Sunbury Court
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Sunbury Court is a historic building in
Sunbury-on-Thames Sunbury-on-Thames, known locally as Sunbury, is a town on the north bank of the River Thames in the Borough of Spelthorne, Surrey, England, southwest of central London. Historically part of the county of Middlesex, in 1965 Sunbury and other su ...
,
Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...
, England. Since the 1920s the court has been owned by
The Salvation Army The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestantism, Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. It is aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. The organisation reports a worldwide m ...
and has been the meeting place of the
High Council of The Salvation Army The High Council of The Salvation Army elects a new General of The Salvation Army, general in the event of a vacancy or prior to the retirement of the existing office holder. It can also remove a general who can no longer fulfil their duties. The ...


History

The grounds used to be part of a larger estate that contained the Royal Manor of Kempton, a mansion frequented by Henry III,
Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 125 ...
, and
Edward II Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also known as Edward of Caernarfon or Caernarvon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir to the throne follo ...
in the 13th and 14th centuries. But the Royal Manon of Kempton was destroyed in 1374. In 1723 John Witt built the structure that exists today. The estate expanded more than one hundred acres along the
Thames River The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the ...
. Witt sold the estate in 1735, and again in 1751 and 1755 by Anna Maria Delegard. In 1764 Delegard married George Fermor, who took ownership of the court until 1799. Between 1799 and 1863, the owners of the court refurbished the estate, including adding new wings to the building. Sunbury Court's last private owner was William Horatio Harfield. After Hatfield's death, the property was vacant for two decades until
The Salvation Army The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestantism, Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. It is aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. The organisation reports a worldwide m ...
purchased the property in 1921.


Salvation Army ownership

The Salvation Army uses the venue to host the High Council, a group whose sole purpose is to elect the
General of the Salvation Army General is the title of the international leader and chief executive officer of The Salvation Army, a Christian denomination with extensive Charitable organization, charitable social work, social services that gives quasi-military rank to its Min ...
. British law requires that the High Council meets in the United Kingdom, although it does not specify where. The first High Council met at Sunbury Court in 1929 for the purpose of determining whether General
Bramwell Booth William Bramwell Booth, Order of the Companions of Honour, CH (8 March 1856 – 16 June 1929) was a British church and charity leader who was the first Chief of the Staff of The Salvation Army, Chief of Staff (1881–1912) and the second Genera ...
was unfit to remain general (or leader of the organisation) after he had fallen ill. The most recent High Council met in May 2023 and elected
Lyndon Buckingham Lyndon Vernon Wayne Buckingham (born 13 February 1962) is a New Zealand Christian minister who is currently serving as the General of The Salvation Army since 3 August 2023. He is the first person from New Zealand to hold the office. Family an ...
as general of the Salvation Army. All of the Army's High Councils have been held at Sunbury court except to elect generals
Evangeline Booth Evangeline Cory Booth, OF (December 25, 1865 – July 17, 1950) was a British evangelist and the fourth General of The Salvation Army from 1934 to 1939. She was the first woman to hold the post. Early life She was born in South Hackney, Lon ...
in 1934, George Carpenter in 1939, and Andre Cox in 2013. Outside the High Council, the court serves as a conference center for Salvation Army activities. In the 1990s, the Army expanded the court by adding an additional board room and housing for guests. In 1961 Emil Soderstrom authored a marched titled "Sunbury Court," in honor of the court.


References

{{reflist Salvation Army buildings Salvationism in England Grade II* listed buildings in Surrey Borough of Spelthorne