from Our Lady's Mirror 1953 Autumn Number For some years it has been the desire of the Guardians of the Shrine to confer a small decoration of honour on those ladies who have been conspicuous in their work and devotion for the Sanctuary of the Holy Mother of God. There are a great number of friends who have helped in all kinds of ways with the restoration of the Shrine and its works from the beginning; these are gratefully remembered, but the Dames of Our Lady of Walsingham - who are never to be more than twelve living members - are among those who have voluntarily given of their time or substance, and in outstanding ways benefited the Holy House in a conspicuous way. These ladies are elected by the Chapter and are to be invested in the Pilgrimage Church when possible; if not, the Master of the College of Guardians or one of the Fellows will visit and perform the investiture elsewhere. On Monday July [misprint for June] 29th, the feast of SS Peter and Paul, being the first evening of the Summer Chapter of the Guardians of the Holy House, the first investiture was held in the Pilgrimage Church when the Reverend Mother of S Saviour's Priory, Haggerston, Mrs Ferrier and Miss E M Chadwick received the decoration. In September Miss H Loddiges, coming from Sussex, was also invested, and in the same month the Master went to Maidenhead to admit Miss Doyle-Smithe ... but she was too unwell to receive him at that time.

Mrs Frida Brackley was next to be elected, in December 1953. The medallion was gilded, having on it in blue enamel a figure of Our Lady of Walsingham. The ladies were to be called Dames of the Shrine, and their medallion has the word DAME above the figure of Our Lady. Fr Patten is known to have wanted to extend a similar honour to priests and laymen, and this is formally mentioned in the Chapter minutes in 1957, but he died before he had carried this out. Within months of Fr Patten's death his successor as Administrator, Fr Colin Stephenson, was proposing to the Guardians the idea of forming a Living Rosary for the existing Dames and for the priests and laymen to come. Finally in 1960 The Sacred Order of the Living Rosary of Our Lady of Walsingham was founded, probably copied from the Guild of the Living Rosary of Our Lady and St Dominic although this was not referred to at the time. It was based on the Rosary and was expected to have three members assigned to each of the fifteen Mysteries represented in the fifteen altars in the Shrine Church - each altar could have a priest (Clerk), layman (Lay Clerk) and woman (Dame), making a possible total of forty-five members, which was sometimes attained. The five ladies first invested by Fr Patten in 1953 became the first members of the new 1960 Order, except for Miss Doyle-Smithe who did not live long enough. The other four, and Mrs Brackley who was elected later in 1953, were allocated the altars of the Glorious Mysteries. The first Clerks and Lay Clerks were invested on 10 October 1960. Later on they too were given medallions similar to those of the Dames, but with the word CLERK above the figure of Our Lady: these were later withdrawn, but one current Lay Clerk, admitted in 1992, did not send his back and still wears it. The insignia was designed by Fr W G de Lara Wilson, one of the first Clerks. There are pictures of it in the Register completed in 1963 by Enid Chadwick, with the beautifully-calligraphed constitution and a page for each chapel with the names of each member inscribed. In 2000 the constitution was completely revised and the insignia modernised. Members elected to the Order before 2000 continue to wear the 1960 insignia, but those elected from 2000 onwards wear simply the ribbon and cross, without sash, mozetta or brooch. Members are not now allocated Mysteries or therefore altars, and the new female members are not called Dames. After the death of Doris Willan in February 2020 the title of ‘Dame’ passed into history. Fr Donald Strachan, who died on 3 July 2021, was elected in 1980 and allocated the Mystery and altar of the Coming of the Holy Ghost (St Columba chapel). The longest-serving of the pre-2000 Lay Clerks, David Stokes, was elected in 1989 and was allocated the Mystery and altar of the Annunciation. In July 2011 Graham and Maureen Howard were admitted to the Order, becoming the first married couple to be admitted together, and the first to serve simultaneously. Percy and Helen Yabsley were both members, but Percy was elected in 1967 and died in 1980, the year before Helen was appointed. The Order meets annually in Walsingham for its own Chapter; the Registrar is Fr John Eldridge. There are currently 53 members. Any member of the Order who happens to be present at the Shrine during a procession of Our Lady has the privilege of accompanying the image. It is the custom for Clerks to process in front of the image and Lay Clerks, Dames and Members to process behind it. Members are entitled to wear the insignia at any procession or Festival of Our Lady away from Walsingham. The Order retains its purpose of recognising particular service that supports the work and witness of the Shrine, and its members are elected by the Guardians. Following the revision of the Order, membership of the Living Rosary has been extended, on application, to any member of the Society of Our Lady of Walsingham. top of page

1951 Fr Patten first had the idea of honouring certain ladies who had helped him in the Restoration of the Shrine 1953 the first five ladies appointed as Dames of the Shrine were: Mother Cicely SSM Miss Enid Chadwick Mrs Dorothy Ferrier Miss Helena Loddiges Miss Alice Doyle-Smithe (Mother Sarah of Laleham declined the invitation); Mrs Frida Brackley was appointed later in the year 1960 the Order proper founded by Fr Stephenson and opened to include priests (known as Clerks) and laymen (known as Lay Clerks); insignia designed by Fr W G de Lara Wilson 1961, 22 May first occasion on which members of the Order joined with the Guardians in the WhitMonday procession 1961, 12 September first annual Chapter meeting 1963 Enid Chadwick finished writing and decorating the Order's Register book 1970 Dames allowed to attend Order Chapter meetings for the first time 2000 revision of the Order's Constitution; the Living Rosary now open to all members of the Society of Our Lady of Walsingham; all new elections to the Order to wear ribbon and medal, without sash, mozetta or brooch

REGISTRARS 1960 Major E A Northern 1966 Stanley Smith 1985 Richard Hill 1997 Fr Bryan Parry 2019 Fr John Eldridge

HONORARY DAMES at least two have been appointed: One was Mrs Priscilla Leonard, the wife of the then Bishop of London, honoured in 1986 (she opened Richeldis House in 1990) and the other was Harriet Smith of Louisville, USA, in 1978, an American pilgrim from the Milwaukee Cell of OLW which was set up in 1953.

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