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22
Vestry deem it only right to take the present opportunity
of briefly expressing their sense of the loss which the Parish
has sustained, and of the obligations under which the
parishioners rest for his unwearied and unselfish devotion
to the public good.
The following resolution, which was unanimously passed
on the retirement of Mr. Crane from the Vestry in 1889,.
refers to the more important of the services rendered to
the Parish by that gentleman during a long and active life :
That at the close of the 21st year for which Mr. Frederick Crane has
filled the office of Churchwarden of the Parish, the Vestry of St.
James, Westminster, desire to place on record their appreciation
of the manner in which he has performed the duties of that
office. First elected Churchwarden in the year 1850, he was
re-elected at intervals until 1876, since which year he has been
continuously re-elected annually. Throughout that lengthened
period he has filled the office to the entire satisfaction alike of
the Rector and Parishioners. To his indefatigable labours the
Parish owes so successful an issue to the protracted inquiry into
the Craven Pest House Charity; by his patient efforts the
administration of the Tenison Schools and other Charitable
Endowments in which the Parish is interested, has been
strengthened and improved; with rare skill he traced the
history of the Conduit Street property, formerly the site of
Trinity Chapel, and thus led to the Parish of St. James being
admitted to participate in the valuable Almshouse and Pension
Charity of the Mother Parish of St. Martin-in-the-Fields; and
by unflagging interest and exertions he succeeded in effecting
several improvements in the fabric of the Church. The Ve&try
tender to Mr. Crane their grateful acknowledgment of his long
continued and valuable services to the Parish, not only in these
varied ways but also as a Vestryman, and member of many
other Parochial bodies, and as a small testimony of his
unblemished career and life of usefulness, order this Resolution
to be entered on the Minutes of their proceedings.