Edward Monro

Edward Monro was born in the St Giles area of London on 18 January 1815, probably at 64 Gower Street.St Giles in the Fields baptism register, 1814–27. RG9, piece 3394, folio 64, p.10. His father, Edward Thomas Monro, was a physician who specialised in treating mental illness.{{cite web |title=Edward Thomas Monro {{!}} RCP Museum |url=https://history.rcplondon.ac.uk/inspiring-physicians/edward-thomas-monro |access-date=7 December 2023 |website=history.rcplondon.ac.uk}} His mother, Sarah, was the daughter of Samuel Compton Cox.

The year after Monro's birth, his father was appointed physician to the Bethlem Hospital, taking over from his own father, Thomas Monro.{{cite journal |last=Macintyre |first=Iain |date=2015 |title=The Monro dynasty and their treatment of madness in London |journal=Neurosciences and History |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=121}} As a boy, Monro sat at the feet of Turner. {{cite news |date=16 January 1858 |title=Fine Arts-Leeds Church Institution |work=Leeds Evening Express |pages=5}} When he was thirteen, he began a night school for young people and visited the sick and elderly.{{cite news |date=22 December 1866 |title=St John's Church, Leeds |work=Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer |pages=10}} This act of charity was an early sign of his life's work.

Monro attended Harrow School, and in 1832, entered Oriel College, Oxford, where he obtained a third-class B.A. degree in 1836, followed by an M.A. in 1839.{{cite book |last=Venn |first=John and J.A. |title=Cambridge University Alumni, 1261–1900 |pages=969}}{{cite news |date=25 May 1836 |title=Oxford, May 23 |work=Morning Herald (London) |pages=3}}{{cite news |date=15 December 1866 |title=Death of the Rev. E. Monro |work=London Evening Standard |pages=6}} The Tractarianism that prevailed in the college affected him profoundly.{{cite web |title=Chapel history |url=https://www.oriel.ox.ac.uk/life-at-oriel/living-at-oriel/chapel/chapel-history/ |access-date=26 February 2024 |website=Oriel College }} In 1863, he recalled how one or two teachers at Oriel had introduced him to the system of the "Everlasting Catholic Church."{{cite news |date=14 November 1863 |title=Defence of Church Principles |work=Ipswich Journal |pages=6}}

On 3 October 1837, Monro married Emma Hay at St James' Chapel, Edinburgh.{{cite news |date=7 October 1837 |title=Married |work=London Courier and Evening Gazette |pages=3}} Born and brought up in India, she was the daughter of John Hay, a former member of the East India Company's Madras Medical Board.{{cite news |date=17 March 1860 |title=The Vicarage of St. John's, Leeds. |work=Leeds Intelligencer |pages=5}}

In April 1838, Monro was ordained deacon and appointed assistant curate at Harrow, where he worked under John Cunningham, vicar from 1811 to 1861.Lambeth Palace Library catalogue, VB 1/15/454. Letters dimissory Deacon's orders as assistant curate at Harrow. {{cite book |last=Venn |first=J. A. |title=Alumni Cantabrigienses |publisher=Cambridge University Press}} In December 1838, Monro was ordained priest.Lambeth Palace Library catalogue, VB 1/15/491. Letters dimissory Priest's orders Monro primarily looked after Harrow Weald, a rural hamlet with a population of about 1,100 and a small wooden chapel.{{cite book |title=Post Office Home Counties Directory |year=1855 |publication-date=601}} {{cite book |last=Druett |first=Walter W. |title=The Stanmores and Harrow Weald through the Ages |publisher=King and Hutchings Ltd |year=1938 |pages=223–24}} In 1839, he was licensed as a curate at Harrow Weald and in 1842, Cunningham appointed him as the perpetual curate.Lambeth Palace Library Catalogue, VB 1/16/15, Licence curate, Harrow, Weald. {{cite news |date=17 March 1860 |title=Benefices and Appointments Vacant |work=Cambridge Chronicle and Journal |pages=6}} In 1845, Harrow Weald became a separate parish, and over the next four years, Monro organised the creation of a new church, burial ground, schoolhouse, and parsonage.{{cite news |date=19 August 1845 |title=New Churches |work=Saint James's Chronicle |pages=1}}{{cite news |date=18 January 1848 |title=The Church |work=Saint James's Chronicle |pages=2}}File:All Saint's, Harrow Weald 2002.jpg

File:OS map of Harrow Weald surveyed 1862 to 1871.jpg

On 1 July 1846, Archdeacon Manning laid the first stone of a new church,{{cite news |date=14 July 1846 |title=The Church |work=Maidstone Journal and Kentish Advertiser |pages=2}} which was consecrated by the Bishop of London on 1 November 1849.{{cite news |date=9 November 1849 |title=All Saint's Church, Harrow |work=Church & State Gazette (London) |pages=5}} As this was All Saints Day, the new church was called "All Saints".Druett states incorrectly that the consecration was in 1850. At All Saints, Monro's worship included daily services, weekly communion, a surpliced choir, and a purple altar cloth.{{cite news |date=10 May 1861 |title=Harrow Weald |work=Union |pages=7}}

In 1840, Monro helped his brother Theodore find cottages at Harrow Weald to use as a convalescent home for paupers. This home was the beginning of the Metropolitan Convalescent Institution. The following year, the charity moved to larger premises at Carshalton.{{cite news |date=14 September 1872 |title=Metropolitan Convalescent Institution) |work=London Mirror 1 |pages=164–65}}

In 1840, Monro bought "a row of cottages, which he turned into a continuous line of dormitories and offices." He added a hall, chapel, and library to form the other three sides of the square.{{cite news |date=14 August 1852 |title=St Andrew's College, Harrow Weald |work=Wells Journal |pages=5}} Philip Hardwick designed the hall; William Butterfield designed the chapel and library.{{cite news |date=30 May 1879 |title=Our Coffee Table |work=Building News |pages=38}} The college was a semi-monastic institution designed to provide a free, scholarly education to boys from poor backgrounds who wished to pursue careers in the church or as schoolmasters.{{cite book |last=Burrows |first=Montagu |title=Dictionary of National Biography |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1922 |pages=630–31}} {{cite news |date=16 June 1846 |title=A Tractarian Explanation |work=Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser |pages=18}} In a fund-raising circular dated 28 May 1846. Monro stated that the college was to be run "on the basis of Catholic customs" and that the boys were to "live in close spiritual communion with himself", "observe rules of silence," and "to attend and assist in the various ministrations of the Church." He estimated that maintaining a school for twenty boys would cost £500 per annum.{{cite news |date=13 June 1846 |title=Morning Newspapers |work=London Evening Standard |pages=4}} The college officially opened on 1 July 1846 with an initial intake of sixteen students.{{cite news |date=17 July 1847 |title=Anniversary at Harrow Weald College |work=Bucks Herald |pages=6}} Thomas Mozley described it as a "little paradise" for "the transmutation of raw ploughboys into sweet choristers and good scholars."{{cite book |last=Mozley |first=Thomas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-2FBAQAAMAAJ&dq=%22raw+ploughboys+into+sweet+choristers+and+good+scholars%22&pg=PA22 |title=Reminiscences Chiefly of Oriel College and the Oxford Movement |date=1882 |publisher=Houghton, Mifflin |pages=22 }}

While people on the High Church wing of the Church of England praised the college, evangelicals were hostile. One newspaper called it a "semi-Popish seminary", and the Vicar of Harrow, the staunchly evangelical John Cunningham, was "deeply distressed" when the college opened.{{cite news |date=20 September 1848 |title=Tractarian and Popish Doings |work=Glasgow Chronicle |pages=2}}{{cite news |date=4 October 1861 |title=Death of the Vicar of Harrow |work=Western Daily Press |pages=3}}{{cite news |date=26 June 1846 |title=The Institution at Harrow Weald |work=Church & State Gazette (London) |pages=5}}

In August 1852, the college had "died a natural death."{{cite news |date=17 September 1853 |title=Anglicanism |work=Weekly Register and Catholic Standard |pages=10}} The reason for its collapse was financial. Without an endowment, it depended wholly on donors. Monro lacked financial discipline. Although he envisaged twenty boys, he had twenty-five by 1847 and thirty by 1848. {{cite news |date=14 July 1848 |title=The College of St Andrew, Harrow Weald |work=Durham County Advertiser |pages=5}} Furthermore, in 1851, he took half the boys on a trip to Switzerland.{{cite news |date=26 July 1851 |title=St Andrews's College, Harrow Weald |work=Morning Post |pages=5}} The closure of the college left Monro with personal debts and probably damaged his health. In October 1853, he resigned from his appointment as one of the select preachers chosen to address the University of Oxford.{{cite news |date=4 November 1853 |title=Oxford |work=Church & State Gazette (London) |pages=3}}

Monro believed that young men were vulnerable to vice and immorality as they made the transition from school to the workplace. In Agricultural Colleges and their workings, he advocated the creation of communities to educate rural youths intellectually, morally, and spiritually. {{cite journal |last=Heeney |first=Brian |date=1967 |title=Tractarian Pastor: Edward Monro of Harrow Weald |journal=Canadian Journal of Theology |volume=XIII |issue=4 |pages=232–33}}

Monro was a diligent and conscientious parish priest. At Harrow Weald, he systematically visited people in their homes and built relationships with them. He believed that through "personal intercourse" with his parishioners, a priest would gain their confidence such that they would confess their sins.{{cite journal |last=Heeney |first=Brian |date=1967 |title=Tractarian Pastor: Edward Monro of Harrow Weald |journal=Canadian Journal of Theology |volume=XIII |issue=4 |pages=246}} He also visited agricultural workers in the fields and railway navvies in their temporary lodgings.{{cite journal |last=Heeney |first=Brian |date=1968 |title=Tractarian Pastor: Edward Monro of Harrow Weald |journal=Canadian Journal of Theology |volume=XIV |issue=1 |pages=20–23}}

Monro was an "earnest and eloquent preacher."{{cite news |date=24 October 1857 |title=Leeds Church Institute |work=Leeds Intelligencer |pages=5}} From 1850 onwards, he preached at the opening of many new churches and schools around England, including at Plymouth (1850), Hemel Hempstead (1855), Whitwick (1857), and Derby (1859).{{cite news |date=5 October 1850|page=7 |title=Consecration at St Peter's Church |work=Exeter and Plymouth Gazette}} {{cite news |date=24 November 1855 |title=The Church |work=Bucks Herald |pages=2}} {{cite news |date=26 August 1857 |title=Leicestershire, Laying of the Foundation Stone of the National Schools, Whitwick |work=Derby Mercury |pages=6}} {{cite news |date=4 May 1859 |title=Re-opening of St Peter's Church, Derby |work=Derby Mercury |pages=4}} He believed that the Church of England should respond to the threat of increasing secularism and rationalism by training more and better priests.{{cite news |date=28 December 1861 |title=The Rev. E. Monro on Secularism in Leeds |work=Leeds Times |pages=3}} From 1857 onwards, he was an active member of the Society for Promoting the Employment of Additional Curates in Populous Districts and often preached at their meetings.{{cite news |date=29 August 1857 |title=Home Missions |work=Manchester Courier |pages=5}} On 19 December 1861, in London, he gave a talk on secularism to the Additional Curates Society.{{cite news |date=27 December 1861 |title=The Rev. E. Monro on Secularism and Rationalism |work=Union |pages=11}}

From 1855, Monro gave lectures on poetry, art, history and current affairs at literary institutes, libraries, and schools in towns and cities all over England.{{cite news |date=30 January 1855 |title=Sandgate |work=Kentish Gazette |pages=3}} During 1858, he often performed a story called "The Tale of the Cotton Gown" about how a factory hand's bad habits led to domestic misery and the death of his wife.{{cite news |date=1 October 1858 |title=Miscellaneous News |work=Union |pages=12}} {{cite news |date=23 October 1858 |title=Lecture at the Church Institution |work=Barnsley Chronicle |pages=3}}

Monro was a prolific author, publishing more than fifty titles. His first book was Stories of Cottagers, published under the name "A Country Parson" in 1842 and then his own name in 1843.{{cite news |date=8 October 1842 |title=Just published, by James Burns |work=John Bull |pages=11}}{{cite news |date=13 May 1843 |title=Just published |work=Oxford University and City Herald |pages=1}} It was the first of many books intended to convey religious instruction to the poor using stories and allegories.

In 1848, he published sermons on the ministry and an open letter to Gladstone about education.{{cite book |last=Monro |first=Edward |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q8aDTR1MWtQC |title=The Fulfilment of the Ministry. A Sermon [on Col. Iv. 17]. |date=1848 }} {{cite book |last=Monro |first=Edward |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U-1LAAAAYAAJ |title=Sermons Principally on the Responsibilities of the Ministerial Office |date=1850 |publisher=J.H. Parker }}{{cite web |title=Education, its true province the formation of individual character: a letter to the Rt. Hon. William Ewart Gladstone, M.A. M.P. / by Edward Monro |url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uiuo.ark:/13960/t7mq0z17z?urlappend=%3Bseq=1 |access-date=24 February 2024 |website=HathiTrust | hdl=2027/uiuo.ark:/13960/t7mq0z17z?urlappend=%3Bseq=1 }}

File:The Dark River 1845.jpg

In 1850, he responded to the crisis caused by the Gorham judgement by writing two books in defence of the Church of England (A few words on the spirit in which men are meeting the present crisis in the Church and Reasons for feeling secure in the Church of England).{{cite book |last=Monro |first=Edward |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ilZiAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA10 |title=A Few Words on the spirit in which men are meeting the present crisis in the Church. A letter |date=1850 }}{{cite book |last=Monro |first=Edward A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6fJeAAAAcAAJ |title=Reasons for Feeling Secure in the Church of England: A Letter to a Friend in Answer to Doubts Expressed in Reference to the Claims of the Church of Rome |date=1850 |publisher=I.H. Parker }}

Monro drew on his experience as a priest at Harrow Weald to write a manual for parish priests entitled Parochial Work.{{cite book |last=Monro |first=Edward |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lR5dAAAAcAAJ |title=Parochial Work |date=1850 |publisher=J.H. Parker }}{{cite journal |last=Heeney |first=Brian |date=1967 |title=Tractarian Pastor; Edward Monro of Harrow Weald |journal=Canadian Journal of Theology |volume=XIII |issue=4 |pages=241}} In 1850, he published Agricultural Colleges and their workings. A letter addressed to A J B Hope Esq. M.P.{{cite book |last=Monro |first=Edward |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9BoVCd_1wEsC |title=Agricultural Colleges and their working. A letter to A. J. B. Hope, Esq |date=1850 }}

In August 1852, Monro published The Christian Student, an educational magazine aimed at older children. Although Monro planned to publish it monthly, no more appeared.{{cite news |date=28 August 1852 |title=Literary Notices |work=Dover Telegraph and Cinque Ports General Advertiser |pages=8}} In 1857 and 1858, he published a series of tracts called The Church and the Million about how the Church should minister to various groups of labourers, including railway navvies, haymakers, and factory workers.{{cite news |date=28 November 1857 |title=Literature |work=Oxford University and City Herald |pages=16}} {{cite news |date=11 December 1858 |title=Literature |work=Leeds Intelligencer |pages=3}}{{cite book |last=Monro |first=Edward |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wckHAAAAQAAJ&q=intitle:the+intitle:church+intitle:and+intitle:the+intitle:million |title=The Church and the million. By E. Monro |date=1857 }}{{cite book |last=Monro |first=Edward |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VF4xFEY7XXcC&q=intitle:the+intitle:church+intitle:and+intitle:the+intitle:million |title=The Church and the Million |date=1859 |publisher=J. Masters }}

When the living of St John the Evangelist, Leeds, became vacant, Monro applied and was awarded the post on 12 March 1860.{{cite news |date=24 December 1859 |title=The Vicarage of St. John's, Leeds |work=Leeds Intelligencer |pages=5}}{{cite news |date=17 March 1860 |title=The Vicarage of St John's |work=Cambridge Independent Press |pages=6}} A newspaper article sought to alleviate possible fears: "Mr Monro has usually been associated with the High Church party, but he is not a man of extreme views."

After he was offered the position, he discovered that his stipend was the subject of a legal dispute.{{cite news |date=31 March 1860 |title=St John's Vicarage |work=Leeds Intelligencer |pages=5}} Although he was inducted at Leeds on 8 June 1860, his move there hung in the balance until August.{{cite news |date=9 June 1860 |title=The New Vicar of St. John's |work=Leeds Intelligencer |pages=5}} {{cite news |date=9 August 1860 |title=The Rev. E. Monro and the Vicarage of St John's. Leeds |work=Leeds Mercury |pages=3}} His stipend was eventually set at £500 per annum with an additional £100 for a curate and £100 for accommodation.{{cite news |date=15 December 1866 |title=Local and District |work=Leeds Times |pages=5}} In November 1860, he told a group of mill workers, "He had for many years past had a great desire to come north...he felt that the men he wished to spend his life amongst were the working populations of the great northern towns of England."{{cite news |date=17 November 1860 |title=Factory Festival-The Rev. Edward Monro and the Working Classes. |work=Leeds Intelligencer |pages=6}}

At St John's, he established day schools, boosted the number of communicants and confirmation candidates, and revived the practice of Whitsuntide processions.{{cite news |date=8 September 1868 |title=St John's Schools at Leeds |work=Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer |pages=3}} {{cite news |date=30 May 1863 |title=Whitsuntide Festivities in Leeds and Neighbourhood |work=Leeds Intelligencer |pages=8}} He also set up a brotherhood and sisterhood of lay helpers. In November 1863, he told an audience he had 13 young working men and 11 "sisters" working in his parish. An article of late 1863 says, "He is an immensely busy man, and as voluble as he is busy...And you might see him with gown over his arm and college cap on his head, hurrying, almost flying up a crowded thoroughfare, with a tail of choristers and curates, and ...banneret and crucifix, to take his stand on a large open moor at the back of a public-house, a place of great resort."{{cite news |date=3 December 1863 |title=A Leeds Vicar |work=Patriot |pages=3}}File:OS map of St John's, Leeds, surveyed 1847.jpgIn March 1864, his bishop forced him to take down pictures he had put in the church.{{cite news |date=17 March 1864 |title=General News |work=Loughborough Monitor |pages=8}}

In June 1861, a soiree held at the Leeds Music Hall for Monro and his wife attracted 600 people.{{cite news |date=8 June 1861 |title=The Rev. Edward Monro and his Congregation |work=Leeds Times |pages=5}} On going to Leeds, Monro became active as a lecturer in the city, giving talks on art, literature, history, international relations, housing, and prisons.{{cite news |date=22 September 1860 |title=Lectures by the Rev. E. Monro |work=Leeds Intelligencer |pages=5}}{{cite news |date=20 October 1860 |title=Local and Other News |work=Leeds Intelligencer |pages=5}} {{cite news |date=7 July 1860 |title=Garibaldi and Masaniello, Lecture by the Rev. E. Monro. |work=Leeds Intelligencer |pages=7}}{{cite news |date=22 December 1860 |title=The Rev. E. Monro on English Homes |work=Leeds Intelligencer |pages=7}}{{cite news |date=27 October 1860 |title=The Evening Classes |work=Leeds Intelligencer |pages=5}} He spoke the international exhibition of 1862, the royal wedding of 1863, and the display of William Holman Hunt's picture, "The Finding of the Saviour in the Temple," at a local gallery.{{cite news |date=14 June 1862 |title=Working's Men's Institute |work=Leeds Times |pages=5}} {{cite news |date=14 March 1863 |title=Local and Other News |work=Leeds Intelligencer |pages=5}}{{cite news |date=3 February 1863 |title=The Rev. E. Monro, M.A., on Holman Hunt's Great Picture |work=Leeds Mercury |pages=4}}

On 9 July 1862, Monro and 300 members of the Leeds Working Men's Institution went on a four-day trip to the capital to visit the International Exhibition of Industry and Art and other places of interest.{{cite news |date=12 July 1862 |title=The Exhibition |work=Leeds Times |pages=5}} Two weeks later, at the Victoria Hall, he gave a talk about the trip to more than 2,000 people.{{cite news |date=2 August 1862 |title=The Leeds Working Men's Trip to London |work=Leeds Evening Express |pages=5}} He also lectured on the social problems of his day. On 3 December 1860, at the Music Hall, he gave a lecture entitled "On the Present Condition and Future Prospects of the Working Classes in our Manufacturing Districts," in which he told his largely working-class audience that "ever since he was a youth, he had longed to be the personal friend of the working classes." He then discussed the importance of "mutual good feeling between employers and employed" and the need for working men to possess more self-respect and a greater appreciation of the benefits of education.{{cite news |date=8 December 1860 |title=Lecture to the Working Classes by the Rev. E. Monro |work=Leeds Intelligencer |pages=8}} At the same venue on 19 December 1860, he lectured on "The Homes of England," in which he highlighted the causal link between unsanitary housing and immoral and criminal behaviour.

In December 1860, Monro agreed to attend court to hear rules approved by masters and men.{{cite news |date=15 December 1860 |title=Leeds Operative Masons |work=Leeds Evening Express |pages=2}} When, in August 1864, he lectured to striking metal workers at the Leeds Stock Exchange on "the relation between masters and men," he left in a hurry when he suspected the chairman was about to criticise one of the masters.{{cite news |date=30 August 1864 |title=The Lock-out in the Iron Trade |work=Leeds Mercury |pages=3}} In 1861, Monro came up with the idea of having an institution for working men not catered for by the Mechanics Institute.{{cite news |date=6 April 1861 |title=Institutes for Working Men |work=Leeds Mercury |pages=5}} It opened in July 1861 and proved highly popular.{{cite news |date=4 July 1861 |title=Inauguration of the Leeds Working Men's Institute |work=Leeds Mercury |pages=3}}{{cite news |date=3 December 1864 |title=Testimonial to the President of the Leeds Working Men's Institute. |work=Leeds Intelligencer |pages=7}}

Soon after arriving in Leeds, he tried to launch two monthly magazines. Monro's Monthly Tales, published in November 1860, folded after the first issue.{{cite news |date=6 October 1860 |title=[Advertisement] |work=Leeds Intelligencer |pages=4}} The Church Sunday School Magazine, which was supposed to start in January 1861, was probably never printed. {{cite news |date=3 November 1860 |title=[Advertisement] |work=Leeds Times |pages=1}} As John Bull said after his death, "his rapid power of conception led him to initiate more plans of work than were good either for himself or his people."

Most of his publications during this period were stories like Eustace (1863) and Pascal the Pilgrim (1864). Pastoral Life. Part1. The Clergyman at Home and in the Pulpit, published in 1862, was a substantial work. The "Story of the Cross" probably belongs to this period.{{cite book |title=Hymns used in the Church of St. John the Evangelist, Leeds (Supplement). |date=1864 |location=Leeds |pages=104–09}} After his death, it was set to music by Sir John Stainer and Arthur Somervell, and featured in Easter celebrations up until at least the 1950s.{{cite news |date=5 February 1894 |title=Musical Notes |work=Western Daily Press |pages=7}} {{cite news |date=27 March 1920 |title=Congregational |work=Portsmouth Evening News |pages=4}}{{cite news |date=3 April 1953 |title=The Story of the Cross |work=Alderley & Wilmslow Advertiser |pages=11}}

In November 1863, Monro delivered the first of a series of lectures by High Anglicans at Ipswich and Norwich. In his lecture, entitled "Church Principles, Bible Principles," he avowed his membership of "the Everlasting Catholic Church." He then discussed certain principles of High Churchmanship, namely "a definite and a developed creed," the veneration of martyrs, brotherhoods and sisterhoods, the sacramental system, and the practice of daily prayer and weekly offertory. He also spoke about "the pure and refining influences of high art." His lecture was published in 1864.{{cite news |date=14 May 1864 |title=[Advertisement] |work=Norfolk Chronicle |pages=4}} Near the end of his life, he published "The Church in Great Provincial Towns", an article which advocated the creation of town bishoprics to coordinate pastoral work.{{cite news |date=12 October 1866 |title=The October Magazines |work=Exeter and Plymouth Gazette |pages=3}}

Although Monro professed to like Leeds, the work and environment were detrimental to his health. When, in September 1861, the living at Harrow became vacant on the death of the Rev. Cunningham, he applied for the position but was unsuccessful.London Metropolitan Archives catalogue entry, Northwick family collection, Acc/0076/0122.File:St John's, Leeds 2009.jpg In December 1864, Monro was given a leave of absence from his duties for two years and went to live in the south of England.{{cite news |date=31 December 1864 |title=Local and District |work=Leeds Evening Express |pages=5}} At the end of that time, he returned to Leeds but was too ill to participate actively in services.{{cite book |last=Taylor |first=Richard Vickerman |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1zZiqcNUvHgC&dq=Harrow+weald+%22st+andrew's+college%22&pg=PA626 |title=The Biographia Leodiensis; Or, Biographical Sketches of the Worthies of Leeds and Neighbourhood, from the Norman Conquest to the Present Time, Etc. (Supplement, Etc.). |date=1867 |pages=623–630 }} He died at the Vicarage on 13 December 1866, aged 51.{{cite news |date=22 December 1866 |title=In Memoriam Edward Monro |work=John Bull |pages=5–7}} His funeral service was held at St John's Church on 19 December, and his body was then taken by train to Harrow Weald for burial.

By his will, Monro left the whole of his estate, valued at "under £3,000," to his widow, Emma.Index of wills and administrations 1858–1995 She retired to an almshouse at 37 College, Bromley, Kent, where she died on 19 December 1887, aged 71.Civil registration death index, death registered Bromley, Q4 1887.

After his death, his Leeds parishioners collected money for a stained-glass window in his memory. This window was designed by Ward and Hughes of London and placed in the southeast corner of the chancel.{{cite news |date=11 September 1869 |title=The Late Rev. E. Munro |pages=6 |work=Cambridge Chronicle and Journal}}

This list has been compiled from the University of Cambridge's online catalogue and Allibone's Critical Dictionary of English Literature.{{cite book |last=Kirk |first=John Foster |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zdYcAAAAMAAJ&dq=%22Journey+home:+an+allegory%22&pg=PA1127 |title=A Supplement to Allibone's Critical Dictionary of English Literature and British and American Authors: Containing Over Thirty-seven Thousand Articles (authors), and Enumerating Over Ninety-three Thousand Titles |date=1891 |publisher=J.B. Lippincott |pages=1127 }}

• Stories of Cottagers, James Burns, 1842.
• Wandering Willie: the Sponsor. James Burns, 1845.{{cite news |date=18 October 1845 |title=Parish Tracts |work=Oxford University and City Herald |pages=1}}
• Dermot the Unbaptized, James Burns, 1845.
• On Private Baptism, James Burns, 1845.
• The Baptismal Service, James Burns, 1845.
• The Dark River: an Allegory. James Burns, 1845.
• The Vast Army: an Allegory. James Burns, 1847.
• The Combatants: an Allegory. Joseph Masters, 1848.
• The Fulfilment of the Ministry: a Sermon, Preached before Some Clergy of the Diocese of Worcester. John Henry Parker, 1848.
• Harry and Archie; or, First and last communion, Joseph Masters, 1848.
• Education: Its True Province the Formation of Individual Character: a Letter to William Ewart Gladstone. John Henry Parker, 1849.
• The Revellers, The Midnight Sea and The Wanderer: Three Allegories. Joseph Masters, 1849.
• A Tabular View of English History, Joseph Masters,1849.{{cite news |date=28 April 1849 |title=[Advertisement] |work=Morning Post |pages=8}}
• Sermons Principally on the Responsibilities of the Ministerial Office. John Henry Parker, 1850.
• A Few Words on the Spirit in Which Men Are Meeting the Present Crisis in the Church. Parker, 1850.
• Purity of Life: a Sermon Preached in the Parish Church to the Boys of Uppingham Grammar School, on the Feast of St. Bartholomew, MDCCCXLIX. John Henry Parker, 1850.
• Parochial Work. John Henry Parker, 1850.
• Reasons for Feeling Secure in the Church of England: a Letter to a Friend, in Answer to Doubts Expressed in Reference to the Claims of the Church of Rome. John Henry Parker, 1850.
• Agricultural Colleges and Their Working: a Letter to A.J.B. Hope, Esq., M.P. John Henry Parker, 1850.
• True Stories of Cottagers, new ed. Joseph Masters, 1850.{{cite news |date=7 September 1850 |title=Literature |work=Staffordshire Advertiser |pages=3}}
• Parochial Work. 2nd ed., John Henry Parker, 1851.
• The Christian Student, an educational magazine, No. 1, 1852.
• The Parish: in Five Books. John Henry Parker, 1853.
• The Church and the Million. [No. I]. Joseph Masters, 1854.
• Walter, the Schoolmaster. Joseph Masters, 1854.
• The Journey Home: an Allegory, Joseph Masters, 1854.
• Basil, the schoolboy; or, The heir of Arundel, Joseph Masters, 1854.
• Practical sermons on the characters of the Old Testament, Joseph Masters, Issued in parts 1854–58.
• Midsummer Eve. Joseph Masters, 1855.
• Leonard and Dennis: or, The Soldier's Life: a Tale Intended to Illustrate Some of the Leading Features of the Present War. Joseph Masters ..., 1855.
• Daily Studies During Lent. J.H. and J. Parker, 1856.
• Parochial Lectures on English Poetry, Rivingtons, 1856.
• Parochial Papers for the Clergyman, the Schoolmaster, and the Family, Rivingtons, 1856.
• Plain Sermons on the "Book of Common Prayer," 1856, (by Monro et al.)
• School Prayers for the Ecclesiastical Year, 1856.{{cite news |date=14 June 1856 |title=[Advertisement] |work=Morning Post |pages=8}}
• Home and Colonial Missions: Two Sermons. Joseph Masters, 1857.
• The Church and the Million. No. II, The "navvies," and How to Meet Them: a Letter to a Friend. Joseph Masters, 1857.
• The Dark Mountains; Being the Sequel to The Journey Home. An Allegory. Joseph Masters, 1858.
• The Church and the Million, No. 4. Haymakers and their habits; a letter to a friend. Joseph Masters, 1858.
• The Church and the Million. The collier and the operative, and how to affect them. Joseph Masters, 1858.
• Historical and Practical Sermons on the Sufferings and Resurrection of Our Lord, J H and James Parker, 1858 (by Monro and "One of the writers of the Tracts for the Christian seasons").
• Sacred Allegories of Christian Life and Death, Joseph Masters, 1858.{{cite news |date=1 February 1858 |title=By the Rev. E. Monro, M.A. |work=Bookseller |pages=30}}
• Tales for the Million, No. 1, Dick the Haymaker, Joseph Masters, 1859.{{cite news |date=25 January 1859 |title=Publications of the Month |work=Bookseller |pages=19}}
• Tales for the Million, No. 2. Walter the Convict, Joseph Masters (1859).{{cite news |date=25 March 1859 |title=Fiction-Juvenile Works |work=Bookseller |pages=20}}
• Tales for the Million, No. 3. Edward Morris, Joseph Masters (1859).{{cite news |date=23 April 1859 |title=[Publications for the month] |work=Bookseller, 23 April 1859 p.64-[Publications for the month] |pages=64}}
• Tales for the Million, No. 4. The Tale of a Cotton Gown, Joseph Masters (1859).{{cite news |date=19 September 1859 |title=Miscellaneous Notices |work=John Bull |pages=12}}
• Nanny: a Sequel to "Harry and Archie" Joseph Masters, 1859.
• The Church and the Million, No. 5, Durham and the carpet weavers. Masters and man: A letter addressed to Messrs Henderson and Co., Joseph Masters, 1859.
• Monthly Tales (a magazine), 1860.
• Pastoral Life. Part I. The Clergyman at Home and in the Pulpit, Hammans, 1862.
• Claudian, a Tale of the Second Century. Part I. Joseph Masters, 1862.
• Illustrations of Faith. 1862 (by Monro and "One of the writers of the Tracts for the Christian seasons").
• Eustace; or, the Lost Inheritance: a Tale of School Life. Joseph Masters, 1863.
• Pascal the Pilgrim: a Tale for Young Communicants. J. Masters, 1864.
• Church Principles, Bible Principles / by Edward Monro. Mowbray, 1864.
• Leila: a Tale. Joseph Masters; B. W. Sharp, 1864.
• Joey: or, the Tale of an Old Coat. Joseph Masters, 1865.
• "The Boy Martyr of Rome" published in the Sunday Magazine, March 1866.{{cite news |date=3 March 1866 |title=Literary Notices |work=Yorkshire Gazette |pages=2}}
• "Tarcisius, the Child Martyr", published in the Monthly Packet, May 1866.{{cite news |date=12 May 1866 |title=The Library Table |work=The Queen |pages=7}}
• "The Church in Great Provincial Towns", published in The Churchman's Family Magazine, October 1866.
• Footprints in the Snow: a Tale. Joseph Masters, 1867.
• Edwin's Fairing. Alexander Strahan, 1867

Allibone's Critical Dictionary of English Literature also attributes the following titles to Monro, but these have not been verified:

• Fables, Stories and Allegories, 1842.
• A View of the Parochial System, 1850.

{{reflist}}

• [https://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupname?key=Monro,%20Edward%20A.,%201815-1866 List of Monro's books available online.]
• Prize giving at St Andrew's College,1850. [https://books.google.com/books?id=yTsMObnXeiIC&q=college+%22Harrow+weald%22 Exercitationes præmiis anniversariis dignatæ et recitatæ Collegii Sancti Andreæ],
• Prize giving at St Andrew's College,1851. [https://books.google.com/books?id=si1BbWjkcIkC&q=college+%22Harrow+weald%22 Exercitationes præmiis anniversariis dignatæ et recitatæ Collegii Sancti Andreæ, 1849(−51)]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Monro, Edward}}

Category:1815 births

Category:1866 deaths

Category:People educated at Harrow School

Category:Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford

Category:19th-century Church of England clergy

Category:Tractarians