Changing Faces of St Marylebone

Maurice, who lived at 2 Brunswick Place, is now little known, but left a lasting legacy in the field of education. Maurice’s deeply held Christian beliefs informed his life. He saw a need for a moral and social regeneration of society, and this led him to Christian socialism. He was the leader of the Christian Socialist Movement from 1848 until it folded in 1854, insisting that “”Christianity is the only foundation of Socialism, and that a true Socialism is the necessary result of a sound Christianity.”

Maurice, along with many other liberal thinkers of the day, was distressed by the living conditions of the poor and believed that education was the right of all and the only way to help the poor escape their desperate situation. He founded Queen’s College in Harley Street, the world’s first institution to award young women an academic qualification. In 1854 he founded the Working Men’s College in Camden.

In July 1860, in spite of controversy, Maurice was appointed to the benefice of the chapel of St. Peter’s, Vere Street.