labor. When Wilde was released after serving his sentence, Headlam was there to meet him at six o'clock in the morning on 19 May 1897. 'Homosexuals in Headlam's life' Headlam did not condone homosexuality. However, his willingness to help Wilde may have been connected with the fact that "others close to him had been caught in similar sexual tangles". Headlam's own short-lived marriage in 1878 had been to a lesbian, Beatrice Pennington. Headlam's close relations with other homosexuals included his Eton master William Johnson and his friend C. J. Vaughan. Post-curacy years Beginning with his ordination as a deacon in 1869, Headlam was repeatedly in conflict with his ecclesiastical superiors that led to removal from curacies until he finally "abandoned of the idea of a parish ministry" in 1884. However, he continued to be active in social reform until shortly before his death in 1924. Central to Headlam's activity was his work within the voluntary organisations of his Guild of St Matthew (until its demise in 1909) and the Fabian Society. Church Headlam addressed the 3rd Lambeth Conference in 1888 arguing that Christian socialism is biblical, but the bishops gave him "little heed". In January 1898, Headlam was granted a general licence to preach by the new Bishop of London, Mandell Creighton. From then until his dying days, Headlam celebrated Mass every Sunday at All Souls Church in Haliburton Road. Education Headlam became increasingly involved with "educational reform". Education was one of the two top priorities for Headlam in post-curacy years. He had long viewed education as essential for social transformation, So in 1882, he was elected to the London School Board, an activity that he continued the rest of his life. The London School Board was absorbed into the London County Council in 1903, so Headlam ran for and was elected to the London County Council for the Progressive Party in 1907 as a way of continuing his work in educational reform. He sat on the council until his death. Land Question The "Land Question" was the other issue that occupied Headlam in his mature years. The Land Question was about "the use and ownership of land" and "landlordism" and many remedies were proposed. Lectures offered by the Guild of St Matthew emphasised "the land question as fundamental" for Christian socialists. After reading Henry George's Progress and Poverty (1886), Headlam asserted that "Land Nationalization is a necessary corollary of