A Comerford family that brought me from the heart of London’s East End to Northampton and Leicester

A search in Change Alley last week led to the story of a large branch of the Comerford family (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Patrick Comerford

When I was in London last week, I visited the alleys off Cornhill, searching for the Jamaica and Jonathan’s, two of the oldest coffee houses in London, and looking in Change Alley for the site of the home of a branch of the Comerford family who lived and worked there in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Change Alley is a collection of at least five interconnected labyrinthine passages that have changed shape and direction down the centuries and with five access points: two off Cornhill, two off Lombard Street and one leading out of Birchin Lane.

Thomas Comerford, who came from Ireland, was a tobacconist in London from the mid-18th century. He was twice married and married his first wife Alice Davenport (1735-1769) on 26 October 1759 in Saint Mary’s Church, Whitechapel. They lived in Leman Street, Whitechapel (1759-1768), and they were the parents of three sons:

1, William Davenport Comerford (1763-1763), died in infancy.
2, James Comerford (1764-1833), ancestor of the Comerford family of Holborn and Belgravia.
3, Thomas Comerford (1769-1810), draper, of Bond Street, who married Charlotte Watson (1772-1851), and who has a large number of living descendants.

Alice died in childbirth in 1769, and Thomas Comerford married his second wife, Ann Underwood (1734-1807), in Saint Botolph’s Church, Aldgate, on 28 October 1770. Thomas and Anne Comerford were the parents of two more children, a daughter and a son:

4, Mary (1775-1839)
5, Charles Comerford (1784-1849), solicitor. He married Elizabeth Edings Morgan (1797-1867) in Saint Luke’s Church, Chelsea, on 1 May 1813. He lived at East Street, Lamb’s Conduit Street, off Great Ormond Street in Bloomsbury (1807), 16 Clement’s Inn, off the Strand in Saint Clement Danes parish (1838-1840), 72 Old Broad Street (1848), and 21 Oxford Square, Paddington (1849).

I was aware of the story of Thomas Comerford’s second son James Comerford (1764-1833) and his descendants, who were tobacconists, notaries public and Victorian book collectors who had connections with Change Alley for at least four generations and another three or four generations of distinguished medical practitioners and surgeons in Belgravia.

But I had overlooked the Thomas Comerford’s third son, Thomas Comerford (1769-1810), a Bond Street draper and younger brother of James Comerford (1764-1833), and the story of his far-flung branch of the family.

My visit to Change Alley lead me to finding the stories of a branch of the Comerford family that are an introduction to portraits of family life that are both intriguing and fascinating, and at the same time often heart-rending. Over five or six generations or more, I found sad stories of infant mortality and death at childbirth, of children and whole families ending up in the workhouse, and stories too of resilience and fortitude, of trade union activism, and of death at the Gallipoli landings, of passages to India and of birth at sea off St Helena in the mid-Atlantic.

There are intermarriages in successive generations between the Comerford and Finch families that consolidate family networks. There are gun makers and shoemakers, soldiers and bus drivers, whose lives, I imagine, were worlds apart from the doctors’ consulting rooms in Belgravia of their distant cousins.

A family that at one time was at home in places in the East End like Stepney, Tower Hamlets, Whitechapel and Bethnal Green, son moved south of the river to Southwark and places such as Southwark, Lambeth, Newington, Camberwell, Bermondsey and Walworth, and north to Clerkenwell and Islington. In time, they moved on to Aston in Birmingham and other places in the Midlands, including four generations or more in both Northampton and Leicester, with four generations of bootmakers and shoemakers. I even found six or seven members of this branch of the family with the name Charlotte Comerford, and I found that many of the family baptisms and marriages took place in churches that I already know well and have blogged about in recent years.

Thomas Comerford (1769-1810) married Charlotte Watson in Saint Martin in the Fields, facing onto Trafalgar Square (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The story of this branch of the Comerford family begins with Thomas Comerford from Ireland who became a tobacconist in London. He was twice married and he died on 29 June 1812 in the Parish of Saint Botolph, London. His third son was:

Thomas Comerford (1769-1810), born in 1769 and baptised in Saint Mary’s Church, Whitechapel, 15 February 1769. He was a draper in Bond Street, London, in 1784. He married on 23 February 1792 in Saint Martin in the Fields Church Charlotte Watson (1772-1851), daughter of Joseph Watson and his second wife Elizabeth (née Wiltshire) of Whitechapel.

Thomas Comerford died in Mill Yard on 12 July 1810, and was buried in Goodman’s Fields, the burial ground of Somerset Street Presbyterian Church; Charlotte Comerford died in January 1851. Their children included three daughters and three sons:

1, Elizabeth (1795-post 1812), born 27 December 1795 in Everard’s Place, a small alley or courtyard off Church Lane, near Cable Street and Wellclose Square, in the parish of Saint Mary, Whitechapel, in the East End. She was baptised on 21 January 1796 in the Presbyterian Church, Somerset Street (now Mansell Street), Stepney. She married David Smith in Saint Mary’s Church, Stratford Bow, on 10 November 1812.
2, Anne (1798-1800), born 7 February 1798 in Everard’s Place and baptised 23 July 1799 in Somerset Street Presbyterian Church. She died in November 1800 and was also buried in Goodman’s Fields.
3, Charlotte (1800-1800), born 20 January 1800, and died in Everard’s Place in December 1800.
4, Joseph Comerford (1801-1848), of whom next (see below).
5, George Comerford (1803-1806), born 4 November 1803 Swallow’s Gardens, Whitechapel, died in 1806 Rosemary Lane.
6, Francis Thomas Comerford (1811-1864), of whom after his brother Joseph (see below), born after his father’s death, 6 April 1811.

The widowed Charlotte Comerford later married the widowed Samuel Hormack Dann (born 1789) in Saint George in the East Church, Tower Hamlets, on 6 July 1818. They had no further children, and Charlotte died in January 1851.

At least three members of the Comerford family were baptised in Saint Botolph Without Aldgate, Bishopsgate (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The elder of the two surviving sons of Thomas and Charlotte Comerford:

Joseph Comerford (1801-1848), born 10 October 1801 in Sparrow Corner, which was between 83 and 84 Minories in Saint Botolph Parish, Aldgate. He was baptised on 25 August 1809 in Saint Botolph’s Church, Aldgate. He married Mary Davies (1805-1862) in Saint George in the East Church, Tower Hamlets, on 15 July 1827.

Joseph Comerford died 14 November 1848 in Phoenix Court, and was buried in Goodman’s Yard burial ground; his wife Mary (née Davies) died in East London in 1862. They were the parents of ten children, five sons and five daughters:

1, Charlotte (1829- ), born 19 April 1829 in Aldgate.
2, Francis Thomas Comerford (1831-1918), of whom next (see below).
3, Joseph Comerford (1833-1899), born in Whitechapel in 1833, of whom after his brother Francis Thomas Comerford (see below).
4, Mary Ann (1834-1896), born at Sugar Loaf Court, Angel Alley, 4 December 1834. She married James Keegan (born 1838). They lived in Regent Street, Lambeth, and Kennington, and were the parents of four children, a son and three daughters.
5, Elizabeth (1836-1905) born in Aldgate in 1836. She married Benjamin George Broome (born 1840) in Saint Thomas Church, Stepney, on 5 April 1863. They were the parents of four children, three daughters and a son. Elizabeth Broome was living in Dean Street, Soho, when she died in 1905.
6, George (I) Comerford (1838-1839), born in Aldgate in May 1838, died in October 1839.
7, Martha (1840-1915), born in Aldgate 1 February 1840. She married William Finch (born 1824), a widowed fishmonger and later a postman, in Saint Thomas Church, Stepney, on 9 February 1868. They lived in Lambeth and later in Battle and then Bexhill in Sussex. Martha (Comerford) Finch died in Brighton in October 1915, and they were the parents of six children, four sons and two daughters who all continued the Comerford name:

•1a, Jessie Comerford Finch (born 1869), who married Walter West Gwynne (1866-1958);
•2a, Herbert Comerford Finch (1871-1937), who married his cousin Florence Eva Comerford (1876-1957) in Christ Church, Sparkbrook, Birmingham, on 7 May 1900 (see below);
•3a, Charles Comerford Finch (1874-1949) of Harrow and Willesden, who married Jessie Emily Farrall (1870-1961);
•4a, Frank Comerford Finch (1876-1952), of Swansea, Wales, who married Elizabeth Harriett Rees (1885-1963);
•5a, Ephraim Comerford Finch (born 1880), married in Croydon in 1903;
•6a, Emma Comerford Finch (1885-1949), who married Frederick J Walker in 1913.

8, George (II) Comerford (born 1842), born 1842 in Crown Court, Aldgate.
9, Emma (1845-) born 8 February 1845 in Aldgate.
10, Benjamin Comerford (1848-1852), born July 1848 Aldgate, died 1852 in East London.

The eldest of these ten children:

Francis Thomas Comerford (1831-1918), gunmaker, was born 17 January 1831 at Sugar Loaf Court, Angel Alley, Aldgate – the site is now occupied by railway lines – and was baptised 6 February 1831 in Saint Botolph Without Aldgate, Bishopsgate. He married Hannah Matilda Govett (1832-1905) in Saint Thomas Church, Stepney, on 15 April 1850. They lived for a time in Grove Street, Tower Hamlets, moved to India in the late 1850s, and later lived in Aston, Birmingham from the 1870s. Hannah died in Aston in 1905, and Francis died there in 1918.

They were the parents of 11 children, eights sons and three daughters:

1, George Comerford (1850-1852), born in Stepney, 4 October 1850, died at 27 Grove Street, Tower Hamlets, in 1852.
2, Francis Thomas Comerford (1852-1927), of whom next.
3, Frederick Henry Comerford (1855-1936), born in Stepney, 20 August 1855.
4, Charlotte Elizabeth Comerford (1857-1858), born 4 May 1857, died in infancy on 28 October 1858.
5, Charles William Comerford (1859-1937), born in Madras, 13 March 1859. He married Polly Robinson (1863-1932), from Wednesbury, Staffordshire, in Saint Paul’s Church, in the Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham, on Christmas Day 25 December 1882. They lived in Aston and do not seem to have had any children; Polly died in December 1932, Charles died in Birmingham in June 1937.
6, Henry Hardwick Comerford (1860-1861), born at sea off St Helena in 1860, died in Stepney in 1861.
7, Kate Margaret Comerford (1864-1912), born in Bow in 1864, married James Arthur Garlick (1860-1935), a travelling salesman, in Saint Paul’s Church, Birmingham, in January 1885, and they were the parents of three daughters and a son. Kate died in King’s Norton, Birmingham, in April 1912; James Garlick died in Birmingham in June 1935.
8, Alfred Edward Comerford (1866-1894), born in Lambeth in June 1866. He married Rosina Clarissa Buck (1862-1936) in Holy Trinity Church, Bordesley, on Christmas Eve 24 December 1892. Alfred died at Anderton Road, Sparkbrook, on 26 January 1894; Rosina died in September 1936. They were the parents of an only son:
•1a John Augustus Comerford (1894-1958) of Birmingham, who died unmarried.
9, Walter Comerford (1870-1873), born in Birmingham in January 1870, died in January 1873.
10, Thomas Henry Comerford (born 1874), born in Aston at the end of 1874.
11, Florence Eva (1876-1957), born in Birmingham 19 February 1876, she married her first cousin Herbert Comerford Finch (1871-1937), see above, in Christ Church, Sparkbrook, on 7 May 1900, and they were the parents of two daughters.

Saint George in the East, where some members of the Comerford family were baptised and married (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

The eldest surviving son of Francis Thomas Comerford (1831-1918) and Hannah Matilda (Govett) Comerford was:

Francis Thomas Comerford (1852-1927), born in Stepney 9 March 1852 and baptised in Saint George in the East on 20 January 1856. He moved to Birmingham with his parents and family when he was in his teens and became an apprentice in the gun trade. He married Charlotte Finch (1851-1933) in Mile End, London, in July 1874 – she appears to be related to William Finch who married Martha Comerford (1840-1915). Francis and Charlotte Comerford lived in India on at least two occasions in the 1870s and 1880s. Francis Comerford died at 92 Milward Road, Hastings, on 9 September 1927; his widow, Charlotte Comerford, died there on 5 March 1933.

Francis and Charlotte Comerford were the parents of five children, three sons and two daughters:

1, Florence Charlotte (born 1875), born in Birmingham October 1875.
2, Lilian Rose (1878-1940), born in Ferozepore, Punjab, in 1878. She returned to England with her parents and lived in Dorset before moving to Hastings, where she died on 30 September 1940, aged 62.
3, Violet Isabel (1879-1951), born in Bexhill in 1879, she later lived in Twickenham and died in Hastings in December 1951.
4, Percy J Comerford (1881-1898), he was born in India, returned to England with his parents, and died in Aston in January 1898.
5, William Ewart Comerford (1887-1974), born in Poona on 9 December 1887. He returned to England with his parents, and later lived in Guildford. He died in June 1974.

We now return to Joseph Comerford (1833-1899), second son of Joseph Comerford (1801-1848), and next brother to Francis Thomas Comerford (see above):

Joseph Comerford (1833-1899) was born in Whitechapel in 1833 and was baptised in Saint Botolph Without Aldgate on 3 April 1833. He was an armourer or gunmaker. I have found no record for his first marriage, but he described himself as a widower when he married Elizabeth Jenkins (1837-1918) on 7 July 1867 in Christchurch, Cannon Street Road (the church was demolished after bomb damage during World War II). They lived on Mile End Road in the East End and briefly in Edinburgh. Joseph Comerford died in London in October 1899; Elizabeth died in Islington in December 1918. They were the parents of one daughter and one son:

1, Eva Cannon (1880-1944), married Henry Percival Welbelove (1879-1933) in Saint Mary the Virgin, Somers Town, London, on 3 August 1908. They later lived in Long Eaton, Derbyshire, and Rotherham and Pontefract, East Yorkshire.
2, Joseph Jackson G Comerford (1884-1969), he married Theresa Ellen Wilson (1888-1945) in London in 1909, and they later lived in Monsell Road, Islington. They were the parents of three sons and a daughter:
•1a, Joseph William Comerford (1909-1982), married Clara Gladys Moore (1915-2001), lived in Brighton and died in Hove.
•2a, Harry James Comerford (1911-1972), married, and died in Hillingdon.
•3a, George Albert Comerford (1916-2004), died in Hastings.
•4a Patricia Joan Renshaw (1929-1994), lived in Stevenage, Hertfordshire.

The tower and some walls remain at Christ Church Greyfriars, near Saint Paul’s Cathedral … some members of the Comerford family were baptised there (Photograph: four Comerford)

We now return to Francis Thomas Comerford (1811-1864), the second surviving son of Thomas Comerford (1769-1810) above and the younger surviving brother of Joseph Comerford (1801-1848) above:

Francis Thomas Comerford (1811-1864) was born 6 April 1811 in the Parish of Saint Giles Without Cripplegate, Aldgate. He was a porter and hatter and lived at Christopher Court, off Fenchurch Street, and at Providence Street, Southwark. He married Edith Parsley (1813-1889) in Saint James’s Church, Paddington, on 1 May 1842. Francis Comerford died in 1864 at 72 Hosier Lane, Smithfield, London; Edith died in Camberwell in December 1889. They were the parents of six children, three sons and three daughters:

1, Thomas Comerford (1841-1906), of whom next.
2, Edward Comerford (1845-1918), of whom after his brother Thomas (see below).
3, Emma (1847-1920), she was born in Aldersgate 8 July 1847 and baptised in Christ Church Greyfriars, Newgate, 26 September 1847. She died in Bromley in December 1920.
4, Mary Ann Matilda (1849-1852), born 15 July 1849, baptised in Christ Church, Greyfriars, 5 August 1849, and died in July 1852.
5, Joseph Comerford (1853-1897), of whom after his brother Edward (see below).
6, Eliza (1854-1929), born September 1854. She married Gillespie George Callam (1855-1930) in Saint James the Less Church, Bethnal Green, Tower Hamlets, on 28 November 1875, and they were the parents of seven children, three sons and four daughters.

The first of three sons of Francis and Edith Comerford:

Thomas Comerford (1841-1906), wire weaver, was born in Saint Martin’s Le Grand, a former liberty north of Newgate Street and Cheapside and south of Aldersgate Street, on 18 July 1841, and was baptised in Christ Church, Greyfriars, Newgate, on 29 June 1845.

He married Mary Ann Powell (1843-1935) in Saint Mary-at-Lambeth Church, Lambeth, on 14 November 1864. They later lived in Paradise Street, Rotherhithe, Camberwell and Bermondsey. He died in West Ham on 8 June 1906; she died in Leicester in September 1935. They were the parents of one daughter and five sons:

1, Jane (1863-1932), married James Seamer Lock (1860-1950) in Enon Baptist Chapel, Woolwich, on 17 May 1881 and they were the parents of 16 children, eight daughters and eight sons. They later lived in Leicester, where she died on 29 April 1932.
2, Thomas Comerford (1865-1949), of whom next.
3, Benjamin James Comerford (born 1868), born in Cripplegate, 7 February 1868, baptised in Saint Matthias, Bethnal Green, Tower Hamlets, on 1 March 1868.
4, John Comerford (1870-1871), died in infancy.
5, Robert Comerford (born 1872)
6, Henry Comerford (1875-1946), of whom after his brother Thomas and his descendants.

The eldest son of Thomas Comerford and Mary Ann (Powell) Comerford was:

Thomas Comerford (1865-1949), shoemaker, born Southwark 27 July 1865, baptised in Saint Matthias Church, Bethnal Green, Tower Hamlets, 1 March 1868. He married Mary Elizabeth (Lizzie) Patey (1872-1936) in All Saints’ Church, Walworth, on 16 September 1889. They lived in Camberwell, Newington, Walworth and Southwark, and had moved to Leicester by 1897, living at Knighton Fields Road.

Lizzie died in Leicester on 24 December 1936, and Thomas died there in March 1949. They were the parents of two sons and four daughters:

1, Thomas Comerford (1890-1962), of whom next.
2, Amy Ellen (1892-1952), married Henry Davey Radford (1890-1971) in Leicester in June 1915 and died in Leicester in 1952.
3, Elizabeth (1893-1961), baptised in Saint Christopher’s, Walworth, 6 December 1893, married James Lakin (1893-1972) in Leicester in July 1915.
4, Mary Ann (1895-1981), born Preston Buildings, Southwark, 8 December 1895. She married Frederick William Jackson (1894-1973) in Saint Mary Magdalene Church, Knighton, Leicester, on 11 May 1918, and they were the parents of a son and a daughter.
5, Henry Comerford (1897-1997), born in Leicester 27 October 1897.
6, Helen (Ellen) Winifred (1902-1988) in Leicester, 7 April 1902. She married Jack Kyle (1900-1989) from Kettering, Northamptonshire, in Leicester in 1929, and they were the parents of a daughter. She died in Leicester on 20 June 1988.

The eldest son of Thomas and Lizzie (Patey) Comerford was:

Thomas Comerford (1890-1962) was born in Camberwell 15 March 1890, and was baptised in All Saints’ Church, Newington, 2 April 1890. He moved to Leicester with his parents, and he married Charlotte Barton (1887-1955) in Leicester in December 1907. Charlotte died in Leicester June 1955, and Thomas died at 3 Northdene Road, Leicester, on 5 March 1962.

Thomas and Charlotte Comerford were the parents of seven children, including two sons and four daughters:

1, Thomas William Comerford (1908-1978).
2, Florence Winifred (1909-1966) of Leicester, married Cyril James Gilbert (1908-1996) in 1928.
3, John Henry Comerford (1913-1997) of Leicester, married Edna Austick (1914-2003) in Leicester in September 1937.
4, Barbara Elizabeth (1920-2002), married in Acle, Norfolk, in December 1946.
5, Elsie May (1920-1975), married in Leicester in September 1940.
6, Mary (1924-2001), married Alan A Bassett in Leicester in June 1946.

The sixth child and youngest son of Thomas Comerford and Mary Ann (Powell) Comerford (see above) was:

Henry Comerford (1875-1946), bus conductor, born Newcastle on Tyne in March 1875, and grew up in London. He married Rebecca Louisa Hudson (born 1879) in Saint James’s Church, Bermondsey, 25 December 1899. Henry died in Finsbury in March 1946. They were the parents of five children, three sons and two daughters:

1, Henry Thomas Comerford (1900-2001), born Walworth 30 October 1900, baptised Saint Matthew’s, Newington, 18 November 1900. He married Florence M Waller in Edmonton in 1940. He lived to 101 and died in Enfield in December 2001.
2, (Male) Comerford (1902-1902), who died at birth in Southwark in September 1902.
3, Jessie Rebecca (1903-1974), born in Walworth, 22 May 1903, baptised in Saint Matthew’s Church, Newington, 7 June 1903, and died in Newton Abbot, Devon, in December 1974.
4, Charles William Comerford (1905-1961), born in Walworth, 19 March 1905, died in Southend on Sea, 28 May 1961.
5, Isabella Mary (1908-1920), born in Walworth, December 1908.

Saint Mary-at-Lambeth Church, where some members of the Comerford family where baptised and married (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

We now return to the second of three sons of Francis and Edith Comerford:

Edward Comerford (1845-1906), coachman and bus driver, was born 2 June 1845 and baptised in Christ Church, Greyfriars, Newgate, 29 June 1845. Edward was twice married; he married his first wife Louisa Trimmer (1846-1888) in Saint Mary-at-Lambeth Church on 29 September 1867. They lived in Saint John’s Square, and later in Newington, and Louisa died in March 1888. Edward and Louisa Comerford were the parents of three sons and three daughters:

1, Louisa Elizabeth (1869-1903), born in Cheap 1869, baptised in Saint John the Baptist Church, Clerkenwell, 24 April 1870. She married William Griffin Walker (born 1867) in Saint Peter’s Church, Walworth, in June 1888, and they were the parents of two daughters. She lived in Newington and died in July 1903.
2, Edward Thomas Comerford (1870-1917), born in Clerkenwell 1870, baptised in Saint John the Baptist Church, Clerkenwell, 24 April 1870. He was a private in the East Surrey Regiment by 1901. He died in Southwark in 1917.
3, Arthur Comeford (1876-1946), born in Southwark 30 September 1876 and baptised in Saint Mary, Newington, on 15 December 1876. He was a plumber and gas fitter, and lived in Bermondsey. He married Alice Elizabeth Howard (born 1879, Bromley Bow, Poplar) in Saint Dunstan and All Saints’ Church, Stepney, on 21 May 1899. He died in 1946 and was buried in Greenwich.
4, Harriet Eleanor (1878-post 1955), born in Newington, 1878, baptised in Saint Mary’s, Newington, 25 July 1879. She married William Henry Pearson (1877-1967) in Saint Mark’s Church, Walworth, on 31 July 1898. The lived at Ethelred Street, Lambeth, and Blandford House, Richborne Terrace, Lambeth, and were the parents of one son and three daughters.
5, Rose Matilda (1881-1933), born Newington, 13 July 1881, baptised in Saint Mary’s Church, Newington, 24 August 1881. She married William Henry Chaproniere (1878-1916) in Saint Paul’s Church, Bermondsey, on14 May 1899. They lived in Bermondsey, and were the parents of three sons and a daughter. He was a corporal and died in the Battle of the Somme on 1 July 1916; she died in December 1933.
6, Albert Edgar Comerford (1887-1915), born in Kennington on 25 June 1887, and baptised in Saint James’s Church, Kennington, on 28 July 1887. A printer, he was a private in the Royal Fusiliers City of London Regiment 2nd Battalion by 1911, in Jubbulpore, India. He was killed in Gallipoli on 5 June 1915 and is named on the Helles Memorial Gallipoli.

Louisa died in March 1888 and Edward Comerford married his second wife, Jane Julie Osborne (1866-1943) in Saint Mary-at-Lambeth Church on 27 July 1890. Thomas and Jane Comerford later lived in Camberwell, but by 1913 they were described as ‘destitute and homeless’ and living with their children in Saint Olave’s Workhouse, Bermondsey. Edward died at the end of 1918; Jane died in Staines in 1943. They were the parents of two daughters and a son:

1, Jane Agnes (born 1901), born in Camberwell 11 March 1901, baptised in Emmanuel Church, Camberwell, on 28 April 1901. She married Frank Gill.
2, Frederick Charles (aka Charles Frederick) Comerford (1907-1985), born in Old Lambeth 23 April 1907. He married Phoebe Carpenter (born 1908) in Brighton in December 1929, and died in Hove in December 1985.
3, Ellen Elizabeth (born 1911), born in Camberwell 10 February 1911.

Saint James’s Church, Northampton … Edward William Comerford and Harriet Longworth were married there in 1902 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

We now return to the third of three sons of Francis and Edith Comerford:

Joseph Comerford (1853-1897), a boot maker, was born in St Georges Borough in 1853. He married Catherine (Kate) Miller (1854-1915), from Aspley Guise, Bedfordshire, in Saint James the Great Church, Bethnal Green, on 7 August 1874. Joseph Comerford moved to Northampton, and moved between Northampton and Newington as Joseph Comerford continued to find work in the shoe industry. They eventually lived at 32 Wellington Street, Northampton. Joseph died in Northampton in October 1897, when he was only 45 and his children were still young. His widow Kate later kept a boarding house at 84 Dunster Street, and died in Northampton in October 1915. They were the parents of eleven children, six daughters and five sons:

1, Catherine (born 1874), born in Bethnal Green, Hackney, July 1874. She married William Thomas Tyler (1863-1908) in Saint Michael’s Church, Northampton, 6 August 1893, and they were the parents of seven children, three daughters and four sons.
2, Clara (born 1876), born in Hackney, married William Muddiman (1878-1942) in Saint Giles Church, Northampton, in January 1897. They lived in Dallington and Marlboro’ Road, Northampton, and were the parents of one son and four daughters.
3, Joseph Comerford (1879-1958), shoe finisher, born Northampton. He married Esther Mary Clarke (1871-1957) in Northampton 16 September 1906; he died in Daventry 16 November 1958; she died at11 Baker Street, Northampton, 29 November 1957. They were the parents of one son:
•1a, Joseph Cyril Comerford (1906-1985), born Northampton, 19 March 1906. He married Florence Isabella Liggins (1910-1975) in Northampton, March 1932. They lived at 59 Northfield Gardens, Watford, Hertfordshire. She died June 1975; she died 8 December 1985.
4, Edward William Comerford (1880-1949), born Newington, 25 May 1880, baptised Saint Christopher’s Church, Walworth, 12 October 1887, and moved to Northampton with his parents. He worked in the boot trade and married Harriet Longworth (1881-1961) in Saint James’s Church, Northampton, 8 May 1902. They lived in Duston, Northampton, and Abbott Road, Manfield, and were the parents of six children, five daughters and a son. Edward Comerford died in Mansfield 1 May 1949; Harriet died 10 August 1961.
5, Thomas James Comerford (1884-1975), born Northampton 10 June 1884, married in Northampton September 1921, and died there December 1975.
6, Herbert Comerford (1886-1970), of whom next.
7, Eliza Edith (1888-1933), born Southwark 28 April 1888, baptised in Saint Giles, Northampton, 13 September 1893, along with two of her sisters. She married William Henry Beal (1885-1933). She died at 187 Hampstead Road, St Pancras, London, 10 May 1933, and he died in June 1933.
8, Elizabeth Miller Comerford (1890-1967), born Northampton 13 August 1890, baptised in Saint Giles, Northampton, 13 September 1893, along with two of her sisters. She married Frederick Stevens (born 1890) in Northampton in April 1915. She died in Poplar, London, in December 1967.
9, Sarah Victoria (1893-1983), born Northampton 28 January 1893, baptised in Saint Giles, Northampton, 13 September 1893, along with two of her sisters. She married William Thomas Hollowell (1890-1963) in Northampton in January 1910, and they were the parents of a son, Ernest William Hollowell (1910-1990), who lived in Bolton Lancashire.
10, George Albert Comerford (1895-1897), born London, 27 May 1895, baptised in Saint Giles, Northampton, 21 January 1897, died later that month in Northampton.
11, Lily (1898-1899), born in Northampton in April 1898, died there an infant in October 1899.

The sixth child and fifth son of Joseph and Catherine (Miller) Comerford of Northampton was:

Herbert Comerford (1886-1970), of Northampton. He was born in Southwark 25 June 1886 and moved to Northampton as a child with his parents and siblings, and grew up in Alcombe Terrace and Dunster Street, Northampton. He married Mabel Louisa Lamburn (1891-1982) in Northampton in April 1915. Herbert died in Northampton in June 1970; His widow Mabel died in Northampton on 2 August 1982. They were the parents of:

1, Herbert Comerford (1915-2005), of whom next.
2, Reginald Comerford, born in Northampton 10 February 1921

The elder son of Herbert and Mabel Comerford of Northampton was:

Herbert (Bert) Comerford OBE (1915-2005), born in Northampton in November 1915. Bert, Comerford attended Kettering Road Intermediate School, and at the age of 15 followed his father and grandfather into the shoemaking trade. He first became a clicker in the shoemaking industry, working for G Webb & Sons at their factory in Brockton Street, Northampton. The clickers became known as the elite or the ‘gentlemen’ of shoemakers. They cut out the shoe uppers from the precious fine leathers using knives with curved and sharply pointed blades.

Bert married Ella Mary Everitt (1917-2011), daughter of George Everitt and Maud EE Bennett of Northampton, in Northampton in January 1940. Bert was in the British Army during World War II, but returned to shoemaking in Northampton in 1946. He was a long-term member of the National Union of Boot and Shoe Operatives (NUBSO) when he began working full-time for the union in 1959. In the 1960s, he was living at 10 Lea Road, Northampton. He became the union’s assistant general officer in 1969. The union merged with other unions in 1970 to form the National Union of the Footwear, Leather and Allied Trades (NUFLAT), and Bert Comerford was elected as its first General President. The union sponsored Labour Party candidates in several parliamentary elections.

The 1970s were a difficult period for the footwear industry in Britain, and when Bert retired in 1980, he described how he regretted leaving while the decline continued. Today, Northampton and the county’s shoemaking industry are thriving once again, and the town is still recognised across the world for making high-quality footwear.

Bert Comerford was made an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1981 New Year Honours list. In retirement, he was an honorary member of the Clothing and Footwear Institute. He died in July 2005; his widow Ella died on 28 January 2011.

The former G Webb & Sons factory in Brockton Street, Northampton … three generations of the Comerford family worked in the shoe industry in Northampton

Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2026: 135, Sunday 20 September 2026, Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity XVI)

‘For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire labourers for his vineyard’ (Matthew 20: 1) … at work in a vineyard in Platanias near Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar and today is the Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity XVI, 20 August 2026). Later this morning I hope to be part at the Parish Eucharist in Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church, Stony Stratford.

Yom Kippur begins at Kol Nidre at sunset this evening (Sunday 20 September 2026) and ends at nightfall tomorrow evening (Monday 21 September 2026). Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement is the peak of the High Holidays and the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, when people fast, pray, seek forgiveness from God and from others.

I plan to spend Kol Nidre this evening with at the local synagogue with the locl Jewish community. But, before today begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, for reflection, prayer and reading in these ways:

1, today’s Gospel reading;

2, a reflection on the Gospel reading;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

4, the Collects and Post-Communion prayer of the day.

‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right’ (Matthew 20: 4) … neglected vines and a lost harvest of grapes at an abandoned house in Platanias, east of Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 20: 1-16 (NRSVA):

[Jesus said:] 20 ‘For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire labourers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the labourers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the market-place; 4 and he said to them, “You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.” So they went. 5 When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. 6 And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, “Why are you standing here idle all day?” 7 They said to him, “Because no one has hired us.” He said to them, “You also go into the vineyard.”

8 ‘When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, “Call the labourers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.” 9 When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. 10 Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. 11 And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, 12 saying, “These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.” 13 But he replied to one of them, “Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? 14 Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?” 16 So the last will be first, and the first will be last.’

‘I will pay you whatever is right … Call the labourers and give them their pay …’ (see Matthew 20: 4, 8) … ‘Permanent jobs for all contract workers’ … a trade union march in Thessaloniki (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflections:

Covid, a stroke and personal problems meant that times I have missed out on my regular visits to Greece. I missed not just the blue skies and blue seas, but also the vineyards and the olive groves, and especially my friends there. So, after an absence of some years, it was good to be back to Crete last year and the year before.

Of course, it was sad to see how a small vineyard I had known for almost 10 years in Platanias, east of Rethymnon, was uprooted and turned into a site for a development close to the beach. On the other hand, it was good to meet old friends in Rethymnon, Platanias, Panormos and Iraklion last year.

The year before, I went back to Piskopianó to meet Manoli and other friends I have known for over 30 years. When my sons were small children, he was like an uncle to them. Early one summer in the 1990s, he was excited when he rang me and realised I was returning to his village in the hills above Hersonissos, to the east of Iraklion. Gushing with enthusiasm and delight, he told me how I must come and see what he had done with the ‘graveyard’ in Piskopianó.

‘The graveyard?’

Now, I am interested in visiting churches and churchyards, and graveyards and gravestones provide rich material for social, local and family history. But a graveyard is not the first place you think your friends want you to visit on a holiday in the Mediterranean.

I asked again: ‘The graveyard?’

‘Yes, you’re going to be delighted to see how the vines are growing with new life. You remember how I trimmed back the vines and the branches and how I built new trellises. Now there is a rich crop in the grapeyard this year.’

The grapeyard! Of course. Now it makes sense.

I had shown an interest in his vines and his grapes … and a healthy interest in wine.

Now a new lesson awaited me on how to grow grapes, how to trim the vines, and how vines, like people, only make sense in clusters.

We are all workers in the vineyard, and Christ even refers to himself as the true vine. But unless we have worked in a vineyard, some of the illustrations in today’s Gospel reading (Matthew 20: 1-16) may not fully resonate with us. And this helps to understand how some of the people who are depicted in today’s parable, and many of the people who first heard it, may have missed some of the subtle points Jesus was making as he told this story.

This Parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard, despite being well-known, is found only in Saint Matthew’s Gospel.

As the story unfolds, the landowner (οἰκοδεσπότης, oikodespotés), the head of the household or the owner of the land, is revealed to be not merely the owner of the vineyard, but as the Lord (ὁ κύριος, ho kyrios).

The labourers (εργάτες, ergates) are called at five different times in the day: early in the morning, at 9 o’clock, at noon, at 3 and at 5.

There are different tasks in the grapeyard, in the vineyard. Those who come early in the morning, at sunrise, can suffer from literal burnout later in the day as the heat of the sun becomes intense.

A variety of skills is needed: those who look after the soil; those who look after other plants such as the olive trees or lemon trees that help to protect the vines; those who watch the roses for the first signs of any disease that might hit the vines; those who prune the vines; those who pick the grapes and sort them out; those who tidy up in the vineyard at the end of the day – each and everyone plays a role in producing that bottle of wine as it makes its way to the shelves of shops and to our tables.

To some of the workers – and to us, at our first reading – the landowner appears to be unfair in the way he rewards those who work on his behalf. But did you notice how this passage begins ‘… the kingdom of heaven is like …’ and that the wages stand for God’s grace?

God chooses to give the same to all: the landowner pays ‘whatever is right’ – there is no social discrimination or class distinction in the Kingdom of Heaven.

I lived in Askeaton, Co Limerick, for five years. For those five years, I was a late arrival and I was a ‘blow-in’, although the term was used with me affectionately, and I knew I was welcome. People understood I had arrived there late in the day, in my 60s, and I understood the parishioners had been there far longer than I ever knew.

Good partnership means mutual understanding, and can produce good fruit, not just in the vineyard, but in every aspect of life.

As people are more mobile these days, moving from city to countryside, and from provincial towns to the city, the term ‘blow-in’ may be beginning to die a slow death in many smaller towns and communities in Ireland. But I wonder whether the attitude it encapsulates is still prevalent in other aspects of Irish life.

Are newcomers to the Church equally as welcome as long-standing members of the Church, whose parents were regular parishioners before them?

How difficult is it for new churchgoers to find an invitation onto church committees, to read lessons, to be counted in, and to be seen to be counted in?

Sorcha Pollak’s column in The Irish Times, ‘New to the Parish,’ later a book, has shown how new arrivals are regularly treated rudely, from the moment they show their passports at the airport, to taking up jobs, constantly being asked, ‘But where are you really from?’

Over the past few years, there have been far-right riots and protests across England, in Belfast, Ballymena and Dublin in Ireland, fear that has been created in the minority communities, there have been shocking attacks on places housing and sheltering asylum seekers and refugees, and there are deeply disturbing reports of racist abuse suffered by people throughout these islands.

How early do you have to have arrived in the vineyard before your labour is valued fully?

God is generous to all. This is God’s free choice. As the Lord of the vineyard asks in this morning’s Gospel reading, ‘Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’

Jesus begins this morning’s parable saying, ‘For the kingdom of heaven is like …’

The kingdom of God is like a place where all are welcome, where no-one is treated rudely or abusively because they are new arrivals or treated favourably because they have been here since the early days.

In the Kingdom of God, there is no discrimination, no racism; in the kingdom of God, there are no late arrivals or blow-ins.

Grapes near their harvesting time at the Hedgehog Vintage Inn in Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Sunday 20 September 2026, Trinity XVI):

In Pray with the World Church, the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), the theme this week, from 20 to 26 September 2026 (pp 40-41), is ‘For God and Country’. This theme is introduced today with a reflection by Rosie Dawson, USPG Trustee and freelance journalist:

There was a lot to take in when I arrived at the Church of Saint Nino (Holy Child) in Manila, but the most arresting moment was when – as happens every week – the Filipino flag was brought to the altar and the national anthem played. True, the British anthem sometimes features in Church of England services, but I still felt uncomfortable. As a journalist, I cover too many stories in which Christianity is used to justify state narratives of domination – in Putin’s Russia, Trump’s America, and, yes, even in Britain.

Bishop Dindo Ranojo put me straight. The Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI) was born out of the struggle for independence at the end of the nineteenth century. “Singing the anthem reminds us that we are free from foreign domination,” he said. It doesn’t mean the IFI is uncritical of whichever government is in power. Indeed, IFI leaders have frequently been harassed, imprisoned or worse.

The Ramento Human Rights Project was set up in memory of Bishop Alberto Ramento, murdered in 2006 for his support for landless people. It is helping people like Amalia whose son was among 32,000 victims of the extrajudicial killings carried out as part of former President Duterte’s so-called war on drugs.

Before I left the Philippines, I visited the IFI’s national cathedral. “Father give us our independence”, said a banner to my left. To my right, the words of Micah; “The Lord requires you to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God.” The National Anthem was sung again. I didn’t feel uneasy this time.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Sunday 20 September 2026, Trinity XVI) invites us to pray as we read and meditate on Matthew 20: 1-16.

The Collect of the Day:

O Lord, we beseech you mercifully to hear the prayers
of your people who call upon you;
and grant that they may both perceive and know
what things they ought to do,
and also may have grace and power faithfully to fulfil them;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post Communion Prayer:

Almighty God,
you have taught us through your Son
that love is the fulfilling of the law:
grant that we may love you with our whole heart
and our neighbours as ourselves;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

Lord of creation,
whose glory is around and within us:
open our eyes to your wonders,
that we may serve you with reverence
and know your peace at our lives’ end,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Collect on the Eve of Saint Matthew:

O Almighty God,
whose blessed Son called Matthew the tax collector
to be an apostle and evangelist:
give us grace to forsake the selfish pursuit of gain
and the possessive love of riches
that we may follow in the way of your Son Jesus Christ,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Yesterday’s reflections

Continued tomorrow

Grapes on a vine in Aghios Georgios in Corfu (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

Grapes ripe for harvesting in Panormos, east of Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2026: 104, Wednesday 19 August 2026

‘For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire labourers for his vineyard’ (Matthew 20: 1) … at work in a vineyard in Platanias near Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar and this week began with the Eleventh Sunday after Trinity (Trinity XI, 16 August 2026).

Before today begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, for reflection, prayer and reading in these ways:

1, today’s Gospel reading;

2, a reflection on the Gospel reading;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

4, the Collects and Post-Communion prayer of the day.

‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right’ (Matthew 20: 4) … neglected vines and a lost harvest of grapes at an abandoned house on Platanias, east of Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 20: 1-16 (NRSVA):

[Jesus said:] 20 ‘For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire labourers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the labourers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the market-place; 4 and he said to them, “You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.” So they went. 5 When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. 6 And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, “Why are you standing here idle all day?” 7 They said to him, “Because no one has hired us.” He said to them, “You also go into the vineyard.” 8 When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, “Call the labourers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.” 9 When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. 10 Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. 11 And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, 12 saying, “These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.” 13 But he replied to one of them, “Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? 14 Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?” 16 So the last will be first, and the first will be last.’

‘I will pay you whatever is right … Call the labourers and give them their pay …’ (see Matthew 20: 4, 8) … ‘Permanent jobs for all contract workers’ … a trade union march in Thessaloniki (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflections:

Covid, a stroke and personal problems meant that times I have missed out on my regular visits to Greece. I missed not just the blue skies and blue seas, but also the vineyards and the olive groves, and especially my friends there. So, after an absence of some years, it was good to be back to Crete last year and the year before.

Of course, it was sad to see how a small vineyard I had known for almost 10 years in Platanias, east of Rethymnon, was uprooted and turned into a site for a development close to the beach. On the other hand, it was good to meet old friends in Rethymnon, Platanias, Panormos and Iraklion last year.

The year before, I went back to Piskopianó to meet Manoli and other friends I have known for over 30 years. When my sons were small children, he was like an uncle to them. Early one summer in the 1990s, he was excited when he rang me and realised I was returning to his village in the hills above Hersonissos, to the east of Iraklion. Gushing with enthusiasm and delight, he told me how I must come and see what he had done with the ‘graveyard’ in Piskopianó.

‘The graveyard?’

Now, I am interested in visiting churches and churchyards, and graveyards and gravestones provide rich material for social, local and family history. But a graveyard is not the first place you think your friends want you to visit on a holiday in the Mediterranean.

I asked again: ‘The graveyard?’

‘Yes, you’re going to be delighted to see how the vines are growing with new life. You remember how I trimmed back the vines and the branches and how I built new trellises. Now there is a rich crop in the grapeyard this year.’

The grapeyard! Of course. Now it makes sense.

I had shown an interest in his vines and his grapes … and a healthy interest in wine.

Now a new lesson awaited me on how to grow grapes, how to trim the vines, and how vines, like people, only make sense in clusters.

We are all workers in the vineyard, and Christ even refers to himself as the true vine. But unless we have worked in a vineyard, some of the illustrations in today’s Gospel reading (Matthew 20: 1-16) may not fully resonate with us. And this helps to understand how some of the people who are depicted in today’s parable, and many of the people who first heard it, may have missed some of the subtle points Jesus was making as he told this story.

This Parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard, despite being well-known, is found only in Saint Matthew’s Gospel.

As the story unfolds, the landowner (οἰκοδεσπότης, oikodespotés), the head of the household or the owner of the land, is revealed to be not merely the owner of the vineyard, but as the Lord (ὁ κύριος, ho kyrios).

The labourers (εργάτες, ergates) are called at five different times in the day: early in the morning, at 9 o’clock, at noon, at 3 and at 5.

There are different tasks in the grapeyard, in the vineyard. Those who come early in the morning, at sunrise, can suffer from literal burnout later in the day as the heat of the sun becomes intense.

A variety of skills is needed: those who look after the soil; those who look after other plants such as the olive trees or lemon trees that help to protect the vines; those who watch the roses for the first signs of any disease that might hit the vines; those who prune the vines; those who pick the grapes and sort them out; those who tidy up in the vineyard at the end of the day – each and everyone plays a role in producing that bottle of wine as it makes its way to the shelves of shops and to our tables.

To some of the workers – and to us, at our first reading – the landowner appears to be unfair in the way he rewards those who work on his behalf. But did you notice how this passage begins ‘… the kingdom of heaven is like …’ and that the wages stand for God’s grace?

God chooses to give the same to all: the landowner pays ‘whatever is right’ – there is no social discrimination or class distinction in the Kingdom of Heaven.

I lived in Askeaton, Co Limerick, for five years. For those five years, I was a late arrival and I was a ‘blow-in’, although the term was used with me affectionately, and I knew I was welcome. People understood I had arrived there late in the day, and I understood the parishioners had been there far longer than I ever knew.

Good partnership means mutual understanding, and can produce good fruit, not just in the vineyard, but in every aspect of life.

As people are more mobile these days, moving from city to countryside, and from provincial towns to the city, the term ‘blow-in’ may be beginning to die a slow death in many smaller towns and communities in Ireland. But I wonder whether the attitude it encapsulates is still prevalent in other aspects of Irish life.

Are newcomers to the Church equally as welcome as long-standing members of the Church, whose parents were regular parishioners before them?

How difficult is it for new churchgoers to find an invitation onto church committees, to read lessons, to be counted in, and to be seen to be counted in?

Sorcha Pollak’s column in The Irish Times, ‘New to the Parish,’ later a book, has shown how new arrivals are regularly treated rudely, from the moment they show their passports at the airport, to taking up jobs, constantly being asked, ‘But where are you really from?’

Over the past few years, there have been far-right riots and protests across England, in Belfast, Ballymena and Dublin, fear that has been created in the minority communities, there have been shocking attacks on places housing and sheltering asylum seekers and refugees, and there are deeply disturbing reports of racist abuse suffered by people throughout these islands.

How early do you have to have arrived in the vineyard before your labour is valued fully?

God is generous to all. This is God’s free choice. As the Lord of the vineyard asks in this morning’s Gospel reading, ‘Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’

Jesus begins this morning’s parable saying, ‘For the kingdom of heaven is like …’

The kingdom of God is like a place where all are welcome, where no-one is treated rudely or abusively because they are new arrivals or treated favourably because they have been here since the early days.

In the Kingdom of God, there is no discrimination, no racism; in the kingdom of God, there are no late arrivals or blow-ins.

Grapes near their harvesting time at the Hedgehog Vintage Inn in Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Wednesday 19 August 2026):

In Pray with the World Church, the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), the theme this week, from 16 to 22 August 2026 (pp 30-31), is ‘Hope in the Making’. This theme was introduced on Sunday with a reflection by Grace Murray, a USPG volunteer. The prayers this week come courtesy of passersby at Greenbelt Festival 2025.

The USPG Prayer Diary today (Wednesday 19 August 2026) invites us to pray:

Lord God, we pray that the cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor are heard and acted upon by those in power, so that real change may come.

The Collect of the Day:

O God, you declare your almighty power
most chiefly in showing mercy and pity:
mercifully grant to us such a measure of your grace,
that we, running the way of your commandments,
may receive your gracious promises,
and be made partakers of your heavenly treasure;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post Communion Prayer:

Lord of all mercy,
we your faithful people have celebrated that one true sacrifice
which takes away our sins and brings pardon and peace:
by our communion
keep us firm on the foundation of the gospel
and preserve us from all sin;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

God of glory,
the end of our searching,
help us to lay aside
all that prevents us from seeking your kingdom,
and to give all that we have
to gain the pearl beyond all price,
through our Saviour Jesus Christ.

Yesterday’s reflections

Continued tomorrow

Grapes on a vine in Aghios Georgios in Corfu (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

Grapes ripe for harvesting in Panormos, east of Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Daily prayer in Ordinary Time 2026: 77, Thursday 23 July 2026

‘You will indeed listen, but never understand, and you will indeed look, but never perceive’ (Matthew 13: 14) … street art in the Bishopgate area off Carpenter Street in Kuching (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Patrick Comerford

We are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church and this week began with the Seventh Sunday after Trinity (Trinity VII, 19 July 2026). Yesterday was the feast of Saint Mary Magdalene, and today the Church Calendar in the Church of England in Common Worship remembers Saint Bridget of Sweden (1373), Abbess of Vadstena.

Before today begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, for reflection, prayer and reading in these ways:

1, today’s Gospel reading;

2, a reflection on the Gospel reading;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;

4, the Collects and Post-Communion prayer of the day.

‘Seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand’ (Matthew 13: 8) … street art in Iraklion (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 13: 10-17 (NRSVA):

10 Then the disciples came and asked him, ‘Why do you speak to them in parables?’ 11 He answered, ‘To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For to those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. 13 The reason I speak to them in parables is that “seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand.” 14 With them indeed is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah that says:

“You will indeed listen, but never understand,
and you will indeed look, but never perceive.
15 For this people’s heart has grown dull,
and their ears are hard of hearing,
and they have shut their eyes;
so that they might not look with their eyes,
and listen with their ears,
and understand with their heart and turn –
and I would heal them.”

16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17 Truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.’

Looking with eyes and listening with ears … street art in Rathmines, Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Reflections:

In the Gospel reading at the Eucharist today (Matthew 13: 10-17), Jesus speaks about those who seeing but do not perceive, who hearing but do not listen or understand.

Today’s reading continues from the Parables of the Kingdom and forms an interlude between the parable of the sower and its interpretation. Jesus is asked by the disciples why he speaks to the people in parables.

There seems to be an implication that Jesus is speaking clearly to his disciples, who are insiders, but in riddles to the people because they are outsiders. But this also seem to contradict the purpose of speaking in parables, which is to use helpful and familiar images to lead people to a better understanding of a deeper message. Indeed, the parable of the sower is a good example.

Perhaps once again we are dealing with the difference between ‘insiders’ and ‘outsiders’. The ‘insiders’ are those who give Jesus a ready hearing. Naturally, they are more open to hearing about the ‘mysteries’ of the Kingdom and to assimilating what they hear. The ‘outsiders’, on the other hand, are precisely so because they have closed minds and are not ready to listen.

Speaking of the ‘insiders’, Jesus says: ‘For to those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance, but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away’ (verse 12). Those who have opened themselves to the Word of God will find themselves evermore enriched.

But those who have not even begun to accept the Word will end up in an even worse predicament than the one they are in now, for they look but do not see, they listen but do not hear or understand (verse 13).

This happens, not because the parables are difficult, but because the hearers are not prepared to listen.

Jesus then quotes from the Prophet Isaiah (9: 13), who might better understood as speaking in an audibly sarcastic tone:

“You will indeed listen, but never understand,
and you will indeed look, but never perceive.
15 For this people’s heart has grown dull,
and their ears are hard of hearing,
and they have shut their eyes;
so that they might not look with their eyes,
and listen with their ears,
and understand with their heart and turn –
and I would heal them.”

I find it disturbing when I realise someone is talking at me rather than to me, and certainly not talking with me. In a similar way it is disturbing to realise someone hears me, but is not actually listening to me.

At one stage during tense trade union negotiations many years ago, the employer’s representative responded to my presentation, saying: ‘I hear what you are saying.’

I retorted: ‘Yes, but does it just go in one ear and out the other?’

I asked for an adjournment, and from the union side we said we would return to the talks when he indicated he would not only listen to us, but engage with us and commit his side to meaningful discussions. We waited outside for 10 or 15 minutes, and felt we truly were outsiders. We were about to leave the building when we were called back inside. He had heard, and he had listened, and instead of talking to and at us, he began to talk with us. Confidence was restored, and we soon reached a settlement.

If we are prepared to see and to listen actively and to be fully engaged, both actions, seeing and listening, can make radical changes in our lives, in our attitudes, in our values and priorities, in our relationships. But too many people remain effectively blind and deaf to others.

‘They … listen with their ears, and understand with their heart and turn’ (Matthew 13: 15) … ‘Reflections of Bedford’, a sculpture by Rick Kirby on Silver Street (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Today’s Prayers (Thursday 23 July 2026):

In Pray with the World Church, the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), the theme this week, from 19 to 25 July 2026 (pp 20-21), is ‘Flood Relief in Mozambique’. This theme was introduced on Sunday with a programme update from the Revd Mauricio S Mugunhe, Executive Director Anglican Social Action, Igreja Anglicana de Moçambique e Angola (the Anglican Church of Mozambique and Angola).

The USPG prayer diary today (Thursday 23 July 2026) invites us to pray:

Lord, bring hope to the people of Iene in Mozambique, renewing homes, roads, and lives after the floods. Protect those displaced and isolated, and raise up healing, strength, and swift restoration.

The Collect of the Day:

Lord of all power and might,
the author and giver of all good things:
graft in our hearts the love of your name,
increase in us true religion,
nourish us with all goodness,
and of your great mercy keep us in the same;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

The Post Communion Prayer:

Lord God, whose Son is the true vine and the source of life,
ever giving himself that the world may live:
may we so receive within ourselves
the power of his death and passion
that, in his saving cup,
we may share his glory and be made perfect in his love;
for he is alive and reigns, now and for ever.

Additional Collect

Generous God,
you give us gifts and make them grow:
though our faith is small as mustard seed,
make it grow to your glory
and the flourishing of your kingdom;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Yesterday’s reflections

Continued tomorrow

‘Their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their’ (Matthew 13: 15) … street art near De Montfort University in Leicester (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

‘To see Durham is to see the English Sion and by doing so one may save oneself a trip to Jerusalem’

‘To see Durham is to see the English Sion’ (Symeon of Durham) … Durham Cathedral and Durham Castle stand on a peninsula shaped by the River Wear (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025; click on images for full-screen viewing)

Patrick Comerford

My visit to Durham last weekend was all too brief. We were on a family visit to York, I needed to get back to York for a family dinner, and with just a few hours to walk around I wanted to see as much as possible of the mediaeval city, with its cathedral, castle, cobbled streets, riverside walks and the third oldest university in England.

Durham has a population of about 50,000 people, and the cathedral and the castle on Palace Green, high above the River Wear have been designated a Unesco World Heritage Site.

Durham is also the home of the Durham Miners’ Gala and has a rich trade union history: the Durham coalfields developed during the Industrial Revolution, with dozens of collieries around the city. Although the coal pits are long closed, the Durham Miners’ Gala is still a major event each year.

Durham city centre has changed little over 200 years (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The city is built on a meander of the River Wear that surrounds the centre on three sides and creates a narrow neck on the fourth. The city centre has changed little over 200 years. It is made up of the peninsula containing the cathedral, the castle and Palace Green that give the cathedral a striking position.

Durham dates back over 1,000 years to 995, when a small band of monks from Lindisfarne seeking a place that was safe from Viking raids arrived with the relics of Saint Cuthbert. The church they built eventually evolved into Durham Cathedral, regarded by Unesco as ‘the largest and most perfect monument of Norman style architecture in England.’

The 12th-century chronicler Symeon of Durham wrote: ‘To see Durham is to see the English Sion and by doing so one may save oneself a trip to Jerusalem’.

Sir Walter Scott was so inspired by the view of the cathedral from South Street that he wrote the poem ‘Harold the Dauntless’ (1817), about Saxons and Vikings and set in County Durham. Lines from the poem are carved on a stone tablet on Prebends Bridge:

Grey towers of Durham
Yet well I love thy mixed and massive piles
Half church of God, half castle ’gainst the Scot
And long to roam those venerable aisles
With records stored of deeds long since forgot.

Durham Castle above Silver Street and Framwellgate Bridge (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The name Durham comes from dun, indicating a hill fort, and the Old Norse holme, referring to an island. But, as I recalled on Thursday evening, legends also link the name with the Dun Cow and the milkmaid who guided the monks of Lindisfarne to the strategic high peninsula that became the site of Durham cathedral.

Durham was once a buffer between warring England and Scotland, and until 1836 the city was part of the County Palatine of Durham, a semi-independent jurisdiction ruled by the prince bishops of Durham.

Mediaeval Durham became a place of pilgrimage because of its associations with Saint Cuthbert, Saint Bede the Venerable and Saint Oswald. The shrine of Saint Cuthbert at Durham Cathedral became the most important religious site in England until Saint Thomas Becket was murdered at Canterbury in 1170.

The Bishops of Durham ruled the County Palatine of Durham from Durham Castle until 1836 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Durham played an important rolw in the mediaeval wars between England and Scotland, and Durham Castle is the only Norman castle keep never to have suffered a breach. The castle on Palace Green was originally built in the 11th century, is an excellent example of early motte and bailey castles built by the Normans.

The Bishops of Durham, who lived in Durham Castle, ruled the County Palatine of Durham from 1071 to 1836 and the bishop was sometimes described as a ‘prince bishop’. The bishops had their own parliament, raised their own armies, appointed their own sheriffs and Justices, administered their own laws, levied taxes and customs duties, created fairs and markets, issued charters, collected revenue, administered the forests and minted their own coins.

The bishops’ powers were so far-reaching that the steward of Bishop Antony Bek said in 1299: ‘There are two kings in England, namely the Lord King of England, wearing a crown in sign of his regality and the Lord Bishop of Durham wearing a mitre in place of a crown’.

Bishop Cosin’s Hall on Palace Green … Bishop John Cosin began a major restoration project in the cathedral, the castle and the city in 1660 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The castle has been in continuous use for over 900 years. It was famed for its vast Great Hall, created by Bishop Bek in the early 14th century. It was the largest great hall in England until Bishop Richard Foxe shortened it at the end of the 15th century. It is still 46 ft high and about 100 ft long.

The city remained loyal to Charles I in the English Civil War, from 1642 until the king’s execution in 1649, and he visited Durham three times during his reign. But the castle suffered considerable damage during the Commonwealth. Cromwell sold the castle to the Lord Mayor of London shortly, and the cathedral was closed in 1650 and used to hold 3,000 Scottish prisoners after the Battle of Dunbar.

John Cosin, one of the great Caroline Divines, became Bishop of Durham (1660-1672) after the restoration and began a major restoration project in the cathedral, the castle and the city.

There were plans in the 18th century to transform Durham into a seaport by digging a canal or altering the course of the river. Nothing came of the plans, however, although the statue of Neptune in the Market Place is a reminder of these maritime ambitions and possibilities.

The statue of Neptune in the Market Place is a reminder of the plans to make Durham a seaport (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The Municipal Corporations Act 1835 gave governing power of the town to an elected body. All other aspects of the Bishop’s temporal powers were abolished by the Durham (County Palatine) Act 1836 . The last bishop to rule the palatinate, Bishop William Van Mildert, founded Durham University in 1832. It was one of the first universities to open in England for more than 600 years, and is England’s third oldest, after Oxford and Cambridge.

The bishop moved to Auckland Castle and Durham Castle became University College, the first college in the new university. Durham University was founded in 1832. Bishop Hatfield’s Hall, later Hatfield College, was added in 1846, specifically for the sons of poorer families. Durham University ranks in the top 200 of the world’s universities.

The Industrial Revolution also placed the city at the heart of the coalfields, the county’s main industry until the 1970s. Practically every village around the city had a coal mine and, although these have since disappeared as part of the regional decline in heavy industry, the traditions, heritage and community spirit are still evident. The first Durham Miners' Gala was attended by 5,000 miners in 1871, and it remains the largest socialist trade union event in the world.

Durham was not bombed during World War II, although one raid on the night of 30 May 1942 did give rise to the local legend of ‘Saint Cuthbert’s Mist’. According to the legend, the Luftwaffe tried to target Durham, but was thwarted when Saint Cuthbert created a mist that covered both the castle and cathedral, sparing them from bombing.

Palace Green, in front of the cathedral and the castle … Durham was not bombed during World War II (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Durham is a hilly city, said to be built on seven hills, like Rome and Constantinople. The steep riverbanks are densely wooded, adding to the picturesque beauty of the city. The cathedral and castle stand on the most central and prominent position high above the Wear and dominate the skyline. The Bailey is almost entirely owned and occupied by the university and the cathedral.

The River Wear forms a peninsula that encloses the centre Durham on three sides. The Market Place at the base of the peninsula remains the venue for regular markets and the Market Place and surrounding streets form the heart of commercial and shopping life in the city.

Three old roads lead off the Market Place: Saddler Street heads south-east, towards Elvet Bridge, the Bailey and Prebends Bridge. Elvet Bridge leads to the Elvet area of the city and the south; Prebends Bridge is smaller and provides access from the Bailey to south Durham. Heading west, Silver Street leads out of the Market Place towards Framwellgate Bridge and North Road, the other main shopping area of the city.

The old commercial heart of the city encompasses the peninsula on three sides, following the River Wear, and much of the original mediaeval street plan remains intact in the area close to the cathedral and the Market Place.

Durham Market Place, with Durham Town Hall, the Guildhall and Saint Nicholas Church (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

Durham Market Place, with its impressive array of buildings and sculptures, is first mentioned in 1040, the heads of Scottish marauders were displayed on poles around the Market Place. Saint Nicholas Church was built in 1133, and part of its former churchyard lies beneath the Market Place.

Durham Town Hall is on the west side of the Market Place. The earliest part of the complex of buildings is the Guildhall which dates from 1665. The town hall, at the rear, was opened in 1851, at the same time as the indoor market.

The statue of Neptune is the oldest statue in the Market Place. It was made of stone covered in lead in 1729, and is a reminder of the plans to make Durham a port. It had a pant or drinking vessel, but was moved in 1923 when the water was no longer needed. Neptune was returned by popular demand in 1991, but the pant did not come with him.

The equestrian statue of Lord Londonderry by Raphael Monti in the Market Place (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

The equestrian statue in the Market Place is of Charles William Vane Tempest Stewart (1778-1854), 3rd Marquis of Londonderry. He was born in Mary Street, Dublin, was involved as a young man in suppressing the 1798 Rising in Ireland, and was later a commander under the Duke of Wellington in the Napoleonic Wars.

He married the very wealthy Lady Frances Anne Vane-Tempest and took her name too, and only inherited his family title after Lord Castlereagh, his half-brother and the childless second marquis, died by suicide. He opposed the Mines and Collieries Act and wanted women, girls and boys under 10 to continue working in his pits.

He was one of the 10 richest people in the United Kingdom, yet during the Irish Famine evicted many of his tenants. He advised his tenants ‘to help themselves and heaven will help them’, and suggested only the most ‘supine and inert’ among them could be ‘suffering in any serious degree under the failure of the potato’.

After he died, his widow raised subscriptions for a statue by Raphael Monti (1818-1881), who used a new technique of electroplating copper over a plaster base. The statue was unveiled in 1861, but the larger-than-life work was not popular in Durham and people wanted it moved. Nobody wanted it anywhere else, the cathedral clergy rejected plans to place it on Palace Green, and so it stayed in the Market Place, although it has been moved from its original setting.

In the narrow cobbled streets beneath Durham Cathedral and Durham Castle (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

I arrived in Durham on the train from York, crossing over the Victorian railway viaduct on North Road, high above the city, and walked along the banks of the River Wear to Durham Cathedral, Durham Castle and the city centre.

A path runs alongside the south bank or cathedral side for the entire length of the stretch available for rowing. Durham Regatta has been held on the River Wear in Durham since 1834. It is the second oldest regatta in Britain and is often referred to as ‘the Henley of the North’.

More than 2 km of the River Wear can be rowed on, stretching from Durham University Boat Club boathouse at Maiden Castle in the east to the weir next to Durham School Boat Club boathouse in the west. This includes the 700 metres ‘short course’ straight used for most Durham Regatta races, the 1,800 metres ‘long course’ that includes navigation through the arches of Elvet Bridge, reputed to be the narrowest row through bridge in Europe, and 1,000 metres and 2,000 metres measured distances.

There are many boating clubs, including Durham Amateur Rowing Club, founded in 1860 and is one of the country’s oldest clubs, Durham University Boat Club, and 16 college clubs, as well as school clubs.

The Victorian railway viaduct on North Road, high above the city, is one of over 630 listed buildings in Durham (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)

In addition to Durham Cathedral and Durham Castle, the city has over 630 listed buildings. The Grade I listed buildings include the Chorister School, Crook Hall, Durham Castle, Durham Cathedral, and four bridges. The Grade II* listed buildings include Bishop Cosin’s Hall, Palace Green, Cosin’s Library, now part of University Library, Palace Green, the Railway viaduct on North Road, and the Town Hall and Guildhall on Market Place.

As well as visiting the cathedral, other listed churches and former churches I managed to see last weekend include Saint Margaret of Antioch, Crossgate; Saint Mary-le-Bow, now Durham Heritage Centre; Saint Godric’s Roman Catholic Church; and Saint Nicholas Church.

But more about Durham Cathedral and those four other churches in the days to come, hopefully.

Climbing the steps leading to Durham Railway Station (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2025)