Letter from Reverend T. S. Hamilton 18th July 1921

Letter from Reverend T. S. Hamilton to the Director of Lands and Accommodation, Whitehall, London, S.W.1, dated 18th of July 1921.

In Archive

Item Type

Letter

The Assembly’s College write to the Director of Lands and Accommodation in Whitehall, London.


The letter’s purpose is to turn down an initial offer made of £5,000 per annum, for the renting of the College as the Northern Parliament’s temporary Home.















“Church House,

Belfast.

18th July 1921.


The Director of Lands & Accommodation,

Whitehall,

London, S.W.1.



Dear Sir, 


The Trustees of the Assembly’s College are in receipt of your letter of the 14th instant. There is evidently some misunderstanding on your part about the College Buildings, they are not vacant but are in use every Session for the training of our Theological Students and when we gave a portion of the building to the U. V. F. authorities during the War we did so at much inconvenience to yourselves and our Students.


We have had the promise that the portion of the Building so occupied will be returned to us at 1st August and our Session is to open as usual at 1st October; in the meantime we are expending a considerable sum of money and installing a system of Central Heating. If we let these Buildings we shall have much trouble no doubt in securing suitable premises for our Class Rooms and for the housing of our Students and nothing will induce us to enter into negotiations with the Ulster Parliament for the temporary occupation of them except the earnest desire to serve it at this important time. Under the circumstances the offer of £5,000 a year does not seem to us one that we could entertain; and as our own work must soon begin, we would require to know at the earliest possible moment if you still desire to have the use of the Buildings and at what terms. Of course we never contemplated letting the College for such a term as seven years, the time mentioned during the preliminary discussion was three years.


I am, 


Yours faithfully ,


T. S. Hamilton.”


Item Provenance

Owned by Union Theological College. Image used with permission from Union Theological College