Finally in 1860 the Jewish connection ended for good and the Company’s Hall otherwise Sussex Hall was occupied for the last twenty three years of its existence by the City of London College which had been founded earlier by two Anglican clergymen in Crosby Hall in Bishopsgate, and which counted among its alumni the famous Victorian actor Sir Henry Irving and the famous Victorian Advocate Sir Edward Clark QC.

Before leaving any further consideration of the Jewish connection with the Hall it may be of interest to any Liveryman exploring this part of the City with the Company’s earlier connection with it in mind to know briefly what was the fortune of the four Synagogues that had for a time played such a prominent part on the scene.

Only the “Bevis Marks” remains as a splendid example of an 18th century Synagogue restored after damage in World Was II. “The Great” was destroyed in World War II and never rebuilt. “The Hambro” moved from Fenchurch Street to the East End in 1899 when its original Synagogue was demolished, and it eventually reunited with “The Great” in 1936. “The New” only survived in Great St Helens until 1915 when it moved to Stamford Hill, the building in Great St Helens being replaced by the headquarters of Shell Petroleum. The third “New” Synagogue in Egerton Road, Stamford Hill, was substantially a copy of that in Great St Helens, but now the congregation which it had attracted as they moved out of the City to the north, have now moved on again and are no longer numerous enough to support it. Some of the more valuable of the New’s possessions which survived from the early days at Bricklayers Hall have been found and are in the Jewish Museum, others have been dispersed. The plaque with the rare theological jest, when last seen, had been removed from the wall of the vestry in Stamford Hill and was broken in half.

In June 1869 the Company’s Surveyor reported that he has been in communication with the owners of the freehold of nos. 54 and 55 Leadenhall Street to the north east of the Company’s property, and the acquisition of which would in his opinion materially add to the value of that property. In September 1869 purchase of the two freeholds was completed at the price of £3,680 which was provided partly out of Company funds and partly out of the Almshouse Charity funds.

In 1881 the Court of Assistants of the Company began to consider the action to be taken when the leases of Sussex Hall including no. 52 Leadenhall Street and of nos. 51 and 53 Leadenhall Street expired. Eventually the decision taken was to offer the sites for sale by tender for redevelopment under a building lease, and an offer was accepted from a Mr King for a long lease at a ground rent of £1000 p.a. In the event at Mr King’s request the separate leases were granted one to him of Sussex Hall and 52 Leadenhall Street at £600 p.a. and the other to Messrs Harry and Walter Carter of nos. 51 and 53 Leadenhall Street at £400 p.a.