Travelling was - and still is - a pleasure for many people. For some people it can be all or only part of their job.
One can travel for vacation, for business or, as the case of Rev. J. B. Simpson, just for faith, to carry the "word of God" and the Holy Communion, to those who can not reach a church because they are sick.
Most of these stories and the names of their participants are lost in time or confined in the memory of a few people but, sometimes, an old item hidden in the attic can tell us something of their profuse effort to alleviate the suffering of the faithful.
This is the case of this fantastic find, a complete travelling Holy Communion set, belonged to the Rev. J. B. Simpson, contained in his travelling bag and complete with any item necessary to transform a common site into a church.

This set is a very rare example of a Victorian travelling Holy Communion set comprised of a gilded sterling silver chalice, paten, pyx, spoon and two silver mounted glass wine flasks. All these pieces are fully hallmarked for London with various dates from 1860 to 1883.
The paten, pyx and chalice are also marked underneath "Pratt & Sons".
The set also includes a pair of travelling brass candlesticks with detachable sconces, which are marked T Pratt & Son, a wood and white alabaster altar with an old stamp of Jesus crucifixes, a very interesting and very old altar brass crucifix with fascinating symbols and imagery, an Order of Service card and eight Communion of the sick cards.
The entire set comes complete in the original leather fitted travelling bag with a brass lock which is marked inside Pratt & Sons, Inventors, Taviscock Street, Strand, London. This bag has a wooden lift out box, with internal compartments designed to hold all pieces of the set, with a brass plaque on the top and the name Rev. J. B. Simpson
 

CHALICE Dimension: 7 cm section at rim and 11 cm tall. Weight: 136 g. Hallmarks for London 1880. Maker: W.I.S. inside a trilobate outline for William John Salt (NOTE 1), and "Pratt & Sons, London", engraved at the base.

PATEN Dimension: 11.5 cm across. Weight: 56 g. hallmarks for London 1883. Maker: T.P inside an oval for Thomas Pratt (NOTE 2). "Pratt & Sons, London", engraved at the base.

PYX: Dimension: 4.5 cm section and 2.2 cm tall. Weight: 30 g. Hallmarks for London 1860 (impressed only on the rim of the cover). Maker: indistinct. "Pratt & Sons, London", engraved at the base. SPOON: Dimension: 11.4 cm in length. Weight: 16 g. Hallmarks for London 1882. Maker: T.P inside an oval for Thomas Pratt (NOTE 2).

WINE BOTTLES: Dimension: 5.5 cm section at the base; 15.5 cm tall. Weight: 196 and 205 g, respectively. Hallmarks for London 1883, on the Silver collars and on the stoppers. Maker: T.P inside an oval for Thomas Pratt (NOTE 2).

GILDED BRASS CANDLESTICKS AND SCONCES: Dimension: 5.5 cm section at the base and 16.7 cm tall. Weight: 155 and 157 g, respectively. "Pratt & Sons, London", engraved at the base.

BRASS ALTAR CRUCIFIX: Dimension: 8 cm section at the base and 16.5 cm tall. Weight: 103 g. No marks and inscriptions

WOOD AND WHITE ALABASTER ALTAR: Dimension: 19.5 x 25.5 cm. Including a stamp of Jesus crucifixes and prayer sheets.

TRAVELLING LEATHER BAG: Dimension: 32 x 17 cm; 34 cm tall. Complete with a bass lock and leather label stamped "Pratt & Sons, Inventors, Tavistock Street, Strand, London".

The set has  an overall weight of about 4,600 g Condition: The chalice, paten, pyx, flasks and spoon are all in very good condition. The candlesticks have wear in keeping with age and use and the original gilding is partially lost. The lift out box was also partially restored by re-fixing the lid and by recoating the fitted internal compartments with a new green fabric. The case was well travelled and although still solid needed a little restoration ENDNOTES Note 1 W.I.S. inside a trilobate outline: William John Salt, plate worker, registered 8.5.1879. Son of John Crane Salt, Following the liquidation of J. C. Salt assets in 1878 the business was continued by William John Salt at the same address (58 Poland Street, Oxford Street) where he is listed as a silversmith, water gilder and electroplater and gilder and then as the silversmith from 1880 until 1890. Apart from the present chalice, a small silver-gilt chalice, London 1875, and a silver spoon, a pyx and cover and two silver mounted altar bottles, London 1877, maker's mark of John Crane Salt have been noted stamped Pratt & Sons London for Thomas Pratt & Sons of 24 Tavistock Street, Strand WC. Note 2 Thomas Pratt & Sons (small worker) advertised from their address at 24 Tavistock Street, Strand, WC, in 1870 as clerical tailors and church furnishers, "Superfine Clerical Coats... A large stock of embroideries and soles, altar cloth, & c.". Their only marks were entered subsequently from the same address by Thomas Pratt (9.5.1894). Now styled as Thomas Pratt & Sons Ltd they presently continue as clerical tailors and robe makers at 34 Southampton Street, Strand, WC. Their activity is documented up to 1961. BIBLIOGRAPHY John Culme: The Directory of Gold & Silversmiths Jewellers & Allied Traders 1838-1914 - Antique Collectors Club - 2000, vol. I and II Some information about JAMES BERESFORD SIMPSON (the proprietor of the Travelling Holy Communion Set) "In the 1881 census, there was a Rev. James Simpson living at Paxworth Bridge, a private house in the parish of South Walsham, Norfolk. There he was assistant priest. According to the census, he was born in 1821 in Jamaica. He was unmarried. His second name does not appear in the census. According to the 1908 Crockford, there was a James Beresford Simpson, who was curate at South Walsham, Norfolk. I presume that this was the same as the man in the census. If so, by 1908, he would have been aged 87. Crockford tell us that James Beresford Simpson was a B.A. of Oxford (Exeter College) in 1843 and proceeded to M.A. in 1845. He must have been ordained straight from university, as Crockford records that he was made deacon in 1843. He would have been aged about 22 then. He was ordained priest three years later in 1845." Information gathered and kindly supplied by Rev. Peter Yerburgh