, each carrying voting rights, in the area since the 1850s, though by the late 1860s it seems probable that the prime motive of their investors was commercial rather than political.

The street is presumably named after Sir William Mallinson (1854-1936), described in our online Dictionary of Methodism as a prominent United Methodist Free Church layman and philanthropist, who sponsored the construction of some thirty chapels across London. His precise association with this house, or indeed with the Conservative Land Society, awaits further investigation.