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Celebrating 100 years - Father Basil Jellicoe

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Father Jellicoe, born in Chailey, Sussex, in 1899, was the son of an ordained priest. After graduating from Magdalen College Oxford, he became Missioner at the Magdalen Mission at St Mary’s Church in Somers Town in 1921. He was horrified at the living conditions in the slums of Somers Town, where residents faced terrible poverty and overcrowding. Father Jellicoe saw that the problem required major change and was unsatisfied by the Mission’s attempt to remedy the problem, which would send children away to the country only for them to return to a home stricken by damp, disease and poor air quality.

In 1924, Father Jellicoe met with Father Percy Maryon-Wilson, Edith Neville and Nora Hill, who were also involved in social work in the area. The group decided to set up a society to improve housing in the area.