Fr Sunn

Tucked away in the attic of the presbytery we found, when looking for material about the church's history, a couple of boxes full of old books, minutes, bills and letters. We haven't had a chance to go through them systematically as yet, but what we did find were lots of fascinating old photos, some of which we've uploaded to the website, with more to come.

Here's a picture of the founder of the parish, Fr Joseph Sunn, with a nun. If anyone knows who she is, please contact me . The same applies to the other photos. If you know anything about the people in them, tell us.
 

The choir’s founder was Father Denis Crowley who, on his arrival in New Southgate in July 1944 as Father Sunn’s newly ordained first curate, got a choir together in time to sing at Midnight Mass at Christmas 1944, when the church had to be blacked out as the war was not over. Thus 1945 was the first year of the choir’s existence. In those early days, the Sung Mass was 10.30am and four-part Latin Masses and motets were sung, with plainchant during Lent and Advent.

Father Sunn died in 1953 and, in 1956, when his successor, Father George Eldridge, celebrated his Silver Jubilee, Father Crowley organised a concert in his honour at the Intimate Theatre, Palmers Green, and recruited a choir of male volunteers from the Knights of St Columba to sing the hymn to St Edmund as part of the programme. One of these volunteers, Peter Wurr, remained to become a mainstay of the church choir, acting as assistant conductor and taking over as choir master in 1964 when Father Crowley went to Hackney as parish priest and Father Eldridge was replaced by Father Haughey. Contact with Father Crowley was not lost over the years and, in 1969, we went to Hackney to sing at his Silver Jubilee Mass and again in 1980 at his Requiem.

During the fifteen years or so from 1955 most members of Our Lady of Lourdes choir also belonged to the Westminster Diocesan choir, where we learnt much from Father Wilfred Purney and sang the Whit Sunday Mass in the cathedral every year. We also went to Paris in 1957 and Cologne in 1961 for the Congresses of Sacred Music.