‘Letters of Loss’ Remembrance Exhibition Opens at St Mary’s University

A new exhibition, Letters of Loss: The 1920 War Memorial Appeal is on display at St Mary’s University, London, to show how the University’s community remembered its fallen following the First World War.

Hosted in the University Chapel throughout November, the month of remembrance, the exhibition explores a collection of correspondence written in early 1920, between bereaved families and St Mary’s University - then known as St Mary’s Training College - to honour former students who has lost their lives in the Great War.

Ahead of the first post-war reunion that year, the College Secretary wrote to families of fallen alumni for military details and photographs to help create a Memorial Board for the Chapel. The Board was to act as a lasting tribute to those who had served and sacrificed.

Of the letters received, 22 survived and were preserved in the University Archives – around a third of the total number of Simmarians killed in World War I. Each letter revealed the deeply personal ways in which families expressed their grief, faith and pride – words and emotions expressed that still resonate a century later.

The permanent memorials are now displayed in the St Mary’s University Chapel, which continue to embody the bond between the institution and its community, reminding generations of students and staff of the sacrifices made.

The exhibition aims to bring these letters into the light of day, giving a voice to the young men who lost their lives, and to the families who ensured they would not be forgotten.

Key themes explored in the Letters of Loss include:

• Remembrance and Tribute: The creation of a Memorial Board as a spiritual and communal act.
• Grief and Pride: Families’ letters reflect sorrow, faith, and pride in their loved ones’ service.
• Enduring Legacy: Memorials as lasting symbols of sacrifice and community connection.
• Historical Recovery: Bringing forgotten letters to light after a century.

 

St Mary’s Archivist and Exhibition Curator Mary-Ann McClaran said, “These letters are not just fragments of history – they are living expressions of love and loss. Each one gives a face and a voice to the names we remember on our memorials. By bringing them into the light of day, we honour both the fallen and the families who carried their memory forward.”

As part of the University’s ongoing remembrance commemorations, which have included a Remembrance Service and Rugby Matches with the Royal Artillery, the names of St Mary’s students lost in the First and Second World Wars will be read aloud during Mass in St Mary’s Chapel this Sunday, 9 November.

Mary-Ann McClaran also curated the St Mary’s 175 Exhibition, which looks back over the years the institution was established. The exhibition is open to staff, students and visitors and is on display in the Library for those who want to discover more of St Mary’s history and beginnings.