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THE    ORIGIN    AND    HISTORY 

OF    THE 

PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 


THE  ORIGIN  AND  HISTORY 


OF    THK 


PRIMITIVE  METHODIST  CHURCH 


BY    THE 


REV      H.     B.     KENDALL,     B.A. 


Vol.  II. 


fEon&on : 
EDWIN    DALTON      48—50    ALDERSGATE    STREET,    EC. 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST  CHURCH. 


Vol.  II.      Book  II.   Continued. 


CHAPTER   XII. 
THE  BEMEESLEY  BOOK-EOOM,   1821-43. 

XPERIENCE,  temperament  and  policy  all  combined  to  make  Hugh  Bourne 
publisher  and  pressman.  His  character  had  been  shaped  and  a  new 
direction  given  to  his  life  by  the  printed  word.  Though  naturally  taciturn 
and,   like  Moses,   "  not  eloquent  but  slow  of  speech  and  of  a  slow 

tongue,''  he  was  communicative  through  another  medium  than  that  of  speech.  All 
along  he  obeyed  a  pretty  steady  impulse  to  express  himself  in  manuscript  and  type — 
to  externalise  his  own  convictions  and  his  impressions  of  the  facts  before  him,  as  his 
life-long  journalising,  and  his  innumerable  memoranda  respecting  past  and  current 
events  clearly  show.  In  all  this  he  was  the  direct  opposite  of  William  Clowes,  who 
was  averse  from  the  use  of  the  pen.  For  him  the  inside  of  a  printing-office  had  few 
attractions,  yet,  like  Aaron,  he  was  naturally  eloquent,  and  could  "speak  well." 
Moreover,  as  a  practical  man,  Hugh  Bourne  knew  what  power  there  was  in  the  press 
as  an  instrument  of  propagandism ;  and,  as  one  of  the  founders  and  directors  of  a  new 
denomination,  he  may  have  had  the  ambition  to  copy,  in  his  own  modest  way,  the 
example  of  John  Wesley — whom  he  so  much  admired — who  was  one  of  the  most 
voluminous  authors  and  extensive  publishers  of  his  own,  or  indeed  of  any,  time.  So 
Hugh  Bourne's  publications  ranged  from  a  somewhat  bulky  Ecclesiastical  History  to 
a  four-page  collection  of  "  Family  Receipts,'-  which  tells  how  to  relieve  a  cow  choked 
with  a  turnip,  and  how  to  provide  a  cheap  and  wholesome  travelling  dinner  for  fourpence. 
Whence,  it  will  be  seen,  that  the  doings  of  Popes  and  Councils  as  well  as  the  small 
details  of  domestic  and  personal  economy,  alike  came  within  the  purview  of  his  printed 
observations. 

These  characteristics  and  habits  may  be  seen  at  work  in  Hugh  Bourne  even  before 
1811.  In  proof  of  this,  note  the  printed  account  of  the  first  camp  meeting,  hot  from 
the  press,  that  was  scattered  by  thousands;  the  "  Eules  for  Holy  Living''  distributed 
on  camp-grounds,  and  even  slipped  through  the  broken  panes  of  Church  windows ;  his 

A 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHUECH. 


"Scripture  Catechism,"  1807 — not  half  as  well  knov/n  as  it  deserves  to  be;  and  his  tract 
on  "The  Ministry  of  Women,"  1808.  Note,  above  all,  in  this  introductory  period,  his 
adaptation  of  Lorenzo  How's  Hymn  Book,  1809,  of  which,  until  1823,  edition  after 
edition  was  published,  being  bought  so  eagerly,  especially  on  new  ground,  that  the 
revenue  derived  from  its  sale  helped  largely  to  sustain  some  of  the  new  missions. 
Some  of  the  provincial  printers — wide-awake  men — soon  discovered  the  value  of  this 
little  Hymn  Book  as  a  marketable  commodity,  and  issued  pirated  editions,  sometimes 
making  trivial  alterations,  and  then  having  the  effrontery  to  put  "  Copyright  secured  " 
on  the  title-page.  We  ourselves  have  met  with  no  less  than  eight  such  pirated  editions 
issued  before  1823,  bearing  the  imprints  of  local  presses  at  York  (two),  Leeds,  Gains- 
borough, Selby,  Burslem,  Bingham,  and  Nottingham. 

After  the  establishment  of  the  Connexion  in  1811,  Hugh  Bourne  pursued  the  same 
policy.  Printed  tickets  superseded  written  ones.  In  1814,  the  rules  of  the  new 
denomination  were  carefully  edited  and  published ;  Sunday  Schools  were  with  much 
labour  furnished  with  Bibles  and  reading-books,  and  other  requisites ;  Tract  Societies 
were  organised  and  equipped  ;  a  large  Hymn  Book  was  compiled  and  published  in  1812, 
but  it  met  with  little  favour  among  the  societies.  It  was  too  heavy  to  float,  and  it  must 
be  regarded  as  having  been  one  of  Hugh  Bourne's  publishing  ventures  that  failed.  The' 
same  fate  befell  the  quarterly  Mat/a-hif,  projected  and  launched  for  a  very  short 
voyage  in  1818. 

To  all  intents  and  purposes,  there  wag  an  Editor  and  Book  Steward  before  the  offices 
were  officially  created  and  the  officers  appointed.     If,  at  first,  Hugh  Bourne  practically 

combined  both  offices  in  himself,  it  must  not 
be  overlooked  that  his  brother  James  was 
always  at  his  back  ready  to  share  his  monetary 
responsibility  ;  and,  to  the  honour  of  both,  let 
it  also  be  remembered  that,  though  at  their 
initiative  the  societies  might  authorise  these 
early  publishing  ventures,  the  brothers  did 
not  appropriate  any  profits  that  might  accrue, 
but  surrendered  them  to  the  Connexion,  while 
they  took  all  the  risks  of  loss.  Thus,  one 
thinks,  it  was  a  foregone  conclusion  that 
when  the  first  Conference  found  it  necessary 
to  appoint  an  editor  Hugh  Bourne  should  be 
designated  to  the  office,  and  receive  instruc- 
tions to  complete  the  suspended  issue  of 
the  Mwjadne  of  1819— which  he  did  in  the 
manner  already  described.  But  when  at  the 
next  Conference  the  question  of  appointing 
a  Book  Steward  was  mooted,  the  case  was 
different ;  there  were  evidently  two  opinions 
both  as  to  the  person  to  be  appointed  and  as 
to  the  locale  of  the  Book-Boom  already  looming  on  the  Connexional  horizon. 


Hl'<;H    BOLHKE,    HiSNEXIOKAL    KIHTOIt. 


THE   PERIOD   OF    CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND    ENTERPRISE.  6 

"  60.     Q.  Who  shall  be  Book  Steward  ? 

A.  If  the  Magazines  are  printed  in  Hull  Circuit,  E.  Taylor.  If  in  Tunstall 
Circuit,  J.  Bourne." 

If  there  were  any  rivalry  between  the  two  circuits  for  the  honour  of  having  the 
book -room  within  its  borders — as  we  strongly  suspect  there  was — it  was  soon  ended  in 
favour  of  Tunstall;  for,  at  the  Conference  of  1821,  in  answer  to  the  question  :  "How 
shall  the  Book  Concern  be  managed  1 "  it  was  resolved  : — 

"James  Steele,  James  Bourne,  Hugh  Bourne,  Charles  John  Abraham,  and  John 
Hancock,  are  elected  as  a  Book  Committee  to  manage  the  concerns  for  the  ensuing 
year.  These  are  to  receive  and  examine  all  matters  to  be  inserted  in  the  Magazine, 
and  all  other  matters  which  it  may  be  necessary  to  print.  H.  Bourne  is  appointed 
Editor,  and  J.  Bourne  Book  Steward  ;  and  the  Committee  are  at  liberty  to  receive 
matter  from  W.  O'Bryan,  and  to  insert  in  the  Magazine  from  time  to  time,  such  of 
it  as  they  may  think  proper.  The  Committee  are  empowered  to  establish  a  General 
Book-Room,  and  a  printing  press  for  the  use  of  the  Connexion.'' 

This  incidental  reference  to  the  founder  of  the  Bible  Christian  Church  is  historically 
interesting ;  and,  with  his  usual  acuteness,  Hugh  Bourne  points  out  in  the  Magazine 
for  1821,  the  remarkable  similarity  between  the  two  denominations  as  regards  their 
practical  recognition  of  the  ministry  of  females.  Referring  to  Joel's  prophecy  (ii.  28-29), 
he  says : — 

"  In  the  latter  part  of  the  promise  which  respects  daughters  and  handmaidens 
prophesying,  or  preaching,  a  remarkable  coincidence  has  taken  place  in  ou 
Connexion,  and  in  the  Connexion  which  arose  in  Cornwall.  It  is  really  surprising 
that  the  two  Connexions,  without  any  knowledge  of  each  other,  should  each,  nearly 
at  the  same  time,  be  led  in  the  same  way,  as  it  respects  the  ministry  of  women. 
Both  Connexions  employed  women  as  exhorters,  and  as  local  and  travelling 
preachers.  When  the  two  Connexions  became  acquainted  with  each  other,  and 
found  so  striking  a  similarity  in  their  proceedings  with  regard  to  female  preachers, 
it  became  a  matter  of  desire  to  know  by  what  steps  each  Connexion  had  been  led 
into  the  measure.  This  produced  a  request  on  the  subject,  to  which  the  following 
letter  was  sent  as  an  answer',  etc.'' 

But  to  return  to  the  Book  Committee.  Hull  had  lost  the  Book-Room,  and  was  to 
develop  itself  in  its  own  splendid  way,  while  Tunstall  was,  for  some  years  to  come,  to 
become  more  and  more  the  directive  centre.  Yet,  though  Hull  acquiesced  in  the 
arrangement,  its  delegates,  we  are  told,  asked  that,  until  the  necessary,  printing  plant 
had  been  acquired  for  the  Connexion,  the  Magazines  might  be  printed  b}-  "  their 
own  printer ''  at  Hull — probably  J.  Hutchinson.  The  Conference  granted  the 
request  and  hence,  H.  Bourne  says :  "  he  had  to  attend  at  Hull  and  bore  his  own  expenses.'' 
But  this  arrangement  certainly  did  not  last  long,  for  the  last  number  of  the  1821 
Magazine,  at  least,  was  printed  at  the  Connexional  printing-office  at  Bemersley  :  so  that 
the  work  of  printing  the  first  two  volumes  of  the  Magazine  was  executed  by  five- 
different  printers,  residing  in  as  many  different  towns — to  wit :  Leicester,  Burslem, 
Derby,  Hull,  and  Bemersley  !  What  is  now  the  Aldersgate  Primitive  MetJux/inf 
Magazine  has  had  a  long  and,  on  the  whole,  a  prosperous  voyage,  but  at  the  outset  the 
sea  was  choppy  and  unkindly,  and  the  bark  had  its  mishaps. 


■i  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 

While  the  brothers  Bourne  are  looking  after  the  purchase  of  printing-presses  and 
founts  of  type  and  a  suitable  place  to  put  them  in,  we  will  just  glance  at  the  members 
of  the  Book  Committee  and  its  functions.  As  to  the  latter  :  Here,  as  everywhere, 
there  has  been  evolution,  so  that  it  were  indeed  an  error — though  one  easily  fallen 
into — to  suppose  that  our  ecclesiastical  courts  must  have  been  from  the  beginning  just 
what  they  are  now.  At  first  the  Book  Committee  was  a  General  Committee  as  well ; 
and  for  a  year  or  two,  in  conjunction  with  the  General  Committee  at  Hull,  it  had  to 
give  advice  and  counsel  to  the  circuits,  and  send  a  deputation  to  settle  matters  when 
desired.  The  Conference  Minutes  of  1822  even  go  on  to  say  :  "  If  the  two  committees 
think  that  there  is  a  providential  opening,  they  shall  institute,  or  take  steps  to  institute, 


J.  Hancock's  hotse  ax 


EXUKAVEK'S    SHOP. 


a  missionary  establishment  for  sending  out  missionaries  in  a  general  way."  The  mode 
of  editing  the  Muua:.ine  prescribed  was  certainly  a  peculiar  one.  Communications  were 
not  to  be  addressed  to  the  Editor  personally,  but  to  the  Book  Committee,  which  had  to 
decide  upon  the  suitability  or  otherwise  of  the  contributions  sent.  Contributions  from 
the  circuits  had  also  to  receive  the  endorsement  of  their  Circuit  Committees  ;  so  that 
the  Mwiu-iw  was  to  be  both  supplied  with  matter  and  edited  by  committees.  As 
the  contributions  chiefly  desired  and  expected  were  memoirs,  preachers'  Journals,  and 
revival  intelligence,  this  curious  arrangement  was  evidently  designed  to  prevent  puffery 
and  self-advertisement,  and  to  secure  authentic  reports.  These  regulations  were  soon 
ed    so  far   as   contributors  were   concerned,    but   theie  is  evidence  to  show  that 


relaxec 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE.  ~) 

throughout  the  Bemersley  period,  the  Editor  edited  through  his  committee,  and  John 
Flesher  found  this  out  when  he  entered  upon  his  new  duties  at  Bemersley,  which  is 
a  later  story.  In  1824,  we  read: — "The  Book  Committee  have  now  nothing  to  do 
with  the  general  concerns  of  the  Connexion."  Further,  it  is  to  he  noted  of  the  Book 
Committee,  that  for  many  years  it  was  also  the  Committee  of  Privileges ;  small  in  the 
number  of  its  members,  and  appointed  separately  from  the  other  committees.  In  1850 
the  Committee  of  Privileges  is  the  same  as  the  General  Committee,  and  in  1863  we 
have  the  significant  statement :  "  The  Book  Committee  shall  be  composed  of  the 
General  Committee.''  This  arrangement  obtained  until  1894,  when  again  a  special 
Book  Committee  was  appointed.  Though  this  chapter  deals  with  the  Bemersley  Book- 
Boom  period,  we  have  thought  it  better,  for  the  sake  of  gaining  a  connected  view,  to 
follow  the  Book  Committee  in  its  latest  evolution. 

As  to  the  peivonwl  of  the  first  Book  Committee  :  John  Hancock  and  C.  J.  Abraham 
are  the  only  members  of  the  Committee  we  are  not  already  familiar  with.  Both  were 
leading  men  in  the  Tunstall  Circuit  through  the  whole  of  this  period,  and  the  former 
especially,  as  the  corresponding  member  of  the  General  Committee,  for  many  years 
wielded  considerable  influence.  He  was  a  member — rnd  an  active  one — -of  the  Book 
Committee  until  his  death,  which  took  place  on  January  2nd,  1843.  Born  in  1796,  he 
was  an  engraver  by  trade,  though  later  on  in  life  he  became  largely  interested  in  the 
manufacture  of  pottery.  He  is  said  to  have  been  savingly  enlightened  by  reading  Thomas 
Aquinas,  "The  Angelic  Doctor" — probably  a  unique  experience  for  a  Primitive 
Methodist.  He  was  converted  in  1814,  and  joined  the  class  of  James  Steele.  The 
society  at  Pitt's  Hill  was  his  special  sphere  of  labour,  and  after  his  death  it  was 
frequently  remarked  :  "  He  was  the  first  leader  of  Pitt's  Hill,  the  first  in  raising  the 
old  chapel,  he  laid  the  first  stone  of  the  new  chapel,  preached  the  first  sermon  within 
its  walls,  and  was  the  first  whose  mortal  remains  were  interred  in  its  burial-ground."  * 

C.  J.  Abraham  is  already  known  to  us  as  the  druggist  of  Burslem  who,  probably 
about  this  time,  became  the  husband  of  Ann  Brownsword.  The  names  of  both  stand 
on  the  Tunstall  Plan,  and  Ann  Abraham,  especially,  was  much  esteemed  as  a  deeply 
pious  and  acceptable  preacheress.  C.  J.  Abraham,  like  J.  Hancock,  was,  both  locally 
and  connexionally,  a  leading  official  throughout  the  whole  of  the  Bemersley  reyime 
being  an  active  member  of  the  General  as  well  as  of  the  Book  Committee.  He  was 
a  trustee  of  the  first  Burslem  Chapel  in  Navigation  Koad,  as  well  as  of  Zoar  Chapel, 
acquired  in  1842,  though  it  was  not  used  by  the  Burslem  Society  until  two  years  later. 
It  was  the  trust  responsibilities  connected  with  these  two  properties  which  were  the 
cause  of  so  much  anxiety  to  Hugh  Bourne  in  his  later  years,  when  the  affairs  of  his 
brother  and  of  C.  J.  Abraham  had  become  hopelessly  involved. 

Bemersley  Farm,  the  home  of  the  Bournes,  was  the  place  selected  for  the  first  Book- 
Room.  We  would  like  to  picture  Bemersley  as  a  whole,  and  Bemersley  Farm  in 
particular.  We  naturally  feel  an  interest  in  a  place  which,  for  twenty  years,  was 
one  of  the  foci — we  may  even  say  the  focal  point — of  our  connexional  life  ;  the  spot 
where  the  central  wheel  of  management  was  set  up.  As  though,  then,  we  were  one  of 
those  many  pilgrims,  who  during  those  twenty  years  visited  for  the  first  time  a  spot  they 

*  "A  Memoir  of  Mr.  J.  Hancock,  of  Tunstall,"  by  Frederick  Brown  (Tunstall,  1843). 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 


had  long  heard  of  liut  had  never  seen,  we  approach  it  from  a  distance,  and  take  in  the 
general  features  of  the  landscape  before  we  seek  to  gain  a  nearer  and,  if  we  can,  an 
interior  view  of  the  Connexional  Book  Establishment.  The  description  given  by  the 
local  historian  may  help  us  to  this  general  view  of  the  hamlet  of  Bemersley  and  its 
surroundings  ;  for,  although  it  is  Bemersley  as  it  was  at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth 
century  he  describes,  its  main  features  must,  in  1822,  have  undergone  little  alteration. 

"  Bemersley  is  about  a  mile  north-west  of 
Norton  Church,  and  near  three  miles  from 
Tunstall— almost     entirely     moorland.  Old 

Bemersley  Farm  stood  on  a  hill  that  overlooked 
the  landscape  on  either  side,  and  many  a  dale 
and  valley  and  wood  did  this  ancient  house 
command  from  its  eminence.  Looking  at  the 
scenery  to-day,  it  requires  little  discernment  to 
perceive  how  wild  and  rugged  the   place  must 


have  been  in 
1772.  On  one 
side  lay  the 
Valley  of  the 
Potteries,  but 
the  smoke 
and  the  bustle 
were  hidden 
in  the  dis- 
tance ; and  on 
the  other  the 
view  stretch- 
ed away  over 


BEMERSLEY    FARM    AND   THE 
FIRST  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST    BOOK-ROi 


the  great  moorlands.  There  were  three  or  four  farm- 
houses dating  from  the  sixteenth  century,  about 
the  same  number  of  cottage  houses,  and  at  the 
remote  part  of  the  hamlet  stood  Greenway  Hall. 
Round  this  old  house  there  was  a  large  park  and 
extensive  game  preserves.'' 

Bemersley  Farm  stood  by  the  roadside  some  little  distance 
from  Bemersley.  The  visitor  saw  nothing  in  the  outward 
aspect  of  the  building  to  give  it  any  distinction  above 
other  buildings   of   its   kind.      "It  had   nothing    of    the 

world's  glory."     It  was  but  an  ordinary  farm-house  with  the   usual  appurtenances 

fold-yard,  barn,  and  stables.  Here  lived  the  Editor  and  the  Book  Steward  who  had 
to  adapt  the  buildings  to  their  new  purposes.  James  Bourne,  therefore,  laid  out  before 
May,  1823,  the  sum  of  £373  8s.  lOd.  in  the  purchase  of  a  printing-press  tvne 
and    other  printer's  plant,  and   bookbinder's  tools   and  materials  as  well,  as  we  mav 


THE    PERIOD    OF    CIRCUIT    PREDOMINANCE    AND    ENTERPRISE. 


infer  from  the  entry  in  the  Conference  Minutes  :  "That  it  be  recommended  to  the 
circuits  to  get  their  binding  done  at  the  Book-Room,  if  the  Book-Room  can  get  it 
done  as  well  and  as  cheap  as  elsewhere."  In  one  of  the  farm-buildings  adjoining  the 
house,  the  printing-press  and  a  few  cases  of  type  were  se't  up,  and  the  Conference 
"  Minutes  "  of  1822  have  the  imprint :  "  Bemersley  near  Tunstall : — Printed  at  the 
Office  of  the  Primitive  Methodist  Connexion,  by  J.  Bourne  ; "  whereas  the  Minutes 
of  1821  say  :  "J.  Hutchinson,  Printer,  Silver  Street,  Hull" 

The  Book-Room  proper  consisted  of  a  detached  rectangular  building  of  the  Barnic 
order  of  architecture,  and  plain  even  for  a  barn.  As  shown  in  our  picture,  it  was 
pierced  with  few  windows  and  sparsely  provided  with  doors.  Some  of  the  walls  of 
this  building  were  lined  with  shelves  divided  into  pens,  in  which  the  magazines  and 
hymn  books,  small  pamphlets  and  books — of  which  the  most  popular  was  the  "Journals 
of  John  Nelson" — were  stowed  until  the  bi-monthly  packing-day  came  round,  when 
a  gentle  ripple  of  excitement  went  through  the  establishment.  The  bulk  of  the  parcels 
were  conveyed  in  carts  to  the  canal-quays  and  shipped  in  boats  to  the  various  circuits. 

Besides  the  two  chief  officers,  there  were  resident  a  bailiff  of  the  small  farm, 
a  journeyman,  and  an  apprentice,  and  the  son  of  James  Bourne,  who  it  is  said  worked 
in  the  printing-office,  saying  nothing  of  Mrs.  Bourne  and  two  maids.  About  the  year 
1836,  John  Hallam  was  added  to  the  establishment.  His  position  was  a  somewhat 
peculiar  one;  for,  after  1836,  his  name  is  not  found  on  the  stations  for  a  term  of 
years,  though  he  is  one  of  the  members  of  the  Book  and  General  Committees.  The 
explanation  is,  that  by  his  hearty  acceptance  of  Hugh  Bourne's  views  and  methods  of 
work,  and  by  his  laborious  and  successful  ministry,  he  had  ingratiated  himself  with  the 
Editor,  and  he  being  now  in  1836  in  very  indifferent  health,  Hugh  Bourne  had  installed 
him  at  Bemersley  as  his  assistant,  and  had  induced  his  brother  to  make  him  his 
assistant  also,  Mr.  Hallam's  salary  being  paid  out  of  the  private  purse  of  the  brothers. 
In  this  way  John  Hallam  acquired  great  influence  at  the  Book-Room  and  in  the 
administration  of  Connexional  affairs,  even  before  the  year  1843,  when  he  was  officially 
appointed  Book  Steward.     It  should  also  be  said  that  Mr.  George  Baron,  of  Silsden, 

who  often  acted  as  Connexional  Auditor,  frequently 
paid  visits  to  the  Book-Room  during  this  period,  and 
that  his  business  aptitude  proved  of  great  assistance  to 
James  Bourne.  In  1840,  the  late  Rev.  Thomas  Baron 
went  to  Bemersley  to  take  the  place  of  his  brother  for 
a  short  time,  and,  in  his  interesting  reminiscences  of 
that  visit,  he  tells  how  it  was  his  duty,  early  each  week- 
day morning,  to  carry  the  post-bag  with  the  Book- 
Room's  letters  for  dispatch,  two  miles  distance,  to  Norton, 
and  to  call  at  a  public-house  for  letters  which  were 
left  there  for  the  Book-Room.  Mr.  Baron  gives  us 
a  pleasant  glimpse  of  the  interior  economy  of  the 
establishment  :  of  the  regular  and  reverent  daily 
devotions,  of  the  meals  in  common,  of  the  hospitality 
afforded    to    the    ministers  who   frequently  visited  the 


MR.    G.   BARON. 


8  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 

Book-Room,  and  even  to  the  goodly  number  who  came  from  other  societies  to  attend 
the  Quarterly  Lovefeast.  What  is  still  more  interesting,  we  get  a  glimpse  into  the 
Editor's  own  room,  where,  when  back  from  his  not  infrequent  journeys,  he  attended 
to  the  duties  of  his  office. 

"  When  at  home  he  was  generally  busily  engaged  in  editing  or  writing  matter 
for  the  J/<irf,i:hits  and  in  Connexional  correspondence.  His  study  was  a  good-sized 
room,  fitted  with  shelves  for  his  library.  Among  the  books  in  it  there  was. 
a  complete  well-bound  set,  from  the  beginning,  of  the 
Arrninuin  and  Wexlei/Kii  Mttgaziiies.  The  first  volume 
contained  a  somewhat  lengthy  preface,  neatly  written 
and  signed  by  John  Wesley  in  his  own  handwriting. 
It  is  to  be  feared  that  the  volumes  have  been  scattered 
or  lost.  Had  they  been  kept  together  they  would  now 
have  been  an  interesting  and  valuable  relic.  Among 
other  books  in  the  library  were  a  number  of  Wesley's 
and  Fletcher's  Works,  Adam  Clarke's  Commentary, 
Gillie's  "Historical  Collections,"  Finney's  "Lectures," 
Hebrew  and  (J reek  Lexicons,  etc.  [and  these  were  for 
use,  not  ornament].  In  the  cold  weather,  a  screen  was 
placed  in  this  room,  behind  which  the  venerable  man 
was  often  quietly  seated  before  a  writing-table,  busily 
seeking  to  stir  up  others  in  the  work  so  near  his  own 
heart — that  of  the  conversion  of  sinners."* 

Such,  then,  was  our  first  Book-Room.  Thomas 
Bateman  was  a  passing  pilgrim  here  in  May,  1824.  He  was  on  his  way  with 
George  Taylor  to  attend  the  District  Meeting  at  Ramsor  to  be  held  in  Francis 
Horobin's  house.  The  District  Meeting  was  expected  to  be  an  unusually  important 
one,  as  the  rules  had  to  be  revised,  and  far-reaching  changes  introduced  specially 
relating  to  district  formation  and  representation.  Hence,  Thomas  Bateman  had 
been  pressed  to  attend.  He  had  stopped  the  night  with  James  IS'ixon,  whom 
he  had  accompanied  to  his  class  with  much  profit  to  himself.  Then,  John 
Hancock — whom  he  now  met  for  the  first  time — had  looked  in,  and  read  him 
a  lecture  for  having  declined  to  preach  special  services  at  Pitt's  Hill — John  Hancock's 
own  favourite  society — alleging  that  ordinary  services  must  always  give  way  for  special 
ones.  And  now,  the  wayfarers — for  they  walked  the  whole  distance  to  Ramsor — had 
called  at  Bemersley,  having  noted  all  the  places  of  historic  interest  to  Primitive 
Methodists  as  they  went  along.  At  Bemersley  a  short  time  was  spent  in  looking  round, 
and  Thomas  Bateman  indulged  in  "numerous  reflections  on  the  place  and  its  surround- 
ings cm  which  an  angel  might  pause  and  wonder.'' 

Sentimental  reflections  are  here  pardonable  enough  ;  but  the  most  obvious  reflection 
called  up  by  the  view  of  the  Bemersley  Book-Room  is  that  which  Thomas  Bateman 
himself  sugge-sts.       That   the   important   District    Meeting   of    1824 — which   we    may 


*  See  appendix  to  second  edition  of  "  Life  of  Hugh  Bourne,"  by  Dr.  W.  Antliff  and  the  Al,l,.,-X;lale 
3Ia<iiiziiie  tor  llloo,  pp.  T.'jI— t. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT    PREDOMINANCE    AND   ENTERPRISE.  9 

"venture  to  say  was  a  rehearsal  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Conference — was  held  in  the 
Toom  of  a  farmhouse  in  a  secluded  hamlet  in  one  of  the  most  secluded  parts  of 
Staffordshire,  was  -a  fact  just  as  remarkable  as  that  the  Connexional  Book-Room  should 
be  located  in  the  farm-buildings  of  another  Staffordshire  hamlet.  Both  facts  were 
remarkable,  and  yet  natural ;  for  they  show  in  a  very  striking  way,  what  other 
consentient  facts  also  show  ;  that  we  w  ere  as  yet  largely  a  village  community  and, 
further,  that  considering  the  area  up  to  this  time  occupied  by  Primitive  Methodism — 
embracing  the  country  we  have  already  surveyed — the  location  of  the  Book-Room  was 
fairly  central,  and  not  inappropriate.  By  1843  this  will  be  no  longer  true,  as  John 
Plesher  will  soon  learn  when  he  comes  to  take  up  his  editorial  duties  at  Bemersley. 

But  why  was  Thomas  Bateman  never  a  member  of  the  Book  Committee,  and  not 
even  a  member  of  the  General  Committee  until  1839  ?  This  question  is  worth 
■considering  in  its  relation  to  the  Bemersley  period  of  our  history.  It  is  fortunate  that 
we  can  here  let  Thomas  Bateman  answer  for  himself.  Writing  of  this  same  Ramsor 
District  Meeting  of  1824,  he  says : — 

"There  was  much  business — all  peaceable;  but  I  did  not  feel  in  my  proper- 
element.  I  believe  at  present  God  has  not  sent  me  either  to  baptise  or  legislate,  but 
to  preach  the  Gospel.  And  though  much  deference  was  shown  to  me  by  the 
brethren,  I  feel  no  wish  ever  to  attend  another  such  meeting  :  and  after  much 
thought,  believing  as  I  did  that  my  friend  Taylor  had  a  special  call  and  was  well 
qualified  for  such  work,  I  resolved  never  to  attend  another  District  Meeting  or 
Conference  so  long  as  he  lived  and  could  attend,  unless  I  had  some  special  call  to 
do  so.  [And  he  kept  his  resolve  and  was  not  present  at  District  Meeting  or 
Conference  until  after  1837,  but  made  up  for  it  afterwards.]" 

Writing  fifty-seven  years  after,  he  repeats  the  statement  here  made,  but  further  adds 
•what  is  germane  to  our  purpose  : — 

"  From  this  cause  [the  keeping  of  this  resolve]  my  name  seldom  appeared  in  the 
Minutes  or  otherwise  as  affecting  Connexional  movements.  Still,  no  change  of  any 
moment  took  ) dace  without  my  being  consulted,  and  I  was  always  ready  to  give  the 
best  advice  I  could,  which  was  always  received  with  the  greatest  cordiality." 

We  believe  the  words  we  have  italicised  to  be  true  to  their  very  last  iota,  and  that, 
though  Thomas  Bateman  was  apparently  in  the  background  through 
the  greater  part  of  the  first  period,  we  must  put  him  in  the  vei  y 
fore-front  of  the  men — most  of  whom  we  know — who  guided  the 
revolutions  of  the  central  wheel  of  management.  We  do  not 
forget  such  prominent  Tunstall  District  men  as  Thomas  Wood, 
the  Brownhills,  R.  Mayer,  the  first  Primitive  Methodist  Mayor 
■of  Newcastle-under-Lyne,  and  others  already  mentioned.  Even 
before  he  was  fully  committed  to  the  Connexion,  Hugh  Bourne 
was  drawn  to  young  Bateman.  He  read  him  portions  of  the 
History  of  the  Connexion  he  was  then  busy  with.      He  opened 

,      „         ,  ,.  .,,,.,1  •  >,  ■  j        THE   LATE  E.    MAYBK, 

his  mind  freely  to  him  concerning  the  forthcoming  Magazine,  and  first  Primitive 

.asked  him  to  become  a  contributor ;  and  to  the  very  end  of  Hugh     Newcastie^inder-LyL. 


10  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 

JJourne's  life,  there    was   no  man   who   had    more  influence  with,  and  over,  him  than 
the  quiet,  sagacious,  forcible-speaking  farmer  and  surveyor  of  Chorley. 

We  must  now  proceed  to  chronicle  some  of  the  more  important  -transactions  of  the 
Eemersley  Book  Committee.  First  in  order  among  these,  were  those  relating  to  the 
Hymn  Book.  It  seems  gradually  to  have  been  borne  in  upon  the  mind  of  Hugh  Bourne 
that  the  Bevival  Hymn  Book  was  a  valuable  property  worth  preserving.  Therefore, 
in  1821,  he  resolved  to  copyright  the  book.  To  enable  him  to  do  this  he  himself 
composed  some  original  hymns,  and  Poet  Sanders  was  asked  to  do  the  same — for  a  con- 
sideration. There  exists  a  curious  document,  worth  giving  in  i-.t-tenso,  in  which  William 
.Sanders,  in  precise  legal  form,  contracts  to  furnish  twenty-five  original  hymns  for  the 
same  number  of  shillings. 

"Received  March  1821,  of  Hugh  Bourne,  the  sum  of  twenty-five  shillings,  for 
twenty-five  hymns,  which  by  contract  were  composed  by  me  for  his  use,  and  which 
1  have  made  over  to  him  in  the  fullest  sense  of  the  word,  and  which  from  this, 
time  become  and  are  in  every  sense  his  own  absolute  property.  The  first  line  and 
metre,  and  number  of  verses  of  each  are  as  follow  : — 1st.  CM.,  four  verses, 
beginning —  Alas  I  how  soon  the  body  dies ' :  and  so  it  continues  to  the  25th,  P.M. — 
eight  verses-  Camp-meeting  Farewell — '  1  >ear  Brethren  and  Sisters  in  Jesus, 
Farewell.'     I  say  received  by  me, 

"  William  Sanders.'' 
"Signed  in  the  presence  of  C.  J.  Abraham.'' 

The  wisdom  of  the  protective  measures  taken  was  seen  in  1823,  when  a  printer  at 
York  named  Kendrew,  who  had  infringed  the  copyright  of  the  Hymn  Book,  was 
brought  to  his  knees.  The  law  was  set  in  motion,  but  Kendrew  capitulated  before  the 
case  went  into  court,  and  signed  an  agreement  pledging  himself  not  to  repeat  the 
offence,  to  pay  all  the  costs  incurred,  and  to  surrender  all  copies  of  the  unauthorised 
edition  in  his  possession.  The  Committee  having  gained  its  object,  which  was  to 
vindicate  its  rights  and  safeguard  the  interests  of  the  Connexion,  could  now  afford  to 
be  generous.  Hence  the  stringency  of  the  last  condition  was  somewhat  relaxed,  and  it 
was  agreed  to  pay  Kendrew  a  certain  sum  on  each  surrendered  copy  of  the  Hymn 
Book.  The  Conference  held  at  Leeds  this  same  year  (1823)  directed  that  "a  large 
standard  Hymn  Book  should  be  prepared  and  printed  at  the  Book-Eoom,  for  the  general 
use  of  the  Connexion."  Evidently  it  was  felt  that  even  the  improved  edition  of  1821, 
with  its  one  hundred  and  fifty-four  hymns,  was  inadequate  to  meet  the  growing 
demands  of  church-life.  A  book  was  called  for  which  should  "  contain  Hymns  for  the 
sacraments  and  for  the  general  varieties  of  meetings  and  worship."  The  Minutes  of 
1823  go  on  to  say  that  "  the  new  book  is  expected  to  be  got  ready  by  the  close  of  the 
present  year,  or  early  in  the  next  year.''  With  1824,  then,  began  the  reign  of  the  Large 
and  Small  Hymn  Book  (bound  together)  which  served  the  uses  of  the  Church  until 
18">3,  when  John  Flesher  was  instructed  to  compile  a  new  Hymn  Book.  The  Preface 
to  the  Large  Hymn  Book  claims  that  it  has  been  "compiled  from  the  best  authors  and 
enriched  with  original  hymns,"  and  that  "  the  original  hymns  were  of  a  superior  cast." 

With  his  eye  on  this  alleged  "superior  cast"  a  friendly  critic  has  written evidently 

with  regret  : — 

"  We  look  in  vain  among  the  original  hymns  for  one  that  has  survived 


THE    PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE. 


11 


the  test  of  three-quarters  of  a  century's  wear  ;  posterity,  we  grieve  to  say,  did  not 
find  in  them  the  etherial  quality  of  an  immortal  hymn.  We  wish  that  there  had 
been  at  least  one  sweet  singer  for  all  Churches,  and  for  all  time,  among  the  band  of 
consecrated  single-hearted  men,  who  did  so  much  for  British  working  men  at  the 
beginning  of  this  century."  * 

Now,  though  it  scarcely  falls  within  our  province  to  discuss  the  literary  merits  or 
demerits  of  our  early  hymn  books,  a  word  or  two  may  be  said.  It  may  be  that  no  one 
has  given  us  a  hymn  dowered  with  immortality,  and  which  has  made  its  way  into 
almost  every  Hymnary.  That  may  be  conceded.  But  there  are  two  hymns — both  said 
to  be  the  joint  production  of  Hugh  Bourne  and  W.  Sanders — we  would  speak  up  for, 
or  rather,  let  them  speak  for  themselves — "  My  soul  is  now  united,"  which  first 
appeared  in  the  1821  Collection,  and  especially,  "  Hark  !  the  gospel  news  is  sounding,'' 
in  the  Large  Hymn  Book.  These  have  worn  well,  and  are  not  worn  out  yet.  For  open-air 
purposes  there  is  no  better,  more  stirring  hymn  than  this  latter ;  it  has  well  been  called, 
"  The  Primitive  Methodist  Grand  March."  These,  and  others  that  might  be  named,  are 
incomparably  better    than  some  of  the  jingles  that   have  had   considerable  vogue  in 

these  later  days.  The  best  defence, 
however,  we  have  to  offer  for  the 
old  hymns  is,  that  "  they  served 
their  generation  by  the  will  of  God," 
and  some  of  them  at  least,  like  the 
two  named,  have  not  yet  fallen  on 
sleep.  They  had  the  power  to  arouse 
attention  and  nourish  the  spiritual 
life.  "  Hark  !  the  gospel  news  is 
sounding,"  was  once  being  sung,  at 
the  dusk  of  eventide,  in  a  little 
hamlet. 

"A  young  man,  full  of  spiritual 
anxiety,  was  leaning  on  a  wall  in 
the  distance,  and  heard  the  joyous 
strains  of  the  refrain  :  '  None 
need  perish.'  A  responsive  faith 
awoke  in  his  soul  ;  peace  came ;  he 
dedicated  his  life  to  Jesus,  and  is 
now  a  minister  of  the  Connexion. 
Again  :  '  By  the  singing  of  this 
soul-stirring  hymn  ['My  soul  is  now 
united']  at  a  lovefeast  near  Pock- 
lington,  in  18-22,  eighteen  souls 
surrendered  to  Jesus  Christ  and 
found  peace  !  "  t 

Could  even  "  Lead,  kindly  Light  " 
do  more  than  this  1 


Suffer  little  children  to  come  uiito  me    Luke  xviii.   16- 

CHILDREN'S     MAGAZINE. 


No.  1.] 


OCTOBER,     1834, 


(Vol.  1. 


INTRODUCTION. 

WE  are  now  entering  on  a  dew  work :  a 
work  designed  for  you,  ye  children  of  graying 
Parents f  of  Parents  who  bear  you  up  before 
the  Lord ;  and  who  strive,  to  briog  the  guard 
of  beaven  upon  you  by  prayer.  "You  already 
inherit  a  blessing ;  for  the  generation  of  the 
upright  is  blessed.  You  hear  the  words  of  piety 
from  the  lips  of  your  parents.  Your  hearts  are 
mo.ved  with  a  desire  to  love  God,  to  be  the 
children  of  your  heavenly  Father,  and  to  sgrve 
him  as  long  as  you  live.  < 

>  Sometimes  you  view  the  creation  in  all  the 
beauties  of  spring;  and  consider  that  it  is  your 
neavenly  Father  who  causes  the  grass  to  grow, 

A 


*  Rev.  J.  O.  Gledstone,  "Primitive  Jlethodist  Hymn  Books,"  in  The  Puritan. 
t  See  "  Lyric  Studies :    A  Hymnal  Guide,"  by  Revs.  J.  Doricott  and  T.  Collins, 
compendium  to  whirh  the  author  would  express  the  obligations  of  years. 


An  admirable 


12  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHUKCH. 

In  1824,  the  Children'*  Magazine  was  begun.  Though  this  venture  was  entered 
upon  with  no  little  anxiety,  it  proved  from  the  very  first  a  signal  success. 
The  demand  greatly  exceeded  expectations  ;  so  much  so,  that  several  impressions 
had  to  be  printed,  until  seven  thousand  copies  had  been  struck  off,  and  the  monthly 
circulation  reached  six  thousand.  We  have  pleasure  in  giving  a  reproduction  of  the 
first  page  of  the  first  number  of  this  excessively  rare  publication. 

As  we  all  know,  "  Take  care  of  the  children "  was  the  life-long  solicitude  and 
dying  charge  of  Hugh  Bourne.  In  his  case  it  amounted  to  a  passion,  and  became  one 
of  his  most  strongly-marked  characteristics.  Nor  was  he  slow  in  urging  upon  others 
the  same  solicitude  for  bringing  the  young  under  the  influence  of  Christian  truth.  Age 
wrought  no  abatement  of  his  zeal ;  and  hence,  probably  the  last  separate  production 
that  came  from  his  pen,  bore  the  title  : 

"  The  Early  Trumpet  :  A  Treatise  on  Preaching  to  Children.     By  Hugh  Bourne, 
Bemersley,  1843."* 

What  has  been  said  of  the  early  Hymn  Books  equally  holds  good  of  the  early 
Magazines :  they  were  suitable  for  their  time  and  for  the  purpose  they  had  to 
fulfil.  This  may  safely  be  said,  as  it  also  may,  that  what  sufficed  in  1823  had  its 
obvious  shortcomings  twenty  years  later,  and  would  never  do  now.  Other  times  ;  other 
Magazines.  Undoubtedly  the  Magazines  of  the  Bemersley  period  helped  to  cement  the 
circuits  of  the  Connexion  together,  and  to  promote  the  work  of  God.  The  revival 
intelligence  they  contained,  the  biographies,  the  occasional  articles  on  "  Providence,'' 
"Faith,''  "Conversation-gift"  etc.,  would  do  much  to  stimulate  and  to  inform 
their  readers.  It  is  wonderful,  considering  his  many  journeyings,  and  the  amount  of 
other  work  he  did,  that  Hugh  Bourne  fulfilled  his  editorial  duties  as  well  as  he  did 
fulfil  them.  "We  cannot  help  remarking,  too,  how  widely  divergent  have  been 
the  estimates  formed  of  his  intellectual  capabilities  and  performances.  Our  own 
opinion  is  that,  as  to  these,  he  has  been  often  under-rated.  He  had  his  oddities 
and  weaknesses,  and  especially  in  later  years,  his  infirmities  of  temper,  but  he  had  an 
alert  and  vigorous  mind,  and  he  could  write  in  a  way  that  made  it  impossible  for  any 
one  to  mistake  his  meaning.  By  choice  he  habited  his  thoughts  in  homespun.  Some 
gifted  men,  who  clothed  their  thoughts  in  Johnsonian  garb,  have  interpreted  his 
homespun  as  a  sign  of  intellectual  poverty.  Never  was  there  a  greater  mistake.  His 
thought's  expression  was  not  cast  in  the  customary  moulds  of  verbal  form.  It  was 
rugged,  even  uncouth,  as  though  hewn  from  granite  :  but  there  it  is— outstanding, 
clear,  and  unmistakable. 

Even  the  ablest  and  most  heaven-sent  editor  may  find  his  work  a  difficult  one,  just 
because  so  many  of  his  readers  think  it  so  easy.  Allowing  for  this,  and  also  allowing 
for  the  advancing  intelligence  of  the  Connexion  through  the  'Twenties  and  'Thirties, 
which  went  on  creating  wants  not  fully  satisfied,  we  are  not  surprised  to  find  in  the 
old  Minute  Books  evidence  that  the  Magazine  was  sometimes  criticised,  and  that  proposals 
were  made  for  its  improvement.     Especially  was  this  so  in  such  centres  of  lirrht  and 

*  The  (inly  copy  we  have  seen  is  one  given  by  H.  Bourne  himself  to  Rev   AV    K.  AViddowson 


THE   PKRIOD   OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE.  13 

leading  as  Nottingham  and   Hull.      In  proof  of   this  take  the  following  resolutions 
passed  at  the  Nottingham  Circuit  Quarterly  Meeting,  1827  : — 

March  19th.  Res.  59.  'That  there  be  an  improvement  in  the  Magazine. 
That  it  be  an  octavo  size,  price  sixpence  and  improved  in  matter. 

"  (60).    That  every  preacher  be  required  to  write  four  pages  per  year. 

"(61).  That  there  be  three  editors."  [And  then  the  'three'  is  crossed  out  and 
'two'  over-written.] 

So  also  at  Hull,  in  March,  1830,  the  Quarterly  Meeting  discussed  the  Magazines  and 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  "they  ought  to  contain  more  original  articles,''  and 
requested  "each  preacher  [in  1830  there  were  twenty-four  in  Hull  Circuit]  who  could, 
to  write  at  least  one  page  per  month.' 

As  we  turn  over  the  leaves  of  the  old  Conference  Minutes,  we  meet  with  many 
reminders  of  the  changed  conditions  which  time  has  brought  about,  and  we  get  the 
impression  that  the  first  Book  Committee  was  composed  of  careful,  managing  men  who 
were  fertile  in  resource.  The  Conference  of  1823  recommended  that  a  depository  of 
books  obtained  from  the  Book  Room  should  be  formed  in  every  circuit.  The  money  in 
the  first  instance  was  to  be  taken  out  of  past  profits  and  supplemented,  if  need  be,  by 
subscriptions.  A  circuit  with  one  preacher  was  to  take  three  pounds'  worth  of 
goods  ;  a  circuit  with  two  preachers,  six  pounds  worth,  and  so  on  in  proportion. 
The  Station  Book  Steward,  who  it  must  be  remembered  was  not  necessarily 
a  travelling  preacher,  was  to  see  to  the  carrying  out  of  this  recommendation. 
In  1824,  Hugh  Bourne  felt  it  necessary  to  ask  the  Conference  to  allow  him  four  pounds 
a  quarter  as  salary,  and  ten  shillings  a  week  for  board  and  lodging — a  young  man's 
salary.  History  says  that  there  was  one  person  of  considerable  talking-power  at  the 
Conference  who  thought  it  his  duty  to  oppose  this  modest  request ;  but  it  was  granted 
notwithstanding,  the  objector  being  in  a  hopeless  minority.  In  1827,  a  scheme  for  the 
starting  of  a  "Preachers'  Magazine,''  on  which  Hugh  Bourne  had  set  his  heart,  was 
broached.  In  answer  to  the  question,  "  What  shall  be  done  in  relation  to  the 
Magazine  1 "  it  was  resolved  : — 

"  One  number  in  duodecimo  shall  be  published,  and  if  it  does  not  pay  its  way, 
Hugh  Bourne  has  agreed  to  bear  the  loss.  But  if  it  take  so  large  a  circulation  as 
to  do  more  than  pay  its  way,  the  profits  must  not  go  to  H.B.  but  to  the  Connexion. 
Also  a  succession  of  Nos.  may  be  published  if  there  be  an  opening." 

A  succession  of  numbers  sufficient  to  make  up  one  volume  did  appear,  but  there 
were  no  profits  for  the  Connexion ;  and  Hugh  Bourne  was  permitted  to  make  up  the 
deficiency. 

In  1833,  what  in  the  Minutes  is  usually  termed  "the  cross-providence"  overtook  the 
Book-Bopm.  On  Good  Friday  Eve,  1833,  the  Book-Room  took  fire.  How  it  originated 
no  one  knew  ;  "  whether  from  the  fire  that  dried  the  paper  or  from  the  snuff  of 
a  candle."  Damage  to  the  extent  of  £1,900  was  caused,  involving,  about  equally,  the 
private  property  of  the  Book  Steward  and  that  belonging  the  Connexion.  At  that 
time,  James  Bourne  was  a  man  of  considerable  means,  and  it  is  recorded:  "J.  B. 
desires  nothing  for  that  portion  of  the  loss  which  belonged  to  him ;  but  hopeth  that  in 


1  i  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 

time,  by  the  kind  pi  evidence  of  God,  he  may  surmount  it.''  A  levy  of  one  penny  per 
member  was  imposed  in  order  to  make  good  this  loss  of  Connexional  property.  Sixty 
years  after,  the  Book-Room,  then  standing,  as  it  now  stands,  within  the  "  conflagration 
area  "  of  Central  London,  was  within  measurable  distance  of  having  a  second  experience 
of  the  like  kind,  but  tenfold  worse  in  degree.  But  this  time  a  favourable  Providence 
saved  the  goodly  pile  from  disaster.  "While  anxiety  was  reflected  on  the  flame-lit 
countenances  of  the  Book  Steward  and  his  staff,  a  change  in  the  direction  of  the  wind 
averted  what  seemed  to  be  the  impending  catastrophe. 

How  and  why  the  Book-Boom  got  from  Bemersley  into  the  roar  of  Central  London 
must  be  told  later  on. 


THE    PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE.  15 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

MANCHESTER  AND  THE  ADJACENT  TOWNS  UNTIL.  1843. 

ANCHESTER  was  made  an  independent  circuit  in  182 1  by  the  same  Quarterly 
Meeting  which  made  Burland  a  branch.  Because  of  its  derivation  from 
Tunstall,  the  original  circuit,  it  was  placed  fourth  in  order  amongst  the 
sixteen  circuits  which  at  that  time  constituted  the  entire  Connexion. 
Looking  merely  at  the  order  of  circuit  formation,  Manchester  would  rightly  claim  to 
■come  under  notice  before  Burland,  which  was  not  made  a  circuit  until  1823;  but, 
having  special  regard  to  the  geographical  direction  and  spread  of  Primitive  Methodism, 
the  right  is  reversed.  We  have  seen  that  north-west  Cheshire  was  being  inundated 
by  the  revival  movement  twelve  months  before  its  wave  had  reached  the  city  on  the 
Mersey.  The  extension  of  Tunstall  Circuit  to  Manchester  was  one  result  of  that  great 
revival  which  may  be  said  to  have  begun  by  John  Wedgwood's  mission  to  Staffordshire 
in  1819.  We  propose,  therefore,  in  this  chapter,  to  present  the  facts,  so  far  as  they 
can  be  ascertained,  relative  to  the  introduction  of  Primitive  Methodism  into  Manchester, 
and  to  show  what  position  the  denomination  had  attained  in  that  city  and  the 
neighbouring  towns  to  which  its  labours  had  extended,  by  the  year  1842. 

Hitherto,  it  seems  to  have  been  thought  almost  hopeless  to  recover  the  names  of 
those  who  had  the  honour  of  being  the  very  first  pioneers  of  the  Connexion  in  Manchester. 
We  would  fain  hope,  however,  that,  even  with  the  scanty  data  available,  the  nameless 
■ones  may  yet  be  identified.  There  is  a  long-standing  tradition  to  the  effect  that 
Primitive  Methodism  was  first  carried  to  Manchester  by  "a  local  preacher  from 
Macclesfield;  that  he  had  a  wooden  leg;  that  he  walked  from  Macclesfield  on  the 
Sunday  morning  to  Manchester ;  that  he  preached  at  the  New  Cross  after  dinner ;  and 
that  he  walked  home  after  preaching  in  the  evening,  thus  performing  a  journey  of 
thirty-six  miles  on  foot ! "  *  Now  tradition  is  often  very  tenacious  in  its  hold  of 
essential  fact,  especially  when  the  fact  is  such  as  to  make  a  strong  appeal  to  the 
imagination ;  and  the  mental  picture  of  the  unknown  missionary  with  his  artificial 
limb,  stumping  his  way  to  Manchester  and  back,  has  stamped  itself  on  the  imaginations 
of  men.  Who  else  should  the  hero  of  our  tradition  be  than  "  Eleazar  Hathorn  of  the 
wooden  leg" — the  convert  of  Lorenzo  Dow,  active  participant  in  the  first  Mow  Cop 
Camp  Meeting,  the  fellow-labourer  of  John  Benton  in  the  East  Staffordshire  Mission 
of  1814,  and  the  instrument  in  the  awakening  of  John  Ride?  We  had  reached  the 
•conclusion  that  the  man  we  were  in  search  of  was  no  other  than  Eleazar  Hathorn,  when 
we  found  unexpected  and  pleasing  confirmation  of  such  conclusion  in  an  obscure  footnote 
•of  Herod's  "  Sketches,"  in  the  words  :  "This  said  Eleazar  was  the  first  Primitive  that 

*  The  Introduction  and  Spread  of  Primitive  Methodism  in  Lancashire,  in  Anecdotes  and  Facts  of 
Primitive  Methodism."  By  Rev.  Samuel  Smith,  p.  ftl.  For  other  References  to  Eleazar  Hathorn, 
see  vol.  i.  pp.  68;  192. 


16  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 

entered  Manchester."  *  We  may  therefore  reasonably  conclude  that  the  identification 
holds;  and  although  Manchester  bulks  largely  in  the  eye  of  the  Connexion,  and  is 
sure  to  bulk  still  more  largely  in  the  future,  it  has  no  need  to  look  otherwise  than 
complacently  on  the  figure  of  the  old  soldier  determinedly  plodding  his  way  to  deliver  his 
message  at  the  New  Cross.  We  can  think  of  no  more  fitting  precursor  and  prototype  of 
that  community  which  had,  with  slender  and  imperfect  appliances,  and  against  heavy 
odds,  to  win  its  way  step  by  step  to  an  assured  and  honourable  position  in  Cottonopolis. 
The  war-worn  veteran  was  a  herald  quite  as  worthy  as  though  he  had  rushed  there  on 
his  own  motor-car,  or  been  able  to  speed  to  the  big  city  with  the  swiftness  of  an  Elijah 
forerunning  the  chariot  of  Ahab. 

But  if  Eleazar  Hathorn  was  the  herald  of  the  Connexion  to  Manchester,  who  was 
its  apostle — its  sent  one  1  To  whom,  of  official  status,  does  Hugh  Bourne  allude  in  the 
explicit  statement :  "  Manchester  was  visited  and  preaching  established  about  March, 
1821 '"it  This  statement  is  not  at  variance  with  the  tradition  already  referred  to; 
rather  do  tradition  and  statement  confirm  each  other.  Eleazar  Hathorn  who,  in  keeping 
with  his  habits,  had  gone  to  Manchester  to  do  a  little  independent  missioning,  in  the 
time  of  Macclesfield's  fervour,  would  naturally  report  his  doings,  and  probably  urge  upon 
the  "heads  of  houses"  (and  Ave  know  that  Hugh  Bourne  visited  him)  to  follow  up 
officially  these  visits  of  his.  We  light  upon  a  clue  as  to  the  person  selected  to 
"open"  Manchester,  in  an  entry  in  Hugh  Bourne's  Journal.  Writing  under  date, 
January  18th,  1821,  he  tells  how  he  came  to  Belper  and  saw  Thomas  Jackson,  and  then 
goes  on  to  say:  "We  agreed  for  him  to  go  to  Manchester,  to  be  there  on  Sunday, 
March  9th.'  Unfortunately,  there  is  an  evident  error  here  as  to  the  date  ;  for  March  9th 
was  AYednesday,  and  not  Sunday.  Probably  March  6th  was  the  date  intended.  In 
order  that  T.  Jackson  might  be  at  liberty  to  give  this  Sunday  to  Manchester,  some 
re-arrangement  of  appointments  was  necessary  ;  so  H.  B.  was  to  get  B.  Bentley  to  preach 
at  Encester  at  that  time,  and  H.  B.  was  to  preach  at  Eocester  on  the  20th  of  March. 
This  arrangement  was  carried  out  so  far  as  Hugh  Bourne  was  concerned,  and,  doubtless, 
Thomas  Jackson  fulfilled  the  duty  assigned  to  him,  and  on  the  6th  March,  officially 
opened  Manchester.     Here  is  the  "apostle"   we  are  in  search  of. 

Let  us  briefly  recall  the  "form  and  pressure"  of  the  time  when  we  made  our  entry 
into  Alanchester.  George  the  Third  had  but  recently  died,  and  in  a  few  months 
(July  27th,  1821)  the  coronation  of  his  graceless  successor  would  be  celebrated.  One 
notable,  feature  of  the  celebration  was  to  be  a  procession,  two-and-a-half  miles  long,  from 
Peter's  Field  to  Ardwick  Green,  and  the  night  was  destined  to  close  with  a  drunken  orgie 
in  Shude  Market,  qualified  by  a  retributive  disaster.  Peterloo,  with  the  rankling  memories 
it  had  left,  was  only  just  behind.  At  Kew  Cross,  where  our  first  missionaries  so  often 
took  their  stand,  not  many  months  before,  cannon  had  been  planted  to  sweep  the  streets 
and  overawe  the  populace.  Nor  were  those  cannon  placed  there  merely  for  dumb  show. 
Alanchester  was  like  a  caldron  in  which  conflicting  elements  were  seething.  They  were 
indeed   sad   times,  as  may  be   gathered  from  the  fact  that  another  Thomas  Jackson, 

*  Herod's  "  Biojrra]  liical  SU'trlies."     Footnote,  p.  401. 
t  Jlai/aziiie  for  1821,  p.  77. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE.  17 

though  a  duly  ordained  Methodist  minister  whom  the  highest  Connexional  honours 
awaited,  was  at  this  time  "forced  by  the  magistrates  even  after  the  public  services  of 
the  Sabbath-day  (in  Oldham  Street)  to  walk  the  streets  through  the  night,  in  company 
with  others,  for  the  purpose  of  reporting  any  suspicious  movements  that  might 
appear."  *  With  Peterloo  in  the  near  background,  and  the  struggle  against  the 
Corn-laws  and  for  the  Charter  in  prospect,  who  will  say  that  the  former  times  were 
better  than  these,  or  question  the  statement  that  there  was  room  in  Manchester  for  any 
corrective  and  ameliorative  influences  Primitive  Methodism  could  bring  1 

We  are  told  that  the  first  meetings  of  the  newly  formed  cause  in  Manchester  were 
held  "  in  a  loft  over  a  stable  in  Chorlton-upon-Medlock,  somewhere  about  Brook  Street, 
also  in  a  cottage  in  London  Square,  Bank  Top.''  Very  soon  "  a  top  room  over  an  old 
factory  up  an  entry  in  Ancoats,''  locally  known  as  "  the  Long  Boom,''  was  acquired  ; 
and  on  July  30th,  1820,  Ann  Brownsword  preached  several  times  in  this  room  and  also 
at  the  New  Cross.  She  speaks  of  crowded  services  in  the  room  and  of  having  had  ten 
converts  on  two  successive  week  evenings.  At  this  time  she  reports  that  there  are  five 
classes  and  eighty  members.  On  the  27th  and  28th  of  August  Hugh  Bourne  preached 
at  New  Cross  and  in  the  Long  Boom.  He  renewed  the  tickets  to  the  society  and 
arrangements  were  made  for  the  first  camp  meeting,  which  from  another  source  we  learn 
was  held  on  the  Ashton  Boad,  on  September  17th.  This  camp  meeting  was  conducted 
by  James  Bonsor,  fresh  from  his  experience  at  the  Stafford  Sessions,  who  had  been 
brought  from  Darlaston  Circuit  in  exchange  for  Ann  Brownsword.  James  Bonsor's 
labours  were  not  confined  to  one  locality,  but  pretty  well  distributed  as  the  following 
entry  shows  : — 

"Sunday,  October  1st,  18W. — At  eight  preached  in  Cropper  Street.     At  ten  Br©. 

Smith  preached  at  Salford  Cross,  and  I  gave  an  exhortation.     A  many  seemed 

affected.     At  half-past  eleven  I  preached  at  another  place  in  Salford.     At  half-past 

one,  Bro.  Smith    and   1    preached  in  Castle    Field.      Many   people    and   a  good 

time  ;  sinners  cried  much  for  mercy.     At  half-past  three  I  preached  in  another 

part  of  Manchester  to  a  large  congregation.     Near  five,  I  preached  at  Salford  Cross, 

and  at  half-past  six,  at  Manchester  New  Cross." — Magazine,  1821,  p.  20. 

Thus  on  one  Sabbath  he  took  part  in  seven  services  in  different  parts  of  Manchester. 

No  wonder  that  from  the  committee  meeting,  held  on  October  6th;  he   reports  that 

things  are  in  a  very  flourishing  state ;  that  there  are  nearly  one  hundred  members,  and 

that  they  had  agreed  to  take  another  room  in  a  different  part  of  the  town.     The  room 

here  alluded  to  would  probably  be  the  same  as  that  more  explicitly  referred  to  by  Hugh 

Bourne  (Magazine  1821)  in  the  report  of  the  Michaelmas  Quarterly  Meeting  of  the 

Tunstall  Circuit,  wherein  he  says  of  Manchester :  "  They  have  a  very  large  room  in 

New  Islington,  and  they  have  had  the  courage  to  take  another  large  room  in  Chancery 

Lane.     This  example  may  be  followed  with  advantage  in  most  towns.'' 

As  early  as  James  Bonsor's  short  mission  in  Manchester  two  names  that  should  not 
be  forgotten  came  before  us  for  the  first  time.      Samuel  Waller,  a  cotton-spinner  in 

*  "  Recollections  of  My  own  Life  and  Times."  By  Thomas  Jackson,  p.  173.  Mrs.  Linnaeus 
Banks  deals  with  this  precise  time  in  "  The  Manchester  Man."  The  work  contains  much  local  colour 
and  word-sketches  of  contemporary  persons  and  localities. 

B 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 


partnership  with  his  brothers,  was  at  this  time  a  Methodist  class-leader.  He  was 
brought  in  contact  with  the  Primitives  and  felt  drawn  to  them  by  reason  of  their 
methods  of  doing  good  and  their  plainness  in  dress.  With  the  concurrence  of  his 
brother;  who  was  also  a  Methodist  class  leader,  he  joined  the  infant  society.  His  first 
public  effort  was  made  on  September  25th,  1820,  at  what  was  called  a  watch-night 
service  in  the  Long  Eoom,  when  he  and  Walton  Carter  each  gave  an  exhortation, 
and  James  Bonsor  "  made  a  statement  as  to  the  work  of  Hod.''  Before  twelve  months 
were  over,  he  suffered  imprisonment  for  preaching  in  the  open  air,  and  Samuel  Waller 
shares  with  Thomas  Russell  the  honour  of  having  endured  the  longest  and  most  trying 

imprisonment  recorded  in  our 
Connexional  annals.  A  subordinate 
constable,  a  renegade  Methodist, 
made  himself  obnoxiously  busy 
in  interfering  with  the  service 
held  on  the  evening  of  June  17th, 
1821.  There  was  no  disturbance, 
and  no  clear  case  of  obstruction, 
yet  Mr.  Waller  was  committed 
to  take  his  trial  at  the  Salford 
Sessions,  charged  with  :  "  Having 
in  the  King's  highway,  in 
Ashton-under-Lyne,  unlawfully 
and  injudiciously  caused  and 
procured  a  great  number  of  persons 
to  assemble  together,  obstructing 
the  said  highway,  to  the  great 
damage  and  common  nuisance  of 
the  liege  subjects  of  our  Lord  the 
King ;  and  with  making  a  noise, 
riot,  tumult,  and  disturbance ; 
and  with  making  such  riot  by 
shouting  and  singing  ;  and  wholly 
choking  up  and  obstructing  the 
street  and  highway."  Mr.  Waller 
the  "long  boom,"  new  Islington,  Manchester.  was  sentenced  to  be  imprisoned  for 

The  entrance  is  through  the  Archway,  now  partly  closed,  at  the  right  three  months  in  Manchester  New 
end  of  Ituilding.    The  Long  Koom  is  the  top  story. 

Bailey,  and,  on  the  expiry  of  his 
term,  he  was  re-committed  for  six  days  in  order  to  make  up  the  three  calendar  months. 
So  far  as  the  North  of  England  is  concerned,  we  shall  meet  with  no  other  incident  like 
this  in  the  history  of  Primitive  Methodism.  Yet  no  inference  can  be  drawn  from  the 
incident  to  the  discredit  of  the  people  of  Lancashire.  On  the  contrary,  their  sense 
of  iustice  was  outraged  by  the  treatment  meted  out  to  Mr.  Waller,  and  there  was  no 
lack  of  sympathy  with  the  prisoner,  who  was  seriously  ill  during  his  confinement. 
The  prison  doctor  showed  himself  either  indifferent  or  incompetent ;  but  by  the  «ood 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND    ENTERPRISE.  ]  9 

offices  of  friends  the  best  medical  aid  was  procured,  and  the  governor  of  the  jail  acted 
in  a  most  humane  manner.  It  is  clear  that  political  animus  had  more  to  do  with 
this  travesty  of  justice  than  ought  else.  The  magistrates  had  lost  their  heads.  They 
saw  signs  of  possible  riot  and  disturbance  everywhere.  The  bias  of  the  chairman  of  the 
Quarter  Sessions  was  revealed  by  the  observations  he  dropped  during  the  course  of 
the  trial ;  and,  if  what  is  alleged  be  true,  that  the  chairman  was  the  vicar  of  Eochdale, 
who  had  been  "  military  leader  "  on  the  black  day  of  Peterloo,  much  is  explained. 

"The  day  after  Mr.  Waller's  discharge,  Wednesday,  October  17th,  1821,  a  meeting 
was  held  at  Chancery  Lane,  when  it  appeared  this  imprisonment  had  been  the  means 
of  stirring  up  many  to  hear  the  Word,  and  on  the  whole  that  it  had  served  greatly 
to  advance  the  Redeemer's  kingdom."*  No  doubt  at  this  significant  service  there 
would  be  sung  some  of  those  special  hymns  "  On  the  Eeleasement  of  S.  Waller  from 
Prison,'  we  find  in  the  Magazine  for  1822.  We  do  not  catch,  in  these  hymns,  the 
triumphant  note  that  strikes  us  in  those  called  forth  by  John  Wedgwood's  Grantham 
experiences.  In  these  the  pervading  sentiment  is  one  of  chastened  thankfulness,  as 
is  seen  in  the  chorus  of  one  of  them  : — 

"  Releas'd  from  bondage,  grief,  and  pain, 
We  meet  with  this  our  friend  again." 

One  of  the  best  of  these  hymns  was  written  by  Walton  Carter,  already  referred  to. 
He  too  encountered  the  "  backsliding  Methodist  constable,''  who  pulled  him  down  at 
Ashton  Cross  and  tore  his  clothe?.  But  though  Carter  was  brought  before  the 
magistrates  at  Oldham,  he  and  his  companion  were  dismissed.  Of  Walton  Carter's 
antecedents  we  can  glean  nothing ;  but  he  became  a  noted  missioner  in  Manchester 
and  its  neighbourhood,  and  was  our  Connexional  pioneer  in  several  towns  which  are 
now  the  head  of  important  stations.  In  fact  he  seems  to  have  fulfilled  the  duties 
of  a  travelling  preacher  in  the  Manchester  Circuit  during  the  years  1821-2,  although 
his  name  does  not  appear  on  the  official  stations ;  so  that,  although  Manchester  Circuit 
in  1821  has  only  John  Verity  down  for  it,  with  the  words  "for  six  months" 
appended,  we  need  not  suppose  that  Manchester  was  left  without  a  preacher  for  half 
the  year.  Walton  Carter  was  on  the  ground.  His  well-written  Journals  appear  side 
by  side  with  those  of  Verity  in  the  Magazine,  and  when  Verity  has  left,  Carter  is  still 
actively  engaged  in  the  circuit,  and  as  late  as  May,  1822,  sends  an  account  to  the 
Magazine  of  the  first  Oldham  camp  meeting.  In  1823  his  name  appears  on  the  stations 
for  the  first  and  last  time,  in  connection  with  Halifax.  He  retired  from  the  ministry, 
and  subsequently  became  the  proprietor  of  a  day  and  boarding  school  at  Bucklow  Hill, 
near  Knutsford.  The  breach  with  the  past  was  not  complete.  He  still  kept  in.  touch 
with  Manchester ;  for  amongst  his  boarders  were  several  youths  belonging  to  Primitive 
Methodist  families  resident  in  the  city  in  which  he  had  once  rendered  good  service: 
There  is  reason  to  fear,  however,  that  his  last  days  were  not  the  brightest  and 
the  best. 

Before  the   close  of    1821,   there  were,   as  the  books  show,   in  Manchester  alone 

*  There  is  a  full  account  of  the  trial  of  S.  Waller  in  the  Magazine  for  1822,  pp.  259,  281. 
See  also  S.  Smith's  "  The  Introduction,"  etc.,  already  cited,  p.  98. 


B 


o 


20 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 


two  hundred  and  eleven  members.  The  progress  of  the  Society  in  other  respects  than  in 
numbers  was  marked  by  the  building,  in  1823-4,  of  Jersey  Street  Chapel,  which,  right 
through  and  beyond  the  first  period  of  our  history,  was  the  well-known  centre  of  our 
work  in  Manchester.  The  superintendent  at  the  time  was  Thomas  Sugden,  whose 
name  disappears  from  the  stations  in  1824.  He  was  not,  however,  lost  to  the 
Connexion,  but  settled  down  in  Manchester,  and  made  himself  useful  in  various  ways. 
"  Thomas  Sugden,  confectioner,  Manchester,''  was  one  of  the  original  signatories  of 
the  Deed  Poll,  who  took  their  seats,  for  the  first  time,  at  the  Conference  of  1832. 
Ealph  Waller  (the  brother  of  Samuel  Waller),  cotton-spinner,  Mellor,  near  Manchester, 
was  another  of  these  original  members ;  and  when,  by  the  death  of  George  Taylor,  the 
first  vacancy  occurred  on  the  Deed  Poll,  the  Bradford  Conference  elected  Stephen 

Longdin,  of  Manchester,  to  the  office. 
Stephen  Longdin's  election  to  this  office, 
together  with  the  fact  that  his  portrait  is 
to  be  found  amongst  those  of  the  early 
Presidents,  of  Conference,  along  with  the 
very  few  laymen,  such  as  George  Hanford, 
Joseph  Bailey,  and  Thomas  Bateman,  who 
are  credited  with  having  attained  to  that 
unusual  distinction,  proves  that  at  the 
time  of  his  election  to  the  chair  in  1849,  he 
was  widely  known  as  a  Connexional  man. 
Born  in  1795,  he  survived  until  1878; 
and,  as  early  as  1824,  he  had  become  a 
useful  class  leader,  and  was  giving  proof 
of  the  possession  of  unusual  preaching 
ability  and  of  special  aptitude  for  the 
administration  of  affairs,  all  which  made 
him,  through  a  long  course  of  years,  a 
leading  figure  in  Manchester  Primitive 
Methodism. 

The  opening  services  of  Jersey  Street 
Chapel,  in  which  Hugh  Bourne  took  part, 
were  held  in  the  early  part  of  1824.  The  building  was  spacious;  the  gallery  alone 
having  accommodation  for  five  hundred  people.  "Unfortunately  the  attendance  at 
the  subsequent  services  was  not  so  large  as  had  been  anticipated.  The  interest  on 
the  heavy  mortgage  and  the  costs  of  maintenance  pressed  seriously  on  the  limited 
resources  of  the  Society,  and  in  the  end  it  was  felt  that  the  liabilities  were  too  heavy 
to  be  carried.  The  trustees,  therefore,  determined  on  an  alteration  of  the  building. 
A  floor  was  inserted  across  the  well  of  the  gallery,  and  in  the  lower  portion  of  the 
building  dwelling-houses  were  constructed,  the  rents  of  which  materially  helped  the 
trustees  to  carry  the  financial  burden.  After  these  alterations  the  public  religious 
services  were  well  attended,  and  several  persons  who  attained  distinction  in  public 
life  became  regular  hearers.     Alderman  Walton  Smith,  Mr.  Joseph  Nail,  Councillor 


OLD   JERSEY    STREET    CHAPEL,    MANCHESTER. 


THE   PERIOD   OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND    ENTERPRISE.  21 

-IJAMES.BOURNE] ,  , IHU6H.B0URNEI- 


1 — isampson.turnErI— ' 


1 [WILLIAM  6ARNER1 ' 


PRESIDENTS   OF   CONFERENCE    UNTIL   1840,    AS   FAR   AS   RECORDED. 


--  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 

Gregory  Alcock,   and    the  Waller  family   were   for   a  long  period   among   the   stated 
worshippers."* 

The  structural,  briek-and-mortar  history  of  Jersey  Street,  of  Canaan  Street,  of 
West  Street,  or  any  other  of  the  historic  chapels  of  Primitive  Methodism  is  the  least 
important  part  of  its  history  to  be  recalled.  The  main  thing  to  be  recognised  is  the 
body  of  rich  and  constantly  multiplying  associations  that  for  so  many  people  gathered 
round  the  building;  the  large  place  it  filled  in  the  better  part  of  the  lives  of  so  many; 
the  memories  and  the  talks  by  the  fireside  of  the  men  who  ministered  or  were 
ministered  unto  within  its  walls ;  the  historic  meetings,  the  notable  texts  and  sermons, 
the  remarkable  conversions,  the  rousing  prayer-meetings,  the  inspiring  hymns,  the 
love-feast  experiences ;  the  institutional  Saturday-night  band-meeting,  for  which  even 
the  country  people  would  steal  an  hour  from  their  marketing ;  even  the  traits  and 
oddities  and  outstanding  features  in  the  characters  of  the  habitual  frequenters  of  the 
sanctuary,  remembered  all  the  more  vividly  when  they  are  gone — all  this  constitutes 
the  true  history  of  the  plain  old  building  now  no  more,  and  explains  the  hold  it  got 
on  the  hearts  and  imaginations  of  men,  and  yet  all  this  has  to  be  conceived  rather 
than  described  in  relation  to  Jersey  Street,  which  was  the  ganglion — the  nerve-centre 
of  our  denominational  life  in  Manchester  for  so  long  a  term  of  years. 

Two  Conferences  were  held  in  Jersey  Street — that  of  1827,  of  which  we  know 
a  little,  and  that  of  1810,  of  which  we  know  next  to  nothing.  At  the  former  there 
were  five  o'clock  morning  preachings,  a  procession  through  a  large  part  of  the  town  to 
the  camp-ground  near  the  workhouse,  and  in  the  evening  there  was  held  what  may  be 
called  an  In  Mumoriam  service  for  James  Steele,  who  had  died  but  a  few  days  before 
the  opening  of  Conference.  W.  Clowes  would  have  taken  a  leading  part  in  this 
service  but  for  the  fact  that  he  was  then,  and  had  been  for  some  time,  in  an  indifferent 
state  of  health.  As  it  was,  it  fell  to  the  lot  of  Hugh  Bourne  and  Thomas  King  to 
speak  of  the  life  and  death  of  this  honoured  servant  of  God.  In  his  Journal,  however, 
Clowes  tells  how  he  had  visited  James  Steele — whom  he  designates  "  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  Primitive  Methodist  Connexion'' — only  a  few  minutes  before  he 
expired.  He  records  how,  though  the  sands  of  the  hour-glass  were  fast  running  out, 
the  good  man  "entered  freely  into  conversation  respecting  the  work  of  the  Lord," 
and  how,  when  asked  if  his  faith  stood  firm,  he  replied  in  the  words  of  the  Psalmist, 
"  I  will  not  forsake  thee  when  thy  faith  faileth." 

An  administrative  change  of  some  importance  was  effected  at  this  Conference. 
A  new  district  was  formed  out  of  some  of  the  frontier  stations  of  Tunstall,  Nottingham, 
and  Hull  Districts,  and  of  this  new  district  Manchester  was  made  the  head.  Towards 
the  formation  Nottingham  gave  New  Mills,  and  -u.  year  after  Bradwell ;  Hull  gave 
Preston,  Blackburn,  Clitheroe,  and  Keighley ;  while  the  mother-district  contributed 
Preston  Brook,  Liverpool,  and  Chester,  together  with  Manchester  and  its  daughter- 
circuits  Oldham  and  Bolton,  and  Bolton's  own  child— the  Isle  of  Man.  Thus  it  will 
be  seen  at  a  glance,  that  Manchester  District  was  made  rather  than  grew.  A  new 
district  was  created,  as  it  were  by  a  stroke  of  the  pen,  for  administrative  purposes, 

*  Communicated  by  Mr.  "\V.  E.  Parker. 


THE    PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE.  23 

out  of  circuits  of  diverse  origin.  It  is  not,  therefore,  with  the  beginnings  of  the 
Conference-created  Manchester  District  of  1827  this  chapter  has  to  do,  but  rather 
with  the  Manchester  district  of  to-day,  made  up,  as  for  the  most  part  it  is,  of  circuits 
of  which  Manchester  was  the  nucleus.  If  the  time  should  come,  as  possibly  it  may, 
when  the  circuits  which  grew  out  of  Hull's  North  Lancashire  mission  shall  become 
a  separate  district  with,  say,  Preston  as  its  titular  head,  then  there  will  be  something 
like  a  reversion,  and  district  arrangements  will  in  a  striking  way  conform  to  the  facts 
of  our  history,  which  show  how  the  ground  now  covered  by  the  present  Manchester 
and  Liverpool  Districts  was  first  missioned  by  a  triple  agency. 

"The  Remissiontng  System"  and  "The  Pious  Praying  Labourers" 

of  Manchester. 
The  four  years  following  1832  were  for  Manchester,  as  they  were  for  the  Connexion 
generally,  a  period  of  remarkable  numerical  increase.  During  this  period  the  member- 
ship of  the  Manchester  Circuit  rose  from  five  hundred  and  eighty-four  in  1832,  to 
one  thousand  three  hundred  and  twenty  in  1836,  and  the  circuit  more  than  doubled 
the  number  of  its  travelling  preachers.  Doubtless,  the  same  general  causes  that 
wrought  for  improvement  in  other  parts  of  the  Connexion  produced  their  salutary 
effects  here  also.  The  Church  was  all  the  healthier  and  stronger  for  service  because 
of  the  time  of  trial  and  sifting  through  which  it  had  passed.  Over  and  above  these 
widely  distributed  causes,  however,  there  was  a  special  cause  largely  accountable  for 
local  success,  to  which  Hugh  Bourne  thus  alludes  in  his  Journal : — 

"  Jul;/  30th,  1832. — Came  to  Manchester,  ten  miles  by  the  railway.  Saw  brothers 
Butcher,  Brame,  and  Gibson  [the  travelling  preachers],  and  was  thankful  to  hear 
of  there  being  an  excellent  revival  at  Rochdale,  in  this  Circuit ;  and  that  the 
converting  work  is  on  the  move  in  the  Jersey  Street  Chapel  in  Manchester.  I  was 
also  thankful  to  hear  that  the  pious  praying  labourers  in  Manchester  have  entered 
on  the  open-air  system  with  vigour  and  effect.  I  do  trust  that  this  system  will 
find  its  way  into  all  the  circuits." 

"Who  were  these  pious,  praying  labourers,  and  what  was  the  open-air  system  they 
practised?  First  in  order  amongst  the  names  "to  be  had  in  respectful  remembrance"  must 
be  placed  the  venerable  Thomas  Hewitt,  in  whose  house  in  London  Square,  Banktop, 
the  first  class  met  in  Manchester,  and  from  whose  doorstep  the  first  missionary  preached. 
He  remained  firm  to  the  end  of  life,  and  zealous  in  his  attachment  to  the  Connexion ; 
and  his  eldest  son,  who  likewise  bore  the  name  of  Thomas,  was  for  some  time  the 
efficient  superintendent  of  the  Sunday  School. 

Of  Jonathan  Heywood,  whom  S.  Smith  describes  as  "a  mighty  man  in  prayer,''  we 
have  a  short  pen-and-ink  sketch  by  Mr.  W.  E.  Parker  : — "  Jonathan  Heywood,  an  old 
man,  full  of  song,  a  joyful  Christian,  exerted  a  strong  religious  influence  during  many 
years.  He  was  somewhat  diminutive  of  stature,  but  showed  much  quickness,  alertness, 
even  nimbleness.  He  was  always  ready  for  the  spiritual  fray.  When  speaking  or 
singing  he  seemed  as  though  set  on  springs,  and  with  a  thin,  shrill  voice,  but  with 
intense  fervour  and  power  he  sought  to  help  men  by  holy  song  into  the  kingdom  of 


24 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 


God.     For  many  years  before  his  death  he  was  a  complete  invalid,  and  a  great  sufferer, 
but  in  all  his  affliction  he  witnessed  a  good  confession,  and  died  in  triumph.' 

Another  member  of    the  goodly  fellowship  of  workers  was  Thomas  Holden,  who, 
Mr.  Parker  tells  us,  at  an  early  date  in  the  history  of  the  society,  came  from  Todd 
Hall,  near  Haslingden,  and  was,  for  thirty  years,  a  most  successful 
class  leader.      "  His  was  a  constant  and  conspicuous  figure  in  the 
congregation  of  Jersey  Street.     His  fine,  manly  form  and  his  sweet 
but  powerful  voice  made  him  a  desirable  leader  in  open-air  work. 
A  prayer  meeting  without  his  presence  or  without  his  prayer  was 
not  to  be  thought  of. "     When  James  Holden,  his  eldest  son,  at  last 
yielded  to  the  convictions  he  had  long  resisted,  that  son's  demonstra- 
tions of  joy  at  his  new-found  liberty  were  like  those  of  the  healed 
paralytic,   or   like   theirs   whose   captivity  was  turned.       Others 
rejoiced  with   him  in  song  and   shouts  of  triumph.      The   scene 
mr.  james  holdkx.       was  0ne  not  easily  to  be  forgotten,  and  was  often  recalled.     James 
Holden  retained  his  active  connection  with  Jersey  Street  until  his  lamented  death 
in  1896. 

As  recently  as  1901,  there  passed  away  one  whose  life  more  than  covered  the  entire 
history  of  Manchester  Primitive  Methodism.  As  a  girl,  Mrs.  Hannah  Mc  Kee  received 
her  first  class-ticket  in  1824,  and  was  thus  the  contemporary  of  them  who  formed  the 
rerhissioning  bands,  and  she  may  well  have  assisted  in  their  efforts.  Not  on  this 
ground  alone  does  she  merit  reference  here,  but  because,  for  sixty  years,  she  was 
a  teacher  in  Jersey  Street  and  New  Islington  Sunday  Schools;  a  contributor  on  a 
somewhat  large  scale  to  the  funds  of  the  Church ;  at  the  time  of  her  death  the  oldest 
Primitive  Methodist  in  Manchester ;  and  because  she  has  left  descendants,  even  to  the 
fourth  generation,  who  are  closely  associated  with  our  denomination. 

Jonathan  Ireland  was  undoubtedly  the  leader  of  the  band. 
Hugh  Bourne  learned  the  facts  about  the  "  remissioning  system,'' 
which  he  gave  at_length  in  the  Mat/n-iiw  for  1835  ;  and  though 
no  names  are  mentioned  (by  J.  I.'s  own  request,  it  is  said)  it  is 
clear  that  Hugh  Bourne  regarded  him  as  the  "founder"  and 
leading  spirit  of  the  movement.  Jonathan  Ireland  was  by  aptitude 
and  preference  "a  determined  street-preacher,"  as  he  has  been 
well  called.  He  began  his  religious  life  in  association  with  the 
Church  of  England,  in  "gay  Preston.''  But  even  then  his  native 
bent  showed  itself.  He  was  restive  under  restrictions.  The 
contemplative  life  had  no  charms  for  him ;  nor  could  the 
observance  of  routine,  however  decorous,  satisfy.  He  must  do 
something,  and  something  out  of  the  common.  So  he  rang 
the  church  bells,  and  planted  shrubs  in  the  churchyard.  He  even  took  part  in  house 
prayer  meetings,  where  each  one  read  his  prayer  out  of  the  book  ;  and  once,  when  he 
made  a  burst  into  free  prayer,  he  chastised  himself  by  self-reproaches  for  having  given 
way  to  what  was  Methodistic  and  improper.  But  he  broke  free  from  his  fetters,  and 
became  a  Methodist  and  a  successful  class  leader,  and  an  active  sick  visitor.     Then  he 


It   was   from   him 


JIKS.    HANNAH   MO  KEE. 


THE   PERIOD   OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE.  25 

came  to  Manchester,  and  found  his  true  vocation  when  he  joined  the  Primitives.  This 
was  in  November,  1823,  when  Jersey  Street  Chapel  was  a-building. 

When,  in  1832,  Manchester,  like  so  many  other  towns  and  cities,  was  being  ravaged 
by  the  cholera,  Jonathan  Ireland  was  moved  to  put  forth  special  efforts  to  carry  the 
gospel  of  salvation  and  consolation  into  the  "  streets  and  lanes  of  the  city.''  He  was 
nobly  seconded  by  Jonathan  Heywood,  Thomas  Hewitt,  and  others  like-minded.  Their 
method  was,  beginning  at  the  house-door  of  one  of  the  band,  to  go  singing  through 
the  streets  to  a  suitable  stand  in  some  populous  quarter,  and  then  halt,  while  a  short, 
pointed  exhortation  was  given.  The  like  procedure  was  repeated  again  and  again, 
until  the  time  for  morning  or  evening  service  had  come,  when  they  sang  their  way 
to  the  chapel.  These  remissioning  efforts  were  continued  all  through  that  fateful 
summer  with  good  results ;  but — and  this  is  the  noteworthy  thing — they  were  not 
laid  aside  when  the  cholera  had  ceased  its  ravages.  Each  time  the  cholera  has  visited 
this  country  it  has  swollen  our  annual  returns  on  the  right  side.  An  increase  of  7120 
stands  to  the  credit  of  1833;  and  the  increase  for  1850,  following  upon  the  fearful 
visitation  of  1848-9,  when  more  than  five  thousand  persons  perished,  was  still  higher, 
amounting  to  9205,  a  figure  never  reached  before  or  since.  But  closer  scrutiny  would 
show  that  in  some  localities,  the  year  of  ingathering  was  followed  by  a  year  of  wastage; 
that  re-action  followed  revival ;  that  many  whom  the  cholera  had  frightened  into  the 
Church  rather  than  driven  to  Christ,  withdrew ;  and  that  even  the  Church  itself,  now 
that  the  scourge  was  overpast,  too  frequently  relaxed  its  efforts  to  save  men.  But,  as 
we  have  said,  it  was  not  so  in  Manchester  ;  rather  was  remissioning  carried  on  more 
energetically  than  before. 

The  planting  of  our  Church  in  Salford  grew  out  of  the  unremitting  efforts  of 
Jonathan  Ireland  and  his  co-workers.  The  first  headquarters  were  in  a  room  in 
Dale  Street;  then,  in  1844,  King  Street  Chapel  was  opened  (afterwards  Blackfriars 
Street,  and  now  Camp  Street,  Broughton).  One  cannot  read  Jonathan  Ireland's 
"Autobiography"*  without  being  impressed  with  his  tireless  zeal  and,  no  less,  with 
his  tact  and  resourcefulness.  He  was  a  true  disciple  of  Hugh  Bourne  in  never  failing 
to  notice  the  children.  Even  the  slatterns  and  viragos  of  a  "mean  street"  were 
mollified,  as  they  saw  the  preacher  shaking  hands  with  the  bairns  at  the  close  of  a 
service.  When  he  went  into  an  Irish  quarter,  he  knew  better  than  to  lead  off  with 
a  denunciation  of  the  Pope  and  all  his  works.  He  sought  rather  to  begin  by  finding 
some  common  ground  of  agreement  with  his  hearers.  One  quotation  we  will  give,  to 
show  his  methods  and  the  kind  of  work  that  was  being  done  during  those  earlier 
years  : — 

"  One  Sunday  morning  at  nine  o'clock  (it  was  the  Sunday  following  the  races, 
and  so  drunkenness  was  peculiarly  prevalent),  I  went  into  Wood  Street,  which 
runs  out  of  Brown  Street,  to  mission,  several  friends  being  with  me.  When  I  got 
up  to  preach  I  looked  at  the  people,  and  cried  out :  '  You  are  a  sorry  set,  without 
comfort  and  character  ;  no  credit,  for  nobody  will  trust  you  »  farthing.  Now, 
I'm   here  as  your  friend  ;  and  I'll  tell  you  a  way  in  which  you  may,  in  twelve 

*  "Jonathan  Ireland,  the  Street  Preacher.  An  Autobiography."  Edited  by  Rev.  J.  Simpson, 
his  son-in-law. 


26  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 

months  have  a  good  suit  of  clothes,  goods  in  your  home,  money  in  your  pockets, 

and  comfort  in  your  families.'     This  got  hold  of  their  minds  ;  and  I  held  them 

fast  while  I  preached  Jesus  unto  them.     I  had  to  preach  that  same  morning  in 

the  room  [in  Salford],      When  I  had  finished  in   the  street   I   invited  all   to  go 

with  me  just  as   they  were.      Many  yielded,  so  I   gave  them  a  second    edition. 

But  while  I  had  been  engaged  outside  a  man  came  up,  and  calling  one  of  the 

members  to  him,  he  said  :  'I'm  glad  I've  met  with  you  this  morning.    Your  singing 

attracted  me  ;  for  I  was  on  the  way  to  the  old  river,  where,  in  some  secret  spot, 

I  might  end  my  miserable  life  by  cutting  my  throat.     Take  this,'  said  the  man, 

handing  forward  a  razor,  'for  if  you  have  it  I  shall  have  one  temptation  less 

to  grapple  with.' " — (p.  41). 

But  even  before  the  establishment  of   the   Salford  mission  there  already  existed 

another  mission-centre  in  Oxford  Road.      First  a  small  cottage,  then  a  small  cellar, 

then  a  room  over  some  stables,  next  a  larger  room  once  used  by  the  Tent-Methodists. 

Such  was  the  order.     On  the  opening  of  this  room,  while  Thomas  Sugden  was  leading 

the  love-feast,  the  floor  fell  in,  and  the  story  goes  that  the  mishap  occurred  while  all 

were  lustily  singing,    "We  are  going  home  to  glory.''      One  man  was   injured,   and 

many  were  frightened.     The  next  remove  was  to  a  building  in  Ormond  Street,  vacated 

by  the  Wesleyans  for  their  new  chapel  in  Oxford  Road.    Ultimately  this  was  exchanged 

for  Rosamond  Street  Chapel,  which  for  many  years  stood  as  the  head  of  Manchester 

Second  Circuit,  now  Moss  Lane. 

Yet  a  third  mission  was  begun  in  these  formative  years,  in  a  room  over  three  houses  in 
Ashton  Street,  London  Road — now  swept  away  by  the  London  Road  Station.  The 
friend  who  had  leased  the  room  to  the  society  at  a  low  rental,  at  his  death  left  the  sum 
of  £130  for  a  new  chapel,  "if  a  new  chapel  should  ever  be  required  by  the  Primitive 
Methodist  denomination  in  Manchester  "  ! — another  proof  of  the  doubt  as  to  the  per- 
petuity of  the  Connexion  that  crossed  and  troubled  the  minds  at  that  time,  even  of  those 
who  were  friendly  disposed.  Mr.  Chadwick's  legacy  came  in  useful  as  a  kind  of  nest- 
egg.  More  chapels  were  built  in  Manchester,  as  our  full-page  illustration  shows,  and 
there  are  more  to  follow.  Ogden  Street  Chapel,  opened  in  1850,  superseded  Ashton 
Street  room,  and  from  this  has  grown  Manchester  Fourth  and  Ninth  Stations,  with  the 
exception  of  Droylesden,  taken  from  Stockport  Second  and  attached  to  Manchester 
Ninth,  on  its  formation  in  1KU3.  Good  Mr.  Chadwick's  doubts  as  to  whether  the 
Primitives  would  ever  build  a  new  chapel  in  Manchester,  have  had  their  answer  in 
Higher  Ardwick  Church,  opened  in  1S78  ;  and  there  was  a  natural  sequence  between 
the  £15,000  expended  on  that  stately  pile  and  the  £130  he  somewhat  timorously  put 
down  in  his  last  will  and  testament.  Thus,  while  a  survey  of  the  denomination's 
advance  in  Manchester  during  recent  years,  especially  in  its  relation  to  ministerial 
education  and  training,  will  naturally  challenge  our  attention  later  on,  it  was  right 
that  we  should,  even  at  this  stage,  at  least  indicate  the  thread  of  continuity  running 
through  our  Connexional  life  in  this  great  city.  What  we  now  see  is  largely  the 
outcome  of  the  missionary  efforts  carried  on  so  vigorously  during  the  first  period 

We  began  with  Manchester  at  the  New  Cross,  and,  so  far  as  Manchester  itself  is 
concerned,  we  may  fittingly  end  there.  "The  New  Cross  (open  air)  "  stands  as  the 
second  place  on  a  plan  for  1832,  and  a  Sunday  afternoon  service  was  held  where  the  old 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PKEDOM1NANCE   AND   ENTEKPRISE. 


^27 


HIGHER  OPEN3HAV/P 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 


pillar  once  stood,  right  on  until  the  days  of  the  Chartist  agitation,  when  the  authorities 
put  their  veto  on  al  fresco  meetings — political  or  religious — at  that  favourite  stand. 
The  magisterial  mind  of  that  epoch  could  not  make  subtle  distinctions. 

It  was  by  lingering  at  one  of  these  New  Cross  services  when  returning  from  Oldham 


KEY.    T.    HINDLEY. 


RACHEL    WHITEHEAD. 


MR.    NATHANIEL  NAYLOR. 


Street  Wesleyan  Chapel,  which  they  attended,  that  Nathaniel  Naylor  and  his  wife  fell 
in  love  with  the  Primitives.  They  thought  it  right  to  join  the  denomination,  and 
became  active  workers  and  liberal  supporters  of  the  Jersey  Street  and  New  Islington 
societies.  The  youngest  daughter  of  the  house  became  the  wife  of  ^Thomas  Hindley,  so 
widely  known  and  respected  as  a  minister  in  the  Manchester  District.  There  are  other 
names  of  'early  workers,  that  ought  to  be  more  than  names  to  us,  but  space  forbids  little 
more  than  the  mention  of  them.  There  were  :  John  Turner,  fori, many  years  the 
courteous,  prudent,  efficient  choir-master ;  Thomas  Sharrock,  an  early  Sunday  School 
superintendent,  much  beloved,  though  he  had  an  awe-inspiring  presence  and  the  reputa- 
tion of  knowing  more  than  most ;  W.  Williams,  Thomas  Sugden's  successor  in  the 
confectionery  business,  circuit  secretary  and  afterwards  steward,  a  thoughtful,  acceptable 
preacher,  and  a  good  District  and  Connexional  man,  at  whose  house,  in  Ancoat's  Lane, 
ministers  and  friends  from  a  distance  would  drop  in  for  rest  and  talk  ;  Samuel  Johnson, 
a  local  preacher  for  many  years,  a  man  of  wide  reading  and  large  outlook,  whose 
discourses  were  listened  to  with  interest  and  profit  by  many  Lancashire  congrega- 
tions ;  Barnabas  Parker,  Charles  Malpas  also, 
and  Job  Williams,  and  Rachel  Whitehead, 
and  John  Crompton,  and  Charles  Taylor,  who, 
in  their  several  spheres,  lived  the  Christian 
life  and  served  the  interests  of  Jersey  Street 
Society. 

This  brief  chronicle  of  departed  worth  may 
pleasantly  end  with  a  reference  to  good  but 
eccentric  David  Bailey,  of  whose  devotion 
and  oddities  tradition  still  loves  to  speak. 
He  would  "  shut  to  the  door  "  even  of  his 

MR.    o.    JOHNS!  IN.  ,  .    .. 

shop  while    he    retired    for    prayer,    and    so 
immersed  himself  in  evangelistic  work  that  his  brethren  feared  his  business  would 
suffer ;     he    was  a    dealer  in    earthenware   near   Shudehill  .Market,    and  his  superin- 


MH.    C.    TAYLOR. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE    AND   ENTERPRISE. 


29 


tendent  was  appointed  to  admonish  him.  "David,"  said  Rev.  W.  Antliff,  "are  you 
never  afraid  you'll  break  ? "  "  Break  1 "  said  "  Pot "  David  ;  "  not  till  the  fiftieth  Psalm 
breaks  at  the  fifteenth  verse,  '  Call  upon  Me  in  the  day  of  trouble,  and  I  will  deliver 
thee.'"  The  answer  was  distinctly  good,  though  it  is  to  be  feared  David  put  a  strain 
upon  the  promise  it  was  never  intended  to  bear. 

Sale  ;  Walkden  Moor  ;  Middleton. 
Though,  for  the  time  being,  we  have  done  with  Manchester  city,    we.  have  not 
quite    done    with    Manchester    Circuit.      At   first,    as    has    already    been    intimated 


SALE  CHAPEL  AND   SCHOOLS. 


MR.  JOHN  E.  WEIGHT. 


Manchester  Circuit  was  almost  the  first  rough  draft  of  the 
Manchester  District  of  to-day.  Important  circuits  were  formed 
from  it  at  an  early  date ;  but  at  present  our  concern  is  not  with 
these,  but  rather  with  one  or  two  places  that  were  missioned 
at  an  early  date  and  continued  to  be  an  integral  part  of  the 
Manchester  Circuit  all  through  the  first  period,  though  now,  in 
nearly  every  case,  they  have  become  heads  of  circuits. 

Sale,  we  are  told,  was  missioned  as  early  as  1824-5.  At 
that  time  the  people  around  were  "  uncommonly  rough  and  igno- 
rant," and  being  chiefly  employed  in  market-gardening,    domestic 


30 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST   CHURCH. 


BKV.    JAMES   GARNER. 


work  was  left  over  until  the  Sunday.  The  mission  to  Sale  was  opened  by  a  notable 
camp-meeting  held  in  a  hired  field.  Early  in  the  day  the  converting  work 
broke   out,    and  the  number  of  mourners    was    so    great    that    a    corner    of    the  field 

was  set  apart  for  the  holding  of  a  continuous  prayer  meeting 
while  the  camp-meeting  was  still  going  on.  This  corner, 
appropriately  named  "  the  hospital,"  was  placed  under  the 
superintendence  of  Thomas  Buttler,  a  man  of  experience, 
who  single-handed  did  much  successful  pioneer  work  in 
the  country-side.  "  This  day's  labour  led  to  results 
which  were  felt  all  over  the  neighbourhood.  A  visible 
reformation  of  manners  followed."  A  Primitive  Methodist 
society  was  formed,  and  "  the  Wesleyans  were  quickened 
and  became  prosperous."*  A  school  chapel  was  erected 
in  1839,  and  the  present  church  and  school  in  1872. 
The  greater  part  of  the  manual  and  team  labour  involved 
in  the  taking  down  of  the  old  building  was  undertaken 
by  those  most  deeply  interested  in  the  work,  amongst 
whom  may  be  named,  the  Bollis  family,  Messrs.  James  Oakes,  Samuel  Derbyshire, 
and  John  E.  Wright.  The  last  named,  from  the  time  of  his  joining  the  Church, 
to  his  death  in   1890,  conscientiously  fulfilled  the  duties  of  his  various  offices. 

Sale  will  always  be  associated  with  the  memory  of  James  Garner,  one  of  the  most 
massive  and  outstanding  figures  of  the  Manchester  District.  By  virtue  of  a  rare 
combination  of  qualities  he  was  equally  eminent  in  the  pulpit,  the  committee  room, 
the  floor  of  Conference,  the  presidential  chair,  and  the  author's  desk.  Thirty-four 
out  of  the  thirty-six  years  of  his  circuit  ministry  were  spent  in  the  old  Manchester 
District,  and  about  one  half  of  these  in  the  cities  of 
Liverpool  and  Manchester.  He  began  his  ministry 
in  1830  as  the  junior  colleague  of  his  brother, 
John  Garner,  in  the  Oldham  Circuit,  and  it  was 
at  the  Oldham  Conference  of  1871  he  was  super- 
annuated. He  spent  the  remainder  of  his  days  at 
Sale,  where  his  son-in-law,  Mr.  James  Greenhalgh, 
accountant  and  Connexional  auditor,  resided.  He 
was  superintendent  at  the  time  the  first  chapel  at 
Sale  was  built,  and  he  took  a  deep  and  practical  in- 
terest in  the  building  of  the  present  church.  Before 
the  end  came,  December,  1895,  in  a  momentary  lapse, 
he  was  heard  to  say :  "  Well,  Mr.  Bourne,  I  am 
glad  to  see  you.  Hum  is  the  Connexion  doing?" 
Consciousness  had  harked  back  to  the  early  times,  and 
the  master-passion  of  life  was  strung  in  death. 

On  the  Manchester  Circuit  plan  for   1832  we  find,  amongst  other  places,   Mosley 
Common,  Malkden  Moor,  Middleton,  Unsworth,  and  Stretford ;  and,  now  and  again, 
•  <W  "  Jonathan  Ireland,  the  Street  Preacher,"  for  the  quotations  given  in  this  paragraph. 


CREENHALGH. 


THE    PERIOD    OF    CIRCUIT    PREDOMINANCE    AND    ENTERPRISE.  31 

an  incident  can  be  recovered  having  its  value  as  illustrating  the  missionary  activity- 
going  on  in  these  localities.  At  Walkden  Moor,  one  of  the  first  trophies  of  grace  to 
be  won  was  H.  Gibson.  Ill  at  ease  under  what  seems  to  have  been  incipient 
conviction  of  sin,  he  had  enlisted  into  the  First  Life  Guards,  thinking  that  surely 
so  complete  a  change  as  this  would  give  him  peace.  But  he  was  no  happier  at 
"Whitehall  than  at  Walkden  Moor,  and  he  was  glad  when,  his  father  having  purchased 
his  discharge,  he  was  free  to  return  to  his  home.  His  old  acquaintances  welcomed 
him  effusively,  and  he  was  soon  enticed  to  match  his  bird  at  a  cock-fight  for  ten 
shillings  a  side.  His  bird  lay  dying  on  the  floor  and,  as  he  knelt  before  it,  it  came 
to  him  in  a  flash  how  he  had  knelt  in  the  stable  at  Whitehall  and  promised  God  that 
if  He  would  deliver  him  from  soldiering  he  would  lead  a  better  life.  He  had  broken 
his  vow ;  but  perhaps  it  was  not  yet  too  late.  He  would  keep  it  now.  He  rose, 
threw  down  his  money,  and  fled  from  the  pandemonium.  His  pals  pursued  him 
with  entreaties  to  return,  but,  like  Pilgrim  escaping  from  the  City  of  Destruction, 
he  hastened  away,  crying,  "  No,  no  !  Farewell,  cock-pit ! "  Not  even  yet  did  Gibson 
find  peace.  Like  John  Oxtoby,  he  was  a  Churchman  of  a  kind,  and  Mr.  Cry,  the 
curate,  prescribed  for  him:  "Attend  the  church  and  sacraments  regularly";  for  is 
not  that  the  whole  duty  of  man?  Then,  hearing  that  J.  Verity  was  to  preach  at 
"old  Charlotte's"  at  Waterbeach,  Gibson  went  to  the  service,  but  instead  of  Verity 
he  heard  a  labouring  man  "  with  blue  hands,''  who  showed  him  his  own  heart,  and 
what  it  was  that  really  ailed  him.  H.  Gibson  was  converted,  held  on  his  way,  and 
became  a  local  preacher. 

At  Middleton  (since  1872  the  head  of  a  circuit),  the  first  chapel-keeper  was 
John  Taylor,  who  had  been  a  notorious  pigeon-flyer  and  "hush-seller,"  i.e..,  keeper 
of '  an  unlicensed  beer-house.  He  was  reached  by  some  straight  talk  at  an  open-air 
service,  at  the  outskirts  of  which  the  pigeon-flyers  were  standing  discussing  to-morrow's 
match.  Jonathan  Ireland,  who  delighted  in  facts,  was  telling  the  story  of  this  man's 
conversion,  at  a  missionary  meeting  in  Jersey  Street  some  time  after,  when  Taylor  rose 
up  before  him  in  the  congregation  and  shouted,  "  I'm  the  man.'' 

The  way  into  Gatley  (now  in  the  Stockport  Circuit),  we  are  told,  was  opened  by 
Thomas  Buttler,  whom  we  have  seen  superintending  the  "  hospital "  at  the  first  camp- 
meeting  at  Sale.  Buttler  went  about  the  country  prospecting,  seeking  the  most  likely 
places  in  which  to  open  a  mission.  As  he  rode  his  ass  from  village  to  village,  he 
claimed  exemption  from  paying  toll  on  the  ground  that  he  was  doing  the  Lord's  work. 
If,  on  the  Sabbath,  he  heard  the  loom  at  work  in  a  house  as  he  went  along,  he  would 
enter  and  rebuke  the  Sabbath-breaker.  Buttler  found  his  way  to  Gatley ;  and  the 
result  of  our  labours  there  was  a  great  reformation,  which  led  the  farmers  to  say  : 
"  These  people  deserve  encouragement,  for  since  they  came  our  apples  are  not  stolen, 
nor  our  hedges  broken  down." 

Our  Early  Hymns  :   their  Popularity  with  the  Masses. 

Such  missionary  anecdotes  as  these  show  the  kind  of  work  that  went  on  in  the  early 
days,  and  the  kind  of  work  that,  above  all,  needed  to  be  done ;  and  here  in  Lancashire 
we  are  struck,  as  we  were  in  writing  of  the  Leicestershire  revival,  with  the  prodigious 


o2  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST    CHURCH. 

numbers  the  missionaries  got  to  hear  them,  and  with  the  almost  entire  absence  of 
persecution.  At  Bolton — at  the  stocks  and  in  the  wood-yard  where  the  first  services 
were  held, — at  Ashton  Town  Cross,  at  Astley,  at  Oldham, — in  fact  wherever  the 
missionaries  went,  they  had  no  difficulty  in  gathering  congregations.  In  the  estimates 
of  numbers  given  the  word  thousands  occurs  much  more  frequently  than  hundreds. 
"Preach!  preach!"  was  the  cry  raised  at  Ashton  Cross  when,  for  a  moment,  the 
backslidden  constable  had  silenced  Walton  Carter.  The  people  were  hungry  for  the 
Word  and  would  not  be  denied,  so  that  Carter  had  to  gather  himself  together  and 
preach,  despite  his  torn  coat  and  the  constable's  threats.  Here  too,  as  elsewhere, 
facts  go  to  show  that  the  hymns  the  missionaries  sang  counted  for  much  in  making 


Mf*3U^  ■?r**?K'V2' 


!2SCT©pp  *." 


IN   THE   OLDEN    TIME. 

and    open-air    services    acceptable 


PREACHING    AT   BOLTON    .MARKET   CROW 

their    street-missioning 

and  effective.  Our  fathers  knew  the  power  there  is  in 
a  taking  melody,  and  were  not  slow  to  avail  themselves  of 
this  power.  Like  William  Jefferson,  they  did  not  see  why 
the  devil  should  have  all  the  best  tunes,  and  so  did 
their  best  to  carry  off  the  spoil.  "  The  Lion  of  Judah  " 
was  only  one  of  many  tunes  thus  requisitioned.  One 
evening,  when  the  eccentric  Henry  Higgenson  was  on  his 
way  to  a  tea  meeting  at  Walsall,  he  heard  a  lad  singing 
a  song  which  attracted  him.  "  Here,  my  lad,  sing  that 
again,  and  I'll  give  thee  a  penny."  The  lad  did  as  he 
was  told,  more  than  once.  "  Here  you  are,  my  man,"  said 
Higgenson,  throwing  him  the  penny  ;  "  I've  got  the  tune,  and  the  devil  may  take  the 


REV.   HENRY    HIGGENSON. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE.  33 

words.''  The  policy,  if  it  were  policy  and  not  rather  a  sure  instinct,  was  justified  by  its 
results,  and  perhaps  nowhere  more  than  in  Lancashire,  as  Jonathan  Ireland  clearly  admits. 
The  admission  may  well  be  given  in  his  own  words,  as  the  remarks  show  considerable 
acuteness,  and  contain  a  kindly  reference  to  Richard  Jukes,  who,  although  he  was 
a  prolific  and  popular  hymn-writer  of  his  day,  is  in  some  danger  of  being  forgotten : — 

"  Before  the  Primitive  Methodists  came  to  this  city  [Manchester],  and  for  some 
time  after,  it  was  very  common  to  hear  lewd  or  ribald  songs  sung  in  the  streets, 
especially  on  the  Lord's  day.  But  our  movements  drove  them  away  by  puttivr/  some- 
thing better  in  their  place.  We  used  to  pick  up  the  most  effective  tunes  we  heard, 
and  put  them  to  our  hymns  ;  and  at  our  camp-meetings  people,  chiefly  young 
ones,  used  to  run  up  to  hear  us,  thinking  we  were  singing  a  favourite  song.  But 
they  were  disappointed  therein ;  nevertheless,  they  were  arrested  and  often 
charmed  by  the  hymn,  which  art  times  went  with  power  to  their  hearts.  And  so 
the  words  of  the  hymn  put  aside  the  words  of  the  song.  It  will  show  the  utility 
of  singing  lively  hymns  in  the  streets ;  yea,  more  particularly,  it  will  show  the 
use  to  society  in  general  of  our  hymn-singing  irr  the  streets,  if  I  here  relate 
a  fact  which  was  told  me  by  a  friend  on  whose  veracity  and  accuracy  I  can  place 
reliance.  He  said  :  'I  was  one  day  in  a  hair-dresser's  shop  in  a  country  village, 
when  a  man  came  in  to  be  shaved,  having  a  handful  of  printed  hymns,  which 
he  had  been  singing  and  selling  in  the  streets.  I  entered  into  conversation  with 
him,  in  course  of  which  he  said  :  "Your  Jukes  has  been  a  good  friend  to  us  street- 
singers  ;  I  have  sung  lots  of  his  hymns,  and  made  many  a  bright  shilling  thereby. 
People  generally  would  rather  hear  a  nice  hymn  sung,  than  a  foolish  song, — and 
his  hymns  are  full  of  sympathy  and  life.  Depend  on  it,  the  singing  of  hymns  in 
the  streets  has  done  a  deal  of  good  ;  for  children  stand  to  listen  to  us,  and  they 
get  hold  of  a  few  lines,  or  of  the  chorus  ;  and  with  the  tune,  or  as  much  of  it  as 
they  can  think  of,  they  run  home,  and  for  days  they  sing  it  in  their  homes,  and 
their  mothers  and  sisters  get  hold  of  it,  and  in  this  way,  I  maintain,  our  hymn- 
singing  is  of  more  use  than  many  folks  think.  I  shall  always  think  well  of 
Jukes,"  concluded  the  man." 
What  Primitive  Methodist  will  not  heartily  concur  in  this  conclusion  of  the 
philosophic  street  singer^  "Jukes'  hymns  have  been  sung  from  one  end  of  the 
Connexion  to  the  other,  by  tramps  in  the  street  and  Christians  in  the  chapels ;  and 
the  late  Dr.  Massie  says,  the  hymn  entitled,  '  What's  the  News,'  &c,  has  been  sung 
and  repeated  in  the  great  Revival  in  Ireland."*  George  Herbert 
told  us  long  since  that : — 

"  A  verse  may  find  him  who  a  sermon  flies.'' 
And  popular,  sacred  songs  are  the  most  volatile  and  penetrating 
agents  of  religious  propagandism,  the  more  powerful  because 
their  power  is  unsuspected.  They  float  on  the  breeze  like  the 
thistle-down,  and  like  it  they  carry  their  seed  with  them.  It  is 
a  simple  yet  sufficient  illustration  of  this  far-reaching,  penetrative 
power  of  the  verse  which  John  Coulson  relates.  When,  in  1819, 
on  his  way  to  Hull  to  seek  out  W.  Clowes  and  the  Primitives,  he 
bbv.  k.  jukes.  called  at  a  house  of   entertainment  at  Mansfield.     A  sweep  was 

*  Rev.  J.  Harvey,  "Jubilee  of  Primitive  Methodism,"  1861. 


34  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 

sitting  turning  over  the  leaves  of  a  dingy  pamphlet,  to  whom  presently  came  the 
hostess,  with  the  words :  "  Eobert,  you  must  sing  that  hymn  with  the  hallelujahs  at 
the  end  of  it;  for  the  children  will  not  go  to  school  until  they  hear  it."  The 
sweep  stood  up  and  sang : — 

"  Come,  oh  come,  thou  vilest  sinner ; 
Christ  is  ready  to  receive; 
Weak  and  wounded,  sick  and  sore, 
Jesus'  halm  can  cure  more. 
Hallelujah,  hallelujah, 
Hallelujah  to  the  Lamb!" 

We  are  not  sure  whether  a  still  higher  claim  cannot  be  put  forth  for  the  open-air 
hymn-singing  of  Primitive  Methodism  from  sixty  to  eighty  years  ago.  Not  even  yet 
can  England  be  called  with  the  same  truth  as  can  other  countries  that  might  be  named — 
the  land  of  song.  One  of  the  impressions  the  foreigner  gets  of  London  is  that, 
despite  the  constant  roar  of  traffic,  the  people  are  strangely  silent.  But,  if  we 
are  to  believe  Thomas  Mozley,*  the  England  of  1820  was  distinguished  neither  for  its 
songfulness  nor  for  its  silence,  but  for  a  vocal  expression  which  had  no  gladness  in  it, 
and  which  he  himself  thus  describes  : — 

"  I  will  content  myself  with- one  point  of  contrast  between  England  as  it  now 
is  and  England  as  it  was  two,  indeed  I  might  now  say  three  generations  ago. 
It  has  forced  itself  upon  rne  so  often  that  I  should  hardly  do  justice  to  myself 
if  I  did  not  declare  it.  In  my  younger  days  there  was  heard  everywhere  and  at 
all  hours  the  voice  of  lamentation  and  passion,  not  always  from  the  young,  not 
always  even  from  the  very  poor.  In  towns  and  villages,  in  streets  and  in  houses, 
in  nurseries  and  in  schools,  and  oven  on  the  road,  there  were  heard  continually 
screams,  prolonged  wailings,  indignant  remonstrances,  and  angry  altercations,  as 
if  the  earth  were  full  of  violence,  and  the  hearts  of  fathers  were  set  against 
their  children,  and  the  hearts  of  children  against  their  fathers.  Xo  doubt  it  was 
so  in  the  time  of  the  poet  who  filled  the  vestibule  of  hell  with  squalling  children. 
But,  as  I  have  said,  these  were  not  all  children  who  brawled  or  lamented  in  the 
open  air  and  in  the  mid-day,  filling  the  air  with  their  grievances,  and  resolved, 
as  they  could  not  be  happy  themselves,  none  else  should  be.  Such  a  picture  would 
be  pronounced  at  once  utterly  inapplicable  to  the  times  we  now  live  in,  but  I  leave 
it  to  almost  any  octogenarian  to  say  whether  it  be  not  a  true  account  of  England 
as  it  was  sixty  or  seventy  years  ago." 

The  picture  drawn  by  Mozley  of  England  as  he  knew  it  in  1820,  dark  though  it  be, 
is  not,  we  are  convinced,  overcharged  with  sepia.  "  Merry  England"  was  a  designation 
sadly  inappropriate  to  our  land  before  the  repeal  of  the  Corn  Laws,  What  the 
Psalmist  so  much  deprecated  had  befallen  us ;  there  was  "  complaining  in  our  streets.'' 
Hence  the  open-air  songs  of  the  new  evangel  breathing  hope  and  promising  deliverance 

*  See  the  chapter  on  "  En-land  in  1S20  and  England  in  1884,"  in  Vol.  II.  of  his  "  Reminiscences, 
chiefly  of  Villages,  Towns,  and  Schools."  Thomas  Mozley  was  a  brother  of  Canon  Mozley,  the 
theologian,  a  relative  of  Cardinal  Newman,  and  a  prolific  leader-writer  on  the  Times:  He  died 
in  ]*!«,  in  the  eighty-third  year  of  his  age,  so  that,  in  giving  his  impressions  of  the  England  of 
1820  (the  year  Primitive  Methodism  was  introduced  into  Manchester),  he  was  writing  of  what  was 
well  within  his  own  knowledge. 


THE   PERIOD   OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE. 


35 


came  as  a  startling  novelty,  and  no  wonder  men  flocked  to  listen.  And  if  now  Mozley's 
picture  held  up  to  the  present  would  appear  the  veriest  caricature,  we  should  rejoice 
that  our  Church  has  greatly  helped  to  destroy  its  verisimilitude.  As  we  pass  along 
the  streets  of  the  working-class  quarter  of  our  towns  and  cities  we 
hear  the  Salvation  Army  band,  and  from  many  a  lighted  window 
we  catch  the  sound  of  familiar  hymn.  Sacred  song,  like  bread, 
is  cheap  and  common  now,  we  say.  It  was  not  always  so,  and 
we  have  done  something  to  give  sacred  song  its  vogue. 


LATE  MB.  E.  LOMAX, 
BOLTON. 


The  Manchester  Group  op  Circuits.     ""We  are  Seven." 

By  1843  the  Manchester  Circuit  of  1821  had  come  to  be 
represented  by  a  group  of  direct  and  indirect  descendants — 
seven  in  number.  As  the  result  of  a  process  of  division  and 
sub-division  plus  extension,  the  original  circuit  had  developed  into 
the  Bolton,  Oldham,  Isle  of  Man,  Stockport,  Bury,  Bochdale,  and  Stalybridge 
Circuits.     Let  us  rapidly  follow  the  main  lines  of  this  development. 

Bolton  was  granted  circuit  independence,  June,  1822.  J.  Verity  was  here  on 
June  24th,  1821,  when  he  writes  of  preaching  to  three  thousand  people,  joining- 
twenty  to  the  society,  and  notes  that  there  is  "an  appearance  of  a  great  work." 
Just  a  month  after  he  is  at  a  camp-meeting,  and  leads  a  love-feast  in  the  Cloth  Hall. 
On  August  19th  he  preaches  three  times  in  the  open  air,  having,  it  was  said,  a 
congregation  of  five  thousand  people.  Two  days  after,  he  is  collecting  for  the  fitting 
up  of  a  large  room,  and  meets  with  "amazing  success."  He  is  greatly  encouraged 
by  a  gift  of  sixteen  shillings  from  a  number  of  mechanics.  They  were  just  about 
to  have  a  "footing"  carouse,  when  an  "influence  which  could  only  proceed  from 
Almighty  God  caused  them  to  deny  themselves,"  and  devote  the  money  to  the  "poor 
Banters,"  as  they  called  them.  Verity  closes  his  labours  at  Bolton  by  forming 
a  Leaders'  Meeting,  and  at  this  time,  August  24th,  reports  that  there  are  nine  classes 
and  one  hundred  and  sixty  members.  Progress  is  marked  by  the  opening,  on 
September  3rd,  of  the  large  room  by  Walton  Carter  as  preacher,  and  though  it  was 
a  week  evening,  he  had  a  congregation  of  eleven  or  twelve 
hundred  people.  It  is  noteworthy  that  when  Bolton  was  made 
a  circuit  no  other  place  was  associated  with  it,  hence,  as  two 
preachers  are  on  the  station  in  1823,  and  five  hundred  members 
are  reported,  it  is  clear  that  other  adjacent  places  must  soon  have 
been  missioned. 

In   this   same   year,    1822,    a    brick    chapel    was    erected   in 
Xewport    Street,  and  a  congregation  continued  to  worship  there 
until  1865,  when  a  chapel  was  purchased  from  the  Baptists  in 
Moor    Lane,    now   the    head    of    Bolton    Second.      The   present 
Higher  Bridge  Street  Chapel,  the  head  of  Bolton  First  Circuit,       late  mrs.  bebbt. 
was  erected  in  1870  at  a  cost  of  £6,588.     It  occupies  the  site  acquired  as  far  back 
as    1830   by   Samuel  Tillotson,    on   which  a  plain,    substantial   building  was    erected, 
flanked  on  either  side  by  a  house  (in  one  of  which  the  preacher  resided),  and  having 

c  2 


36 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST   CHUKCH. 


ii  burial-ground  in  front.  In  1868  a  school  was  built  in  the  rear  of  tbe  chapel,  and 
the  years  brought  other  changes  to  the  property,  the  most  serious  being  decrepitude — 
a  tendency  to  fall.  The  insecurity  of  the  structure  led  to  the  erection,  during  the 
vigorous  superintendency  of  the  Rev.  James  Travis,  of  the  chapel  shown  in  our 
picture.     In  1893  the  school  premises  were  entirely  re-modelled. 

All  the  facts  go  to  show  that  from  the  first,  Bolton,  like  other  Lancashire  towns, 
took  kindly  to  Primitive  Methodism.  "  Took  kindly  "  is  scarcely  the  word.  It  would 
be  nearer  the  truth  to  say— it  eagerly,  almost  fiercely  welcomed  it.  Bolton  and 
Primitive  Methodism  gripped  each  other.     The  first  Minute  Book  of  the  Manchester 


HIGHER  BEIDGE  STREET  CHAPEL,    BOLTON. 


Circuit  shows  that  before  the  close  of  1821  there  were  more  members  in  Bolton 
than  in  Manchester  itself,  the  numbers  being  321  and  211  respectively.  The 
young  circuit  was  vigorous  and  enterprising.  Probably  the  story  is  mythical  which 
tells  how  the  Bolton  Quarterly  Meeting  having,  when  all  expenses  were  met, 
a  balance  of  sixpence,  forthwith  resolved,  on  the  strength  of  that  sixpence,  to  call 
out  an  additional  preacher,  who  was  none  other  than  James  Austin  Bastow.  But 
the  Bolton  Circuit  officials,  some  of  whose  portraits  are  given,  were  just  the  men 
to  venture  much  and  win,   as  they  assuredly  did,  if  the  story  of  their  calling  out 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE. 


37 


MISS  JANE    CBOOK. 


ME.  J.  PENDLEBUBY. 


Howe,   Port  John, 


Mr.  Bastow   be   true.      But,  be  this  as  it  may,  the  Bolton  Circuit  had  the  courage 
of  faith  in  resolving,  six  months  after  its  becoming  a  circuit,  to  send  John  Butcher 
as  a  missionary  to  the  Isle  of  Man.     Probably  it  is  without  a  parallel  that  mother 
and   daughter-circuits   should   come    on    the 
stations    together,    as    was    the    case    with 
Bolton  and  Castletown,  Isle  of  Man,  in  the 
Conference  Minutes  of  1823. 

John  Butcher  landed  at  Derby  Haven, 
and  ' '  opened  his  mission  in  nearly  the  first 
house  he  came  to."  A  Mr.  Kelly,  we  are  told, 
received  him  into  his  house,  for  which  act  of 
good-will  he  was  unchurched  by  the  denomi- 
nation to  which  he  belonged.  The  mission- 
ary's Journal  shows  that  he  began  his  labours 
at  Castletown  on  Friday,  January  10th, 
1823,  and  that  he  went  on  holding  services  at  Colby,  Ballasalla, 
and  other  places  in  the  south-west  of  the  island. 

In  this  Manx  Mission  of  the  Bolton  Circuit  we  have  an  early  and  normal  example 
of  the  Circuit-mission.  By  this  is  meant  that  the  circuit  has  looked  beyond  its  own 
doors  and,  assuming  the  functions  and  responsibilities  of  a  missionary  executive,  has 
conceived  the  plan  of  sending  its  accredited  agent  to  some  more  distant  sphere.  The- 
mission  is  the  outpost  to  which  the  circuit  serves  as  the  base.  Thus  regarded,  the  mission 
to  the  Isle  of  Man  was  the  boldest  thing  a  Primitive  Methodist  circuit  had  as  yet 
attempted.     It  anticipated  the  Irish  missions  by  ten,  and  the  Edinburgh  and  Glasgow 

missions  by  four  years.  Leeds' 
mission  to  London,  which  took 
place  about  the  same  time,  is 
the  only  instance  we  can  recall 
that  can  be  compared  with 
it  for  boldness.  The  Loudon 
mission  was  a  venture  that 
failed  ;  the  Manx  mission  suc- 
ceeded. And  yet,  in  some 
respects,  the  latter  was  the 
bigger  venture ;  for  the  Isle 
of  Man,  though  not  far  away 
as  mere  miles  count,  was  over- 
sea, and  Mona  was  then,  much 
more  than  it  is  now,  a  little 
kingdom  apart,  with  its  own  customs  and  laws  and  even  language,  so  that  it  was 
something  of  the  nature  of  an  experiment  whether  Primitive  Methodism  would  commend 
itself  to  these  islanders  of  Celtic  race,  and  take  hold  of  their  rich  and  fervid  nature. 
The  experiment  succeeded.  The  evangel  the  two  Butchers — the  son  soon  joining 
the   father — had  to   offer  fitted  the  Manx   people   as    perfectly   as   the   ball   fits   its 


PEESENT  CHAPEL  AT  HAEWOOD,    BOLTON. 


38 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST   CHURCH. 


socket.  There  was  scarcely  the  shadow  of  persecution,  unless  the  occasional 
exhibition  of  suspicion  and  prejudice  maybe  counted  such.  "As  we  sang  through 
the  town  some  cried,  '  Shame  !  shame  ! '  "We  get  nothing  much  worse  than  this.  And 
on  the  other  hand,  we  heaT  many  more  saying,  '  It  is  like  the  old  times,  when  the 
Methodists  first  came  to  the  Island.' "  They  recognised  and  welcomed  the  primitiveness 
of  the  Methodism  brought  them.  How  the  work  spread  in  this  corner  of  the  island 
during  these  first  months  of  the  year  may  be  gathered  from  a  joint-letter  written  on 
May  5th  from  Kirk  Arbory,  and  addressed :  "  Dear  brethren  and  fathers  in  the 
Gospel."  The  letter,  of  which  unfortunately  only  the  initials  of  the  signatories  are 
given,  is  a  document  that  cannot  well  be  omitted. 

"  We  have  the  pleasure  of  informing  you  that  the  preachers  you  have  sent  over 
to  us  have,  by  their  preaching  and  the  blessing  of  Almighty  God,  been  rendered 
instrumental  in  the  salvation  of  many  souls.  We  have  now  in  society  about  two 
hundred  members,  and  the  work  appears  to  be  prosperous,  and  as  if  it  were  just 
beginning;  for  the  people  flock  to  hear  them,  'as  doves  to  their  windows,' from 
the  distance  of  four  or  five  miles,  and  are  crying,  'Come,  preach  for  us.'  But  as 
we  have  but  two  preachers,  they  can  only  compass  about  twelve  or  fourteen  miles 
in  length,  on  one  side  of  the  Island.  And  as  we  have  no  local  preachers,  we  cannot 
reach  the  places  as  we  could  wish.  We  have  some  who  are  nearly  ready  for 
exhorters.  We  have  begun  to  have  some  prayer  meetings,  and  they  are  a  great 
blessing  unto  us. 

"  We  have  begun  preaching  at  Douglas  ;   one  of   our  preachers  has  preached 

there  at  the  market-place  these  five 
Sabbaths  last  past,  and  the  services 
have  been  attended  by  amazingly  large 
congregations. 
"  We  remain,  in  the  bonds  of  love  and 
fellowship, 

"A.  C.  ;  J.  G. ;  J.  C. ;  C.  C." 


At  Midsummer,  Henry  Sharman  was 
added  to  the  staff  of  preachers,  and  from 
his  Journal  it  is  clear  that  already  the 
towns  of  Douglas  and  Peel  had  been 
fastened  -upon  and  made  the  strategic 
points  for  further  evangelistic  labours. 
During  the  remainder  of  the  year, 
Sharman  had  his  "  rounds,"  foreshadow- 
ing the  branches  and  circuits  of  a  later 
time.  First,  we  find  him  labouring  on  the 
Castletown  side,  and  then,  after  a  time, 
he  goes  into  the  Douglas  "round," 
which  included  Laxey.  It  is  interesting 
to  note  that  Thomas  Steele  was  very 
helpful  to  Sharman  while  he  was  in 
this  part.    He  records  that  "  he  has  been 


PEEL  OLD  CHAPEL. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE.  39 

made  a  blessing  to  our  society  in  the  Island,"  and  that  "  we  preachers  believe  the  Lord 
sent  him.''  Finally,  Sharman  goes  for  a  month  to  more  distant  Peel,  "  a  place  noted 
for  its  wickedness  and  hardness,  which  gave  him  some  concern.''  Land  had  already 
been  secured  for  a  chapel  at  Douglas.  Just  before  the  Christmas  of  1823  Castletown 
chapel  was  opened ;  four  other  chapels  are  said  to  be  in  course  of  erection,  and  the 
number  of  members  in  the  Island  is  reported  as  six  hundred  and  forty-three. 

Lor  two  years  only  Castletown  stands  on  the  stations,  then  it  is  simply  "  Isle  of 
Man.''  Evidently  Douglas  soon  began  to  take  the  lead,  and  became  the  residence 
of  the  superintendent.  In  1842,  differentiation  began  to  show  itself.  We  have 
Douglas;  Ramsey  Branch;  and  Peel  Mission.  In  1849,  Eamsey  is  a  circuit,  with 
Peel  as  its  branch;  later,  Peel  is  re-absorbed.  In  1851,  Castletown  is  a  branch;  and, 
in  1868,  both  Castletown  and  Peel  have  become  independent  stations.  Finally,  when, 
in  1887,  Laxey  was  made  a  station,  the  present  number  and  order  of  stations  were 
arrived  at.  These  changes  reflect  the  vicissitudes  through  which  our  Church  in  the 
Island  has  passed,  and  the  numerical  returns  bear  similar  witness.  In  1832,  the 
number  of  members  given  is  339 ;  next  year  the  number  is  1,000,  which  is  also  that 
of  1842;  but,  in  1837,  the  number  had  sunk  to  756.  It  is  singular  that  our  present 
numerical  position  in  the  Island  is  practically  the  same  as  in  1842,  viz.,  1,089,  while 
the  number  of  ministers  is  also  the  same.  Seasons  of  spiritual  declension  alternating 
with  seasons  of  revival  do  not  altogether,  or  perhaps  even  mainly,  account  for  these 
fluctuations.  Of  course  they  have  operated  and  left  their  mark  on  the  periodic 
returns.  But  the  chief  explanation  will  probably  be  found  in  the  action,  more  or  less 
acute,  of  economic  and  industrial  conditions  determining  the  flow  of  emigration  from 
the  Island,  which  has  right  along  been  a  serious  hindrance  to  the  steady  advance  of 
the  societies.  Tet,  despite  this  hindrance,  the  Isle  of  Man  still  contributes  one-ninth 
part  of  the  total  membership  of  the  Liverpool  District,  and  it  has  strongly  rooted 
itself  in  the  religious  and  social  life  of  the  Island,  as  the  advance  the  Church  has  made 
on  the  material  side  during  late  years  strikingly  shows.  Illustrations  of  this  later 
phase  of  our  history  we  hope  to  give  hereafter ;  but,  even  confining  ourselves  to  the 
earlier  period,  Bolton's  mission  to  the  Isle  of  Man  must  be  pronounced  a  success 
both  in  its  direct  and  indirect  results.  Names  which  at  once  betray  their  Manx 
origin  are  found  on  the  muster-roll  of  our  workers,  past  and 
present,  both  in  the  Isle  and  out  of  it.  They  stand  side  by  side 
with  the  plain  Saxon  patronymics  we  know  so  well.  The  blend 
and  association  of  racial  qualities  in  Christian  communion  and 
service  thus  indicated  has  been  all  for  good.  Names  such  as 
Clucos,  and  Quayle,  and  Cain  are  unmistakeably  Manx,  and  they 
are  the  names  of  some  out  of  many  who  might  be  named,  who 
served  the  interests  of  our  Church  in  the  Island  during  the 
earlier  days.  Philip  Clucos  (born  1809,  died  1885)  was  a  noted 
pioneer  worker  and  evangelist  in  his  day,  and  as  such  he  traversed 
me.  Philip  clucos.  the  Island>  winning  many  converts.  The  hospitality  of  the 
Quayles,  of  Glenmaye  —  of  which  society  Mrs.  Quayle  was 
the  first  member — is  reported  of  to  this  day.     Of  John  Cain,  of  Einshent,  Foxdale, 


40 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 


it  is  said  he  opened  his  house  for  services,  and  when  the  farm-kitchen  was  too  small 
he  fitted  up  his  ham.  He  was  the  leading  spirit  in  the  erection  of  the  first  chapel 
at  Foxdale.     His  house  was  always  open  to  the  servants  of  God,  and  his  horses  at 


iLENMAYE   OLD   CHAPEL. 


their  disposal  to  lighten  their  journeys.  Through  the  biographies  in  the  Magazines 
we  get  glimpses  of  other  early  workers  and  befrienders  of  the  Cause.  There  are 
Jane  Cubbon,  who  welcomed  John  Butcher  to  her  father's  house  at  Colby ; 
Patrick  Cannal,  one  of  his  first  converts  at  Kirk  Michael,  and  trustee  and  steward  of 
the  chapel  built  in  1824 ;  Ann  Quirk,  who  united  with  the  first  class  at  Douglas,  and 
Ann  Kaown,  "  whose  house  was  unspeakably  valuable  in  the  introduction  of  Primitive 


MR.    W.    QUAYLE.  MRS.    W.    QUAYLE.  ME.    JOHN   CAIN. 

Methodism  into  Douglas ;  John  Corlett,  local  preacher,  who,  as  a  sailor  during  ten 
years  preached  in  the  Shetland  Isles,  at  the  ports  of  Scotland  and  Ireland  and  was 
afterwards  for  three  years  a  devoted  town  missionary  at  Douglas ;  John  Clao-ue  of 
Ramsey  Circuit,  who  preached  for  twenty-one  years  in  his  native  Manx  and  Robert 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE.  41 

Tear,  also  of  the  same  circuit,  "whose  addresses,  principally  given  in  his  native  tongue, 
were  full  of  originality,  pointed,  homely  and  pious,  aptly  illustrated  by  references  to 
agricultural  customs.'' 

Returning  to  Bolton  Circuit.  In  December,  1823,  Henry  Sharman  writes:  "We 
were  enabled  to  send  the  money  we  owed  to  Bolton  Circuit,  and  were  very  little  short 
in  paying  all  besides."  So  that  not  only  was  Bolton  nothing  out  of  pocket  by  its 
venture,  but  it  had  also  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  by  its  enterprise  it  had 
added  a  miniature  kingdom  to  the  Connexion,  and  set  a  worthy  example  before  other 
circuits.  Besides  the  Isle  of  Man,  other  circuits  have,  during  the  course  of  years, 
been  formed  from  Bolton,  viz.,  Bury,  Bolton  Second,  Darwen,  Leigh,  Heywood,  and 
Horwich.  Of  these  successive  changes  in  internal  administration,  the  first  only  falls 
within  the  first  period.  In  the  first  Minute  Book  of  the  Manchester  Circuit,  Bury 
has  only  six  members,  from  which  fact  it  may  be  inferred  that  at  the  close  of  1821 
Bury  had  but  just  been  missioned.  In  1835,  Bury  stands  on  the  Bolton  plan  as 
a  branch  with  some  fifteen  places,  including  Edenfield,  Ramsbottom,  Heywood, 
Chadderton,  Summerseat,  and  Ratcliffe.  At  the  Conference  of  1836  it  became  an 
independent  station,  with  one  minister  and  two  hundred  arid  sixty-two  members. 

Oldham. 

Oldham  was  missioned  about  the  same  time  as  Bolton,  and  here  also  "  thousands 
crowded  to  hear  the  Word  of  life  in  the  open-air.''  There  is  no  need  to  discount 
these  words  of  Verity's  as  though  they  were  merely  a  rhetorical  exaggeration.  Unless 
everybody  has  conspired  to  deceive  us,  Oldham  camp-meetings  down  to,  and  even 
beyond,  the  middle  of  last  century  were  noted  for  the  immense  throngs  attending 
them.  The  Rev.  W.  Antliff,  who  spent  five  of  the  most  influential  years  of  his 
ministry  in  Oldham  (1857-61),  tells  us  that  the  Oldham  Whitsunday  camp-meeting, 
held  on  Oldham  Edge,  was  one  of  the  largest  in  that  part  of  the  kingdom.  He  gives 
the  probable  numbers  present  in  1861  as  ten  thousand  ;  for  that  of  1858,  his  predecessor, 
Miles  Dickenson,  gives  the  estimate  of  fifteen  thousand.  But  it  is  only  fair  to  say 
that  the  traditional  estimates  of  the  numbers  brought  together  at  some  of  these  annual 
gatherings  go  far  beyond  these  figures.  It  almost  seems  as  though  the  first  Oldham 
camp-meeting  of  May  19th,  1822,  had  set  the  pattern  for  all  subsequent  ones.  The 
site  of  the  Oldham  gathering  on  this  famous  camp-meeting  Sunday — of  which  we 
wish  we  could  have  had  a  census  of  attendance  and  the  number  of  professing 
converts — wa3  at  Bardsley,  in  a  field  lent  by  Mr.  Brierley,  of  the  Fir  Trees  Farm. 
The  services  were  carried  on  entirely  by  Manchester  men,  of  whom  Walton  Carter 
was  the  leader.  Fourteen  thousand  people  were  said  to  have  been  present;  there 
were  two  preaching-stands,  five  praying  companies,  and  two  permanent  ones.  Carter 
says  of  this  notable  gathering :  "  People  of  all  denominations  received  it  with  appro- 
bation ;  while  the  attention  of  the  multitude  was  arrested,  and  the  hearts  of  many 
were  inspired  with  zeal  for  the  Lord  of  hosts.'' 

This  Pentecostal  day,  however,  did  not  found  the  church  at  Oldham  though  it 
did  strengthen  it  and  add  to  its  numbers.  A  class  had  previously  been  formed  at 
Brook,  near  Bardsley,  with  James  Wild  and  R.  Ashworth  as  its  leaders ;  and  a  second 


42 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


THE   PERIOD   OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE.  43 

at  Oldham,  of  which  Peter  Macdonald  and  F.  Mannock  were  put  in  charge.  Peter 
Macdonald  graduated  for  the  position  of  first  leader  through  Roman  Catholicism  and 
Methodism.  If  Jonathan  Ireland  had,  for  his  soul's  good,  rung  the  church  bells ; 
Peter  Macdonald  had,  as  an  acolyte,  tinkled  the  hells  at  the  celebration  of  mass,  in 
his  native  county  of  Carlow.  But  he  got  his  mind  enlightened  when  he  came  to 
England  to  follow  his  trade,  abjured  the  errors  of  Romanism,  and,  like  others  here- 
about, passed  through  Methodism  to  join  the  new  revival  movement,  which  both 
suited  him  well  and,  as  he  thought,  needed  what  help  he  could  give.  His  life, 
culminating  in  a  triumphant  death  in  1835,  was  written  by  Samuel  Atterby,  and 
might  profitably  be  reprinted  by  Oldham  Primitives.  Besides  the  officials  of  the 
first  generation  already  named,  mention  may  be  made  of  James  Taylor,  a  convert  of 
Thomas  Aspinall  in  1823,  "one  of  the  first  and  fastest  friends  of  Primitive  Methodism 
in  the  town";  J.  Kent,  Circuit  Steward  from  1829  to  1838;  and  "W.  Winterbottom, 
of  Shore  Edge,  who  was  present  at  the  first  camp-meeting,  and  a  local  preacher  from 
1828  until  his  death  about  1880. 

It  was  in  1862  that  Oldham  was  divided  into  Oldham  First  and  Second  Circuits, 
the  latter  with  Lees  Road  as  its  head,  including  also  Lees,  Bardsley,  Waterhead, 
Elliott  Street,  Delph,  and  Hollinwood.  Regarding  this  as  our  goal  for  the  time  being, 
two  lines  of  development  as  leading  up  to  it  are  distinctly  traceable  as  early  as  1821. 
These  are  set  before  us  in  the  entry  in  the  first  Minute  Book  of  the  Manchester 
Circuit:  "Mumps  and  Oldham  160  members.'-  The  Oldham  line  is  comparatively 
simple  and  direct ;  the  other,  starting  from  Mumps  and  ending  in  Lees  Road,  is  as 
zig-zag  as  pictured  lightning.  Oldham's  first  humble  domicile  was  a  stable  in  Duke 
Street ;  the  next,  a  room  in  Grosvenor  Street,  which,  becoming  too  small,  was  vacated 
for  a  small  chapel  in  the  same  street,  built  about  1826 ;  then  in  1832,  during 
the  superintendency  of  William  Taylor,  a  much  larger  building  was  erected  in 
Boardman  Street,  which  for  a  good  many  years  was  Oldham's  principal  chapel.  As  for 
the  other  society,  like  Moab,  it  seems  to  have  been  emptied  from  vessel  to  vessel  and 
not  allowed  to  settle  on  its  lees.  From  whatever  causes,  it  had  to  shift  its  quarters 
several  times  before  it  acquired  a  location  with  anything  like  fixity  of  tenure.  This 
was  in  a  measure  accomplished  when,  in  1830,  a  room  in  Vineyard  Street  was  acquired, 
which  for  ten  years  served  for  public  worship  and  Sabbath  School  teaching. 

1825  and  1826 — "those  years  the  locust  hath  eaten'' — seem 
to  have  been  at  Oldham,  as  they  were  elsewhere,  a  time  of  trial 
and  waste.  There  are  eight  preaching-places  fewer  on  the  plan 
than  before,  and  the  number  of  local  preachers  is  reduced  by  six. 
But  under  the  vigorous  and  methodical  ministry  of  F.  N.  Jersey 
and  his  colleagues,  the  aspect  of  things  somewhat  brightened, 
and  the  two  years — 1829-31 — John  Garner  spent  in  the  circuit 
were  remarkable  for  their  prosperity.  He  was  then  in  the  bloom 
and  vigour  of  his  manhood,  and  at  the  zenith  of  his  ministerial 
power.  James  Garner  was  called  out  as  an  additional  preacher. 
mr.  j.  longlet.  ISTot  only  was  Vineyard  Street  acquired,  but  in  1831  a  chapel 
,lu  '     was  opened  at   Hollinwood.      Just  thirty  years  after,   a  second 


44  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 

chapel  was  built    at    Hollinwood,    and    since    1880    it    has    stood   at    the    head  of 

Oldham    Third    Circuit.      We    gather    that    the    revival   which    resulted    in   adding 

two  hundred  members  to  the  circuit  membership  during  these  two  years  was  marked 

by  certain  "  peculiar   features,"  not   clearly   specified   by  John  Garner's    biographer. 

"Writing  with  an  almost  provoking  reticence,  he  says :  "  Certain  peculiar  features  of 

the  work  excited,  in  his  observing  mind,   a  degree  of  apprehension.     He  narrowly 

watched   the  movements  of    the  parties  who  acted    prominent   parts  in  the   public 

religious  services.     And  as  he  believed  them  to  be  persons  of  real  worth,  and  influenced 

by  sincere  motives,  he  honoured  them  with  his  confidence,  and  was  thankful  for  their 

hearty  co-operation.''     In  these  words,  the  biographer  rather  timidly  glances  at  some  of 

those  physical  manifestations  of  highly-wrought  religious  feeling  that  not  unfrequently 

showed   themselves  in  early  Methodism,   and  were  not  altogether  unknown  in  the 

beginning  of   our   own  Connexional   history.     Sometimes    these  manifestations   took 

the  form  of  fallings  ;  at  other  times  their  subject  would  go  into  trance  conditions, 

or,  yet  again,  would  leap  or  dance.     The  "  peculiar  features "  of  the  Oldham  revival 

took  the  form  last  named,  as  Jonathan  Ireland  tells  us.     They  in  Manchester  heard 

rumours  of   what  was  going  on  in  Oldham,  and  determined  to  see  for  themselves 

whether  rumour  spoke  truly.     Probably  they  timed  their  visit  so  as  to  be  present  at 

the  quarterly  love-feast  held  December  13th,  1829,  at  which,  says  John  Garner  in 

his  Journal,  "  many  from  Manchester  and  other  places  attended ;  the  chapel  [Grosvenor 

Street]  was  crowded,  and  sixteen  persons  professed  to  have  been  made  happy  in  the 

Lord  during  the  day."     Ireland  speaks  without  reserve  of  the  manifestations  reported 

of  at  Manchester.     "  AVe  had  not  been  long  in  the  chapel  when  the  jumping  began. 

It  soon  spread,  and  became  general  all  over  the  chapel.     But  Mr.  John  Garner  said: 

'  If  you  don't  like  this  sort  of  work,  you  can  take  your  hats  and  leave  us.'  "     It  should 

be  noted  as  a  fact  of  much  importance  that  Ireland  distinctly  states  this  saltatory 

habit  was   "confined   to  the  best  and  most  devoted  members  of  the  society."     No 

doubt    Mr.  Garner   would   rather   have    had   the   gracious    influences    without  these 

accompaniments  ;  but  he  was  a  shrewd  man,  and,  though  he  had  kept  careful  watch, 

he  could  detect  neither  imposture  nor  characterless  fanaticism  in  these  phenomena. 

Hence  he  was  chary   of   rebuke,   lest   haply   he  should  root  up 

the  wheat  with  the  tares. 

On  February  14th,  1836,  the  streets  of  Oldham  saw  a  busy  and 
every  way  primitive  sight,  interesting  to  us  as  showing  that  the 
traits  so  characteristic  of  Hugh  Bourne  were  as  strongly  marked 
as  ever,  though  he  was  now  in  the  sixty-fourth  year  of  his  age. 
In  the  -morning  he  had  led  a  class,  shaken  hands  with  all  the 
Sunday  school  scholars,  and  then  preached  to  them  in  Boardman 
Street  Chapel ;  and  now,  in  the  afternoon,  he  was  heading  a  pro- 
cession after  his  own  heart.  There  were  seven  stoppages  for  prayer, 
and  H.  B.  preached  seven  one-minute-and-a-half  sermons,  plain, 
pointed,  and,  for  the  sake  of  the  children,  containing  references 
to  the  power  of  divine  grace  as  able  to  'take  the  naughty  out  of  their  hearts,  and 
to  save  them  from  Satan  and  his  blue  flames.'     All  this  he  describes  with  evident  zest, 


MR.    LUKE  NIELD. 
Oldham  Second  Circuit. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE.  45 

and  the  description  is  blended  with  counsel  as  to  the  right  ordering  of  such  services, 
and  models  of  the  right  kind  of  one-minute  sermons  are  given ;  and  then  he  turns  to 
tell,  with  wonderful  naivete  and  simplicity,  the  incident  of  the  child  that  was  his  com- 
panion throughout  this  processionary  service  : — 

"A  little  matter  took  place,  which  drew  great  attention.  When  we  had  been 
moving  for  some  time,  I  happened  to  turn  my  head,  and  was  aware  of  a  little 
girl,  of  about  three  or  four  years  of  age,  having  hold  of  my  coat,  and  walking 
by  my  side  in  an  orderly  manner.  This  a  little  surprised  me.  I  put  her  on  the 
foot-path  to  walk  with  some  other  girls ;  but  she  was  immediately  at  my  side 
again  as  before.  And,  however  dirty  the  streets,  or  difficult,  she  kept  her  place. 
After  we  had  stopped  at  any  time  to  pray  and  speak,  she  was  at  once  at  her  place 
again  ;  and  when  the  street  was  very  dirty,  I  occasionally  took  her  by  the  hand. 
I  felt  a  little  anxiety  lest  the  little  creature  should  be  hurt.  But  all  went  well ; 
and  when  returning  to  the  chapel,  the  street  being  very  dirty,  I  put  her  on  the 
foot-path,  and  had  the  satisfaction  to  see  her  come  safe  to  the  chapel.  And 
I  afterwards  found  this  little  girl's  conduct  had  drawn  the  attention  of  many." 

There  is  something  of  the  didactic  and  prophetic  about  this  incident,  which  we  may 
be  sure  Hugh  Bourne  did  not,  after  all,  consider  "a  small  matter.''  Hugh  Bourne 
and  the  child  hand  in  hand,  heading  the  procession  through  Oldham  streets,  was  a  lesson, 
and  a  parable  of  the  future  as  well  as  a  pleasing  picture.  It  said :  "Take  care  of  the 
children.  Do  not  repulse  them  and  say,  '  Trouble  not  the  Master.'  Have  them  with 
you.  Lift  them  out  of  the  dirt,  and  keep  them  from  falling.''  And  it  anticipated 
these  later  days,  when  the  young  are  ungrudgingly  welcomed  into  the  van  of  the 
Church's  forward  movements. 

The  picture,  as  thus  given,  is  scarcely  complete  without  a  reference  to  Hugh  Bourne's 
engagement  on  the  morning  following  the  multifarious  labours  of  the  Sabbath,  which 
might  well  have  brought  "blue  Monday  "  in  their  train.  If  it  came,  it  found  him  still 
following  his  bent — caring  for  the  young  life.  After  a  night's  rest  at  his  old  friend 
James  Wild's,  he  went  with  S.  Atterby  to  Lees,  to  inspect  the 
Infant  School  taught  in  the  chapel  S.  Turner  had  built  in  1834. 
H.  B.  compared  notes  with  Brother  Watts,  the  teacher,  and  suggested 
certain  improvements  he  himself  had  projected,  and  finished  up  by 
holding  a  service  with  the  children. 

We  close  our  notice  of  Oldham  by  calling  attention  to  the 
portraits,  which  will  be  found  in  the  text,  of  some,  out  of  many 
that  might  have  been  given,  of  tried  and  faithful  officials  who 
may  be  considered  to  have  been  the  makers  of  Oldham  Second 
Station. 
mr.  d.  cLKGo.  On  the  Sunday  before  the  Coronation,  July  15th,  1821,  John 

Oldham  Second  Circuit.  ,  .  _  „  . 

Verity  tormed societies  at  .Newton,  Staly bridge,  and  Asnton-under- 
Lyne.  Despite  the  opposition  met  with  at  the  last-named  place,  the  work  prospered ; 
indeed,  so  much  favour  did  the  missionaries  find  with  the  people,  that  they  came 
forward  willingly  to  furnish  the  preaching-room,  as  Verity  thankfully  and  even 
exultantly  records.  From  the  evidence  supplied  by  an  old  plan,  it  would  seem  that 
Ashton  stood  as  a  circuit  in  1824.    But,  if  so,  its  name  does  not  appear  on  the  Conferential 


46  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 

stations  as  such,  and,  in  1825,  Ashton,  together  with  Hyde  and  Dukinfield,  were 
transferred  from  Manchester  to  Oldham;  and  in  1838,  these  and  other  places 
became  the  Stalybridge  Circuit. 

Ashton  made  full  amends  for  the  rough  treatment  of  our  early  missionaries  by 
some  of  its  inhabitants.  It  has  paid  a  large  indemnity,  by  -which  the  Connexion  has 
been  enriched.  As  a  set-off  to  the  hustling  of  Walton  Carter  and  the  imprisonment 
of  S.  Waller,  it  has  sent  forth  some  of  its  sons  who  have  done  splendid  service. 
The  Ashton  society  was  instrumental  in  the  conversion  of  three  young  men  who  were 
companions.  One  of  these  was  James  Austerbury,  now  spending  a  quiet  evening  after 
serving  the  Church  at  home  long  and  faithfully ;  the  second  was  Edward  Crompton, 
who  after  spending  some  years  in  the  ministry  in  this  country,  entered  that  of  the 
Primitive  Methodist  Church  of  the  U.  S.  A.  ;  the  third  was  John  Standrin,  who  prior 
to  his  being  sent  out  in  1857  by  the  G.  M.  Committee  to  Australia,  travelled  in  the 
Knowlwood  Circuit — 1854-55.  During  revivalistic  services  which  he  conducted  at 
Summit,  on  the  Lancashire  side  of  the  Pennine  range,  a  group  of  young  men  were 
won  to  the  Church,  some  of  whom  were  to  carve  their  name  deep  in  the  history 
of  our  Church  during  the  middle  and  later  periods  of  its  history.  When  we  say  that 
one  of  these  was  James  Travis,  another  John  Slater,  and  a  third  Barnabas  Wild,  long 
esteemed  in  the  Sunderland  District  as  a  solid  preacher  and  an  upbuilder  of  the 
churches,  it  will  be  seen  that  Ashton  is  an  interesting  link  in  the  chain  of  causes 
which,  in  the  providence  of  God,  have  produced  far-reaching  results. 

Kochdalb  ;   Stockport. 

Rochdale  was  part  of  the  Manchester  Circuit  until  1837,  when  it  became  the  head 
of  a  station  with  five  hundred  members.  We  know  the  exact  date  when  our  missionaries 
first  lifted  up  their  voice  in  this  important  town.  It  was  July  15th,  1821,  when 
Walton  Carter  "  went  to  open  Rochdale,''  as  he  himself  has  told  us.  "  Three  of  our 
society,"  he  says,  "  went  with  me.  We  sang  up  the  street  at  one  o'clock,  and  collected 
a  good  many  people.  But  heavy  rain  coming  on,  I  was  obliged  to  desist ;  but  resumed 
my  place  at  five,  and  preached  to  a  very  large  and  attentive  congregation.  Some  were 
affected,  and  I  have  heard  since  were  brought  to  God." 

The  heavy  rain  here  referred  to  may  have  been  the  identical  rain-storm  which,  as 
Jonathan  Ireland  avers,  led  Jenny  Bridges  to  take  pity  on  the  missionary,  and  offer 
him  the  shelter  of  her  cellar  in  Cheetham  Street  for  the  service.  Anyway,  the  cellar 
was  Rochdale's  first  lowly  preaching-place.  The  tenants  of  the  cellar,  John  Bridges, 
the  carrier,  and  his  wife,  must  be  numbered  among  the  eccentrics  of  our  Israel,  yet 
one  trait  in  Jane's  character  may  be  recalled  to  her  credit.  Reverence  may  show  itself 
in  cellar  as  well  as  in  cathedral ;  and  for  that  particular  flag  in  her  own  cellar  whereon 
Jane  knelt  when  she  found  peace  through  believing,  she  had  ever  a  feeling  akin  to 
reverence.  She  kept  it  clean.  She  pointed  it  out  to  visitors.  To  her  it  was°a  spot  as 
sacred  as  an  adorned  altar. 

From  the  cellar,  a  remove  was  made,  in  1825,  to  a  room  in  Packer  Meadow,  off 
Packer  Street.  The  remove  was  a  step  upward  in  the  scale  of  respectability  ;  for  we 
are  told  that  Packer  Street  (of  which  we  give  a  view,  taken  from  an  old  print),  was, 


THE   PEKIOD   OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE. 


47 


in  those  days,  considered  one  of  the  important  streets  of  the  town.  Though  very 
narrow,  many  business  and  professional  men  had  premises  here ;  and  at  the  top  of  this 
street  was  the  ascent  to  the  parish  church  by  a  flight  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-one 

steps ;  while  at  the  bottom  of  the  steps,  to  the 
Wt"  '  •-  \  "■.  .__--  '---^    right,  was  the  famous  "  Packer  Spout,'' a  well  noted 

for  its  cool,  clear,  pure  water. 

The  room  over  the  cloth-dresser's  in  Packer 
Street  served  the  uses  of  the  society  until  1830, 
when  Drake  Street  Chapel  was  built,  at  first 
without  a  gallery.  This,  in  its  turn,  lasted  until 
1862,  when  the  present  chapel  was  built  at  a  cost 
of  £2,500.  Thus,  for  a  generation — right  through 
the  mid-third  of  the  century — "  old  "  Drake  Street 
was  the  Church's  centre  in  Eochdale  for  worship 
and  service.  Many  worthy  people,  of  whom  one 
or  two  only  we  may  recall,  gradually  grew  old  and 
grey  in  attending  upon  its  ordinances  and  fulfilling 
their  varied  ministries. 

Edmund  Holt  was,  for  many  years,  the  choir- 
master of  Drake  Street.  Here  any  Sunday  he 
might  have  been  seen,  surrounded  by  other 
instrumentalists  and  singers,  manipulating  a  huge  concertina.  This  good  though 
eccentric  man,  it  is  said,  was  equally  at  home  on  the  platform  as  in  the  singing 
pew,  and  by  his  public  addresses  could  play  on  the  feelings  of  men,  by  turns  evoking 
tears  and  laughter.  His  name-sake,  Thomas  Holt,  was  of  different  type ;  quiet,  modest 
in  speech  and  act,  a  "son  of  consolation.'  Both  survived  until  1877.  James 
Whitehead  was  another  official  who  rendered  long  and  important  service.     He  threw 


PACKER  STREET,    ROCHDALE. 


EDMUND   HOLT. 


THOMAS   HOLT. 


THOMAS  WHITEHEAD. 


much  energy  into  the  discharge  of  his  varied  offices — Circuit  Steward,  Sunday  School 
superintendent,  class  leader,  and  local  preacher,  and  yet,  when  done,  had  a  surplus 
of  energy  left  to  draw  upon.  When  he  died  in  1865,  it  was  to  the  general  regret  of 
the  townsfolk  of  Eochdale,  as  well  as  of  his  own  people.  The  portraits  of  these  and 
one  or  two  other  early  workers  are  given  in  the  text. 


48 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


Stockport  :  Woodlbt. 

Stockport  and  the  places  thereabout  for  some  years  formed  part  of  the  Manchester 
Circuit.  One  of  the  early  workers  tells  how  he  and  his  fellow  "  locals  "  used  regularly 
to  walk  from  four  to  twelve  miles  on  a  Sunday  morning,  preach  indoors  and  outof- 
doors,  pray  with  penitents,  and  then  tramp  back  again.  When  they  went  southward  to 
Stockport  or  beyond,  they  would  meet  in  the  evening  on  the  Lancashire  Bridge  and 
journey  home.  The  first  word  said  by  one  to  another  would  be,  "How  many  souls 
to-day,  lad  1 "  and  often  they  rejoiced  together  over  the  spoil  they  had  taken. 

To  some  appreciable  extent  Primitive  Methodism  had  been  influenced  by  Stockport 
"  Kevivalism."      The  Revivalists  (amongst  whom  probably  were  Ebenezer  Pulcifer  and 


PRESENT  CHAPEL,    WELLINGTON   ROAD,    STOCKPORT. 

James  Selby  of  Droylesden)  had  carried  the  fire  to  Congleton,  at  which  Hugh  Bourne's 
zeal  was  kindled  afresh.  They  set  causes  to  work  which  turned  James  Steele  into 
a  Eevivalist,  and  resulted  in  the  conversion  of  William  Clowes  and  others  of  the 
fathers.  So  that  when  Primitive  Methodism  entered  Stockport  to  stay,  Stockport  was 
only  getting  its  own  with  usury.  From  this  time  onward,  Stockport  is  a  good  deal  to 
the  fore.  It  has  frequent  incidental  mention  in  the  records  of  the  time,  as  though  it 
were  a  place  which  lay  right  in  the  track  of  the  Church's  movements.  Our  founders 
not  unfrequently  came  this  way,  and  passed  through  or  tarried  here.  Thus  William 
Clowes  tells  us  that  just  after  the  District  Meeting  of  1828,  he  came  to  assist  in  the 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE. 


49 


KEV.  SAMUEL  SMITH. 


opening  of  a  new  chapel  at  Stockport  (Duke  Street),  and  found  that  his  congregation 
had  gained  admission  to  the  service  hy  the  presentation  of  purchased  tickets.  The 
same  monetary  arrangement  obtained  in  1833,  when  he  preached  the  school  sermons. 

This  time  he  was  the  guest  of  "  friend  Beeston,''  and  it 
had  taken  him  two  days  to  get  from  Silsden,  riding, 
as  he  had  to  do,  through  heavy  rains,  behind  an 
unmanageable  horse.  The  present  chapel,  "  Ebenezer," 
Wellington  Road,  S.,  was  built  in  1882,  at  a  cost 
of  £6000. 

It  was  in  1831  that  Stockport  became  an  indepen- 
dent station,  with  John  Graham  and  R.  Kaye,  a 
native  of  Bolton,  as  its  preachers  and  "  one  wanted." 
Samuel  Smith  and  Jesse  Ashworth  are  names  closely 
associated  with  Stockport's  early  days.  The  former 
was  born  at  Denton,  a  village  near  Stockport,  and 
though  he  removed  to  Leeds  to  serve  his  apprenticeship, 
he  returned  in  1834  to  superintend  the  station  for  two 
busy  and  successful  years.  The  religious  services  of 
the  District  Meeting  of  1835,  held  at  Stockport, 
resulted  in  the  conversion  of  more  than  forty  persons.  Samuel  Smith  must  be  regarded 
as  having  been  one  of  the  makers  of  the  original  Manchester  District.  He  travelled 
in  Manchester  itself  and  the  principal  stations  of  the  District,  and  finished  his 
useful  life  as  a  supernumerary-assistant  at  Stockport,  January,  1878,  aged  80  years. 
More  than  most,  Samuel  Smith  was  a  preacher  for  the  people,  and  he  had  their  social 
and  political  welfare  at  heart.  It  was  Stockport  which  first  sent  Richard  Cobden  to 
Parliament,  and  the  crusade  of  which  Cobden  and  Bright  were  the  leaders  had  Samuel 
Smith's  full  sympathy.  True,  the  Consolidated  Minutes  might  say :  "  He,  i.e., 
a  travelling  preacher,  must  not  deliver  speeches  at  political  meetings  or  parliamen- 
tary elections,''  but  Samuel  Smith  and  a  few  others  probably  interpreted  this  to  mean 
that  they  were  only  prohibited  from  making  speeches  in  the  Tory  interest,  and  so  reading 
the  rule  they  took  care  to  observe  it  strictly.  S.  Smith's  ardent 
and  early  advocacy  of  Total  Abstinence  will  be  referred  to  when 
we  come  to  deal  with  Preston,  but  in  proof  of  his  practical 
sympathy  with  the  ameliorative  movements  of  his  day,  it  is  said 
that  he  was  elected  as  one  of  Lancashire's  representatives  on 
a  deputation  to  Sir  Robert  Peel,  and  that  he  was  one  of  those 
who  pressed  upon  the  great  commoner  the  total  and  immediate 
abolition  of  the  corn  laws. 

It  was  during  his  term  in  Stockport  that  Samuel  Smith  took 
kindly  notice  of  Jesse  Ashworth,  then  a  youth  of  fourteen.  He 
succeeded  in  creating  in  his  young  mind  the  thirst  for  knowledge, 
and  especially  the  thirst  for  Biblical  knowledge.  He  took  him 
with  him  to  Gatley,  where  the  youth  gave  his  first  exhortation.  He  proposed  him  for 
the  plan,  and  the  same   year   young   Jesse   found   himself   at    sixteen   years  of   age 


KEV.  J.  ASHWOETH. 


50 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


W.  OHEETHAM,  SEN. 


and   man-fighters," 


a  travelling  preacher.  This  was  in  1837,  and  the  duty  of  placing  on  record  the  facts 
and  an  estimate  of  his  long  and  useful  life  will  fall  to  the  lot  of  the  Conference  of  1904. 
In  the  roll  of  Stockport  Circuit's  early  worthies  the  following  names  should  have 
honourable  place : — J.  Penny,  first  Circuit  Steward,  and  local 
preacher,  W.  Cheetham,  sen.,  Circuit  Steward,  and  his  present 
successor,  W.  Cheetham,  jun. ;  J.  Ashton,  the  first  Sunday 
School  Superintendent;  Thomas  Dunning,  a  noted  "local"  and 
street  preacher ;  John  Harrison,  local  preacher ;  and  J.  Peckston, 
Chapel  Treasurer  and  a  generous  supporter  of  the  cause. 

Woodley,  in  the  near  vicinage  of  Stockport  and,  since  1887, 
a  circuit  in  its  own  right,  has  had  a  long  and  interesting  history. 
It  was  opened  in  1822,  in  the  usual  way,  by  the  holding  of  open-air 
services.  It  much  needed  missioning.  The  candle  lighted  by 
"Wesley  had  all  but  gone  out.  What  religion  it  had  was 
mainly  of  the  formal  inactive  type ;  "  dog-fighters,  cock-fighters 
on  the  contrary,  were  too  active,  and  our  missionaries  had  to 
contend  with  persecution  of  the  rude  and  mischievous  kind.  Two  houses  that 
were  successively  offered  were  as  quickly  closed  to  us  because 
of  this  activity  of  the  sons  of  Belial.  "Whereupon  the  preacher 
for  the  day  made  an  appeal  to  his-  out-door  audience,  and  one 
Israel  Burgess  felt  the  force  of  that  appeal.  He  feared  lest  the 
missionary  should,  after  the  manner  of  the  apostles,  shake  the 
dust  off  his  feet  and  depart,  and  hence  he  agreed,  if  his  family 
were  willing,  to  lend  his  house  for  the  services.  So  much  in 
earnest  were  they,  that  his  wife  walked  to  Stockport  to  announce 
to  the  preacher  their  acquiescence.  Services  were  held  here  for 
a  time,  until  a  room  in  a  warehouse  was  taken,  and  then  in  1835 
i  chapel  with  schools  below  was  built.  Young  Jesse  Ashworth 
was  present  at  the  opening  services  which  were  conducted  on 
successive  Sabbaths  by  Thomas  Holliday,  J.  A.  Bastow  and  John  Flesher,  the  last 
of  whom  thrilled  his  audience  as  he  preached  two  of  his  great  sermons — the 
Penitent  Thief,  and  the  Eaising  of  the  "Widow's  Son. 

A  blessing  rested  on  the  house  of  Israel  Burgess.  A  Burgess  was 
the  mother  and  grandmother  of  the  Staffords,  five  of  whom  served 
for  some  time  at  least  in  the  Primitive  Methodist  ministry; 
the  most  widely  known  of  these  being  Samuel  Stafford  (1854-90), 
and  his  nephew,  Luke  Stafford,  whose  name  is  associated  with 
the  origin  of  the  Prayer  and  Bible  Eeading  Union.  Henry 
Stafford,  the  father  of  the  latter,  was  for  forty-five  years  a  local 
preacher  in  the  Stockport  Circuit,  and  an  active  supporter  of  the 
cause  at  Woodley.  Bramall  too  is  a  name  to  be  mentioned  with 
respect  in  any  notice  of  the  early  history  of  our  Church  in  Woodley. 
It  was  Edward  Bramall  who  began  the  Sabbath  school  in  his 
own  house.      For  two  Sundays  only  was  it  held  here,  being  then  removed  to  the  ware- 


BEV.  S.  STAFFORD. 


BEV.  LUKE  STAFFORD. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT    PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE. 


51 


house,  which  served  until  the  schools  below  the  chapel  of   1835  could  be  utilised. 
In  1861  separate  schools  were  built.     Since  the  day  when  E.  Bramall  improvised  seats 
for  his  scholars  by  planks  placed  on  bricks, 'progress  has  been  made.     Thomas  Bramall, 
now  retired  from  the  active  ministry,  was 
one  of  the  band  sent  out  by  Woodley. 

In  or  about  the  year  1849,  the  Church  at 

Woodley  was  strengthened  by  the  accession 

of  John   Lees  Buckley  to  its  ranks.     By 

^^^^^^  dint  of  perseverance  he  overcame  initial 

■^^^^B  difficulties   that   would    have    daunted    a 

^jB     H  weaker   man,   and  gained  an   honourable 

8BJp        i^K^H        position  anlong  the  manufacturers  of  his 

■■MB  district.     But  success  did  not  spoil  him. 

^^^^^^^^^^™        He  never  lost  his  prayerfulness  or  his  relish 

MR.  HENRY   STAFFORD.  .  r       J 

for  spiritual  things.  Primitive  Methodism 
in  Woodley  and  the  district  owes  much,  especially  on  the  material  side,  to  the 
beneficence  and  steady  connexional  attachment  of  John  Lees  Buckley  and  his  family. 
For  twenty  years  he  was  superintendent  of  the  Sunday  school,  a  local  preacher, 
a  patron  of  the  Manchester  Institute,  a  working  member  of  various  district  and 
connexional  committees.     He  died  January  21st,  1880,  aged  65  years. 


MR.  J.  LEES  BUCKLEY. 


WOODLEY   PRIMITIVE  METHODIST  CHAPEL,  BUILT  1868. 


52  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

The  Missioning  of  York  and  Leeds. 


Hi  fiSJ  ^  ^8  ^me  we  returned  to  Hull  to  see  what  that  Circuit  was  doing  for  the 
iS     §9      extension  of  the  Connexion.      An  authentic  document  of  the  time  ready 
rfffi«y83!     to  our  hand  may  help  us  here.      It  is  a  letter  sent  to  Hugh  Bourne  by 
Richard  Jackson,  the  energetic  steward  of  Hull  Circuit.      The  letter,  dated 
March  20th,  1822,  reads  like  a  dispatch  from  the  seat  of  war — as  indeed  it  was.      We 
shall  have  to  refer  to  this  important  letter  again  when  we  come  to  speak  of  Hull's 
mission  to  Craven   and   to   Northumberland ;    that   part   of   the   letter   which   more 
immediately  concerns  us  here  is  this  statement :   "  It  is  two  years  and  nine  months 
since  Hull  was  made  a  circuit  town  and  we  have  since  made  seven  circuits 

from  Hull,  viz.  : — Pocklington,  Brotherton,  Hutton  Rudby,  Malton,  Leeds,  Ripon  and 
York  Circuits.'-  The  formation  of  the  first  three  circuits  named  in  this  list  has  already 
been  described,  and  what  this  and  the  next  chapters  have  to  show  is  the  direction  and 
degree  of  the  geographical  extension  made  as  registered  by  the  formation  in  1822  of 
the  York,  Leeds,  Malton  and  Ripon  Circuits.  What  we  have  now  to  watch  and  discern 
the  meaning  of  is  the  establishment  of  strategic  centres  in  the  wide  county  of  York,  and 
the  organised  endeavour  to  occupy  for  the  Connexion  a  tract  of  country  which  now  forms 
a  considerable  part  of  the  Leeds  and  York,  and  Bradford  and  Halifax  districts. 

York. 
The  continuous  and  commanding  part  the  ancient  city  of  York  has  played  in  the  civil 
and  ecclesiastical  history  of  England  has  very  largely  been  the  outcome  of  its  unique 
geographical  position.  Lying  as  it  does  at  the  entrance  to  the  vale  of  York,  the  city 
has  held  the  key  to  the  Great  North  road  along  which  armies  and  travellers  and  mer- 
chants and  merchandise  were  bound  to  pass.  It  is  no  accident  that  the  mediaeval  city 
has  renewed  its  youth  as  a  great  railway  centre.  York  has  always  had  to  be  reckoned 
with,  and  even  Primitive  Methodist  missionaries  had  very  early  to  reckon  with  it. 
They  could  not  have  given  it  the  go-by  without  making  both  a  physical  •  and  moral 
detour  which  would  have  meant  bad  strategy  and  personal  dishonour.  To  evangelise 
Yorkshire  and  omit  York  would  indeed  have  been  to  play  Hamlet,  and  to  leave  Hamlet 
himself  out.  Hence,  within  six  months  of  Clowes'  entry  into  Hull,  we  find  him  con- 
fronted with  the  task  of  entering  York.  As  though  he  himself  were  fully  aware  of  the 
significance  of  the  event,  he  not  only  gives  its  exact  date,  but  a  graphic  description  of 
his  feelings  at  the  time,  and  of  the  circumstances  of  his  entry  which  were  not  without 
a  certain  dignity  and  picturesqueness.  The  account  must  be  given  in  Clowes'  own 
words  ;  nor  will  the  reader  fail  to  notice  his  feeling  of  the  inevitability  of  the  duty  that 
lay  before  him  as  evidenced  by  the  narrative.      As  Christ   "  must  needs  go  through 


THE   PERIOD   OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE. 


53 


Samaria,''  so  Clowes  felt  there  was  a  needs-be  that  he  must  deliver  his  testimony  in 

York. 

"  Being  now  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  the  city  of  York,  I  formed 
a  resolution,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  God  of  Israel,  to  lift  up  my  banner  in 
that  far-famed  city  of  churches.  Accordingly,  I  sent  a  notice  to  the  city  crier 
to  announce  to  the  citizens  of  York  that  a  '  Kanter '  preacher  would  preach  on  the 
Pavement.  But  the  crier  sent  me  word  that  he  durst  not  give  public  notice  of  my 
purpose,  unless  I  first  obtained  sanction  of  the  Lord  Mayor.  Here  I  soon  found 
I  was  in  a  measure  locked  in  a  difficulty.  It  occurred  to  me  that  if  I  waited  upon 
his  lordship  to  solicit  permission,  he  would  very  probably  refuse  me  liberty  ;    and 


OLD  PAVEMENT,    YORK,   FROM  AN  OLD  PAINTING  IN  THE  POSSESSION  OF  \V.   CAMIDGE,  ESQ. 

were  I  to  attempt  preaching  after  a  denial,  very  likely  he  would  order  me  to 
prison ;  and  then  if  I  should  pass  by  the  city  without  bearing  my  testimony  in  it, 
my  conscience  would  remonstrate,  and  my  duty  to  God  and  my  fellow-creatures 
would  be  undischarged  ;  consequently,  I  determined  to  proceed  and  preach  the 
gospel  in  the  streets  of  the  city,  in  conformity  with  the  instructions  which  I  had 
received  from  Jesus  Christ,  without  asking  permission  of  any  one. 

"  Accordingly,  on   Monday,   May   24th,   1819,  at   seven  o'clock  in  the  evening, 
I  stood  up  on  the  Pavement  in  the  Market-place,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  who 
had  so  often  supported  me  in  similar  enterprises.      I  commenced  the  service  by 
singing  the  fourteenth  hymn  in  the  small  hymn-book  : — 
"  Come,  oh  come,  thou  vilest  sinner,"  &c. 


fj4  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 

In  a  short  time  the  people  drew  up  in  considerable  numbers,  and  the  shop-doors 
and  other  places  were  crowded.  All  was  very  quiet  until  I  had  sung  and  prayed, 
when  a  man  in  the  congregation  became  rather  uproarious  ;  but  I  got  my  eye  upon 
him,  and  he  was  checked.  When  I  had  proceeded  about  half-way  through  my 
discourse,  a  troop  of  horse  came  riding  up,  and  surrounded  the  congregation  and 
the  preacher.  The  devil  immediately  suggested  to  me  that  the  Lord  Mayor  had 
sent  the  soldiers  to  take  me,  under  the  idea  that  I  was  a  radical  speaker,  inciting 
the  people  to  rebellion ;  but  I  rallied  after  this  shot  from  the  enemy's  camp,  and 
went  on  exhorting  sinners  to  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come.  I  accordingly  concluded 
my  sermon  without  molestation  ;  the  soldiers  and  people  retiring  in  proper  order. 
Some  asked  me  who  I  was,  and  what  I  was ;  I  told  them  my  name  was  William 
Clowes,  and  that  in  principle  I  was  a  Methodist,  and  that  I  would  preach  there 
again  the  next  fortnight.  Accordingly,  I  took  up  my  staff  and  travelled  seven 
miles  to  sleep  that  evening  accompanied  by  a  few  friends." 

W.  Clowes'  promised  second  visit  to  York  was  not  paid  in  a  fortnight  as  announced ; 
nor  it  would  seem  until  some  six  weeks  after.  But  before  the  summer  was  over,  not 
only  Clowes,  but  his  colleagues,  Sarah  Harrison  and  her  husband  at  separate  times 
preached  in  the  Thursday  Market  (St.  Sampson's  Square),  this  spot  being  probably 
chosen  as  better  adapted  for  the  purpose  than  the  Pavement.  Each  of  these  services 
had  features  in  common.  Behind  the  missionary,  on  each  occasion,  we  can  discern  the 
now  somewhat  shadowy  figures  of  village  friends  and  abettors  especially  belonging  to 
Elvington,  some  seven  miles  distant.  Here  lived  the  brothers  Bond,  well-to-do  farmers, 
whose  names  frequently  occur  in  the  early  journals  as  extending  hospitality  to  God's 
servants  and  in  other  ways  helping  to  establish  our  cause  in  these  parts,  and  notably  in 
York.  Elvington  was  in  a  sense  the  base  for  the  mission  to  York.  Clowes  took  his 
staff  and  travelled  on  to  Elvington  to  sleep  after  his  first  visit  to  the  city.  It  was  while 
at  Elvington  the  friends  urged  Sarah  Harrison  to  enter  York.  The  villagers  by  the 
Ouse  and  Derwent  were  proud  of  their  county-capital,  as  well  they  might  be.  They 
were  ambitious  that  their  missionaries  and  their  chief  city  should  be  on  good  terms  with 
each  other.  To  them  York  with  its  twenty  thousand  inhabitants  was  the  big  city. 
With  its  churches  and  minster,  its  Lord  Mayor  and  soldiery  and  Judges  of  Assize,  it 
stood  for  all  that  was  distinguished  and  impressive.  If  only  W.  Clowes  and  Sarah  and 
John  Harrison  would  go  up  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  and  take  York,  who  could 
tell  what  great  things  might  follow?  So  not  only  did  the  missionaries  go,  but  the 
villagers  went  with  them  for  company  and  support — only  they  went  with  diverse 
feelings.  For  it  is  very  noticeable  how  in  each  case  these  leading  missionaries  of  Hull 
Circuit  went  to  York  with  a  weight  of  anxiety  resting  upon  them  that  could  not  be 
concealed,  and  that  it  was  difficult  to  account  for.  It  seemed  as  though  the  dread  of 
the  city  rested  upon  them.  So  it  was  with  Sarah  Harrison  who  was  the  next  to  go. 
At  first  the  cross  appeared  too  heavy  for  her  to  take  up.  She  was  however  encouraged 
by  a  promise  from  several  to  accompany  her,  and  she  accordingly  went.  When  she 
was  entering  the  North  Gate  and  having  a  first  view  of  the  city  her  courage  was 
shaken,  and  for  some  time  she  felt  as  if  she  could  not  preach.  So  it  was  with 
Clowes  :  "  On  my  way  [from  Elvington  to  York]  my  spirit  became  greatly  exercised ; 
heavy  trouble  pressed  upon  me ;  I  had  an  impression  of  fear  and  uneasy  apprehension 


THE   PERIOD   OF   CIRCUIT    PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE. 


55 


respecting  my  mission  to  the  city.  However,  as  I  proceeded,  I  recollected  I  had 
counted  the  cost,  and  however  I  might  be  called  to  suffer,  truth  would  win  its  way 
and  God  would  be  glorified."  John  Harrison's  experience  was  almost  identical  with  the 
experience  of  his  colleagues  who  had  preceded  him.  "Tuesday,  July  6th,  I  and  my 
friend  left  for  York.  We  entered  the  city,  but  the  thought  of  having  to  preach  was  to 
me  a  great  trial :  I  trembled  with  a  great  trembling."  These  reminders  that  our 
pioneers  were  after  all  men  and  women  of  like  passions  with  ourselves,  and  had  their 
seasons  when  duty  which  they  would  not  flee  from  looked  formidable,  are  not  to  be 
disregarded,  for,  despite  the  tremors  of  the  flesh,  God  was  with  them  and  enabled 
them  to  deliver  their  testimony  in  Thursday  Market  with  power  and  success. 


st.  Sampson's  square,  york,  then  called  Thursday  market,  where  three  open-air 

services  were  held. 

Sarah  Kirkland  preached  to  an  immense  crowd  at  the  corner  of  the  Thursday  Market 
from  a  butcher's  block,  obligingly  placed  at  her  disposal  by  its  owner  who  was 
a  Methodist.  As  for  Clowes,  thousands  gathered  round  him  as  he  preached,  but 
though  some  had  said  "  they  would  be  taken  up,"  to  his  surprise  "  not  a  tongue  of 
disapprobation  was  lifted  up,  all  was  quiet,  and  all  heard  the  truth  of  God  proclaimed 
with  the  deepest  attention."  John  Harrison  too  had  a  large  congregation  and  the 
people  "  gave  evidence  of  their  approval  of  the  truth  by  their  tears.'' 

As  the  result  of  these  memorable  visits  of  the  pioneers,  a  society  of  seven  members 
was  formed,  and  with  the  help  of  the  friends  at  Elvington  a  room  was  secured  in 
a  building  near  St.  Anthony's  Hall  (Blue  Coat  School),  Peaseholme  Green,  for  the 
holding  of  services.      The  society's  occupancy  of  this  room  was  but  a  brief  one,  lasting 


56 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


only  a  few  months.  Not  only  had  the  room  little  to  offer  in  the  way  of  comfort  or 
cheerfulness,  but  as  the  society  grew  its  inadequacy  became  more  and  more  apparent. 
Looking  round  for  more  eligible  quarters,  attention  was  turned  to  an  unoccupied  chapel 
in  Grape  Lane,  originally  built  for  the  Rev.  William  Wren  who  had  seceded  from  Lady 
Huntingdon's  Connexion  in  1781.  After  his  death,  three  years  after,  it  had  been  hired 
by  the  Congregationalists,  and  then  in  turn  occupied  by  the  New  Connexion,  the 
Wesleyan  Methodists,  the  Particular  Baptists,  and  Unitarian  Baptists ;  *  so  that  in  the 
thirty-nine  years  of  its  existence  as  a  building  it  had  changed  hands  and  denominations 
no  less  than  half-a-dozen  times.      Many  old  Nonconformist  meeting-houses  have  had 


IttSmm 


CRAPE  LANE  CHAPEL.        THE  FIRST  PRIMITIVE  METHODIST  CHAPEL  IN   YOEK. 

a  strange,  eventful  history,  but  one  thinks  it  would  be  hard  to  find  one  with  a  more 
chequered  record  than  Grape  Lane.  Something  of  the  outward  appearance  of  the 
building,  which  for  thirty-one  years  served  as  our  denominational  centre  in  the  city  of 
York,  may  be  gathered  from  our  picture.  However  defective  it  might  be  according  to 
our  modern  standards  of  beauty  and  convenience,  Grape  Lane  was  a  decided  advance  on 
Peaseholme  Green,  and  so  the  building  was  secured,  G.  and  A.  Bond  of  Elvington, 

*  I  am  indebted  for  these  facts  to  "  Primitive  Methodism.  Its  Introduction  and  Development  in 
the  city  of  York,"  by  "Win.  Camidge,  F.R.H.S.  The  monograph  is  a  model  of  what  such  works 
should  be. 


THE   PERIOD   OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE.  57 

S.  Smith  tells  us,  becoming  surety  for  the  rent.  It  was  opened  on  July  2nd,  1820,  by 
John  Verity,  John  "Woolhouse — both  of  whom  had  just  been  taken  out  as  preachers  by 
the  Hull  Circuit — and  by  W.  Clowes,  who  preached  in  the  evening.  The  opening 
services  coincided  in  time  with  the  formation  of  York  as  one  of  the  branches  of  Hull 
Circuit. 

From  the  manuscript  journals  of  Sampson  Turner  now  before  us  we  find  George 
Herod,  Sampson  Turner  and  Nathaniel  West  labouring  together  at  the  beginning  of 
1S22  in  the  York  branch,  which  became  a  Circuit  in  March  of  the  same  year.  As  this 
is  the  first  time  N.  "West's  name  comes  before  us,  and  we  shall  hear  much  of  him  until 
1827,  a  few  words  respecting  this  remarkable  man  will  be  in  place.  He  was  an  Irish- 
man, and  when  we  first  see  him  in  1819,  he  wears  the  King's  uniform  and  is  known  as 
Corporal  West  of  the  King's  Bays.  He  was  a  man  every  inch  of  him ;  of  splendid 
physique,  more  than  six  feet  in  height,  and  with  good  natural  parts  sharpened  by 
discipline.  Altogether  he  was  a  man  to  impress  and  look  at  admiringly.  When  his 
regiment  was  stationed  at  Nottingham  he  was  drawn  to  the  room  in  the  Broad  Marsh 
and  got  soundly  converted.  He  soon  began  to  preach,  and  became  very  popular.  In 
Leeds,  to  which  town  the  King's  Bays  shortly  removed,  Corporal  West  attracted  great 
crowds  by  his  preaching.  While  at  Leeds  he  talked  so  much  of  the  Primitives — of 
their  zeal,  their  methods,  their  success,  that  the  desire  was  awakened  in  many  to  see 
and  hear  this  wonderful  people  for  themselves.  A  pious  young  woman,  a  Methodist, 
fell  in  love  with  the  handsome  soldier  and  offered  to  find  the  whole  or  greater  part 
of  the  money  to  purchase  his  discharge  from  the  army.  The  offer  was  accepted,  and 
N.  West  showed  his  gratitude  -by  marrying  his  benefactress.  But  before  this  the  King's 
Bays  had  removed  to  York,  and  Corporal  West  may  have  been  one  of  the  troopers  who 
encircled  William  Clowes  when  he  preached  on  the  Pavement  on  May  19th.  Before 
the  summer  was  over  he  was  certainly  connected  with  the  York  Society,  for  Sarah 
Harrison  expresses  her  pleasure  at  meeting  with  him  on  her  third  visit  to  the  city  just 
after  the  preaching  room  had  been  taken.  By  May,  1820,  ex-corporal  West  was 
a  travelling  preacher  and,  as  we  have  seen,  at  the  beginning  of  1822  we  find  him  one  of 
the  York  staff.     Beyond  this  point  we  need  not  at  present  follow  him. 

Grape  Lane  acquired  some  notoriety  at  first  from  the  persistent  attention  bestowed 
upon  it  by  a  band  of  miscreants — not  of  the  lowest  rank  in  the  social  scale — who 
resorted  to  all  the  familiar  devices  for  annoying  and  intimidating  the  preacher  and  his 
congregation,  which  we  need  not  stay  to  specify.  Unwilling  at  first  to  invoke  the  law 
for  their  own  protection,  the  Society  through  its  officers  seems  to  have  approached  Lord 
Dundas,  who  at  that  time  was  the  chief  city  magistrate.  To  his  credit,  be  it  said,  the 
Lord  Mayor  cast  his  influence  on  the  right  side  and  personally  attended  a  service  at 
which  John  Hutchinson  was  the  preacher.  No  preacher  could  have  wished  for  a  better 
behaved  congregation  than  John  Hutchinson  had  that  night,  and  it  was  thought  that  the 
action  of  Lord  Dundas  would  have  a  wholesome,  deterrent  effect.  But  the  persecution 
soon  began  again,  and  when  George  Herod  summoned  two  of  the  ringleaders  at  the 
Christmas  Sessions  of  1821  for  disturbing  public  worship,  he  lost  his  case,  and  was 
saddled  with  the  costs,  amounting  to  £16.  "Everything  appeared  clear  against  them, 
yet  when  the  trial  came  on,  they  somehow  or  other  got  brought  through,  which  very 


58  PEIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHUKCH. 

much  injured  our  temporal  concerns,''  says  N".  "West.  Naturally  enough  the  freemen 
whom  the  authorities  were  reluctant  to  punish  as  they  deserved,  now  felt  freer  to  carry 
on  their  malpractices.  On  the  eve  of  holding  a  great  love-feast  in  York,  N.  West 
had  to  get  the  tickets  of  admission  printed  at  a  distant  town  and  withhold 
their  distribution  until  the  morning  of  the  love-feast,  in  order  to  hinder  the 
would-be  disturbers  from  getting  access  to  the  meeting  by  the  presentation  of 
tickets  they  had  themselves  got  printed.  By  this  precautionary  measure  "  we  kept 
a  great  mass  of  unbelief  away"  says  N.  West.  This  love  feast  of  the  24th  February, 
1822,  was  a  memorable  one.  Though  Mr.  Herod  was  conducting  a  second  circuit  love- 
feast  at  Easingwold  at  the  same  hour,  the  country  societies  sent  such  large  contingents 
that  some  eleven  hundred  persons  were  present,  and  the  meeting,  which  was  carried  on 
for  several  hours  until  Messrs.  Turner  and  West  and  the  other  labourers  were  quite 
exhausted,  resulted  in  some  forty  conversions.  It  was  just  about  this  time,  as  S.  Turner 
tells  us,  that  the  rebels  broke  the  vestry  window-shutters  all  to  pieces  while  he  was 
preaching,  and  three  young  men  were  taken  up  and  committed  to  the  Sessions  for  trial. 
This  time  the  disturbers  were  convicted,  and  the  reign  of  lawlessness  was  shaken  though 
it  did  not  end  until  some  considerable  time  after.  * 

The  first  plan  of  the  York  Circuit,  April — July,  1822,  shows  twenty-two  preachers 
all  told,  and  thirty-two  preaching  places.  Of  these,  with  the  exception  of  York,  only 
Easingwold  has,  since  1872,  become  the  head  of  an  independent  country  station.  The 
lines  of  development  to  be  followed  by  York  as  a  Circuit  were  already  in  1822  laid 
down.  All  round,  at  no  great  distance,  the  ground  was  occupied  or  earmarked  by 
branches  or  circuits  belonging  to  or  formed  from  Hull — Pocklington,  Brotherton, 
Tadcaster,  Eipon  and  Mai  ton.  Unless  it  had  attempted  distant  missions,  York  Circuit 
could  only  do  as  it  has  done — strengthen  and  extend  itself  within  the  progressive  city 
and  keep  firm  hold  of  the  adjacent  agricultural  villages.  It  could  not,  like  Scotter, 
Darlaston  or  Manchester,  hope  to  become  the  fruitful  mother  of 
circuits.  At  the  close  of  182  4,  Tadcaster  Branch  was  attached 
to  York  Circuit,  and  so  continued  until  1826.  Probably,  never 
before,  or  since,  has  the  Circuit  covered  so  wide  an  area  as  it  did 
then,  when  four  preachers  were  on  the  ground,  two  of  whom  were 
Thomas  Batty  and  J.  Bywater. 

One  of  the  makers  of  York  Primitive  Methodism  was  William 
Eumfitt.      When   he    came  to  York    in    1822,  a  young  man  of 
nineteen,  he  was  already   a  local   preacher.      He  at  once  joined 
the  Society  in  Grape  Lane  which  he  found  "  in  a  low  and  feeble 
mr.  w.  BiMFiiT  condition."     This  testimony  finds  incidental  confirmation  from  the 

contemporary  Journah  of  Sampson  Turner,  the  first  superintendent 

*  Afterwards  I  suffered  great  annoyance.  They  came  into  the  room— smoked,  talked,  let 
yarrows  fly  to  put  out  the  lights,  etc.  So  I  went  to  law  and  won.  For  there  was  another  Lord 
Mayor  who  was  favourable  to  us.  He  told  them  he  would  imprison  every  one  of  them  on 
a  repetition  of  the  offence."  Xotes  of  a  conversation  with  S.  Turner  taken  down  in  187-4,  with 
which  his  Journal  agrees. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND    ENTERPRISE. 


59 


KEV.  J.  KUMFITT. 


of  the  York  Circuit.  It  would  seem  there  were  difficulties  and  drawbacks,  having 
their  source  both  within  and  without  the  Church,  which  retarded  progress  ;  and  now 
and  again  the  records  betray  the  writer's  misgiving  that  the  whilom  branch  had  been 
granted  independence  before  it  was  quite  ready  for  it.  This  ink-faded  script  in  which 
Sampson  Turner  confides  to  us  his  exercises  of  soul,  is  but  a  sample 
of  the  superabundant  evidence  to  hand  showing  that  our  earliest 
societies  were  peculiarly  exposed  to  the  intrusion  and  governance 
of  men  of  mixed  motives  and  unsanctified  temper.  From  the 
very  nature  of  the  case  the  danger  was  inevitable.  Sharp  dis- 
cipline was  necessary  to  purge  "  out  the  old  leaven ; "  but  to  keep 
it  from  creeping  in  again  nothing  availed  more  effectually  than  a 
few  strong,  righteous,  far-seeing  officials,  always  on  the  spot — for 
"the  presence  of  the  morally  healthy  acts  as  a  kind  of  moral 
deodorizer.''  So  true  is  this  that  those  circuits  which  steadily 
won  their  way  to  an  assured  position,  as  York  ultimately  did, 
were,  we  may  be  sure,  blessed  with  a  certain  number  of  these  moral 
deodorizers — natures  antipathetic  to  the  old  leaven. 

William  Rumfitt's  period  of  Church  activity  spanned  the  first  and  intermediate  periods 
of  our  Connexional  history.  As  we  have  seen  he  joined  the"York  Society  in  1822,  and 
it  was  in  1879  that  devout  men  carried  him  to  his  burial.  He  was  a  local  preacher 
during  the  whole  of  that  long  period,  and  a  class-leader  during  a  considerable  portion  of 
it,  besides  filling  other  offices.  Two  nights  in  each  week  were  devoted  by  him  to  the 
public  exercises  of  religion.  In  1857  he  was  elected  a  deed-poll  member,  and  so  seriously 
did  he  take  this  trust  that  for  twenty-one  years  in  succession  he  was  never  absent 
from  his  place  in  Conference.  While  his  house  was  a  kind  of  "  pilgrim's  inn " 
he  took  care  that  it  should  also  be  a  Church  in  which  Bible-reading,  praise,  prayer, 
and  talk  about  good  things  formed  the  constituents  of  the  domestic  atmosphere.  It 
was  according  to  the  fitness  of  things  that  the  children  nurtured  in  such  a  home 
should  carry  on  the  family  tradition;  and  John  and  Charles  Eumfitt  (now  LL.D.,  and 
a  clergyman  of  the  Established  Church)  both  entered  the  ministry,  the  former  travelling 
for  forty-one  years  (1852-93)  with  great  acceptance.  He  first 
began  to  preach  about  1845  in  association  with  Mr.  George  Wade 
who  also  from  1835  to  1871  was  a  useful  class-leader  and  prominent 
official  of  the  York  Circuit.  John  Rumfitt's  biographer  intimates 
that  at  this  time — that  is  in  the  "  Forties '' — Grape  Lane  was  at  its 
best,  and  York  Circuit  one  of  the  most  prosperous  and  flourishing 
circuits  in  the  Connexion. 

Perhaps  the  very  success  of  Grape  Lane  in  these  closing  years 
of  the  first  period  was  one  .chief  cause  of  its  undoing  and  final 
supersession.  Though  the  Church  improved,  Grape  Lane  and  its 
locality  did  not  improve,  but  rather  degenerated  as  time  went  on. 
The  approach  to  the  building  and  its  environment  were  equally 
objectionable ;  and  its  structural  shortcomings  seriously  interfered  with  comfort  and 
the  efficiency  of  church-work.      Many  schemes  for  securing  a  more  eligible  centre  were 


MR.  W.  CAMIDGE, 

F.K.H.K. 

The  Historian  of  York 

Primitive  Methodism. 


60 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 


SIE  JAMES   MEEK. 


canvassed,  but  with  little  practical  result  until,  under  the  vigorous  leadership  of  Jeremiah 
Dodsworth,  what  had  been  deemed  almost  too  much  to  hope  for  was  achieved. 
A  family  mansion  in  Little  Stonegate  was  bought  for  £800,  and  on  the  site  of  the 
demolished  building  Ebenezer  Chapel  was  erected  and  opened  in  November,  1851,  by- 
Jeremiah  Dodsworth ;  two  famous  divines,  Dr.  Beaumont 
and  James  Parsons,  also  preaching  sermons  in  connection 
with  the  notable  event,  A  new  era  in  York  Primitive 
Methodism  began  by  the  dedication  to  the  service  of  God 
of  Ebenezer,  which  right  through  and  beyond  the  middle 
period  of  our  history  was  the  recognised  centre  of  Primi- 
tive Methodism  in  York.  How  many  old  Elmfieldians 
retain  vivid  recollections  of  the  march  to  and  from  the 
plain  chapel  in  Little  Stonegate  hard  by  the  venerable 
Cathedral  !  With  it,  too,  are  inseparably  associated  recol- 
lections of  Sir  James  Meek,  as  yet  our  only  Knight  and  man 
of  title,  who  it  must  be  confessed  wore  his  honours  meekly 
and  discharged  his  civic  and  Church  duties  with  true  gentle- 
manliness  and  modesty.  H.  J.  McCulloch  had  his  title 
too,  being  almost  invariably  known  as  "  Captain,'-  and 
he  was  for  some  3rears  actively  associated  with  Little 
Stonegate ;  at  one  time  indeed  having  charge  of  the  service  of  praise.  It  was  in 
1853  that  Alderman  James  Meek  transferred  his  membership  from  the  Wesleyans 
and  brought  his  class  with  him.  As  a  leader,  he  was  conscientious  in  the  discharge 
of  his  duties.  It  was  no  uncommon  thing  for  him  to  travel  from  Scarborough,  or 
wherever  he  might  happen  to  be  at  the  time,  for  the  express  purpose  of  meeting  the 
members  of  his  class.  Though  we  thus  couple  Sir  James  Meek  and  "  Captain " 
McCulloch  in  the  same  paragraph,  because  Providence  made 
them  contemporaries  and  fellow-citizens  and  colleagues 
in  church-work,  it  is  none  the  less  true  that  they  were 
very  different  men.  Propinquity  showed  them  to  be  a  pair 
of  opposites.  Not  only  were  they  marked  off  from  each 
other  by  external  differences  in  appearance,  tone,  manner, 
but  these  differences  ran  down  into  still  deeper  under- 
lying differences.  Yet  both  were  identified  with  Ebenezer 
and  interested  in  its  prosperity,  and  both,  though  in 
contrasted  ways,  played  their  part  in  those  wider 
connexional  movements,  near  the  vortex  of  which  York 
was  brought  by  the  founding  in  1854  of  Elmfield  school 
with  its  rudimentary  ministerial  training  college,  and  by 
the  establishment  in  1866  of  the  Primitive  Methodist 
Insurance  Company  with  its  managerial  office  at  York. 
To  these  we  shall  return  in  considering  the  origin  and 
development  of  our  Church  institutions.  Meanwhile,  let  it  be  noted  that  the  fact 
of  the  Conferences   of   1853   and  1864  being  held   at    York    seems    to    indicate  that 


CAPT.    H.    J.    MC  CULLOOH. 


THE   PERIOD   OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE. 


61 


by  this  time  York  had  come  to  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  leading  circuit-towns  in 
our  Israel. 

Jeremiah  Dodsworth,  the^builder  of  Ebenezer,  deserves  more  than  a  passing  reference 
here,  and  this  for  various  reasons,  one  such  being  that  from  the  year  1839  to  1864, 
during  which  period  his  active  ministry  extended,  he  laboured  in  Leeds,  Malton, 
Keighley,  Burnley  and  other  Circuits  with  which  we  must  shortly  concern  ourselves. 
Mr.  Dodsworth  was  the  most  eminent  scion  of  a  family  which  both  in  its  parent  stock 
and  its  offshoots — in  Hull,  at  Aldershot,  and  even  at  the  Antipodes,  has  done  much  for 
Primitive  Methodism.  John  Dodsworth,  the  father,  who  died  in  1860,  aged  84,  was 
a  fine  specimen  of  patriarchal  piety,  and  the  mother  was  equally  distinguished  for  her 
feminine  graces.  Their  irreproachable  character  gave  reality  and  lustre  to  the  village 
church  of  Willoughby,  five  miles  from  Hull ;  indeed,  it  may  even  be  said  to  have  owed 
to  them  its  very  existence  and  continuance.     For  their  dwelling  for  many  years  did 

double  duty  as  a  place  of  public  worship  and 
house  of  entertainment  for  the  preachers,  and 
when  at  last  the  chapel  was  built,  it  stood  at 
the  corner  of  John  Dodsworth's  garden,  the  site 
being  a  deed  of  gift  from  his  master  by  whom 
he  was  highly  esteemed.  Something  of  the 
old  saint's  character  may  be  gathered  from 
one  of  his  dying  utterances  :  "  I  am  climbing 
up  Jacob's  ladder  on  my  hands  and  knees,  and 
there  is  not  a  spell  from  bottom  to  top  that 
/  have  put  there.  It  was  built  by  mercy — all 
mercy." 

It  may  not  be  generally  known  that  even 
before  Jeremiah  Dodsworth  had  become  a  most 
effective  and  popular  preacher,  he  had  already 
proved  himself  a  Free  Church  stalwart  and 
champion  of  the  down-trodden  agricultural 
labourer  from  which  class  he  sprang.  As 
such  he  figures  somewhat  prominently  in 
Cobbett's  "  Legacy  to  Parsons/'  of  all  books 
in  the  world,  the  reason  being,  that  Jeremiah 
Dodsworth  was  one  of  the  last  to  refuse  pay- 
ment of  tithe  on  labourers'  wages — one  of  the  most  obnoxious  forms  of  impost 
soon  after  swept  away  by  the  legislative  besom.  He  was  charged  a  tithe  of  four 
shillings  and  fourpence  on  his  wages  by  the  Rev.  Francis  Lundy,  rector  of  Lockington, 
whose  living  was  of  the  annual  value  of  £532  ;  and  on  his  refusal  to  pay,  two  Justices 
of  the  Peace,  the  Rev.  J.  Blanchard,  another  pluralist  clergyman,  and  Robert  Wylie, 
sentenced  him  to  pay  the  four  shillings  and  fourpence  and  the  costs  of  prosecution.  He, 
still  refusing  to  pay,  the  same  two  magistrates  issued  a  warrant  of  distress  against  his 
goods  and  chattels.  But  he  had  no  goods  and  chattels  to  distrain ;  so  Rev.  John 
Blanchard  as  magistrate  committed  him  to  the  House  of  Correction  at  Beverley,  there 


• 

i 

ir^^- 

f4    ,    ^s*     .  i 

II 

Tv 

j 

'.-      '•     •  --. 

REV.   J.   DODSWOBTH. 


C2 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


to  be  kept  for  the  space  of  three  calendar  months  as  punishment  for  not  paying  his 
"  offerings,  oblations  and  obventions."  *  This  "  village  Hampden "  and  hereafter 
successful  chapel-builder  and  popular  preacher  has  yet  stronger  claims  for  remembrance 
here,  as  having  in  his  later  years  become  one  of  the  most  popular  writers  our  Church  had 
as  yet  produced.  At  this  epoch,  as  we  know,  many  very  earnest  and  clever  people  were 
making  it  their  special  business  to  popularise  the  advancing  Puseyite  theology.  This  was 
their  mission  and  they  fulfilled  it  sedulously ;  and  so  tales  and  biographies  and  histories 
poured  from  the  press,  subtly  flavoured  with  sacramentarian  and  high-church  sentiment. 
In  like  manner,  Jeremiah  Dodsworth,  in  his  own  way,  sought  to  popularise  the  old 
Evangelical  theology.  The  theology  was  there  in  its  substance  and  essence,  but,  above 
all  his  books  were  readable,  written  in  a  pleasing,  flowing  style,  and  making  strong 
appeal  to  the  indestructible  feelings  of  men.      "The  Eden  Family,''  and  "The  Better 

Land"  especially,  like  James 
Grant's  kindred  book,"  Heaven 
our  Home,''  and  our  own  John 
Simpson's  "The  Prodigal  Son" 
were  good  exemplars  of  the 
popularised  Evangelical  theo- 
logy and  sentiment,  and  had  a 
vogue  far  beyond  their  writers' 
own  churches. 

Great  an  advance  as  Ebenezer 
was  on  Grape  Lane,  the  time 
came  when  "  Tekel  "— "  Thou 
art  found  wanting  '' — was  seen 
to  be  written  on  its  broad  front. 
For  many  years  the  impres- 
sion deepened  that  after  a  half 
century's  occupancy,  the  time 
had  come  for  this  honoured 
sanctuary  to  make  way  for 
a  successor  that  should  worthi- 
ly mark  the  attainment  of  a 
further  stage  of  Connexional 
advance.  The  ampler  school 
and  vestry  accommodation  so 
sorely  needed  could  then  be  provided,  and  the  new  building  might  be  so  located  and 
planned  that  it  would  serve  as  the  pro-college  chapel  and  in  other  respects  fittingly 

*  "  Cobbett's  Legacy  to  Parsons."  The  facts  are  also  referred  to  in  "  Methodism  as  it  should  be," 
1S57,  p.  249.  Neither  of  these  authorities  gives  the  slightest  hint  that  Mr.  Dodsworth  did  not  serve 
out  his  sentence.  But  Bev.  H.  Woodcock  in  his  "Primitive  Methodism  in  the  Yorkshire  Wolds" 
(p.  113)  says  :  '■  But  he  was  released,  and  we  believe  Mr.  B.  paid  him  £20."  If  the  clergyman  paid  the 
fine  and  costs  it  should  be  put  down  to  his  credit.  But  as  yet  diligent  inquiry  has  not  enabled  us  to 
verify  this  point. 


MONKGATE  CHURCH,  YORK. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE. 


63 


represent  the  oldest  interest  of  the  denomination  in  the  metropolitan  city.  Accord- 
ingly preparations  were  cautiously  made  to  effect  the  desired  change.  In  advance, 
a  hlock  of  property  in  Monkgate  was  bought  for  £1,000,  and  the  rents  of  this  in  time 
enabled  the  trustees  to  redeem  the  cost  of  purchase.  The  debt  on  Ebenezer  was  cleared 
and  the  building  sold  for  £2,000,  and  in  1902  the  "John  Petty  Memorial  Church"  was 
opened.  We  give  an  illustration  of  this  building  as  well  as  of  Monk  Bar  contiguous 
thereto;  "Bar"  being  the  local  name  for  the  gates  by  which  the  walls  of  York,  2f  miles 
in  extent,  are  pierced. 

But  even  this  does  not  complete 
the  story  of  York's  enterprise  in 
chapel-building.  Forty  years  ago 
a  mission  was  started  across  the 
river  on  the  south-west  part  of 
the  city.  The  mission  prospered, 
and  in  1864  a  room  was  opened  in 
Nunnery  Lane  to  serve  as  a  chapel 
and  Sunday  school.  "  Ultimately," 
says  Mr.  Camidge,  "the  people 
of  the  Nunnery  Lane  Mission 
Room  built  Victoria  Bar  Chapel 
as  it  has  always  been  called.  It  is 
situate  just  within  the  opening  in 
the  Bar  walls,  which  opening  gives 
access  to  and  from  Bishophill  and 
Nunnery  Lane.''  *  The  chapel 
was  opened  in  the  spring  of  1880, 
and  in  1883  York  Circuit  was 
divided,  Victoria  Bar  becoming  the 
head  of  York  Second  Circuit. 

Leeds. 
"We  are  fortunate  in  knowing; 
the  exact  date  when  Primitive 
Methodism  was  introduced  into 
Leeds,  as  also  the  events  which  led 
up  to  it.  It  was  on  November  24th, 
1819,  when  Clowes  "opened  his  mission"  in  the  already  growing  West  Riding  town 
"  by  the  direction  of  the  providence  of  God."  In  these  carefully  chosen  words  Clowes 
may  be  supposed  to  refer  to  those  seemingly  detached  and  fortuitous  events  he  does 
not  stop  to  detail  which,  in  the  hand  of  Providence,  had  become  a  chain  to  draw  him 
to  Leeds,  as  before  he  had  been  drawn  to  Hull.  "  By  the  direction  of  the  providence 
of  God  !  "  so  might  Peter  have  spoken  of  his  arrival  at  the  house  of  Cornelius,  or  Paul 


MONK  BAE,    YORK. 
(Our  Chapel  just  through  the  Bar.) 


'  Primitive  Methodism  :  Its  Introduction  and  Development  in  the  city  of  York." 


64 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 


of  his  first  landing  in  Europe  to  publish  the  gospel.  Our  chief  source  of  information  as 
to  these  preparatory  conditions  and  happenings  accounting  for  Clowes'  entry  into  Leeds, 
is  a  communication  addressed  to  George  Herod  by  the  Rev.  Samuel  Smith,  who  was 
one  of  the  most  prominent  actors  in  the  events  he  describes.  It  may  be  claimed  for  the 
facts  detailed  by  S.  Smith,  that  they  are  not  only  interesting  in  themselves  as  throwing 
light  on  the  origins  of  Leeds  Primitive  Methodism,  but  that  they  have  a  still  higher 
value,  as  serving  to  relate  Primitive  Methodism  to  that  type  of  religious  activity  and 
phenomenon  of  the  time  we  have  called  "Revivalism.'-  After  all  that  has  been  written, 
we  need  not  once  more  indicate  what  is  sought  to  be  conveyed  by  that  word,  or  stay  to 
show  again  that  Revivalism  was  largely  a  survival  and  recrudescence  of  primitive 
doctrine  and  experience,  and  of  old-time  methods  of  evangelisation.  It  will  be  enough 
to  remind  ourselves  that,  right  along  our  course  thus  far,  from  Mow  Cop  to  the  Humber 


VICTORIA    BAR    CHUROH,    YORK. 


and  back  again  by  the  Peak  to  the  Mersey,  we  have  seen  this  fervid  aggressive  type  of 
religious  life  manifesting  itself,  in  ways  regular  or  irregular,  banned  or  tolerated.  It 
would  be  strange  indeed  were  we  to  miss  in  Leeds,  of  all  towns  in  England,  what  we 
met  with  in  Nottingham  and  Hull  and  Manchester.  We  think  of  Leeds  as  a  freedom- 
loving  town.  At  this  particular  time  it  was  a  stronghold  of  Nonconformity.  Methodism 
had  struck  its  roots  deep  in  the  life  of  the  people.  Not  many  years  before,  the  town 
and  neighbourhood  had  been  set  on  fire  by  William  Bramwell's  ministry  of  flame.  In 
such  a  town  one  would  naturally  expect  to  find  those  whose  proclivities  lay  in  the 
direction  of  Revivalism  to  be,  not  less  but  rather  more  numerous  than  elsewhere,  and 
a  knowledge  of  the  ecclesiastical  history  of  Leeds  would  but  justify  the  expectation. 
But  narrowing  our  view  :  it  was  a  band  of  Revivalists,  Primitive  Methodists  in  spirit, 


THE    PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE. 


65 


though  not  in  name,  who  were  responsible  for  W.  Clowes'  coming  to  Leeds.      Through 
them  Providence  lifted  the  beckoning  finger  and  the  signal  was  obeyed. 

The  Rev.  S.  Smith  tells  us  that  in  1818 — the  year  William  Bramwell  suddenly 
expired  in  Leeds — "he  commenced  a  mission  in  the  low  places  of  Leeds  and  the 
vicinity,  and  in  a  little  time  he  was  joined  in  it  by  John  Verity  and  thirteen  young 
men — all  zealous  to  employ  their  spare  time  in  the  work  of  visiting  and  preaching  to 
the  low,  degraded  and  neglected  dwellers  in  yards,  alleys,  back  streets  and  cellars.  Not 
one  of  them,  except  John  Verity,  was  connected  as  a  preacher  with  any  religious  com- 
munity, but  upwards  of  one  hundred  persons  were  through  their  labours  brought  to 
God  and  joined  some  religious  society."  As  yet  they  had  not  as  much  as  heard  of 
Primitive  Methodism  as  an  organised  form  of  aggressive  religion ;   but  they  were  soon 


LEEDS  in  1830. 

to  hear.  First  of  all,  during  the  summer  of  1819,  Corporal  West  of  "The  Bays"  was 
billeted  with  his  troop  in  the  town.  He  did  not  hide  his  light  under  a  bushel.  Alike 
in  his  preaching  to  which  he  zealously  gave  himself,  and  in  conversation,  he  spoke  of 
his  recent  conversion  at  Nottingham  through  the  instrumentality  of  the  Primitive 
Methodists,  whose  preachers  he  extolled,  awakening  the  desire  in  many  to  see  and 
hear  them  for  themselves.*  Then  in  the  columns  of  a  certain  Hull  newspaper  called  the 
Roclcinqham,  there  were  occasional  notices  of  a  strange  people  who  had  made  their 
appearance  in  that  town  and  were  carrying  all  before  them.     Of  course  the  notices  were 

*  See  Memoir  of  Rev.  John  Hopkinson  in  the  Magazine  for  1859,  p.  386,  where  however  the 
writer,  Rev.  H.  Gunns,  speaks  of  "  a  Mr.  "West,  an  officer  of  a  regiment  of  cavalry,"  evidently  with 
no  knowledge  that  this  person  was  identical  with  the  soon-to-be  Rev.  Nathaniel  West. 

E 


66  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST   CHURCH. 

both  facetious  and  spiteful.  They  were  described  as  "  wearing  brown  coats,  strong  shoes 
and  corduroy  small-clothes ;  as  having  all  things  in  common,  and  also  that  they  had 
eaten  up  the  whole  substance  of  several  farmers.''  These  paragraphs  were  read  with 
interest,  for  though  the  notices  were  coloured  and  even  distorted  by  the  prejudiced 
media  through  which  they  had  passed,  these  Leeds  Revivalists  were  still  able  to 
perceive  several  points  of  similarity  between  the  "  Ranters "  and  themselves,  one 
being  that  they  were  both  "  spoken  against "  for  trying  to  do  good  in  unconventional 
ways ;  so  that  what  they  read  only  inflamed  their  desire  to  know  more  of  the  com- 
munity jibed  at  by  the  Rorlringham.  Finally,  the  rumour  went  that  the  "Ranters" 
had  now  reached  Ferry  Bridge,  whereupon  counsel  was  taken,  and  it  was  arranged  to 
send  John  Verity  and  J.  Atkinson,  "  Esq.,"  of  Hunslet,  to  get  to  know  all  they  could 
respecting  the  people  about  whom  there  were  such  strange  reports.  The  deputation 
seems  to  have  proceeded  to  Ferrybridge  early  in  September,*  and  what  success  it  met 
with,  together  with  the  rest  of  S.  Smith's  story,  he  shall  be  allowed  to  tell  in  his  own 
words  :  — 

"  Mr.  Atkinson  called  on  Mr.  Joseph  Bailey,  who  kept  a  boarding-school,  and  with 
whom  he  had  been  partially  educated.  Messrs.  Atkinson  and  Verity  were  much 
surprised  to  find  that  Mr.  Bailey  was  a  member  of  this  new  community.  He  introduced 
them  to  the  preacher  for  the  day,  the  late  .Samuel  Laister,  of  Market  Weighton,  who 
preached  in  the  open  air,  and  published  for  John  Verity  to  preach  in  the  afternoon ; 
with  which  appointment  the  latter  complied.  While  J.  V.  was  engaged  in  the 
preaching  service,  a  passenger  on  the  London  and  Leeds  coach — 'The  Union' — saw 
him,  and,  knowing  him,  reported  the  circumstances  to  the  Methodist  Leaders'  Meeting 
on  the  Monday  following.  Action  was  taken  upon  it,  and  John  Verity,  in  his  absence, 
was  suspended  from  his  office  as  a  leader,  and  a  Mr.  Brooks  was  appointed  to  attend 
his  class  on  the  Tuesday  evening.  When  John  Verity  returned  on  the  Tuesday,  I  made 
him  acquainted  with  the  doings  of  the  Leaders'  Meeting  as  far  as  I  had  heard.  His 
class  met  in  the  Wesley  Chapel  vestry  in  Meadow  Lane.  I  accompanied  him  to  the 
meeting  where  we  found  Mr.  Brooks,  who  stated  his  case,  and  absolutely  refused 
John  Verity  permission  to  pray  with  the  people  ;  but  he  did  pray,  and  Mr.  Brooks 
sang  during  the  time.  I  begged  J.  V.  to  retire,  as  such  doings  could  be  of  no  service. 
We  retired  to  his  house  and  talked  matters  over,  and  agreed  to  write  to  Hull,  inviting 
the  'Ranters  to  visit  Leeds,  and  promising  we  would  join  them.  We  that  night 
wrote  a  joint  letter,  addressed  to  'The  Banter  Preacher,  Hull'  The  contents  of  the 
letter  were  to  the  effect  that,  if  a  preacher  were  sent  to  Leeds,  we  would  provide  for 
him  board  and  lodgings  for  three  months  in  order  that  he  might  make  a  fair  trial. 
The  parties  agreeing  were  John  Verity,  J.  Atkinson,  Esq.,  J.  Howard,  surgeon,  and 
Samuel  Smith.  To  this  letter  we  received  an  answer  in  a  few  days  signed  'R.  Jackson, 
Circuit  Steward,'  saying  :— '  We  will  send  a  preacher  as  soon  as  we  have  one  at  liberty ; 
in  the  meantime  we  advise  you  to  go  on,  plan  your  preachers,  open  new  places,  and 
form  classes,'  etc.  They  also  sent  three  hundred  hymn-books  and  one  hundred  rules 
which  had  been  drawn  up  at  the  Nottingham  Preparatory  Meeting  a  few  weeks  before. 
On  the  Thursday  following  I  formed  a  class  in  Mrs.  Taylor's  [house],  at  the  top  of 

•  S.  Smith  says  about  the  last  Sabbath  in  August.  But  as  they  had  previously  read  in  the 
Roci-iii'/ham  of  the  opening  of  West  Street  Chapel,  which  was  not  opened  until  September  10th, 
it  cannot  well  have  been  before  the  17th  September. 


THE   PERIOD   OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE.  67 

Kirkgate,  and  John  Verity  formed  one  at  Mrs.  Hopkinson's,  in  Hunslet  Lane 
We  made  a  plan,  and  on  it  we  had  seven  preachers  ;  and  we  then  proceeded  to  open 
places,  being  known  only  by  the  name  of  '  Ranters.'  We  opened  Mrs.  Taylor's  cellar  for 
preaching,  and  Mrs.  Hopkinson's  house— both  in  Leeds.  We  entered  the  villages  of 
Armley,  Busten  Park,  Hughend,  Hunslet,  Woodhouse-car,  and  Wortley.  In  each  of 
these  places  we  formed  a  class." 

So  much  for  the  series  of  occurrences  which  led  to  Clowes'  first  visit  to  Leeds. 
S.  Smith  then  goes  on  to  speak  of  the  circumstances  of  the  visit  itself.     The  account  he 
gives  is  in  substantial  agreement  with  that  Clowes  himself  gives  twice  over  in  his 
Journal,  although,  when  the  two  accounts  are  compared,  we  recognise  differences  in 
detail,  reminding  us  in  an  interesting  way  that  our  knowledge  of  the  simplest  event  of 
history  is,  after  all,   only  relative  and  approximate  ;  that  no   two  persons  will  quite 
independently  write  of  what  they  once  saw  and  took  part  in  without  their  narratives 
exhibiting  variations.      What  seems  clear  when  we  compare  and  harmonise  the  two 
versions  is,  that  Clowes  was  accompanied  to  Leeds  by  Mr.  John  Bailey,  the  schoolmaster 
of  Ferrybridge,  and  that,  indirectly  at  least,  through  him,  the  Thursday  evening  service 
was  held  in  the  schoolroom  in  Kirkgate  belonging  to  Mr.  Bean.     Clowes  remarks  that 
as  some  of  the  people  left  this  service,  they  were  heard  to  say  that  what  they  had  been 
listening  to  was  "the  right  kind  of  stuff."     Next  day  Clowes  went  on  to  Dewsbury  and 
preached  there  for  the  first  time  in  the  house  of  Mr.  J.  Boothroyd.     For  the  Sunday 
services  Messrs.  Smith  and  Verity  secured  a  large  room  in  the  third  story  of  Sampson's 
waggon  warehouse,  in  Longbaulk  Lane,  used  by  a  dancing  master  on  the  week  day  ; 
and    Clowes   also    employed    the   bellman    to   go   round    the   town   announcing   that 
"A  Ranter's  preacher  from  Hull  would  preach  in  Sampson's  warehouse,  on  Sunday 
.morning,  at  ten  o'clock.''     When  Sunday  came,  the  first  service  ended  without  any 
special  incident,  but  in  the  afternoon,  while  a  Mr.  Hirst  was  conducting  the  service, 
an  interruption  occurred.     The  redoubtable  Sampson  himself,  whom  Clowes  graphically 
describes  as  bent  on  opposition  and  full  of  subtlety,  came  to  the  top  of  the  stairs  and 
cried  that  the  building  was  falling,  and  a  stampede  began,  which  was  only  stopped  by 
Clowes  striking  up  the  hymn  :  "  Come,  oh  come,  thou  vilest  sinner.''    After  an  exhorta- 
tion by  Mr.  Bailey,  it  was  given  out  that  another  service  would  be  held  in  the  evening, 
and  the  congregation  dispersed ;  but  when  the  hour  for  evening  service  came,  it  was 
found  that  Sampson  had  hung  a  padlock  on  the  warehouse  door,  and  they  were  fain  to 
hold  their  service  in  Mrs.  Taylor's  cellar  instead  of  in  "the  upper  room.''     Clowes 
admits  that  Sampson  and  his  padlock  had  for  the  moment  nonplussed  him ;  but  he 
thankfully  records  that,  as  usual,  the  devil  had  outwitted  himself,  for  a  man  came 
late  to  the  warehouse,  expecting  a  service,  and,  finding  the  "door  was  shut,''  was  led  to 
reflect  that  so  also  it  might  be  at  last  when  he  came  up  to  heaven's  gate  if  he  did  not 
there  and  then  repent,  which,  happily,  he  did.     S.  Smith  records  that  during  this  visit 
Clowes  met  the   members — fifty-seven   in    number,   in   Mrs.    Hopkinson's  house,    and 
incorporated  them  with  the  Primitive  Methodist  Connexion. 

W.  Clowes  always  claimed  to  have  been  Hull  Circuit's  leading  missionary  to  Leeds 
and  its  neighbouring  towns  and  villages — and  with  good  reason.  It  is  evident  from  his 
published  Journal,  as  well  as  from  private  documents  in  his  hand  in  our  possession,  that 

e  2 


68 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


KEV.  JOHN  HOI'KINSON. 


the  experiences  he  met  with  during  these  pioneer  visits  made  a  deep  impression  on  his 
mind  and  were  often  recalled.  He  knew  what  it  was  to  endure  privation  and  suffer 
inconvenience.  At  first  accommodation  was  poor  and  not  always  available,  except  when 
paid  for,  and  it  behoved  him  to  be  careful  in  spending  the  circuit's 
money,  in  view  of  possible  embarrassments.  Hence,  he  was  some- 
times in  straits  and  had  to  lodge  where  he  could — occasionally  in 
rather  strange  places.  But  a  change  for  the  better  soon  took 
place,  and  we  find  him  thankfully  recording  :  "I  now  had  my 
home  with  Mr.  Smith  at  the  top  of  Kirkgate,  whose  family 
offered  to  shelter  me  at  all  times  of  my  need.  I  cannot  help 
reflecting  on  the  change  that  I  have  experienced  in  these  circum- 
stances. When  I  first  came  to  Leeds  I  lodged  in  public-houses, 
and  went  supperless  to  lied." 

Still,  Mr.  Clowes'  visits  to  these  parts,  though  pretty  frequent, 
were  only  flying  ones,  and,  unless  there  had  been  some  reliable  men 

on  the  ground,  a  permanent  interest  could  scarcely  have  been  built  up.  But  there  were 
such  reliable  men  who,  as  personal  factors  in  the  upbuilding  of  Primitive  Methodism 
in  Leeds  and  around,  demand  recognition.  Messrs.  Verity  and  S.  Smith  almost 
immediately  entered  the  ministry,  but]  their  places  were  taken  and  their  work  carried 
on  by  others.  Two  of  these  also  became  travelling  preachers — John  Hopkinson  and 
John  Bywater — but  not  until  they  had  rendered  effective  service  locally,  while  John 
Keynard  remained  on  the  ground  until  Lis  death  in  1854,  and  was  a  tower  of  strength 
to  the  societies. 

John  Hopkinson,   born  at   Ardsley   near  Wakefield,   in    1801,   was  the   son   of  the 

Mrs.  Hopkinson  in  whose  house   \V.  Clowes  enrolled  the  members  of  the  first  class. 

He  received  his  first  spiritual  good  amongst  the  Wesleyans,  but  when  John  Verity  was 

expelled  for  complicity  with  "  h'anterism,"  he  joined  the  new  community.     His  reasons 

for  doing  so,   as  stated  by  himself,  are  worth  [giving.     They  were: — (1)   His  strong 

attachment  to  .1.  Verity,  who  was  his  guide,  philosopher,  and  friend.     (2)  The  simple, 

pointed  style  of  their  preaching  was  congenial  to  his  taste.    (3) 

Their    open-air    movements    he    cordially    approved.       (4)    Their 

field   of    action    found    employment    for  talents   of  the  humblest 

order.     So,   under  the   stress   of   these  views   and  considerations, 

•      he  became   a    Primitive    Methodist.      He    undertook    the   leader- 

Mi     3L  ship  of   the  society  at  Dudley  Hill,  though  it  was  eleven  miles 

ji^^  "^^/     from  his   resiJenC(-'-      In    1820   he    began    to  preach,  and   three 

1       Ik    ■      years  after  he  entered  the  ministry,  and  for  thirty-five  years  he 

Y^^W  ^V  contmued  in  active   service.      In  summing  up  his  character  and 

work  his  biographer- has  stated  :   "He  was  an  exemplary  Christian 

and  a  laborious  minister.  He  was  connected  with  the 

admission  of  3700  members  into  society;  his  prayers  were  pointed; 

his  sermons  well  arranged  and  powerful;    he  travelled  on  twenty-five  stations.       He 

faithfully  served  God  and  his  generation,  and  his  end  was  peace."* 

*  Memoir  in  the  Magazine  for  185!i,  p.  3!ll. 


REV.   JOHN    liYW'ATEB. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE    AND   ENTERPRISE.  69 

John  Bywater  is  a  name  that  calls  for  rehabilitation.  He  has  received  but  scant 
recognition  and  fallen  into  undeserved  neglect.  Until  the  late  Dr.  Joseph  Wood 
chivalrously  vindicated  his  name,*  little  remained  to  show  the  kind  of  man  he  was,  and 
how  worthy  to  be  remembered  by  the  denomination  he  served  so  well.  True  :  there  is 
the  official  memoir  in  the  Conference  Minute*  of  1870,  but  there  is  little  else;  and  that 
memoir  is  so  short  that  it  can  be  given  here  in  its  entirety  without  making  undue 
demands  on  our  space.     Says  the  official  penman  : — 

"John  Bywater  was  a  native  of  the  town  of  Leeds,  Yorkshire.  In  his  youth  he 
was  converted  to  God  and  united  with  the  Primitive  Methodists.  He  commenced 
his  itinerant  ministry  at  the  Conference  of  1825,  and  subsequently  laboured  in  and 
superintended  some  of  the  most  important  circuits  in  the  Connexion.  For  five 
years  he  was  General  Missionary  Secretary.  He  was  superannuated  by  the  Con- 
ference of  1860,  and  died  at  Cote  Houses  in  the  Scotter  Circuit,  October  12th,  1869, 
aged  65  years." 

Between  the  facts  here  stated  and  the  shortness  of  the  notice  there  is  a  striking  dis- 
parity. We  need  not  go  into  the  reasons  for  this  studied  brevity  and  speedy  relapse 
into  silence.  The  reasons — if  reasons  there  were,  hold  good  no  longer,  and  it  is  time 
we  saw  the  man  in  his  true  perspective  and  proportions.  If  he  did  through  inexperience 
and  shattered  health  fail  comparatively  as  a  farmer,  on  his  enforced  and  somewhat  early 
retirement,  he  had  not  failed  as  a  chapel-builder,  as  an  administrator,  as  a  preacher,  as 
a  friend,  as  a  Christian  minister.  Thus  much  is  due  to  his  name.  In  Leeds,  young 
Bywater  was  true  and  loyal.  During  the  early  troubles  which  overtook  the  society,  we 
are  told  that  John  Hopkinson  and  John  Bywater  were  true  comrades  and  yoke-fellows ; 
"they  stood  firm  for  Connexional  rule,  and  almost  laboured  themselves  into  the  grave 
to  save  the  cause  from  wreck ;  and  success  crowned  their  efforts.'' 

The  allusion  here  made  to  the  storm-cloud  which  burst  over  Leeds  Primitive  Methodism 
in  the  early  days,  calls  for  a  little  fuller  reference  before  we  go  on  to  glance  at  one  or 
two  other  workers.  "  Kevivalism,''  as  we  have  defined  it,  did  Primitive  Methodism 
some  good ;  it  also  did  it  some  harm.  So  Leeds,  like  other  places,  found  to  its  cost. 
Bevivalism  helped  to  found  the  Leeds  Society,  and  it  all  but  succeeded  in  shattering  it. 
We  have,  in  writing  of  Hull,  referred  to  the  group  of  preaching  and  praying  women — 
notably  Ann  Carr,  Miss  Williams,  and  Miss  Healand — who  carried  on  evangelistic 
labours  in  Lincolnshire  and  the  East  Riding  of  Yorkshire.  There  is  evidence  to  show 
that  the  Misses  Carr  and  Williams  were  counted  as  Primitive  Methodists,  and  not  merely 
accepted  as  unattached  auxiliaries.  At  the  March,  1820,  Quarter  Day  of  the  Hull 
Circuit,  a  letter  was  sent  to  Miss  Carr  asking  if  she  were  willing  to  enter  the  ministry. 
Ann  Carr  was  born  at  Market  Kasen  in  1738,  and  died  June  18th,  1841.  In  Leeds 
she  and  her  friend  Williams  laboured  hard  and  formed  many  friendships.  There  was 
a  good  deal  of  the  masculine  in  Ann  Carr's  composition,  and  neither  she  nor  her 
colleague  took  very  kindly  to  the  yoke  imposed  by  a  regularly  organised  Connexion. 
They  preferred  to  hold  a  roving  commission  and  to  take  an  erratic  course,  letting  fancy 

*"  Recollections  of  John  Bywater  and  Early  Chapel-building  in  the  town  of  Hull  by  J.  Wood,  D.D  " 
Aldersgate  Magazine,  1898. 


70 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


or  circumstances  determine  their  direction  and  procedure.  It  is  intimated  by  Mr.  George 
Allen  that  they  had  no  predilection  for  the  plan,  but  were  quite  willing  on  invitation  to 
take  the  pulpits  of  those  who  were  planned,  and  that  misunderstandings  and  collisions 
were  the  natural  result.  Being  called  to  account  for  irregular  movements  associated 
with  ofKciousness,  they  took  offence  and,  parading  their  grievances,  made  a  division. 
A  chapel  was  ultimately  built  by  the  separatists  in  Leyland,  which  became  known  as 
Ann  Carr's  Chapel.  This  interest  was  sustained  with  varying  success  for  a  long  period. 
At  length  signs  of  physical  and  mental  failure  began  to  show  themselves  in  the  once 
vigorous  woman,  and  a  short  time  before  her  death  Ann  Carr  went  back  to  her  first 
love  and  reunited  with  the  Wesleyans,  who  purchased  her  chapel.  A  "  Life  "  of  her 
was  published,  peculiar  in  this  that  it  is  almost  silent  as  to  her  former  connection  with 
our  Church.  Any  one  unacquainted  with  her  career  would  never  suspect  on  reading 
the  book  that  she  was  at  one  time  so  prominent  a  Primitive  Methodist.  The  memoirs 
in  God's  book  are  written  with  greater  impartiality. 

When  the  clouds  rolled  by,  John  Reynard  was  found  at  his  post.  Born  in  1800,  Mr. 
Reynard  was  converted  through  hearing  Gideon  Ousley  (the  famous  Irish  evangelist), 
on  one  of  his  visits  to  Leeds.  He  united  with  the  Wesleyans  and  remained  with  them 
until  1820,  when  he  was  invited  by  S.  Smith  (whose  sister  he  married)  to  attend  the 
preaching  service  then  held  in  a  house  in  Hill-house  Bank. 

"  He  acceded  to  the  invitation  and  was  edified  and  blessed  ;  so  much  so  that  he 
said  to  his  friend  :  'I  shall  walk  into  the  country  this  afternoon,  and  if  the  society 
be  as  lively  their  as  it  is  in  Leeds  I  shall  join  you.'  The  two  walked  to  Armley  for 
the  afternoon  service.  Mr.  J.  Flockton  preached,  and  the  same  Divine  influence 
attended  the  Word  as  had  been  felt  during  the  morning  service  in  Leeds.  Mr. 
Reynard,  therefore,  decided  to  cast  in  his  lot  with  our  people,  and  on  May  16th, 
1820,  he  joined  Mr.  J.  Dutton's  class.  When  Mr.  Dutton  was  taken  out  to  travel 
he  was  appointed  to  take  charge  of  the  class,  and  continued  its  leader  for  many 
years." — Memoir  in  Mitijajne,  1855,  pp.  193-4. 

The  estimate  of  Mr.  Reynard's  character,  as  given  by  Mr. 
Petty  in  his  "History,''  needs  no  revision.  It  is  just  and  dis- 
criminating, and  hence  worthy  to  be  handed  down  as  a  carefully 
written  judgment  based  on  personal  knowledge. 

"  Mr.  Reynard,  says  Mr.  Petty,  soon  became  a  useful  and 
distinguished  member.  Possessing  promising  talents,  he 
was  speedily  called  to  exercise  his  gifts  in  public  speak- 
ing, in  which  he  proved  to  be  more  than  ordinarily 
acceptable  and  useful.  He  had  a  sound  judgment,  clear 
views  of  evangelical  truth,  a  retentive  memory,  a  ready 
command  of  language,  a  distinct  utterance,  and  consider- 
able power  over  an  audience.  His  pulpit  and  platform 
efforts  were  highly  estimated  everywhere,  and  were 
frequently  in  requisition,  both  in  his  own  circuit,  and 
in  numerous  other  stations.  For  thirty-four  years  he 
to  the  work  of  a  local  preacher,  and  reaped  a  large 
He  was  an  enlightened  and  ardent  friend  of  the  community 


MR.    JOHN    REYNARD, 
OF  LKEDS. 

devoted    his    energies 
measure  of  success 


THE   PEKIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE. 


71 


MRS.  BROGUES. 


of  which  he  was  an  ornament,  and  took  a  large  share  in  its  most  important 
transactions.  He  was  not  only  a  leading  man  in  his  own  circuit,  where  his 
influence  was  great,  and  beneficially  exerted  ;  but  was  likewise  raised  to  the 
highest  offices  of  trust  and  responsibility  which  the  Connexion 
could  confer  upon  a  layman,  being  constituted  a  permanent  member 
of  Conference,  which  he  regularly  attended,  and  at  which  he 
rendered  valuable  service.  He  pursued  a  sound  course  in  matters 
of  Church  business,  and  studied  to  promote  the  best  interests  of 
the  Connexion.  For  some  time  previous  to  his  death,  it  was 
evident  to  his  friends  that  he  was  ripening  for  the  garner  of  God. 
He  became  increasingly  dead  to  the  world,  and  more  spiritual 
and  heavenly  in  his  temper  and  disposition.  His  removal  to  the 
celestial  country  was  affectingly  sudden.  On  Sunday,  December 
17th,  1854,  he  attended  his  preaching  appointment  at  Kippax, 
near  Leeds,  and  while  engaged  in  prayer  in  the  congregation,  his 
voice  began  to  fail,  and  the  last  words  he  was  heard  to  utter, 
were,  '  Lord  Jesus,  bless  me  !  O  God  !  come  to  my  help  ! '  A  paralytic  stroke 
deprived  him  of  speech,  and  of  the  use  of  his  right  side.  He  lingered  until  the 
Wednesday  following,  when  he  expired  without  a  lingering  groan,  aged  fifty- 
four  years.  On  December  24th,  1854,  '  devout  men  carried  him  to  his  burial 
in  Woodhouse  Cemetery,  and  made  great  lamentation  over  him.'  He  died  com- 
paratively young ;  but  he  had  been  permitted  to  perform  a  large  share  of  useful 
service  in  the  Church  of  Christ,  and  to  the  glory  of  his  Saviour's  name." 

It  is  pleasing  to  know  that  fifty  years  after  Mr.  Reynard's  death  the  family  has  still 
its  representatives  in  Leeds  Primitive  Methodism.  We  give  the  portrait  of  his  amiable 
daughter,  the  late  Mrs.  Brogden,  whose  husband,  Mr.  Alexander  Brogden,  was  an 
earnest  worker  in  our  Church,  and  for  many  years  superintendent  of  Quarry  Hill 
Sunday  school;  while  Mrs.  Brogden  herself  (vbiit  December,  1902)  was  for  ten 
years  a  class-leader,  and  also  a  successful  Sabbath  school  teacher  at  Quarry  Hill 
and  Belle  Vue. 

If  John  Reynard  was  the  Primitive  Methodist  bookbinder,  John  Parrot  was  perhaps 
for  a  considerable  time  its  best-known  printer.  His  imprint  is  to 
be  found  on  "  The  Primitive  Pulpit "  and  many  other  books  and 
pamphlets  printed  in  the  'Fifties  and  'Sixties.  A  native  of  Hull 
and  connected  with  Mill  Street  Society  he  removed  to  Halifax 
in  1835,  where  he  became  a  local  preacher.  Two  years  after  he 
settled  in  Leeds,  where  he  lived  and  worked  until  his  death  in 
1871.  He  was  a  hard  worker,  and  what  was  less  common  in  those 
days— a  lover  of  fun  and  frolic.  He  filled  and  fulfilled  many  offices, 
but  probably  the  best  and  most  lasting  work  he  did  was  his 
Bible-teaching.  There  are  those  occupying  important  positions  in 
the  Church  to-day  who  will  be  ready  to  express  their  obligations 
to  the  genial  printer. 

In  1820  Leeds  was  made  a  branch  of  Hull  Circuit,  and  it  is  an  interesting  coincidence 
that  Samuel  Laister,  the  first  Primitive  preacher  the  deputation  heard  on  their  visit  to 
Ferrybridge,  was  one  of  the  first  preachers  of  the  Leeds  Branch.     Samuel  Laister  was 


JOHN  PARROTT. 


72  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 

a  native  of  historic  Epworth,  and  was  of  Methodist  parentage.  In  the  Mvthoi/ist 
MaijtirAM  for  1784  there  is  given  a  remarkable  dream  of  the  Last  Judgment  dreamed 
by  the  father  of  Samuel,  to  which  his  conversion  and  that  of  his  four  brothers  was 
directly  attributable.  He  removed  to  Market  Weighton  and  became  a  Primitive 
Methodist  local  preacher,  and  in  September,  1820,  went  out  to  travel.  "We  shall  soon 
meet  with  him  again  at  Malton,  and  especially  at  Darlington,  where  he  finished  his 
course.  From  a  branch  Leeds  became  a  circuit  in  1822,  having  no  fewer  than  ten  preachers 
down  for  it  on  the  stations,  of  whom  John  Coulson  is  the  first.  The  same  year  Quarry 
Hill  chapel  was  built,  which  through  many  changes  still  survives  as  one  of  the  historic 
chapels  of  Primitive  Methodism.  This  year  was  also  notable  for  the  action  taken  by 
the  December  Quarterly  Meeting  in  sending  two  missionaries  to  London,  of  which  we 
shall  have  to  speak  more  fully  in  another  connection.  In  1823  the  fourth  Conference 
was  held  at  Leeds.  Apart  from  the  action  taken  in  regard  to  the  new  hymn  book,* 
perhaps  the  most  noteworthy  transaction  of  this  Conference  related  to  the  establishment 
of  a  Preachers'  Friendly  Society.  It  was  ordered  that  one  preacher  from  each  circuit 
should  attend  a  meeting  at  Hull,  on  August  24th,  for  the  purpose  of  making  the  needful 
arrangements,  but  with  the  fettering  proviso  that  "  the  preachers  shall  not  be  allowed 
to  beg  for  the  establishing  of  the  fund."  "We  are  not  surprised  to  learn  that  this 
restriction,  felt  to  be  so  galling,  was  removed  the  very  next  year.  Though  the  religious 
services  in  connection  with  the  first  Leeds  Conference  are  said  to  have  been  powerful 
and  fruitful,  and  the  hospitality  of  the  Leeds  friends  exceedingly  hearty,  yet,  we  are 
told  by  "W.  Clowes,  there  were  several  matters  of  a  trying  nature  to  occupy  the  attention 
of  the  delegates.  As  a  whole,  considerable  progress  had  been  made  during  the  year, 
but  some  of  the  circuits  had  become  embarrassed,  and  the  Connexion  was  entering 
within  the  penumbra  of  its  temporary  eclipse.  The  Conference  over,  Hugh  Bourne 
thought  it  his  duty  to  write  an  admonitory  letter  to  the  preachers,t  at  the  same  time 
asking  them  to  contribute  towards  the  relief  of  the  embarrassed  circuits.  The  appeal 
met  with  little  response — four  pounds,  which  included  one  pound  given  by  himself, 
being  the  net  result.  This  moved  him  further  to  address  "  A  Private  Communication," 
reflecting  strongly  upon  certain  "runners-out  of  circuits,''  and  pointedly  calling 
attention  to  particular  cases  of  irregularity.  The  drastic  character  of  this  "  private  com- 
munication" naturally  created  heart-burnings,  and  ensured  warm  discussions  at  the 
annual  meeting  at  Halifax.  Of  the  second  Leeds  Conference— that  of  1818— of  which 
Thomas  King  was  the  President,  and  Emerson  Muschamp,  of  "Weardale,  the  Secretary, 
little  need  be  said,  as  it  does  not  appear  to  have  been  concerned  in  any  weighty  matters. 
Let  some  of  the  administrative  changes  through  which  the  original  Leeds  Circuit  has 
passed  be  briefly  chronicled.  First,  Bradford  (to  be  hereafter  referred  to)  was  made 
a  Circuit  in  1^2.°.,  then  Otley  was  taken  from  Leeds,  and  for  two  years  (1824-5)  ranked 
as  an  independent  circuit.  Dewsbury  also  stood  on  the  Conference  Minutes— 
1824-8— as  a  circuit  in  its  own  right.     Afterwards  both  Otley  and  Dewsbury  reverted 

*  .See  ante.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  10. 

t"A  number  of  our  Yorkshire  circuits,  with  one  in  Derbyshire,  and  some  of  the  Lancashire 
eircuits.are  considerably  embarrassed  ;  and  some  of  them  are  grievously  embarrassed."— H.  Bourne's 
Letter  to  the  Preachers,  June  6th,  ls2:i. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE    AND   ENTERPRISE. 


73 


PH 


ffiPCK 


74  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 


to  Leeds.  Then,  in  1840,  Otley  again  acquired  independence.  In  1849,  when 
that  capable  minister,  Richard  Davies,  was  the  superintendent,  Leeds  was  still 
one  circuit,  though  a  powerful  one  with  1162  members.  It  comprised  the  Home 
Branch  and  the  South  Leeds  and  Dewsbury  Branches.  In  1850 
South  Leeds  became  a  separate  station,  and  three  years  later 
was  called  Leeds  Second.  Dewsbury  remained  a  branch  until  1857, 
when  it  was  granted  autonomy.  In  1862  the  West  Branch  of 
Leeds  First  became  Leeds  Third  or  Behoboth.  These  dry,  though 
necessary,  details  are  of  some  significance  as  showing  how  modern 
and  even  quite  recent  has  been  the  development  of  Leeds  Primitive- 
Methodism  with  its  existing  eight  circuits.  Statistics  not  just  here- 
in place  would  confirm  the  impression  that  the  story  of  this 
development— of  which  on  its  material  side  some  idea  may  be 
gained  from  our  page  illustration  of  Leeds  chapels — belongs  to  the 

MR.    GEORGE  ALLEN.  ,  .  , 

later  period  of  our  history. 
Information  respecting  the  history  of  Primitive  Methodism  during  the  first  period  is 
regrettably  scanty.  We  are,  therefore,  all  the  more  beholden  to  Mr.  George  Allen  for 
his  published  jottings  on  our  history  in  Leeds.'"  Mr.  Allen  became  a  scholar  in  the 
Sunday  school,  then  conducted  in  Shannon  Street,  as  early  as  1823,  and  afterwards  an 
active  and  useful  official  of  the  Leeds  First  Circuit.  To  him  we  are  indebted  for  a  few 
facts  relating  to  the  gene-is  of  the  Leeds  Second  and  Third  Circuits  which  shall  be 
given  in  his  own  words  : — 

A  Mr.  William  Annitage,  who  lived  in  Wheeler  Street,  Bank,  Leeds,  about  1833, 
removed  to  Park  Lane,  and  carried  his  religious  influence  with  him.  A  prayer 
meeting  was  held  at  Mrs.  Blakey's,  Hanover  Square,  afterwards.  On  Sunday 
nights  a  preaching  service  was  held  at  Mr.  Tyas',  in  Chatham  Street,  and  in  a  short 
time  a  class  meeting  was  held  on  Monday  afternoons  at  Mr.  Tyas'.  Thus  the  work 
spread  until  they  took  a  room  in  Park  Lane,  which  had  been  a  joiner's  shop.  Then 
1'iehoboth  chapel  and  the  houses  connected  with  it  were  built  (1839),  the  Lord  being 
their  helper.  But  before  this,  preaching  services  had  been  commenced  in  a  yard  in 
Meadow  Lane.  After  that  they  built  a  chapel  in  a  yard  because,  I  suppose,  they 
could  get  the  land  there  at  a  cheap  rate.  The  chapel  at  Holbeck  was  parted 

with  in  about  lNSti  and  Prince's  Field  Chapel  built,  which  is  now  in  Leeds  Second 
Circuit ;  Park  Lane  (Rehoboth)  being  in  the  Third." 

The  facts  here  given  may  usefully  serve  as  point*  de  rej/ere,  but  we  want  something 
more.  Fortunately  we  get  some  side-lights  illuminating  the  facts  here  barely  given 
from  the  lives  of  Thomas  Batty  and  Atkinson  Smith,  who  were  the  ministers  of  Leeds 
Circuit  from  1*31  to  1833.  In  these  two  years  they  made  full  proof  of  their  ministry,, 
with  the  result  that  there  was  an  increase  of  three  hundred  to  the  membership  of  the 
Church.  We  have  already  indicated  what  were  the  outstanding  features  of  Atkinson 
Smith's  character  and  ministry.  These  were  never  more  conspicuously  in  evidence 
than  during  his  two  years'  term  in  Leeds.  His  biographer,  who  travelled  in  the  Leeds 
Circuit  in    1S42  and   took   his  bride,   Sarah  Bickerstaffe,   to   the  preacher's  house  at 

*"A  History  of  Primitive  Methodism  in  Leeds  0*19-18*8),"  by  George  Allen. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE.  75 

Quarry  Hill,  adduces  the  testimony  of  a  Leeds  class-leader  to  the  influence  of  Atkinson 
Smith's  prayers  and  labours.  When  we  know  that  the  class-leader  in  question  was 
John  Reynard,  and  that  it  was  in  his  house  the  young  preacher  resided,  the  testimony 
is  weighty  indeed. 

"'Leeds  Circuit,'  says  Mr.  Reynard,  'owes  its  rise  in  a  great  measure  to  the 
prayers  of  Atkinson  Smith.'  And  then,  pointing  to  his  chamber  floor,  he  observed  : 
'  I  have  known  him  be  on  these  boards  for  four  hours  together,  agonising  in  prayer.' 
I  [C.  Kendall]  found  many  who  owned  him  as  their  father  in  Christ.  Among 

many  others  to  whom  his  labours  were  made  a  blessing  was  Mr.  Thomas  Ratcliffe, 
who  became  a  well-known  minister  of  our  Church." 

In  1832  Leeds  suffered  severely  from  the  visitation  of  the  cholera.  As  in 
Manchester,  so  here,  during  the  ravages  of  this  fell  disease,  special  attention  was  given 
to  open-air  services.  "  The  preachers  were  set  at  liberty  from  their  week-night  appoint- 
ments that  they  might  concentrate  their  efforts  on  the  living  masses  of  the  town.'' 
Atkinson  Smith  did  not  shrink  from  visiting  the  cholera  hospital  to  "  rescue  the 
perishing  and  care  for  the  dying.'' 

Here  is  an  extract  from  A.  Smith's  Journal  relating  to  Bramley,  now  Leeds  Fifth 
Circuit,  with  which  we  close,  for  the  present,  our  notice  of  Leeds. 

''  September  13th,  18-H. — I  went  to  Bramley,  a  place  containing  five  or  six  thousand 
inhabitants.  We  have  only  ten  members,  and  seldom  more  than  twenty  hearers. 
I  resolved  to  re-mission  the  place  ;  Wm.  Pickard  joined  me.  We  took  a  lantern, 
went  to  the  bottom  of  the  village,  and  began  to  sing  'We  are  bound  for  the 
Kingdom,'  &c.  Three  hundred  peojile  accompanied  us  to  the  chapel.  I  preached 
to  them,  but  not  with  my  usual  liberty  ;  yet  the  revival  began  that  night,  and  in 
a  short  time  forty  or  fifty  persons  found  the  Lord.'  'To  this  day,'  adds  the 
biographer,  writing  in  1854,  'the  people  of  Bramley  speak  of  Smith's  seeking  a 
revival  with  a  lantern  and  candle.' " 


76  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 


CHAPTER    XV. 

The  Yorkshire  Missions  and  Maltox  and  Ripon  Circuits. 

llIEN  I  look  at  the  work  in  Yorkshire,  it  is  amazing  !  Many  chapels  are 
built,  and  the  land  generally  spread  with  living  Churches,  and  hundreds  of 
souls  brought  to  God."  So  Clowes  wrote  in  March,  1821,  and  the  purpose 
of  this  chapter  is,  if  possible,  to  convey, the  impression  that  the  wonder 
expressed  by  Clowes  concerning  "  the  work  in  Yorkshire  "  was  natural  and  justified  by 
current  events  and  by  what  resulted  from  them  •.  in  other  words,  it  is  to  be  attempted  to 
show  that  the  wide  and  rapid  extension  of  Primitive  Methodism  through  the  agency 
of  Clowes  and  his  fellow-workers  of  the  Hull  Circuit  in  1820-1  is,  so  far  as  this  side 
of  our  island  is  concerned,  the  outstanding  fact  to  be  noted  and  made  to  yield  its 
impression. 

Rigid  adherence  to  the  chronological  order  of  circuit  formation  would,  for  once,  fail  to 
do  justice  to  the  facts  of  our  history  and  gain  from  them  the  right  impression.  York, 
Leeds,  Malton,  Ripon  were  the  only  circuits  in  this  part  of  Yorkshire  made  in  1822  ; 
yet,  by  that  time,  all  the  country  lying  between  these  towns  was  overrun  and  as  it  were 
pre-empted  for  the  Connexion.  Tadcaster,  Driffield,  Scarborough,  Bridlington,  might 
not  permanently  become  Circuits  till  long  after,  probably  because  they  were  comparatively 
close  to  Hull  and  under  its  fostering  care  and  guardianship  ;  none  the  less,  these  and 
other  Yorkshire  towns,  with  the  villages  they  served,  were  once  for  all  won  for  the 
Connexion  by  the  movement  of  1821-2.  Primitive  Methodism  paid  no  transient  visit, 
but  entered  to  stay.  It  was  only  when  Yorkshire  had  been  thus  traversed  and  practi- 
cally secured,  that  the  North  was  almost  simultaneously  reached  by  two  distinct  lines  of 
advance — the  one  ria  Brompton  and  Guisboro',  the  other  via  Ripon  and  Darlington. 
We  propose  then  in  this  chapter  to  show  how  this  base  was  secured,  and  in  doing  so, 
the  most  natural  course  will  be  to  begin  with  Tadcaster — whose  borders  marched  with 
those  of  Leeds  on  one  side  and  with  those  of  York  and  Brotherton  on  the  other — and 
then  to  follow  the  geographical  spread  of  the  movement  which  swept  Yorkshire  in  what 
Clowes,  who  was  in  the  midst  of  it,  thought  an  amazing  manner.  This  method  is  all 
the  more  necessary  as,  even  after  June,  1820,  when  branches  were  formed,  their 
boundaries  were  often  crossed.  What  with  frequent  interchanges  and  sallies  and 
excursions  it  is  difficult  to  locate  the  preachers.  They  are  now  here,  now  there,  pur- 
suing the  work  of  evangelisation.  Practically  the  East  anil  North  Ridings  were  during 
this  period  one  big  Circuit. 


THE   PERIOD   OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE. 


77 


Tadcastek. 

We  begin  then  with  the  ancient  and  interesting  town  of  Tadoaster,  lying  on  the  direct 
road  between  Leeds  and  York,  from  which  towns  it  is  fourteen  and  nineteen  miles  distant 
respectively.  It  is  also  on  the  Great  North  Road  and,  with  its  ancient  bridge  crossing 
the  Wharfe,  it  was  as  the  postern-gate  to  the  city  of  York.  Its  position  accounts  for  the 
fact  that  the  two  most  decisive  and  bloody  battles  recorded  in  English  history — Towton 
and  Marston  Moor,  were  fought  within  a  few  miles  of  the  town,  while,  in  1642,  Sir 
Thomas  Fairfax  and  the  Earl  of  Newcastle  contended  in  the  streets  of  Tadcaster  itself 
for  the  possession  of  the  all-important  bridge. 

Primitive  Methodism  was  introduced  into  Tadcaster  as  early  as  June  1820  by 
Nathaniel  West  who,  like 
John  Flesher,  began  his 
ministry  here.  So  success- 
ful was  N.  West's  Tadcaster 
mission  that,  by  September, 
he  could  report  that  one 
hundred  and  thirty-nine 
members  had  been  enrolled 
in  the  town  and  neighbour- 
ing    villages     which     were 


TADCASTER — APPLEGAF.TH. 
Scene  of  First  Camp  Meeting,  and  where  Gimp  Meetings 
were  held  for  fifty  years,  in  field  behind  trees  on  the  left  of  picture,  and 
right  on  the  banks  of  the  river  Wharfe. 


OLD  TADCASTEK  CENTRE. 


Clowes  held  Open-air  Services 
here  in  1825. 

assiduously  visited.  His 
three  months'  labour  re- 
sulted also  in  the  acquisi- 
tion of  a  chapel,  by 
which  we  are  probably 
to  understand  the  renting 
and  fitting  up  of  the  room 
in  Wighill  Lane,  shown 
in  our  picture.     Tradition 


says  that  this  had  formerly  been  used  by  a  sweep,  and  that  at  this  early  stage  of 
the  society's  progress  three  soldiers,  whose  duty  it  was  to  serve  as  escort  to  the  post 
from  York  to  VVetherby,  rendered  good  service.  Before  leaving  Tadcaster  for  the 
Malton  Branch,  N.  West  took  part  in  the  opening  services  along  with  J.  Earrar 
and  Mrs.  H.  Woolhouse,  of  Hull,  and  her  travelling-preacher  son.  After  being 
in  use  for  two  years,  the  first  chapel  was  built  in  Rosemary  Row.  This  building,  we 
are  told,  ultimately  fell  into  the  hands    of   the    Roman    Catholics  who,  in  order  to 


78 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 


erase  the  words  "  Primitive  Methodist  Chapel,"  had  a  cross  cut  in  the  stone-work 
between  the  windows.  If  the  old  chapel  was  thus  perverted,  the  "  Applegarth," 
the  old  cam],  meeting  site,  picturesquely  situated  by  the  river  Wharfe,  where  for 
fifty  years  camp  meetings  were  wont  to  be  held,  was  interdicted  to  the  society.  Here, 
in  1325,  W.  Clowes  took  part  in  a  famous  camp  meeting.  But  Tadcaster  is  a  brewery 
town,  and,  on  the  field  being  let  to  a  brewer,  its  owner  stipulated  that  no  more  camp 
meetings  should  be  held  therein.  The  present  chapel,  it  may  be  mentioned,  was  built 
in  1805,  at  a  total  cost,  with  schoolroom,  of  £1008. 

We  cannot  linger  on  Tadcaster.  It  is  now  a  small  and,  numerically,  feeble  station; 
but  its  history  shows  that,  relatively,  it  was  formerly  of  much  greater  importance  than 
it  is  to-day.  The  town  has 
held,  and  more  than  held, 
its  own.  Some  places  have 
been  given  to  Selby  Circuit  ; 
but  there  has  been  shrinkage 
in  relation  to  the  village 
interests,  which  old  journals 
and   documents  ■  show  were 


TADOASTEE  FIRST  CHAPEL. 
End  building,  Koseinary  Ruw. 


once  numerous  and  compara- 
tively vigorous.  The  towns 
and  large  urban  centres  had 
not  begun,  like  the  fabled  Min- 
otaur, to  deplete  and  devour 
the  village'  populations.  It 
may  be  worth  while  to  indi- 
cate in  a  separate  paragraph  (which  the  reader  can  skip  if  he  choose)  the  vicissitudes 
through  which  the  Tadcaster  Circuit  has  passed.  The  record  may  be  regarded  as 
typical  of  many  that  might  be  given,  and  as  not  being  without  historical  value  as 
suggesting  the  difficulties  which  the  retention  of  our  village  circuits  has  involved. 

The  Tadcaster  mission  of  Hull  Circuit,  opened  by  Nathaniel  West,  June,  1820, 
became  a  branch  of  Hull  Circuit  in  September  of  the  same  year,  and  so  continued 
until  the  close  of  1K24,  when  it  was  attached  to  York  Circuit.  In.  1826  it  was 
constituted  part  of  the  "Tadcaster  and  Ferrybridge  Circuit."  It  stood  on  the 
Minutes  as  an  independent  station  from  1K27  to  1837,  in  which  latter  year  it  had 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE    A.ND   ENTERPRISE.  79 

214  members.  Henceforward,  until  1850,  it  was  once  more  a  branch  of  Hull.  It 
assumed  circuit  rank  again  in  1851-2.  From  1853  to  1863,  inclusive,  it  was  a  branch 
of  Scarborough.  Lastly,  in  1864  it  was  again  made  a  circuit,  and  as  such  has 
continued. 

During  its  long  and  somewhat  chequered  history,  Tadcaster  has  had  a  succession  of 
-staunch  adherents  who  have  stood  by  the  cause  in  sunshine  and  shade.  We  find  the 
name  of  John  Swinden  figuring  in  documents  of  the  early  'Thirties.  He  and  his 
wife  Elizabeth  were  converts  of  W.  Clowes  in  1825,  and  ever  since  1835  there  have 
been  two  of  this  name  on  the  plan.  The  Eev.  John  Swinden,  a  scion  of  this  family,  is 
one  of  the  goodly  number  Tadcaster  Circuit  has  sent  into  the  ranks  of  the  regular 
ministry.  Of  these  the  Kev.  Wilson  Eccles  is  another  modern  representative.  Three 
-of  the  aforesaid  Elizabeth  Swinden's  brothers — Atkinson  by  name— became  useful  local 
preachers,  while  a  fourth  was  class-leader.  Thus  we  see  again  the  hereditary  principle 
at  work. 

Ripon. 

When  Ripon  is  mentioned,  we  are  not  to  think  merely  of  the  pretty  though  somewhat 
sleepy  city  on  the  Ure,  with  its  ancient  Cathedral  of  St.  Wilfrid,  together  with  its 
adjacent  villages,  which  represents  the  Ripon  Circuit  of  to-day.  Rather  are  we  to 
figure  to  ourselves  a  tract  of  country  stretching  from  the  borders  of  Leeds  and  Tadcaster 
-Circuits  to  Middleham,  and  from  the  valley  of  the  JS'idd  to  Thirsk,  comprising  what 
are  now  the  Harrogate,  Knaresboro',  Pateley  Bridge,  Thirsk,  Ripon,  Bedale,  and 
Middleham  Circuits.  They  took  seizin  of  this  country  for  the  Connexion,  though 
as  yet  all  of  it  might  not  be  effectively  occupied.  The  Ripon  Circuit,  formed  in  1822, 
ultimately  grew  to  be  with  its  branches  one  of  the  most  extensive  Circuits  in  the 
Connexion,  and,  after  1824,  when  it  was  incorporated  with  the  newly  formed  Sunder- 
land District,  it  was  travelled  by  some  of  the  best  known  and  most  capable  ministers  of 
that  District. 

W.  Clowes  opened  Knaresbro' as  early  as  October  24th,  1819,  by  preaching  "abroad" 
amid  wind  and  rain  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  in  a  dwelling-house  in  the 
evening.  On  the  Tuesday  following,  he  preached  in  a  different  part  of  the  town  and 
formed  a  society  of  four  members.  Two  other  visits  to  Knaresbro'  were  paid  before 
the  year  closed,  and  kindly  mention  is  made  of  an  old  Scotchwoman,  Mary  Brownridge, 
who  bade  him  welcome  to  what  her  house  afforded.  At  already  fashionable  Harrogate 
"  the  uncircumcised  fastened  the  door  of  the  house  he  was  in  "  to  prevent  his  egress ; 
but  he  got  out  at  the  back  of  the  premises.  At  Killinghall,  hard  by,  he  preached  in  a 
joiner's  shop  and  in  the  Wesleyan  Chapel,  and  while  at  family  prayers  next  morning  at 
the  house  of  Mr.  Swales,  two  of  his  servant-men  cried  out  for  mercy.  It  was  while 
tramping  through  the  snow  from  Harrogate  to  Leeds  that  Clowes  had  his  encounter 
with  a  gentleman  riding  a  very  fine  horse,  who  proved  to  be  the  Vicar  of  Harewood. 
The  long  discussion  between  them  led  Clowes  to  indulge  in  sundry  reflections,  one  of 
which  was  that,  notwithstanding  all  his  privations  and  sufferings,  and  the  toil  and 
persecution  he  suffered  as  a  missionary  of  the  cross,  he  would  not  exchange  situations 
with  the  Vicar  of  Harewood,  "for,''  adds  he,  "my  religion  makes  my  soul  happy."  Mr. 
Clowes  also  visited  Whixley,  the  home  of  the  Annakin  family,  and  Burton  Leonard, 


80 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


Mil.    THOMAS    DAWSON. 


where  a  good  society  was  formed,  and  especially  Marton-cum-Grafton.  Here  Mr.  Mark 
Noble,  a  T\resleyan,  incurring  censure  for  countenancing  and  aiding  and  abetting  the- 
missionary,  felt  constrained  to  join  the  society  that  was  formed,  ai.d  henceforth  freely 
extended  hospitality  to  the  preachers.  In  the  revival  which  took  place  at  this  time, 
Mr.  Thomas  Dawson,  by  far  the  ablest  and  most  influential 
official  of  the  EApon  Circuit  in  the  early  days,  was  brought  to 
God.  He  entered  the  ministry,  but  was  obliged  to  relinquish 
it  after  eighteen  months'  trial,  his  strength  not  being  equal, 
to  the  heavy  demands  of  the  work.  He  located  in  the  Eipon 
Circuit,  and  as  an  evidence  of  the  respect  entertained  for  him 
by  his  brethren,  who  well  knew  his  loyalty  and  the  value  of  his 
counsel,  he  was  elected  a  deed  poll  member  at  the  Conference 
of  1856.  The  Rev.  Colin  C  McKechnie,  who  knew  him  in- 
timately, has  left  a  pen-and-ink  sketch  of  Mr.  Dawson,  which 
we  have  pleasure  in  quoting. 

"  Mr.  Thomas  Dawson  was,  beyond  question,  the  most 
gifted  of  all  our  laymen.  He  was  well-informed,  had 
a  keen  perception,  and  a  logical  mind.  Nothing  pleased  him  more  than  taking  part 
in  a  debate  ;  and  if  lie  bad  anything  like  a  good  case  in  hand,  he  was  almost  sure 
to  win.  Indeed,  if  the  case  were  bad,  the  chances  were  in  his  favour,  for  he  had  the 
faculty  of  making  the  'worse  appear  the  better  reason.'  He  delighted  in  the 
society  of  the  preachers,  and  in  meeting  them  at  his  house.  Afflicted  with 
asthma,  he  was  at  times  compelled  to  sit  up  at  nights,  as  he  could  not  lie.  At  such 
times  if  a  preacher  happened  to  be  with  him,  he  would  spend  hours  in  discussion, 
the  subjects  often  being  of  an  abstruse  and  metaphysical  nature.  One  night 
I  spent  with  him  was  devoted  almost  entirely  to  the  discussion  of 

'  Fixeil  fate,  free  will,  foreknowledge  absolute.' 

And  he  seemed  to  forget  all  his  ailments  in  the  polemical  ardour  with  which  he 
repelled  the  Calvinistic  views  taken  of  those  high  subjects.  Mr.  Dawson  was  a 
thoroughly  good  man,  upright,  devoted,  zealous  in  Christian  work,  and  an  out-and- 
out  Primitive."* 

Mr.  Clowes  entered  the  city  of  Eipon  for  the  first  time  on  March  4th,  1820.  A  local 
preacher  being  planned  at  the  "Wesleyan  chapel  on  this  .Sabbath  whose  face  was  almost 
unknown  to  the  congregation,  Clowes  was  privately  pressed  to  take  his  place,  and  at 
last  consented.  The  service  was  a  powerful  one,  and  either  the  preacher's  matter  or 
manner  betrayed  him,  for,  when  the  congregation  were  dispersing,  one  said,  aloud:  "If 
tlietc  be  '  Ranters,'  then  I  am  a  '  Ranter.' "  The  evening  service,  we  are  told,  was  held 
in  the  house  of  Mr.  B.  Spetch,  in  Bondgate,  and  in  the  prayer  meeting  which  followed, 
William  Rimfitt  and  Moses  Lupton,  afterwards  General  Missionary  Secretary,  and 
President,  were  two  out  of  fourteen  who  professed  to  find  the  Saviour.  A  strong  society 
was  almost  immediately  formed,  which  received  numerous  accessions  from  the  somewhat, 
frequent  visits  to  Eipon  paid  by  Clowes  during  the  year,  as  noted  in  his  published 
Journal.  As  early  as  June,  1820,  Eipon  was  made  a  branch,  and  in  September  three 
preachers  were  stationed  to  it,  viz.,  James  Farrar,  Robert  Ripley,  and  John  Garbutt. 

*  Rev.  C.  C.  McKechnie's  MS      Autobiography,"  in  the  possession  of  the  author. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE. 


81 


MOSES  LUPTON. 


A  month  after  we  find  W.  Clowes  taking  part  in  the  opening  of  a  new  chapel  at 

Martin-cum-Grafton,   and  once  more  we  meet  with  Mrs.   Woolhouse  assisting  in  the 

services. 

Amongst  those  who  travelled  the  extensive  Eipon  Circuit  in  the  first  period  were 

several  with  whose  names  and  work  we  shall  become 
familiar  in  writing  of  the  Northern  District;  men  like 
John  Lightfoot,  John  Branfoot,  William  Lister,  W.  Dent, 
John  Day,  Thomas  Southron.  Nor  should  we  omit 
mention  of  Mary  Porteus,  who  was  on  the  circuit's  staff  of 
preachers  from  1828  to  1830.  On  the  intellectual  side 
she  must  be  regarded  as  taking  a  high  place  amongst 
our  female  itinerants.  She  did  not  come  behind  any  of 
them  in  piety  and  zeal,  and  she  excelled  most  of  them 
in  preaching  power.  The  Rev.  W.  Dent — a  competent 
judge — has  said  of  her,  "  that  it  was  really  a  privilege  to 
hear  her  preach,  for  she  had  both  the  requisite  gifts  and 
grace.''  Mary  Porteus  was  a  native  of  Gateshead  and 
entered  the  ministry  in  1826,  taking  circuit  work  until 
1840,  when  enfeebled  health  compelled  her  retirement. 
For   one   of   her   sex    and    constitution    Ripon    was    an 

exacting  station.       Some  idea  of  the  physical  toil  involved  in  the  working  of  such 

a  Circuit  may  be  gathered  from  the  statement  of  the  Rev.  W.  Lister  that,  durinn- 

the  three  years  of  his  superin tendency  of  the  Ripon  Circuit,  1835-8,  he  had  walked 

2,400  miles. 

In  speaking  of  the  early  history  of  the  Ripon  Circuit  it 

would  be  almost  unpardonable  to  make  no  reference  to 

Joseph  Spoor,  who  had  so  much  to  do  with  the  shaping  of 

that  history.     In  a  very  real  sense  he  made  his  mark  on 

the  Circuit,  and  it  was  equally  true  that  the  Ripon  Circuit 

left  its  mark  on  him,  for  it  was  while  labouring,  as  he  only 

could,  in  the  Middleham  Mission  of  this  station — forty- 
seven  miles  in  length  and  twenty  in  breadth — that  he 

broke  down  in  health,  and  had  to  superannuate  for  a  time. 

Yet  he  was  no  weakling.     Indeed,  when  Thomas  Dawson 

secured  him  at  the  District  Meeting  of  1835  for  the  Ripon 

Circuit,  well  knowing  he  "  could  toil  terribly,"  he  was  in 

the  full  vigour  of  his  powers.     He  had  a  compact,  sinewy, 

agile  frame.     He  was  courageous  as  a  lion,  and  yet  he 

could  show  on   occasion  of  an  emergency  much  tact  and 

resourcefulness.      He  made    no    pretension  to  learning  or 

eloquence.      He  spoke  out  in  plain  Saxon,  and  the  themes  on  which  he  discoursed 

presented  little  variety;   but  his  own  soul  kindled  as  he  spoke,  and  the  old  themes 

were  all  aglow  like  Moses'  bush  that  burned  unconsumed  in  fire      Added  to  all  this 

there  was  at  times  a  dash  of  eccentricity  about  his  movements  both  in  and  out  of  the 

F 


MARY  PORTEUS. 


82 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 


pulpit  which  attracted  the  attention  of  men  and  made  him  popular.  Many  of  the 
well-known  incidents  associated  with  his  name  occurred  during  his  term  of  labour  in 
Eipon  and  its  various  branches,  which  term  was  remarkable  for  a  great  revival  of 
religion — one  that  was  not  restricted  to  a  few  places  but  spread  over  nearly  the  whole 
Circuit.  New  societies  were  raised  in  several  places,  and  others  that  had  seriously 
declined  were  revived.  It  was  just  after  this  revival  that  the  Circuit  was  formed 
into  branches. 

In  1837,  Mr.  Spoor  was  appointed  to  labour  on  the 
Thirsk  and  Bedale  Mission.  At  the  village  of  Langthorne 
the  outlook  was  at  first  exceedingly  unpromising.  But 
he  was  told  there  was  hope  for  the  place  if  only  John 
Hobson,  the  tallest  man  in  the  village,  could  be  won 
for  Christ.  Thereupon  Mr.  Spoor  and  his  colleague. 
"W.  Fulton,  covenanted  to  pray  at  a  given  hour  each  day 
for  the  conversion  of  this  village  champion  and  son  of 
Anak.  Shortly  after  this,  John  Hobson  was  drawn  by 
some  irresistible  influence  to  a  service  conducted  by 
Mr.  Spoor.  Unmistakably  enough  it  was  he;  for,  like 
Saul,  he  towered  head  and  shoulders  above  the  rest. 
John  Hobson  was  converted  and  became  the  leader  and 
staunch  supporter  of  the  village  society. 

In  December,  1837,  Mr.  Spoor  was  appointed  to  open 
a  Mission  at  Boroughbridge.  It  was  while  preaching 
on  a  village-green  near  this  old  town  that  he  had  his  encounter  with  the  Anglican 
priest  who  in  his  wrath  threatened  to  stop  him.  To  this  Mr.  Spoor  replied :  "  There 
are  several  ways  of  stopping  you,  but  there's  only  one  way  of  stopping  me.  Take 
away  your  gown,  and  you  dare  not  preach  ;  take  away  your  book,  and  you  cannot 
preach ;  and  take  away  your  rich  income,  and  you  won't  preach  ;  while  the  only 
way  to  stop  me  is  by  cutting  out  my  tongue.''  Of  course  the  retort  was  not  original ; 
but  it  leaped  forth  on  occasion  like  a  trenchant  impromptu  and  shows  the  readiness  of 
the  man. 

Mr.  Spoor  and  Fulton  were  dragged  before  the  magistrates  by  an  officious  policeman  for 
a  service  which  they  held  in  Kipon  Market-place.  It  seemed  that  despite  all  they  might 
say  they  were  to  be  sent  to  prison.  Spoor  rejoiced  at  the  opportunity  of  suffering  for 
the  sake  of  the  Gospel  and  shouted  :  "  Glory  be  to  God  !  the  '  kittie  '  for  Christ !  "  but 
a  prominent  citizen  came  into  Court,  expostulated  with  the  magistrates  and  put  a  new 
face  on  the  matter.  It  is  said  that  a  long  and  able  letter  appeared  in  the  newspaper 
insisting  upon  the  right  to  conduct  worship  in  the  open  air,  and  reflecting  upon  the 
conduct  of  the  policeman  and  the  magistrates,  and  that  the  letter  was  from  the  pen  of 
Dr.  Longley,  then  Bishop  of  Eipon,  and  afterwards  Archbishop  of  Canterbury. 

But,  to  our  thinking,  an  incident  narrated  by  Rev.  C.  C.  McKechnie  shows  Mr. 
Spoor  in  a  still  more  attractive  light.  Mr.  McKechnie  had  as  a  lad  of  seventeen  just 
arrived  from  his  distant  home  in  Paisley  to  begin  his  labours  in  the  Ripon  Circuit. 
Rather  cruelly,  his  superintendent  had  made  him  preach  in  the  city  on  the  very  evening 


JOSEPH   SI'OOR. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT    PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE. 


83 


of  his  arrival,  and  the  service  had  been  to  him  a  trying  one.  The  next  day  as  he  sat 
in  his  lodgings  he  was  much  cast  down.  The  rest  of  the  story  shall  be  told  in  Mr. 
McKechnie's  own  words : 

"Something  like  despair  settled  upon  me,  and  it  seemed  to  grow  thicker  and 
faster.  In  the  early  afternoon,  as  I  sat  in  my  room  brooding  over  the  past,  present 
and  future,  I  wrote  all  sorts  of  bitter  things  against  myself  for  having  ventured 
upon  such  an  enterprise,  so  unfurnished  for  my  work,  and  so  ignorant  of  what  I 
was  doing.  Whilst  thus  depressed  and  desponding  the  tears  coursing  down  my 
cheeks,  my  room-door  opened,  and  Mr.  Joseph  Spoor  walked  in.  And  here  let  me 
say  with  thankfulness,  his  coming  was  like  the  visit  of  an  angel  of  God.  His 
presence  brought  a  blessing  with  it.     A  more  peaceful,  spiritual,  brotherly  face 


MAEKET-PLACE,    EIPON. 

I  had  never  looked  upon,  and  the  tones  of  his  voice  had  a  healing  and  reviving 
influence  upon  my  poor  bruised  heart.  He  seemed  to  comprehend  my  case  in  a 
moment.  I  cannot  express  the  fulness  and  sweetness  of  his  sympathy,  or  the 
gentle  but  effectual  way  in  which  he  swept  away  my  brooding  fears.  '  Oh, 
dear,  no  !  I  had  no  reason  to  be  despondent ;  that  was  the  work  of  the  enemy. 
I  might  be  sure  my  way  would  brighten.  Get  on  ?  Oh,  yes  !  I  would  get  on  beyond 
doubt.  I  must  look  up  and  trust  and  pray  and  work,  and  all  would  turn  out  well. 
I  would  meet  with  many  kind-hearted  people  who  would  help  and  cheer  me  in 
every  way.'  With  such  words  as  these,  backed  by  a  few  mighty  words  of  prayer, 
Mr.  Spoor  exorcised  the  evil  spirit,  and  left  me  a  new  man.  Yes  ;  I  may  truly  say 
I  was  made  a  new  man  ;  a  new  life  inspired  me.     I   now   felt   ashamed   of  my 

p2 


84  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 

cowardly  fears.  No  ;  I  would  not  succumb  to  the  difficulties  of  my  lot.  I  had 
come  out  into  this  field  of  labour  in  response  to  what  I  believed  to  be  a  di\  ine  call, 
and  I  would,  by  the  help  of  God,  prove  myself  worthy  of  it." — (JJS.  Autobiography.) 

Maltox  and  Pickering. 
We  give,  below,  the  ministerial  fixtures  for  September-December,  1820,  made  by  the 
Hull  Circuit  authorities  : — 

"Hull. — William  Clowes,  John  Hewson,  Edward  Vause,  and  John  Armitage. 

Brotherton. — John  Woolhouse  and  John  Branfoot. 

PoeMington. — John  Verity,  John  Harvey,  and  William  Evans. 

liijioa. — James  Farrar,  Robert  Ripley,  and  John  Garbutt. 

Ttttlrastcr. — Thomas  Johnson,  John  Abey,  and  Samuel  Smith. 

Leah. —  Samuel  Laister  and  Thomas  Nelson. 

Jfo./ton. — Nathaniel  West  and  John  Lawton. 

Dvijfielil— Robert  Howcruft, 

Bridlington. — John  Coulson.'' 
Rightly  regarded,  this  prosaic-looking  record  is  full  of  significance.  It  illustrates  yet 
again  W.  Clowes'  judgment  as  to  the  "amazing  work"  carried  on  by  Hull  in  1820-2. 
It  is  only  one  year  and  nine  months  since  Primitive  Methodism  was  introduced  into 
Hull,  and  yet  no  inconsiderable  portion  of  the  broad-acred  county  has  been  divided  up 
and  allotted  to  the  preachers  of  the  Hull  Circuit.  Still,  this  record  is  manifestly 
incomplete,  for  it  leaves  out  York,  where,  as  we  have  seen,  a  chapel  was  opened  in 
July,  1820,  and  several  preachers  whose  names  stand  on  the  Minutes  of  the  first 
Conference  have  no  mention  in  this  table.  Another  thing  we  may  learn  from  this 
record  :  It  shows  that  the  towns  and  slices  of  country  we  are  writing  of  are  not  to  be 
regarded  as  isolated  and  independent,  but  as  parts  of  one  whole  to  be  operated  upon  by 
a  simultaneous  movement  directed  from  Hull. 

At  this  early  period  the  preachers  were  usually  changed  every  three  months,  and 
sometimes  even  oftener  than  that.  They  were  transferred  from  one  branch  of  the 
circuit  to  another  like  Salvation  Army  captains  by  the  head-quarters  staff.  They  are 
all  Hull  Circuit  preachers,  but  are  shifted  from  branch  to  branch  like  pawns  on  a  chess- 
board. Was  the  shortness  of  the  term  of  service  conducive  to  concentration  and  intensity 
of  labour?  Perhaps  so.  With  three  months  only  available  to  justify  his  appointment 
or  otherwise,  the  days  were  precious  and  not  to  be  let  pass  without  crowding  them  with 
work.  Hull  Circuit  had  a  long  arm,  and  held  its  preachers  with  a  tight  hand.  At 
each  quarter  day  inquisition  was  made  of  a  minute  and  searching  kind,  embracing  not 
only  inquiries  as  to  the  preacher's  success  as  a  soul-winner,  but  extending  even  to  the 
cut  of  his  hair  and  coat,  and  the  correctness  of  his  deportment.  As  late  as  1832, 
a  preacher,  whom  it  may  suffice  to  name  J.  P.,  was  suspended,  "for  being  late  at 
Easterington  Chapel,  lying  late  in  the  mornings  speaking  crossly  at  Preston  to  some 
children  when  taking  breakfast,  and,  finally,  for  eating  the  inside  of  some  pie  and 
leaving  the  crust !  "  The  charges  were  on  the  face  of  them  petty  enough,  but  probably 
there  lay,  behind,  the  conviction  that  the  brother  was  unadapted  and  unadaptable  to 
the  work  he  had  undertaken. 

The  record  given  above  may  also  serve  as  a  recapitulation  and  forecast.     Hull  home- 


THE    PERIOD    OF    CIRCUIT    PREDOMINANCE    A.ND    ENTERPRISE.  85 

branch,  together  with  Pocklington,  Brotherton,  Hutton  Eudby,  York,  Leeds,  and 
Tadcaster,  have  been  referred  to.  Now,  by  1820,  we  see  that  a  beginning  has  been 
made  with  Driffield  and  the  Wold-towns.  "  Bridlington  "  means  that  the  sea-coast  of 
the  East  and  North  Ridings,  over  and  above  Holderness,  has  to  be  missioned ;  while 
"Malton"  means  that  the  country  lying  north  of  Pocklington  and  the  "Wolds  and 
between  the  Hambledon  Hills  and  the  sea-coast,  and  stretching  northwards  to  the 
Cleveland  Hills,  has  to  be  attempted.  Nor  must  we  forget  that  Hutton  Eudby  is 
already  an  independent  circuit,  and,  by  1822,  will  have  reached  Guisborough.  So, 
although  the  discovery  of  the  rich  beds  of  hematite  are  still  in  the  future,  and  no  one 
as  yet  dreams  of  the  busy  iron-towns  which  one  day  will  stand  on  the  flats  by  the 
estuary  of  the  Tees,  still  in  that  direction  the  country,  such  as  it  was,  had  by  1822 
been  penetrated  by  our  missionaries. 

Speaking  generally,  the  work  of  Hull  Circuit  at  this  time  was  carried  on  and  its 
successes  gained  in  a  country  possessing  few  towns  of  any  magnitude.  Of  necessity,  it 
was  mainly  village  evangelisation  that  was  carried  on,  and  the  Journals  of  the 
missionaries  show  that  in  the  East  and  North  Ridings  scores  of  villages  were  entered, 
converts  won,  and  causes  established  in  the  short  space  of  two  or  three  years.  Once 
more  we  may  question  whether  we  have  not  lost  ground,  and  have  not  to-day  fewer 
village  interests  than  we  had  in  the  pioneer  days. 

All  important  is  it  for  us  to  know  what  was  the  religious  condition  of  this  district  at 
the  time  of  its  first  missioning,  and  what  ameliorative  influences  were  brought  to  bear 
upon  the  people  by  the  new  evangel.  Even  yet  there  are  parts  of  the  North  Riding 
which  are  wild  and  thinly  populated,  as  any  one  who  has  walked  from  Pickering  to 
Whitby  will  know.  Eighty  years  ago  the  inhabitants  of  these  moors  and  dales  were 
indeed  a  people  remote  and  secluded.  Our  missionaries  penetrated  into  scattered 
villages  that  were  sadly  neglected.  We  are  not  without  reliable  evidence  on  this  head. 
The  late  Canon  Atkinson*  tells  us  that,  when  he  became  parish  clergyman  of  Danby  in 
1846,  the  days  were  but  lately  passed  when  one  clergyman  had  charge  of  three,  and  in 
one  case  he  knew,  of  four  parishes,  making  one  service  a  Sunday  and  a  modicum  of 
visitation  on  week-days  a  thing  to  be  desired  rather  than  actually  enjoyed.  Yet,  though 
what  would  be  called  pluralists,  these  clergymen  were  but  poorly  paid,  their  pittance 
barely  reaching  the  proverbial  forty  pounds  a  year.  Mr.  Carter,  the  Vicar  of  Lastingham, 
got  only  £20  a  year  and  a  few  surplice  fees.  True :  he  was  an  expert  angler,  and 
caught  sufficient  fish  with  his  line  and  hook  to  serve  his  family,  and  to  effect  a  change 
in  kind  with  his  neighbours.  Still,  he  felt  the  pinch  of  poverty  and,  to  add  to  his 
income,  he  hit  upon  the  expedient  of  having  refreshments  served  up  between  the 
services  in  the  Saxon  crypt.  At  the  archidiaconal  visitation  he  told  his  ecclesiastical 
superior  that  "he  took  down  his  fiddle  to  play  a  few  tunes,  and  then  he  could  see  that 
no  one  got  more  drink  than  was  good  for  him,  and  if  the  young  people  proposed 
a  dance  he  seldom  answered  in  the  negative." f  So  the  church,  which  was  the  earliest 
seat  of  Scoto-Irish  Christianity,  was  turned  into  a  public-house !     We  know  we  are 

*  "  Forty  years  in  a  Moorland  Parish." 
t "  Slingsby  and  Slingsby  Castle,"  by  Rev.  A.  St.  Clair  Brooke. 


86  PRIMITIVE    JIETHODIST    CHURCH. 

describing  a  state  of  things,  as  regards  the  Church,  long  since  gone  by.  But  our  point 
is,  that  the  poverty  and  helplessness  of  the  State-Church  in  those  remote  parts  must 
have  created  a  condition  of  things  needing  a  powerful  remedy.  If  the  official  clergymen 
were  not  merely  overworked  and  underpaid,  incompetent  or  spiritless  but,  as  was  too 
often  the  case,  lax  in  conduct,  still  more  urgent  was  the  need  of  heroic  measures  in  order 
to  reach  the  dull  and  alienated  minds  of  the  people.  It  was  of  a  clergyman  in  Cleveland, 
lying  intoxicated  in  the  ditch,  that  one  said  to  another,  contemptuously  :  "Let  him  lig 
[lie] ;  he'll  not  be  wanted  till  Sunday." 

That  Methodism  kept  Christianity  alive  in  these  northern  dales  Canon  Atkinson 
handsomely  concedes.  He  might  probably  hold  that  Methodism  was  only  acting  as  the 
locum  tetipus  until  the  Church  should  return  to  take  up  her  assigned  duty.  But  be  this 
as  it  may,  he  admits  the  fact  that,  in  the  parts  he  knows  so  well,  Methodism  and 
Primitive  Methodism  had  conserved  the  gospel.  When,  prior  to  his  institution  into  his 
benefice,  he  saw  what  was  to  be  his  church,  littered,  ill-kept,  with  its  shabby  altar, 
he  says : — 

"I  could  understand  the  slovenly,  perfunctory  service  once  a  Sunday,  sometimes 
relieved  by  none  at  all,  and  the  consequent  sleepy  state  of  Church-feeling  and 
worship.  I  could  well  understand  how  the  only  religious  life  in  the  district  should 
be  among  and  due  to  the  Wesley. ins  and  Primitive  Methodists."* 

Some  of  the  first  travelling-preachers  on  the  Malton  Brunch  sent  pretty  full  Journals 
of  their  labours  to  the  Magazine.  From  these  we  take  an  item  or  two  that  may  help 
us  to  understand  how  and  wherefore  the  Word  of  Cod  spread  so  rapidly  in  these  parts. 
One  of  these  early  workers  and  journalisers  was  William  Evans.  He  was  one  of 
eight  who  were  taken  out  to  travel  by  the  September  Quarterly  Meeting  of  1820, 
and  began  his  labours  in  the  newly-formed  Malton  Branch.  He  was  so  zealous 
a  missionary  that  he  did  not  stint  his  labours  to  the  fulfilling  of  his  planned  appoint- 
ments. Measured  by  the  standard  of  the  plan  he  performed  works  of  supererogation. 
He  records  in  his  Journal : — 

"Saturday,  Ovtahcr  (ith,  1SS0. — Had  no  appointment,  but  being  informed  that 
the  people  at  Hay  ton  were  desirous  to  hear  us,  I  travelled  fourteen  miles 
and  preached  to  them,  and  the  Word  did  not  fall  to  the  ground  :  three  were 
brought  to  the  Lord,  ami  one  drunkard  went  off  with  the  solemn  inquiry,  'What 
must  I  do  to  be  saved  ? ' " 

With  a  spirit  like  this,  so  alien  from  all  that  was  perfunctory,  actuating  the  pioneer 
workers,  one  can  the  more  readily  understand  why  village  societies  on  the  Upper 
Derwent  and  in  the  Vale  of  Pickering  should  multiply  as  fast  as  the  cells  of  the  yeast 
plant,  and  that  by  May,  1821,  N.  West  should  be  able  to  record  that  in  six  months  four 
hundred  members  had  been  added  to  the  Malton  Branch. 

Another  excerpt  from  the  Journals  gives  us  a  picture  of  a  camp  meeting  of  the  olden 
time — a  picture  worth  preserving,  because,  like  the  camp  meetings  held  on  the  Wrekin, 
Scarth  Nick,  and  Mow  Cop  itself,  it  was  staged  and  framed  amid  grand  and  impressive 
scenery.     God  can  work  His  "  greatest  wonders  "  in  souls  renewed  and  sins  forgiven  in 

*Op.  cit.,  p.  48. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE.  87 

a  disused  brick-field  or  on  a  bleak  moor,  but  when  the  wonders  of  grace  are  wrought 
among  the  wonders  of  Nature  both  become  the  more  impressive.  So  S.  Smith  felt 
when  he  wrote  : — 

"August  10th,  1821.— Attended  Pickering  Camp  Meeting.  We  opened  at  half- 
past  nine.  We  sung  and  prayed  ;  and  brother  Hessey  preached.  The  praying 
companies  then  drew  out  and  took  up  five  stations,  and  the  scene  was  beautiful 
and  interesting — five  large  companies  wrestling  with  God  in  a  pleasant  valley. 
On  one  side  was  an  ancient  castle,  with  its  cloud-capt  towers,  the  ruins  of  which 
were  awfully  grand.  Another  side  presented  a  distant  view  of  the  town  of 
Pickering.  Another  view  gave  the  lofty  quarries  of  limestone.  On  another  side 
was  a  large  plantation  of  lofty  and  majestic  trees  of  different  kinds.  Through  the 
valley  ran  a  winding  brook,  calling  to  mind  these  lines  :— 

'  Our  time,  like  a  stream, 
Glides  swiftly  away.' 

But  at  the  important  moment  the  sound  of  prayer  and  praise  was  heard  through 
the  valley,  and  five  large  companies  pleaded  with  God  for  precious  souls.  One 
soul  got  liberty  in  this  time  of  prayer,  and  when  the  usual  time  had  been  spent, 
the  companies  were  called  up  by  the  sound  of  a  horn  to  the  waggon.  When  we 
had  gone  through  the  services  of  the  day  we  concluded  the  field-labours,  and 
retired  to  hold  a  lovefeast  in  the  chapel,  where,  after  two  or  three  had  spoken,  the 
work  of  the  Lord  broke  out  on  every  hand.  Thirty  or  forty  souls  were  crying  for 
mercy  ;  others  were  praying  with  them.  I  never  before  was  eye-witness  to  so 
glorious  a  work.  Twenty-two  souls  professed  to  receive  pardon  of  all  their  past 
sins,  and  a  determination  to  flee  from  sin  for  the  time  to  come.  At  the  same  time 
we  had  preaching  on  the  outside  to  those  who  could  not  get  in.  Glory,  glory  to 
God  and  the  Lamb  for  ever." 

The  opening  of  the  chapel  referred  to  in  the  preceding  extract  had  taken  place  four 
months  before  (April  22nd),  and  was  of  such  a  character  as  to  show  that  the  occasion 
was  regarded  as  a  notable  event  in  the  town  and  district.  N.  West,  in  his  sanguine 
way,  estimates  the  number  brought  together  at  five  thousand.  No  less  than  seven 
preachers  took  part  in  the  services  held  simultaneously  within  and  outside  the  chapel. 
Jane  Ansdale  (afterwards  Mrs.  Suddards)  had  now  begun  her  useful  ministry,  and  to 
her  was  assigned  the  honour  of  preaching  in  the  chapel  both  afternoon  and  evening. 

Other  chapels  built  at  an  early  date  in  this  part  were  Swinton, 
opened  August  13th,  1820;  "John  Oxtoby  was  with  me,''  says 
S.  Laister,  the  opener,  "  and  the  Lord  gave  us  many  souls ; '' 
Malton,  opened  October  13th,  1822,  by  John  Verity,  then  travelling 
on  the  adjoining  Pocklington  station ;  and  Kirby-Moorside,  the 
lowly  building  acquiied  in  1824  serving  until  1861,  when  it 
was  superseded  by  a  better  one.  But  Leavening  Chapel,  opened 
by  John  Verity,  October  8th,  1820,  has  more  frequent  mention 
in  the  early  Journals  and  documents  than  any  other,  probably 
because  of  its  association  with  the  eccentric  Robert  Coultas,  the 
correspondent  and  frequent  travelling  companion  of  John  Oxtoby, 


It.  COKDINGLEY. 


88  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CRUKCH. 

and  also  because  the  pious  clergyman  of  the  neighbouring  parish  of  Acklam  occasionally 
worshipped  within  its  walls. 

The  best  account  we  know  of  Eobert  Coultas  is  a  brightly- written  memoir  from  the 
pen  of  the  veteran  Rev.  Richard  Cordingley,  who  travelled  at  Malton  in  1826,  and  at 
Pickering  in  1856.  In  that  memoir — worth  disinterring  from  the  Ma<ja::ine  and 
printing  in  I'xti'nxo— Robert  Coultas  is  rightly  described  as  "  an  extraordinary  man." 
He  would  never  consent  to  stand  higher  than  the  first  on  the  list  of  exhorters,  but  yet 
having  ample  means,  he  would  go  on  extensive  religious  tours  and  evangelise  in  his  own 
peculiar  way — much  prayer  interspersed  with  conversation-preaching.  "  When  Robert 
had  worked  his  body  down,  he  used  to  return  home,  tarry  awhile,  and  then  commence 
again  in  some  neighbourhood  whither  he  thought  Providence  called  him,  with 
a  companion  or  without,  as  the  case  might  be.  He  laboured  with  great  success  in 
various  villages  and  towns,  still  following  his  old  habit  of  returning  home  to  rest  when 
exhausted  with  excessive  toil."  He  was  present  at  the  Pickering  Annual  Camp 
Meeting  of  1856,  and  though  Mr.  Cordingley  had  not  seen  him  for  thirty  years,  he 
knew  him  at  once  by  his  loud  and  unmistakable  "Amen/-  He  laboured  in  the  prayer 
meeting  after  the  lovefeast  with  all  his  heart  and  strength.  "Souls,  as  usual,  were 
converted ;  for  never,''  said  he,  "  had  we  a  camp  meeting  at  Pickering  without  souls 
being  converted."     He  quietly  fell  on  sleep,  June  13th,  1857,  aged  86  years. 

As  early  as  1819,  W.  Clowes  notes  hearing  "a  truly  gospel  sermon  by  Mr.  Simpson" 
in  the  church  at  Acklam.  The  same  evening  Clowes  himself  preached  in  a  house,  and 
he  records  with  satisfaction,  not  untinged  with  surprise,  that  Mr.  Simpson  came  to 
the  service  and  gave  him  the  right  hand  of  fellowship.  Sampson  Turner,  too,  when 
preaching  in  Leavening  Chapel,  October  9th,  1822 — "as  compact  a  little  chapel  as  ever 
I  saw  — had  Mr.  Simpson  as  a  hearer,  and  notes  in  his  Journal  that  "  he  is  favourable  to 
our  people,  and  I  believe  a  truly  converted  man."  We  meet,  during  the  course  especially 
of  our  earlier  history,  with  so  many  clergymen  of  the  type  of  the  parson  of  Brantingham, 
who  "  advanced  in  a  very  menacing  attitude "  towards  Clowes  when  the  latter  was 
preaching,  and  then  "  suddenly  turned  to  the  right-about  and  wheeled  off  the  ground," 
that  it  is  a  relief  at  last  to  come  upon  one  clergyman  in  the  East  Riding  of  quite 
another  spirit.*  Our  first  missionaries  were  menaced  with  the  clenched  fist  of  the 
parochial  clergyman  much  oftener  than  they  were  offered  the  right  hand  of  fellowship. 
All  honour  then  to  him  of  Acklam  who,  if  well-accredited  stories  be  true,  went  to  such 
lengths  of  friendliness  to  our  Church  as  got  him  into  trouble  with  the  ecclesiastical 
authorities.  AY  hat  would  the  archdeacon  say  when  told  that  parson  Simpson  not  only 
frequented  conventicles  and  welcomed  itinerant  preachers  to  bed  and  board,  but  had 
actually  caused  a  notice  to  be  put  up  in  the  church-porch,  which  read :  "  No  service. 
Cone  to  the  camp  meeting " '(  Of  course  he  was  censured  and  prohibited  from 
attending  any  more  conventicle  services,  and  so  we  have  the  further  picture  of  the 

*  Rev.  AV.  Garner  speaks  of  Brantingham  as  '■«.  place  noted  for  rabid  opposition  to  religious 
liberty."  It  was  here  Mr.  Garner  first  met  with  vicar  John  Gibson's  notorious  pamphlet  against  the 
Primitive  Methodists.  To  this  he  gave  a  trenchant  answer  in  his  "Dialogues  between  the  liev.  J. 
Gibson,  B.D.,  the  Vicar  of  Brent,  with  Purneux  Pelham,  Herts,  and  Martin  Bull,  Primitive 
Methodist." 


THE   PERIOD   OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND    ENTERPRISE.  89 

clergyman  taking  his  stand,  sometimes  even  amid  frost  and  snow,  by  chapel  door  or 
window,  to  listen  to  the  sermon.* 

As  a  circuit,  Malton  has  had  a  continuous  and  steady-going  existence  since  1822. 
Until  the  formation  of  the  Leeds  District  in  1845,  it  stood  in  right  chronological  order 
on  the  stations  of  the  Hull  District,  just  after  Pocklington  and 
Brotherton,  i.e.,  Pontefract,  Circuits.  Though  Pickering  was  made 
a  circuit  in  1823,  the  arrangement  was  premature,  lasting  for  that 
year  only,  and  it  had  to  wait  until  1842  before  it  was  again  granted 
circuit  independence.  The  parent  circuit  was  left  with  two 
preachers  and  470  members,  while  Pickering  began  its  course 
with  347  members  and  three  preachers,  of  whom,  it  is  interesting 
to  note,  John  Fawsit  was  the  third. 

It  would  be  unpardonable  were  this  history  to  contain  no 
further  reference  to  one  who,  as  an  ardent  and  gifted  Bible-student 
and  author,  deserves  to  be  ranked  with  J.  A.  Bastow  and  Thomas 
Greenfield.     They  are  few  indeed  still  surviving  who  remember  ''  '  "'  FAWSIT- 

his  bright  personality  and  his  enthusiasm  for  learning;  for  he  died  in  1857  at 
the  early  age  of  thirty-seven,  just  when  his  literary  powers  were  ripening.  But 
though  J.  Fawsit  died  comparatively  young,  his  application  had  been  so  intense  that 
several  books  came  from  his  pen  that  deserve  to  live.  The  best  of  these  are  "The 
Sinner's  Handbook  to  the  Cross"  and  "The  Saint's  Handbook  to  the  Crown,''  the 
latter  revised  for  the  press  on  his  death-bed.  These  books  are  written  in  a  devout 
practical  spirit,  give  evidence  of  wide  reading,  and  in  the  allusiveness  and  occasional 
quaintnesses  of  their  style  remind  us  of  some  of  the  lighter  Puritan  writers.  J.  Fawsit 
was  born  at  Scotter,  and  entered  the  ministry  in  1841,  the  same  year  in  which 
J.  Bootland,  J.  R.  Parkinson,  D.  Ingham,  and  J.  T.  Shepherd,  well-known  preachers  of 
the  old  Hull  District,  began  their  toil.  After  travelling  at  Retford,  Leeds,  Malton, 
London,  and  Bradwell,  he  settled  down  at  Wellow  in  the  pleasant  Dukeries,  and  did 
good  service  to  the  Connexion  to  which  he  was  so  attached.  To  no  one  whom  we  have 
known — certainly  to  no  Primitive  Methodist — would  the  title,  "The  Earnest  Student," 
be  more  appropriate.  He  was  not  born  to  affluence.  He  had  to  labour  for  the  support 
of  his  family,  and,  next  after  his  religious  duties,  he  made  that  his  chief  business,  but 
books  he  would  have.  One  of  the  most  vivid  impressions  of  our  boyhood  is  the  mental 
picture  of  his  large  library,  with  Sir  Walter  Raleigh's  "  History  of  the  World  "  standing 
out  among  the  rest  (a  title  that  struck  our  youthful  mind  as  a  tolerably  large  order). 

*  The  strange  story  of  how  John  Verity  won  a  chapel  from  the  squire  by  his  preaching  seems  too 
well  authenticated  to  be  summarily  dismissed ;  but  it  is  not  given  in  the  text,  for  the  simple  reason 
that,  when  the  above  was  written,  no  reliable  evidence  had  been  obtained  as  to  the  name  and  situation 
of  the  village  in  question.  YTe,  however,  were  inclined  to  locate  the  village  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Malton,  because  the  story  is  linked  in  time  and  locality  with  Verity's  introduction  to  the  clergyman, 
whom  we  took  to  be  Mr.  Simpson.  Just  before  going  to  press,  the  Rev.  "W.  R.  "Widdowson  informs 
us  he  has  come  across  a  note  of  the  late  Rev.  S.  Smith,  which  states  that  the  village  was  Scagglethorpe, 
near  Malton,  and  that  the  chapel  thus  strangely  acquired  continued  to  be  used  by  us  until  the  demise 
of  the  squire,  when  it  passed  out  of  our  hands.  The  story  is  told  at  full  length  by  the  late  Rev.  Jesse 
Ashworth,  Aldersgate  Magazine,  1899. 


!>0  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHUKCH. 

But  J.  Fawsit  was  no  mere  book-worm  :  he  was  a  student.     The  writer  of  his  memoir 
says  truly  : — 

"  His  love  of  knowledge  was  a  passion,  and  it  never  cooled.  His  application 

was  most  intense  and  protracted.  At  three  o'clock  in  the  morning,  in  the  depth  of 
winter,  his  lamp  might  have  been  seen  burning  ;  indeed,  till  weakness  compelled 
him  to  desist,  he  spent  very  few  hours  in  bed.  He  was  a  self-taught  man,  and  did 
honour  to  that  class  of  individuals  who  undertake  to  educate  themselves.  He 
travelled  much",  and  had  acquired  the  habit,  not  only  of  reading  as  he  walked,  but 
of  writing  too  ;  the  first  draft  of  much  that  he  published  was  first  put  on  paper  in 
this  way." 

Earnest  students  of  the  type  of  John  Fawsit  are  sparingly  sown  and  rare  in  any 
community.  But  it  so  happened  that  the  newly-formed  Pickering  Circuit  could  show 
two  such  uncommon  growths.  Besides  its  junior  minister,  it  had  for  one  of  its  leading 
officials  John  Lumley,  whose  life  affords  another  striking  example  of  self-help  and 
strenuous  mental  culture.  Robert  Coultas  and  John  Lumley  were  both  products  of  the 
pleasant  Vale  of  Pickering,  and  yet  they  differed  as  widely  as  any  two  sincere  Christian 
men  of  the  same  community  can  possibly  do.  One  lived  largely  in  the  world  of  books 
and  thought,  of  which  world  the  other  knew  little  and  for  which  he  cared  still  less. 
While  Fawsit  would  appreciate  the  good  points  of  the  extraordinary  strolling  evangelist, 
he  would  be  drawn  to  the  thoughtful  druggist  of  Kirby-Moovside  by  force  of  strong 
affinity.  He  would  find  in  him  a  kindred  soul,  and  by  congenial  intercourse  the  already 
strongly-marked  bias  of  each  would  be  confirmed.  Men  like  John  Lumley,  George 
Race,  John  Delafield,  and  others  who  might  he  named,  are  as  genuine  products  of 
Primitive  Methodism  as  John  Oxtoby,  Robert  Coultas.  or  W.  Hickingbotham.  They 
always  have  been,  and  will  be  still  more  in  the  future,  an  indispensable  element  in  its 
growth  and  strengthening.  Hence  they  claim  our  recognition,  and  all  the  more,  because 
their  tastes  and  pursuits  being  "  caviare  to  the  general,"  their  lives  devoid  of  startling 
incident  and  their  characters  of  eccentricity,  they  may  so  easily  he  passed  over. 

John  Lumley  began  his  career  at  thirteen  as  a  farm  labourer,  but  gave  himself  with 
such  ardour  to  the  acquisition  of  knowledge,  that  he  became  a  schoolmaster,  and  ultimately 
a  druggist.  Neither  mathematics  nor  pharmacy,  however,  could  wean  him  from  Biblical 
study.  He  early  laid  a  good  foundation  by  reading  the  New  Testament  through  once 
a  month,  and  set  himself  to  master  the  points  at  issue  between  Calvinism  and 
Arminianism,  as  part  of  his  equipment  for  that  controversy,  committing  to  memory  the 
whole  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans.  In  1838,  he  lost  his  official  position  in  connection 
with  the  Wesleyan  Methodists  owing  to  his  refusal  to  pledge  himself  not  to  preach  for 
other  communities.  In  1840,  he  joined  the  Primitive  Methodists  and  became  a  local 
preacher,  school  superintendent,  and  class  leader.  John  Lumley,  like  Matthew  Denton 
and  Thomas  Church,  must  have  an  early  place  in  the  list  of  Primitive  Methodist 
laymen  who  ventured  into  the  field  of  authorship;  for,  in  1844,  he  published  a  work 
on  "The  Necessity,  Nature,  and  Design  of  the  Atonement,"  which  received  very 
favourable  notice.  In  1845,  he  removed  for  the  second  time  to  the  United  States,  and 
died  there  in  1850.     His  interesting  memoir  was  written  by  W.   Thompson  Lumley, 


THE    PERIOD    OF    CIRCUIT    PREDOMINANCE    AND    ENTERPRISE. 


91 


MRS.    ANN    SWALES. 


who  for  the  long  period  of  sixty-three  years  was  as-oeiated  with  the  Pickering  Circuit 
as  one  of  its  most  prominent  and  capable  officials,  and  died  as  recently  as  1897. 

The  family  of  Frank  has  had  a  long  and  honourable  connection  with  the  Pickering 
Circuit,  dating  back  to  1833,  when  Ann,  the  fair  daughter  of  the  house,  was  converted, 
and,  despite  the  bitter  opposition  of  her  parents  and  brothers, 
joined  the  Church.  In  the  end  her  firmness  and  tact  overcame 
all  family  opposition,  and  she  had  the  joy  of  welcoming  parents 
and  most  of  her  brothers  into  the  same  fellowship.  Soon  she  was 
pressed  to  speak  in  public,  but  entered  on  the  work  with  extreme 
diffidence.  Her  first  effort,  however,  proved  so  remarkably  success- 
ful in  its  spiritual  results,  that  all  scruples  were  set  at  rest,  and 
for  sixty  long  years  her  name  stood  on  the  plan  as  a  local  preacher. 
Her  tall  and  slender  form,  her  resonant  voice  bespeaking  intense 
conviction,  and  her  womanly  tact  rendered  her  ministrations  very 
acceptable,  and  she  preached  far  and  wide  in  the  villages  round 
Pickering  and  Kirby-Moorside.  Por  three  or  four  years  after 
beginning  to  preach  she  was  accompanied  by  a  young  lady-friend,  Alice  Jane  Garvin, 
who  was  gifted  with  an  excellent  voice  and  sang  the  gospel  while  the  other  preached 
it.  The  two  sometimes  went  on  foot,  but  at  other  times,  we  are  told,  each  rode  on 
a  smart  well-groomed  donkey ;  and  the  picture  thus  called  up  is  not  at  all  an  unpleasing 
one  When  Ann  Frank  entered  into  the  marriage  state  with  Mr.  Swales  her  chosen 
work  suffered  little  interruption.  In  their  home  at  Pickering  cheerful  hospitality  was 
dispensed,  and  the  godly  pair  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  their  only  son  enter  the 
ranks  of  the  ministry  in  which  he  has  faithfully  served  upwards  of  thirty-six  years.* 
Mrs.  Swales  died  February  4th,  1895. 

Our  sketch  of  the  past  history  of  Pickering  Circuit  would  be  incomplete  were  it  to 
contain  no  reference  to  Messrs.  J.  Frank,  J. P.,  of  Pickering,  and  W.  Allenby,  of 
Helmsley.  Both  happily  survive  as  veterans,  with  a  record  of  more  than  half 
a  century's  faithful  service,  that  has  been  of  untold  advantage 
to  the  district  in  which  they  reside.  Mr.  Frank  is  the  Circuit 
Steward,  and  has  been  connected  with  the  Pickering  Sunday 
School  for  fifty  years.  Mr.  Allenby  is  also  i  Sunday  School 
Superintendent,  and  became  a  local  preacher  in  the  early  fifties, 
along  with  his  life-long  friend,  Rev.  Joseph  Slieale. 

The  Wold  Circuits:     Driffield  and  Bridlington. 

Both  Driffield  and  Bridlington  are  "in  the  Wolds.''  The  two 
towns  were  missioned  about  the  same  time,  and,  as  heads  of 
branches  or  circuits,  their  relations  with  each  other  have  been 
close  and  intimate  ;  indeed,  for  some  years  Bridlington  was  a  branch 

of  Driffield  Circuit.     Hence,  as  geographically  and  historically  the  two  go  together,  they 
may  be  fittingly  considered  under  the  common  designation  of  "  the  Wold  Circuits." 


*  Their  daughter,  too,  it  may  be  noted,  is  married  to  the  Rev.  AV.  A.  Eyre. 


92 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHUKCH. 


By  the  "Wolds  we  are  to  understand  tliat  well-defined  upland  tract,  which,  like  a  great 
crescent  of  chalk-hills,  sweeps  round  from  Flamborough  Head  to  the  Humber,  and  is 
bounded  on  the  east  by  the  low  ground  of  Holderness,  on  the  north  by  the  Vale  of 
Pickering,  and  on  the  west  by  the  Yale  of  York.  From  time  immemorial  Driffield, 
planted  at  the  foot  of  these  oolitic  uplands,  has  been  the  chief  town — the  capital  of  the 
Wolds.  "With  its  clear  sparkling  trout-streams,  its  flour  mills,  its  clean,  pleasant  streets, 
its  air  of  prosperous  comfort,  it  has  yet  had  a  long  history.  Driffield  embalms  the 
name  of  Deira,  a  subdivision  of  the  ancient  kingdom  of  Xorthumbria.  Alfred  of 
Northumberland  had  his  castle  here,  and  the  Moot  Hill  is  still  the  name  of  the 
eminence  on  which  the  folk-mote  assembled,  and  a  tablet  in  Little  Driffield  Church 
commemorates  Alfred's  death  in  705.     Busy  and  thriving  as  Driffield  is,  it  still  clings 


MIDDLE   STREET  SOUTH,    DRIFFIELD, 

to  some  of  the  old-world  customs.  Its  parish  clerk  still  rings  the  harvest-bell  at  five 
o'clock  every  morning  for  twenty-eight  days  during  harvest ;  for  the  Wold  country  is 
nothing  if  not  agricultural,  and  Driffield  is  its  emporium. 

This  interesting  district  has,  from  a  Primitive  Methodist  standpoint,  been  more 
fortunate  than  many  other  parts  of  the  Connexion,  in  that  its  story  has  been  well  and 
fully  told  in  a  work  easily  accessible.  We  chiefly  confine  ourselves,  therefore,  to  the 
first  missioning  of  the  Wolds  and  its  chief  circuit  towns,  Driffield  and  Bridlington, 
referring  our  readers  to  Rev.  H.  Woodcock's  "  Primitive  Methodism  on  the  Yorkshire 
Wolds  "  for  fuller  details. 

When  and  by  whom  was  Primitive  Methodism  introduced  into  Driffield?  Perhaps 
we  may  not   be   able   to   arrive   at  absolute   certainty  on   these   points;    but  there  is 


THE    PERIOD    OF    CIRCUIT    PREDOMINANCE   AND    ENTERPRISE.  93 

a  passage  in  the  Journals  of  W.  Clowes  which  may  at  least  yield  a  strong  probability. 

In  the  passage  in  question,  Clowes  reflects,  for  him,  rather  strongly,  on  the  action  of 

certain  members  of  the  Hull  Circuit  Committee,  who  interfered  with  the  arrangements 

for  placing  the  preachers,  made  September,  1819.     Quite  illegally,  he  maintains,  and 

ill-advisedly,  Samuel  Laister  was  sent  on  a  mission  to  the  Yorkshire  Wolds,  which,  says 

he,  "  turned  out  as  I  fully  expected — a  complete  failure.''     Be  it  said,  Clowes  finds  no 

fault  with  S.  Laister.     On  the  contrary,  he  affirms  :    "  He  was  greatly  in  the  doctrine  of 

a  present  salvation,  and  had  a  burning  love  for  the  souls  of  men."  *    But  he  does  find 

fault  with  the  Committee-men  for  not  suffering  themselves  to  be  guided  by  men  of  riper 

experience  than  themselves ;  and  he  roundly  tells  them  that  they  ought  to  have  known 

better  than  to  send  an  unseasoned  missionary  to  an  untried  country  like  the  Wolds,  and 

in  the  winter  time  too.      It  is  evident  then  that  S.  Laister  did  attempt  the  Wolds 

mission,  and,  if  so,  he  would  not  be  likely  to  miss  Driffield  ;    and  we  have  his  own 

statement  that  he  was  taken  out  by  the  Hull  Circuit  in  1819,  and  the  first  printed 

record  of  his  labours  we  have  relates  to  Malton  Circuit  in  1820.     So  far,  then,  as  the 

records  go,  S.  Laister  may  have  attempted  a  Wolds  mission  in  the  Fall  of  1819;  nor, 

so  far  as  we  are  aware,  has  tradition  anything  to  say  against  it.     S.  Laister  may  have 

been  "  the  aggressive  preacher  from  Hull  whose  name  is  unrecorded,"!  who  took  his 

stand  on  the  Cross  Hill  and  preached  to  the  curious  crowd ;   and,  though  under  the 

conditions  prevailing  at  the  time,  S.   Laister's  mission  may  have  been  a  ronqiaratioe 

failure,  just  as  Paul's  mission  to  Athens  was,  like  that  also,  it  may  not  have  been 

altoi/ether  a  failure.     The  probable  conclusion. arrived  at,  then,  is  that  the  nucleus  of 

a  society  may  have  been  formed  as  early  as  1819. 

The  first  society,  we  are  told,  met  on  Sunday  evenings  at  a  bakehouse  in  Westgate,  and 
had  for  its  leader  Thomas  Wood,  "  the  little  shoemaker."  Thus  early  we  come  across 
the  name  of  the  man  who,  until  his  death  in  1881,  was  as  the 
main-spring  of  Driffield  Primitive  Methodism.  We  have  already 
noted  his  conversion  in  the  Pocklington  Circuit,  and  how  he  never 
rested  until  he  got  his  companion  and  life-long  friend,  W.  Sanderson, 
converted.  In  1819,  we  find  him  removed  to  Driffield,  and  though 
but  a  young  man  of  twenty-two,  he  begins  to  take  upon  him  the 
care  of  the  freshly-formed  society.  Though  living  in  lodgings 
himself,  he  found  the  unmarried  preacher  bed  and  board ;  but  as 
this  arrangement  was  not  without  its  difficulties,  he  one  day  said 
to  his  betrothed  :  '  We  must  get  married  soon  and  make  a  home 
for  the  preacher."  Further  illustrations  of  what  Thomas  Wood 
thomas  mood.  wag  ag  a  man,  and  of  what  he  did  as  an  official  for  the  Driffield 

Circuit  during  his  service  of  sixty  years,  will  be  found  in  Mr.  Woodcock's  book.  What 
strikes  us  in  reference  to  the  man  is  the  aptness  of  the  description  applied  to  him — 
"a  man  of  double-distilled  common-sense."  And  there  was  no  element  of  bitterness 
in  the  distillation.     He  had  the  Yorkshireman's  plod  and  pertinacity.      He  had  too,  the 

•Clowes'  Journal '.v,  pp.  166-7. 
f  "  Corners  of  our  Vineyard  :  Driffield  Circuit,"  in  Christ  inn  Messenger,  p.  189. 


94 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH 


Yorkshireman's  cheery  optimism.  That  he  was  no  crier  up  of  the  past  and  crier  down 
of  the  present,  may  be  gathered  from  one  or  two  of  his  aruta  rlirta,  which  also  have 
their  value  as  generalisations  of  our  history  by  one  who  had  long 
experience  to  go  upon. 

"  Modern  Primitive  Methodism,  with  its  Schools,  its  Bands 
of  Hope,  and  its  Missionary  Institutions,  is  a  nobler  thing  than 
early  Primitive  Methodism,  with  its  excitement  and  its  songs. 

"  Many  of  our  early  members  were  refugees  from  other 
Churches  ;   now  we  have  a  good  society  of  our  own  creating. 

"Fifty  years  ago,  when  we  laid  hold  of  a  talented  man  like 
'Willie'  Sanderson,  we  were  never  puzzled  to  know  what  to 
do  with  him  ;  and  when  we  could  not  get  the  man  we  wanted, 
we  made  the  best  use  of  those  we  rmihl  get.     Some  of  the  least 

■     •  ,  i  ,    ,i  ,  f.,l  »*  GEO.    BULLOCK. 

promising  turned  out  the  most  successtul.   ^ 

1  °  Deed-poll  Member. 

Another  early  ard  valuable  acquisition  to  the  cause  of  Primitive  Methodism  in  the 
Wolds  was  George  Bullock,  of  "Wetwang,  a  man  of  vigorous  mind  well-furnished  by 
reading,  skilful  in  debate,  and  sagacious  in  counsel.     For  sixty  years  he  never  missed 

an  appointment  except  in  case  of  sick- 
ness, and  when  in  his  prime  he  was  one 
of  the  most  popular  and  hard-working 
local  preachers  in  the  East  Riding.  His 
worth  was  fittingly  recognised  by  his 
election  as  a  member  of  the  Deed  Pol 
by  the  Conference  of  1875.  He  ceased 
from  labour  in  1887  at  the  age  of  83 
years. 

A  reference  to  the  record  already 
given  of  the  ministerial  fixtures  made 
September,  1820,  by  the  Hull  Quarterly 
Meeting,  will  show  that  at  that  date 
a  footing  had  been  got  both  in  Driffield 
and  in  Bridlington.  Then,  in  January, 
1821,  Clowes  visits  Driffield,  and  on 
Thursday,  the  18th,  he  notes  in  his 
Journal .  "  I  preached  at  Driffield  in  the 
Play  House,  our  Society  having  taken 
it  for  a  preaching-place."  The  building 
here  referred  to  was  known  as  the  Hunt 
Room,  and  was  used  for  balls,  concerts, 
and  theatrical  entertainments. 

In  1821,  the  erection  of  a  chapel  in 
priffield  old  riiAPEL.  Mill  Street  was  begun.     The  undertak- 

ing was  a  weighty  one  for  the  society,  and  the  pressure  of  monetary  and  other  difficulties 

*  "  Primitive  Mm  hodism  on  the  Yorkshire  Wolds,"  p.  -U. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND    ENTERPRISE. 


9c 


led  some  to  predict  the  chapel  would  never  get  finished,  while  others  feared  if  finished  it 
would  never  be  paid  for.  The  extrication  of  the  society  from  its  embarrassments  is 
traditionally  attributed  to  the  prayers  and  efforts  of  John  Oxtoby,  who  was  sent  down 
by  the  Hull  Circuit  to  render  help  at  this  juncture.  One  of  the  first  fruits  of  his  visit 
was  the  conversion  of  Mr.  W.  Byas,  a  wealthy  retired  farmer,  for  whom  John  Oxtoby 
had  worked  in  foimer  days.  He  was  one  of  those  who  heard  Oxtoby's  first  sermon 
preached  in  Driffield,  and  after  it  spent  a  restless  prayerful  night  His  state  of  mind 
being  made  known  to  Oxtoby  and  T.  Wood,  they  visited  Mr.  Byas  at  his  home   with 

the  result;  that  he  found 
peace.  He  gave  a  liberal 
donation  towards  the 
building  fund,  and  ad- 
vanced the  sum  of  £350 
on  mortgage,  which  at 
his  death  was  willed  to 
the  trustees,  and  the 
bequest  placed  them  in  an 
easy  financial  position.* 
The  chapel,  we  are  told, 
was  originally  only  seven- 
teen feet  from  the  floor 
to  the  ceiling,  yet  some 
years  after,  a  gallery  was 
put  in  four  pews  deep ; 
in  1856,  the  walls  were 
raised  considerably,  the 
gallery  enlarged,  more 
lights  inserted,  and  the 
accommodation  increased 
by  130  lettable  sittings.! 
The  present  noble  chapel 
was  built  in  1876,  under 
the  superintendency  of 
Rev.  T.  Waumsley,  and 
driffield  new  cRAPEL.  the  circuit  owns  also  two 

good  preachers'  houses  erected  the  same  year. 

*  "  To  the  infant  cause  at  Driffield,  W.  Byas,  Esq.,  was  a  nursing  father.  He  was  brought  to  God 
by  the  simple  but  powerful  instrumentality  of  John  Oxtoby.  After  his  conversion  he  often  invited 
the  preachers  to  his  hospitable  and  plentiful  table.  Driffield  was  the  first  station  to  which  we  were 
appointed  forty-five  years  ago  [1823].  Mr.  Byas  gratuitously  entertained  us  with  board  and  lodgings; 
and  his  kindness  was  seconded  by  his  housekeeper,  Mrs.  Hall,  and  his  servant  Margaret  Easingwood, 
now  Mrs.  Vokes.  The  chapel,  too,  which  he  liberally  assisted  to  build,  he  placed  in  easy  circum- 
stances before  his  demise."     Eev.  ^X.  Garner,  "  Life  of  W.  Clowes,  1868,"  p.  273. 

t  The  particulars  here  given,  relative  to  the  first  chapel  and  its  subsequent  alterations,  are  found 
in  an  article  by  Eev.  H.  Knowles,  Primitive  Methodist  Magazine,  1857,  p.  11. 


!Jfl  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 

From  the  very  beginning,  Driffield  was  rightly  considered  a  strong  branch.  This 
being  so,  one  may  naturally  wonder  why  it  was  not  granted  circuit  independence  until 
1837.  Aspirations  for  self-government  evidently  were  not  wanting;  for,  in  1832, 
a  meeting  of  circuit  officials,  consisting  of  Messrs.  Bullock,  Reed,  Huntsman,  Panton, 
Cobb,  Sellers,  and  the  three  travelling-preachers,  Messrs.  Garbutt,  Eckersley,  and  John 
Sharp,  was  held  to  consider  the  question.  A  resolution  in  favour  of  circuit  independ- 
ence was  arrived  at,  but  the  project  did  not  then  mature.  The  Hull  Circuit  authorities 
were  against  it,  and  the  branch  reluctantly,  or  otherwise,  acquiesced.  An  explanation 
of  this  long  retention  of  a  strong  branch  in  a  subordinate  position — an  explanation, 
which  explains  more  than  this  particular  case,  is  suggested  by  Rev.  W.  Garner's 
remarks  to  the  effect  that,  under  the  influence  of  impaired  health  and  increasing 
infirmities,  AY.  Clowes  became  somewhat  timorous  in  chapel-building,  and  showed  little  or 
no  readiness  to  convert  branches  or  missions  into  independent  stations.  He  adds,  to 
quote  his  precise  words  : — 

"  Without  the  guiding  and  sustaining  hand  of  Hull,  he  was  afraid  to  let  them 
try  to  stand  and  walk  alone.  Through  this  timorous  policy,  several  branches,  for 
example  Driffield,  Brigg,  Whitehaven,  Barnard  Castle — were  retained  in  connection 
with  Hull  long  after  they  were  qualified  to  support  and  govern  themselves.  By 
these  stations  large  surpluses  were  often  remitted  to  the  parent  branch,  not  indeed 
for  its  individual  use,  but  to  aid  it  in  its  general  missionary  operations.  ('Life  of 
Clowes,'  p.  4U0)." 

But  "the  day  of  freedom  dawned  at  length,''  and  in  1837,  Driffield  was  granted 
circuit  autonomy.  Its  first  bulky  plan  has  on  it  the  names  of  five  travelling-preachers 
and  some  fifty  distinct  preaching-places.  The  next  year  its  reported  membership  was 
810.  Bridlington  remained  a  branch  of  Driffield  until  Christmas,  1857,  and  Hornsea 
in  Holderness  until  18(11.  To-day  Driffield  is  one  of  the  widest,  and  numerically,  the 
strongest  country  circuit  in  the  Connexion,  reporting  to  the  Conference  of  1903 
a  membership  of  1082  ;  indeed,  there  is  <mly  one  large-town  circuit  which  is  numerically 
stronger — viz.,  Leicester  Second,  with  1100  members.  Driffield  has  the  area  of 
a  diocese  rather  than  that  of  an  average  circuit.  The  situation  of  some  of  its  places, 
and  their  distance  from  the  circuit-town,  involve  some  difficulty  in  working  and 
considerable  expense,  yet  it  is  not  easy  to  see  how  the  circuit  can  be  divided.  For 
a  few  years  the  experiment  was  tried  of  making  Xafferton  the  head  of  a  station,  but  the 
arrangement  does  not  seem  to  have  worked  satisfactorily,  and  in  1880  there  was 
a  reversion  to  the  old  arrangement. 

Almost  every  one  of  the  thirty-four  places  on  the  Driffield  Circuit  Plan  has  its  story 
to  tell,  as  Mr.  Woodcock  has  shown  in  his  interesting  volume.  Langtoft — "the  village 
(if  floods  and  water-spouts  "—has  already  been  referred  to  as  the  scene  of  one  of  the 
earliest  English  camp  meetings.*  If  the  churchyard  of  Kilham  holds  all  that  is  mortal 
of  Cant.  Edward  Anderson,  that  of  Beeford  shows  the  tomb  of  probably  the  most 
popular  boy-preacher  of  Primitive  Methodism.     Thomas  Watson,  a  native  of  Beeford, 

■Ante,  vol.  i.,  pp.  66  and  lis,  where  a  view  of  Langt.  f  t  Chuich  is  given,  as  also  the  tombstone  of 
Capt.  Anderson. 


THE    PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE. 


97 


was  only  nineteen  years  of  age  at  his  death  in  1837,  and  yet  he  was  a  travelling- 
preacher  six  years.  Contemporary  documents  show  that  he  was  in  constant  request  for 
special  services,  and  as  his  epitaph  records:  His  slender  age,  deep  piety,  and  extra- 
ordinary abilities,  render  his  death  a  subject  of  deep  and  lasting  regret.     Beeford  can 

also  cite  its  instance  of  clerical  animus,  which 
took  the  form  of  a  vexatious  law-suit.  When 
in  1873  the  chapel  was  in  course  of  erection, 
the  late  Canon  Trevor  entered  an  action  against 
the  trustees  for  an  alleged  encroachment  on 
certain  glebe-land  which  he  held  in  trust.  The 
reverend  plaintiff  valued  the  land  in  dispute  at 
four  shillings,  while  the  defendants'  solicitor 
stated  its  real  value  to  be  about  fourpence ! 
The  Canon  lost  two  trials,  and  had  to  pay  some 
two  hundred  pounds  in  costs. 

Driffield  Circuit  has  been  prolific  in  men  and 
women  of  sterling  character,  whose  worth  finds 
due  recognition  in  the  pages  of  Mr.  Woodcock's 
book,  so  often  referred  to.  Besides  Thomas 
Wood,  Driffield  has  had  such  officials  as 
Messrs.  Thomas  Jackson,  Isaac  Miller,  and 
David  Railton,  the  "man  greatly  beloved," 
who  happily  still  survives.  At  Middleton- 
on-the- Wolds  lived  and  died  (August,  1850) 
Mr.  F.  Eudd,  the  father  of  Eev.  F.  Eudd, 
who  for  thirty-one  years  was  a  local  preacher, 
second  to  none  in  the  East  Eiding.  At  Hutton 
Cranswick,  amongst  many  striking  characters, 
Thomas  Escritt,  familiarly  and  affectionately  known  as  "  the  Bishop  of  Cranswick  " 
was  the  outstanding  figure.  As  you  saw  him  seated  in  the  chapel,  clad  in  his  Sunday 
best,  with  his  long  snowy  locks  and  venerable  form,  he  looked  like  a  country  clergyman 
though  be  was  only  a  farm-labourer.  But  "  he  was  the  most  beautiful  specimen  of  a  farm- 
labourer  I  ever  met  with  or  heard  of,"  says  Eev.  J.  Scruton,  himself  a  native  of  the 
village.  "  He  was  a  genius  and  a  natural  orator,  though  coy  and  shy.  He  was  a  man  of 
the  Bible,  a  man  ef  eloquence,  and  a  man  of  God."  Thomas  Escritt  loved  his  employers, 
and  was  beloved  in  return,  and  his  wish  that  he  might  be  buried  by  the  side  of  his  old 
master  was  readily  granted.  For  fifty  years,  as  he  went  to  his  daily  work,  he  was 
accustomed  to  turn  aside  to  a  particular  spot  to  pray  for  grace  and  help  to  do  his  duty  ; 
and  in  the  evening,  as  he  returned  from  work,  standing  on  the  same  spot,  to  thank  God 
for  His  vouchsafed  presence  during  the  day.  In  this  way,  through  half  a  century, 
Thomas  Escritt  celebrated  matins  and  vespers,  until  in  the  course  of  time  the  trodden 
grass  showed  a  well-defined  path.  At  this  sacred  trysting- place  an  annual  camp  meeting 
was  held,  called  by  the  villagers  "  Thomas  Escritt's  Camp  Meeting,''  as  a  token  of 
respect  for  the  saintly  old  man,  who  died  January,  1885,  aged  87  years. 


98  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 

A  man  of  quite  another  stamp  was  Robert  Belt,  blacksmith,  of  "West  Lutton,  honest, 
sturdy,  fearless.     One  Sunday  morning,  as  he  was  going  to  his  appointment,  he  observed 
Sir  Tatton  Sykes  doing  what  he  thought  ought  not  to  be  done  on  the  Lord's  Day,  and 
he  went  up  to  the  baronet  and  told  him  so.     The  rebuke,  though  it  was  taken  with 
ill-grace  at  the  time,  in  the  end  procured  for  Robert  Belt  Sir  Tatton's  respect,  and 
patronage  as  well.     And  here,  it  should  be  said  to  the  credit  of  Sir  Tatton,  one  .of  the 
great  land-owners  and  magnates  of  the  Wolds,  that,  despite  his  training  and  associations 
and  in  the  teeth  of  the  clerical  pressure  brought  to  bear  upon  him,  he  was  not  slow  to 
recognise  the  value  of  Primitive  Methodism.     He  gave  land  to  erect  three  chapels — 
Wansford,  Wetwang,  and  Sledmere.     The  grant  for  the  last-named  was  largely  due  to 
the  pluck,   persistence,   and   personal   solicitation    of   Rev.   C.   Leafe,  who,  while  lie 
travelled  the  Driffield  Circuit,  also  achieved  the  task  of  building  chapels  at  Beswick 
and  Watton.     Sir  Tatton  Sykes  is  credited  with  having  expressed  the  following  judgment 
concerning  the  influence  of  Methodism  in  the  Wolds.     Though  Methodism  has  no  need 
to  seek  for  testimonials  to  the  value  of  its  work,  it  cannot  but  be  agreeable  to  have  the 
findings  of  its  annalists  and  historians  confirmed  by  an  outsider,  who  is  at  the  same 
time  a  resident  hereditary  landlord  of  the  district. 

"If  it  had  not  been  for  the  Dissenters  the  English  people  would  have  been 
heathens  ;  and  they  are  worthy  of  a  site  on  which  to  build  a  chapel  in  every  village 
in  the  land.  Mo.it  of  the  religion  between  Mnlton  and  Driffield  is  to  be  found  amongst 
the  Methodists.'' 

The  most  pertinent  facts  belonging  to  the  introduction  of  Primitive  Methodism  into 
Bridlington  can  soon  be  given.     John  Coulson  has  the  honour  of  being  the  Connexion's 
pioneer  labourer  in  Bridlington  and  its  vicinity.     His  name  stands  in  connection  with 
Bridlington  on  the  plan  of  ministerial  fixtures  made  September,  1820.     Tradition  tells 
that  he  walked  over  from  Driffield  one  Saturday  afternoon  so  as  to  be  in  time  for  the 
close  of  the  Bridlington  Market,  and  that  his  first  service  was  interrupted  by  the 
constable.     It  gives  also  reminiscences  of  his  visits  to  Flamborough  and  Filey.     Before 
the  close  of  the  year  W.  Clowes  made  his  way  from  Preston-in-Holderness  to  Bridlington, 
in  order  to  survey  the  land  and  have  a  consultation  with  Mr.  Coulson  as  to  the  prospects 
of  the  mission  already  begun.     He  speak^  of  finding  already  thirty  members  at  Brid- 
lington, and  of  assisting  Mr.  Coulson  to  draw  up  a  plan  for  the  working  of  the  mission. 
The  next  quarterly  meeting  of  the  Hull  Circuit  appointed  Clowes  to  reinforce  and  still 
further  extend  this  east-coast  mission;    and  his  Journals  show  that  from  January  to 
March,  and  again  in  July,  1821,  he  was  engaged  in  the  work  of  opening  up  the  coast 
and  its  hinterland  from  Bridlington  to  Sandsend  beyond  Whitby.     Remember,  it  was 
winter-time,  and  that  the  cutting  north-easters  on  that  high  and  rock-bound  coast  search 
to  the  very  marrow,  yet  Clowes  and  his  helpers  preached  at  Bridlington  on  the  Quay, 
on  Scarborough  Sands  and  in  the  Castle-Dykes,  in  Whitby  Market-place,  and  on  the 
beach  at  Robin  Hood's  Bay,  as  well  as  in  barns  as  at  Ay  ton  and  Seamer,  in  school-rooms 
and  houses.     The  mission  was  strengthened  by  the  drafting  in  of  other  labours,  and  the 
result  of  their  joint  toil  laid  the  foundation  of  what  are  now  the  Bridlington,  Filey, 
Scarborough,  and  Whitby  Circuits.     Clowes,  as  we  know,  was  a  man  who  habitually 
expected  great  things  from  God,  yet  he  says :   "When  I  look  at  the  work  in  Yorkshire 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND    ENTERPRISE. 


99 


it  is  amazing  to  me.''      Our  amazement  is  called  forth  by  the  sight  of  the  labour 
performed  no  less  than  by  its  results. 

Owing  to  its  position  Bridlington  quite  naturally  had  many  of  the  characteristics  of 
a  Wold  circuit.  These  characteristics  it  still  retains,  with  others  due  to  its  proximity 
to  the  sea.  In  Bridlington  old  town  and  its  offshoot,  Bridlington  Quay,  these  features 
may  be  seen  in  contrast  almost  side  by  side.  If  Bridlington,  with  its  fine  old  Priory 
Church,  reminds  us  of  Driffield,  only  that  it  is  a  little  more  quiet  and  sleepy,  the 
Quay,  only  a  mile  away,  would  rather  suggest  Scarborough  or  Whitby.  This,  in  1820, 
was  an  old-fashioned  sea-port,  and  not  unknown  even  in  those  pre-railway  days  as 
a  modest  watering-place.     At  the   Quay  the  scene  was  often  animated  enough  ;    for 


BRIDLINGTON   QUAY. 

sometimes  the  noble  bay — bounded  on  the  north  by  the  lighthouse  on  Flamborough  Head 
which  Clowes  visited — would  be  crowded  with  vessels  lying  becalmed,  or  seeking  shelter 
from  rough  or  contrary  winds.  The  residents  of  the  Quay  were  of  the  amphibious  kind 
one  might  expect  to  find  in  such  a  place — a  few  fishermen,  shipowners,  or  those 
concerned  in  the  unloading,  refitting,  or  victualling  of  ships,  with  a  few  visitors  and 
retired  persons  whose  tastes  brought  them  to  the  sea.  Primitive  Methodism  early  got 
a  footing  both  in  Bridlington  and  the  Quay.  Here  lived  Mr.  Stephenson,  an  early 
befriender  of  the  cause,  whose  vessel  John  Oxtoby,  when  standing  on  the  pier,  singled 
out  from  a  number  of  others,  though  his  eye  had  never  rested  either  on  the  vessel  or  its 
picture  before.     It  had  been  feared  the  vessel  was  lost,  but  Oxtoby  had  prayed  about  it, 

g  2 


100  PMMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 

and  it  had  been  revealed  to  him  that  the  ship  he  now  identified  would  come  safe  to 
port.  The  first  unpretentious  chapel  at  the  Quay  was  built  in  1823.  In  the  bight  of 
Bridlington  Bay  the  sea  has  made  sad  encroachment  on  the  land,  and  in  course  of  time 
the  first  chapel  stood  so  near  the  cliff  that  when  the  north-easters  blew  it  shook  again, 
and  was  wet  with  the  flying  spume  and  spray.  Xot  before  time  a  second  chapel  was 
built  on  another  site  in  1870,  still  further  enlarged  in  1879.*  In  the  old  town 
a  building  was  acquired  and  fitted  up  as  a  chapel  capable  of  accommodating  two 
hundred  hearers.     This  was  opened  by  W.  Clowes  and  Atkinson  Smith  in  1836. 

With  the  conspicuous  exception  of  Flamborough,  soon  to  be  referred  to,  the  landward 
villages  of  Bridlington,  like  the  rest  of  the  Wold  villages,  are  agricultural,  inhabited 
chiefly  by  farmers  and  labourers,  and  the  small  tradesmen  and  craftsmen  who  minister 
to  their  simple  wants.  Amongst  these  Primitive  Methodism  made  its  way.  Some  of 
its  converts  were  men  of  strong  individuality,  and  rendered  long  and  effective  service — 
men  like  Jonathan  Goforth,  of  North  Burton,  local  preacher,  natural  philosopher, 
antiquarian,  and  intermeddler  in  all  sorts  of  out-of-the-way  knowledge.  Jonathan 
Goforth  was  of  the  same  craft  as  Thomas  Wood,  of  Driffield.  Writing  in  1821,  William 
Cobbett  says  that  shoemaking  is  "  a  trade  which  numbers  more  men  of  sense  and  of 
public  spirit  than  any  other  in  the  kingdom,  "f  The  fact,  vouched  for  by  Bev.  H. 
Woodcock,  that  at  one  time  there  stood  on  the  two  plans  of  Driffield  and  Bridlington 
Circuits  the  names  of  no  fewer  than  twenty -one  persons  who  followed  this  trade,  speaks 
well  for  the  degree  to  which  Primitive  Methodism  had  got  hold  of  "  the  men  of  sense 
and  public  spirit"  in  the  Wold  country.  Bridlington  Circuit  too,  like  Driffield,  has 
had  its  peasant  stalwarts  ;  such  as  Mark  Normandale,  of  Thornholme,  whose  sturdy 
attachment  to  Methodism  was  a  thorn  in  the  side  of  Archdeacon  Wilberforce.  Happily, 
Lady  St.  Guintin  had  more  tolerance  than  her  clergyman,  and  declined  to  bring 
pressure  to  bear  upon  her  employe.  Bridlington  Circuit  has  given  to  the  ranks  of  the 
ministry  G.  Normandale,  H.  Woodcock,  the  well-known  writer  and  historian  of  Wold 
Primitive  Methodism,  W.  R.  Monkman,  W.  Hall,  W.  Sawyer,  W.  Mainprize,  and 
T.   U.  Holtby. 

Quite  early  Bridlington  had  close  relations  both  with  Driffield  and  Scarborough,  but 
in  the  end  its  natural  connection  with  the  Wolds  prevailed,  and  Flamborough,  where 
the  horn  of  the  crescent  of  the  Wolds  projects  into  the  sea,  became  the  limit  of  the 
circuit.  But  in  1827,  we  find  the  "Bridlington  and  Scarborough  Union  Branch  of 
Hull  Circuit"— "Bridlington  to  have  the  priority."  In  1833,  Bridlington  and  Driffield 
are  together  a  branch  of  Hull.  In  1843,  it  becomes  a  branch  of  Driffield,  and  in  1859 
an  independent  circuit. 

The  Flamborough  and  Filey  Fishermen. 
We  have  no  intention  of  writing  the  history  of  Flamborough  or  Filey  Primitive 

*"Tlie  entire  street  in  which  my  mother  was  born,  and  in  which  she  passed  her  early  .rears 

.■it   Bridlington],  bus  Ion-  since  been  swallowed  up  by    the  ever-encroaching  sea."— T.    Mozlev's 
"  Reminiscences,''  vol.  i,,  p.  148. 

tC'obbett's  "  Rural  Kides,"  vol.  i.,  p.  5.">. 


THE    PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE. 


101 


Methodism.  That  has  already  largely  been  done.*  What  concerns  us  here  is,  the 
significance  of  that  history  as  an  episode  in  the  larger  history  of  our  Church's  advance 
and  mission.  The  capital  fact  demanding  notice  is  that  Hull's  Bridlington  Mission  for 
the  first  time  brought  the  agents  of  our  Church  into  direct,  close,  and  permanent  contact 
with  a  distinct  class — the  fishermen  who  ply  their  hazardous  calling  around  our  coasts. 
With  what  result  ?  We  have  seen  what  the  new  evangelism  did  for  the  folk  of  the 
Yorkshire  Dales  and  Moors  ;  did  it  succeed  in  moralising  and  sweetening  the  lives  of 
the  fisher-folk  dwelling  on  the  cliffs  and  in  the  coves  "between  the  heather  and  the 
northern  sea'"?  It  made  a  determined  attempt  to  reach  them.  Did  the  attempt 
succeed  ?      Let  us  see. 


FL.U1BOKOUGH    HEAD. 


Flamborongh,  on  its  bold  head-land  crowned  with  the  well-known  lighthouse,  with 
its  cliffs  and  caves  and  sea-birds,  and  the  famous  entrenchment  of  the  Danes'  Dyke 
running  from  the  North  Sea  to  Bridlington  Bay,  and  cutting  off  the  huge  cantle  of 
land  on  which  the  village  stands,  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  spots  in  England,  and 
its  hardy  inhabitants,  chiefly  fishermen,  are  equally  interesting,  possessing  as  they  do 
many  distinctive  traits.  A  thousand  years  ago  or  so  the  predatory  Danes  took  possession 
of  this  natural  stronghold,  which,  perhaps,  the  Britons  had  dug  out  a  thousand  years 


*See  especially  "Our  Filey  Fishermen,"  by  Rev.  G.  Shaw,  1867. 
by  Rev.  C.  Kendall,  1870.     "  Life  of  John  Oxtoby." 


'  God's  Hand  in  the  Storm,' 


102  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 

before.  This  stronghold  the  new-comers  fortified  and  continued  to  hold.  They  inter- 
married, and  lived  so  much  a  people  apart,  that  their  home  got  the  name  of  "  Little 
Denmark.''  To  this  day,  it  is  said,  the  Flamborians  give  evidence  of  their  Scandinavian 
origin  in  build  and  gait  and  complexion,  as  also  perhaps  in  the  deep  religiousness  of 
their  nature,  which,  largely  if  not  wholly,  purged  from  the  superstition  of  the  past,  made 
them  take  so  kindly  to  Methodism,  that  this  coigne  of  Yorkshire  has  now  become 
one  of  its  strongholds.  From  the  very  first,  Primitive  Methodism  found  ready 
acceptance  in  Flamborough.  "W.  Clowes  was  frequently  here,  and  as  early  as  January 
14th,  1821,  he  notes  in  his  Journal : — 

"  I  preached  again  at  Flamborough  at  two  and  six.  It  was  a  very  gracious  day  : 
two  souls  got  liberty.  Fifty  in  society,  and  1  joined  five  more.  Monday,  15th, 
brother  Coulson  preached,  and  I  gave  an  exhortation.     One  soul  got  liberty." 

The  Flamborians  are  now  largely  a  sober,  chapel-going  and  God-fearing  people. 
What  they  were  at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  was  something  very 
different,  corresponding  rather  to  the  couplet : — 

"  A  wretched  church,  and  a  wooden  steeple, 
A  drunken  parson,  and  a  wicked  people." 

Very  suggestive  in  this  regard  is  the  statement,  made  on  good  authority,  that  it  was  not 
with  the  goodwill  of  many  of  the  people  of  these  parts  that  the  noble  lighthouse  was 
erected.  One  of  the  first  converts  of  Primitive  Methodism  in  Flamborough  was 
Leonard  Mainprize.  Considering  what  the  family,  of  which  he  was  the  head,  has  done 
and  is  doing  for  the  interests  of  our  Church  in  Bridlington  Circuit,  the  winning  of 
such  a  man  must  be  reckoned  a  good  day's  work.  One  of  Leonard's  sons  was 
Yicarman  Mainprize,  for  many  years  a  typical  working  fisherman,  who  in  following  his 
calling  had  many  hairbreadth  escapes.  Comparatively  late  in  life  he  became  a  rich  man 
through  the  coming  to  him  of  a  legacy.  The  change  in  his  circumstances  made  no 
difference  to  the  simplicity  of  his  Christian  character,  though  it  greatly  augmented  his 
power  for  doing  good,  and  the  Bridlington  Circuit  reaped  the  benefit  of  his  beneficence. 
Midway  between  Scarborough  and  "Whitby  stands  Filey,  fronting  its  noble  bay.  Now 
it  is  widely  known  as  a  beautiful  health-resort,  but  at  the  time  of 
which  we  write,  it  was  little  more  than  a  fishing-village.  One  who 
was  there  in  1823,  speaks  of  its  "one  short  row  of  small  cottages, 
like  a  coast-guard  station,  built  for  visitors  who  did  not  come." 
Hard  as  it  is  for  us  to  realise  it  now,  Filey  was  then  "noted  for 
vice  and  wickedness  of  every  description."  So  says  Mr.  Petty 
in  his  History,  and  all  the  evidence  goes  to  prove  the  truth  of 
the  indictment.  The  Sabbath  was  disregarded;  if  anything,  the 
Sabbath  was  the  busiest  day  of  all  the  week.  There  was  plenty  of 
superstition,  the  dark  survival  of  Pagan  times,  but  of  real  religion 
mr.  v.  mainprize.  tllere  was  little  enough.  Methodism  was  struggling  for  existence, 
and  the  influence  of  the  Church  was  almost  a  negative  quantity. 
True,  there  was  an  ancient  fabric— St.  Oswald's— which  stood  on  the  other  side  of 
the  ravine  that  divides  the  North  and  East  Eidings,  but  according  to  the  testimony  of 


THE   PERIOD    OF  CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE    AND   ENTERPRISE. 


103 


the  visitor  already  mentioned,  it  was  "  a  dreary  and  not  quite  weatherproof  building.'' 
Both  the  situation  and  condition  of  the  parish  church  were  emblematic  of  the  aloofness 
of  the  people  from  the  religion  it  stood  for.  So  far  from  exerting  any  practical  influence 
on  the  lives  of  the  bulk  of  the  fishermen,  it  might  as  well  have  been  in  another  world 
as  in  another  Riding.  "  Like  priest,  like  people,''  says  the  adage,  and  what  both  priest 
and  people  were  like  may  be  judged  by  an  incident  which  took  place  at  the  bedside  of 
a  dying  parishioner,  who  had  asked  that  he  might  receive  the  last  sacrament : — 

"Parson  (loquitur) :  'Do  you  swear?'  Sick  man:  'No.'  'Do  you  ever  get 
drunk  ? '  '  No.'  After  other  questions  of  a  similar  kind,  the  parson  asked  :  '  Do 
you  owe  any  debts?'    'No.'     'Well,  then,  you  are  all  right.    But  you  owe  me  my 


FILET. 
From  a  photo  by  Walter  Fisher  and  Sons,  Filey. 

fee  for  your  father's  gravestone,  and  I  cannot  give  you  the  sacrament  until  you 
have  paid  me.'     The  dying  man  settled  with  the  clergyman,  received  absolution, 
and  died  satisfied."* 
There  is  pathos  about  the  life  of  the  fisherman — an  undertone  of  sadness  like  the 
moaning  of  the  harbour-bar  Charles  Kingsley  speaks  of : — 

"  For  men  must  work,  and  women  must  weep ; 
And  there's  little  to  earn,  and  many  to  keep, 
Though  the  harbour-bar  be  moaning." 
*  "Filey  and  its  Fishermen,"  Thomas  P.  Mozley,  who  was  at  Filey  in  1823  and  182S,  and  in  the 
latter  year  attended  "The  Fishermen's  Chapel,"  i.e.,  the  Primitive  Methodist  Chapel,  refers  to  this 
clergyman,',"  Reminiscences,"  vol.  i.,  p.  444. 


104  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 

That  pathetic  undertone  was  distinctly  to  be  heard  in  Filey  and  many  another 
fishing-village  eighty  years  ago.  You  could  catch  the  sound  of  it  beneath  and  despite 
the  rude  sports,  the  loud  ribald  song,  the  boisterous  merriment.  There  were  the  daily 
toil,  the  hazard  of  storm  and  disaster,  the  anxiety  of  women  waiting  and  watching  at 
home.  The  stones  in  the  old  churchyard  bore  the  silent  record  of  many  such  lowly 
domestic  tragedies.  There  is  a  passage  in  one  of  Mary  Linskell's  books  as  true  of  Filey 
and  Flamborough  as  of  more  northern  Robin  Hood's  Bay  or  Staithes : — 

"The  two  women  with  whom  Genevieve  had  come  down  from  Thurkeld  Abbas 
were  the  daughters  of  a  drowned  man,  the  widows  of  drowned  men,  the  sisters  of 
drowned  men.  All  they  possessed — the  means  of  life  itself — had  come  to  them 
from  the  sea  ;  the  self-same  sea  had  taken  from  them  all  that  made  life  worth 
living."* 

Such  was  Filey,  and  such,  thank  God  !  it  soon  ceased  to  be.  It  needed  vital  religion 
to  moralise  the  people.  The  men  needed  it  to  give  thenr  strength  to  cope  with  the 
storm  and  the  imminent  danger.  The  women — bread-winners,  too — needed  it  to  help 
them  to  bear  the  strain  of  anxiety,  and  to  comfort  them  in  the  time  of  their  desolation. 
And  vital  religion  came.      How  and  with  what  results  we  must  briefly  tell. 

Filey  was  not  so  easily  won  as  Flamborough  and  other  places  along  the  coast.  It 
was  tried  again  and  again,  but  the  stolid  indifference  of  the  people  seemed  impenetrable. 
But  for  John  Oxtoby,  Filey  might  have  been  left  to  its  fate.  The  tradition  is,  that 
when  the  question  of  continuance  or  discontinuance  was  under  serious  discussion  at  the 
Bridlington  (Quarterly  Meeting,  held  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Stephenson,  Oxtoby,  who  had 
kept  silent  hitherto,  was  appealed  to,  and  unhesitatingly  gave  his  judgment  in  favour  of 
prosecuting  the  mission.  Abandon  Filey?  It  was  not  to  be  thought  of  for  a  moment. 
God  had  a  great  work  to  do  in  Filey;  and  Oxtoby  declared  himself  ready  to  engage  in 
that  work,  whatever  privations  it  might  involve.  This  ended  the  discussion,  and  it  was 
resolved  to  give  Filey  on*  more  trial.  Oxtoby  had  got  as  far  as  Muston  Hill,  on  his 
way  to  attempt  what  many  regarded  as  a  forlorn  hope,  when  the  sight  of  Filey  in  the 
distance  drove  him  to  his  knees.  His  audible  petitions  were  not  only  intensely  earnest, 
but  so  familiar  as  almost  to  suggest  irreverence,  did  we  not  know  the  man  and  the 
essential  reverence  as  well  as  intimacy  of  his  intercourse  with  God.  He — John  Oxtoby — 
had  given  a  pledge  that  "  God  was  going  to  revive  His  work  at  Filey,''  and  He  must  do 
it,  or  His  servant  would  not  be  able  to  hold  up  his  head.  He  put  God  on  His  honour ; 
He  would  not  allow  His  servant  to  be  discredited  :  "  That  be  far  from  Thee,  Lord." 
He  received  the  assurance  that  God  would  verily  keep  His  word,  and  rose  from  his 
knees,  saying  :  '■  Filey  is  taken  !  Filey  is  taken  !  "  To  the  foresight  of  faith,  the  work 
not  yet  begun  was  already  accomplished.  Oxtoby,  on  Muston  Hill,  pleading  for  Filey, 
recalls  William  Braithwaite's  wrestling  for  souls  at  East  Stockwith.t  and  both  incidents 
have  their  counterpart  in  John  Ride's  and  Thomas  Russell's  victorious  conflict  on 
Ashdown  for  the  salvation  of  Berkshire.  They  make  companion  pictures.  "  Give  me 
souls,  or  I  shall  die;"    "Filey  is  taken!"    "Yonder  country's  ours  !"  are  only  short 

*"  Between  the  Ileather  and  the  Northern  Sea,"  p.  77. 
\Anle,  vol.  i.,  pp.  369  and  419. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE. 


105 


IFF  mm 


•azutt   ttnnr,    .m.' 


ps.JW- 


sentences,  and  easily  romemberable ;  but  they  are,  in  their  way,  as  significant  for 
Primitive  Methodist  history  as  some  of  the  sayings  of  great  captains,  like  Nelson,  are 
significant  for  English  history. 

Filey  was  taken.  The  remarkable  revival  of  1823  was  morally  revolutionary  and 
lasting  in  its  results.  It  laid  the  foundations  of  a  strong  cause  in  Filey,  and  before  the 
year  ended  a  chapel  was  built,  which,  after  two  enlargements,  was  in  1871  superseded  by 

a  handsome  and  commodious 
edifice.  The  Wesleyan  Society 
shared  in  the  labours  and  success 
of  the  revival,  and  was  much 
quickened  and  largely  aug- 
mented, and  even  the  parish 
church  began  to  look  up  and 
to  be  better  attended.  The 
morals  of  the  village  rapidly 
improved.  Religion  wrought 
for  sobriety,  thrift,  softening 
of  manners,  social  peace,  and 
domestic  concord.  It  was  Filey 
fishermen  who  led  the  way  in 
abandoning  Sunday  fishing.  At 
first  the  innovators  were  a  small 
minority,  and  met  with  the 
usual  difficulties  experienced  by 
reformers.  Even  if  they  had 
been  losers  by  their  Sabbath 
observance,  the  obligation  to 
keep  the  Sabbath  would  have 
been  the  same  ;  but,  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  they  were  not  losers, 
but  caught  morelastsof  herrings 
in  six  days  than  others  did  in 
seven;  until  even  the  small 
fisher-lads  would  observe  :  "  If  there  were  twea  (two)  herrings  in  the  sea  Ranter  Jack 
would  be  seaar  to  git  yan(one)on  them.''  The  good  example,  honoured  by  Providence, 
was  infectious.  Gradually  other  skippers  and  owners  fell  into  line  with  the  reformers, 
until  Sabbath  observance  became  the  rule.  In  short,  compared  with  what  it  had  been, 
Filey  became  a  model  fishing-town,  so  that  in  1863  the  Rev.  Edwin  Day,  Wesleyan 
minister,  could  declare  :  "  He  had  considerable  knowledge  of  the  fishermen  on  many 
parts  of  our  coast,  but  he  knew  none  equal  to  the  Filey  fishermen,  and  he  declared, 
with  the  greatest  freedom,  that  their  superiority  was  entirely  owing  to  the  successful 
labours  of  the  Primitive  Methodist  Connexion." 

All  the  credit — if  any  credit  at  all  belongs  to  the  human  agents — must  not  be  given 
to  J.  Oxtoby  for  the  remarkable  revival  of  1823.     Not  forgetting  the  pioneer  labours  of 


FILEY    CHAPEL. 


106  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHUKCH. 

J.  Coulson,  we  find  that  J.  Peart,  B.  Morris,  W.  Howcroft,  and  W.  Garner,  all  took 
part  in  it,  and  it  was  under  a  sermon,  preached  by  J.  Peart,  that  the  revival  may  be 
said  to  have  begun.  But  even  if  we  could  have  wished  it  otherwise,  the  rustic 
evangelist,  whose  prayers  and  homely  exhortations  were  couched  in  the  broad  East- 
Eiding  dialect,  is  the  chief  outstanding  figure.  Tradition  persists  in  associating  Oxtoby's 
name  with  the  revival  as  its  main  instrument ;  and  those  who  have  closely  studied  the 
history  of  Filey  Primitive  Methodism,  and  are  best  acquainted  with  the  spirit  and 
prominent  features  of  its  Church-life,  are  the  readiest  to  admit  that,  in  this  instance, 
tradition  has  not  erred ;  that  Oxtoby's  influence  was  not  only  great  and  formative  at  the 
time,  but  also  procreative  of  its  like,  shaping  the  lives  of  those  who  were  to  become,  in 
their  turn,  the  shapers  and  directors  of  the  society  and  circuit.  We  may  here,  with 
advantage,  adduce  the  testimony  of  the  Rev.  R.  Harrison  : — 

"Primitive  Methodism  is  very  much  what  it  is  in  Filey  through  the  prayers  and 
faith  of  'Praying  Johnny.'  Those  who  have  thought  much  respecting  the  history, 
methods,  and  spirit  of  our  Church  in  Filey,  see  to  what  extent  he  has  been,  and  is 
reflected  and  reproduced.  It  has  always  been  marked  by  Christian  simplicity, 
strong  faith,  and  direct,  earnest  prayer.  It  would  be  under  rather  than  over  the 
mark  to  say  that  as  many  souls  have  been  saved  in  the  class  meetings  as  after  the 
preaching  services.  There  has  always  been  a  strange  social  element  in  the  Church- 
life  of  Filey,  and  a  marked  domesticity  in  its  devotions." 

Foremost  among  the  converts  of  Oxtoby,  who  became  the  originators  and  shapers  of 
the  society,  may  be  named  Mrs.  Gordon,  John  Wyville,  and  William  Jenkinson.  The 
first-named  was  the  wife  of  a  coastguard  officer,  a  woman  of  education,  who  had  travelled 
and  seen  the  world,  and  was  ready  to  be  led  into  the  light  and  repose  of  faith  by 
Oxtoby.  Mrs.  Gordon  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  and  useful  women  Primitive 
Methodism  has  produced,  nor  must  the  fame  she  afterwards  acquired  as  "the  Queen  of 
Missionary  Collectors,"  and  the  work  she  did  in  London,  be  allowed  to  obscure  her 
claim  to  have  been  one  of  the  nursing  mothers  of  our  cause  in  Filey.  She,  in  her  turn, 
was  instrumental  in  the  conversion  of  Ann  Cowling,  afterwards  Mrs.  Jenkinson,  who 
became  second  only  to  herself  as  a  missionary  collector,  and,  as  such,  excited  the 
wonder  of  W.  Clowes  as  to  how  she  contrived  to  raise  so  much  money,  until  he  learned 
that  there  was  an  agreement  between  the  fishermen  and  herself  that  they  should  give 
her  for  the  missionary  cause  a  certain  percentage  on  all  the  fish  they  caught  above 
a  certain  quantity,  on  condition  that  she  prayed  for  them  while  they  were  fishing. 

John  Wyville,  who  survived  until  1866,  was  another  of  the  "old  standards"  of 
Filey.  He  never  forgot  John  Oxtoby's  placing  his  hand  on  his  shoulder  and  saying : 
"  Thou  must  get  converted,  for  the  Lord  has  a  great  work  for  thee  to  do."  The  saying 
was  prophetic  and  fulfilled  to  the  letter.  He  soon  after  joined  the  society,  attended  to 
reading  and  the  cultivation  of  his  mind,  and  became  a  laborious  and  efficient  local 
preacher.  William  Jenkinson  (obit.  1866)  was  yet  a  third  convert  of  Oxtoby's,  who 
lived  to  see  one  hundred  of  his  relatives  members  of  society. 

The  godly  succession  has  been  kept  up  by  such  men  as  the  brothers  Jenkinson  and 
Matthew  Haxby,  whose  portraits  appropriately  have  a  place  in  our  pages.  Their 
evangelistic  labours  as  "the  Filey  Fishermen"  have  made  them  widely  known,  but  how 


THE   TERIOD    OF    CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE. 


107 


MR.    JENKINSON   HAXBT. 


much  good  they  have  exerted  by  their  example  and  leadership  and  personal  influence 
cannot  be  told  here.  Jenkinson  Haxby  happily  still  survives,  and  was  honoured  in 
1902  by  being  made  a  permanent  member  of  Conference. 

In  closing  our  observations  on  the  Flamborough  and  Filey 
fishermen,  we  are  again  reminded  of  the  toils,  anxieties,  and 
hazards  of  the  fisherman's  life.  We  still  hear  the  sad  undertone, 
as  of  the  moaning  of  the  harbour-bar.  The  biographies  in  our 
Magazine*,  through  a  succession  of  years,  show  how  many  of  our 
adherents  have  been  engulphed  by  the  sea  from  which  they 
sought  their  livelihood.  It  is  pleasing  to  know  that  religion, 
as  presented  by  our  Church,  makes  the  fisherman  none  the  less 
hardy,  brave,  self-sacrificing.  In  the  terrible  storm  of  October, 
1869,  Richard  Haxby,  sen.,  said  to  his  crew  :  "  Now,  some  of  you 
have  a  wife  and  young  children  dependent  upon  you ;  I  have 
a  wife  that  I  well  prize,  but  no  young  children,  therefore,  you  should  seek  every 
precaution  to  shun  risk  and  escape  death.  Besides,  you  are  not  ready  for  another 
world  ;  Frank  and  I  are  insured  for  eternal  life ;  therefore,  lash  us  to  the  tiller,  and  you 
go  below  where  there  is  less  danger."  *  This  is  no  solitary  instance.  In  that  same 
storm  Matthew  Haxby,  referred  to  above,  caused  himself  to  be  lashed  to  the  tiller,  and 
steered  the  vessel  during  most  of  the  seventy  hours,  for  said  he  :  "  If  a  wave  comes  and 
washes  me  overboard,  I  am  all  right.  I  shall  go  straight  to  heaven,  where  there  is  no 
more  sea.'' 

Religion,  in  the  form  of  Primitive  Methodism,  suits  the  fisherman  well,  and  the 
fisherman  at  his  best  has  done  Primitive  Methodism  infinite  credit.  That,  we  trust,  is 
what  this  History  shows ;  for  after  all,  while  for  obvious  reasons  we  have  spoken  much 
of  Filey,  it  is  taken  as  a  type  and  object-lesson.  "While  writing  of  Filey  and  Flam- 
borough,  we  have  found  our  thoughts  turning  to  Scarborough  and  Staithes,  to 
Cullercoats,  and  to  fishing-towns  and  villages  in  East  Anglia  and  Cornwall,  and 
elsewhere,  where  our  Church  has  done  a  similar  work,  in  kind 
if  not  in  degree,  amongst  the  fishermen  as  it  has  achieved  at 
Flamborough  and  Filey. 

SCABBOUOUGH    AND    WHITBY    MISSION. 

"On  Saturday,  January  27th,  1821,  by  an  unexpected  provi- 
dence, my  way  was  opened  to  preach  at  Scarborough."  So  stands 
the  record  in  the  Magazine.  How  providence  opened  Clowes' 
way  we  are  not  distinctly  told.  Possibly  he  may  have  had  an 
invitation  to  visit  the  town,  backed  by  the  offer  of  the  use  of 
Mr.  Lamb's  schoolroom.  Be  this  as  it  may,  on  the  date  mentioned, 
Clowes,  accompanied  by  his  friend  Coulson,  walked  to  Scarborough,  By  permission  of  w.  Fisher 
and  found  on  his  arrival  a  few  persons  whose  minds,  stirred  by 

a  ripple  of  excitement,  were  already  in  a  state  of  expectancy.     Some  one  had  dreamed 
the  night  before  that  he  saw  two  "Ranters'  preachers"  going  up  the  streets  of  Scar- 

*  "  God's  Hand  in  the  Storm,"  p.  30. 


MR.    MATTHEW    HAXBT. 


1(JS 


PRIMITIVE   MKTIIODIST   CHURCH. 


borough  with  an  intention  to  preach  the  gospel.  The  dream  would  naturally  help  on 
its  own  fulfilment,  and  .Air.  Clowes  preached  in  the  schoolroom  and  Mr.  Coulson 
elsewhere.  Three  full  .Sundays  out  of  the  six  yet  available  for  this  mission  were 
devoted  by  Clowes  to  .Scarborough,  and  two  to  Whitby,  while  the  remaining  Sunday 
was  divided  between  Scarborough  and  Seamer.  At  Scarborough,  bis  practice  was  to 
1  preach  twice  in  the  schoolroom  and  once  on  the  sands,  and  he  notes  with  satisfaction 
that  the  people  who  came  to  the  seaside  services  in  such  multitudes,  behaved  with 
decorum  and  listened  attentively  to  the  "Word.  The  first  society  class  in  Scarborough 
was  formed  by  Clowes  on  February  11th,  and  before  he  returned  to  Hull,  by  way  of 

Flamborough  and  Bridlington,  in  order  to  attend 
the  March  (Quarterly  Meeting,  the  nine  members 
had  been  increased  by  later  converts. 

From  Scarborough  Clowes  pushed  on  for 
Whitby,  but  as  he  passed  through  Robin 
Hood's  Bay,  the  fishermen  "  got  wit "  that 
a  "Banter  preacher"  was  amongst  them,  and 
Clowes  was  fain  to  preach  in  three  houses 
opening  into  one  another.  This  plural  place 
of  assembly  was  packed  with  people.  When, 
soon  after,  Clowes  paid  a  return  visit  to  Kobin 
Hood's  I'.ay,  and  held  a  service  by  preference 
on  the  beach,  he  was  assisted  by  J.  Branfoot, 
and  had  as  one  of  his  hearers  William  Harland, 
the  young  schoolmaster  of  Stainton  Dale,  who 
then  and  there  resolved  to  lead  a  Christian 
life.  At  Whitby,  Clowes  followed  the  same 
method  of  procedure  as  at  Scarborough,  lioth 
on  the  11th  and  18th  of  February,  one  of  the 
services  of  the  day  was  held  in  the  market-place. 
At  the  first  some  unruly  spirits  were  present 
disposed  for  mischief,  but  "  a  man  of  weight, 
for  duty  done  and  public  worth,''  was  on  the 
ground  in  the  person  of  the  Chief  Constable, 
and  his  presence  exerted  a  restraining  influence. 
The  man  of  authority  had  met  with  Clowes 
when  conveying  prisoners  to  York,  and  had  listened  to  his  preaching  in  the  open- 
air.  He  had  then  assured  Clowes  of  a  hospitable  reception,  should  he  ever  find  his 
way  to  Whitby.  To  his  honour,  be  it  said,  the  Chief  Constable  made  good  his  word. 
Fryup  in  the  Dale,  Lyth,  Sandsend,  besides  Ay  ton  and  Seamer,  were  also  visited 
by  Clowes  during  his  mission. 

The  mention  of  Bev.  W.  Harland's  name  above,  may  remind  us  that  in  the  persons  of 
John  and  Thomas  Nelson— who  are  said  to  have  come  from  a  village  near  Whitby,— of 
Henry  Hebbron  and  of  William  Harland,  the  North  Riding  of  Yorkshire  gave  Primitive 
Methodism  four  men  who,  in  their  day,  were  extraordinarily  useful  and  popular.     Had 


\\   Iij'jI}    1WV5    HALL. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND    ENTERPRISE. 


109 


HAKl.AND. 


the  Huttun  Rudby  and  East  Coast  Missions  together  done  nothing  more  than  send  forth 
these  early  workers,  it  would  have  yielded  an  abundant  return  for  the  toil  and  self- 
sacrifice  involved  in  prosecuting  the  missions ;  since  in  the  formative  period  of  the 
Connexion— just  when  it  was  ready  to  take  the  shaping  and  impress  of  strongly  marked 
personalities,  these  men  gave  their  zeal  and  strength,  their  wit  and 
humour  and  popular  gifts  to  the  work. 

Mr.  Hebbron  and  the  Nelson  brothers  we  shall  meet  again  in  the 
Sunderland  District;  but  a  further  word  may  be  permitted  in 
reference  to  William  Harland  who,  with  William  Carner,  William 
Sanderson,  and  George  Lamb,  lived  to  be  reckoned  one  of  Hull 
District's  "  grand  old  men.''  William  Harland  was  a  native  of 
Newton  near  Pickering,  and  was  born  in  1801.  He  was  educated 
for  a  schoolmaster,  and  hence,  from  a  scholastic  point  of  view,  was 
privileged  beyond  most  of  his  brethren.  Those  who  came  in 
contact  with  him  were  impressed  with  his  amiability  no  less  than 
with  his  intelligence.  On  a  subsequent  visit  to  these  parts, 
Mr.  Clowes  had  some  conversation  with  the  young  schoolmaster,  who  set  him  on  his 
way  to  Cloughton  after  preaching  at  Stainton-Dale,  and  found  him  to  be  "a  young  man 
of  considerable  information  and  kindness  of  disposition,  and  capable  of  doing  much 
good  in  his  day  and  generation.''  Yet  Mr.  Harland  did  not  for  some  time  identify  him- 
self with  the  new  movement,  though  he  lent  his  schoolroom  for  preaching  services  and 
duly  attended  them.  At  last,  however,  he  made  up  his  mind.  Mr.  W.  Howcroft  had 
given  an  invitation  to  all  who  desired  to  become  members  to  remain  after  the  service 
and  he  would  give  them  a  ticket  on  trial ;  whereupon  Mr.  Harland  stepped  up  to  his 
own  desk  and  asked  if  the  preacher  would  give  him  a  ticket  on  trial.  "  No  ;  I  won't "  ; 
said  Mr.  Howcroft,  "  but  I  will  give  you  one  as  an  approved 
member.''  Mr.  Harland  preached  his  first  sermon  at  the  opening 
of  Newton  chapel,  which  was  a  converted  cart-shed,  and  he  lived 
to  preach  the  opening  services  of  the  chapel  subsequently  erected 
in  1850.  At  the  Hull  Quarterly  Meeting,  September  1838,  Bin. 
J.  Harrison  was  appointed  "  to  consult  him  respecting  his  willing- 
ness to  enter  our  ministry."  Mr.  Harland  wax  willing,  and  for 
forty-three  years  he  rendered  good  service  on  the  platform, 
where  he  was  at  his  best,  and  in  the  pulpit.  He  was  elected 
President  of  the  Conference  of  1862,  and  filled  the  editorial 
chair  from  1850  to  1862.  He  was  made  a  deed-poll  member  in 
1870,  and  retained  that  office  till  1879,  when  growing  physical 
infirmities  compelled  him  to  resign.  Mr.  Harland  died  October 
10th,  1880. 

No  agent  better  suited  for  carrying  forward  the  work  already  begun  could  have  been 
found  than  N.  West,  who  was  now  borrowed  from  Malton  for  a  month.  He  made  his 
way  to  Whitby,  where,  on  the  25th  March,  he  preached  twice  in  the  market-place  and 
once  ina  house,  and  next  day  formed  the  new  converts,  numbering  fifty-five,  into  three 
classes.     At  Robin  Hood's  Bay- there  were,  he  notes,  already  twenty-eight  in  society. 


W.U.  HOWCKOFT. 


HO  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 

Two  Sundays  N.  West  laboured  at  Scarborough.  On  April  1st,  he  "stood  up"  at  the 
Castle  Dykes  and  preached  to  a  large  congregation,  made  up  of  all  sorts  of  people— 
"quality,  poor,  soldiers,  sailors,"  &c.  "At  half-past  five,"  says  he,  "I  stood  up  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord  again ;  but  was  much  disturbed  by  Satan,  who  opposed  very  much  by 
his  slavish  vassals ;  however,  through  God  we  got  through,  and  at  night  held  a  prayer 
meeting.  After  all,  we  were  more  than  conquerors  through  Jesus,  for  fifteen  fresh 
members  joined."  On  the  following  Sunday  he  preached  twice  on  the  sands.  In  the 
morning,  many  were  observed  to  weep  who  had  despised  religion  before,  and  at  the 
afternoon  service  there  were  supposed  to  have  been  no  less  than  three  thousand  present 
who  "  paid  great  attention." 

Nathaniel  West  went  back  to  Malton,  and  E.  Abey  came  on  the  ground.  In  his 
Journal  he  notes  the  opening  of  the  first  chapel  in  Scarborough,  May  13th,  1821. 
This  home-made  structure  was  designed  and  built  by  brother  Luccock,  and  stood  on  the 
site  of  an  ancient  Franciscan  Convent  in  St.  Sepulchre  Street.  A  Sabbath  school 
being  urgently  needed,  the  western  wing  of  the  building  was  appropriated  to  the 
purpose.  To  save  expense,  the  work  was  done  by  amateurs.  George  Tyas  laid  the 
bricks  for  the  partition  wall,  and  James  and  William  Wyrill  fixed  the  doors  and 
window-frames.  These  two  brothers  became  the  first  superintendents  of  the  school, 
and  James  Linn  became  its  first  scholar.  A  melancholy  interest  attaches  to  the  name 
of  James  Wyrill.  In  the  terrible  storm  of  February  24th,  1844,  the  yawl  he  com- 
manded was  struck  by  a  heavy  sea  when  making  for  the  harbour,  and  went  down  with 
all  hands  in  sight  of  the  multitude  lining  the  pier  and  foreshore.  James  Wyrill's  body 
was  recovered  after  being  in  the  sea  one  hundred  and  twenty-nine  days.  This  sad 
incident  is  recalled  to  show,  that  ever  since  Clowes  and  Nathaniel  West  numbered 
fishermen  among  their  auditors,  our  Church  in  Scarborough  has  succeeded  in  attaching 
some  of  those  who  live  by  the  fishing  industry  of  the  town  to  its  fellowship,  and  hus 
found  among  them  some  of  its  most  earnest  workers.  In  this  connection  the  names  of 
Sellars  and  Appleby  should  not  be  omitted. 

Ii.  Abey,  who  opened  the  first  chapel,  tells  us  that  during  his  eleven  weeks'  term  of 
service  on  the  Scarborough  Mission  he  saw  one  hundred  and  ten  added  to  the  societies. 
Then,  according  to  the  arrangement  made  at  the  first  Conference,  he  and  Thomas 
Sugden  were  to  be  transferred  to  the  Tunstall  District,  while  S.  Turner  and  J.  Gamer 
were  to  be  drafted  to  fill  their  place  in  the  Hull  District.  When  Abey  took  his 
departure,  a  number  of  the  Scarborough  friends  accompanied  him  a  couple  of  miles  on 
his  way,  and  then  by  prayer  commended  him  to  the  grace  of  God.  K.  Abey,  having 
travelled  eight  years  with  acceptance,  settled  down  on  a  small  farm  at  Snainton,  and 
continued  a  useful  local  preacher.  Bridlington  and  Scarborough  (with  Whitby)  were 
now  in  June,  1821,  made  the  heads  of  distinct  branches,  and  John  Garner  was 
appointed  to  the  former  and  S.  Turner  to  the  latter,  the  two  young  men  walking  from 
1  lull  to  take  up  their  respective  charges.  By  September  it  was  reported  that  the  work 
wus  going  steadily  on  in  the  Bridlington  Branch,  and  that  it  had  three  preachers  and 
390  members.  Scarborough,  too,  must  have  made  some  progress,  since  in  1823,  it  was 
made  a  separate  circuit.  Such,  however,  it  remained  only  for  one  year.  When,  in 
1824,  Whitby  was  taken  from  it  to  form  a  new  circuit,  the  membership  of  Scarborough 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE    AND    ENTERPRISE. 


Ill 


Circuit  was  reduced  to  160,  and  it  became  once  more  a  branch  of  Hull,  and  as  such  it 
remained,  either  conjointly  with  Bridlington  or  separately,  until  finally,  in  1852,  it 
became  a  circuit  with  654  members.  Apart  from  Scarborough's  claim  to  be  the  queen 
of  watering-places,  there  are  other  considerations,  which  make  all  that  relates  to  the 
beginning  and  development  of  our  Church  in  the  ancient  borough  of  some  interest  to 
Primitive  Methodists.  To  name  but  two  of  such  considerations :  Scarborough  is,  next 
to  Hull,  the  largest  town  in  the  Hull  District,  and  it  is  a  recognised  popular  Conference 
town :  sure  sign  that  the  denomination  has,  like  Grimsby — with  which  it  has  many 
points  of  affinity — attained  to  considerable  strength  and  influence.  The  history  of 
Scarborough  Primitive  Methodism  has  had  its  two  dispensations — the  old  and  the 
new — rather  sharply  marked  off  from  each  other.  The  contrast  between  the  Scarborough 
of  1820,  with  its  primitive  Spa,  and  the  Scarborough  of  the  present  day,  with  its 


OLD   SCARBOROUGH,    1820. 


magnificent  Spa  Saloon  and  all  else  that  is  the  outgrowth  of  recent  years,  is  great 
indeed,  as  our  illustrations  show.  But  the  contrast  between  the  Primitive  Methodism 
of  the  old  epoch  and  the  new  in  Scarborough  is  scarcely  less  noteworthy  ;  and  yet  how 
comparatively  recent  these  more  impressive  developments  have  been !  It  is  with 
a  feeling  of  surprise  we  realise  that,  as  late  as  1860,  the  only  chapel  the  denomination 
could  show  in  Scarborough  was  the  one  standing  on  the  original  site  in  St.  Sepulchre 
Street.  True,  the  building  had  been  enlarged  in  1839  to  hold  seven  hundred  hearers, 
but  still,  we  who  worshipped  there  can  recall  now  how  the  lengthening  shadows  of  the 
old  dispensation  rested  upon  the  building.  Good  work  was  done  in  the  old  sanctuary. 
There  were  worthy  men— men  of  intelligence  and  character,  and  of  Connexional  loyalty — 


112 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST    CHURCH. 


men  like  Messrs.  Boreman,  Fenby,  Linn,  Sellars,  Appleby,  and  especially  John  Yule, 
shrewd,  quaint,  who  knew  both  the  outside  and  inside  of  books  almost  as  well  as  he 
knew  men.  There  were  seasons  of  revival,  and  much  enthusiasm  and  success  in  the 
raising  of  missionary  money,  but  for  all  that,  one  can  see  now  that,  until  the  building 
of  Jubilee  Chapel  in  1861,  the  good  old  dispensation  reigned.  This  enterprise  was 
a  turning-point  and  new  departure,  and,  historically,  rightly  belongs  to  the  chapel- 
building °era,  that  seems  to  have  been  inaugurated  by  the  erection  in  Hull  of  Jarratt 
Street  Chapel.  There  were  those  of  the  old  dispensation,  however,  in  Scarborough  as 
there  were  in  Hull,  who  did  not  understand  or  sympathise  with  the  new  movement 
then   having   its  beginning.      Men   shook   their   heads    and    prophesied    disaster,   but, 


sCARBOBOl'CH,    PBKSKXT  DAT. 

happily,  lived  long  enough  to  see  their  lugubrious  predictions  falsified.*     The  vis  inert w 


*  If  any  proof  is  needed  of  the  statement  here  made,  it  will  be  found  in  a  letter  of  warning  and 
remonstrance  written  to  the  superintendent  at  the  time  by  Kev.  J.  Flesher  then  resident  m  the 
town.  That  letter  is  printed  in  the  memoir  of  (J.  Kendall,  3Irt</<iziiie,  lKsy,  and  remains  to  show 
linw  even  the  1,'reat  and  good  may  have  their  limitations  of  view.  This  reference  is  due  to  the 
dead,  and  would,  one  cannot  lint  think,  be  approved  by  them;  for  Mr.  Flesher  closes  his  lettir 
which  had  to  be  read  to  the  "  uo-a-heads  with  the  words:  "1  keep  a  rough  draft  of  these  view 
for  future  reference,  and  should  unexpected  facts  prove  tbem  to  be  ill-founded,  I  shall,  if  alive, 
rejoice  that  the  superior  prudence  and  zeal  of  these  brethren  who  think  and  act  differently  from 
me,  have  been  crowned  with  complete  success.' 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND    ENTERPRISE. 


113 


to  be  overcome  was  so  great,  that  the  superintendent,  who  had  gone  some  way  in 
pushing  on  the  project  for  the  new  chapel,  resolved  to  leave  the  circuit  and  let  some 
one  else  come  to  it  who  could  bring  the  undertaking  to  a  successful  issue,  and  then 
enjoy  the  fruition  of  the  work.     He  exchanged  circuits  with  Hugh  Campbell,  whom 


W.    BOKE3IAN. 


J.    SELLAES. 


KEY.    H.    CAMPBELL. 


W.    APPLEBY. 


we  may  justly  regard  as  one  of  the  great  chapel-builders  of  the  Hull  District,  since 
sixteen  chapels  and  two  unfinished  ones,  besides  schools  at  Louth  and  ministers'  houses 
at  Scotter,  stand  to  his  credit.  Mr.  Campbell  came  fresh  from  building  Victoria  Street 
Chapel,  Grimsby,  but,  unfortunately,  he  lost  his  life  as  the  result  of  a  street-accident 


114 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


before  the  Aberdeen  AValk  Chapel  was  opened  in  1861.  Another  notable  advance  was 
marked,  combining  all  that  was  best  both  in  the  old  and  new,  when  a  new  chapel, 
handsome  and  commodious,  was  built  in  1866  in  St.  Sepulchre  Street,  under  the 
superintendency  of  the  Rev.  Thomas  Whitehead.  Since  then,  as  our  own  view  of 
Scarborough  chapels  shows,  still  further  ehapel  extension  has  taken  place  in  the 
borough.  For  Scarborough  the  chapel-building  era  has  done  great  things,  as  it  has 
done  also  for  Grimsby. 


THE   PERIOD   OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE    AND   ENTERPRISE.  ]  ]  .5 


CHAPTER    XVI. 
THE    MAKIXd    OF   SUNDERLAND   DISTRICT. 

|HOUCH  we  begin  a  fresh  chapter,  it  is  but  to  resume  the  narrative  of 
Hull  Circuit's  missionary  efforts  at  the  precise  point  the  two  preceding 
chapters  left  it.  These  further  advances,  both  in  a  westerly  and  northerly 
direction,  resulted  in  the  formation,  in  1821,  of  a  new  district  made  up  of 
those  branches  that  were  deemed  sufficiently  strong  to  stand  alone.  These  new  intakes 
from  the  outlying  field  of  the  world  were  called  the  Sunderland  District,  because  the 
largest  and  strongest  circuits  of  the  district  were  found  along  the  lower  reaches  of  the 
Tyne  and  the  "Wear,  and  were  the  outcome  of  the  Northern  Mission.  But  it  is  observable 
that  in  the  Sunderland  District,  as  originally  constituted,  the  Silsden  and  Keighley 
Circuits  also  have  a  place,  the  reason  being  that,  besides  its  Northern  Mission,  Hull 
Circuit  had  also  a  mission  in  the  West  Riding  beyond  Leeds,  among  "  Craven  hills  and 
Airedale  streams,''  and  Silsden  and  Keighley,  the  first-fruits  of  this  line  of  evangelisation, 
were  incorporated  with  the  newly-made  Sunderland  District.  This  Western  or  Craven 
mission  had  extensions  into  Lancashire,  even  as  far  as  the  Ribble,  and  the  fact  that 
Preston,  Blackburn  and  Clitheroe  stand  on  the  stations  of  1824-,  shows  that  this 
evangelistic  movement  did  not  spend  its  force  this  side  the  Pennine  range.  For  the 
time  being  these  Lancashire  circuits  are  attached  to  Tunstall  District,  but  they  will 
naturally  fall  to  Manchester  District  when  that  is  formed  in  1827.  Nor  is  this  all; 
while  moving  west  and  north,  Hull  Circuit  was  also  at  the  same  time,  with  Darlington 
and  Barnard  Castle  Branches  as  a  convenient  base,  pushing  on  vigorously  in  the  north- 
west, and  by  1824,  Hexham  and  Carlisle  were  fit  for  self-government,  and  accordingly 
have  their  nlace  among  the  stations  of  the  Sunderland  District.  Looking  at  their 
result,  we  may  regard  these  three  lines  of  evangelisation  as  parts  of  one  movement. 
We  have  Sunderland  District  in  the  making. 

Hull's  Western  Mission  :  Silsden  in  Craven,  and  Keighley. 
Primitive  Methodism  went  into  Craven,  to  Darlington,  to  Newcastle,  to  North 
.Shields,  just  as  it  had  gone  to  Hull  and  Leeds— by  invitation.  In  each  case,  before  he 
went,  the  missionary  had  heard  the  cry — "Come  over  and  help  us.'  But  the  cry  came 
not  from  those  who  wanted  saving  but  from  those  who  wanted  to  save,  and  had  their  own 
ideas  as  to  how  the  salvation  could  best  be  brought  about.  <  >ne  anticipatory  observation 
we  cannot  forbear  making  once  for  all :  it  is  remarkable  how  in  almost  every  successive 
district  into  which  Primitive  Methodism  came,  there  was  the  repetition  on  a  small 
scale  of  what  had  taken  place  in  Staffordshire  at  the  beginning  of  its  history.  The  fact 
points  to  the  prevalence  of  similar  conditions  of  church-life — to  conflicting  ideals  of 
Christian  worship,  duty  and  service.     To  some  in  the  same  church  "  revivalism  "  was 

h  2 


116 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


not  wanted  any  more  than  fire  or  fever;  while  to  others  it  was  the  thing  ahove  all 
others  they  wished  to  see.  Differences  which  have  disappeared,  or  if  they  have  not, 
no  longer  serve  to  divide  men,  then  seemed  formidable  and  unadjustable.  These 
differences  were  not  lessened  by  the  fact  that  what  one  class  regarded  as  innovations  in 
practice,  the  other  class  claimed  to  be  "  according  to  "Wesley  '' — original  and  "  primitive.'' 
80  brethren  did  not  quite  see  eye  to  eye,  and  got  to  be  at  cross-purposes.  These  differences 
ever  along  tended  to  differentiate  themselves  so  as  to  become  cognisant  to  sense,  and  it 
lias  taken  three-quarters  of  a  century  to  disentangle  these  differences  and  to  bring  the 
estranged  brethren  together  again.  Reflections  such  as  these  will  be  obvious  enough  as 
we  follow  the  narrative  through  this  new  chapter. 

Silsden,    in   Craven,   whence   came   one   of   these   Macedonian   cries,    was,   in    1821, 


KEV.    JOHN   FLESHEK's   HOME,    SILSDEN. 

a  village  of  some  UOO  inhabitants,  who  were  chiefly  engaged  in  nail-making  and  wool- 
combing.  As  to  higher  matters,  the  place,  we  are  told,  was  notorious  for  "ignorance, 
rudeness  and  crime."  And  yet,  it  hardly  should  have  rested  under  such  a  stigma,  for 
Silsden  was  not  far  distant  from  Ha  worth,  wheie  Grimshawe  had  preached  and  prayed. 
Six  miles  away  was  Skipton,  the  capital  of  the  Craven  district,  with  its  historic  castle 
and  its  memories  of  the  Cliffords.  At  this  time,  John  Flesher  was  living  in  Silsden  at 
the  house  of  his  father,  the  village  schoolmaster.  Though  but  a  youth  of  twenty  he 
had  been  a  Wesleyan  Methodist  live  years,  and  already  hail  preached  his  trial  sermon 
before  the  Rev.  Joseph  Fowler,  of  "  Sidelights"  fame.*     As  is  the  case  with  the  many, 

*  "Side  LighK  on  the  Conflicts  of   Methodism.     Taken  chiefly  from   the   Notes  of   the  late 
Rev.  Joseph  Fowler,  '  etc.     By  Benjamin  Gregory,  D.D. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PKEDOMINANCE    AND    ENTERPRISE. 


117 


the  young  "  local "  might  have  been  content  to  tread  the  beaten  path  of  routine ;  but 
he  was  not.  He  spent  much  time  in  visitation ;  he  made  personal,  pointed  appeals  to 
his  friends  and  neighbours  on  soul-matters ;  he  even  went  the  length  of  preaching  from 
his  father's  doorstep.  We  need  scarcely  wonder  if  some  of  his  proceedings  were  little 
relished  by  his  co-religionists.  "  How  forward  !  How  indiscreet !  So  young  a  man, 
too  ! '  There  were  head-shakings,  and  non-committal,  critical  looks  and  whisperings. 
Still  there  were  not  wanting  those  who  approved,  although  they  might  not  share  his 
zeal.  One  who  had  been  down  in  Lincolnshire  buying  wool,  brought  back  glowing 
accounts  of  the  doings  of  the  Primitives  in  those  parts,  and  finished  with  the  observa- 
tion that  the  young  schoolmaster  might  do  worse  than  invite  these  people  into  Craven  : 
they  would  suit  him  to  a  nicety.  Whether  the  suggestion  were  seriously  meant  or  not, 
it  was  seriously  taken  and  soon  bore  fruit. 

Meanwhile,  another  Wesleyan  local  preacher  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Skipton  was 
led  to  take  the  same  step  as  John  Flesher — to  invite  the  Primitives  to  enter  Craven. 
John  Parkinson,  a  local  preacher  since  1812,  was  what  Hugh  Bourne  would  at  once 
have  described  as  a  "  Kevivalist.''  He  had  taken  part  in  beginning  and  carrying  on 
a  Sunday  school  in  his  father's  barn  ;  he  did  not  confine  his  labours  to  places  set  apart 
for  public  worship,  but  preached  in  the  streets  and  lanes  and  on  village-greens ;  he  had 
what  he  called  his  'mission,'  comprising  several  villages  he  regularly  visited.  The 
criticism  and  discouragement,  which  came  in  due  course,  led  him  seriously  to  "  ponder 
his  ways."  Was  he  right  or  wrong?  After  conference  with  a  friend,  the  two  adjourned 
to  an  enclosure  leading  to  Silsden  Moor,  and  there  they  believed  they  received  a  divine 
intimation  that  they  must  go  on  in  their  chosen  line  of  activity.  At  this  juncture, 
tidings  reached  them  that  hundreds  of  sinners  were  being  converted  in  Leeds  and  its 
neighbourhood  through  the  labours  of  the  Primitive  Methodists,  and  their  "  Come  over 
and  help  us  "  was  duly  sent.  Their  resignations  were  handed  in  to  the  authorities  and 
reluctantly  accepted,  and  they  were  now  free  to  throw  in  their  lot  with  the  missionaries 
when  they  should  arrive. 

In  response  to  this  double  invitation,  Samuel  Laister,  whom 
we  have  already  seen  on  the  Wolds,  at  Leeds,  and  at  Malton, 
was  sent  to  Skipton  and  Silsden,  March,  1821,  and,  soon  after, 
the  devoted  Thomas  Batty  came  on  the  ground,  and  laboured 
some  nine  months  in  Craven  before  going  on  the  north-western 
mission  at  Barnard  Castle.  Thomas  Batty  (born  1790)  as  a  child 
came  into  close  touch  with  Joseph  Benson,  Joseph  Entwisle 
and  other  eminent  Wesleyan  ministers  who  were  entertained 
at  his  father's  house.  William  Bramwell's  hand  had  often  been 
fondly  placed  on  his  head.  Batty  entered  the  navy  and  got  his 
discharge  in  1813.  He  became  a  Wesleyan  local  preacher  at 
North  Frodingham,  but  having  preached  at  two  camp  meetings 
in  the  Driffield  Branch,  he  had  to  make  his  choice  between 
ceasing  to  attend  camp  meetings  or  ceasing  to  be  a  Wesleyan 
local  preacher.  He  chose  the  latter  alternative.  This  was  in  the  spring  of  1820, 
and  just  a   year  after,   he   began   as  a    hired   local  preacher  in  Driffield  Branch,    and 


KEV.    THOMAS  BATTY. 
Aged  45  years. 


118 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 


was  soon  transferred  to  Silsden  Mission.  The  second  service  at  Silsden  was  held  in  the 
house  of  Mr.  Flesher,  sen.,  and  for  some  little  time  the  society  had  the  use  of  his  barn 
for  religious  services.  One  of  Mr.  Flesher's  cherished  recollections  was  of  a  certain 
evening  when   "  forty-four  sinners  were  pricked  in  their  heart  under  one  sermon.''     One 

of  the  forty-four  was  the  late  Mr.  Joshua  Fletcher, 
for  many  years  a  leading  Connexional  official  in 
Yorkshire.  Messrs.  David  Tillotson  and  William 
Newton  were  also  among  the  first  converts  in  the 
old  barn,  and  rendered  eminent  service  to  the 
cause,  while  Silsden  was  the  birth-place,  natural 
and  spiritual,  of  Kevs.  W.  Inman,  T.  Baron  and 
S.  Ilracewell,  and  the  home  of  Mr.  (.}.  Baron, 
whose  connection  with  the  Bemersley  Book- 
Kooin  has  already  been  referred  to.* 

Needless  to  say,  John  Flesher  not  only  invited 
the  Primitives  to  Craven,  but  when  they  came 
united  himself  to  them.  Soon,  however,  he 
removed  to  a  school  in  Leeds,  and  by  June, 
1X'2'2,  he  had  entered  the  ministry,  his  first 
appointment  being  to  Tadcaster.  Later,  we 
shall  see  something  of  what  lie  was  as  legis- 
lator, re-organiser  of  the  Book-Loom  and  Editor: 
what  he  was  in  his  prime  as  a  preacher  and 
platform  speaker  we  can  now  but  imperfectly 
picture.  But  one  who  knew  him  well,  has 
declared  that  "he  surpassed  every  other  speaker  it  had  been  his  fortune  to  listen  to,  'in 
the  matter  of  /mufion,'  as  Foster  phrases  it,  which  lie  infused  into  all  his  discourses." 
He  calls  him  "the  liiadburn  of  Primitive  Methodism,  and  avers  that  "lie  might  have 
been  its  Watson,  if  he  had  not  preferred  iiinn<>ili<ifr  to  iiwre  remote  results."  t 


OLD   I!ARN,    SILSDEN,    WHKKK  THE  FIRST 
SERVICES  WERE  HELD. 


MR.    JOslllA  FLETCHER. 


.MR.     DAVID   TILLOTSON. 


.MR.  WILLIAM   NEWTON. 


*  See  vol.  ii.  vv.  7  -s  for  portraits  and  further  references  to  the  brothers  Baron. 

t  United  Methodist  Five  Chuivhes'  Magazine,"  1S50.  We  judge  the  writer  to  have  been  the 
Editor.  Rev.  Matthew  Baxter,  who  for  two  years.  18-9-3],  was  in  our  ministrv  Mr.  Flesher  had 
a  high  estimate  of  Mr.  Baxter's  talents. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT    PREDOMINANCE    AND    ENTERPRISE.  119 

As  a  pioneer  worker  in  the  Craven  district,  John  Parkinson  deserves  a  further  word 
or  two.  He  is  said  to  have  missioned  Braildon,  and  to  have  been  among  the  first  to 
publish  the  glad  tidings  at  Keighley,  Shipley  and  Bradford.  He,  too,  was  not  wanting 
"in  the  matter  of  passion.''  He  evidently  had  all  the  intensity  and  perfervidness  of 
the  West  Riding  temperament,  as  the  following  description  of  an  actual  camp  meeting 
scene  in  Graven  at  which  he  figured,  will  show.  Mr.  Flesher  himself  is  the  writer,  and 
while  the  passage  is  worth  giving  as  a  fair  specimen  of  Mr.  Flesher's  prose,  of  which 
we  have  so  little,  it  may  have  its  use  as  going  some  way  to  show  us — what  we  are  so 
anxious  to  know — what  sort  of  preaching  it  was  which  in  those  far-off  days  produced 
those  immediate  and  tremendous  effects  which  excite  our  wonder,  and  our  envy  too,  as 
we  read. 

"  He  figures  in  my  recollection  as  I  saw  him  addressing  a  crowd  from  a  waggon  at 
Silsden.  Every  eye  and  heart  of  the  vast  assembly  seemed  riveted  on  the  speaker,  and 
deep  feeling  was  betrayed  on  every  countenance,  as  if  struggling  for  an  outlet.  The 
doom  of  the  finally  impenitent  was  under  review  at  the  time,  and  terribly  did  the 
preacher  portray  it.  Suddenly  he  paused,  as  if  to  let  his  hearers  weigh  their  destinies. 
This  heightened  the  effect,  and  many  a  stone-hearted  sinner  sighed  under  the  weight  of 
his  guilt.  As  tears  were  flowing  fast,  mingling  with  the  moanings  of  the  broken- 
hearted, brother  Parkinson,  in  apparent  triumph,  while  his  countenance,  gesture,  voice, 
and  feeling  harmonised  with  his  address,  opened  the  gate  of  mercy  so  effectually  that 
some  immediately  entered  it,  and  were  saved,  some  clung  to  the  wheels  and  shelvings 
of  the  waggons  to  avoid  being  borne  down  to  the  ground  under  the  load  of  guilt,  while 
the  praises  of  the  pious  poured  forth  from  all  parts  of  the  assembly.  Jubilant  were 
angels  that  day  over  many  sinners  repenting  and  turning  to  Christ." 

That  John  Parkinson  missioned  Shipley  in  1821  is  confirmed  by  Rev.  Richard 
Cordingley,  who  tells  us  that  meetings  were  held  in  the  houses  of  Mrs.  Emanuel 
Hodgson  and  Mrs.  Cordingley.  Richard  Cordingley  joined  the  class  that  was  formed, 
and  when  barely  fifteen  years  of  age,  came  on  the  Silsden  plan,  having  as  his  fellow- 
exhorters  Solomon  Moore,  of  Keighley,  and  Jabez — afterwards  Dr. — Burns,  whom  we 
shall  meet  again.  Of  later  worthies  of  Keighley  Primitive  Methodism,  respectful 
mention  must  be  made  of  the  two  remarkable  brothers,  Messrs.  F.  and  Addyman 
Smith. 

An  untoward  event  that  might  have  proved  a  huge  disaster  happened  on  the  occasion 
of  the  holding  of  the  first  lovefeast  in  Keighley,  September  16th,  1821,  and  was 
deemed  of  sufficient  public  interest  to  be  chronicled  in  the  current  issue  of  "  The  Times.'' 
The  lovefeast  was  held  in  the  topmost  story  of  a  wool-warehouse.  Thomas  Batty,  as 
the  leader,  had  just  pronounced  the  benediction,  when  the  floor  gave  way.  With 
shrieks,  and  amid  dust  and  broken  beams  and  flooring,  the  crowd  fell  into  the  rooms 
below.  The  preacher,  by  his  sailor-like  agility,  managed  to  save  himself  by  leaping 
into  the  embrasure  of  a  window  ;  but  many  were  hurt,  and  one  woman  died  next  day 
from  injuries  received.  Some  said  the  event  was  intended  as  a  judgment  on  the 
"Ranters";  nevertheless  the  cause  prospered,  and,  in  1824,  Keighley  was  made 
a  Circuit  of  the  Sunderland  District.  One  of  the  first  to  open  his  house  for  religious 
services  was   the   father  of  Rev.   J.  Judson,   who   began  his   more  public  labours   by 


120 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


REV.  JOHN  JUIlsciN. 


becoming  a  hired  local  preacher  in  Keighley,  his  native  Circuit.  His  ministry  of  forty-one 
laborious  years  began  in  1833  in  the  Silsden  Circuit,  where  he  stayed  three  years,  the 
last  year  being  devoted  to  Grassington  Mission  under  the  auspices  of  Keighley. 
Air.  Judson  travelled  in  most  of  the  leading  circuits  in  the  Manchester  District,  and 
died  at  Oldham,  June  28th,  1876. 

Before  leaving  the  neighbourhood  of  Keighley,  a  reference  may  be  permitted  to  the 
opening  of  Haworth  by  F.  K.  Jersey,  who  spent  two  months 
on  the  Silsden  Branch.  "Writing  under  the  date  of  April  25th, 
he  says  : — 

"Went  to  open  Haworth.  I  sung  a  hymn  down  the  street. 
The  people  flocked  as  doves  to  the  windows.  I  preached  to  about 
nine  hundred  people,  and  two  very  wicked  men  were  awakened. 
Praise  the  Lord  for  ever.'' 

The  Rev.  Patrick  Bronte  became  curate  of  Haworth  and  removed 
therein  1820.  When  F.  X.  Jersey  sang  down  the  streets  of  the 
moorland  village,  Charlotte  Bronte  was  a  girl  of  six.  One  likes 
to  think  that  the  girl  who  was  to  make  that  village  famous  heard 
the  singing,  and  may  even  have  looked  on  the  unwonted  scene. 
Silsden  Uianeh  included  not  only  the  Craven  district,  but  also  some  places  in  the 
adjoining  county  of  Lancaster,  such  as  Barley,  lying  under  Pendlehill,  where  there  was 
a  vigorous  society,  and  Trawdon,  the  native  place  of  Kohert  Hartley,  uncle  of  Mr.  W.  P. 
Hartley,  whom  also  this  district  was  afterwards  to  nurture,  to  the  great  advantage  of 
our  Church.  Born  in  1817,  Robert  Hartley  entered  the  ministry  in  1835,  and  in  1859 
went  to  Australia,  "becoming  the  most  widely-known  and  most  generally  respected 
minister  of  the  gospel  of  Central  (Queensland."  He  could  count  among  his  friends  such 
men  as  Canon  Knox  Little  and  Dr.  A.  Maclaren,  and  at  his  death,  in  1892,  the  citizens 
of  Rockhampton  erected  a  public  memorial  to  his  "  noble  character,  godly  life,  and 
untiring  benevolence.''  Tt  was  at  Barley  that  John  Petty  preached,  November,  1823, 
his  first  sermon,  and  it  was  at  Trawdon  where  lie  began,  and  fell  in  lasting  love  with  the 
practice  of  open-air  preaching.  John  Petty's  home  was  at  Salterforth,  a  village  on  the 
western  border  of  Yorkshire.  It  was  first  missioned  by  F.  N".  Jersey, 
who  preached  in  the  village  street  during  the  dinner-hour.  The 
next  to  follow  was  Thomas  Batty.  In  the  character  of  this  minister, 
whom  his  father  entertained,  John  Petty  found  the  most  powerful 
persuasive  to  the  Christian  life.  The  sermons  Batty  preached  in 
the  barn  were  not  so  telling  as  the  sermon  he  preached  by  his 
daily  life  and  conversation.  So  this  thoughtful  youth  felt.  Hence, 
without  any  great  spiritual  shock  or  struggle,  he  went  on  to 
know  the  Lord,  being  u drawn  by  the  cords''  of  a  Christ-like  man. 
Mr.  Petty  lived  to  write  the  biography  of  his  captor  for  Christ, 
and  he  tells  how,  as  a  youth  of  fifteen,  "  he  was  deeply  moved, 
and  his  heart  graciously  drawn  out  after  God."  Mr.  Batty,  he 
adds:  "Seemed  to  be  always  happy,  constantly  joyful  in  the  Lord,  practically 
presenting  religion   in  a  most  attractive  and  winning  form.     He  could  converse,  sing, 


ROBERT   HARTLEY. 
A  g-ed  43. 


THE    PERIOD    OF    CIKCU1T    PREDOMINANCE   AND    ENTEUPKISE. 


121 


Wll.    BEIXINi; 


preach,  and  pray  almost  all  day  long ;  and  greatly  did  lie  charm  and  profit  the  domestic 
circle."*  Mr.  Petty,  sen.,  became  the  leader  of  the  first  class  at  Salterforth,  while 
his  son  was  soon  to  enter  on  wider  service.  Two  years  to  a  day  after  preaching  his 
first  sermon  at  Barley,  "  John  Bowes  fetched  me  to  help  him  in  Keighley  Circuit,"  says 
Mr.  Pptty,  and  in  1826,  when  not  yet  nineteen,  he  was  sent  to 
distant  Uaverfordwest.t 

The  missionaries  now  pushed  on  still  farther  into  Lancashire. 
Blackburn  and  Preston  were  reached,  and  these  towns  became  almost 
at  once  the  head  of  a  new  branch.  The  late  Bev.  W.  Brining 
affirms  that  Thomas  Batty  missioned  Preston  in  1821.  The 
statement  is  confirmed  by  Jonathan  Ireland,  who  tells  us  that 
Mr.  Batty  preached  in  a  cottage,  in  which  some  of  the  more  zealous 
AVesleyans  held  one  of  their  prayer  meetings  ;  that  in  a  short  time 
the  members  were  forbidden  to  receive  the  Primitives  into  their 
houses,  and  that  some  of  the  members  resisted  the  interdict,  Mr. 
W.  Brining,  aWesleyan  local  preacher,  being  one.  X  Ho  far  Jonathan 
Ireland.  Mr.  Brining  himself  states,  that  his  father  and  lie  joined  the  Primitives  in 
January,  1822,  and  took  a  large  room,  for  the  rent  of  which  his  father  became  responsible  ; 
also  that  he  and  three  others  were  appointed  local  preachers,  and  that  the  March 
Quarterly  Meeting  of  the  Hull  Circuit  "took  him  out  to  travel,"  and  that  he  began 
his  labours  on  the  Preston  Branch  along  with  Mr.  G.  Tindall.  There  is  also  evidence  to 
show  that  John  Harrison,  too,  was  an  early  pioneer  labourer  in  this  district.  According 
to  the  late  Rev.  S.  Smith,  Mr.  Harrison  made  his  way  to  Preston,  and  was  entertained 
by  Mr.  Shorrocks  (afterwards  a  leader  in  Manchester),  and  was  also  taken  before  the 
Mayor  of  Preston  as  a  suspicious  character,  but  was  courteously  entreated  and  dismissed 
with  "  a  glass  of  wine  !  "  § 

Mr.  Batty  also  opened  Blackburn,  Wigan,  Padiham,  and  Accrington. 
From  the  Journals  and  memoirs  of  the  time,  we  cull  one  or  two 
references  to  these  and  other  places  connected  with  this  early 
mission.  We  are  told  that  at  Blackburn  Mr.  Batty  preached  his 
first  sermon  standing  on  a  dunghill  !  Be  this  as  it  may,  one  man 
that  day  was,  metaphorically,  lifted  from  the  dunghill ;  for  a  certain 
James  Chadwick,  one  of  the  worst  men  in  the  town,  was  converted, 
and  became  a  useful  member  of  society.  At  Wigan,  on  May  6th, 
1822,  he  sent  the  bellman  round  the  town,  and  in  the  evening 
preached  to  about  a  thousand  people.  At  Chorley  he  spoke  at  the 
Cross  to  an  immense  concourse  of  people,  and  in  the  evening  preached 
in  the  room  which  the  players  had  occupied.  Mr.  Brining  made 
his  way  to  Haslingden,  and  a  class  was  formed  at  "  Manchester  Mary's. 

'  p.  44. 


J.    HARKISON, 
Aged  42,  1838. 


Mr.  <  i.  Tindall 


*"  Memoir  of  the  Life  and  Labours  of  Thomas  Batty,  1857,' 

t  See  Ante,  vol.  i.  p.  344. 

J"  Jonathan  Ireland,  the  street-preacher/'  p.  26.  See  also  for  Mr.  Ireland's  Preston  experiences 
Ante,  vol.  ii.,  p.  24. 

§ "  The  Introduction  and  Spread  of  Primitive'  Methodism  in  Lancashire ; "  in  "  Facts  and 
Incidents,"  p.  103. 


122 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 


enters  in  his  Journal,  on  April  25th,  1822  :  "  "Went  as  a  missionary  among  the  small 
villages  to  search  for  places  to  preach  at.''  On  May  6th,  he  spoke  at  Clitheroe  Market- 
cross  to  a  large  concourse  of  people,  and  formed  a  class  of  ten  members.  On  June  16th, 
he  spoke  at  Padiham,  Oakenshaw,  and  Aecrington,  and  adds  :  "I  had  toopjxise  drunkards, 
formal  professors,  Unitarians,  and  almost  all  other  characters  of  sinners." 

The  progress  made  by  both  branches  was  such  that,  in  December,  1823,  they  were 
granted  self-government  ;  Silsden  starting  its  career  with  five  preachers  and  Preston 
with  three.  At  the  same  time  Clitheroe,  with  Burnley,  Accrington,  Barley,  Colne,  and 
other  places  were  detached,  and  constituted  a  branch  of  Silsden.  1824  saw  both 
Blackburn  and  Clitheroe  raised  to  the  status  "f  circuits.  But,  ere  long,  Clitheroe  found 
it  difficult  to  maintain  its  position,  so  much  so  that  Keighley,  Blackburn,  and  Bolton 
Circuits  were  in  succession  asked  to  take  it  under  their  wing;  but  in  each  case  the 
overture  was  declined.  Then,  Daniel-like,  the  circuit  determined  "to  stand  alone;" 
only,  as  Clitheroe  Society  had  for  the  time  being  become  extinct,  Burnley  was  made  the 
head  of  the  circuit. 

Imrnley  is  a  typical  Lancashire  town,  largely  the  creation  of  the  new  industrial  era. 

Its  position,  in  a  basin-like 
depression  among  the  hills, 
has  helped  it.  The  humid 
atmosphere  of  the  valley  is  just 
adapted  for  cotton-spinning,  and 
manufacturers  have  been  quick 
to  seize  their  advantage,  so  that 
now  Burnley  is  a  busy  centre 
of  the  cotton-spinning  industry. 
Hence,  if  not  exactly  a  town  of 
yesterday,  Burnley  has  made 
its  most  notable  advance  within 
recent  years,  as  may  be  gathered 
from  the  fact  that,  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  last  century,  its 
population  was  little  more  than 
five  thousand.  Our  Church  has  thriven  with  the  thriving  of  the  town.  Burnley  is  under- 
stood to  be  the  "  Lynford"  of  Mr.  Joseph  Hocking's  story,  "The  Purple  Kobe,'- and  amongst 
the  hard-headed,  strenuous  folk  there  depicted,  our  ministrations"  have  met  with  much 
acceptance.  "When,  in  1*!>6,  Burnley  for  the  first  time  welcomed  the  Conference  to 
North-East  Lancashire,  any  one  who  saw  the  commodious  and  substantially-built  chapels 
in  the  town  and  neighbourhood,  would  have  learned  with  some  surprise  that,  up  to 
1N34,  the  society  of  but  fifty  members  had  not  as  yet  got  its  chapel,  but  had  to  make 
shift  with  rented  rooms,  four  of  which  were  occupied  in  succession  before  Curzon  Street 
Chapel  was  opened  in  1834.  This  "setting-up  house"  took  place  during  the  superin- 
tendeney  of  Lev.  M.  Lee,  whose  term  of  service  in  the  Burnley  Circuit  seems  to  have 
begun  the  era  of  progress.  In  185l\  Bethel  Chapel  was  built,  and  certainly  not  before 
time,    since    Curzon    Street   Chapel    did   not    provide    seatage    for    much    more    than 


BETHEL    CHAPEL,    BURNLEY    1ST   CIRCUIT. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND    ENTERPRISE. 


123 


half  the  members  who  formed  the  society.  This  chapel  of  1852,  since  greatly  improved 
and  added  to,  is  all  that  is  left  to  represent  the  original  Burnley  Circuit.  New  interests 
have  been  created,  and  by'division  and  subdivision  Burnley  Second,  Colne,  Barrowford, 
and  Nelson  Circuits  .have  been  formed — the  first  division  taking  place  in  18G4,  when 
Colne  started  on  an  independent  career. 

The  historian  of  Burnley  Primitive  Methodism  has  rightly  recalled  the  names  of 

many  of  its  worthies  past  and 
present.*  We  borrow  his  refer- 
ences to  two  or  three  of  the 
early  workers.  First  in  order 
comes  John  Lancaster,  who,  as 
a  youth,  received  lasting  good 
from  John  Petty  when  he 
preached  at  Burnley  in  knee- 
breeches,  and  standing  on  the 
slop-stone.  "He  was  for  thirty- 
three  years  one  of  the  most 
devoted  and  earnest  men  ever 
given  to  a  Christian  com- 
munity.'' Stephen  Tattersall 
"  was  long  a  useful  and  zealous 
official ; "  Jonathan  Gaukrodger, 
"  ever  ready  by  toil  and  purse  to  help  the  cause ; "  John  Marsden,  "  cheerful,  generous, 
'  given  to  hospitality,'  an  efficient  and  devoted  superintendent  of  the  Sunday  School ; " 
"W.  Thornber,  for  fifty-five  years  a  local  preacher ;  and  John  Baldwin,  "  who  may  be 
described  as  the  successor  of  John  Lancaster ;  for  more  than  thirty  years  a  class-leader, 
and  who  for  more  than  half  a  century  filled,  with  much  acceptance,  the  office  of  local 
preacher." 

The  head  of  Burnley  Second  is  Colne  Road,  Brierfield,  with  its  chapel,  erected  1864, 


BHIERFIELD  CHAPEL,  BDENLET   2ND   CIRCCIT. 


MR.  JOHN    LANCASTER. 


MR.    ,J.    CLARKSON. 


and  its  splendid  school  premises  built  twenty  years  after.  Connected  with  this  cause, 
to  which  he  has  rendered  most  efficient  aid,  is  Alderman  J.  Smith,  who  was  Chairman 
of  the  Metropolitan  Tabernacle  Missionary  Meeting  in  1902,  and  who  is  well  known  for 


*"  Bethel  Primitive  Methodist  Chapel,  1852-1902.     Jubilee  Souvenir,"  by  Rev.  George  KiDg. 


124 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHUJiCH. 


the  interest  he  has  taken  in  the  C'onnexional  Orphanage  and  other  institutions.  The 
late  James  Clarkson  was  to  the  Brierfield  Society  pretty  much  what  John  Lancaster  was 
to  Bethel.  'When  he  was  arrested  hy  grace  he  was  a  beer-seller;  but  he  pulled  down 
his  sign,  poured  his  unsold  liquor  down  the  sewer,  and  never  rested  till  he  found 
forgiveness.  "  By  his  diligence,  zeal,  piety,  and  abundant  labours  he  became  one  of  the 
most  useful  officials  in  the  Connexion." 

After  I'dackbum  was  made  a  circuit  the  same  process  of  "multiplication  by  division" 
went  on  which  we  have  seen  at  work  in  the  case  of  Burnley,  its  earliest  offshoot.  The 
one  circuit  has  become  at  least  rive  ;  for  Blackburn  is  now  represented  by  Haslingden, 
formed  as  long  ago  as  1837;  Foxhill  Bank  and  Accrington,  made  from  Haslingden  in 
1*64,  and  the  three  Blackburn  Circuits.  With  Haslingden  Circuit  was  connected 
Mr.  James  Whittaker,  for  many  years  a  prominent  Lancashire  official.  Precisely  the 
same  kind  of  intensive  growth  has  none  on  in  the  Preston  Circuit  since  its  formation  in 
1823.  But  what  it  concerns  us  more  just  now  to  note  is  the  fact,  that  Preston,  by  its 
early  missionary  labours,  helped  to  extend  the  borders  of  the  Connexion.  It  pushed 
forward  into  new  territory — into  certain  parts  of  North  Lancashire  the  first  missionaries 
from  Hull  had  not  reached.  This  not  very  thickly  populated  country  lay  to  the  north 
by  the  Lune  and  Moreeambe  Hay,  and  curved  round  to  the  Kibble,  where,  on  one  side 
of  the  estuary,  in  the  Fyldc  district,  were  Fleetwood  and  Blackpool,  and  on  the  other 
Southport,  rising  among  its  sandbanks.  Here  and  there  in  this  district  Preston 
succeeded  in  establishing  societies  which  abide  and  flourish.  Notably  Preston  beyan 
those  tentative  efforts  which  ultimately  secured  a  footing  for  the  Connexion  in  the  two 
popular  watering-places,  even  then  fast  growing  in  size  and  public  favour.  We  must 
briefly  notice  these  aggressive  efforts  which  were  a  continuation  of  Hull's  Western 
Mission,  and  carried  the  evangel  from  the  Humber  to  Morecambe 
t!ay  ami  the  sand-dunes  by  the  Irish  Sea. 

We  have  before  us  a  plan  of  Preston  Circuit  for  May-July, 
183i',   when  S.   Smith,  J.   Moore,   and  J.   A.   Bastow  were  its 
preachers.     Hilton   beyond   the    Lune   and   Lancaster  are   two 
places   on    this    plan    regularly    supplied   with    preachers.      At 
Lancaster  the  Preston  missionaries  sometimes  experienced  rough 
usage,  and  occasionally  made  acquaintance  with  the  interior  of 
Lancaster  Castle.*     (Parenthetically  it  may  be  mentioned  that 
as  late  as   1*74  the  Rev.  Thomas  Wilshaw  was  summoned  hy 
the  Chief  Constable  for  preaching  from  the  Town  Hall  steps. 
Hie  costs   of  the   defence  were   generously  paid  by  Mr.  James 
Williamson,  jun.,  afterwards  Lord  Ashton,  and  the  magistrates 
A  Missionary  Meeting  was  held  at  Lancaster  in   1829,  interest- 
lt  brought  together  Hugh  Bourne   and   a   Preston   youth   who  was 
just  about   to    begin   a   ministry  of    unprecedented   length   and   influence.      A  camp 


J.    .i.    BASTOW. 

dismissed  the  case), 
ing  to  us   because 


*"  Preston  entered  largely  into  the  mission-work  for  twenty  or  thirty  miles  round 
had  some  persecutions  :   one  of  their  missionaries  w 
shockingly  ill-treated.     Brother  F.  Charlton  was  tli 
afterwards  died  ray-inn'  mad."    Eev.  S.  Smith, 


Here  they 

zed  by  the  yeoman  cavalry  at  Lancaster  and 

rown  into  Lancaster  Castle  by  a.  bad  inari,  who 

Anecdotes  and  Facts  of  Primitive  .Methodism,"  p.  104. 


THE   PERIOD    OF    CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE.  125 

meeting  and  lovefeast  he  attended  at  Preston  in  1826  had  powerfully  impressed  George 
Lamb.  He  joined  the  society,  and  improved  his  talents  so  markedly  that  his  profiting 
appeared  to  all ;  and  now,  it  would  seem,  Hugh  Bourne  had  set  his  heart  upon  being 
the  medium  of  conveying  to  the  young  man  the  call  of  the  Church  to  wider  service,  and 
had  come  to  Lancaster  for  that  very  purpose,  as  well  as  to  assist  at  the  Missionary 
Meeting.  The  two  had  conference  together,  and  then  Hugh  Bourne  thoughtfully  gave 
the  young  man,  just  putting  on  the  harness,  a  letter  of  recommendation  to  the  friends  at 
Halifax,  Leeds,  and  York,  the  towns  he  must  pass  through  on  his  way  to  Pocklington, 
his  first  circuit.  Fifty-seven  years  after  this  informal  ordination  service,  Mr.  Lamb  was 
still  in  harness.  Old  age  had  but  mellowed  his  character,  while  there  was  little 
appreciable  decline  of  vigour  or  industry  in  his  service ;  and  then  the  word  of  dismissal 
came,  February,  1886.  Mr.  Lamb  was  twice  President,  1866  and  1884,  General  Book 
Steward,  Conferential  Deputation  to  Canada,  1876,  Member  of  the  Deed  Poll,  1880. 
A  mission,  that  in  its  first  eight  years  gave  John  Flesher,  John  Petty,  and  George  Lamb 
to  our  Church,  as  Hull's  Western  Mission  did,  has  strong  claims  on  our  remembrance. 

At  Lancaster,  an  old  coach-house  in  Bulk  Street  was,  in  1836,  fitted  up  as  a  chapel. 
Through  the  spread  of  "  Barkerism  "  this  building  was  for  a  time  lost  to  the  society. 
Afterwards,  however,  it  was  recovered,  made  Connexional,  and  served  the  uses  of  the 
society  until  1854,  when  Ebenezer  was  built.  Meanwhile,  Lancaster  had  been  separated 
from  Preston  and  made  part  of  the  Settle  and  Halifax  Mission  of  Halifax  Circuit.  In 
1837,  the  writer's  father  "travelled" — in  the  full  sense  of  the  word — on  this  mission, 
which  stretched  some  forty  miles,  from  Bellbusk  in  Craven  to  Heysham  by  the  seaside. 
As  lie  was  wont  to  say  :  "  It  constituted  a  first-rate  promenade  for  creating  an  appetite, 
but  was  remarkably  scanty  in  supplying  the  wherewithal  to  appease  it.  That  had  to  be 
got  how  and  when  it  could."  We  need  not  follow  the  history  of  Lancaster  after  it  was 
taken  over  by  the  General  Missionary  Committee,  except  to  notice  that  it  was  again 
separated  from  Settle,  and  after  a  period  of  barrenness  and  struggle  it  gradually 
improved,  and  in  1868  was  granted  circuit  independence,  Morecambe  being  formed  from 
it  in  1901.  A  document  in  our  possession  brings  home  to  the  mind  in  a  realistic  way 
the  amount  of  toil,  voluntarily  and  cheerfully  undergone  in  the  past  by  the  local 
preachers  of  some  of  our  most  unproductive  fields  of  labour.  But  for  their  loyalty  and 
tenacity,  what  are  now  comparatively  vigorous  circuits,  such  as  Lancaster  is,  might  have 
been  abandoned.  The  document  in  question  is  an  analysis  of  the  Lancaster  Plan  for 
the  quarter  April  to  June,  1844.  It  shows  that  the  twelve  local  preachers,  whose 
names  stand  on  this  plan,  took  amongst  them  one  hundred  and  seventeen  Sunday 
appointments,  and  thirty-nine  week-evening  services,  exclusive  of  prayer  meetings  and 
class  meetings,  and  that  the  number  of  miles  they  walked  to  their  appointments 
amounted  in  the  aggregate  to  seven  hundred  and  sixty-two. 

Three  of  the  twelve  whose  names  stand  on  this  plan  bear  the  name  of  Biekerstaffe — 
"William  and  two  of  his  sons.  The  former  was  the  carrier  of  the  mails  between  Settle 
and  Lancaster.  He  was  a  "Wesleyan  local  preacher,  and  in  those  pre-railway  days  found 
a  home  for  the  travelling-preacher  and  stabling  for  his  horse.  But  he  joined  the 
Primitives,  "thinking  he  could  be  more  useful  amongst  them.'-  He  did  not  regret  the 
choice  he  had  made,  but  did  all  for  the  new  community  and  more  than  he  had  done  for 


126 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH 


the  old  uiie,  with  which  he  had  no  quarrel.  His  son,  Henry,  was  for  many  years 
a  leading  official  of  the  Lancaster  Circuit,  while  his  son,  Mr.  T.  Y.  Bickerstaffe,  is  its 
present  Steward,  and  a  local  preacher  of  the  fourth  generation  bears  the  old  name. 
The  reference  to  the  Bickerstaffes  may  be  pardoned  as,  in  liS43,  the  father  of  the  writer 
took  a  daughter  of  this  house  from  the  Bulk  Street  Society  to  be  the  companion  of  his 
ministerial  toils. 

(.In  that  same  Preston  Plan  of  1K32,  to  which  we  have  referred,  we  find  Chorley, 
besides  'Wrightington,  Wheelton,  and  Standish,  in  the  direction  of  "Wigan.  To  this 
period  and  district  belongs  the  story  of  Mr.  Bastow's  imprisonment  for  preaching  in 
Wigan  Market-place.  An  occupant  of  the  same  cell,  struck  by  his  respectable 
appearance,  wanted  to  know  what  he  had  done  to  get  himself  put  there.  "Preaching 
the  gospel  "  was  the  answer.  "  And  I,"  said  the  man,  "  am  here  for  not  attending  divine 
worship.      They  are  a   strange   people  here,  and  how  to   please   them  no  one  knows. 


HOOLE   FIKST   CHAPEL. 


You  are  sent  to  prison  for  being  good,  and  I  for  being  bad.  We  are  a  strange  pair — 
both  to  be  imprisoned  by  the  same  man  and  the  same  laws!"  We  note  that  in  the 
process  of  consolidation,  Chorley  was  made  from  Preston  and  Wigan  from  Chorley,  in 
1 S .'-> 7  and  lS(j7  respectively. 

Hoole,  which  also  stands  on  this  plan,  formed  the  base  for  the  missioning  of 
Southport  and  its  vicinity.  Here,  somewhere  about  1*24,  a  two-floored  house  was 
rented,  the  partitions  were  removed,  and  a  flight  of  stone  steps,  built  on  the  outside,  led 
to  the  upper  room,  which  formed  a  fair  chapel,  while  the  room  on  the  ground  floor  was 
used  as  a  school.  Two  chapels  have  since  been  built  at  Hoole,  and  in  the  "ravevard. 
attached  to  the  first  of  these,  lie  the  remains  of  one  at  least  of  the  three  men  who,  with 

the  Preston  ministers,  had  much  to  do  with  the  missioning  of  Southport Thomas  and 

Richard  Hough  and  John  Webster,  who  for  many  years  were  abundant  in  missionary 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE. 


127 


labours.  The  first  services  at  Southport,  we  are  told,  were  held  in  a  barn  at  Church- 
town — likewise  on  this  plan — and  a  chapel  and  school  were  built  in  1833  and  enlarged 
in  1853,  and  Southport,  with  186  members,  became  a  circuit  in  1K64.  It  is  interesting 
to  note  that  the  plan  of  1832  announces  a  camp  meeting  to  be  held  "in  the  North 
Meols,''  near  Southport,  on  June  10th. 

Preston,  too,  missioned  the  Fylde  district.  Rev.  S.  Smith  has  an  anecdote,  from 
internal  evidence  belonging  to  an  early  period,  relating  to  "  our  Fylde  missionary,''  who 
after  preaching  at  night  in  the  streets  of  Poulton — "a  sadly  wicked  place'' — found 
himself  eighteen  miles  from  home  without  the  prospect  of  supper  or  bed,  but  who 
providentially  found  both.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  Freckleton  was  made  the 
base  for  opening  up  the  Fylde,  in  which  are  now  the  Blackpool  and  Fleetwood  Circuits. 
At  this  place  a  pious  widow,  named  Rawstorne,  lent  her  thatched  cottage  for  services, 
and  provided  accommodation  for  the  missionary.  Then,  in  1848,  the  Rev.  B.  Whillock, 
the  Superintendent  of  Preston  Circuit,  in  conjunction  with  the  afore-named  John 
"Webster,  took  a  factory,  and  became  responsible  for  the  rent.  This  building  was  used 
for  worship  until  1862,  when  a  small  chapel  was  opened,  and  this  served  until 
superseded  in   1892  by   a   worthier   building.      The   Rev.   B.   Whillock   entered   the 


THOMAS   HOUGH. 


REV.    a.    WHILLOCK. 


ministry  in  1830,  and  in  1870  removed  to  the  United  States,  where  he  is  a  permanent 
member  of  the  Primitive  Methodist  Eastern  Conference.  As  his  letters  show, 
Mr.  Whillock  retains  a  lively  interest  in  the  Church  of  the  homeland,  and  is  full 
of  reminiscences  of  its  past. 

Besides  helping  to  enlarge  the  geographical  area  of  the  Connexion,  Preston  also  did 
something  towards  enlarging  the  scope  of  its  endeavours.  It  led  the  way  in  one  branch 
of  social  reform — that  which  seeks  by  organised  effort  to  war  against  intemperance.  It 
showed  how  this  kind  of  social  service  could  be  undertaken  religiously,  and  temperance 
meetings  be  made  to  further  the  interests  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  No  historian  of  the 
Temperance  movement  in  this  country  can  overlook  the  part  played  by  "proud  Preston'' 
in  the  beginnings  of  that  movement.  He  will  point  to  that  town  and  show  how,  from 
1832  to  1835,  the  new  sentiment  in  regard  to  strong  drink  not  only  grew  in  strength, 
but  in  clearness  of  purpose.  It  became  surer  of  its  ground,  and  more  militant  and 
altruistic.  Nor  can  the  historian  of  our  Church  omit  all  reference  to  these  things ;  for, 
if  now  we  not  only  have  a  Temperance  Department  within  the  Church,  but  belong 
to  a  Church  which  is  very  largely  a  Temperance  Church,  it  is  partly  owing  to  the  fact 


128 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHUKCH. 


that,  seventy  years  ago,  the  ministers  of  Preston  Circuit,  and  some  of  the  members  of 
old  Lawson  Street,  as  after  of  Saul  Street,  were  heart  and  soul  in  the  new  movement, 
which  speedily  drew  others  within  its  vortex.  Probably,  not  even  before  1831,  was  our 
Church  one  whit  behind  other  Churches  in  regard  to  the  question  of  intemperance ; 
rather  was  it  ahead  of  them.  To  say  this,  however,  is  not  to  say  a  great  deal ;  and  it  is 
safe  to  affirm  that  when  this  plan  of  1832  came  from  the  press,  Preston  was  in  advance 
of  the  Connexion  generally  in  temperance  sentiment.  True ;  there  were  here  and  there 
convinced  individual  abstainers.  The  Eev.  James  Macpherson  signed  the  pledge  as 
early  as  1828,  and  Hugh  Bourne  was  practically  a  teetotaller  before  either  Moderation 

or  Total  Abstinence 
Societies  had  an  ex- 
istence. But  what 
Preston  did  was  to 
afford  an  object-lesson, 
showing  how  to  mobi- 
lise the  forces  of  the 
Church    against    the 


SACL    STREET    CHAPEL,    PEESTON. 


drinking  customs  which  preyed 
upon  society,  and  even  threatened 
the  Church  itself.  It  made  a 
beginning  in  combining  indi- 
vidual temperance  men  in  a 
league  against  the  common  foe 
— offensive  and  defensive.  Let 
us  give  the  briefest  summary  of 
events  relating  to  the  early  stages 
of  the  Temperance  movement  in 
Preston — so  far  at  least  as  our 
Church  was  concerned  in  those  movements.  We  give  this  summation  in  paragraphs,  and 
those  desirous  of  fuller  information  may  consult  with  advantage  the  Rev.  J.  Travis' 
articles  on  "Primitive  Methodism  and  the  Temperance  Reformation  in  England."* 

"■March  2:2nd,  1882.— Preston  Temperance  Society  formed  on  the  basis  of  the 
'moderation  pledge.' 

"Apri/  Uth.— Committee  appointed,  of  which  Rev.  S.  Smith  was  a  member.  Its 
first  meeting  was  presided  over  by  Rev.  J.  A.  Bastow.  The  second  memorable 
meeting  was  held  on  .May  3rd  in  Lawson  Street  Primitive  Methodist  Chapel,  at 
which  Mi-.  Livesey,  in  a  forcible  speech,  took  the  line  of  total  abstinence. 

'  Jul ij  11th.—  First  Temperance  Tea-party,  at  which  574  persons  were  present, 
and  Messrs.  Livesey,  S.  Smith,  and  several  Preston  working-men  spoke.     Next  day 

*  Alderxgale  Magazine,  180!). 


THE    PERIOD   OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE. 


129 


MR.    „.    KING. 

One  of  the 

'  Seven  Men  of  Preston 


a  Field  Meeting  of  the  Society  was  held  on  the  Moor,  at  which  Messrs.  Livesey, 
Smith,  and  Teare  gave  addresses. 

"  September  1st,  18S2.—A  special  meeting  was  held  for  discussing  the  question  of 
the  total  abstinence  pledge.     No  decision  was  arrived  at,  but  several  tarried  after 

the   meeting,   and   seven   signed   the   total 

abstinence  pledge.     Of  these  '  seven  men  of 

Preston,'  three  were  Primitive  Methodists, 

viz.,  John   King,   Joseph    Eichardson,  who 

was  wont  to  say,     '  I  am  the  happiest  man 

alive,  for  no  man  can  be  happier  than  a 

teetotal  Primitive  Methodist;'  and  the  third 

was  Bichard  Turner,  who  is  credited  with 

having  originated  the  word  'teetotal.'    At 

his  funeral  in  1846,  the  Saul  Street  Sunday 

School,  and  four  hundred  teetotallers  from 

different  parts  of  the  country,  attended. 
April,  1834.— Mr.  George  Toulmin,*  the 

Secretary   of   the    Lawson    Street   Sunday    mk.  geoege  toulmin,  j.p. 

School,  and  Mr.  Thomas  Walmsley,  moved 

the  resolution,  which  resulted  in  the  forma- 
tion of  the  frst  Sunday  School  Total  Abstinence  Society,  inaugurated  April  18th. 
It  was  not  till  1835  that  the  Preston  Temperance  Society  became  a  strictly 
Total  Abstinence  Society,  so  that  the  Juvenile  Society  formed  by  the  Primitive 
Methodists  was  the  first  society  on  a  'teetotal'  basis  in  Preston,  and,  it  is  believed, 
the  first  Juvenile  Teetotal  Society  in  England." 

We  conclude  our  notice  of  Preston  by  giving 
the  portrait  of  Eev.  George  Kidd,  whose 
ministry  in  Preston,  1864-7,  was  signalised 
by  his  heading  one  hundred  and  twenty 
stalwarts  who  refused  to  pay  the  Easter  Church 
Dues,  and  secured  their  abolition  :  also  that  of 
Mr.  "\\  illiam  Salthouse,  born  at  Roseacre,  in 
the  Fylde  District,  in  1834,  who  for  half  a 
century  has  stood  by  Preston  Primitive  Metho- 
dism, and  served  its  interests  preferably  in  the 
quieter  ways  of  service. 


REV.    G.    KIDD. 


ME.  W.  SALTHOLSE. 


HULL'S  NORTH-WESTERN  MISSION. 
As  already  said,  Darlington  and  Barnard  Castle  furnished  the  base  for  the  prosecution 
of  Hull's  North- Western  Mission.  The  immediate  fruits  of  this  mission  are  seen  in  the 
inclusion  of  Hexham  and  Carlisle  in  the  Sunderland  District,  at  its  formation  in  1824, 
and,  by  1842,  in  the  addition  of  Westgate,  Alston,  and  Whitehaven  to  its  roll  of  stations. 
This  mission  was  already  being  vigorously  carried  on  when  the  large  towns  on  the  Tyne 

*Mr.  Toulmin  became  proprietor  of  the  Preston  Guardian,  and  other  Journals,  member  of  the 
Town  Council  and  Borough  Magistrate,  and  his  son,  who  also  is  an  ardent  temperance  man,  is  the 
Member  for  Bury  in-the  present  Parliament. 

I 


130  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 

and  Wear  were  entered.  Naturally,  this  is  just  what  from  geographical  considerations 
one  would  expect  to  find ;  since  Darlington  lies  on  the  great  North  Road,  and,  from 
time  immemorial,  travellers  have  taken  Darlington  on  their  way  to  Newcastle  and 
Berwick.  Though,  therefore,  neither  Darlington  nor  Barnard  Castle  is  among  the 
primary  circuits  of  the  Sunderland  District,  we  still  must,  for  reasons  hoth  chronological 
and  geographical,  glance  at  the  introduction  of  Primitive  Methodism  into  these  Durham 
towns,  and  the  lines  of  evangelisation  that  went  out  from  them,  before  looking  at  "  the 
Northern  Mission,"  which,  strictly  speaking,  did  not  begin  until  March,  1822. 

This  section  of  our  history  is  not  without  its  obscurities  and  difficulties,  largely 
created,  one  cannot  hut  think,  by  the  method  followed  by  W.  Clowes  in  his  published 
Journal*.  That  method  was  not  rigidly  to  adhere  to  the  chronological  order  in  his 
narrative  of  events,  but  to  group  together  incidents  which  occurred  on  his  various  visits 
to  the  same  place.  Little  harm  need  have  resulted  from  this  method  of  grouping  had 
the  dates  of  these  various  visits  also  been  given  ;  but  often  dates  are  wanting,  and  hence 
the  difficulties  which  have  led  some  previous  writers  astray.  Fortunately,  as  in  the  case 
of  Darlington,  Newcastle,  and  South  Shields,  the  Jutmuth  and  memoirs  published  in  the 
contemporary  Magazines  furnish  us  with  a  clue  to  guide  us  on  our  way  with  some 
degree  of  confidence.  It  was  needful  to  say  thus  much,  in  order  that  the  occasional 
variations  between  our  narrative  and  preceding  ones  may  be  prepared  for  and  explained 
beforehand. 

As  the  wind  carries  the  seed  in  its  fairy  parachute,  so  the  breeze  of  rumour  had  much 
to  do  with  disseminating  Primitive  Methodism.  The  "  fame  "  of  the  missionaries  went 
through  tlie  countryside,  bringing  men  or  missives  asking  for  a  missionary  to  be  sent 
to  other  ground.  That  is  how  Primitive  Methodism  got  here  and  there  in  the  county  of 
Durham,  as  elsewhere.  William  Young,  whom  we  take  to  have  been  at  the  time  an 
earnest  Wesleyau,  had  heard  of  the  stirring  doings  at  Knaresborough,  and  sent  Clowes 
a  pressing  invitation  to  visit  Ingleton  eight  miles  from  Darlington.  Our  reading  of  the 
available  evidence  is  that  the  visit  was  duly  paid  on  Sunday,  June  4th,  1820.  From 
the  Hipiin  branch,  Clowes  made  his  way  to  Darlington.  Here 
his  coming  may  have  been  prepared  for  and  welcomed;  for,  from 
the  memoir  of  Kev.  Jonathan  Clewer,  we  learn  that,  after  his 
marriage  in  1820,  he  removed  to  Darlington,  laboured  as  a  local 
preacher,  and  "  rendered  great  help  towards  establishing  the  infant 
cause.'  So  well  did  he  acquit  himself  that  it  was  felt  he  was 
fitted  for  a  wider  sphere,  and  in  1822,  Jonathan  Clewer  began 
his  labours  at  Tadcaster,  and  continued  them  until  his  super- 
annuation in  1*51.  Whether,  on  June  4th,  Jonathan  Clewer 
had  already  begun  his  useful  labours  in  Darlington,  we  cannot  be 
,.    ,  sure,  but  on  that  Sundav  W.  Clowes  took  his  stand  in  North- 

gate  and  preached.  The  situation  selected  was  not  without 
its  significance.  The  street  is  part  of  the  great  North  Road  leading  on  to  Durham,  and 
in  a  house  in  this  street,  not  far  from  Buhner's  Stone  and  the  new  Technical  College, 
Edward  Pease  lived,  and  in  a  room  in  this  house  occurred  a  memorable  interview 
between  George  Stephenson,  Nicholas  Wood,  and  Edward  Pease,  which  resulted  in  the 


THE    PERIOD    OF    CIRCUIT    PREDOMINANCE    AND    ENTERPRISE. 


131 


construction  of  the  first  railway — the  Stockton  and  Darlington  line.  After  preaching 
he  went  to  Ingleton,  where  he  was  welcomed  by  Messrs.  Emerson  and  Young.  They 
sang  through  the  streets,  Mr.  Clowes  giving  an  exhortation,  and  then  a  prayer  meeting 
was  held  in  Mr.  Young's  house.  We  take  it,  that  before  July  16th  (when  Clowes  went 
on  the  Hutton  Rudby  Mission)  two  Sundays  more  were  divided  between  Darlington 
and  Ingleton.  On  one  of  these  Sundays  he  preached  at  Darlington  twice,  having  for 
his  second  congregation  a  thousand  people,  and  then  walked  to  Ingleton,  where  he  also 
preached  and  led  the  class  !  On  the  other  Sunday  he  preached  in  Bondgate,  and  the 
same  evening  renewed  tickets  to  twenty  members  at  Ingleton.  During  this  visit  he 
preached  more  than  once  at  Cockfield,  and  formed  a  society  of  four  members  at 
Evenwood.     "With  Jonathan  Clewer  alieady,  or  soon  to  be,  at  Darlington,  with  Messrs. 


BULMER's   STONE   IN  EDWARD    PEASE'S    TIME    LYING   IN  FRONT  OP  THE 
OLD  COTTAGES,   NORTHGATE. 

Emerson  and  Young  steady  adherents  of  the  cause,  and  some  twenty  members  at 
Ingleton,  and  with  a  small  society  at  Evenwood,  we  have  already  the  beginning  of 
a  branch  in  these  parts;  and  so,  May  6th,  1821,  Samuel  Laister  began  his  labours  in 
Darlington  Branch,  and  continued  them  unremittingly  until  his  lamented  death  on 
Christmas  Day  of  the  same  year.  At  first,  he  could  not  but  feel  the  contrast  between 
the  congregations  he  had  been  accustomed  to  in  the  West  Riding,  and  the  feeble  cause 
he  found  in  the  Quaker  town.  Speedily,  however,  the  prospect  brightened,  and  it 
"  begins  to  remind  him  of  the  branch  he  has  left." 

The  missionaries  preached  at  places  as  far  removed  as  Wolsingham  and  Stockton-on- 
Tees.     The  former  was  visited  in  response  to  an  appeal  personally  made  by  Mr.  W. 

i  2 


lo2  PRIMITIVE    .METHODIST    CHURCH. 

Snowball  and  two  others  who,  having  heard  of  the  work  being  done  in  South  Durham, 
came  over  to  Coekfield  to  see  Mr.  Laister.  Mr.  Snowball  lived  to  become  the  Steward 
of  the  'Wolsingham.  or  Crook  Circuit,  as  it  afterwards  got  to  be  called,  and  from  1821 
to  the  day  of  his  death,  his  house  was  always  open  to  the  ministers  of  the  Connexion. 
In  a  similar  way,  Mr.  Laister  was  invited  to  "Witton-le-Wear  by  Messrs.  Littlefair  and 
Pyburn.  Stockton  was  visited  as  early  as  May  13th,  by  S.  Laister,  who  writes  in  his 
Journal:  "I  spoke  at  Stockton:  a  cold,  hard  place.  No  Society."  By  March,  1822, 
Stockton  and  the  places  thereabout  were  formed  into  Hull's  "  Stockton  Mission,''  and 
reported  seventy  members.  Later,  we  shall  find  it  formed  the  southern  part  of  the 
Sunderland  ami  Stockton  Union  Circuit. 

Meanwhile,  Darlington  itself — then  a  small  town  of  some  5,750  inhabitants — was  not 
overlooked.  The  society  grew  in  numbers,  and  likewise,  it  would  seem,  in  public 
favour,  which  has  never  been  wanting  in  this  town  of  progressive  ideas.  This  may  be 
inferred  from  the  fact  that,  as  early  as  October  16th,  the  foundation  of  the  Queen 
Street  Chapel  was  laid.  At  first,  Mr.  Laister  and  his  colleague,  W.  Evans,  preached 
in  the  market-place,  then  a  room  in  Tubwell  Eow  was  taken,  and  afterwards  services 
were  held  in  the  Assembly  Kooin  of  the  Sun  Inn,  at  the  corner  of  Northgate,  where 
most  of  the  important  meetings  of  the  town  were  then  held.  But  even  this  room  soon 
became  too  small,  and  the  young  society  found  itself  committed  to  chapel- building. 

Darlingtonian  Primitives  should  do  their  best  to  keep  green  the  memory  of  Samuel 
Laister,  who  died  in  their  midst,  probably  a  martyr  to  excessive  toil.  As  a  pioneer 
worker,  he  did  much  for  Primitive  Methodism  in  various  parts,  as  our  narrative  has 
shown.  S.  Laister  was  not  spared  to  see  the  opening  of  Queen  Street  Chapel  on  March 
3rd,  1822,  when,  according  to  Sykes'  "  Local  Records,"  one  thousand  persons  were  present, 
and  a  collection  amounting  to  £17  2s.  taken.  The  preacher  on  the  occasion  was 
\Y.  Clowes,  who  had  been  appointed  to  the  Darlington  Branch  in  January.  But  while 
Mr.  Clowes  pieached  in  the  chapel,  F.  X.  Jersey  had  an  overflow  congregation  of  two 
hundred  persons  outside  the  building  which,  until  the  erection  of  Greenbank  Chapel  in 
1879,  under  the  superintendency  of  Rev.  Hugh  Gilmore,  was  to  serve  as  the  head  of 
the  Darlington  Circuit.  Mr.  Clowes'  station  in  Darlington  was  a  short  one,  amounting 
to  not  more  than  eight  Sundays,  three  of  which  were  devoted  to  an  evangelistic 
excursion  to  North  Shields,  which  will  shortly  engage  our  attention.  "My  appoint- 
ments in  the  Darlington  Branch,'  says  Mr.  Clowes,  "were  filled  up  while  I  was  away,  by 
F.  X.  Jersey,  a  sailor,  who  undertook  to  travel  with  me  one  quarter  for  nothing,  that  he 
might  have  my  company.  He,  however,  had  but  little  of  it,  for  I  left  him,  and  made 
this  excursion  to  Xorth  Shields,  and  it  has  not  been  in  vain.''  From  first  to  last, 
Clowes  gave  three  Sundays  to  Darlington  town,  including  the  Sunday  of  the  chapel- 
opening.  One  of  the  remaining  Sundays  was  devoted  to  Bishop  Auckland,  where,  as 
was  usual  where  Clowes  was,  something  happened.  This  time  it  was  a  mishap.  The 
props  that  supported  the  upper  room  in  which  the  service  was  being  held,  being 
somewhat  decayed,  gave  way,  to  the  alarm  of  many  though,  providentially,  to  the  hurt 
of  none.  The  other  available  Sunday  was  given  to  Barnard  Castle,  February  24th, 
where  he  found  a  society  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  had  been  raised  up. 

From  this  time  Barnard  Castle  becomes  an  advanced  post — a  fresh  base  for  extensive 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE. 

_  


133 


-4GREENBANK] 


134  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 

missionary  effort.  Our  attention  must  therefore  be  directed  to  this  old-world  town 
which  has  so  much  of  interest,  both  for  the  lover  of  the  antique  and  the  lover  of  nature 
in  her  fairest  aspects.     How  did  we  secure  a  footing  in  Barnard  Castle  ? 

While  the  Darlington  friends  were  full  of  their  new  chapel  project,  and  discussions 
on  plans  and  specifications  and  ways  and  means  were  rife,  Samuel  Laister  "  thought  they 
would  make  a  push  to  take  Barnard  Castle."  As  usual,  invitations  had  come,  and  Bro. 
"W.  Evans,  a  good  prospector,*  was  commissioned  "  to  see  what  kind  of  an  opening  there 
was.''  He  therefore  went  and  preached  in  the  market-place,  and  announced  that  S.  Laister 
would  follow  a  fortnight  after ;  accordingly  on  a  day  in  late  August,  S.  Laister  went  to 
Barnard  Castle  and  "  spoke  to  many  hundreds  of  well-behaved  people,''  and  formed 
a  society  of  nine  members.  In  two  months  the  nine  had  increased  to  eighty,  and  in 
four  months,  as  we  have  seen,  the  number  had  risen  to  one  hundred  and  twenty. 

We  may  here  conveniently  add  a  few  further  particulars  as  to  the  town  of  Barnard 
Castle's  after  history  kindly  supplied  by  Rev.  B.  Wild.  "The  Society  first  worshipped 
in  a  room  in  Thorngate,  but  afterwards  removed  into  the  Gray  Lane.  In  1822, 
a  Mr.  Hempson  was  stationed  here,  who  by  his  indiscretions  caused  a  division  in  the 
fold  which  considerably  reduced  the  membership.  Mr.  W.  Summersides  was  sent  to 
superintend  the  Circuit  in  1828,  and  under  his  ministry  the  numbers  increased.  The 
erection  of  a  chapel  now  began  to  be  discussed,  and  preparations  for  the  building  were 
forthwith  commenced.  1829  saw  the  consummation  of  the  work  begun  in  1828,  and 
the  chapel  was  opened  by  the  Revs.  W.  Sanderson,  6.  Cosens,  and  J.  Flesher,  then  the 
superintendent  of  the  Circuit.  In  1836,  the  side-galleries  were  put  in,  and  in  1851, 
the  vestry  adjoining  the  chapel  was  built." 

Shortly  after  Mr.  Clowes  left  the  Darlington  Branch,  Barnard  Castle  was  separated 
from  Darlington  and  funned  into  a  new  branch  called  "The  Barnard  Castle  and 
Wolsingham  Branch  of  Hull  Circuit.''  On  the  18th  March,  Clowes  left  for  the  North 
Mission  which  Hull  Circuit  had  agreed  to  take  over  from  Hutton  Rudby.  Clowes,  as 
the  leading  missionary,  went  on  in  advance,  and  was  speedily  followed  by  the  brothers 
Nelson.  F.  N.  Jersey  had  already  opened  Crook  (January  30th),  and  formed  a  society) 
and  the  very  day  Clowes  left  for  the  North,  Jersey  preached  at  Stanhope,  it  being 
"a  fine  starlight  night.''  We  also  find  him  at  Satley  and  Shotley  Bridge.  These 
references  are  significant  as  to  the  degree  and  direction  in  which  the  work  was  spreading. 
Still  more  significant  is  the  fact  that  Clowes,  on  his  way  to  North  Shields,  called  at 
Wolsingham  and  Barnard  Castle,  evidently  to  oversee  the  Xorth- Western  Mission. 
He  visited  Satley  "  on  the  hills,''  Stanhope,  where  he  found  seventeen  members, 
Hamsterley,  Barnard  Castle,  and  other  places,  and  "  directing  Bro.  Jersey  to  take  up 
Westgate  "  he  went  on  to  his  own  special  field.  Westgate  -irill  soon  be  taken,  but 
scarcely  by  F.  X.  Jersey,  as  he  left  almost  immediately  after  for  Silsden,  where  we 
have  already  seen  him  hard  at  work. 

From  a  minute  in  an  old  Barnard  Castle  Circuit-book  it  would  almost  seem  as  though 
Shotley  Bridge  had  itself  become  a  kind  of  sub-branch  as  early  as  1822.  The  minute  in 
question  says:  "That  if  Shotley  Bridge  does  not  see  its  way  clear  to  send  a  missionary 
to  Hexham  during  the  next  quarter,  we  will  send  one.''     This  minute  confirms  the 

*  Sec  anfc  vn].  ii.  p.  S6. 


THE    PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PRKDOMINANCE   AND    ENTERPRISE. 


135 


interesting  account  already  given  by  Mr.  Petty,  of  the  way  in  which  Primitive  Methodism 
was  introduced  into  Hexham.  As  the  account  is  circumstantial  and  evidently  hased  on 
first-hand  information,  we  reproduce  it  here,  simply  suggesting  that  by  Weardale  we  are 
probably  to  understand  the  lower  part  of  the  dale. 

-A  native  of  this  town  [Hexham]  had  been  employed  in  his  secular  calling  in 
Weardale,  and,  on  visiting  his  parents  at  Hexham,  he  gave  exciting  accounts  of 

the  introduction  of  Primi- 
tive Methodism  into  that 
dale,  and   of  the  zealous 
and  successful  labours  of 
the    missionaries.         His 
statements,  together  with 
the  hymns  and  tunes  he 
sang,  excited  considerable 
interest  among  his  friends 
and  acquaintances,  many 
of  whom  expressed  a  desire 
to  hear  the  preachers  of 
this    new    denomination. 
And  a  Mr.  John   Gibson 
attended    their   religious 
services     in     connection 
with      the     opening     of 
the     Butchers'    Hall,     in 
Newcastle-on-Tyne,       on 
October  20th,    1822,   and 
invited  the  preachers  to 
Hexham.  As  the  preachers 
of    Newcastle   could   not 
comply  with  his  request, 
he     applied    to     Shotley 
Bridge,  in  Barnard  Castle 
branch,    and    a    preacher 
from    that    town   visited 
Hexham  on   the   26th  of 
the  same  month.    A  place 
was  provided  for  preach- 
ing, and  a  society  of  five 
members  was   formed  in 
the  evening.   The  bellman 
was  sent  through  the  town 
to  announce  that  a  Primitive  Methodist  Missionary  would  preach  in  the  Old  Kiln, 
on  the  Battle  Hill,  the  following  day.      The  excitement  this  announcement  pro- 
duced   was   very   great,  and  long  before   the  time  appointed  for  the   service  to 
commence  the  Old  Kiln  was  crowded.     The  services  of  the  day  were  very  powerful  ; 
the  missionary  preached  with  '  the  Holy  Ghost  sent  down  from  Heaven ' ;  many 
stout-hearted  sinners  trembled,  and  five  more  persons  united  with  the  infant  cause. 
The  Old  Kiln  was  speedily  fitted  up  so  as  to  make  it  more  convenient  for  public 
worship;   and  despite  serious  persecutions,  bricks  and  stones  being  often  thrown 


BATTLE  HILL,    HEXHAM. 

The  old  Malt  Kiln  was  entered  through  an  opening  on  the  left  at  the 

top  of  the  street. 


136  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHUECH. 

by  the  ungodly,  the  good  work  continued  to  prosper,  and  many  souls  were  turned 
to  the  Lord."* 

Hexham  Circuit  comprised  a  goodly  portion  of  South- Western  Northumberland. 
The  fact,  thus  barely  stated,  is  quite  enough  to  show  that  Hexham  must  have  been  one 
of  the  widest  circuits  in  the  Connexion,  and  when  the  characteristic  physical  features  of 
this  border  district  are  recalled,  one  can  readily  understand  that  the  circuit  was  wild 
and  toilsome  as  well  as  wide.  Such  it  was  even  in  1842,  when  the  late  C.  C.  MeKechnie 
was  one  of  its  ministers.  He  had  already  travelled  in  the  Ripon  and  Brompton  Circuits, 
but  neither  of  these  in  respect  to  width  and  wildness  could  stand  comparison  with 
Hexham,  though  Ripon  was  thirty-one  miles  by  thirty,  and  Brompton  was  not  much 
less  in  area,  seeing  that  it  took  in  the  greater  part  of  Cleveland.  In  1842,  Hexham 
Circuit  stretched  from  Rothbury  on  the  north  to  the  borders  of  Allendale  and  to 
Derwent  Head  on  the  south,  and  from  Oreenhead  on  the  west  to  Corbridge  on  the  east. 
There  had,  however,  been  a  time  in  its  history  when  the  circuit  covered  even  more 
ground  than  this  ;  for  Blaydon  and  Shotley  Bridge,  Wickham  and  Swalwell,  are  on  its 
plan  of  1820.  These  and  other  places  seem  to  have  been  grouped  together  to  form 
the  forgotten  circuit  of  Winlaton,  which  stands  on  the  Conference  Minutes  from 
1827  to  1829  inclusive.  After  this  date,  these  places  were  taken  over  for  a  time 
by  Newcastle,  so  that  with  the  extinction  of  Winlaton  as  a  sort  of  buffer  circuit, 
Hexham  again  joined  hands  with  Newcastle.  In  missionary  enterprise,  too,  Hexham 
Circuit  played  no  mean  part  in  the  early  days,  having  at  one  time,  as  Rev.  J.  Lightfoot 
tells  us,  employed  and  sustained  three  missions — Morpeth,  Rothbury,  and  Jedburgh,  in 
Roxburghshire.  It  was  very  largely  through  the  influence  of  Squire  Shafto,  of 
liavington — of  whom  Ave  shall  have  to  speak — that  the  Rothbury  Mission  was  begun. 
John  Coulson  seemed  Joseph  Spoor  as  the  first  missionary  to  "break  up"  this  new 
ground.  It  was  a  rough  beginning  even  for  this  muscular  and  intrepid  Tynesider.  So 
hard  and  apparently  unproductive  did  he  find  the  soil,  that  he  lost  heart,  and  one  day 
took  the  road  homeward,  in  a  mood  like  that  of  Elijah  when  he  fled  from  Jezebel ;  but 
as  he  sat  under  his  juniper  tree,  thinking,  he  took  heart  again  and  resolved  to  go  back 
to  his  work.  It  was  during  this  mission  also  that  Spoor  had  his  memorable  encounter 
in  Morpeth  market-place  with  Billy  Purvis,  the  once-time  famous  Newcastle  showman. 
When  the  tug-of-war  between  the  showman  with  his  drum  and  horn,  and  Spoor  with 
his  praying  and  singing,  had  ended  in  a  victory  for  the  latter,  Purvis  shouted  a  parting 
salute  through  his  speaking-trumpet :  "  Ah  warn  thou  think's  thysel  a  clever  fellow 
noo  ! "  However  brought  about,  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  Connexion  has  little  to 
show  for  its  early  toils  in  Upper  Coquetdale.  It  is  true  that  in  later  years  extension 
has  taken  place  in  North-Eastern  Northumberland,  but  we  have  lost  hold  of  the  less 
populous  and  more  rugged  interior  of  the  county. 

When,  in  1824,  Hexham  appeared  as  one  of  the  circuits  of  the  newly-formed 
Sunderland  District,  it  abutted  on  Carlisle  Circuit,  which  also  formed  one  of  the  first 
circuits  of  the  district.  Therefore,  in  following  the  trend  of  evangelisation,  we  have 
now  to  inquire  how  we  came  to  get  a  footing  in  Carlisle.     The  story  cannot  be  told 

*  (pp.  186-7). 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND    ENTERPRISE.  137 

without  reference  to  a  special  independent  mission,  which  Hull  Circuit  began  in  May, 
1822,  when,  acting  upon  instructions  from  head-quarters,  F.  N.  Jersey  set  out  from 
Silsden  on  a  mission  to  Kendal,  in  Westmoreland,  and  its  neighbourhood.  This 
mission  concerns  us  here  chiefly  because  one  of  its  indirect  results  was  the  establishment 
of  a  cause  in  Carlisle,  and  also,  secondarily,  because  of  the  fierce  persecution  the 
missionary  met  with  in  prosecuting  his  mission.  Jersey  laboured  hard,  and  not 
altogether  in  vain.  Many  of  the  people  heard  him  gladly — one  good  Quaker  at 
Sedburgh  saying  :  "The  days  of  John  Wesley  are  come  again."  An  aged  woman,  near 
Kendal,  who  had  received  spiritual  benefit,  was  so  delighted  with  the  small  hymn-book 
she  had  got,  that  she  walked  to  Carlisle,  some  forty-four  miles,  to  show  her  treasure  to 
her  relative,  Mr.  Boothman,  and  to  tell  him  of  that  other  treasure  of  inward  peace  she 
had  gained.  Mr.  Boothman  was  deeply  interested  in  what  was  told  him.  He  was 
evidently  another  of  those  "  Revivalists '' — sympathisers  with  aggressive  Christian 
work — who  welcomed  our  advent  into  their  neighbourhood.  He  requested  his  son-in- 
law,  Mr.  Johnson,  to  accompany  his  aunt  to  Kendal  and  make  full  inquiry  as  to  the 
doctrines,  polity,  and  practice  of  the  new  community.  Mr.  Johnson  returned,  well 
satisfied  with  the  result  of  his  inquiries,  and  bearing  a  copy  of  the  rules  of  the  society. 
The  issue  was  that  these  two  resolved  to  apply  for  a  missionary ;  open-air  preaching  was 
at  once  begun,  and  a  society  formed.  Such  was  the  link  of  connection  between  the 
Kendal  Mission  and  the  establishment  of  our  cause  in  Carlisle.  At  this  point  we  return 
for  a  moment  to  follow  F.  X.  Jersey,  who  from  Kendal  went  in  March,  1823,  to  open 
Ulverstone,  Broughton,  Dalton,  and  other  places  in  the  Furness  district.  Here  the 
ground  was  flintier  than  at  Kendal.  At  Ulverstone  he  thus  bemoans  himself :  "  What 
a  hardened,  wretched  place  I  am  stationed  in  ! "  At  Dalton  he  writes  :  "  This  is  the 
hardest  place  that  ever  I  was  in.  In  this  town  they  have  a  market  every  Sunday, 
during  the  harvest,  for  the  purpose  of  hiring,  and  fight  and  get  drunk.''  While  holding 
a  service  at  the  Market  Cross  at  Dalton,  he  was  called  upon  to  face  a  storm  worse  than 
any  he  had  met  with  at  sea.  Three  horns  and  a  watchman's  rattle  made  a  din  in  his 
ears  while  he  tried  to  sing  and  pray,  and  then  he  sprang  from  his  knees  and  shouted  : 
"Glory  to  Jesus  !  I  can  praise  Thee  amidst  all  the  din  of  hell.''  The  end  of  it  was, 
that  he  was  haled  before  two  magistrates  and  committed  to  Lancaster  Castle  for  four 
months.  The  sentence  heard,  he  was  leaving  the  room  when  the  lawyer  said : 
"Mr.  Jersey,  remember  you'll  have  to  pay  all  your  expenses  to  Lancaster  Castle.'' 
"Indeed,  sir,''  replied  Jersey,  "I'm  very  glad  of  that,  because  if  that  be  the  case  I  shall 
never  get  there,  for  I'll  never  pay  a  farthing."  "  Well,"  said  the  man  of  law,  "  that 
will  not  keep  you  out  of  the  castle.  We  will  get  you  there."  When  he  was  lying  in 
the  castle,  like  the  veriest  rogue  and  vagabond,  Mr.  G.  Herod,  who  was  then  labouring 
in  the  town,  showed  him  no  little  kindness,  and  was  allowed  to  take  him  food.  One 
old  lady,  good  soul !  took  the  prisoner  a  pillow.  We  think  we  can  see  her  on  "kindly 
offices  intent,"  wending  her  way  with'the  precious  burden  under  her  arm.  Jersey,  how- 
ever, did  not  serve  out  his  full  time  :  on  receiving  instructions  from  the  Hull  authorities, 
who  were  much  concerned  at  the  incident,  he  at  last  consented  to  give  bail,  and  was 
liberated  after  eighteen  days'  confinement.  He  preached  that  night  at  Lancaster,  next 
day  went  on  to  Kendal,  and  the  day  after  called  at  Ulverstone  to  "  see  after  his  little 


138  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHIU1CH. 

flock.''  Soon  we  shall  find  him  taking  part  in  the  great  revival  in  Weardale.  Peace 
to  F.  X.  Jersey's  memory  !  He  was  a  capital  evangelist,  hut  a  poor  administrator. 
Rough  mission-work  he  did  well ;  but  he  was  ill-adapted  to  govern  a  large  circuit  like 
Nottingham,  to  which  he  was  sent  in  1834.  Trouble  overtook  him.  His  peace  was 
disturbed,  and  his  usefulness  dwindled.  He  became  a  Baptist  minister,  and  finally 
emigrated  to  America.  As  for  Kendal  Mission,  though  in  1823  it  reported  one  hundred 
and  eighty-nine  members,  it  was  for  a  time  abandoned,  probably  because  its  retention 
was  found  to  be  financially  burdensome.  Rev.  R.  Cordingley,  however,  recommenced 
the  mission  in  1829.  Penrith  was  taken  up  as  a  mission  by  Hull,  and  united  to  Kendal 
in  1831.  Afterwards  Kendal  became  a  mission  of  Barnard  Castle  Circuit,  and  so 
continued  until  it  attained  circuit  independence  in  1807,  while  Penrith  became  a  branch 
of  Alston,  until  it,  too,  became  a  circuit  in  187(1.  After  all  its  vicissitudes,  Kendal 
Mission  was  privileged  to  rear  and  become  the  training-ground  of  John  Taylor  and  his 
fellow-apprentice,  and  almost  foster-brother,  John  Atkinson,  who  was  destined  to  be  one 
of  the  men  of  '  mark  and  likelihood  '  of  the  middle  and  later  periods  of  the  Connexion's 
history.  John  Atkinson  was  converted  under  a  sermon  preached  at  Staveley  by  Edward 
Almond  in  1K51.  He  soon  came  on  the  plan,  and  was  engaged  in  preaching  almost 
every  Sunday,  sometimes  walking  thirty  miles  to  a  single  appointment.  He  entered  the 
ministry  in  lN5f>,  and  the  first  four  years  of  that  ministry  were  spent  in  the  Shotley 
Bridge  and  Wolsingham  Circuits,  that  owed  their  origin  to  Hull's  North-Western 
Mission.  Rev.  C.  C.  McKeehnie  was  John  Atkinson's  superintendent  at  "Wolsingham, 
and  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  at  their  very  first  interview  he  was  struck  with 
his  "uncommon  force  of  mind,"  and  already  discerned  that  there  were  "intellectual 
potentialities  in  him  such  as  lie  had  rarely  met  with." 

Returning  to  Carlisle  :  Some  few  weeks  after  a  missionary  had  been  applied  for, 
Mr.  Clowes  made  his  way  across  the  country  from  the  North  Mission  and  began 
a  month's  successful  labours  in  Carlisle  and  places  adjacent  thereto.  His  first  services 
were  held  at  Brampton  on  November  1st,  1822,  where  the  house  of  Mr.  William 
Lawson — our  Connexional  pioneer  in  Canadft — was  placed  at  his  disposal  for  the 
holding  of  a  prayer  meeting.*  Here  also  resided  John  and  Nancy  Maughan,  "distin- 
guished and  never-failing  friends  of  the  cause.''  At  the  time  of  their  death,  in  1831, 
Mrs.  Boothman  and  Mrs.  Maughan  are  spoken  of  as  being  the  oldest  members  in  the 
Carlisle  Circuit.  On  examination,  Clowes  found  fifty-five  adherents  at  Carlisle  and 
twenty-five  at  Brampton.  He  organised  the  societies,  appointing  leaders  and  other 
officers,  and  formed  a  small  society  at  Little  Corby.  The  services  at  Carlisle  were  held 
in  Mr.  Boothman's  hat-warehouse.  A  burlesque  advertisement  inserted  in  the  local 
newspaper  apprising  the  public  "  that  a  collection  would  be  made  to  support  some 
fellows  who  had  gone  mad,  like  the  Prince  of  Denmark,"  drew  a  large  and  disorderly 
multitude  together;  but  lampoons  were  as  ineffectual  as  Mis.  Partington's  mop  to  stay 
the  progress  of  the  work.  Nor  did  Mr.  Clowes  limit  his  labours  to  the  holding  of 
public  religious  services,  but  he  and  Mr.  Johnson,  before  mentioned,  visited  in  the  city 
from  house  to  house.     Few  men  could  do  so  much  work  in  little  time  as  Mr.  Clowes, 

*  For  portrait  and  further  reference  see  vol.  i.  p.  438. 


THE    PERIOD    OF    CIRCUIT    PREDOMINANCE    AND    ENTERPRISE.  139 

and  when,  on  December  3rd,  he  set  out,  one  hundred  and  eighty  miles,  to  attend  the 
Hull  Quarterly  Meeting,  he  penned  certain  reflections  which  show  that  his  month's 
mission  in  Cumberland  had,  as  usual,  been  productive.  "The  ground,"  he  writes, 
"is  all  broken  up  between  Hull  and  Carlisle.  Where  it  will  go  to  next  I  cannot 
tell.  During  this  quarter  the  ground  has  been  broken  up  from  Newcastle 

to  Carlisle.  Our  circuit  extends  from  Carlisle  in  Cumberland  to  Spurn  Point  in 
Holderness,  an  extent  of  more  than  two  hundred  miles.  What  is  the  breadth  of  the 
circuit  I  cannot  tell ;  it  branches  off  various  ways.  From  Carlisle  the  work  seems  to 
be  opening  two  ways ;  one  to  Whitehaven,  the  other  to  Gretna  Green  in  Scotland." 

From  this  point  the  progress  made  by  Carlisle  Mission — soon  made  into  a  branch — 
was  so  steady  and  encouraging  as  to  justify  its  being  made  into  a  circuit.  This  was 
done  in  December,  1823,  and  in  1821  Carlisle  duly  appeared  on  the  list  of  the  stations 
of  the  newly-formed  Sunderland  District.  Thus,  in  1824,  the  Carlisle  and  Hexham 
Circuits  abutted  on  each  other,  as  did  also  Hexham  and  Newcastle.  In  the  Magazine 
for  March,  1825,  we  find  a  communication,  signed  J.  B.  [John  Branfoot]  and  J.  J- 
[James  Johnson?],  Sec,  still  reporting  progress,  financial  and  numerical,  in  the  most 
northerly  circuit  of  the  Connexion.  "That  part  of  our  circuit,''  the  communique  goes 
on  to  say,  "is  doing  particularly  well  which  lies  on  the  Scottish  borders.  We  preach 
at  two  or  three  places  within  two  or  three  miles  of  Scotland.  On  these  the  cloud  of 
God's  presence  particularly  rests,  and  it  appears  as  if  it  would  move  into  Scotland.  But 
this  is  with  the  Lord.  However,  some  who  out  of  Scotland  have  come  to  hear,  are 
saying,  'Come  over  and  help  us.'  Others  of  them  who  have  got  converted  among  us, 
and  have  joined  us,  are  saying,  '  Oh,  that  you  would  visit  our  native  land.' " 

It  was  not  long  before  the  cloudy  pillar  did  move  Scotland  way.  Three  months 
after  Messrs.  Oliver  and  Clewer  walked  from  Sunderland  to  open  their  mission  in 
Edinburgh,  Carlisle  Circuit,  whose  superintendent  was  then  John  Coulson,  sent  James 
Johnson — whom  we  take  to  have  been  the  Mr.  Johnson  already  several  times  referred 
to — to  begin  a  mission  in  Glasgow,  July  13th,  1826.  Open-air  services  were  held  in 
various  "  conspicuous  places  "  in  the  big  city,  and  by  October  one  hundred  persons  had 
united  in  Church  fellowship,  and  a  preaching-room,  capable  of  accommodating  seven 
hundred  persons,  had  been  secured.  The  mission,  thus  unobtrusively  begun  in  the 
commercial  capital  of  Scotland,  seems  to  have  made  quiet  headway,  and  to  have  been 
largely  self-sustaining.  Glasgow  appears  on  the  stations  of  the  Sunderland  District  for 
the  first  time  in  1829.  Glasgow  soon  in  its  turn  established  a  cause  in  Paisley,  and, 
ere  long,  a  room  connected  with  the  old  Abbey  Buildings,  called  the  Philosophical  Hall, 
was  taken  for  services,  and  a  minister  was  resident  in  the  town.  Though  Paisley  was 
attached  to  Glasgow  Circuit,  and  received  considerable  help  therefrom,  it  would  seem 
that  Carlisle  had  a  hand  in  the  development,  if  not  in  the  first  establishment,  of  our 
cause  in  Paisley,  since  the  Kev.  John  Lightfoot,  writing  as  the  superintendent  of 
Carlisle  in  1831,  observes  :  "The  circuit  considerably  improved  in  its  finances,  so  as  to 
be  able  to  send  a  missionary  to  Paisley.'' 

In  the  year  1834  there  was  a  youth  living  at  Paisley  who  is  of  some  account  to  this 
history.  The  names  he  bore— Colin  Campbell  McKechnie— betokened  the  Highland 
clan  to  which  he  belonged.     His  eldest  brother,  Daniel,  had  been  converted  amongst 


140  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHUBCH. 

the  Primitives,  and  was  a  sort  of  factotum  in  the  little  church — leader,  local  preacher, 
steward,  superintendent  of  the  Sunday  school,  and  what  not.  But  Daniel  had  now 
a  home  of  his  own,  and  the  McKechnies  were  nominally,  at  any  rate,  adherents  of  the 
Kirk.  But,  ]  robably  through  his  brother's  agency,  Bella  MeXair 
was  servant  in  the  household,  and  in  the  providence  of  God 
she  was  used  to  attach  this  youth,  whom  high  destinies  awaited, 
to  Primitive  Methodism.  If  it  be  asked  how  this  was  done, 
we  answer:  the  small  hymn-book  was  a  chief  factor  in  the 
process.  The  early  hymns  were  a  powerful  instrument  of  propa- 
gandism — all  the  more  powerful  because,  as  in  this  case,  it  could 
be  employed  in  cottage  or  workshop  as  well  as  on  village-green 
or  market-place.  That  Mr.  McKechnie  was  sung  into  the  kingdom 
seems  hardly  too  strong  a  way  of  putting  it,  if  we  may  iudee  bv 

REV.  C.   C.   MCKECHNIE.       ,.  ,  °  J  L  *        >  J    J         a  J 

his  own  words  : — 

"  Bella  MeXair  was  a  thorough  Primitive,  devout,  zealous,  and  with  an  excellent 
voice  for  singing,  which  she  freely  used.  Aware  of  her  rare  gift  of  song,  and  of 
its  power  as  an  instrument  of  usefulness,  she  often—  I  might  almost  say — she 
incessantly,  used  it  in  singing  the  charming  hymns  so  commonly  sung  by  our 
people  in  those  days.  Some  of  them  were  very  touching,  so  at  least  I  thought  and 
felt.  They  acted  upon  my  religious  nature  like  the  quickening  influence  of  spring, 
and  evoked  in  my  heart  strong  yearnings  after  God  and  goodness.  I  was  led  to 
talk  to  1  Sella  about  her  pretty  hymns,  and  the  kirk  to  which  she  belonged,  and  she 
very  warmly  and  earnestly  invited  me  to  the  services." 

When  Colin  went  for  the  first  time  to  Sunday  school  he  was  warmly  received  and 
felt  himself  in  a  new  world.  After  a  mental  struggle,  he  received  the  sense  of  pardon 
and  joined  the  Church.  While  yet  in  his  early  teens  he  was  made  leader  and  local 
preacher,  and  in  the  year  Paisley  became  a  circuit— 18. ".8 — began  his  ministry  at  Kipon, 
where  we  have  already  seen  him.  Those  who  are  interested  in  tracing  the  strange 
interdependence  of  events,  may  see  how  the  aged  woman,  who  carried  the  small  hymn- 
book  from  Kendal  to  Carlisle,  was  an  essential  link  in  a  "  peculiar  chain  of  providence,'' 
which  reached  to  Glasgow  and  Paisley,  and  back  again  to  Wolsingham,  where  C.  C. 
McKechnie  and  John  Atkinson  met  as  colleagues  on  ground  won  by  the  Xorth-West 
Mission.  Had  that  link  been  wanting !— but  it  is  needless  to  speculate.  With  the 
plain  facts  of  history  before  us,  the  Kendal  Mission  can  hardly  be  pronounced  a  failure— 
though  the  history-books  may  say  it  was— since,  as  one  of  its  direct  and  indirect  results, 
two  such  shapers  of  the  old  Sunderland  District  were  brought  together. 

Coming  back  to  the  further  missionary  efforts  put  forth  by  Carlisle  Circuit,  reference 
may  be  made  to  Wigton,  now  the  head  of  a  circuit,  which  was  first  missioned  by  Mary 
Porteus  on  August  5th,  1831.  Gn  that  date  she  preached  at  the  Market  Cross,  as 
John  Wesley  had  done  before  her.  The  day  before  she  undertook  this  task,  she  had 
read,  at  liothel,  an  account  of  Wesley's  service  at  the  Cross,  and  the  thought  that  she— 
a  frail  woman— was  about  to  attempt  what  that  great  and  gifted  man  had  done,  pressed 
upon  her  as  she  went  forward  to  discharge  her  trying  duty.  On  September  2nd  she 
took  her  stand  at  the  Cross  again,  but  when  next  she  went,  in  November,  she  found 
some  kind  friend  had  taken  a  large  schoolroom  for  the  services. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND    ENTERPRISE.  141 

Even  before  the  close  of  1822,  \V.  Clowes  had  noted  that  Primitive  Methodism  was 
tending  in  the  direction  of  Whitehaven.  Shortly  after  this,  Messrs.  Summersides  and 
Johnson  visited  this  town,  thirty-eight  miles  from  Carlisle.  Then  Clowes  himself,  in 
August,  1823,  came  on  the  ground  and  began  a  campaign  in  this  district,  which  lasted 
until  November  9th.  He  visited  Harrington,  Cleator,  Workington,  Parton,  Cockermouth, 
St.  Bees,  and  other  places.  As  usual,  there  was  no  lack  of  incidents  in  this  campaign. 
At  Cleator  an  old  man  who  was  hearing  him,  exclaimed  ■.  "  Why,  I  never  heard  such 
a  fool  in  my  life  ! "  The  preacher  retorted  that  the  remark  was  not  original,  for  that 
precisely  the  same  thing  had  been  said  of  Noah  by  people  who  changed  their  mind 
when  the  flood  came ;  but  all  too  late.  At  St.  Bees  he  had  as  one  of  the  fruits  of  his 
mission,  David  Beattie,  a  native  of  Dumfriesshire.  Beattie  did  good  service  as  a  minister 
until  his  lamented  death  in  1839.  He  was  one  of  the  earliest  of  that  small  but 
distinguished  band  which  Scotland  has  furnished  to  our  ministry.  At  this  time,  too, 
a  camp  meeting  was  held  on  Harris  Moor,  near  Whitehaven,  which,  from  being  the 
first  of  its  kind  ever  held  in  the  district,  made  a  stir.  At  this  camp  meeting  a  number 
of  partially  intoxicated  Papists  interrupted  the  service,  whereupon  Clowes  transfixed 
them  with  his  eye,  and  solemnly  warned  them  that,  ere  twenty-four  hours  should  pass, 
many  of  them  might  be  hurried  into  eternity.  And  it  was  so ;  for  by  an  explosion  in 
the  pit,  which  occurred  next  day,  many  of  these  disturbers  lost  their  lives.  This 
startling  event  so  alarmed  Hugh  Campbell,  that  he,  with  others,  was  led  to  join  the 
society.  This  truly  honest  man  began  his  ministerial  labours  at  Hexham  in  1830. 
Another  of  Clowes'  Whitehaven  converts  was  Andrew  Sharpe,  a  man  of  local  note  on 
account  of  his  physical  prowess.  John  Sharpe,  his  grandson,  entered  the  ministry  in 
1848  ;  went  out  to  Australia  in  1855,  where,  until  1876,  he  did  splendid  service.  "He 
was  a  fine  specimen  of  the  strong  Cumbrian  character  :  a  splendid  borderer  of  clear  and 
decided  convictions,  held  with  Spartan  firmness ; "  a  man  of  vigorous  and  well-stored 
mind.  After  his  retirement  he  settled  at  Hensingham,  where  he  passed  away,  May 
27th,  1895. 

As  Whitehaven  remained  a  branch  of  Hull  Circuit  for  so  many  years,  it  was  from 
time  to  time  privileged  with  the  labours  of  most  of  the  best-known  ministers  of  that 
circuit.  John  Garner  and  John  Oxtoby  were  here  together  during  the  September 
quarter  of  1824.  Despite  the  trouble  caused  by  a  deposed  minister,  who  remained  on 
the  station  after  his  deposition  and  tried  to  foment  mischief,  the  work  still  rolled  on. 
"  We  had,"  says  Mr.  Garner,  "  a  great  and  powerful  work,  and  we  took  a  large  church 
to  worship  in  called  Mount  Pleasant  Church."  It  had  been  built  for  the  worship  of  the 
Episcopal  Church,  but  its  consecration  being  refused,  it  fell  into  the  hands  of  Dissenters, 
apparently,  not  one  iota  the  worse  for  the  lack.  For  more  than  thirty  years  Mount 
Pleasant  Church  was  used  by  Primitive  Methodists  for  the  purposes  of  public  worship. 

Whitehaven  was  made  an  independent  station  in  1840,  so  that  by  the  end  of  the  first 
period  we  have,  as  the  development  of  the  Kendal,  Carlisle,  and  Whitehaven  Missions, 
the  nucleus  of  the  present  Carlisle  and  Whitehaven  District,  with,  however,  the  addition 
of  Alston,  Brough,  and  Haltwhistle,  these  being  the  outcome  of  ^Hull's  North-Western 
Mission.  Since  1842,  consolidation  has  gone  on  apace  in  West  Cumberland.  Maryport 
was  made  from  Whitehaven  in  1862,  and  Workington  in  1884;  and^Cockermouth  from 
Maryport  in  1893. 


142 


PKIMITJVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 


The  Great  Revival  in  the  Dales  :  Westgate  and  Alston  Moor. 
One  is  surprised  to  find  that  in  1832  Westgate  and  Alston  had  actually  more  members 
than  the  Hull  home-branch  itself.  In  a  tabular  report  of  that  year  of  the  various 
branches  of  Hull  Circuit,  "Westgate  and  Alston"  are  credited  with  751  members, 
while  Hull  has  631,  and  Driffield  469.  It  confirms  what  has  already  been  stated  as  to 
Hull's  retention  of  a  branch  long  after  it  was  strong  enough  to  stand  alone.  It  was 
"a  long  cry"  from  Westgate  to  Hull,  and  yet  it  is  Hull  Quarterly  Meeting  which,  in 
1831,  by  resolution,  makes  George  Race  and  William  Lonsdale  exhorters  !  Though, 
therefore,  Westgate  and  Alston  were  not  made  circuits  until  1834  and  1835  respectively, 
they  had  long  been  numerically  powerful,  and  not  wanting  in  officials  who  knew  their 
own  mind,  and  had  a  mind  to  know. 

These  two  strong  branches  were  molten  and  cast  in  the  fire  of  a  great  revival — 
a  revival,  take  it  for  all  in  all,  greater  perhaps  than  'any  we  have  thus  far  had  to 
chronicle.     And,  what  is  still  more  remarkable,  great  revivals  have,  at  ever  recurring 

intervals,  swept  over  Weardale, 
Allendale,  Alston  Moor,  and  Cum- 
berland, one  or  two  of  which  we 
may  glance  at  before  closing  this 
section.  As  insurance  offices  speak 
of  a  "  conflagration  area,"  so  the 
districts  just  named,  and  especially 
the  dales,  may  almost  be  termed  "  the 
revival  area."  "  Well,  then,  the 
people  who  inhabit  those  dales  must 
certainly  be  of  a  highly  emotional 
temperament,  easily  stirred  to  excite- 
ment, and  perhaps  just  as  easily 
relapsing  into  indifference.''  No, 
westgate  ohapel  ANn  sohools.  n0  ;    the    reader    has  quite  missed 

the  mark  ;  he  has  not  pierced  the  centre  of  the  sufficient  reason.  Never  was  truer 
word  written  of  the  Northmen,  and  especially  of  the  Dalesmen,  than  that  in  which 
the  Rev.  J.  Wenn  describes  them  as  "  anthracite  in  temperament."  "  Northerners," 
he  continues,  "are  not  exactly  comparable  to  carpenters'  shavings,  soon  alight  and 
quickly  extinguished  ;  rather  do  they  resemble  anthracite  in  the  slowness  of  its  com- 
bustion and  the  retention  of  its  heat  capable  of  sustained  religious  fervour 
could  they  but  once  be  kindled."  * 

The  first  great  Weardale  Revival,  alike  in  its  inception  and  progress,  illustrates  the 
truth  of  these  remarks.  It  was  a  work  of  time,  and  a  work  requiring  infinite  patience, 
to  kindle  the  inhabitants  of  the  upper  part  of  the  dale,  but,  when  once  they  were 
kindled,  the  fire  burned  with  a  glowing  intensity  and  spread  amain.  By  common 
consent  Thomas  Batty  is  acknowledged  to  have  been  the  "Apostle  of  Weardale." 
This  does  not  mean  that  he  was  the  pioneer  missionary  of  the  Connexion  in  the  dale ; 


*  Rev.  J.  AVenn's  MSS.    Kindly  lent. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND    ENTERPRISE. 


143 


for  he  was  not.  That  honour  probably  belongs  to  George  Lazenby,  who  is  said  to  have 
preached  the  first  sermon  at  Stanhope  in  a  joiner's  shop  in  October,  1821,  and  he  was 
speedily  followed  by  others.  Nor  does  the  word  "  apostle,"  accorded  to  Thomas  Batty, 
prejudice  the  claim  of  Jane  Ansdale,  F.  N.  Jersey,  Anthony  Race,  and  others,  to  have 
taken  a  foremost  part  in  the  movement.  What  makes  the  title  "  apostle  "  as  applied  to 
him  so  eminently  appropriate  is  the  fact  that,  in  the  preparatory  stages  and  in  the 
conduct  of  the  revival,  we  see  concentrated  and  embodied  in  Thomas  Batty  the  very 
spirit  of  the  revival.  It  would  be  difficult  to  find  anywhere  a  more  moving  picture  of 
what  we  understand  by  "travailing  in  birth  for  souls"  than  the  picture  Batty  has 
drawn  of  himself  in  his  Journals  of  the  time. 

When  Thomas  Batty  came  to  Barnard  Castle  Branch  from  Silsden  in  the  autumn  of 
1S"22,  others  had  already  been  some  time  at  work  in  the  dale,  which  stretches,  some 


IRESHOPEBURN. 
Home  of  the  Boyhood  of  Eev.  J.  "Walson,  D.D. 


fifteen  miles,  from  Lanehead  to  Frosterley.  At  Westgate,  and  in  the  lower  part  of  the 
dale,  the  people  had  been  in  a  measure  receptive  of  the  word  from  the  very  first. 
Jane  Ansdale's  ministrations  hereabout  had  proved  acceptable,  and  a  notable  convert 
had  already  been  won  in  the  person  of  J.  Dover  Muschamp,  a  man  of  some  standing  in 
the  dale.  Curiosity  drew  him  to  Westgate  to  hear  Jane  Ansdale,  who,  because  of  the 
unfavourable  weather,  preached  in  the  Wesleyan  Chapel,  kindly  lent  for  the  occasion. 
As  he  listened,  the  arrow  of  conviction  was  lodged,  and  he  went  away  stricken  and 
mourning.  Xot  for  some  time,  however,  did  he  find  peace — not  even  though  he 
attended  a  camp  meeting  at  Stanhope,  and  stood  bare-headed  under  the  hot  sun  listening 
to  the  word.  But  when  he  had  retired  to  his  room  for  the  night,  healing  and  forgiveness 
were  experienced,  and  at  once  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Muschamp  gave  themselves  heart  and  soul 
to  the  new  cause.      But  though  this  conversion  was   a   notable,   and   by  no  means 


144  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 

a  solitary  one  in  the  neighbourhood,  yet  it  is  evident  that  no  extraordinary  work  had  as 
yet  begun.     Figures,  and  Thomas  Batty's  own  explicit  statements,  show  this. 

Meanwhile,  the  burthen  pressed  heavily  on  Mr.  Batty.  How  he  did  labour !  And 
yet  it  seemed  to  him  he  was  spending  his  strength  for  nought.  Crowds — and  often 
weeping  crowds — attended  the  services,  "  but  they  could  not  be  got  to  join  the  society.'' 
They  let  hearing  and  weeping  suffice.  He  speaks  of  one  unforgettable  night,  when  he 
was  returning  from  an  apparently  fruitless  service  at  Ireshopeburn.  As  he  waded 
through  the  snow  and  water  and  slush,  his  depression  was  extreme,  and  almost 
insupportable.  He  could  not  talk  to  his  companion;  he  "could  only  sigh  and  groan 
and  weep.''  His  tell-tale  countenance  seemed  to  say,  "I  am  the  man  that  hath  seen 
affliction,"  and  that  sad  countenance  was  long  remembered  in  the  dale.  The  sequel  of 
this  journey  is  worth  telling  in  Thomas  Batty's  own  words,  only  that  we  may  premise 
that  Westgate  was  Batty's  destination,  and  that  his  home  was  to  be  with  Joseph 
Walton,  "  who  was  a  class-leader  and  a  mighty  labourer  in  prayer.'' 

"When  I  arrived  at  Joseph  Walton's  I  was  so  sorrowful  that  I  could  scarce  eat 
any  supper.  Joseph  and  I  entered  into  some  conversation  on  the  subject  that 
distressed  me.  I  stilted  to  liim  that  if  we  could  not  succeed  soon,  I  thought  we 
should  lie  obliged  to  leave  and  so  to  some  other  people,  among  whom  we  should 
probably  do  better.  He  said  :  '  Nay,  don't  do  so  ;  try  a  little  longer.'  I  replied  : 
'Well,  I  have  been  at  the  far  end  before  now,  and  when  I  got  to  the  end  the  Lord 
began  to  work,  and  He  can  do  so  again.'  This  conversation  cheered  and  revived 
my  spirits,  and  my  faith  began  to  rise.     Praise  the  Lord." 

When  some  little  time  after  this,  the  Ireshopeburn  preaching-house  was  closed  to 
them,  Batty  did  indeed  seem  to  have  "reached  the  far  end."  But  Anthony  Race  said  : 
"If  the  devil  shuts  one  door,  the  Lord  will  open  two.''  And  so  it  literally  came  to 
pass.  Of  the  two  houses  now  offered  them,  they  chose  the  better  one  for  their  purpose, 
and  there,  in  March,  1823,  while  Batty  was  preaching,  a  man  fell  to  the  ground.  That 
night  a  small  society  was  formed,  and  the  revival  began,  which  swept  the  dale  and  led 
Mr.  Muschamp  to  say  exultantly  :  "  I  think  all  the  people  in  Weardale  are  going  to  be 
Ranters.'' 

The  laws  which  govern  the  origin  and  course  of  great  revivals  are  obscure  and 
difficult  to  trace.  It  is  perhaps  impossible  to  say  how  far  Thomas  Batty's  mental 
distress  was  really  "  travail  of  soul " — the  very  birth-throes  of  the  revival,  and  how  far 
it  was  the  result  of  imperfect  knowledge  of  the  "Weardale  type  of  character,  and 
therefore  uncalled  for.  It  was  reserved  for  an  observant  toll-gate  keeper  to  hint  that 
Thomas  Batty  did  not  understand  the  anthracite  temperament  of  the  dalesmen  as  well 
as  he  understood  it,  and  to  give  him  advice,  which  he  followed  with  advantage. 

"I  lodged  with  a  friendly  man  one  night,  a  little  after  this  had  happened,  who 
kept  a  toll-gate  in  the  dale,  between  St.  John's  Chapel  and  Prize.  This  man  said 
to  me  on  the  following  morning  :  'If  you  will  come  and  preach  about  here  every 
night  for  a  week,  you  will  soon  have  a  hundred  people  in  society.'  I  replied  : 
'  Well,  if  I  thought  so,  I  would  soon  do  that.'  The  man  said  :  '  I  am  sure  of  it :  the 
whole  country  is  under  convictions.  You  do  not  know  the  peojile  as  well  as  I  do; 
they  often  stop  and  talk  with  me  at  the  gate.     I  hear  what  they  say  about  'the 


THE    PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE. 


145 


Ranters,'  and  I  am  sure  if  you  would  come  and  preach  every  night  for  a  week,  you 
would  soon  have  a  hundred  souls.'  This  toll-gate  keeper  was  not  at  that  time 
converted,  neither  did  he  make  any  profession  of  religion  ;  but  he  was  an  open- 
hearted,  well-disposed  man,  and  had  taken  a  liking  to  our  cause.  As  early  as 
possible,  I  got  my  regular  appointments  supplied  by  a  preacher  whom  Hull 
quarter-day  sent  us.  He  entered  into  my  labours  as  appointed  on  the  plan,  and 
I  enlarged  our  borders  by  missioning  entirely  new  ground.  But  I  previously 
attended  to  the  advice  of  my  friend,  and  preached  about  his  neighbourhood  every 
night  for  a  week  ;  and  at  the  quarter's  end  we  had  just  added  one  hundred  souls." 
(Memoir  of  Thomas  Batty,  pp.  54-5.) 

The  irrefragable  evidence  of  the  numerical  returns  for  successive  quarters  remains  to 


:'""'''--/- ■—;-•,._ 


iMli  SH 


•  ■    5S  .'  '.#'? 


W?w:/*-:t>^. 


NENTHEAH,    NEAK    ALSTON. 

and  to  witness  to  the  magnitude  of  the  revival. 


In 

in 


confirm  Mr.  Batty's  statements 

March,  1823,  when  the  revival  began,  the  membership  of  the  branch  was  219  ; 
June,  308  ;  in  September,  625  ;  in  December,  846,  when  there  were  five  preachers  on 
the  ground.  There  is  a  blessed  sameness  in  the  personal  and  more  far-reaching  effects 
wrought  by  every  great  revival  such  as  that  which  affected  Weardale.  On  these  we 
need  not  dwell.  But  the  revival  was  not  without  its  incidents  of  a  less  familiar,  and 
some  of  even  a  novel,  kind.  Amongst  the  latter  must  be  reckoned  the  eagerness  for 
hearing  the  gospel,  which,  as  at  Wellshope,  led  the  people  to  economise  every  inch  of 
available  space  by  removing  all  the  tables  and  chairs  from  the  room  except  one  chair, 
on  which  the  preacher  stood,  and  then  some  stalwart  miner  would  come  forward  and 

K 


146  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 

stand  with  his  back  to  the  preacher,  so  that  he — the  preacher — might  find  support  by 
resting  his  arms  on  the  man's  shoulders  !  There  was  competition  for  the  honour  of 
fulfilling  this  office ;  and  who  shall  say  that  such  a  living  reading-desk  was  not  as 
pleasing  in  God's  sight  as  the  eagle  lectern  of  polished  brass  ? 

Before  the  close  of  1823  the  Revival  hail  spread  to  Nenthead.  The  missionaries  had 
been  urged  to  extend  their  labours  to  this  district,  and,  in  response,  Anthony  Race  is 
said  to  have  crossed  over  and  preached  at  Xenthead  for  the  first  time  on  the  Lord's 
■day,  March  23rd,  1823.  Anthony  Race  was  the  grandfather  of  the  late  George  Race, 
sen.  He  had  been  a  Wesleyan  local  preacher,  and  as  such  had  taken  long  journeys — 
•sometimes  walking  as  far  as  Durham,  Hexham,  Haydonbridge,  and  Appleby  in 
Westmoreland.  Anthony  Race  entered  the  ministry  this  same  year — 1823 — but  his 
term  of  service  was  short,  as  he  died  between  the  Conferences  of  1828  and  1829. 
Thomas  Batty  soon  followed  his  colleagues  to  Nenthead  and  Garrigill.  By  some  they 
were  regarded  with  suspicion  as  "  outlandish  men,''  or  Political  Radical  Reformers  under 
another  name,  but  the  generality  of  the  people  waited  eagerly  on  their  ministrations 
and  wanted  to  pay  for  them  by  taking  up  a  collection  !  Batty  promised  them  they 
should  have  the  opportunity  of  showing  their  gratitude  on  the  occasion  of  his  next 
visit,  when  the  quarterly  collection  would  be  due.  On  this  visit,  Mr.  Batty  took  his 
stand  on  a  flag  by  the  door  of  "Mr.  Isaac  Hornsby,  an  official  of  the  lead-works.  On 
that  flag  Mr.  Wesley  had  once  stood  to  preach.  When  the  collection  was  named  each 
man  sought  his  pocket,  and  it  was  as  though  a  body  of  drilled  troops  were  executing 
a  military  movement  at  the  word  of  command.  The  precision  with  which  the  thing 
was  done  was  such  as  to  draw  forth  the  admiration  of  the  ex-man-of-war's-man. 
Although  it  was  a  week-night,  three  pounds  were  taken  up  at  that  collection.  In  six 
months  one  hundred  members  had  been  enrolled  at  Xenthead. 

At  this  point,  Westgate  was  detached  from  Barnard  Castle  to  become  a  separate 
branch  of  Hull  Circuit,  with  John  Hewson  as  its  superintendent,  and  G.  W.  Armitage, 
a  youthful  but  acceptable  preacher,  as  its  junior  minister.  When  to  these  was  added 
John  Oxtoby,  who  in  September,  1824,  walked  from  Whitehaven  to  Westgate,  the 
revival,  which  had  somewhat  flagged,  gained  fresh  impetus.  The  sanctification  of  believers 
as  a  definite  work  of  grace  was  a  prominent  phase  of  the  revival 
at  this  stage,  as  well  as  the  conversion  of  sinners.  During  these 
months  very  remarkable  scenes  were  witnessed  in  the  Dales. 
Of  these  scenes  we  get  glimpses  in  the  full  Journals  of  Messrs. 
Oxtoby  and  Armitage,  and  the  late  Rev.  W.  Dent  has  also  supplied 
us  with  some  reminiscences  of  what  he  himself  saw  and  took  part 
in.  Mr.  I  lent  was  converted  at  Westgate  in  1823,  entered  the 
ministry  in  1X27,  and  travelled  thirty-three  years  with  great 
acceptance.  After  his  retirement  he  settled  in  Newcastle-on-Tyne, 
where  his  spare  form,  ascetic,  spiritual  looking  face,  and  his  quick 
rev.    c  dent.  bodily  movements,  which  at  once  responded  to  and  registered  the 

feeling  within,  made  him  a  familiar  figure  to  our  churches.  Mr.  Dent  had  a  wide 
acquaintance  with  Methodist  theology,  and  was  an  able  exponent  and  defender  of  the 
doctrine  of  Christian  perfection.     He  died  March   16th,  1861.      Mr.  Dent  was  a  keen 


THE   PEEIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE.  147 

observer  of  the  phenomena   of  ( txloby's    revival,  and  his  remarks  on    the  "  fallings " 
which  were  so  noteworthy  a  feature  of   that  revival  are  worth  preserving  : — 

"There  were  many  cases  of  prostration  in  connection  with  that  great  work. 
I  have  seen  more  than  fifteen  at  one  meeting,  some  of  whom  were  sober-minded 
Christians,  as  humble  as  they  were  earnest.  And  what  was  very  observable,  there 
was  nothing  in  the  voice  or  manner  of  the  preacher  to  account  for  such  effects  ;  no 
vociferation,  no  highly  impassioned  address.  He  (J.  Oxtoby)  stood  as  steadily, 
and  talked  as  calmly,  as  I  ever  witnessed  any  one  do.  But  he  was  fully  in  the 
faith — clothed  with  salvation  ;  having  in  muni/  instances,  got  to  know  substantial!)/ 
in  his  closet  what  was  about  to  take  place  in  the  i/reat  rongreijation.  He  did  not  take 
a  falling  down  as  a  certain  proof  of  the  obtaining  of  entire  sanctification  ;  but 
ascribed  much  to  physical  causes — to  nervous  weakness.  I  do  not  recollect  that 
there  were  an//  cases  of  the  kind  proved  to  be  hypocritical  mimicry.  It  was 
wonderful  how  some  persons  so  affected  were  preserved  from  physical  harm. 
I  remember  seeing  men  fall  suddenly  backwards  on  stone  flags  without  being  hurt, 
and  on  one  occasion,  in  a  dwelling-house,  a  man  fell  against  the  fire-place,  the  fire 
burning  at  the  time,  without  being  injured." 

In  September,  1825,  John  Garner  became  superintendent  of  Westgate  Branch;  and 
now  a  wave  of  the  great  revival,  which  may  be  said  to  have  been  going  on  ever  since 
March,  1823,  reached  Alston  and  Allendale.  Allenheads,  Nenthead  and  Garrigill  are 
names  found  in  the  early  books  of  Barnard  Castle  Branch.  They  had  been  visited  by 
its  missionaries,  as  we  have  seen,  and  already  had  shared  in  the  revival.  But  the  books 
make  no  mention  of  Alston.  That  place,  there  is  reason  to  believe,  as  well  as  lower 
Allendale,  was  first  visited  by  missionaries  from  Hexham.  Now,  however,  in  the 
autumn  of  1825,  they  are  included  within  the  area  of  Westgate  Branch  as  the  following 
report  of  the  progress  of  the  revival,  taken  from  the  Journal  of  John  Garner,  shows  : — 

December  10th,  1825. — "I  went  to  Alston,  and  was  glad  to  hear  that  one  hundred 
and  upwards  had  united  with  our  Society  within  the  last  three  months,  and  that 
the  work  of  sanctification  had  been  going  on  all  the  time.  But  this  glorious, 
extraordinary  and  important  work,  is  not  confined  to  Alston.  It  has  spread 
through  the  whole  branch.  According  to  my  best  calculation,  I  think  two 
hundred  and  fifty,  at  least,  have  been  converted  to  God, 
within  the  time  above  specified.  The  Lord  is  extending  our 
borders,  and  opening  our  way  in  Alston-Moor,  and  East  and 
West  Allendale.  Truly,  these  are  the  days  of  the  Son  of 
Man  with  power,  and  we  are  willing  to  hope  for  greater  things 
than  these  ;  for  nothing  is  too  hard  for  the  Lord." 

A  year  after  this  the  revival  had  not  spent  its  force.  Joseph 
Grieves  had  come  to  the  Westgate  and  Alston  Branch  in  June, 
1826.  He  himself  was  a  trophy  of  the  revival,  having  been 
delivered  from  "  drunkenness,  profane  swearing,  and  poaching,'' 
by  his  signal   conversion   at   a   lovefeast   at   Westgate   in    Mav 

KEV.    J.    GRIEVES.  JO  o  "J , 

1824.  Grieves  was  at  Alston  on  January  21st,  1827,  where  he 
tells  of  holding  a  service  by  invitation  in  a  farmer's  house,  at  which  service  several 
were  converted,  including  the  farmer  himself,  who  had  taken  refuge  in  his  own  dairy, 

k2 


148 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHUliCH. 


where  (Irieves  found   him  on  his   knees   crying  for  mercy.      "Twenty-five  joined  the 
society  ;  and  a  publican  declared  that  the  revival  had  lost  him  a  pound  a  week.'' 

Our  mention  of  the  name  of  Joseph  Grieves  leads  us  to  mark  yet  another  sweep  of 
the  revival  movement,  which  resulted  in  planting  our  Church  in  Upper  Teesdale  and 
the  Eden  Valley,  thus  geographically  rounding  off  the  XorthAVest  Mission.  Occasional 
visits  had  been  made  by  the  missionaiies  to  the  neighbourhood  before  the  conversion  of 
Joseph  Grieves,  who  lived  at  Aukside.  near  Middleton  :  but  "  the  harvest  was  great 
and  the  labourers  were  few,''  and  no  provision  could  as  yet  be  made  for  Sunday  services. 
Characteristically,  therefore,  Grieves  set  to  work  himself.  He  established  a  series  of 
house  prayer-meetings,  to  which  the  people  nocked,  curious  to  learn  how  these  former 


MAIN    STREET,    BROL'CH. 


ringleaders  in  wickedness  would  pray.  Under  this  humble  agency  a  revival  began,  and 
one  of  its  earliest  gains  was  Mr.  John  Leekley,  afterwards  the  founder  of  Primitive 
Methodism  in  the  Western  States  of  America.  Now  a  recognised  exhorter,  Mr.  Grieves, 
along  with  Messrs.  Leekley,  Rain,  and  Collinson,  missioned  Bowlees,  Harv.ood,  Forest, 
and  other  places  in  Upper  Teesdale,  where  societies  were  established  which  continue  to 
this  day.  After  giving  such  indications  of  zeal  and  courage,  we  need  hardly  be  surprised 
that,  in  March,  1*l'o',  Hull  Quarterly  Meeting  should  appoint  Mr.  Grieves  to  begin  his 
labours  as  a  travelling-preacher  in  Barnard  Castle  Branch.  He  laboured  for  thirty-eight 
years,  and  the  impression  the  Rev.  Philip   Pugh's  ably-written  memoir  leaves  on  the 


THE    PKRIOD    OF    CIRCUIT    PREDOMINANCE    AND    ENTERPRISE.  149, 

inind  of  the  reader  is,  that  our  Church  has  had  few  men  who  have  served  its  interests, 
more  faithfully  and  successfully  than  did  this  revival-born  dalesman. 

And  now,  as  the  formation  of  the  Westgate  Branch  set  Thomas  Batty  at  liberty,  the 
Barnard  Castle  Branch  sought  compensation  for  its  diminished  territory  and  reduced 
membership,  by  sending  Mr.  Batty  to  mission  Brough  in  "Westmoreland  and-  other 
places  in  the  Eden  Valley.  He  set  out  from  Middleton  on  his  journey  of  fifteen  miles, 
commended  to  the  grace  of  God  by  his  kindly  entertainers.  He  had  a  long  and 
toilsome  journey  before  him  ;  but,  when  he  stood  on  the  last  eminence  and  looked  down 
on  the  fair  valley  beneath,  with  the  Eden  like  a  ribbon  of  silver  winding  through,  he 
was  not  too  tired  or  too  much  engrossed  with  the  duty  that  lay  before  him,  to 
''feast  his  eyes  with  the  beautiful  scenery,  and  to  rejoice  at  the  goodness  of  God 
to  man.'' 

The  gentry  of  Brough  were  hostile ;  the  generality,  and  especially  the  common 
people,  heard  him  gladly.  Mr.  Batty,  on  that  first  evening,  took  his  stand  on  a  horse- 
block before  a  public-house, which  the  landlady  had  obligingly  allowed  him  to  use,  adding, 
as  she  consented,  the  gracious  remark,  "that  she  could  have  no  objection  to  anything 
that  was  good."  The  bellman's  announcement  had  drawn  together  a  curious  crowd,  and 
Batty  was  suffered  to  preach  without  molestation.  He  slept  at  Brough  Sowerby,  where 
a  society  was  soon  formed,  and  at  Brough  a  friendly  farmer  lent  his  barn  for  services. 
Meanwhile,  the  Committee  at  Hull  had  officially  appointed  Messrs.  Batty  and  Thomas 
Webb  to  this  new  mission,  and  processioning  and  out-door  preaching  became  the  order 
of  the  day.  The  "  gentry  "  now  thought  it  time  to  bestir  themselves.  Two  of  them 
invaded  the  barn,  where  a  prayer  meeting  was  being  held,  and  irreverently  discussed, 
to  their  own  discomfiture,  the  legal  bearings  of  the  service  they  were  interrupting. 
The  rumour  went  that  if  the  preacher  persisted  in  holding  a  service  at  the  Cross  the 
next  Sundaj',  as  he  had  announced  he  would  do,  he  was  to  be  pulled  down.  He  was 
not  to  be  intimidated.  A  strong  band  from  Brough  Sowerby  and  Kirby  Stephen 
body-guarded  Batty  as  he  preached  his  fourth  sermon  that  day,  and  the  "gentry " 
watched  the  proceedings  from  the  outskirts  of  the  congregation.  As  they  crossed  the 
green  to  the  barn  for  their  prayer  meeting,  Mr.  Batty  was  followed,  and  asked  to  show 
his  license.  Under  protest,  the  license  was  produced  and  handed  round,  and  scrutinised 
and  fingered  as  though  it  had  been  a  bank-note  of  doubtful  antecedents  and  value; 
"  Was  it  counterfeit  or  genuine  ?  If  good  for  Yorkshire  did  it  hold  good  for  Westmore- 
land?" "For  all  England,"  said  Mr.  Batty.  At  this  point  the  ire  of  a  respectable 
tradesman  of  the  town  was  roused  by  this  highhanded  procedure.  Said  he,  hotly  : 
"  You  think  to  run  them  down,  a  parcel  of  you  !  You  think  they  are  poor  people,  and 
cannot  stand  up  for  themselves  ;  but  I  have  plenty  of  money,  and  I'll  back  them.'' 
And  the  tradesman  was  as  good  as  his  word.  Next  morning  the  "  gentry  "  met  at  the 
head  inn  to  consult  as  to  what  should  next  be  done  in  the  present  serious  state  of 
affairs.  The  plan  they  hit  upon  was  to  send  the  bellman  round  to  proclaim  as  follows  :  — 
''  This  is  to  give  notice,  that  a  vestry  meeting  will  be  held,  this  evening  at  seven  o'clock 
to  put  down  all  midnight  revelling  and  ranting.''  When  the  bellman  had  "cried"  the 
town,  another  commission  awaited  him.  The  respectable  tradesman  aforesaid,  with  the 
aid  of  his  brother  and  sundry  Acts  of  Parliament,  drew  up  a  counter-proclamationi, 


50 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHTJKCH. 


OLD  PRIMITIVE  METHODIST  CHAPEL  AND  BROl'GH  CASTLE. 


which  the  bellman  went  round  the  town  again  to  cry.     It  ran  as  follows  : — "'lhis  is  to 
give  notice,  that  the  laws  against  tippling  and  riotous  midnight  revels  at  public-houses, 

gambling,  buying  and  selling,  and  other 

evil  practices  on   the    Sabbath  Day, 

•      .,      '.  cursing  and  swearing,  and  other  laws 

for  suppressing  vice  and  immorality, 
will  be  put  in  force,  and  notice  duly 
given  to  churchwardens  and  constables 
who,  in  case  of  neglect,  will  be  pre- 
sented at  the  Bishop's  Court  or  Quarter 
Sessions."  The  townsfolk  listened, 
then  laughed  and  said:  "That's  right; 
that's  right !  "  Thus,  so  to  say,  fizzled 
out  amid  laughter  this  fussy,  spit-fire 
attempt  on  the  part  of  the  "  gentry  " 
to  frighten  the  missionary  and  keep  Primitive  Methodism  out  of  Brough  ;  and  the 
story  is  told  here  because  this  would-be  persecution  was  the  last  instance  of  its  kind 
we  shall  meet  with  so  far  north,  and  because  this  persecution  that  failed  was  the 
precursor  of  a  revival  such  as  we  have  been  describing,  of  which,  indeed,  it  was  part 
and  the  continuation.  "A  glorious  work,"  says  Mr.  Batty,  "broke  out  immediately, 
and  in  a  fortnight  we  added  thirty-eight  souls  to  our  society;  and  the  work  was 
both  genuine  and  deep.  Some  of  the  most  wicked  characters,  and  others  less  so,  were 
brought  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth:  "And  there  was  great  joy  in  that  town.'' 
Mr.  Batty  adds,  that  the  old  gentleman  who  allowed  the  use  of  his  barn  for  services 
was  himself  one  of  the  converts.  The  first  chapel,  which  long  stood  on  the  banks  of 
the  Augill,  and  under  the  shadow  of 
the  old  castle,  was  built  on  a  site  of 
land  given  by  him.  In  1877,  a  new 
chapel  was  built,  which  unfortunately 
was  burnt  down  three  yearsafter;  but 
the  society  energetically  set  about  the 
work  of  restoration,  and  since  that 
time,  a  good  school  and  class-rooms 
have  been  added.  Brough  has  been 
an  independent  circuit  since  18-19. 

Thus  the  churches  around  these 
northern  hills  and  dales  were  estab 
lished  by  revivals,  and  again  and 
again  have  these  same  churches  been 
replenished  and  refreshed  by  similar 
visitations.  No  wonder  that,  in  the 
localities    thus    visited,    these    by<ron 

such    is    the    case,   we    are    told    it   is    customary   for  the    speaker   to  distinguish    the 
particular    revival   he  wishes   to  recall,   by  attaching  to    it    the   name    of    the    person 


PHIMITIVE   METHODIST  CHAPEL,    BROUGH. 

e    revivals    should    be    often    talked    of.      When 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE. 


151 


MK.  HENKT   MILLEB. 


KEV.    ADAM    DODDS. 


who,    under   God,    was   the   chief   agent   in    carrying   it   forward.       Thus   they  will 
speak  of   Batty's  or   Oxtoby's   revival,   of   McKechnie's   or   Peter   Clarke's — the   list 
is  a  long   one.      We  can  but  barely  allude   to  one  or  two  of   these  revivals  which 
were  after  the  original  type.    There  was  the 
Stanhope    revival    of    1851-2,    which    Eev. 
C.  C.  McKechnie  described  in  the  Mw/azine 
at  the  time — a  revival  which  he  says  "  has 
transformed  the  character  of  our  little  church. 
It  is  no  longer  weak,  sickly,  emasculate,  but 
full  of  life,  vigour  and  enterprise.''    There  was 
the  revival  which  began  at  Frosterley  in  1861, 
and  spread  through  Weardale ;  which  in  two 
months  increased  the  membership  from  68  to 
147,  and  led  to  the  voluntary  closing  on  the 
Sabbath    of    seven    public-houses.       Indeed, 
the  whole  period  from  1860  to  1866  seems  to  have  been  a  time  of  ingathering  in 
Westgate     Circuit,    for    the    membership    which    had    been    600    when     the    Rev. 
H.   Phillips   entered   the   circuit   in   the   former   year,   had   risen   to    975   when   the 
Rev.  P.  Clarke  left  it  in  1867.      Allendale,   too,  which  had  gained  its  independence 
in  1818,  had  its  visitation  of  power  in  the  years  1859-61,  which,  after  making  good  all 
losses,  more  than  doubled  the  circuit  membership.     About  the  same  time  and  onward, 
a  great  revival  swept  over  West  Cumberland  from  Whitehaven  to  Carlisle.    ,  In  this 
revival  the  late  Mr.  Henry  Miller  was  brought  to  God,  whose  active  and  useful  connection 
with  our  Church  in  the  Carlisle  Circuit  has  only  recently  been  terminated  by  death. 
The  names  of  Rev.  Adam  Dodds — Nathaniel-like  in  his  guilelessness — and  John  Taylor 
— then  in  the  vigour  of  early  manhood  and 
full  of  revival  zeal — will  always  be  associated 
with  this  spiritual  movement.     Nor  must  the 
prominent  part  taken  in  the  revival  by  Joseph 
Jopling  of  Frosterley — a  simple,  devout,  un- 
mercenary  lay-evangelist — bo  forgotten.     Him- 
self the  fruit  of  a  revival,  he  in  some  sort  links 
together  the  revivals  of  Weardale  and  Cum- 
berland.    In  this  suitable  connection  we  give 
the  portrait  of  Mr.  Joseph  Collinson,  another 
Frosterley  local  preacher  who  showed  himself 
an  active  promoter  of  revivals. 


JOSEPH  JOPLING. 


.MR.  J.  COLLINSON. 


Some  Sidelights  on  the  North  Western  Mission. 

Barnard  Castle  and  Whitehaven  were  branches  of  Hull  Circuit  until  1840,  and 
Westgate  and  Alston  until  1834  and  1835,  respectively.  Thus  barely  stated,  this  fact  of 
the  intimate  relations  with  Hull  Circuit,  so  long  sustained  by  the  branches  named, 
seems  simple  enough.     But  it  is  not  enough  merely  to  state  the  fact,  which  had  as  many 


152  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 

reticulations  as  the  veining  of  a  leaf,  and  some  of  these  need  following  if  we  are  to  get 
a  true  idea  of  the  state  of  the  societies,  which  must  have  been  largely  conditioned  and 
complexioned  by  this  dependence  on  Hull.  "We  have  only  to  remember  that  all  the 
affairs  of  the  branches — financial,  administrative  and  disciplinary — were  regularly 
supervised  by  the  parent  circuit,  in  order  to  see  that  this  must  have  been  the  case.  Hull 
sent  its  preachers,  and  of  these  some  of  its  very  best,  to  work  these  distant  branches. 
Messrs.  Flesher,  W.  Gainer,  Harland,  Sanderson,  even  Clowes  himself — they  were  all 
here  at  one  time  or  another.  The  societies  would  fall  into  the  habit  of  looking  to  Hull 
rather  than  as  yet  to  Sunderland,  to  know  what  was  being  thought  of  and  determined 
in  reference  to  themselves.  The  Hull  Committee  would  come  to  be  regarded  as 
a  powerful,  if  somewhat  mysterious  entity,  to  lie  spoken  of  with  respect ;  so  that  Thomas 
Batty  could  clinch  his  argument  with  the  "gentry'  of  Brough  by  first  affirming: 
"  I  am  sent  by  our  Committee  at  Hull,"  and  then  by  asking  :  "  Do  you  think  they  have 
sent  me  here  without  legal  authority  1 "  The  frequent  change  of  preachers  in  these 
branches,  and  the  obligation  the  preachers  were  under  to  attend  the  quarterly  meetings 
at  Hull,  were  regulations  which,  in  practice,  would  create  variety  and  incident  in  the 
societies  from  Whitehaven  to  Barnard  Castle.  The  Journals  of  the  time  are  punctuated 
by  references  to  these  recurring  quarterly  meetings.  You  read  the  details  of  a  spell  of 
work,  and  then  are  suddenly  brought  to  a  stop  by  some  such  sentence  as:  "I  then 
proceeded  to  Hull  in  order  to  attend  the  quarterly  meeting.''  The  preachers  seem  to  be 
always  either  going  to  the  quarter  day  or  returning  therefrom.  Xow,  as  we  have  written 
in  another  place:  "It  is  easy  to  write  that  the  missionary,  Mr.  Clowes,  for  instance, 
proceeded  from  Carlisle  'to  Hull  to  attend  the  quarter  day.  A  moment's  reflection, 
however,  will  serve  to  make  it  sufficiently  obvious,  that  seventy  years  ago  this  was  no 
light  journey.  It  probably  enough  meant  rising  with  the  lark,  and  with  the  mission  or 
branches  quarterly  income  in  his  pocket,  and  staff  in  hand,  trudging  along  over  bleak 
fells,  and  passing  through  town  and  village  and  hamlet.  Now  and  again,  it  may  be,  he 
gets  a  lift  in  a  carrier's  cart  or  passing  vehicle,  and  then,  towards  the  gloaming,  turns 
tired  and  travel-stained  into  some  hospitable  dwelling,  the  home  of  some  well-known 
adherent  of  the  Connexion  or  of  some  colleague  in  the  ministry.  Then  the  frugal 
meal,  seasoned  with  pleasant  talk  of  the  work  of  (!od,  and  all  sanctified  by  prayer;  the 
sleep  which  needed  no  wooing,  preparing  for  the  next  day's  journey.  Many  such  days' 
must  have  been,  when  as  yet  Whitehaven,  Alston  Moor,  and  other  distant  places  were 
branches  of  Hull  Circuit,  and  we  have  listened  to  the  description  of  some  such  journey 
as  this  from  those  whose  lips  are  now  scaled  by  death."  * 

Perhaps  the  thought  may  occur  to  us  that  these  long  journeys  and  frequent  absences 
must  have  involved  much  toil  and  loss  of  time,  and  have  been  a  serious  interruption  of 
labour.  Likely  enough  it  was  so  ;  but  we  are  writing  of  things  as  they  were,  and  not 
of  things  as  we  think  they  ought  to  have  been.  Besides,  one  can  on  reflection  see  that 
these  "  journeyings  oft"  would  have  their  compensations  both  for  preachers  and  people. 
We  have  already,  in  speaking  of  Hugh  Bourne's  incessant  perambulations  during  the 
time  he  was  general  superintendent,  compared  them  to  the  movements  of  the  weaver's 

*  Smaller  "  History  of  the  Primitive  Methodist  <  'onnexion/'  2nd  Ed.  pp.  70—7. 


THE   PERIOD    OF    CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND    ENTEKPRISE.  153 

shuttle  by  which  the  interlacing  threads  of  the  woof  are  added  to  the  warp,  aud  the 
tissue  slowly  put  together.  Similar  would  be  the  effect  of  the  constant  going  to  and  fro 
of  men  who  had  not  lost  the  taste  or  tradition  of  conversation-preaching.  Intercourse 
would  tend  to  knit  together  the  various  societies,  and  have  a  positive  value  for 
evangelisation.  As  for  the  preachers  themselves,  the  stimulus  derived  from  association 
with  so  many  of  their  brethren  assembled  in  Hull,  would  conduce  to  their  greater 
efficiency,  and  they  would  return  to  their  stations  like  iron  that  has  been  sharpened  by 
iron.  It  is  no  fancy  picture  we  diaw.  It  so  happens  that  both  our  arch-founders 
made  "religious  excursions'' — to  use  their  own  phrase — in  these  parts,  and  in  their 
Journals  we  can  see  that,  even  by  the  head-waters  of  Tyne  and  Wear  and  Tees, 
and  by  the  coast  of  the  Irish  Sea,  we  are  still  on  Hull  territory.  We  can  also 
gain  glimpses  of  some  early  befrienders  of  the  cause  in  these  parts,  who  kept 
open  house  for  the  servants  of  God  aud  were  recompensed  by  receiving  back  from 
them  good  into  their  own  bosoms.  W.  Clowes  speaks  of  being  able  to  preach 
without  intermission,  night  after  night,  on  his  way  to  Hull.  It  was  not  in  his  line, 
unfortunately,  to  give  an  account  written  with  all  the  circumstantiality  of  a  log-book, 
of  such  a  journey.  But  once — only  once  it  would  seem — Hugh  Bourne  preached  his 
way  from  Whitehaven  to  Darlington,  and,  as  usual,  his  Journal  is  not  wanting  in 
that  welcome  particularity  which  helps  to  illumine  the  past.  The  one  journey  he  describes 
may  stand  for  many  of  which  no  record  survives.  "What  Hugh  Bourne  once  did  was 
often  repeated  by  W.  Clowes  and  other  leading  missionaries  when  en  route  for  Hull. 

On  the  4th  of  August,  1831,  Hugh  Bourne  landed  at  Whitehaven  and  spent  the 
remainder  of  the  month  in  traversing,  chiefly  on  foot,  but  with  occasional  helps  by  the 
way,  the  district,  excluding  Carlisle  and  Hexham,  whose  first  missioning  we  have 
already  described.  He  found  W.  Garner  in  charge  of  the  Whitehaven  Branch.  He 
visited  many  families  in  company  with  Mr.  Garner,  and  took  part  in  services  at  White- 
haven, Harrington,  Distington,  and  Workington.  Then  he  took  coach  to  Penrith  and 
looked  up  Bro.  Featherstone.  A  congregation  was  got  together  and  Hugh  Bourne 
preached.  Xext  he  walked  twenty  miles  to  Alston,  through  "  a  tract  of  country  more 
dreary  than  any  I  saw  in  any  part  of  the  country.''  He  jots  down  some  particulars  as  to 
the  violence  and  freaks  of  the  "  helm-wind,''  peculiar  to  that  part  and,  in  his  careful 
vein,  notes  how  a  cheap  kind  of  fuel  is  made  in  the  district  by  means  of  "slack" 
(coal)  mixed  with  clay  and  formed  into  fire-balls.  Kow  ho  is  on  the  Alston  and 
Westgate  Union  Branch  of  Hull  Circuit  with  W.  Sanderson  as  its  superintendent,  and 
along  with  him  he  again  visits  many  families.  He  sees  Bro.  Walton,  and  is  the  guest  of 
Mr.  Muschamp  at  Brotherlee  one  night,  and  going  to  and  fro  he  visits  most  of  the  places 
we  have  had  occasion  to  mention — Allenheads,  Allendale  Town,  Middle  Acton,  Wearhead, 
Westgate,  and  Frosterley.  "The  pious,  praying  labourers  are  diligent,''  he  observes, 
"and  the  work  has  been  and  is  rather  extraordinary.''  A  revival  is  evidently  again  afoot 
in  these  parts.  Then  he  walks  to  Middleton — ten  miles — and  finds  twenty-one 
members  have  recently  emigrated,  one  of  these  being  Bro.  Kaine,  who  has  become 
a  preacher  in  Pennsylvania,  U.S.A.,  and  a  letter  from  whom  he  reads.  Assisted  with 
a  horse  he  now  goes  to  Brough,  where  the  quarterly  meeting  of  the  Barnard  Castle  Branch 
is  being  held,  and  he  spends  the  night  at  Mouthlock  with  Bro.  Hilton.     Barnard  Castle 


154  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 

is  his  next  stage,  which  he  reaches  partly  by  riding  Bro.  Hilton's  horse,  and  partly  by 
walking.  He  has  another  diet  of  visitation  here  in  company  with  Bro.  Harland,  the 
minister  in  charge  of  the  braDch.  "In  this  branch,"  he  notes,  "there  is  a  great  spirit 
of  prayer,  and  the  work  is  in  a  good  state.''  He  takes  Staindrop  on  his  way,  and  next 
day  sets  out  for  Darlington,  taking  care  to  call  at  Ingleton  in  order  to  share  the 
hospitality  of  Bro.  Emerson.  They  cross  over  to  Bro.  Young's  and  have  a  bout  of 
prayer,  and  Brother  Young  takes  him  forward  a  little  way  in  his  conveyance.  Their 
talk  is  not  about  beeves  or  crops,  but  about  camp  meetings.  Bro.  Young  tells  him  of 
"  a  confused,  unsteady,  inefficient  camp  meeting  he  had  lately  attended  in  a  neighbouring 
circuit ; "  and  Hugh  Bourne  has  his  own  remarks  to  make  on  the  cause  and  cure  of  this. 
"The  travelling  preachers  ought  to  be  called  to  their  answer  for  cutting  off  the  praying 
services."  So  he  comes  to  Darlington  and  Hurworth  for  Sunday,  August  28th,  having, 
in  his  religious  excursion  of  twenty-four  days,  preached  twenty-eight  times — thrice  in 
the  open-air — besides  attending  prayer  meetings  and  visiting  and  walking  an  indefinite 
number  of  miles.  Final]}',  because  the  Bipon  coach  was  full,  he  takes  the  coach  to 
Thirsk  and  walks  to  Ripon,  and  then  by  Leeds  and  Manchester  makes  for  home,  but 
falls  ill  just  before  be  reaches  it — which  we  cannot  much  wonder  at. 

During  his  itinerary  through  Hull's  North-Western  Branches  Hugh  Bourne,  it  may 
be  remembered,  had  met  with  Joseph  Walton  and  Mr.  J.  D.  Muschamp.  The  latter 
was  helpful  to  the  "Westgate  Society  when  its  first  chapel  was  erected  in  1824.  The 
land  for  the  site  was  given,  and  the  miners  in  their  spare  time  cheerfully  assisted  in 
the  erection.  Mr.  Muschamp  might  have  been  seen  hard  at  work  among  the  rest. 
Thirty  days  he  devoted  to  stone-getting  or  walling,  and  twenty  to  soliciting  subscriptions. 
But  presently  the  wink  was  brought  to  a  stand.  It  was  alleged  that  the  stones  in  the 
bed  of  the  burn  served  to  break  the  force  of  the  "spate,"  and  that  their  removal  would 
endanger  the  bridge  ;  hence  the  person  in  charge  of  the  bridges  of  the  district,  issued 
his  prohibition  against  the  taking  out  of  any  more  stones  for  chapel-building  purposes. 
In  some  way  the  matter  came  under  discussion  before  certain  magistrates  and  gentlemen 
at  Durham.  ""Who  are  these  Ranters'!"  was  the  very  natural  inquiry.  Some  one  well 
informed  as  to  the  facts  of  the  case  and  well-disposed  too,  it  would  seenij  stated  what 
had  been  the  moral  effects  of  the  entry  of  the  Primitive  Methodists  into  the  dale, 
especially  in  having  done  more  to  put  a  stop  to  poaching  than  gamekeepers,  magistrates 
and  prisons  together  had  been  able  to  effect.  On  hearing  this,  permission  to  take  as 
many  stones  from  the  bed  of  the  burn  as  might  be  necessary  to  complete  the  chapel  was 
readily  granted.  Once  more  Mr.  Muschamp  is  said  to  have  shown  himself  a  friend  in 
need.  "When  the  trustees  were  straitened  for  money  and  unable  to  meet  the  payment 
due  to  the  builder,  he  went  home,  sold  a  cow  and  gave  the  proceeds  to  the  building 
fund.  For  thirty  years  he  was  Circuit  Steward  and  Chapel  Treasurer,  dying  in  1858, 
at  Brotherlee,  on  the  small  patrimonial  estate  where  he  had  lived  for  eighty-three  years. 

It  was  just  two  months  before  Hugh  Bourne  preached  at  AVestgate  that  George  Race 
had  been  made  an  exhorter.  It  is  likely  enough  the  novice  both  observed  and  heard 
the  veteran  attentively,  though  they  might  not  have  speech  the  one  with  the  other. 
But  though  Hugh  Bourne  docs  not  mention  Mr.  Race's  name,  if  he  could  have  foreseen 
the  figure  this  new-tledged  exhorter  would  afterwards  become  in  the  dale  and  beyond, 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE. 


155 


MR.  GEORGE  RACE. 


he  would  certainly  have  referred  to  him,  as  we  are  bound  to  do.  It  would  be  rash  and 
invidious  to  affirm  that  George  Race,  sen.,  was  the  ablest  layman  Primitive  Methodism 
has  yet  produced.  It  is  quite  permissible  to  affirm  that,  for  sheer  mental  force,  there 
have  been  few  to  equal  him.  He  was  a  dalesman  and  made  no 
pretension,  even  in  speech  or  manner,  to  be  anything  else.  The 
miners  and  crofters  felt  that  this  village  store-keeper  was  one  of 
themselves,  and  yet  they  knew  that  mentally  he  was  head  and 
shoulders  above  themselves,  and  were  proud  and  not  jealous  of 
his  bigness,  of  which  he  seemed  hardly  aware.  For  there  was  in 
the  man  a  fine  balance  of  brain  and  heart ;  his  homeliness  and 
companionableness  drew  men  to  him,  so  that  the  relation  between 
him  and  his  friends  and  neighbours  was  like  that  of  a  chieftain 
to  his  clansmen — familiar,  but  respectful.  He  had  read  much, 
and  he  had  pondered  and  explored  and  discussed  with  his 
friends  the  underlying  problems  of  philosophy  and  religion.  In 
later  years  his  mind  was  greatly  drawn  to  geology  in  some  of  its  aspects — to  stratifica- 
tion and  denudation,  and  the  rest.  He  tried  to  find  out  how  these  valleys  and  hills 
amongst  which  he  loved  to  wander  had  become  what  they  were ;  how  the  valleys  had 
been  scooped  out,  and  the  course  of  the  torrent  scored,  and  the  hills  uplifted,  and  some 
of  his  doubts  on  the  accepted  conclusions  relative  to  these  matters,  and  his  own 
excogitations  thereon,  were  given  to  the  world.  Meanwhile  he  '  knew  whom  he  had 
believed.'  To  him,  ■'  conversion  was  the  abiding  miracle  "  and  Christian  experience  the 
basis  of  certitude.  Few  could  preach  with  the  same  power  and  acceptance  as  he  could, 
yet  he  was  easily  pleased  with  the  preaching  of  others,  for  his  faith  being  simple,  his 
heart  responded  to  the  ring  of  sincerity  in  the  utterance.  We  know  our  sketch  of 
George  Eace,  sen  ,  is  imperfect,  but  it  is  an  honest  attempt  to  hand  down  what  may 
serve  faintly  to  recall  some  of  the  features  of  this  dalesman  in  excelsis. 

George    Eace,  jun.,    worthily  fills   the  place  his  father  occupied  so  long.     Heavily 
weighted  as  he  is  by  the  responsibility  of  sustaining  and  carrying  onward  the  traditions 
and  memories  associated  with  the  name  he  bears,  that  responsibility 
is  being  bravely  and  steadily  borne.     More  would  we  say  were  he 
not,  as  happily  he  is,  still  amongst  us. 

In  this  upland  region  where  the  rivers  have  their  rise,  Methodism 
in  its  two  branches,  old  and  Primitive,  has  long  been,  as  it  were, 
the  established  religion.  These  moors  and  dales  have  received 
much  from  Methodism,  and  it  is  just  as  true  to  say  that  they 
have  given  much  to  Methodism  in  return.  So  far  as  our  own 
Church  is  concerned,  the  mere  enumeration  of  those  who  have 
gone  forth  into  its  ministry  from  these  parts  would  occupy  more 
space  than  we  have  at  command.  Were  we  to  add  to  these  the 
dalesmen  born  who  have,  like  their  own  rivers,  found  their  way 

to  the  lowlands  and  populous  centres  to  enrich  the  life  of  our  churches,  the  roll  would 
be  a  long  one  indeed.  We  have  only  to  think  of  the  Watsons,  Pearts,  Clemitsons, 
Elliotts,    Featherstones,  Gibsons,    Eeeds,  Emmersons,  Gills,  Phillipsons,  Prouds,  and 


MR.  GEORGE  RACE,  JUN. 


J.jG 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 


the  bearer  of  other  Northern  names -to  be  reminded  of  our  indebtedness.  The  few 
portraits  we  give  are  only  "on  account.''  One  of  these  is  that  of  Joseph  Gibson,  of 
Lrotherlee,  who  did  such  good  work  in  Liverpool  and,  humanly  speaking,  died  all  too 


KEV.    J.    CIBSON. 

soon,    in  October   1866. 


MK.    KALI"H    FKATHEHKTONE   RACK.  J|K-    J-    RITSON. 

Els. '.where  will  lie  found  that  of  Dr.  John  Watson,  of 
Ireshopeburn,  who  had  what  was  probably  the  unique  distinction  of  travelling  the 
whole  of  his  probation  in  his  native  circuit.  As  representative  laymen  of  this 
interesting  district  we  give  the  portraits  of  Mes,rs.  Joseph  Ritson,  of  Allendale,  Ralph 
Featherstone  Race,  of  Teesdale,  J.  Oibson,  and  J.  Elliott,  of  Weardale. 

Mr.  J.  Ritson,  of  Ninebanks,  West  Allen,  was  intimately  associated  with  the  work  of 
Primitive  Methodism  in  the  west  part  of  the  Allendale  Circuit.      Converted  in  Keenley 
under  the  ministry  of  Thomas  Oreener,  he  shortly  afterwards  removed  to  Ninebanks 
where  he  commenced  business  as  a  joiner  and  cartwright.     This  was  m  1833,  and  at 
that  time  wo  had  no  chapel  in  West  Allendale.     Largely  through  Mr.  Ritson's  efforts 
land  was  obtained  and  a  chapel  built  at  Carry  Hill,  three-quarters  of  a  mile  further  up 
the  Dale.        For  the  next  forty  years  he  was  a  leading  figure  in  the  society  and  laboured 
indefatigably   for   the   advancement   of  the  cause.       His  house   was   the   home   of    the 
preachers.      His  eldest  son  was  for  many  years  Circuit  Steward  ;   his  second  daughter 
became  the   wife  of  the  Rev.  R.   Clemitson, 
and  his  youngest  son    is   in  the  ministry  of 
our  Church  and  vice-editor.      Retiring  from 
business  in   1872,   he  removed  to  the  neigh- 
bourhood   of    Allendale    Town,    and    took    a 
leading  part  in  the   erection   of  the  present 
chapel.   He  died  July  26th,  1878.   Mr.  Ritson 
was  a  profoundly  religious  man;    "he  carried 
his  conscience  into  the  construction  of  a  cart 
wheel,  the  roofing  of  a  house,  the  making  of 
a  piece  of  furniture — each  must  be  a  sound 
piece  of  workmanship.'' 
The  two  honoured  ministers  named  above  may  be  taken  as  good  specimens  of  that  type 
of  men  of  which  this  interesting  region  is  the  matrix.     The  type  is  one  not  difficult 
to  recognise.     You   find   in   it  a   pronounced   sobriety   and   thoughtfulness,  in   perfect 


MR.   J.   GIBSOX. 


MR.    J.    KI.LIOTT. 


THE    PERIOD    OF    CIRCUIT    PREDOMINANCE    AND    ENTERPRISE. 


157 


REV.  HENRY  HEBBRON. 


keeping  with  the  austere  ami  solemn  beauty  of  the  outward  things  their  eyes  first 
looked  upon.  It  has  a  temperament  capable  of  quiet  and  sustained  enthusiasm.  It 
is  hard  and  solid  to  look  at  and  handle,  but  it  can  kindle  and  enkindle.  In  short  it 
is  the  anthracite  temperament.  The  dalesmen — using  the 
word  generally — have  the  temperament  and  the  tradition  of 
levivalism,  and  they  will  be  wise  for  themselves  and  for  the 
Connexion,  if  they  yield  to  their  temperament  and  conserve 
|  and  carry  on  the  tradition. 

Some  account  has  already  been  given  of  the  establishment 
|  of  our  cause  in  Hexham,  and  reference  has  also  been  made  to 
the  extensive  area  of  the  circuit  and  the  part  it  took  in 
early  missionary  operations.  Contemporary  journals  serve 
tn  complete  the  picture,  by  giving  us  glimpses  of  some  of  the 
more  notable  men  and  women  who  in  their  time  contributed 
to  the  working  and  maintenance  of  the  Hexham  Circuit. 
Invaluable  in  this  regard  is  the  manuscript  Autobiography  of 
the  late  Eev.  C.  C.  McKechnie,  who  was  on  the  station  in  1841-2 — just  at  the  end  of 
the  first  period.  Occasionally  we  shall  borrow  from  his  graphic  characterisations,  and 
by  so  doing  enrich  our  pages. 

After  a  time  the  old  Malt-kiln  was  left  for  the  chapel  in  Bull  Bank,  with  the 
preacher's  house  at  its  side.  This  served  the  uses  of  the  Hexham  Society  until  1*63, 
when  the  "  Hebbron  Memorial  Chapel "  was  opened.  Now,  after  other  forty  years  have 
passed,  a  remove  is  again  about  to  be  made  to  a  splendid  site  at  the  junction  of  four 
principal  streets,  not  more  than  one  hundred  yards  from  the  original  Malt-kiln.  The 
mention  of  the  "Hebbron  Memorial"  naturally  leads  to  a  reference  to  the  Kidley  family 
of  which  Mrs.  Hebbron  was  a  member.  At  the  time  Primitive  Methodism  was  first 
brought  to  Hexham,  the  brothers  Bidley  occupied  a  good  position  and  were  deservedly 
held  in  respect  in  the  town.  Though  associated  with  the  Congregational  Church  they 
showed  a  very  friendly  spirit  to  our  newly-planted  cause.  Their  only  sister  was  induced 
to  attend  the  services,  and  under  a  sermon  by  Rev.  W.  Garner, 
Miss  Ridley  was  led  to  make  the  great  decision,  and  to  cast  in  her 
lot  with  our  people.  A  little  romance  now  began  :  Miss  Bidley 
became  the  betrothed  of  Rev.  W.  Garner ;  her  friends  disapproved 
of  the  match,  and  took  their  own  method  to  ensure  its  being 
broken.  Each  thought  the  other  false  and  each  was  wrong.  But 
Miss  Ridley  was  destined  after  all  to  be  the  wife  of  a  Primitive 
Methodist  preacher.  The  Rev.  Henry  Hebbron  became  her  suitor, 
and  a  successful  one.  He  was  a  gentleman  by  birth,  and  un- 
mistakably one  in  appearance  and  manner,  and  with  expectations. 
This  time  the  fates  interposed  no  bar.  In  their  union  there  was 
a  convergence  of  several  ancestral  lines  associated  with  the 
evangelical  succession.  Miss  Ridley  belonged  to  a  family  which  could  boast  of  its  con- 
nection with  the  Ridleys  of  Williamsvvick — a  family  to  which  belonged  the  martyr  Ridley, 
while  on  the  maternal  side  she  was  related  to  Thomas  Scott  the  commentator.      On  his 


31 RS.    E.    HEBBRON. 


158 


PKIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


ME.  JAMES    DAVISON. 


side,  Mr.  Hebbron  was  the  cousin  of  the  Rev.  David  Simpson — the  author  of  the 
once  well-known  "Plea  for  Eeligion.''  Being  left  with  ample  means  Mrs.  Hebbron 
thought  to  carry  out  the  wishes  of  her  husband,  who  died  in  1860,  by  building  a  chapel 
for  the  denomination  in  Hexham.  On  the  day — June  24th, 
1863 — the  chapel  should  have  been  opened,  Mrs.  Hebbron  died, 
and  her  remains  were  brought  from  Potto  and  were  interred  by 
those  of  her  husband  in  Hexham  cemetery. 

P)esides  the  Ridleys  of  Hexham,  reference  must  be  made  to 
Mr.  James  Davison  of  Dean  Row.  Mr.  McKechnie  thus  speaks 
of  bim  : — 

"  In  the  west  part  of  the  Hexham  Circuit  we  had  some  most 
interesting  people,  among  the  rest  James  Davison,  schoolmaster 
of  Dean  Row,  stood  prominent.     Mr.  Davison  was  a,  remarkable 
man,   slow   and    somewhat    hesitant   of    speech,    but   clear   and 
penetrating  in   his    judgment,    consecutive    and    forcible   in  his 
reasonings,  and  withal  of  a  generous,  anient,  passionate  temperament.      He  con- 
tributed largely  to  the  building  up   and   consolidating   of  the   Hexham  Circuit, 
and  often  attended  district  meeting  and  conference  as  circuit  delegate." 

As  everybody  knows,  Dr.  Joseph  Parker  was  a  "  Tynechild" — born  and  brought  up  at 
Hexham.  Probably  neither  he  nor  his  father  was  at  any  time  actually  connected  with 
our  Church,  but  they  frequently  attended  its  services,  and  it  is  about  certain  that  much 
of  young  Parker's  early  preaching  was  done  in  connection  with  our  agencies,  and  that 
he  delivered  his  first  temperance  address  in  a  Primitive  Methodist  chapel.  Several  of 
our  ministers  were  frequent  visitors  to  the  home  of  the  Parkers,  and  with  the  Rev. 
R.  Fenwick  he  kept  up  an  intermittent  correspondence  almost  to  the  end.  Though 
therefore  we  may  not  be  able  to  claim  so  large  a  part  in  Dr.  Parker  as  in  C.  H.  Spurgeon 
or  Dr.  Landells,  we  may  fairly  claim  to  have  had  some  small  share  in  his  early  develop- 
ment.    Dr.  Parker,  however,  is  brought  in  here  mainly  because  of  his  early  relations 


REV.    ^.    1IALLAM. 


MRS.    HALLAM. 


REV.    HENRY   Y00LI-. 


with  Mr.  James  Davison.  Something  of  the  calibre  of  the  latter  may  be  learned  from 
the  famous  preacher's  juvenile  estimate  of  him.  In  a  letter  of  the  most  intimate  kind 
addressed  to  the  schoolmaster  of  Dean  Row,  he  says:  "Mr.  Davison  has  been  a  name 
ever  associated  in  my  mind  with  boundless  kindness,  cultivated    intellect  and  open 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE    AND    ENTERPRISE.  159 

straight-forwardness."*  "Mr.  Davison  and  Primitive  Methodist  Camp  Meetings!" 
was  the  exclamation  with  which  ho  greeted  his  old  friend  on  the  occasion  of  a  visit  paid 
to  Haydonbridge  long  after  he  had  become  famous.  Evidently  memory  still  retained 
in  her  niche  the  image  of  Mr.  Davison  as  the  representative  figure  of  Hexamshire 
Primitive  Methodism. 

In  Mr.  McKechnie's  manuscript  pages  we  get  pleasant  glimpses  of  his  colleagues  in 
the  Hexham  Circuit  in  this  year — 1842.  Two  of  these  bore  names  which  their  sons 
have  perpetuated  and  made  familiar  to  Primitive  Methodists  of  a  later  generation. 
Christopher  Hallam,  "warm-hearted,  genial,"  was  one  of  these,  and  Henry  Yooll,  "  a  man 
of  devout  spirit,  who  attended  well  to  pastoral  duties  and  was  well  received  as 
a  preacher,"  was  another.  Mrs.  Hallam  might  have  been  reckoned  as  yet  another 
colleague,  for  she  frequently  preached  in  the  Hexham  Circuit,  as  she  did  in  all  the 
circuits  in  which  her  lot  was  cast,  and  always  with  much  acceptance.  Indeed,  though 
Mrs.  Hallam  was  not  a  travelling  preacher  in  the  technical  sense,  she  was  known 
throughout  the  northern  counties  as  a  woman  of  special  gifts  and  usefulness.  Especially 
was  this  the  case,  as  we  shall  see,  in  Scotland  where  Mrs.  Hallam  left  enduring  memories 
of  herself.  Mr.  McKechnie  speaks  of  her  "  wide,  intellectual  outlook,"  and  claims  for 
her  that  she  had  a  mental  equipment  that  would  have  been  creditable  to  any  minister  of 
the  gospel. 

Mr.  McKechnie  makes  grateful  mention  too  of  the  kindness  and  connexional  loyaltj7 
of  the  Lowes  of  Cowburn  and  Galisharigg,  and  draws  an  interesting  picture  of  some  of 
the  Sunday  afternoon  services  at  Cowburn.  These  had  certain  features  all  their  own ; 
for  the  congregation  was  largely  made  up  of  stalwart  shepherds  from  the  hills  who,  as 
a  matter  of  course,  came  accompanied  by  their  collies.  The  dogs  were  expected  to 
behave  themselves,  and  usually  did  so,  lying  quietly  under  their  masters'  forms.  But 
sometimes  what  began  in  provocative  growls  would  end  in  a  downright  fight,  and  the 
preacher  had  to  pause  till  order  was  restored.  Mr.  McKechnie  had  his  turn  on  the 
Eothbury  Mission,  and  has  a  good  word  for  the  steward  of  Brinkburn  Priory  on  the 
East  Coquet,  who  was  a  warm-hearted  and  devoted  friend  of  the  cause ;  and  especially 
of  Mr.  Thomas  Thornton,  an  extensive  sheep-farmer  of  Cambo,  some  twelve  or  fourteen 
miles  south  of  Rothbury.  Mr.  Thornton  had  gathered  much  worldly  substance,  but 
subordinated  everything  to  religion.  He  was  a  loyal-hearted  Primitive,  entertained  the 
preachers  bountifully,  and  in  other  ways  supported  and  helped  to  extend  the  cause. 

For  twenty  years  Hexham  Circuit  enjoyed  the  distinction  of  having  within  its  borders 
the  owner  of  an  ancient  name  and  of  an  ancient  demesne,  who  was  as  thorough 
a  Primitive  Methodist  as  any  one  could  wish  to  meet.  Even  in  Northumberland,  where 
pedigree  counts  for  much,  Robert  Ingram  Shafto's  claim  to  belong  to  a  good,  old,  county 
family  was  unimpeachable.  Now,  though  our  early  preachers  in  their  incessant 
journeyings  to  and  fro  often  saw  the  stately  homes  of  England,  they  usually  saw 
them  through  the  park  palings,  or  from  a  distant  eminence.  They  seldom  came  in 
contact  with  the  owners  of  these  mansions  except  at  Quarter  Sessions.      It  was  indeed 

*  See  the  article  "Dr.  Parker"  in  "Primitive  Methodist  Quarterly  Review,"  April,  1903,  written 
by  Rev.  M.  P.  Davison,  the  son  of  Mr.  James  Davison.     The  date  of  the  letter  is  May  14th,  1850. 


Kill  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST   CHURCH. 

a  novel,  if  not  a  unique,  experience  to  be  able  to  feel  that  the  owner  of  Bavington  Hall 
was  a  brother  Primitive  ;  that,  notwithstanding  his  long  pedigree  and  his  rent-roll,  he 
had  his  name  in  the  class-book  ;  that  he  liked  nothing  better  than  to  have  Primitive 
Methodists  on  his  estate  and  round  his  table,  and  enjoyed  a  camp  meeting  with  as  much 
zest  as  his  shepherd  or  ploughman.  But  so  it  was  ;  and  we  need  not  be  surprised  if 
Squire  Shafto  and  Bavington  Hall  rather  impressed  the  imagination  of  our  people,  and 
if,  even  yet,  the  names  are  invested  with  a  certain  glamour.  Mr.  McKeclmie  was,  of 
course,  in  his  turn  a  guest  at  Bavington  Hall,  and  as  we  know  of  no  better  description 
of  it  than  the  one  he  has  given,  we  shall  here  borrow  from  it. 

"Bavington  Hall  stands  about  twelve  miles  north  of  Hexham,  on  the  borders  of  a 
rugged  tract  of  country  mostly  moorland,  which  stretches  away  in  monotonous  dreari- 
ness towards  the  Cheviot  Hills.  The  estate  to  which  it  belongs,  though  not  one  of  the 
largest  in  Northumberland,  covers  a  considerable  extent  of  country,  and  has  been  the 
property  of  the  Shafto  family  for  many  generations.  The  Hall  itself  is  not  a  specially 
attractive  object  in  the  landscape.  It  is  u,  spacious  but  heavy-looking  building,  with 
little  or  no  ornamentation,  evidently  constructed  more  for  comfort  and  convenience 
than  for  beauty  of  appearance. 

"Seventy  or  eighty  years  ago  Baxington  Hall  was  well  known  to  the  Primitives  in 
the  North  of  England.  Such  of  them  as  had  not  seen  it  had  often  heard  of  it.  It  had 
indeed  become  among  them  a  sort  of  household  word.  It  was,  perhaps,  the  only  house 
in  England  where  Primitive  Methodism  had  obtained  a  vital  connection  with  the  gentry 
of  the  country.  The  Sijuire  then  in  possession  was  a  younger  son  who,  after  finishing  his 
course  of  education  at  Cambridge,  had  settled  at  Sunderland  as  a  solicitor.  There  he 
came  under  the  influence  of  our  early  preachers,  experienced  the  regenerating  power  of 
God's  grace,  and  united  with  the  Society.  On  succeeding  to  the  Bavington  estate,  he 
did  not  hide  his  light  under  a  bushel.  In  <i  simple,  unostentatious  way,  without  noise 
or  parade,  but  not  the  less  effectually,  he  made  it  pretty  widely  understood  that  he  was 
a  Primitive,  and  intended  his  life  to  be  in  harmony  with  his  religious  profession.  He 
opened  a  communication  with  the  authorities  of  the  Hexham  Circuit,  invited  the 
preachers  to  the  Hall,  and  made  arrangements  for  the  formation  of  a  Society  and 
Sunday  school  for  the  holding  of  regular  preaching  services,  and  the  erection  of 
a  chapel.  The  work  of  evangelising  the  neighbourhood  on  Primitive  lines  also  com- 
menced in  good  earnest.  Not  only  in  the  surrounding  hamlets,  but  in  several  outlying 
farmhouses,  this  good  work  was  vigorously  carried  on.  Mr.  Shafto  himself  became 
a  local  pieacher,  and  had  his  name  on  the  preachers'  plan,  though  he  did  not  preach 
much.  He  considered  the  Sunday  school  his  proper  sphere,  and  for  many  years  he 
rendered  much  devoted  and  loving  service  as  school  superintendent.  To  strengthen 
the  infant  cause  and  increase  its  working  power,  members  and  local  preachers  from 
a  distance  were,  at  Mr.  Shafto's  instance,  offered  inducements  to  settle  on  the  estate  ; 
and  Bavington  soon  became  noted  all  round  the  country-side  as  a  centre  and  stronghold 
of  Primitive  Methodism.  While  liberally  supporting  circuit  and  connexional  funds, 
Mr.  Shafto  took  special  interest  in  our  liothbury  Mission.  For  a  while,  at  least,  it  was 
chiefly  sustained  by  himself  ;  and  the  preacher  stationed  there  was  encouraged  to  ask 
him  for  any  special  help  he  might  require  in  working  what  was  then  a  much-neglected 
and  semi-barbarous  region.  The  gentry  around  Bavington,  though  much  shocked  with 
Mr.  Shafto's  proceedings,  prudently  abstained  from  breaking  with  him  openly,  thinking, 
probably,  opposition  would  have  the  effect  of  increasing  rather  than  abating  the 
annoyance.     Mr.  Shafto  kept  little  company,  none  at  all  of  a  gay  or  worldly  character. 


THE    PERIOD    OF    CIRCUIT    PREDOMINANCE    AND    ENTERPRISE. 


161 


He  restricted  himself  almost  entirely  to  the  preachers  and  other  prominent  members  of 
the  Connexion.  The  Hall  was  seldom,  for  any  length  of  time,  without  company  of  this 
kind.  On  special  occasions,  when  preachers  of  note  were  present,  the  clergyman  of  the 
parish  would  probably  be  an  invited  guest  ;  but  it  was  noteworthy  that,  though  treated 
with  perfect  respect,  no  greater  deference  was  paid  to  him  than  to  our  own  preachers. 
To  all  intents  and  purposes  they  were  treated  alike 

"  Mr.  Shaf  to  was  a  modest, 
warm-hearted,  unpretending 
gentleman,  m-1io  might  be 
approached  and  conversed 
with  by  the  humblest  person 
with  the  utmost  freedom.  His 
personal  appearance  was  not 
impressive.  He  was  somewhat 
under  the  middle  size ;  his 
countenance,  though  pleasant, 
had  no  striking  features  ;  his 
dress  was  plain,  and  his  man- 
ners, while  perfectly  correct, 
were  simple  and  homely. 
Nature  had  not  gifted  him 
with  the  higher  qualities  of 
mind  ;  but  he  had  good  sense 
and  a  sound  judgment,  and 
his  University  education  gave 
marked  propriety  and  polish 
to  his  speech.  I  often 

noted  he  never  seemed  to 
tire  talking  about  Primitive 
Methodism.  So  completely  had 
the  Connexion  filled  the  orb 
of  his  vision  that  he  seemed 
to  take  little  cognisance  of 
other  churches.  The  Church 
of  England  he  regarded  as  a 
fallen  Church  hastening  to 
extinction  ;  nothing  could  save 
it— so  he  thought  and  said. 
Primitive  Methodism,  on  the 
other  hand,  would,  beyond  all 
doubt,  grow  and  multiply  and 
fill  the  land.  More  than  once 
I  have  heard  him  say  it  was 
sure  to  take  the  place  of  the 
State  Church  ;  and  the  wonder  to  him  was  that  everybody  did  not  see  this  as  clearly  as 
himself.  Such  sentiments  would  be  set  down  now-a-days  as  foolish  extravagance  ;  but 
it  ought  to  be  remembered  that  when  Mr.  Shafto  dreamt  these  dreams  and  saw  these 
visions,  the  Church  of  England  was  at  its  nadir,  while  Primitive  Methodism  was  like 
a  young  giant,  full  of  life  and  blood,  prodigal  of  its  strength,  and  marching  on  exultingly 
from  conquering  to  conquer.''  L 


HUGH   BOURNE  AT  BAVINGTON    HALL. 


162  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 

Hugh  Bourne,  as  well  as  others  of  the  fathers,  was  an  occasional  visitor  at  Bavington 
Hall ;  and  stories  are  not  wanting  of  the  way  in  which  its  mistress,  pleasant  hostess 
though  she  was,  would  take  note  of  his  idiosyncrasies,  and  would  engage  him  in 
discussions  in  which  the  advantage  was  not  always  on  his  side.  For  Mrs.  Shafto 
loved  an  encounter  of  argument  and  wit  and  was  a  woman  of  strong  convictions.  She 
rallied  him  on  his  extravagance,  plain  to  see  in  the  tell-tale  sediment  at  the  bottom  of 
his  cup  !  His  alarm  and  contrition  when  the  peccadillo  was  brought  home  to  him  was 
one  of  her  cherished  recollections.  She  vanquished  his  scruples  as  to  signing  the  pledge, 
and  though  he  claimed  "the  teetotallers  had  joined  him,"  he  came  out  from  that 
entrenchment  ami  admitted  the  cogency  of  her  arguments.  Many  a  scene  like  that  our 
artist  has  tried  to  picture  was  enacted  in  the  drawing-room  of  Bavington,  and  perhaps 
imagination  may  be  able  even  to  improve  upon  the  picture  the  artist  has  drawn.  But 
there  was  to  be  an  end  of  them.  Squire  Shafto  died  April  5th,  1S48,  and  a  new  Squire 
came  into  possession  who  knew  not  the  Primitives.  The  chapel  was  alienated  and 
a  blight  came  over  the  fair  prospect. 

"  So  sleeps  the  pride  of  former  days. 
So  glory's  thrill  is  o'er." 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND    ENTERPRISE.  163 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

THE   MAKING   OF    SUNDERLAND   DISTRICT  (continued). 

III. — The  Northebn  Mission. 

HE  story  of  the  Northern  Mission  has  now  to  be  told.  The  success  of  this 
mission  was  in  every  way  remarkable— so  remarkable  indeed  as  evidently 
to  have  been  beyond  expectation,  and  even  somewhat  embarrassing.  How 
the  new  territory  thus  gained  and  added  on  to  the  Connexion  was  to  be 
apportioned  and  administered,  raised  some  problems  which  had  at  once  to  be  dealt  with. 
Pre-existing  arrangements  were  modified.  A  new  District  unthought  of  at  the  Conference 
of  1823  was  extemporised.  Five  new  northern  circuits,  which  had  been  made  during 
the  year,  had  to  be  represented  at  some  District  Meeting.  The  district  to  which  they 
geographically  belonged  was  Broinpton,  which,  in  1823,  included  North  Shields  ;  but, 
as  we  see  from  the  Minutes  of  1823,  no  district  was  supposed  to  comprise  more  than 
six  circuits,  whereas,  if  Hexham,  Carlisle,  North  and  South  Shields,  Newcastle,  and 
Sunderland  sent  their  representatives  to  Brompton  District  Meeting,  that  District  would 
have  eleven  circuits  instead  of  six.  So  the  six  northern  circuits  were  provisionally 
formed  into  an  entirely  new  District,  which  had  its  first  meeting  at  South  Shields  on 
Easter  Monday,  1824.  The  Conference  Minutes  make  no  mention  of  this  fresh  grouping 
of  the  northern  stations ;  but  that  it  took  place,  and  that  there  was  for  one  year  a  South 
Shields  District,  is  clear  from  an  interesting  entry  in  N.  West's  Journal,  which  is  worth 
giving,  as  bringing  before  us  in  a  vivid  way  the  progress  the  Connexion  had  made  in 
the  northeastern  counties  in  two  short  years. 

"Monday,  April  19th. — Went  with  brothers  Anderson  and  Peokett  (delegates 
from  Sunderland)  to  South  Shields  District  [Meeting],  where  we  met  the  delegates 
from  North  Shields,  South  Shields,  Newcastle,  Hexham,  and  Carlisle.  The  District 
Meeting  lasted  till  Friday  the  23rd.  Much  peace  prevailed.  The  state  of  each 
circuit  was  prosperous,  the  whole  number  in  the  District  amounted  to  twenty 
travelling  preachers,  sixty-one  local  preachers  (not  including  exhorters),  and  3,632 
members.     We  have  great  reason  to  thank  the  Lord." 

Our  method  hitherto  has  been  to  relate  the  particular  history  of  a  circuit  to  the 
general  history ;  to  try  to  show  how  that  circuit  was  but  a  link  in  a  chain,  one  of 
a  series  of  stepping-stones,  a  brick  in  a  building,  supported  and  lending  support  to 
others.  Agreeably  to  this  method,  the  missioning  of  the  populous  towns  on  the  Tyne 
and  Wear  must  be  regarded  as  being,  in  its  beginning,  the  continuation  and  natural 
development  of  Hull's  Hutton  Rudby  and  East  Yorkshire  Missions.  In  1821,  Hutton 
Rudby  sent  Messrs.  J.  Branfoot  and  J.  Farrar  to  establish  a  cause  in  Guisborough, 
which  for  a  time  proved  very  successful.     After  this,  Mr.  Branfoot  found  his  way  to 

l  2 


164  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 

Newcastle,  where,  in  all  these  northern  parts,  the  human  grain  stood  thickest  and  ripest. 
We  say  he  "  found  his  way  "  advisedly  ;  for.  whether  he  had  a  roving  commission  to  go 
where  he  thought  he  could  do  most  good,  and  so,  in  the  spirit  of  a  true  Christian 
knight-errant,  bent  his  steps  to  the  capital  of  the  North;  or  whether  the  Hutton  Rudby 
Circuit  gave  him  a  definite  commission,  the  phrase  "found  his  way"  will,  in  either  case, 
suit  the  fact.  Though  as  yet  there  was  no  Primitive  Methodist  Society  in  Newcastle, 
there  were  those  resident  in  the  town  who  had  been  Primitive  Methodists,  and  who 
were  still  such  in  sympathy,  though  for  the  time  being  they  were  attached  to  a  sister 
community.  Among  these  were  Mr.  AYilliani  Morris,  whose  name  stands  on  the  first 
printed  plan  of  the  Tunstall  Circuit,  and  Mr.  John  Bagshaw,  also  a  local  preacher  of 
a  later  date,  and  who  was  shortly  to  become  a  travelling  preacher  in  the  Newcastle 
Circuit.  These  two  early  adherents  had  removed  from  Staffordshire  to  the  North  for 
the  sake  of  employment,  but  still  kept  in  touch  with  their  old  friends.  It  may  even 
have  been  that  when  Mr.  Branfoot  entered  Newcastle,  Mr.  Clowes  had  by  him  an 
invitation  from  these  two  old  comrades  to  visit  them,  and  was  only  waiting  the 
opportunity  t<>  accept  it.  The  visit  was  duly  paid  in  the  autumn  of  this  same  year,  and 
the  probability  is  that  it  was  paid  when  Mr.  Clowes  was  in  the  Hutton  Rudby 
neighbourhood.  It  was  during  this  visit  that  Clowes  preached  on  "  the  Ascension  of 
Christ "  with  telling  effect.  He  was  better  advised  than  Mr.  Branfoot  in  fixing  upon  the 
Ballast  Hills  rather  than  the  end  of  Sandgate  as  the  locality  for  his  service  ;  for  it  was 
in  the  Pandon  or  older  eastern  district  of  Newcastle  that  Primitive  Methodism  was 
destined  to  strike  its  earliest  roots.  It  chanced,  too,  that  on  this  first  of  August,  when 
Mr.  Branfoot  attempted  to  preach  near  Sandgate,  there  had  been  a  boat-race  on  the 
Tyne;  and  what  that  means  every  Tynesider  will  know.  Mary  Poiteus  was  there, 
and  she  has  told  us  that,  as  she  saw  Mr.  Branfoot  standing  on  a  stool,  with  the  rabble 
crowd  surging  round  him — some  swearing,  and  others  setting  dogs  on  to  fight — she 
thought  gospel-preaching  was  needed  there  and  then  just  as  much  as  when  John  Wesley 
preached  on  the  same  spot  eighty  years  before.  But  as  she  witnessed  the  good  man 
struggling  to  preach,  and  at  last  obliged  to  content  himself  with  words  of  warning  and 
exhortation,  she  thought  again  :  "  Surely  the  preacher  must  think  that  the  people  in  these 
northern  parts  are  little  better  than  heathens.''  The  service  broke  up  in  confusion, 
though  not  before  Mr.  Branfoot  had  announced  his  intention  to 
preach  in  Gateshead  on  the  following  evening.  This  he  did, 
standing  beneath  some  trees  on  the  very  spot  where  Wesley  had 
once  stood  to  declare  the  word  of  life.  This  time  the  service 
was  orderly,  and  the  preacher  spoke  with  power  from,  "I  am 
the  resurrection  and  the  life.'' 

It  should  be  noted  that  during  his  visit  to  Newcastle,  Mr.  Branfoot 
was  the  guest  of  Mr.  John  Lightfoot,  who  is  said  to  have  been 
converted  at  Durham  through  the  agency  of  William  Biamwell,  and 
through  his  good  offices  placed  in  a  business-house  in  Newcastle. 

JOBN    LIGHTFOOT.  ,  .       T  .    ,      . 

Mi:  Liglittoot  was  the  leader  of  two  classes,  and  an  active  worker  in 
the  Wesleyan  Church.  Mr.  Pranfoot's  visit,  though  a  brief  and  apparently  abortive  one, 
would  have  its  influence.     Later  in  the  day  of  this  same  first  of  August,  Mary  Porteus 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND    ENTERPRISE. 


165 


-was  surprised  to  receive  a  visit  from  Mr.  Lightfoot  and  his  guest.  She  counted  it  an 
honour  to  have  the  good  missionary  under  her  roof,  and  to  take  part  in  the  prayers 
which,  as  a  matter  of  course,  marked  the  visit.  Newcastle  made  ample  return  to 
Cleveland  for  sending  her  its  first  missionary ;  for  Mary  Porteus  began  her  ministry  in 
the  Guisborough  and  Whitby  Union  Circuit  in  January,  1826,  and  laboured  there 
two  and  a  half  years,  while  in  1827  John  Lightfoot  also  in  the  same  circuit  began  his 
useful  ministry  of  thirty-seven  years.  Thus  was  fulfilled  Christ's  saying :  "  Give,  and 
it  shall  be  given  you  ;  good  measure." 

When  next  we  get  an  authentic  glimpse  of  John  Branfoot  he  is  holding  a  service  in 
the  spacious  market-place  of  South  Shields,  which  has  long  been  a  favourite  pitch  for 
those  who  have  something  to  sell  or  tell.     He  himself  has  given  us  the  date  of  this 


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SOUTH  SHIELDS   MARKET-PLACE. 


first  service  :  "It  was  on  the  17th  of  December,  1821,"  he  says,  "when  we  first  opened 
the  place."  The  Market  Square,  as  Mr.  Branfoot  saw  it  in  the  dubious  light  of  that 
winter's  evening,  would  present  much  the  same  appearance  it  does  to-day,  except  that 
the  fronts  of  the  shops  that  line  three  of  its  sides  have  been  modernised.  In  the 
middle  stood  the  Town  House,  and  the  fourth  side  of  the  square  was  flanked  by  the  old 
church  and  its  graveyard.  This  service  was  in  every  way  a  contrast  to  that  which 
Mr.  Branfoot  had  attempted  to  hold  in  Newcastle.  The  goodly  number  that  gathered 
round — pilots,  fishermen,  miners,  coal-heavers,  glass-workers — were  used  to  criers  and 
vendors  of  all  sorts,  but  this  one  was  different  from  the  rest,  and  must  be  listened  to. 
So  tradition  tells,  that  as  they  stood  there  nothing  broke  the  silence  save  the  preacher's 
voice,  and  when  he  had  done,  men  and  women  still  lingered  as  though  loath  to  leave 
the  spot. 


166  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 

For  a  time  services  were  of  necessity  held  in  the  open-air ;  then  two  houses  in 
Waterloo  Lane,  now  Oyston  Street,  were  thrown  into  one,  and  the  room  thus  formed 
served  as  a  shelter  and  home  for  the  small  society.  This  room  was  a  workshop  also,  as 
well  as  a  shelter,  and  in  it  work  went  on  which  made  less  work  for  the  police-court  and 
public-houses,  and  ensured  better  work  being  done  in  the  mine  and  glass-works.  Some 
who  had  led  vicious  lives  were  reformed,  and  their  reformation  was  manifest  in  the 
town.  Those  who  had  known  their  former  manner  of  life  recognised  the  change,  and 
had  the  candour  to  acknowledge  that  "good  work  was  being  done  in  the  Ranters' 
room.''  So  the  society  soon  outgrew  its  first  habitation,  and  a  remove  was  made  to 
a  sail-loft  in  Wapping  Street,  hard  by  the  river.  The  third  and  topmost  story  of  this 
building  was  the  preaching-room.  It  was  reached  by  a  flight  of  stairs,  dark  and  steep; 
the  room  was  open  to  the  ridge  of  the  roof,  and  dimly  lighted  by  small  windows  eked 
out  by  a  few  slabs  of  glass  inserted  here  and  there  among  the  tiles.  This  room  was 
opened  for  worship  by  \\r.  Clowes  on  October  20th,  1822.  "The  room,"  he  says,  "is 
nearly  thirty  yards  long,  but  more  came  than  could  get  in.  At  night  the  congregation 
seemed  to  be  all  on  a  move.  There  was  a  cry  out  for  mercy,  and  two  got  liberty. 
This  meeting,  I  conceive,  will  never  be  forgotten."  There  was  no  persecution 
met  with  at  South  Shields  worth  speaking  of.  A  few  youths  might  now  and  again 
put  out  the  lights  on  the  stair-way  of  the  sail-loft,  or  let  sparrows  loose  in  the  room 
itself ;  but  this  was  only  their  way  of  finding  amusement,  and  these  youths  were  the 
very  material  out  of  which  promising  converts  were  made.  Indeed,  persecution  found 
no  favourable  soil  for  itself  in  these  northern  towns.  There  was  no  territorial  influence 
or  popular  sympathy  to  foster  it,  and  employers  of  labour  were  disposed  to  favour  rather 
than  to  discourage  a  movement  which,  in  its  first  evangelistic  phase,  was  so  plainly 
working  to  their  advantage.  So  the  sail-loft  was  crowded  and  converts  multiplied, 
until,  by  the  spring  of  1823,  we  find  the  society  deep  in  chapel-building.  A  piece  of 
glebe  land,  near  the  old  graveyard,  was  obtained  on  a  long  lease,  and  on  April  21st, 
1823,  the  foundation-stone  of  the  Glebe  Chapel  was  laid,  and  a  collection  of  £3  14s.  3d. 
taken  !  The  amount  suggests  that  the  society  was  financially  but  poorly  equipped  for 
the  formidable  task  to  which  it  was  committed ;  for,  with  the  exception  of  two  or  three 
tradesmen,  such  as  Messrs.  Edward  Kettleship,  Joshua  Hairs,  and  John  Robinson,  the 
members  were  worth  no  more  than  their  weekly  wage.  The  building  of  the  chapel  was 
not  contracted  for ;  it  was  done  by  the  day,  and  paid  for  as  the  work  proceeded.  The 
first  service  was  held  in  August,  when  it  was  a  mere  shell  of  a  building,  and  even  when 
it  was  formally  opened  in  November,  it  was  still  unfinished,  and  remained  so  for  some 
years.  It  would  seem  that  the  Glebe  might  have  been  lost  to  the  Connexion  in  this 
time  of  searching  and  trial,  had  it  not  been  for  Mr.  John  Robinson,  who  was  better  off 
than  the  rest.  By  diligent  trading  he  had  got  together  means  which  his  careful  and 
inexpensive  habits  of  life  made  it  easy  for  him  to  keep  together  and  increase.  He  came 
to  the  rescue  of  the  trustees  just  at  the  time  of  their  direst  need,  when  they  could  do 
little  more  than  pray  for  deliverance.  He  advanced  1460,  and  some  smaller  amounts 
were  advanced  by  others,  which  gave  a  measure  of  relief.  In  the  end,  Mr.  Robinson 
took  upon  him  the  whole  financial  responsibility  and  much  of  the  practical  management 
of  the  trust  estate,  and  bore  the  burthen  until  the  society  was  in  a  position  to  shoulder 


THE   PERIOD   OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE. 


167 


the  responsibility.  No  wonder  our  fathers  were  firm  believers  in  a  Providence,  and  had 
a  special  "  Providence  Department "  in  their  Magazine.  It  was  by  such  experiences  as 
these  the  conviction  was  inwrought  that  God  had  interposed  on  their  behalf.  That 
conviction  was  recorded  on  the  front  of  the  sanctuary  which,  in  no  conventional  sense, 
was  regarded  as  their  "Ebenezer'' — their  "  God's  Providence  House.''     "  What  building 


ME.    JOHN  BRACK. 


UK.     ALEXANDER    THOMPSON. 


is  this?"  asked  a  man  of  his  companion  as  they  passed  the  Glebe.  Before  the  other 
could  make  reply,  a  boy,  who  was  playing  among  the  rubbish,  broke  in  :  "  It's  the 
'Ranters"  Chapel."  "Why,  how  in  the  world  have  these  folk  got  such  a  building  as 
this  1 "  was  the  exclamation  of  this  "  man  of  the  street,"  expressing  a  surprise  natural  in 


MR.    GEORCE  BIRD.  MRS.    ROBINSON.  MR.    .T.    ROBINSON.  MR.    WILLIAM  OWEN. 

one  not  aware  of  God's  partnership  in  the  venture.  "  If  you  will  go  round  to  the  other 
side  you  will  see,"  said  the  boy.  They  went  and  read :  "  Hitherto  the  Lord  hath 
helped  us."  Joseph  Spoor  used  to  tell  this  little  anecdote  with  zest.  But,  indeed,  it  is 
more  than  an  anecdote ;  it  is  also  a  parable,  with  an  obvious  moral,  setting  forth  the 
history  of  many  of  our  early  chapels — notably  of  the  Glebe.     Despite  all  the  changes  of 


168  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 

the  years,  that  chapel  has  had  a  continuous  history.  There  is  still  the  Glebe  Chapel  as 
there  is  still  St.  Sepulchre  Street.  Eighty  years  have  but  served  to  impart  a  richer 
suggestiveness  to  the  old  name,  and  to  make  the  pious  legend,  "  Hitherto  the  Lord 
hath  helped  us,''  still  more  pertinent. 

Meanwhile,  during  this  prolonged  crisis,  the  spiritual  side  of  the  Church's  work  was 
diligently  attended  to  by  the  few  faithful  men  who  stood  to  their  posts.  The  whole  of 
Werewickshire — the  district  lying  between  the  Tyne  and  Wear — was  missioned  as  far 
west  as  Chester-le-Street,  Ouston,  Pelton,  and  the  collieries  by  the  "Wear  beyond 
Washington.  The  places  thus  opened  were  made  into  a  circuit  in  September,  1S2.S, 
Joshua  Hairs  being  the  first  Circuit  Steward.  "A  short  time  before  the  circuit  was 
formed,  a  few  members  from  the  sail-loft  missioned  the  colliery  at  the  west  end  of  the 
town  and  established  services  there.  A  class  was  soon  formed,  the  leader  of  which 
was  a  publican.  This  society  [Templetown]  met  in  cottages  and  other  places,  till 
circumstances  favoured  the  erection  of  a  small  place  of  worship."*  At  the  first  Circuit 
Quarterly  Meeting,  held  "December  9th,  1823,  there  were  twenty-three  places  with  552 
members;  three  months  later  the  membership  was  7(i(),  the  quarter  having  witnessed 
an  increase  of  208. 

Our  space  will  permit  us  to  do  little  more  than  allude  to  one  or  two  nut  of  the  many 
officials  who  have  contributed  to  the  extension  and  upbuilding  of  the  South  Shields 
Circuit.  Unfortunately  no  portrait  is  procurable  of  Mr.  John  Robinson,  whose  praise- 
worthy efforts  to  preserve  the  Glebe  to  the  Connexion  have  been  referred  to  ;  but  we 
give  the  likenesses  of  his  son — Mr.  John  Robinson,  shipowner,  and  late  Circuit  Steward, 
and  of  his  excellent  wife,  whose  life  was  full  of  good  works.  Other  faithful  men 
and  active  officials  were  Messrs.  George  Bird,  Richard  Buhner,  Alexander  Thompson, 
son-in-law  of  Rev.  John  Day,  and  father  of  lie  v.  J.  Day  Thompson,  J.  Brack,  a  most 
estimable  man,  and  William  Owen,  a  once  very  familiar  figure  to  the  riverine 
inhabitants  of  both  the  Shields,  who  could  preach  a  sermon,  and  steer  his  ponderous 
ferry-boat  across  the  Tyne,  with  equal  skill. 

North   Shielos. 

(.In  Tuesday,  February  5th,  1*22,  W.  Clowes  crossed  over  from  North  to  South  Shields, 
and  heard  J.  Branfoot  of  Hutton  Rudby  Circuit  preach.  Referring  to  South  Shields, 
he  writes:  "If  he  had  not  taken  it,  we  [the  Hull  Circuit]  should  now  have  taken  it. 
So  we  are  shoulder  to  shoulder.  I  think  we  are  now  likely  to  spread  through  the 
North.''  Only  three  days  before,  Clowes  had  arrived  from  the  Darlington  branch 
in  order  to  begin  a  mission  at  North  Shields.  He  had  come  at  the  invitation  of 
Joseph  Peart  who,  four  years  before,  had  left  his  native  Alston  Moor  and  was  now 
a  schoolmaster  at  Chirton.  Why  a  Wesleyan  local  preacher  in  good  standing,  as 
Joseph  Peart  was  at  the  time,  should  have  taken  such  a  step  as  this,  he  himself  has 
told  us.  The  explanation  he  gives  shows  that,  at  North  Shields  as  elsewhere,  there 
existed,  side  by  side,  two  variant  and  competing  types  of  Methodism  which  found  it 
difficult  to  live  and  work  together  without  friction.     The  experience — so  common  as 

*  Notes  by  the  late  lie  v.  John  Atkinson. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE.  169 

to  be  a  characteristic  of  the  time — goes  far  to  explain  and  justify  the  rise  and  spread 
of  Primitive  Methodism. 

"  One  day  I  was  alone  in  my  room,  studying  how  I  could  best  glorify  God  in 
supporting  His  blessed  work  ;  for  there  had  frequently  been  antagonists  to  great 
outpourings  of  the  Holy  Spirit  even  amongst  the  professed  members  of  the  Church. 
They  could  not  endure  the  natural  results  of  such  visitations,  but  looked  upon  it 
as  wildfire,  disorder,  confusion,  enthusiasm,  etc.  I  had  a  very  strong  debate  with 
a  professor  of  the  dead  languages  who,  as  well  as  myself,  belonged  to  the  society 
of  the  Old  Methodists.  While  contending  with  him  in  vindication  of  the  rationality 
and  great  utility  of  such  a  work  as  had  been  effected  in  North  Shields,  about  five 
years  previous  to  that  time,  by  an  extraordinary  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
he,  by  way  of  derision,  said,  'You  should  have  been  a  "Ranter"'  It  powerfully 
wrought  on  my  mind,  as  I  sat  in  the  room,  that  it  was  my  indispensable  duty  to 
send  for  the  '  Kanters '  (so  called).  The  circumstance  was  very  singular  ;  for  I  had 
never  heard  and  never  seen  any  of  them.  'I  was  not  disobedient  to  the  heavenly' 
call,  but  wrote  for  William  Clowes,  who  shortly  arrived  at  our  house,  and  stopped 
till  the  cause  got  established." 

Mr.  Clowes  had  preached  at  North  Shields  in  the  autumn  of  1821,  when  he  visited 
his  Newcastle  friends.  He  had  always  his  "  seed-basket "  with  him ;  and  he  had 
preached  during  this  flying  visit,  on  the  principle  of  "  sowing  beside  all  waters,''  even 
when  he  was  not  likely  to  enjoy  the  fruits.  Now,  however,  he  was  here  for  the  double 
purpose  of  sowing  and  reaping.  February  3rd,  1822,  is  reckoned  by  him  as  the  date 
when  North  Shields  as  a  new  outfield  was  first  opened.  On  that  Sunday  evening  he 
preached  at  the  lower  part  of  the  town,  in  a  schoolroom  belonging  to  Mr.  Webster, 
who  had  granted  them  the  use  of  it  for  a  month,  rent  free.  The  town-crier  was 
sent  round  to  let  the  public  know  what  was  afoot,  and  the  room  was  thronged.  Next 
night,  after  a  preaching  service  in  the  same  room,  the  first  class  was  formed  consisting 
of  three  members,  two  of  whom  became  travelling  preachers  before  the  year  was  out. 
One  of  these,  and  the  first  to  have  his  name  enrolled  as  member  and  leader,  was 
Joseph  Peart,  who  began  his  fourteen  years'  ministry  in  Hull's  north-eastern  branches. 
The  other  was  William  Summersides,  the  missioner  of  Carlisle  and  Whitehaven,  one 
of  Hull's  first  missionaries  to  the  United  States,  and,  on  his  temporary  return  in  1838, 
the  advocate  and  promoter  of  Protracted  Meetings.  When,  at  the  end  of  three  weeks, 
W.  Clowes  returned  to  Darlington,  he  had  formed  a  second  class  at  the  upper  part  of 
North  Shields ;  had  preached  at  Howden  Pans  "  to  a  thousand  of  a  congregation,  in 
general  well  behaved " ;  and  visited  Blyth,  "  where  there  appeared  to  be  an  opening 
for  the  work  of  the  Lord." 

With  an  improvement  in  its  "temporal  concerns,"  and  influenced  by  the  representations 
of  W.  Clowes,  the  March  Quarterly  Meeting  of  the  Hull  Circuit  decided  to  take 
over  the  Northern  Mission  from  Hutton  Eudby.  After  his  three  weeks'  experience, 
W.  Clowes  was  more  confident  than  when,  at  the  end  of  three  days,  he  had  written  : 
"  /  think  we  are  now  likely  to  spread  through  the  North."  Now  he  was  persuaded 
that  the  work  only  needed  to  be  pushed  forward  and  followed  up  vigorously  in  order 
to  be  a  signal  success,  and  it  is  evident  he  brought  his  brethren  to  see  as  he  did  and  to 
share  his  confidence.     So,  in  a  communication  to  the  Magazine  sent  by  Mr.  R.  Jackson 


170  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 

on  the  morrow  of  the  Quarterly  Meeting,  we  are  told:  "Brother  Clowes  left  Hull  on 
the  18th  inst.  for  Newcastle-on-Tyne,  Sunderland,  Shields,  etc.  We  are  going  to  send 
three  preachers  into  Northumberland  this  quarter.''  Then  follows  an  allusion  to  the 
favourable  opening  presented  by  Blyth,  on  which,  no  doubt,  Mr.  Clowes  had  dilated : 
"  There  appears  to  be  a  good  opening  in  one  town,  near  the  sea-side,  which  is  about 
140  miles  from  Hull." 

The  Hull  authorities  had  faith  in  the  future  of  the  Northern  Mission,  and  gave  bond 
for  their  faith  by  appointing  to  it  John  and  Thomas  Nelson  as  the  fellow-labourers  of 
AY.  Clowes.  The  brothers,  who  sprang  from  a  village  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Whitby, 
rendered  unforgettable  service  to  the  Connexion  in  its  early  days.  In  the  North  their 
names  are  deservedly  held  in  high  esteem.  Contemporary  journals,  biographies,  and 
tradition,  bear  concurrent  testimony  to  the  quantity  and  quality  of  the  work  they  did  in 
pioneering  Primitive  Methodism  in  the  eastern  parts  of  Northumberland  and  Durham. 
Of  the  two  brothers,  Thomas  Nelson  was  slightly  the  elder,  and  by  a  few  months  was  first 
in  the  field.  He  had  a  good  share  of  natural  ability,  and  a  more  than  common  zeal  in 
winning  nuils.  He  pleached  almost  exclusively  in  the  open-air  when  in  the  North, 
and  often  to  immense  congregations.  Whether  in  this  as  in 
other  cases  which  have  come  under  our  notice,  "the  fiery 
soul  o'er-informed  the  house  of  clay,"  and  subjected  it  to 
a  strain  that  could  not  long  be  endured,  we  know  not ; 
but  this  is  certain — Thomas  Nelson  travelled  only  seven 
or  eight  years.  His  last  circuit  was  Birmingham.  Here,  in 
1828,  his  health  failed,  and  he  settled  down  at  Kothwell, 
near  Leeds,  where  he  died  February,  1848,  aged  51  years. 
The  model  minister,  John  Wesley  tells  us,  should  have 
"  gifts,  grace,  and  fruit.''  Thomas  Nelson  shaped  himself 
after  this  pattern. 

John  Nelson  entered  the  itinerant  ranks  in  December,  1820. 
He  had  the  advantage  of  his  brother  as  to  physique,  being 
tall  of  stature  and  strongly  built,  his  countenance  pleasing,  and  his  presence  commanding. 
In  him  were  united  zeal  and  industry,  considerable  intellectual  power  and  fluent  utter- 
ance— a  combination  of  qualities  which  naturally  rendered  his  ministry  popular  and 
attractive.  John  Nelson  entered,  too,  ihe  ranks  of  authorship  ;  but  he  took  his  place 
there  as  the  precursor  of  J.  A.  Bastow,  John  Petty,  James  Garner,  and  Thomas 
Greenfield,  not  as  a  Biblical  scholar  or  systematic  theologian,  but  as  a  preacher  still. 
The  volume  of  "  Sermons  and  Lectures"  he  published — the  bulkiest  and  highest-priced 
book  as  yet  given  to  the  press  by  a  Primitive  Methodist  preacher — was  a  souvenir 
of  his  ministry  in  Hull  in  1828 — 9.  It  consisted  of  a  series  of  discourses — doctrinal, 
practical,  and  experimental — delivered  on  Sunday  evenings  when,  in  his  turn,  he 
occupied  the  town  pulpit.  Unfortunately  for  our  Church  and  unfortunately  for 
himself,  too,  we  believe,  John  Nelson  afterwards  withdrew  from  the  Connexion.  But 
this  withdrawal  did  not  take  place  until  some  years  after  the  time  of  which  we  are 
writing,  and  does  not  concern  us  here. 

Close  upon  a  year  after  their  appointment  to  the  North  Mission,  the  three  yoke- 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE.  171 

fellows  met  at  North  Shields,  for  the  purpose  of  attending  the  preparatory  Quarterly 
Meeting.  They  slept  under  Dr.  Oxley's  roof,  which  for  once  failed  to  afford  a  safe 
shelter.  A  tragedy  like  that  which,  in  the  night  of  February  27th,  1903,  was  fatal 
to  the  estimable  W.  R.  de  Winton,  was  all  but  rehearsed.  Seldom  are  men  brought 
so  near  death  and  escape  scathless.  Well  might  W.  Clowes  prefix  to  his  account  of 
their  common  deliverance  the  words  of  the  Psalmist,  "  He  shall  give  His  angels  charge 
over  thee;''  for  death  brushed  them  with  his  wings  as  he  passed,  and  yet  no  harm 
befell  them.  It  was  the  early  morning  of  Monday,  March  3rd,  1823.  W.  Clowes 
was  roused  from  sleep  by  the  noise  of  the  wind,  which  had  risen  to  a  perfect  hurricane. 
Scarcely  had  he  dressed  when  a  stack  of  chimneys  crashed  through  the  roof  and  broke 
in  the  floors.  When  ho  and  his  alarmed  companions  made  for  the  stairs  they  found 
them  blocked  by  the  fallen  roof.  How  under  these  circumstances  they  contrived  to 
escape  is  not  very  clear ;  but  escape  they  did.  The  local  chronicler  notes  the  preservation 
of  Dr.  Oxley  and  his  family,  but  he  does  not  know — as  how  should  he  1 — what  the 
preservation  of  Dr.  Oxley's  guests  meant  for  Primitive  Methodism.  The  loss  of 
Messrs.  Branfoot  and  Hewson  by  misadventure  on  the  Hetton  waggon-way  on 
February  26th,  1831,  was  a  heavy  blow;  the  loss  of  W.  Clowes  and  the  Kelson 
brothers  in  the  great  storm  of  1823  would  have  been  a  disaster.'" 

The  preparatory  Quarterly  Meeting  held,  as  we  have  said,  on  the  day  of  this  hair- 
breadth escape,  proposed  that  North  Shields  should  be  made  a  circuit.  Considerable 
progress  must  have  been  made  during  the  year  to  warrant  the  taking  of  such  a  step. 
So  late  as  June,  1822,  the  membership  of  the  Northern  Mission  was  but  seventy. 
Since  then  the  Mission  had  been  divided  into  the  North  and  South  Shields  branches, 
with  an  aggregate  membership  of  681,  almost  equally  divided  between  the  two  branches. 
In  addition  to  these,  Stockton  Mission,  which  since  June  had  increased  its  membership 
from  79  to  114,  was  soon  to  be  incorporated.  What  was  more,  a  footing  had  been 
gained  in  the  important  towns  of  Sunderland  and  Newcastle,  under  circumstances 
shortly  to  be  narrated.  The  outlook  had  appeared  so  promising  that  the  Hull  December 
Quarterly  Meeting  determined  to  send  reinforcements,  and  eight  missionaries  were  now 
at  work — three  North  of  the  Tyne,  three  at  South  Shields,  and  two  on  the  Stockton 
Mission,  of  whom  N.  West  was  one.  The  Journals  of  the  missionaries  show  that 
these  results  had  not  been  accomplished  without  hard  work,  often  performed  under 
trying  conditions.  A  six  weeks'  storm  in  the  first  two  months  of  1823  had  blocked 
the  roads  with  snow-drifts,  so  as  to  make  travelling  hard  and  risky.  For  a  whole 
week  no  Western  or  Northern  mails  had  entered  Newcastle,  and  the  inhabitants  saw 
with  astonishment  the  South  mails  carried  on  the  backs  of  thirteen  saddle-horses. 
Travellers  found  themselves  storm-bound  in  country  inns  and  running  short  of  pro- 
visions, as  though  they  were  in  a  beleaguered  fortress.  Clowes  speaks  of  having 
witnessed  distressing  shipwrecks  on  South  Shields  sands,  and  having,  at  Sunderland, 

*  Sykes'  "  Local  Records  "  refers  to  this  incident  of  the  great  storm.  Clowes'  words  are :  "  We 
therefore  contrived  to  escape  by  the  top  of  the  roof,  which  lay  then  on  the  stair-case,  holding  ourselves 
by  the  wall."  Some  years  later  than  this  a  Dr.  Oxley  befriended  our  cause  in  London.  Whether 
we  have  here  a  mere  coincidence  of  name  we  are  unable  to  determine.  The  good  doctor  might 
have  removed  in  the  interim. 


172 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHUKCH. 


offered  public  thanksgiving  on  behalf  of  several  sailors  who  had  escaped  with  their 
lives.  And  yet,  "fair  or  foul,  snow  or  shine,''  the  missionaries  went  on  with  their 
work.  We  get  glimpses  of  Clowes  preaching  at  Xorth  Shields,  in  New  Milburn  Place 
and  on  the  New  Quay.  We  see  him,  in  conjunction  with  John  Nelson,  visiting 
Newbiggen  and  Morpeth.  Newbiggen  was  so  little  accustomed  to  the  Gospel  that  it 
hardly  knew  what  to  make  of  the  evangelists  :  "  Some  few  gathered  round,  but  others 
stood  at  a  distance  as  if  frightened."  At  Morpeth  they  sent  the  town-crier  round,  and 
then  preached  at  the  Town  Cross.  "  Several  did  not  behave  well ; "  one  man  in 
particular  raised  a  clamour,  and,  from  his  movements,  seemed  to  be  intending  an 
onset  on  the  preacher,  but  Clowes  "  endeavoured  to  fix  him  with  his  eye,  and  waited 
upon  God.''     Already  we  see  there  were  good   societies  at  Percy  Main  and  Benton 

Square.  Still,  the  great  ingathering  was 
yet  to  come.  Clowes  and  John  Nelson 
both  moved  off  after  the  Conference  of 
1823,  and  Jeremiah  Gilbert,  of  prison 
fame,  was  for  two  years  the  leading 
missionary  of  North  Shields  Circuit. 
He  speaks  of  "our  noble  chapel,"  in 
which  he  began  his  ministrations. 
Union  Street  Chapel  was  centrally 
situated  and  well  attended,  but  an  ad- 
jective more  appropriate  than  "noble" 
might  have  been  found  to  hit  off  its 
appearance  and  character.  In  the  end 
it  came  to  be  a  burden  and  an  embar- 
rassment. So  much  was  this  the  case 
that,  when  Mary  Porteus  was  stationed 
to  the  circuit  in  1836,  leave  was  ob- 
tained for  her  "  to  take  an  extensive 
tour  to  collect  funds  through  Yorkshire, 
Lincolnshire, and  elsewhere  where  Provi- 
dence might  direct."  Union  Street  was 
happily  superseded  by  Saville  Street 
Chapel,  opened  March,  1861,  when  the 
Rev.  Thomas  Smith  was  superintendent. 
Shortly  after  J.  Gilbert's  arrival — July  20th,  1823 — a  notable  circuit  camp  meeting 
was  held  on  Scaffold  Hill,  at  which  more  than  twenty  persons  were  converted.* 
Thomas  Nelson  and  George  Wallace  were  two  of  the  six  travelling  preachers  who  took 
part.  Wallace  was  a  native  of  the  district,  who  ran  his  short  course  from  July,  1823, 
to  March,  1821,  and  probably  died  a  martyr  to  excessive  toil.  Only  a  month  before 
his  death  he  walked  from  Wingate  to  Kirkwhelpington,  a  distance  of  seventeen  miles, 
in  snow  and  rain,  and  preached  at  night.       "  It  put  me  forcibly  in  mind,"  says  he, 


SAVILLE    STREET   CHURCH,    NOKTH    MHIELI 


*  The  "Extract  from  the  Journals  of  Jeremiah  Gilbert' 
by  J.  K.  Pollock,  Camden  Street. 


was  printed  in  1K2-1,  at  North  Shinlds, 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT    PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE.  173 

"  of  some  of    the  first  Methodist  preachers  and   the  missionaries.     There  were  great 

mountains,  and  crags,  and  burns  to  go  over,  which  sometimes  nearly  exhausted  my 

strength."     "When,  in  December,  1823,  Newcastle  became  an  independent  circuit  and 

Morpeth  a  branch  of  North  Shields,  there  were  seven  preachers  on  the  ground  instead 

of  three,  and  near  800  members  where,  in  March,  there  had  been  335.     The  anthracite 

had  fairly  caught  fire.     From  this  time  Newcastle  and  North  Shields  went  each  its 

own  way,  and  the  missionary  efforts  of  the  parent  circuit  had  necessarily  to  be  confined 

to  the  north — to  the  country  lying  between  the  Blyth  and  the  Tweed.     In  this  part 

of  Northumberland  the  Connexion  has  now  six  stations,  all  of  which  can  trace  their 

descent  from  North   Shields  Circuit,   viz.,  Seaton  Delaval,   Blyth,  Ashington,  Amble, 

North  Sunderland,  Lowick,  and  Berwick.     Had  success  been  at  all  proportionate  to 

the  amount  of  toil  expended,  Morpeth  and  Alnwick  would  have  been  found  in  this 

list ;  for  both  were  early  branches  of  North  Shields,   though  they  never  grew  to  be 

circuits,  and  after  a  time  ceased  to  be  even  branches.     Morpeth  has  had  a  chequered 

history.    Beginning  as  a  branch  of  North  Shields,  it  was  afterwards  served  by  Hexham. 

In  1836,  with  its  twenty  members,  it  reverted  to  North  Shields.     Much  later  it  was 

remissioned  by  Blyth,  and  is  now  included  in  Ashington,  one  of  the  new  progressive 

circuits  that  owe  their  rise  to  the  sinking  of  collieries  further  north.     As  for  Alnwick, 

the  capital  of  the  county,  we  have  nothing  to  show  for  some  years  of  labour.     We  may 

visit  the  lJuke  of  Northumberland's  famous  castle,  said  to  be  one  of  the  most  magnificent 

baronial  structures  in  all  England  ;  but  we  shall  look  in  vain  for  a  Primitive  Methodist 

chapel  or  preaching-room.     And  yet,  W.  Lister,  Mary  Porteus,  and  other  missionaries 

lived  here  in  the  'Twenties  and  'Thirties,   and  made   Alnwick   the  centre  of  earnest 

evangelistic  efforts. 

Mr.  Lister  was  on  the  Alnwick  branch  from  January  to  April,  1 829,  and  again  for 
two  months  in  1830.  We  give  an  item  from  his  Journal,  which  shows  that  the  future 
President  and  Book  Steward  could  cheerfully  endure  privations  : — 

"During  the  months  of  July  and  August  (1830),  I  missioned  about  »  dozen 
of  the  villages.  I  often  had  long  journeys,  much  hard  fare,  made  my  breakfast 
and  dinner  at  times  by  the  side  of  a  spring  of  water,  with  a  pennyworth  of  bread 
bought  at  some  village  shop.  Yet  these  were  trifles  to  what  my  Master  had 
to  go  through  in  preaching  among  the  villages.  The  rjrosperity  of  the  work 
sweetened  all." 

The  same  Journal  speaks  of  a  crowded  Missionary  Meeting  held  in  the  Town  Hall 
of  Alnwick,  at  which  Brothers  Herod,  Clough,  W.  Garner,  J.  Parrott,  and  W.  Lister 
were  the  speakers.  "Next  day"  (March  2nd,  1830),  says  Mr.  Lister,  ''I  walked,  in 
company  with  the  other  four  brethren,  twenty-five  miles  to  Bedlington,  where  we  held 
a  Missionary  Meeting.      Next  day  walked  home  [to  North  Shields]  twelve  miles."* 

Still  the  efforts  put  forth  on  the  somewhat  niggard  soil  in  and  around  Alnwick  were 
not  altogether  in  vain,  as  the  biographies  and  journals  of  some  of  the  workers  show. 
If  the  societies  were  numerically  feeble,  and  mostly  made  up  of  the  poor  of  this  world, 
there  were  amongst  them  some  men  and  women  of  high  principle  who  did  no  discredit 

*  MS.  Journals  of  the  ltev.  \V. -Litter. 


174 


PKIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


to  the  Connexion.  Such,  assuredly,  was  the  aged  woman,  a  member  of  the  Alnwick 
society,  who,  too  poor  to  pay  her  weekly  class-pence,  still  recognised  her  Christian 
obligations  and,  in  the  spirit  of  Northumbrian  independence,  explained  to  the  minister 
who  led  the  class,  "  I  clean  the  chapel  Jor  my  privileges." 

The  most  notable  achievement  of  North  Shields  Circuit  in  the  early  days,  was 
undoubtedly,  next  after  the  planting  of  our  Church  in  Newcastle,  the  missioning  of 
Berwick-on-Tweed.  The  first  on  the  ground  was  William  Clough.  He  began  his 
mission  on  January  4th,  1829,  by  preaching  on  Wallace  G-reen,  and  also  in  a  large 
room  he  had  taken  on  rent.  During  the  three  months  he  spent  on  the  mission, 
Mr.  Clough  established  preaching-stations  on  both  sides  of  the  border,  instituted 
a  Sunday  afternoon  service  at  the  Town  Hall  steps,  preached  to  the  prisoners  in  the 
jail,  and  laid  the  foundation  of  the  Berwick  society.  Mr.  Lister,  who  followed  him, 
is  rightly  regarded  as  having  been  the  maker  of  Berwick  Circuit.     He  it  was  who, 


Old  Bridge,  Berwick-on-Tweed 


OLD   BRII1CE,    BERWICK-OX-TWEED. 


building  along  the  lines  already  laid  down,  prepared  the  mission  for  circuit  independence, 
which  was  granted  in  1831.  Himself  a  fruit  of  the  Northern  Mission  and  called  into 
the  ministry  by  North  Shields,  his  home-circuit  (1827),  Mr.  Lister  seems  to  have 
understood  the  Northumbrian  and  Scottish  type  of  character,  with  which,  indeed,  his 
own  had  many  points  of  affinity.  This  sympathetic  insight  of  one  who  was  in  the 
full  vigour  of  early  manhood  and  prodigal  of  his  strength,  made  his  double  term  of 
service  in  Berwick,  and  his  year  in  Edinburgh  (then  a  branch  of  Berwick),  remarkably 
successful.  During  his  first  term  of  fifteen  months  in  Berwick,  he  preached  every 
Sunday  afternoon,  from  April  to  September,  at  the  Town  Hall  steps,  often  to  as  many 
as  two  thousand  people.  Places  as  far  distant  as  Kelso,  in  Scotland,  were  visited, 
rooms  hired,  and  services  held,  with  the  view,  if  possible,  of  establishing  new  causes. 
A  friendly  arrangement  was  entered  into  by  which  Wooler  and  two  other  societies 


WILLIAM   FULTON. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT    PREDOMINANCE    AND    ENTERPRISE.  175 

were  taken  over  from  the  Bible  Christians.*  A  chapel  capable  of  holding  six  hundred 
people,  also  a  schoolroom  and  a  manse  were  built  (February,  1830) ;  and,  although  the 
debt  left  on  the  property  afterwards  proved  burdensome,  the  acquisition  of  these 
buildings  so  soon  after  the  beginning  of  the  mission,  was  something  of  a  feat.  Converts 
were  made  like  W.  Fulton  and  Adam  r»odds,  both  of  whom 
afterwards  spent  two  terms  of  ministerial  service  in  Berwick, 
to  the  great  advantage  of  the  circuit.  Another  convert  was 
Dr.  W.  Landells,  the  once  well-known  minister  of  Begent's  Park 
Chapel,  who  for  some  time  was  a  local  preacher  in  the  Berwick 
Circuit.  In  1833,  Mr.  Lister  began  his  second  term  of  three 
years  in  the  circuit  under  disheartening  conditions.  The  interests 
of  the  station  had  recently  suffered  from  ministerial  bickerings, 
of  which  the  public  were  but  too  fully  aware.  The  circuit 
had  gone  backward  instead  of  forward.  Retrogression  was  writ 
large  on  its  poor  manuscript  plan  showing  only  six  places.  The  one 
chapel  of  the  circuit  was  in  difficulties,  the  mortgagee  threatening 
to  foreclose.  But  the  new  preacher  was  known,  and  received  a  cordial  welcome  that 
was  of  good  omen.  The  same  methods  which  had  proved  so  successful  four  years  before 
were  again  adopted,  with  the  result  that  a  new  era  of  progress  set  in.  Eyemouth,  which 
had  been  missioned  in  1830  and  afterwards  abandoned,  now  asked  for  the  resumption 
of  services,  and  in  October,  1835,  a  new  chapel  was  opened  for  its  twenty  members. 
In  June,  1834,  Edinburgh  Mission  was  transferred  to  Glasgow,  and  at  the  following 
Quarter  Day  Alnwick  branch  was  re-attached  to  North  Shields.  When  Mr.  Lister 
was  leaving  Berwick  in  1836,  he  could  write:  "Through  the  blessing  of  heaven,  we 
leave  120  more  members  than  we  found,  one  new  chapel,  nineteen  places  missioned, 
Berwick  chapel  relieved  of  its  financial  difficulties,  and  all  old  circuit  outstanding 
bills  paid  off." 

There  are  one  or  two  peculiarities  connected  with  the  planting  and  subsequent 
history  of  our  Church  in  north-east  Northumberland  that  may  briefly  be  pointed  out. 
One  thing  we  cannot  find — persecution.  More  than  this :  in  no  other  part  of  England 
did  our  missionaries  receive  such  civil  treatment  from  all  classes,  and  in  none  were 
they  taken  more  seriously  and  listened  to  more  attentively.  There  were  many  places  in 
England  where  the  missionary  no  sooner  began  his  service  than  the  bells  were  set  a-ringing 
to  drown  his  voice ;  there  were  still  more  places  where  the  bells  were  rung  only  at  the 
prescribed  times — missionary  or  no  missionary ;  but,  as  far  as  we  are  aware,  Berwick 
was  the  only  place  where  the  bells  were  stopped  ringing,  even  at  the  authorised  times, 
so  that  the  open-air  service  might  not  be  interrupted.  Like  the  Berceans  of  old,  the 
people  of  Berwick  were  "ready  to  listen,  willing  to  inquire."  Probably  the  attitude 
of  the  people  to  our  early  missionaries  may  be  explained  by  the  extent  to  which  the 
seriousness  and  thoughtfulness  native  to  the  Northumbrian  character,  have,  through 
the  long-prevalent  influence  of  Presbyterianism,  taken  the  bent  towards  a  non-priestly 
religion — a  religion  which  regards  the  Bible  and  pulpit  with  instinctive  reverence. 

*  It  was  a  pious  female  named  Mary  Ann  "Weary,  from  Cornwall,  who  was  the  founder  of  these 
societies.     She  alleged  the  mission  was  begun  in  obedience  to  a  divine  impression. 


176  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHUKCH. 

Certainly  here,  if  anywhere,  the  preacher  starts  with  the  great  initial  advantage  that 
there  is  a  recognised  presumption  in  his  favour,  and  it  will  be  his  own  fault  if  he  fails 
to  justify  that  presumption,  and  does  not  succeed  in  turning  the  sentiment  of  deference 
into  a  reasonable  and  well-grounded  respect. 

But  our  history  shows  that  Presbyterianism  can  take  as  well  as  give,  and  that  she 
has  enjoyed  a  large  reversionary  interest  in  the  evangelistic  movements  our  Church  has 
carried  on  in  her  midst.  From  the  beginning,  Berwick  Circuit  has  given  many  to 
other  communities.  Every  revival — and  there  have  been  many  of  them — has  enriched 
the  Churches.  Such  was  notably  the  case  after  the  Eyemouth  revival  of  1859,  in 
which  the  Rev.  J.  Snaith  took  a  leading  part  at  the  beginning  of  his  ministry.  No 
doubt  the  loss  was  greater  in  the  early  days,  vihen  chapels  were  few  and  accommodation 
scant ;  but  some  fruit  was  lost  even  after  store-rooms  were  provided.  Of  course 
statistics  are  not  available.  If  they  were,  we  venture  to  say  the  disclosure  would 
be  startling  as  to  the  number  of  members  and  officials  of  other  Churches  who  received 
their  definite  call  to  the  Christian  life  through  the  agency  of  Primitive  Methodism. 
The  late  Kev.  "W.  Fulton,  writing  in  18G8,  says:  "There  are  no  Churches  in  Berwick, 
the  Romanists  excepted,  which  have  not  benefited  by  our  ministry.''  What  W.  Clowes 
said  in  1820  applies  with  special  force  to  Berwick:  "It  is  true  we  have  received 
assistance  from  our  friends  by  a  few  class  leaders,  local  preachers,  and  others  coming 
to  us  but  for   every  old   sheep   received,  we   have  given   in  lieu  at  least  two 

fat  lambs.'' 

It  would  be  interesting  to  know  how  many  ministerial  probationers  have  travelled 
the  Berwick  Circuit  and  its  offshoots,  and  how  many  ministers  Beiwiek  has  pledged 
during  the  course  of  its  history.  In  the  eighteen  years,  from  1855  to  1873,  the  pledges 
of  no  less  than  ten  ministers  were  accepted,  amongst  them  those  of  John  Waite, 
John  Gill,  Hugh  (iilmore,  and  K.  G.  Graham.  A  large  proportion  of  the  ministers 
of  the  old  Sunderland  District  had  their  turn  of  service  in  this  border  region  soon 
after  they  had  put  on  the  harness,  so  that  Berwick  has  been  a  veritable  training-ground 
for  the  ministry.  At  first  sight  there  would  seem  to  be  little  connection  between  these 
facts  and  the  situation  and  physical  characteristics  of  the  district  these  young  men 
heliied  to  evangelise.  But  the  connection  is  not  difficult  to  trace;  they  are  the  first 
and  last  links  in  a  chain  of  causation.  It  is  the  country,  such  as  we  find  it,  that  has 
limited  the  expansion  of  industrialism  and  checked  the  natural  growth  of  population. 
The  intermediate  links  of  the  chain  are  obvious  enough.  Even  churches  cannot  escape 
the  working  of  the  laws  of  political  economy.  All  that  can  be  done  is  to  recognise 
their  working  and  to  seek  to  minimise  their  disadvantages;  and  this  has  been  the 
course  pursued  in  relation  to  Berwick.  The  industrial  revolution  which,  in  other  parts 
of  the  country,  has  multiplied  mines  and  manufactories,  and  doubled  or  trebled  the 
population,  has  done  little  for  Berwick  except  to  draw  off  and  provide  work  and  food 
for  its  surplus  hands  and  mouths.  When  we  find  that  Berwick,  the  chief  town  of  this 
district,  had  but  ('.79  more  inhabitants  in  1S!H  than  it  had  fifty  years  before,  and  that 
in  181)1  the  population  was  actually  less  by  617  than  it  was  in  1881,  we  can  see  what 
must  have  been  going  on  all  through  these  years,  and  form  some  idea  of  the  difficulties 
the  Churches   have   had   to  contend  with.      We   see   the   youth   at  the   close   of   his 


THE    PERIOD    OF    CIRCUIT    PREDOMINANCE    AND    ENTERPRISE. 


177 


apprenticeship  moving  off  to  the  busy  towns  on  the  Tyne  or  Wear.  We  see  parents, 
anxious  to  put  the  means  of  an  assured  livelihood  within  the  reach  of  their  rising 
family,  migrating  to  the  centres  of  trade  and  commerce.  It  is  disheartening  to  those 
striving  to  build  up  strong  societies,  to  find  themselves  thus  seemingly  thwarted  by 
the  laws  which  control  the  labour-market.  Still  it  is  gratifying  to  know  that  in  this 
border  district  the  Connexion  has  held  its  ground — and  something  more.  In  1842 
Berwick  had  three  ministers  and  274  members ;  now  Berwick,  and  its  offshoots,  Lowick 
and  North  Sunderland,  together  have  six  ministers  and  771  members. 

Besides  William  Fulton  and  Adam  Dodds,  the  Berwick  Circuit  has  sent  out  into  the 
ministry  others  who  have  long  and  ably  served  the  Connexion.  Among  these  may  be 
named  Michael  Clarke,  and  George  Lewins  who,  after  forty-one  years  of  labour  in 
various  parts,  still  holds  his  place  in  the  ranks.  Michael  Clarke  was  born  at  Ford  Moss, 
and  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  John  Clarke,  one  of  the  Baptist  missionaries  banished 
from  Fernando  Po  in  1858,  was  his  uncle.  Mr.  Clarke  was  called  out  by  the  Berwick 
Circuit,  and  in  1853  went  out  to  Melbourne  to  take  the  place  of  John  Ride.  After 
an   absence    of    more    than    a    quarter    of   a    century  he   revisited    England,   and    the 


MICHAEL   CLARKE. 


MR.    JOHN  BROWN. 


MR.    GEO.    JOBSON. 


Conference  of  1879,  recognising  the  distinguished  service  he  had  rendered  Australian 
Primitive  Methodism,  elected  him  as  its  Vice-President.  He  was  superannuated  in 
1885  and  died  1892. 

Of  the  Berwick  laymen  who  have  "  obtained  a  good  report/'  we  can  but  refer  to 
one  or  two.  James  Young  with  a  considerable  dash  of  eccentricity,  and  Michael  Clarke 
of  Belfort,  were  both  notable  men.  John  Brown  of  Ancroft  was  a  fine  specimen  of 
a  border  tenant-farmer — broad-shouldered  and  broad-minded,  to  whom  the  eyes  of  men 
turned  as  one  in  every  way  fitted  to  represent  the  people  at  Westminster,  though 
Sir  Edward  Grey  eventually  became  the  accepted  candidate.  Mr.  Brown  was,  for 
many  years,  a  conspicuous  and  devoted  worker  for  our  cause.  The  Allerdean  church 
stands  as  his  memorial.  Of  Mr.  George  Jobson,  who  for  forty  years  was  a  local 
preacher  and  leading  official  of  the  Berwick  Circuit,  the  Rev.  H.  Yooll  (2)  (who  knew 
him  well)  says :  "  He  was  one  of  the  best  fruits  of  our  work  in  Berwick  at  a  com- 
paratively early  day,  when  loyalty  to  the  cause  was  often  tested  severely.  His 
outstanding  characteristics  were  zeal  and  generosity.  The  Berwick  Circuit  covered 
then  what  is  now  the  area  of  three  circuits,  and  Mr.  Jobson  was  one  of  its  tireless 

M 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


JAMES   HALL. 


workers.      In  its  somewhat  varying  fortunes  he  was  ever  the  same  devoted  son  and 
servant  of  our  Church.     His  two  sons  are  local  preachers  with  us.'' 

We  return  to  the  "old  North  Shields  Circuit"  as,  in  order  to  distinguish  it  from 
the  truncated  circuit  of  to-day,  it  is  often  familiarly  called.  The  constituent  societies 
of  the  old  circuit  were  diversified  in  character.  They  were  not  all  of  the  same  cast 
or  complexion.  The  circuit-town — a  considerable  seaport — and 
the  river-side  societies  had  their  distinctive  features.  Cullercoats 
two  miles  away,  was  a  typical  fishing  village ;  while  an  ever- 
enlarging  proportion  of  the  societies  was  found  in  the  mining 
villages  to  the  north  of  the  Tyne. 

Amongst  the  officials  of  an  early  date  resident  in  North  Shields 
were  Messrs.  Stephen  Knott,  John  Foster,  and  James  Hall.  Two 
men  who  at  a  later  time  came  to  the  front  and  took  a  prominent 
part  in  the  management  of  affairs,  were  Messrs.  John  Spence  and 
Thomas  Smith.  Mr.  Spence  began  life  as  a  working  miner  at 
Percy  Main,  but  set  up  in  business  for  himself  and,  by  dint  of 
push  and  ability,  raised  himself  to  a  good  social  position ;  in 
the  end  becoming  an  alderman  and  chief  magistrate  of  the  borough.  Mr.  Spence 
was  full  of  vitality  ;  without  being  intellectual  or  making  any  pretensions  to  culture, 
he  had  an  alert  intelligence.  He  was  genial,  jocose,  ready  to  show  hospitality,  and 
both  had  it  in  his  power  and  inclination  to  be  helpful  to  the  society  and  circuit. 
As  circuit  steward  and  chapel  treasurer  his  capabilities  for  business  found  full 
scope,  while  he  also  filled  the  offices  of  leader  and  Sunday  School  superintendent. 
Mr.  Thomas  Smith  was  a  man  of  a  very  different  type,  both  in  appearance  and 
still  more  in  mental  constitution  and  temperament.  With  no  imagination  to  speak 
of,  he  had  an  original  and  vigorous  mind  that  in  its  workings  occasionally  threw 
off  sparks  of  grim  humour.  Had  he  but  had  the  advantage  of  thorough  mental 
discipline  in  his  youth,  there  is  no  telling  what  he  might  have  become  or  achieved. 
Even  as  it  was  he  could  not  help  being  a  philosopher  in  his  way, 
a  solid  preacher,  and  a  man  of  weight  in  the  counsels  of  the 
Church.  Moreover,  he  and  his  excellent  wife  having  leisure 
at  command,  were  indefatigable  in  the  more  private  walks  of 
usefulness.  Unfortunately,  Mr.  Smith  had  an  unyielding  and 
somewhat  passional  nature.  As  a  retired  blacksmith,  he  might 
not  unfittingly  have  adopted  as  his  own  the  family  motto:  "You 
may  break  but  cannot  bend  me.''  As  Mr.  Spence,  too,  had  also 
the  defect  of  his  qualities,  in  a  certain  over-sensitiveness,  it  is  not 
to  be  wondered  at  that  these  two  estimable  men  were  sometimes 
in  opposition  and  that  the  result  was  friction,  from  which,  now  and 
again  during  the  years,  North  Shields  has  unhappily  suffered. 

The  loss  of  Thomas  Nightingale  is  too  recent,  and  the  man  himself  too  widely 
known,  to  require  much  to  be  said  of  him  here.  As  one  who  was  frequently  elected 
to  attend  the  Conference  assemblies,  and  who  invariably  drew  large  audiences  on 
the   Conference  Camp-ground ;  as  one  too,  who  ran  for   the  Vice-presidency  of  the 


J.    S  PENCE. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND    ENTERPRISE. 


179 


Conference,  and  was  selected  as  a  morning  speaker  at  the  Metropolitan  Missionary 
meeting,  he  had  deservedly  achieved  a  considerable  Connexional  reputation.  In  the 
years  to  come  he  will  be  ranked  with  the  original  and  popular  preachers  of  his  day 
and  his  sayings  and  doings  will  enrich  the  traditions  of  our  Northern  churches. 

Another  valuable  official  was  Mr.  Joseph  Salkeld,  a  Cumbrian  by  birth,  who  after 
some  years'  residence  in  Newcastle,  settled  at  Howden-on-Tyne,  where  he  and  his 
worthy  wife — strict  though  kind — dispensed  hospitality,  and  were  a  stay  and  help  to 
the  church.  Mr.  Salkeld  was  a  healthy-minded,  sunshiny  Christian,  the  influence 
of  whose  life  "  did  good  like  a  medicine,"  purging  the  mind  of  black  vapours,  and 
causing  others  to  look  out  on  life  as  smilingly  as  he  looked  on  it  himself.  He  was 
a  frequent  platform  speaker  as  well  as  preacher  and,  being  full  of  humour  and  having 
a  rich  repertory  of  anecdotes,  his  speeches  were  lively  and  entertaining.  How  often 
his,  "This  reminds  me  of  an  anecdote,'-  was  the  introduction  to  some  reminiscence 
of  the  past  that  had  its  lesson,  though  no  disparagement,  for  the  present. 

Many  years  ago,  John  Barnard  and  J.  H.  Jopling  as  youths  bowed  at  the  penitent- 
form  at  Percy  Main,  along  with  some  ten  others.     The  former  was  called  into  the 


THOS.    NIGHTINGALE. 


SALKELD 


MRS.  E.  SALKELD. 


EICHABD  ItAINE. 


ministry  (1857)  by  Berwick  Circuit.  After  travelling  a  few  years  he  settled  down  in 
his  native  circuit,  and  as  a  local  preacher  rendered  extensive  and  valuable  service  for 
a  long  series  of  years.  Benjamin  Hall,  his  early  guide  and  mentor,  still  survives  as 
the  doyen  of  the  North  Shields  Circuit  local  preachers.  So,  happily,  does  J.  H.  Jopling 
who,  full  of  good  works,  holds  a  secure  and  lasting  place  in  the  affections  of  preachers 
and  people.  There  are  many  others  who  in  the  quieter  walks  of  usefulness  have 
served  the  interests  of  these  river-side  churches — families  like  the  Dodds,  the  Jewels, 
the  Grants,  the  ^Nicholsons,  the  Butherfords;  and  men  like  J.  Spoor,  H.  B.  Thompson, 
R.  Holden,  and  Bichard  Baine.  Of  the  last-named  two,  a  further  word  must  be 
written.  Mr.  B.  Holden  decided  for  Christ  at  a  famous  camp-meeting  at  Dye  House, 
in  the  Hexham  Circuit.  In  early  life  he  was  associated  in  his  employment  with 
Dr.  Joseph  Parker.  He  afterwards  removed  to  Chirton,  and  then  to  North  Shields, 
where,  for  thirty  years,  he  pursued  the  even  tenor  of  his  way,  filling  at  one  time  or 
another  important  Church  and  civic  offices,  and  living  a  blameless  and  most  useful 
life.  Bichard  Baine — "the  famous  Primitive  singer  and  beau  ideal  choir-master" — 
spent  the  declining  years  of  his  life  in  North  Shields.     When  in  the  hey-day  of  his 

m  2 


180 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


powers,  he  was  known  far  and  wide  as  the  man  to  head  the  van  of  a  procession,     a  ]  d 
he  had  led  the  singing  at  many  a  historic  camp-meeting.     To  the  end,  although  "  the 
daughters  of  music  were  brought"  somewhat  "low,''  he  retained  his  enthusiasm  for 
sacred  song.     Assuredly,  with  a  soul  so  full  of  music,  he  is  now  right  amongst  the 
"harpers  harping  with  their  harps.'' 

The  society  at  Cullercoats  offered  a  pleasing  variety  to  the  church-life  of  the  circuit. 
When  first  missioned,  and  for  some  years  after,  Cullercoats  was,  as  we  have  said 
a  typical  fishing-village.     Its  fishermen  were  hardy,  adventurous,  and  industrious ;  and 
their  women-folk,  clad  in  the  characteristic  garb  of  their  class,  were  as  picturesque  figures 
as  the  Scots'  fishwives,  whom  in  many  respects   they  resembled.      Like  their  norther 


i'i:llebcoats  bay.     (Present  Day. 


sisters,  they  toiled  hard,  taking  quite  their  full  share  of  work  as  bread-winners  for  the 
family.  Not  only  did  they  look  after  their  households,  but  they  mended  the  nets, 
gathered  bait,  and,  above  all,  they  vended  the  fish.  Often  might  they  be  seen  in 
North  Shields,  and  even  in  Newcastle,  bending  under  the  weight  of  three  or  four 
stones  of  fish,  carried  on  their  backs  in  wicker-baskets  or  "  creels,"  and  their  cry  of 
"  caller  herring  "  was  as  striking  as  their  appearance.  The  fishing-people  of  Cullercoats 
were  clannish,  and  intermarried  so  closely  that  the  surnames  were  few  and,  for  the 
purpose  of  identification,  nicknames  had  to  be  used.  In  the  early  'Sixties,  it  was 
said  there  were  six  John  Taylors  in  the  village,  who  had  severally  to  be  distinguished 
by  a  sobriquet.     Some  of  the  primitive  simplicity  and  old-world  customs  which  once. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE. 


181 


prevailed  may  have  vanished  before  the  sure  oncoming  of  modern  fashions.  Cullercoats 
itself  has  undergone  great  changes  so  as  scarcely  to  know  itself.  Eailway  facilities 
and  its  nearness  to  Newcastle  have  transformed  it  into  a  residential  neighbourhood, 
and  into  a  popular  sea-side  resort.  The  extent  of  the  change  effected  may  be  partly 
measured  by  the  material  advance  our  Church  has  made  in  the  village ;  for  Primitive 
Methodism  has  done  much  for  the  fishermen.  From  the  beginning — probably  in  the 
early  'Forties — it  got  a  good  hold  of  them.  Its  ministrations  suited  them  and  helped 
them,  and  the  experience  of  Filey  was  repeated  in  the  moral  transformation  of  the 
fishermen  and  their  families.  At  first,  services  were  held  in  a  chapel,  jointly  used — 
strange    to    say — by   the    Presbyterians   and    Congregationalists — each   of    the    three 


CULLERCOATS  NEW   CHAPEL. 


denominations  conducting  one  Sunday  service  therein.  In  the  end,  the  Primitives 
were  left  sole  occupants  of  the  chapel.  The  cause  prospered.  Visitors  were  attracted 
to  "  the  Fishermen's  Chapel,"  so  much  so  that  the  chapel  became  quite  an  institution 
in  the  village,  and  it  got  to  be  considered  quite  the  correct  thing  to  join  in  its  worship. 
Visitors  admired  the  heartiness  of  the  services;  they  liked  the  look  of  the  fisher- 
people,  who  came  in  numbers,  all  clad  in  their  Sunday  best,  and  they  liked  the  way 
in  which  they  threw  themselves  into  the  service.  It  was  a  new  and  piquant  experience 
to  listen  to  such  preachers  as  Thomas  Wandless  and  Thomas  Nightingale;  so  that 
when  the  visitors  went  back  to  the  big  town,  the  word  was  passed  round:  "When 
you  go  to  Cullercoats,  you  must  be  sure  to  attend  '  the  Fishermen's  Chapel.' "     This  is 


If 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


no  fancy-sketch,  for  we  write  from  a  four  years'  experience — 1867-71.  It  was  decided 
the  time  had  come  for  enlargement ;  whereupon,  ladies  of  various  denominations 
co-operated  with  the  society  in  raising  £400  by  a  bazaar,  and  in  1868  the  chapel  was 
rebuilt.  That  chapel,  which  may  be  seen  in  our  picture,  is  still  used  as  a  school  and 
lecture-hall ;  and,  hard  by  it,  there  stands  a  n«w  chapel  capable  of  accommodating 
five  hundred  people,  which  was  opened  in  1899. 

In  the  march  of  improvement  quite  a  new  village  or  town  has  sprung  up  at  the 
adjoining  Whitley  Bay,  with  scarcely  any  religious  provision  for  the  residents.  Here, 
under  the  superintendency  of  Rev.  G.  F.  Johnson,  a  handsome  and  commodious  church 
was  erected  in  1904,  at  a  total  cost,  including  land,  of  =£3,200.  We  leave  Cullercoats 
and  its  record  of  progress,  just  noting  the  fact  that  George  Dodds,  of  Newcastle — the 
trusty  comrade  of  George  Charlton  in  the  temperance  crusade — in  the  evening  of  his 
life,  came  to  reside  amongst  the  Cullercoats  fishermen,  and  worked  for  and  with  them ; 
and  here,  too,  Rev.  James  Young  has  chosen  to  locate,  after  forty-four  years'  faithful 
and  fruitful  ministerial  service  ;  here,  too,  Alexander  Petticrow,  who  has  been  called 
the  "  Billy  Bray  of  Cullercoats,''  ended  his  days.  In  a  recess  of 
these  sea-cliffs  he  found  sanctification,  and  in  these  streets  he 
witnessed  for  God.* 

Turning  now  to  the  colliery  societies  of  the  old  North  Shields 
Circuit,  we  find  they  have  all  along  been  a  growingly  important 
factor  in  its  life ;  so  much  so,  that  the  administrative  changes 
which  have  taken  place  in  the  circuit — its  divisions  anil  sub- 
divisions— have  been  largely  the  result  of  the  working  of  this 
factor.  This  is  seen  in  the  next  important  organic  change  which 
took  place  in  the  circuit  after  Berwick  was  parted  with.  This 
was  the  formation  of  Blyth,  first  into  a  branch,  and  afterwards, 
under  the  guidance  of  Rev.  James  Jackson — "  an  able  administrator 
and  an  excellent  preacher"  t — into  an  independent  station.  Blyth  had  been  rem issioned 
early  in  the  'Thirties,  but  had  encountered  reverses  largely  due,  we  are  told,  to  Church 
dissensions ;  the  chapel  became  involved,  and  was  ultimately  lost  to  the  Connexion. 
But  Blyth  was  destined  to  become  the  head  of  a  vigorous  circuit,  and,  what  is  more, 
to  become  the  parent  of  circuits.  The  opening  of  new  collieries  greatly  increased  the 
population  of  the  neighbourhood.  Blyth  became  the  centre  of  a  new  colliery  district,  and, 
more  and  more,  a  port  of  shipment  for  coals.  It  is  significant  that  the  year  when  Blyth 
was  made  into  a  station  was  also  the  year  when  Thomas  Burt,  then  a  working  miner  at 
Choppington,  was  appointed  the  Secretary  of  the  Northumberland  Miners'  Union ;  nor 
less  significant  is  it  that,  largely  by  the  votes  of  the  miners,  he  was,  in  1874,  returned 
to  Parliament  for  the  Morpeth  Division.  These  facts  point  to  the  growing  influence  of 
the  miners  in  the  district ;  and  the  reference  to  Thomas  Burt  is  not  out  of  place ;  for 
besides  his  early  association  with  C.  C.  McTsechnie,  and  others  of  our  ministers  in  the 
old  North  Shields  Circuit,  he  was,  during  his  residence  in  Blyth,  the  close  friend  of 

*  Sit  Bev.  S.  Horton's  article  on  him  in  Aldersgate,  1901,  p.  219. 

tKev.  C.  C.  JIcKechnie's  MS.  Autobiography.     For  a  reference  to  the  troubles  in  Blyth,  see 

"  The  Earnest  Preacher,"  p.  125.    Joseph  Spoor  resided  at  Blyth  in  1845. 


THE   PERIOD   OF   CIRCUIT    PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE. 


183 


Hugh  Gilmore,  and,  in  association  with  him  and  men  of  kindred  spirit,  such  as  Bobert 
Lawther  and  William  Bell,  took  part  in  many  a  local  fight  for  truth  and  righteousness. 
In  this  part  of  the  country,  at  least,  our  Church  has  developed  with  the  development  of 
the  coal-trade,  and  has  attended  upon  its  movements.  The  sinking  of  a  pit  has  always 
meant  the  establishment  of  a  society ;  for,  amongst  the  sinkers  and  miners  drawn  to  the 
spot,  were  sure  to  be  some  Primitive  Methodists,  who  might  be  counted  upon  to  abide 
true  to  their  Church,  and  who,  if  there  were  no  society  already,  would  see  to  it  that  one 
was  founded.  So  the  expansion  of  the  coal-trade,  as  also  its  northward  drift,  go  far  to 
explain  the  history  of  our  Church  in  South-East  Northumberland.  Seaton  Delaval,  which 
had  no  existence  when  Clowes  missioned  North  Shields  or  Benton  Square,  becomes, 


BENTON   SQUARE  OLD  CHAPEL. 


in  1875,  the  Seaton  Delaval  Circuit.  Ashington,  too,  made  a  circuit  in  1896  with 
•405  members,  was  the  creation  of  the  coal  trade,  and  received  many  colonists  from 
North  Shields— men  like  the  Gregorys,  the  Crawfords,  the  Mains,  and  many  besides. 
Amble  Circuit,  formed  in  1897,  is  the  last  outcome  of  this  process.  Here  extension 
is  taking  place.  A  new  iron  church  has  been  put  up  at  Radcliffe,  and  Greyton, 
a  new  colliery  district  of  2000  inhabitants,  has  been  missioned  with  every  prospect 
of  success. 

There  is  nothing  particularly  prepossessing  about  the  pit  villages  of  Northumberland, 
or  any  other  county.  They  have  features  in  common  familiar  to  most  of  us.  We  can 
see  the  rectangular  rows  of  cottages,  each  one  outwardly  like  its  neighbour,  the  inevitable 


184 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 


pit-shaft  and  engine-house  and  waggon-way.  But  nowhere  more  than  amid  such 
depressing  surroundings  may  a  man  find  more  use  for  the  second  of  the  two  sights  God 
has  given  him.  Here,  if  anywhere,  "  among  the  angular  marks  of  men's  handiwork,'' 
Sir  Arthur  Helps'  reflection  seems  very  much  to  the  purpose  :  "  The  painter  hurries  hy 
the  place ;  the  poet,  too,  unless  he  is  a  very  philosophic  one,  passes  shuddering  by. 
But,  in  reality,  what  forms  of  beauty,  in  conduct,  in  suffering,  in  endeavour ;  what 
tragedies,  what  romances ;  what  foot-prints,  as  it  were,  angelic  and  demoniac — now 
belong  to  that  spot."*  Whatever  the  painter  and  the  poet  may  do,  a  Primitive 
Methodist  need  not  hurry  through  this  district ;  for  human  traits,  and  mementos 
honourable  to  his  Church,  are  afforded  by  every  pit-village  of  old  standing  hereabout. 


OLD    CHAPEL,    CHAMLINGTON. 

Here,  for  example,  is  Old  Cramlington  Colliery.  What  memories  are  recalled  by  the 
view  of  its  singular  old  chapel  given  in  the  text !  It  was  at  an  exciting  missionary 
meeting,  held  here  in  1843,  the  idea  of  a  New  Zealand  Mission  was  first  broached — the 
mission  to  be  sustained  by  the  Sunday  Schools  of  the  Connexion.  The  memorial  sent 
from  that  meeting  had  its  influence.  The  idea  caught  on,  and,  as  we  shall  see,  the 
New  Zealand  Mission  was  begun  in  1844. 

We  pass  on  to  Seaton  Delaval.     Here,  in  1859,  exasperated  by  their  grievances,  the 
miners  struck  work  without  due  notice  having  first  been  given.     In  consequence,  eight 

*"  Companions  of  My  Solitude,"  p.  241. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND    ENTERPRISE.  185 

men  were  sentenced  at  North  Shields  to  two  months'  imprisonment.  These  were 
amongst  the  most  intelligent  men  on  the  colliery ;  they  were  all  teetotallers,  and  they 
had  all  been  opposed  to  the  strike.  Of  the  eight  victims,  four  at  least  were  Primitive 
Methodists,  viz.,  Anthony  Bolam,  Alexander  Watson,  Henry  Bell,  and  Eobert  Burt. 
Henry  Bell  was  a  man  in  many  ways  remarkable — for  his  intellectuality,  his  character, 
and  the  physical  suffering  he  was  called  to  endure.  Eobert  Burt,  the  uncle  of  Thomas 
Burt,  M.P.,  was  arrested  when  kneeling  by  the  bedside  of  his  wife,  who  was  sick  unto 
death.  "When  the  manager  was  expostulated  with  for  putting  in  prison  the  very  men 
who  had  opposed  the  strike,  and  were  the  most  respectable  and  law-abiding  men  they 
had  at  the  colliery,  he  replied  :  "  I  know  that ;  and  that  is  what  I  have  put  them  in 
for.     It  is  of  no  use  putting  those  in  who  cannot  feel." 

As  you  go  eastward  from  Seaton  Delaval,  you  soon  come  to  New  Hartley,  a  name 
recalling  one  of  the  most  appalling  colliery  disasters  of  modern  times.  The  sight  of  the 
broken  beam  of  the  pumping-engine  is  indeed  a  grim  memento ;  for,  by  the  breaking  of 
that  ponderous  shaft,  in  January,  1862,  four  hundred  and  two  men  and  boys  lost  their 
lives.  We  refer  to  one  incident — and  to  one  only — in  that  long-drawn-out  tragedy, 
because  it  shows  how  grace,  in  the  persons  of  some  of  our  co-religionists,  could  assert 
itself  as  a  conquering  and  sustaining  power  in  a  situation  dire  and  desperate.  On  the 
body  of  the  back-overman  there  was  afterwards  found  this  memorandum,  roughly 
pencilled  on  a  piece  torn  from  a  newspaper : — 

"Friday  afternoon,  at  half-past  two. 
"Edward  Armstrong,  Thomas  Gledston,  John  Hardy,  Thomas  Bel],  and  others, 
took  extremely  ill.     We  also  had  a  prayer-meeting  at  a  quarter  to  two,  when 
Tibbs,  Henry  Sharp,  J.  Campbell,  Henry  Gibson,  and  William  G.  Palmer  [exhorted]. 
Tibbs  exhorted  us  again,  and  Sharp  also." 

Four  of  these  who  preached  "as  dying  men  to  dying  men"  were  our  brethren; 
William  Tibbs  being  a  class-leader  at  New  Hartley,  and  Henry  Sharp,  Chapel  Steward 
at  Old  Hartley. 

The  old  North  Shields  Circuit  has  had  its  vicissitudes.  By  the  disastrous  "long 
strike"  of  1844,  which  lasted  eighteen  weeks,  the  societies  were  almost  wrecked.  The 
miners  were  ejected  from  their  homes,  and  had  to  camp  in  the  lanes,  or  where  they 
could.  But  if  the  societies  have  at  times  been  "  minished  and  brought  low,"  they  have 
also  had  their  seasons  of  revival  and  replenishment,  as  the  following  extract  from 
Bev.  C.  C.  McKechnie's  MS.  autobiography,  referring  to  the  great  revival  of  1867, 
will  show  : — 

"  Contemporaneous  with  this  great  and  good  work  in  the  town  [of  North  Shields], 
a  similar  work  was  going  on  all  over  the  circuit.  I  am  not  aware  that  a  single 
place  in  the  circuit  failed  to  share  in  the  marvellous  visitation.  Such  places  as 
Seaton  Delaval,  Cramlington,  Dudley,  Howden,  Cullercoats,  where  we  had  a  good 
staff  of  workers,  and  a  considerable  population,  reaped  the  largest  harvest.  The 
revival  scenes  at  these  places  were  often  glorious.  They  cannot,  indeed,  be 
described  without  using  language  that  would  appear  extravagant.  Often  when 
I  have  seen  crowds,  yea,  crowds  of  men  and  women  flocking  to  the  penitents'  form, 
and  with  strong  crying  and  tears  pleading  with  God  for  mercy,  I  have  felt  utterly 


186 


PKIM1TIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


broken  down.  The  whole  countryside  was  moved.  It  almost  seemed  as  if  the 
Millennium  was  rushing  upon  us,  and  as  if  the  entire  population  were  being 
enclosed  in  the  gospel-net." 

This  witness  is  true,  as  the  present  writer  can  avouch.  The  numerical  returns  for  the 
Xorth  Shields  Circuit  for  1868-9  show  an  increase  of  six  hundred  members  for  the 
two  years. 

To  give  pen-and-ink  sketches  of  the  worthies  of  this  part  of  the  old  North  Shields 
Circuit  is  impossible,  and  we  shall  not  attempt  it.  The  portraits  of  two  or  three,  out 
of  scores  equally  worthy,  will  be  found  in  the  text.  Fain  would  we  have  given 
one  of  Thomas  AVandless,  the  eccentric  and  popular  local  preacher ;  but  here  are 
Thomas  Gleghorn,  of  whom  Rev.  S.  Horton  has  written  an  appreciative  sketch  ; '"  good 
John  Bell,  of  Dudley,  and  his  saintly  wife,  whom  the  Vice-President  of  the  Conference 
of  1903  is  proud  to  claim  as  his  parents;  and  xMatthew  Lowther,  of  "West  Cramlington, 
afterwards  of  Chertsey,  father  of  Alderman  Lowther,  J. P.,  of  Brighton. 


THOMAS   G  LEGHORN. 


MR.    JOHN"    BELL,    DUDLEY. 


BELL,    DUDLEY. 


MATTHEW  LOWTHER. 


Primitive  Methodism  and  the  Miners  of  the  Xorth. 

The  claim  is  here  made  that  our  Church  has  materially  assisted  the  miners  of 
Northumberland  and  Durham  in  working  out  their  temporal  as  well  as  spiritual 
salvation,  and  that  among  them  as  a  class  may  be  found  some  of  the  choicest  samples 
of  the  fruit  of  our  labours.  This  is  the  claim  made,  and  it  is  a  large  one.  But,  large 
though  it  be,  the  claim  is  conceded  by  those  best  qualified  to  pronounce  judgment 
according  to  the  facts  with  which  they  are  fully  conversant.  One  such  expert  witness 
is  Principal  Pairbairn,  who  recently  wrote  : — 

"The  Primitive  Methodist  Church  has  without  aid  from  taxes  or  rates,  achieved 
for  the  godly  manhood  of  the  miners  in  Northumberland  and  Durham  more  than 
could  be  achieved  had  all  the  schools  been  non-provided,  all  the  teachers  been 
appointed  by  the  Church,  and  all  the  atmosphere  carefully  regulated  by  the 
local  clergy."  t 
Another  witness  tells  the  story  of  the  long,  unequal  struggle  carried  on  by  the  miners 

-  Aldersgate  Magazine,  1896,  p.  616. 
t  Letter  in  "  The  Pilot,"  January  16th,  1904. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE.  187 

of  both  counties  to  free  themselves  from  galling  and  impoverishing  disabilities — from 
the  yearly  bond,  the  truck  system,  the  employment  of  boys  in  the  pits  for  as  many  as 
seventeen  or  eighteen  hours  at  a  stretch,  and  other  grievances  too  numerous  to  be 
particularised.  The  struggle,  he  shows,  was  often  attended  with  reverses,  and  the 
leaders  in  that  struggle  not  infrequently  became  marked  men  and  had  to  suffer  the  loss 
of  employment,  or  in  other  ways  were  "  made  an  example  of."  The  first  attempt  to 
form  a  union  for  self-protection,  made  in  1830  by  Thomas  Hepburn,  a  local  preacher,* 
ultimately  failed.  But  still  the  struggle  went  on  until  political  emancipation  was 
won,  one  grievance  after  another  redressed,  the  Miners'  Permanent  Relief  Fund 
established,  the  Mines  Regulation  Act  (1872)  passed,  and  strong  unions  formed  both 
in  Northumberland  and  Durham,  with  Thomas  Burt  and  "William  Crawford — both  of 
Primitive  Methodist  extraction  and  training — as  their  secretaries  and  paid  Parliamentary 
representatives.  As  we  follow  the  moving  story,  it  is  significant  that  we  are  continually 
meeting  with  names  already  familiar  to  us  in  our  Church-records,  showing  that  those 
who  were  prominent  workers  in  the  various  societies  had  come  to  be,  by  virtue  of  their 
character  and  ability  as  speakers,  the  recognised  leaders  in  the  struggle  for  the  rights 
of  labour.  And  they  were  moderators  as  well  as  leaders  in  the  struggle  ;  for  there  were 
amongst  their  followers  exasperated  men  smarting  under  their  wrongs,  and  there  were 
also  no  inconsiderable  number  of  young  hot-bloods,  as  well  as  a  sprinkling  of  men  of 
little  principle,  to  whom  Revolution  delusively  promised  quick  and  large  returns,  while 
the  methods  of  Reform  seemed  tame  in  comparison  and  slow  in  yielding  but  meagre 
results.  For  all  this,  the  leaders,  being  for  the  most  part  Christian  men,  and  shrewd 
and  patient  withal,  set  themselves  resolutely  to  withstand  the  temptation  to  resort  to 
violent  and  illegal  methods ;  and  the  cause  they  championed  was,  in  the  end,  the  gainer 
by  their  self-restraint  and  wise  leadership,  though  in  many  cases  the  reward  came  too 
late  to  be  of  any  use  to  them  who  had  earned  it.  It  is  a  posthumous  honour  we  pay 
them.  All  this  Mr.  Fynes  tells  us  in  his  book,t  and  then,  in  closing  his  retrospect  of 
the  long  struggle,  he  pays  a  tribute  to  the  work  of  our  Church,  only  part  of  which 
we  can  quote  here  : — 

"  Unsatisfactory  though  the  moral  and  intellectual  condition  of  the  miner  to-day 
is  [1873],  yet,  compared  with  his  condition  at  the  period  treated  in  the  opening 
chapters  of  this  book,  there  is  a  miraculous  change.  Side  by  side  with  the  Union 
the  earnest  men  who  have  been  stigmatised  'Ranters' — the  Primitive  Methodists 
of  the  two  counties — have  been  working  out  the  social,  intellectual,  and  moral 
amelioration  of  the  miners,  and  in  this  great  reform  they  have  been  very 
materially  assisted  by  the  temperance  advocates  who  have  from   time   to  time 

*  "  When  a  mass  meeting  on  Shadin's  Hill  was  threatened  by  the  Marquis  of  Londonderry  and 
a  regiment  of  soldiers,  the  miners  had  already  raised  their  muskets,  and  in  a  moment  or  two 
a  massacre  would  have  begun,  but  for  Thomas  Hepburn,  „  local  preacher,  who  cried  out :  '  Make 
way  for  His  Majesty's  troops.'"— Hon.  E.  Richardson,  of  Australia,  in  the  "Primitive  Methodist 
Quarterly  Review.''  We  mistrust  the  reference  to  the  miners'  muskets  and  the  threatened  massacre. 
There  is,  however,  no  reason  to  doubt  the  substantial  accuracy  of  the  story. 

t "  The  Miners  of  Northumberland  and  Durham.  A  History  of  their  Social  and  Political 
Struggles.     By  Richard  Fynes."     Myth,  1873. 


]88  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 

laboured  amongst  the  miners.  Probably  no  body  of  men  have  ever  been 

subjected  to  so  many  jibes  and  jeers  from  superficial  people  as  those  referred  to  ; 
but  without  doubt  none  ever  achieved  such  glorious  results  as  they  have  done. 
To  many  it  may  be  a  matter  of  supreme  indifference  what  is  the  exact  creed 
professed  by  Primitive  Methodists  ;  but  whether  they  have  a  creed  or  none  at  all, 
it  is  impossible  for  any  observing  man  not  to  see  and  admire  the  bold  and  ardent 
manner  in  which  they  carry  on  their  labour  amongst  the  miners." — (Pp.  282 — 3). 

It  is  much  to  be  wished  that  Mr.  John  "Wilson,  M.P.,  or  other  competent  person, 
would  so  set  forth  the  facts  known  or  accessible  to  them,  as  once  for  all  to  make  good 
Mr.  Wilson's  own  statement :  "  There  has  been  no  more  potent  factor  in  the  moral 
uplifting  of  the  population  of  our  pit-villages  than  Primitive  Methodism."*  For 
ourselves,  we  have  said  all  that  space  permits  us  to  say  on  the  general  question,  and 
cannot,  except  incidentally,  recur  to  it.  Possibly,  enough  has  been  written  to  show 
that,  while  our  Church  has  done  much  for  the  evangelisation  of  the  mining  villages 
of  the  North,  it  has  also  at  the  same  time  been  largely  helping  forward  the  advance — 
economic,  political,  intellectual — of  the  miners  and  their  families.  Even  yet  much 
ameliorative  work  remains  to  be  done,  and  the  fervent  evangelic  impulse  that  helped 
our  fathers  is  still  the  all-essential  qualification  for  enabling  us  to  repeat  the  triumphs 
of  the  past.  That  is  still  primary  ;  the  rest  is  secondary,  and  will  follow.  Such  is 
the  lesson  taught  us  even  by  the  secular  press.  When,  in  1875,  the  jubilee  of  the 
opening  of  the  Stockton  and  Darlington  Railway  was  being  celebrated,  an  able  writer — 
probably  Mr.  W.  T.  Stead — passed  in  review  the  changes  effected  during  the  fifty  years. 
In  assigning  the  causes  of  these  gratifying  changes  he  singles  out  for  special  mention 
the  labours  of  the  early  Primitive  Methodist  preachers. 

"  One  cause,'  says  he,  "  of  this  great  change  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  railway. 
To  the  advent  of  the  Primitive  Methodists  in  the  North  Country  is  due  much 
of  the  transformation  undoubtedly  elfected  in  the  latter  part  of  the  first  quarter 
of  the  century.  The  'Ranters,'  as  they  were  then  universally  called,  had  to  bear 
<t  good  deal  of  ridicule  and  opprobrium,  but  that  has  long  since  been  forgotten  in 
the  good  which  they  effected.  The  accounts  published  at  the  time  concerning  the 
results  produced  by  their  ministrations  among  the  semi-savage  colliers  of  the 
North  remind  us  of  the  glowing  narratives  of  the  most  successful  missionaries, 
and  make  us  sigh  for  the  dawn  of  another  great  religious  awakening  which  would 
empty  the  publics  of  Bishop  Auckland,  and  convert  the  rowdies  of  Spennymoor 
into  local  preachers." 

Xewcastle-upon-Tyne. 
Newcastle  is  a  very  different  town  to-day  from  what  it  was  in  1821,  when 
John  Branfoot  preached  near  Sandgate.  How  different  we  shall  find  it  hard  to 
conceive.  It  is  only  by  an  effort  that  we  can  picture  it  as  a  town  only  one  fourth 
its  present  size,  with  no  Stephenson's  High  Level  spanning  the  gorge  of  the  Tyne, 
and  wanting  those  stately  and  ornate  buildings  with  which  the  skill  and  enterprise 
of  one  man  enriched  it.  What  Haussmann  did  for  Paris,  that  Richard  Grainger 
(1798—1861),  a  man  of  lowly  origin,  did  for  Newcastle.     It  was  old   Newcastle  he 

*  Aldersgale  Magazine,  1896  (p.  690). 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE. 


189 


found  in  1834  ;  he  left  it  modern  Newcastle.  We  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  story 
of  Newcastle's  progress  from  comparative  medievalism  to  modernism,  except  in  so 
far  as  that  progress  is  reflected  in  the  history  of  our  own  church-life.  It  may  be 
a  mere  coincidence  but,  nevertheless,  it  affords  a  convenient  date-mark  to  note  that 
by  taking  possession  of  Nelson  Street  Chapel  in  1838,  the  first  period  of  old  Primitive 
Methodism  in  Newcastle  came  to  its  end.  More  than  that :  Nelson  Street  was  built 
by  Bichard  Grainger,  as  was  also  the  chapel  we  took  possession  of.  It  dovetailed 
into  his  scheme  of  architectural  reconstruction.  Our  occupancy  of  Nelson  Street  Chapel 
for  some  sixty  years,  was  co-eval  with  a  second  long  and  somewhat  uneventful  period 
of  church-life  ;  but  by  the   acquisition  of  the  Central  Church  in   1897,   a  great  step 


&=k 


t-         & 


-r    ■'-"'    '-  ■    n\<  ■  '■''  i~ 


■  }r~li,      '.  i '  \*  >»  -j^'P*    r'"'' 
■"  ■-.'.  iyr — :  T"rv*,  ~"»  •    , 


VIKW   OF   NEWCASTLE  AS  IT    WAS   IN    1H23. 
From  an  old  Engraving. 

forward  was  taken,  in  which  we  may,  if  we  choose,  fancy  a  correspondence  to  the 
elevation  of  Newcastle  to  the  rank  of  a  city  and  bishop's  see.  True;  we  have  no 
dioceses,  and  do  not  believe  in  bishops,  but  these  things  may  afford  a  shadowy  analogue 
of  the  fact  that  the  one  original  Newcastle  Circuit  has  at  last  become  a  group  of  circuits, 
and  that  the  central  city-church  stands  there  in  the  midst— primus  inter  pares. 
Unmistakeably,  the  three  periods  are  there,  and  these  are  what  we  have  briefly 
to  consider. 

It  was  only  on  July  29th,  1822,  that  Clowes  formed  the  first  society  of  ten  members 
at  Ballast  Hills.  Shortly  after,  others  are  "  added  to  the  Church,"  and  he  records  that 
"some  of  the  worst  characters  are  turning  to  God  here.''  On  October  20th,  1822,  the 
Butcher's  Hall,  in  the  Friars,  was  opened  as  a  preaching-room,  and  in  December,  1823, 
through  the  labours,  especially  of  the  men  already  mentioned,  this  side  of  the  North 


190 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


Shields  Circuit  became  the  Newcastle-upon-Tyne  Circuit,  with  three  preachers  to  work 
it.  On  April  4th,  1824,  the  old  Sallyport  chapel,  previously  occupied  by  the  Scotch 
Church,  was  opened  by  J.  Gilbert  from  North  Shields,  J.  Branfoot  from  South  Shields, 
and  N.  West  from  Sunderland.  The  last-named  says  :  "  It  was  a  high  day  :  five  souls 
professed  to  find  the  Lord,  besides  many  more  who  were  in  distress."  Still  the  cause 
moved  on,  surely  if  steadily.  There  was  not  the  rush  and  roar  of  a  great  conflagration 
like  that  which,  in  1854,  half  devastated  Gateshead  and  Newcastle  ;  yet  the  anthracite 
glowed.  What  J.  Spencer  wrote  in  June,  1824,  expressed  no  mere  passing  phase 
of  the  religious  life  of  the  circuit  but  one  of  its  characteristic  traits :  "  There  is,"  says 
he,  "  no  particular  revival,  but  the  work  is  going  pleasingly  on."  Progress  was  marked 
by  the  securing  of  a  chapel  in  Silver  Street,  vacated  by  the  Congregationalists.  The 
street  was  silvern  only  in  name,  as  many  Silver  Streets  are ;  and  the  chapel  itself 
needed  considerable  repairs  which,  it  is  said,  the  Kev.  S.  Tillotson,  the  superintendent, 
took  off  his  coat  to  assist  in  effecting.  Still,  the  chapel  was  fairly  commodious,  and 
for  twelve  years — 1826-38 — Silver  Street  was  the  chief  centre  of  our  church-life  in 
Newcastle.     How  much  is  implied  in  this  bald  statement  which  cannot  be  drawn  out 


B.    LKIGHTON. 


Jill.    PETER    KIDJ1AN. 


MRS.    R.    COOK. 


in  detail !  Some  idea  of  what  was  accomplished  during  these  formative  years  may, 
however,  be  gained  from  the  plan  of  the  Newcastle  Circuit  for  April  to  July,  1837, 
which  now  lies  before  us.  The  ten  members  of  1822  have  now  become  1028,  of  which 
number  371  are  included  in  the  Gateshead  Circuit,  in  this  year  detached  from 
Newcastle.  The  plan  shows  twenty-eight  preaehing-pJaces,  of  which  Silver  Street, 
Ballast  Hills,  and  three  open-air  preaching-stands  are  in  the  town  proper,  while  three 
or  four  others  on  the  outskirts  of  the  town  are  also  supplied  with  preaching.  The 
Circuit  includes  M'estmoor  and  Wallsend,  and  extends  to  places  as  far  away  as 
Medomsley  and  Wallbottle,  Wylam  and  Shotley  Bridge.  The  plan  shows  four 
travelling-preachers,  of  whom  one  is  down  for  the  "Scotch  Mission,"  i.e.,  Dundee — 
and  sixty-two  local  preachers  and  exhorters.  Besides  these,  we  recall  the  fact  that 
other  labourers  have  been  raised  up,  and  they  amongst  the  most  capable  and  useful, 
whose  names  we  do  not  find  here  because  they  have  gone  forth  to  wider  service. 
Among  these  we  recall  John  Lightfoot  and  Mary  Porteus ;  Joseph  Spoor  and  his 
sister,  Jane  Spoor,  who  will  afterwards  become  the  wife  of  Mr.  Ealph  Cook  (himself 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE.  191 

for  many  years  a  prominent  layman  of  the  Newcastle  Circuit),  and  the  mother-in-law 
of  Dr.  Watson;  Thomas  Jobling,  too,  was  converted  in  1828,  and  has  entered  the 
ministry,  and  will  ultimately  become  General  Missionary  Secretary ;  John  Matfin, 
who  was  converted  at  Sallyport  Chapel  in  1824,  is  now  in  the  ministerial  ranks, 
and  also  G.  S.  Butterwick,  one  of  the  firstfruits  of  the  Newcastle  Mission.  Thomas 
Butterwick  will  soon  follow  him,  and  become  one  of  the  best  and  ablest  of  our 
early  preachers.  These  are  some  of  the  results  of  the  years  which  the  plan  fails 
to  register. 

As  we  glance  over  the  long  list  of  preachers,  we  notice  the  names  of  some  who,  in 
1837,  had  already  "  purchased  to  themselves  a  good  degree  "  ;  and  we  also  recognise  the 
names  of  others  who,  during  the  next  period,  will  come  to  the  front  and  play  their  part. 
Here,  for  example,  are  the  names  of  W.  B.  Leighton  and  Peter  Kidman,  who  had  already 
begun  their  long  and  honourable  connection  with  the  Newcastle  Circuit.     Both  joined 
the  Ballast  Hills  Society  at  or  soon  after  its  formation,  and  did  not  cease  to  serve  the 
Church  until  the  year  1884.     As  they  were  companions  in  service,  so  in  their  deaths 
they  were  not  divided.*     Every  organised  form  of  local  Christian  philanthropy  had 
Mr.  Leighton's  countenance  and  co-operation,  so  that   his   life  was  one  of  manifold 
activity.     He  was  not  eloquent  by  nature  or  a  skilful  debater,  but  just  a  constant, 
cheerful  worker  on  behalf  of  deserving  causes.     The  good  work,  however,  for  which  he 
merits  special  remembrance  in  this  connection  was  the  starting,  in  1829,  of  a  Sunday 
School  at  Ballast  Hills.     Of   this  he  was  the  superintendent  for  the  long  space  of 
fifty-nine  years.     After  its  formation  the  school  grew  until  it  had  five  hundred  scholars 
and  sixty  teachers.     It  had  its  branches,  to  one  of  which  the  present  St.  Anthony's 
Society  can  trace  its  origin.     Neglected  children  and  youths  were  gathered  in ;  a  library 
got  together,  a  Mutual  Improvement  Society  established,  and  Temperance  and  habits 
of  thrift   encouraged.      Amid   such   influences   as   these  many  a  young  man  had  his 
intellect  quickened  and  disciplined  for  service.    The  Bevs.  John  Davison,  the  biographer 
of  Clowes,  and  Thomas  Greenfield,  were  two  of  many  who  had  a  new  direction  given 
to  their  lives  by  this  Sunday  School.     About  the  year  1830  Mr.  Leighton,  then  only 
a  young  man  himself,  invited  a  youth  who  was  playing  at  pitch-and-toss  to  go  with 
him  to  the  school  hard  by.     The  youth  yielded  to  persuasion  kindly  given,  and  from 
that  simple  incident  Thomas  Greenfield  was  accustomed  to  date  his  conversion.     Then 
began,  on  his  part,  that  course  of  mental  cultivation  which  in  the  end  qualified  him 
to  become  a  College  tutor  and  Principal,  and  made  him  an  expository  preacher  of  rare 
excellence.     Thirty  years  after  Mr.  Leighton  won  this  youth  for  his  Master,  the  like 
process  was  repeated,  and  with  the  same  happy  results.     This  time  it  was  William 
Pears — whose  name  stands  No.  35  on  the  plan  of    1837 — who  induced   his  young 
lodger  to  accompany  him  to  Ballast  Hills  Chapel.     That  youth  was  Hugh  Gilmore, 
than  whom  our  Church  can  show  no  more  interesting  figure.     But  at  that  time  the 
youth,  though  a  lad  of  parts,  was  poor,  untaught,  and  undeveloped  as  a  lion's  cub. 
He  went,  and  went  again,  to  Ballast  Hills,  and  soon  "  experienced  a  complete  awakening." 

*  Their  memoirs,  written  by  Eev.  H.  Tooll,  will  be  found  side  by  side  in  the  "  Supplementary 
Connexional  Biography,"  issued  December,  1885. 


192 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


REV.    HUCIl    Gil. MORE. 


Hugh  Gilmore  never  forgot  Ballast  Hills  or  its  Bible  class,  of  which  Rev.  T.  Greenfield 
was  now  the  President.  Nor  did  he  forget  William  Pears ;  for  in  the  last  sermon  he 
preached,  June  7th,  1891,  he  thus  refers  to  him:  "I  lived  with  a  plain,  poor  man, 
whose  name  was   perhaps  unknown  beyond   the  people  in  the  little  row  of   cottages 

where  we  dwelt.  I  felt  that  there  was  something 
about  that  man — not  from  any  natural  cause — that 
made  him  separate  from  the  men  with  whom  I  was 
mixing.'' 

God's  promise  is  "seed  for  the  sower"  as  well  as 
"  bread  for  the  eater " ;  so  it  is  instructive  to  note 
how  in  Newcastle,  as  elsewhere,  provision  was  made 
for  our  Church's  perpetuity  and  enlargement,  as 
well  as  for  the  daily  needs  of  those  composing  its 
fellowship. 

With  the  acquisition  in  1838  of  Nelson  Street 
Chapel,  Newcastle  Primitive  Methodism  entered  upon 
the  second  period  of  its  history,  destined  to  last  for 
forty  years.  Mr.  Clowes  had  founded  the  first  society 
in  the  town,  and  it  was  but  fitting  that  he  should,  on 
November  21st,  1837,  lay  the  foundation-stone  of  this 
historic  building.  "  The  chapel  was  consecrated  before  it  was  built";  so  spoke  the  feeling 
of  some  who  had  come  under  the  influence  of  his  address  and  dedicatory  prayer.  The 
chapel  was  duly  opened  on  the  7th  and  12th  of  October,  1838,  by  Revs.  W.  Sanderson, 
J.  Bywater,  and  H.  Hebbron.  Its  cost  was  £2.!>50,  and  even  after  the  opening  services, 
there  remained  a  debt  of  £2,000  on  the  building.  It  was  a  bold  venture  to  make. 
To  come  out  of  Silver  Street  and  plant  themselves  down  within  the  area  of  the  town 
improvements,  as  though  they  were  smitten  with  the  architectural  fever  then  raging ; 
and  for  this  to  be  done,  with  all  the  responsibility  involved,  by  men  none  of  whom 
could  give  more  than  a  donation  of  five  pounds  without  a  monetary  strain — all  this 
was  quite  enough  to  give  rise  to  unfavourable  comments  and  head-shakings.  So  it 
was  ■  for  one  whose  memory  goes  back  to  that  time  tells  us  :  "  The  erection  of  Nelson 
Street  Chapel  produced  great  excitement.  Some,  of  course,  thought  it  very  wrong 

to  build  such  a  costly  edifice  and  leave  Silver  Street  Chapel,  which  was  greatly  needed 
in  that  wicked  part  of  the  town."*  But  the  men  on  the  Trust,  if  not  moneyed  men, 
were  men  of  faith  and  courage,  and  not  wanting  either  in  good-sense  and  practical 
discernment.  They  believed  the  time  had  come  for  a  forward  movement,  and  so  they 
acted  in  accordance  with  the  old  "dour"  saying  inscribed  on  the  walls  of  Marischal 
College,  Aberdeen  :  "  They  say.  What  say  they  ?  Let  them  say,''  and  they  stopped 
short  with  no  half  measures. 

When,  in  1897,  Nelson  Street  Chapel  had  been  sold  and  possession  was  taken  of 
the  Central  Church,  Northumberland  Road,  not  one  of  the  trustees  of  Nelson  Street 
remained  ;  all  had  passed  away.     For  once,  it  will  be  well  to  give  the  names  of  these 

*  Dr.  Edw.  Barrass :  "Reminiscences  of  Primitive  Methodism  Forty  Years  Ago,"  Aldersgate 
yioyazine,   IKM.   p.  5i>7. 


THE   PERIOD   OF  CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE. 


193 


E.    HOLMES. 


fteen,  because  among  them  are  the  names  of  many  who  carried  on  the  work  of  the 
hurch  during  the  years  that  followed.     Speaking  generally,  their  character  was  marked 
>y  stability,  which  largely  contributed  to  give  stability  and  a  certain  recognised  type 
,nd  tradition  to  the  church  to  which  they  belonged.     When  death  came — as  come  it 
did  sooner    or    later — it   found  most  of    these  men   still  at  their 
posts.     It  is  not  often  this  can  be  said  of  so  large  a  proportion 
of  the  signatories  of  an  early  trust-deed.     The  fact,  thus  lightly 
glanced  at,  is  an  important  one  for  the  understanding  of  the  history 
of  Nelson  Street  in  its  mid-period.     The  names  of  the  Trustees 
were  : — John  Scott,  George  Charlton,  Joseph  Salkeld   [afterwards 
of  Howden],    David  Keell,    Robert   Barron,   Ealph  Cooke,  John 
Taylor,  Andrew  Mc  Cree,  Thomas  Mc  Cree,  William  Armstrong, 
W.  B.  Leighton,  Edward  Holmes,  George  Dodds,  James  Thompson, 
George    Moore,    Robert    Foster,    J.    Lockey,    Joseph    Pattinson, 
R.  Robson,  James  Stewart,  and  James  Gibson.     John  Scott  and 
John  Taylor  are  names  found  in  this  list.     The  influence  their 
high   character   and  fair  social  position   gave  them   was   profitable   for   the   Church. 
William  Armstrong  was  a  man  of  meek  and  gentle  spirit,  kindly  disposed,  and  a  sweet 
preacher.     Edward  Holmes  was  a  familiar  figure  for  many  years.     The  writer,  who 
as  Newcastle  Circuit's  "  young  man,1'  spent  three  years  under  his  roof,  gladly  bears 
witness  to  his  piety  and  solid  qualities.     Robert  Foster,  sen.,  was  quiet,  unassuming, 
intelligent,  and  an  acceptable  pulpit  man.      He  and  his  wife  were  amongst  the  first 
victims  of  the  cholera  scourge  in  1853;  for,  just  as  London  had  its  year  of  the  great 
plague  followed  by  the  great  fire  of  1666,  so,  on  a  smaller  scale,  had  Newcastle  in 
1853  and  1854 ;  and,  in  this  dread  visitation,  the  angel  of  death  did  not  pass  by  our 
Church.     Mr.  and  Mrs  Scott  were  also  amongst  the  fifteen  hundred  who  were  stricken 
down  in  that  fatal  September.     For  many  years  Andrew  Mc  Cree,  as  Circuit  Steward 
and  Sunday  School  superintendent,  was  a  leading  figure  at  Nelson  Street.     Though 
built  on  hard  lines  and  wanting  in  flexibilit}',  a  stickler  for  rule  and  a  martinet  in 
discipline,   he  was  an  able  man   and  a  diligent  and  conscientious  official,  and  it  was 
wonderful  to  see  how,  as  the   end  was  approached,  his  character 
mellowed   and  softened. 

Undoubtedly,  George  Charlton's  is  the  best-known  name  in  the 
list  of  men  of  the  middle  period.  C.  C.  McKechnie,  who  spent 
three  terms  of  service  in  Newcastle,  says  truly  of  him  : — 

"He  had  altogether  a  striking  presence.  Though  not  a  deep 
thinker,  nor  given  to  abstract  or  speculative  inquiries,  he 
had  a  mind  of  great  activity  and  force.  His  mind  was 
eminently  practical .  He  took  a  deep  interest  in  the  social, 
political,  and  religious  movements  of  the  day.  Among 
temperance  advocates  he  stood  in  the  foremost  rank.  He 
was  a  most  effective  temperance  speaker.  Dealing  with 
facts  which  could  not  be  gainsaid,  and  putting  his  arguments  and  appeals  in  the 
plainest  and  strongest  light,  and  speaking  with  the  fervour  of  deep  conviction, 
he  usually  made  a  powerful  impression,  and  carried  his  audience  with  him.     He 

N 


ANDREW  McCREE. 


194 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


seemed  specially  fitted  and  intended  for  temperance  work.  Let  it  also  be  said, 
however,  that  he  rendered  signal  service  to  the  cause  of  religion.  As  leader,  local 
preacher,  Conference  delegate,  he  made  himself  felt  as  a  power  for  good.  He  was 
one  of  the  best  men  I  ever  met  with  for  open-air  services.  He  never  appeared 
more  in  his  element  than  when  taking  part  in  leading  a  procession,  or  in  preaching 
at  a  camp  meeting.  He  was  a  leal-hearted,  loyal  Primitive,  proud  of  his  Church, 
never  ashamed  to  show  his  colours,  and  always  ready  to  forward  the  interests  of 
the  Connexion.  He  might  have,  as  some  thought,  rather  narrow  and  perhaps 
unreasonable  ideas  as  to  the  salaries  and  accommodation  of  travelling-preachers  ; 
but  allowance  must  be  made  for  the  spirit  of  the  times,  for  the  training  he  had 


received,  and  for  his  extreme  democratic 


With  sundry  drawbacks,  which 


were  greatly  modified  with  advancing  years  and  experience,  George  Charlton  was 
a  splendid  character  ;  one  of  the  noblest  men  raised  among  the  Primitives  in  the 
North.  —(.MS.  "  Notes  of  My  Life.") 

William    Stewart   and    Robert    Foster,   jun.,   are   names   not    found    in   the   list  of 
Nelson   Street   trustees,   though   their   fathers'  names   are  there.     Yet   the   history  of 


JAMES    STEWART. 


WILLIAM    KTEWAKT. 


THOMAS   PATTISON. 


Nelson  Street  cannot  be  written  without  a  reference  to  them,  and  both  claim  their 
place  in  the  larger  history  of  the  Connexion.  James  Stewart  was  an  early  class-leader 
as  well  as  trustee.  He  had  a  kindly,  genial  disposition  and  a  vein  of  humour  that 
sometimes  ran  into  fun  and  banter.  In  these  respects  William  Stewart  showed  himself 
his  father's  son.  But  the  son  was  also  a  keen  business  man — a  man  of  affairs  and,  despite 
a  constitution  not  over  robust,  he  rose  to  be  one  of  Newcastle's  leading  tradesmen  and 
Sheriff  of  the  "  town  and  county."  Prosperity  did  not  spoil  him  or  wean  him  from 
the  Connexion.  There  was  no  stand-offishness  about  him  or  pride  of  purse,  but  he 
was  ever  affable  and  accessible.  In  their  well-appointed  home,  he  and  his  good  wife— 
the  daughter  of  Mr.  Thomas  Pattison— dispensed  a  gracious  hospitality  which,  socially, 
had  its  value  for  the  Church.  He  took  an  interest  in  the  affairs  of  the  circuit  (of 
which  he  was  the  efficient  Steward),  as  well  as  in  the  wider  affairs  of  the  Connexion— 
in  district  administration  and  extension,  in  Missions,  in  Elmfield  College  and  Sunderland 

*  It  may  not  be  generally  know  u  that  the  future  Mayor  of  Gateshead  was  a  speaker  at  two 
of  the  immense  Chartist  gatherings  on  the  Town  Moor  in  1838-9,  at  one  of  which  the  military 
appeared ;  and  that  George  Charlton  also  identified  himself  with  thejminers,  and  [took  part  in 
their  mass-meetings. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE  AND   ENTERPRISE. 


195 


Meanwhile  he  had  the  generous   hand,  and  his  family-pew  was  seldom 


I10BERT  FOSTER. 


Institute, 
empty. 

Robert  Foster,  jun.,  was  a  young  man  of  promise  at  the  time  of  his  father's  death. 
The  pious  but  heavy  duty  that  now  devolved  upon  him  precluded  his  entering  the 

ministry,  in  which  assuredly  he  would  have 
taken  a  high  place.  But  it  did  not  prevent 
his  ultimately  attaining  to  the  highest  honour 
the  Connexion  has  to  bestow  on  its  laymen. 
This  honour  was  his  when  the  Conference 
of  1901  elected  him  as  its  Vice-President. 
Except  during  the  years  he  resided  in  London, 
Mr.  Foster  has  been  closely  attached  to  the 
society  that  worshipped  in  Nelson  Street,  and, 
under  the  leadership  of  Rev.  A.  T.  Guttery, 
along  with  Messrs.  Hewitson,  Stokoe,  Morton 
and  others,  actively  assisted  in  the  trans- 
ference of  the  society  to  what  Mr.  Foster 
has  himself  called  "the  city  church.''  With 
no  special  advantages  arising  from  wealth 
or  position,  he  has  steadily  pursued  the  path 
of   usefulness    and   the   cultivation    of    mind 

and  spirit.     As  he  took  the  right  road  early  in  life,  he  has  had  no  need  to  change  his 

direction.     The  ideals  of  youth  are  not  outworn.     Hence  his  life  has  been  a  progress, 

and  the  influence  of  that  life  cumulative.     In  him  we  see  the  harmony  of  "  mind  and 

soul  according  well."     Mental  cultivation,  though  steadily 

pursued,  has  not  weakened  his  sense  of  conduct,  of  the 

demand  made  upon  us,  amid  all  the  social  groupings  and 

combinations  of  which  we  form  a  part,  for  what  is  right- 
eous and  fitting.     Nor  is  moralist  the  last  word.     No  fear 

of  "  blanched  morality  "  while  the  life-blood  ceases  not  to 

course  through  every  duct  and  vein,   suffusing  all  with 

the  hue  of  spiritual  health,  and  keeping  the  heart  young 

and  fresh. 

Besides   those    already    mentioned,    there   were   others 

(speaking  only  of  the  dead)  whose  association  with  Nelson 

Street  was  close  and  long.     Such  were  George  Dodds, 

second  only  to  his  friend  George  Charlton  as  a  temperance 

advocate,  and  as  a  master  of  incisive  Saxon  speech  ;  John 

Ingledew,  kind,  gentle,  unassuming,  a  man  of  blameless 

and  attractive    character ;    of    quite  another   stamp    was 

James  Bruce,  a  godly  keelman,  whose  responses  and  quaint 

sayings  will  not  readily  be  forgotten ;  from  the  Yorkshire  Dales  came  John  Wilson, 

and  from  Alston  Moor  Robert  Varty,  both  of  whom  were  generous  supporters  of  the 

«ause    and    thoroughly    loyal    Primitive    Methodists.       Nor    must    we    forget   that 

n  2 


BE V.    A.    T.    GUTTERY. 


196 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST    CHURCH. 


JOHN    INGLEDEW. 


Rev.  William  Dent,  with  his  alert  intelligence  and  his  solicitude  for  Zion's  weal,  was  for 

some  twenty-three  years,  as  a  superannuate,  identified  with  the  Nelson  Street  Society. 
As  were  the  men  so  was  the  church,  in  the  long  middle  period  of  its  history.  That 
period  we  have  spoken  of  as  an  uneventful  one.  Such  it  was  in 
a  good  sense,  and  also  in  a  sense  not  so  good.  As  a  rule  things 
moved  steadily  on.  The  old  hands  stood  to  their  posts  year  in  and 
year  out.  Now  and  again,  indeed,  there  might  be  a  breeze 
stiffening  to  a  gale  like  that  of  which  the  Hymn  Book  of  1854 
was  the  storm-centre,  or  like  that  which  in  1855  blew  from  the 
high  latitudes  of  Conference.*  But  by  skilful  pilotage  the  storms 
were  weathered,  without  mutiny  of  the  crew  or  damage  to  the  ship. 
Such  experiences,  however,  were  exceptional.  Novocastrian 
Primitives  were  proud  of  Nelson  Street.  They  regarded  it,  and 
rightly,  as  "  by  far  the  most  superior  place  of  worship  owned  by 
the  Primitives  in    the    North."      They  were  proud   too  of   their 

anniversaries  and  of  their  congregational  singing,  as  they  had  good  reason  to  be ;    for 

in  the  pre-organ   days,   John    Kidd,   an   enthusiastic   musician,    led    the   singing   and 

presided  over  an  instrumental   choir.       He  loved  the  old  hymns,  and  nowhere  were 

they  sung  with  such  verve  as  at  Nelson  Street.      He  set  tunes  to  many  of  the  old 

hymns  :  that  known  as  "Happy  day,''  composed  for  No.  50  in  the  Small  Hymn  Book 

— "  I'm  glad  I  ever  saw  the  day,''  still  holding  its  ground. 
But  there  is  a  per  contra  side.      Notwithstanding   its 

intelligence,  its  stability,  and  other  good  qualities,  it  must 

be  admitted    Nelson   Street  lacked  aggressiveness.     The 

town  grew  amain,   but    the  church    did    not  keep    pace 

with  its  growth,     (jpen-air  work  indeed  was  not  neglected,' 

and  once  a  year  a  rousing  procession  would  startle  the 

inhabitants    of    the    lower    quarters    of    the     town,   and 

George  Charlton  and  others  would  deal  out  straight  talk 

to  the  people  who  leaned  out  of  their  windows  or  stood  at 

their  doors,   and  then  in  the  afternoon   a  capital  camp 

meeting    would    be    held    on  the    Town    Moor,    and — 

things  moved  on  in  the  old  regular  way.     That  this  was 

characteristic  of  that  period  is  admitted  by  Mr.  R.  Foster, 

who    says :      "As    a    Christian    organisation    Primitive 

Methodism  has  not  been  as  enterprising  and  aggressive  as  it  ought ;  and  judged  by  the 
census  returns  it  is  remarkably  behind.  But  recently  a  more  militant  and  forward 
spirit  has  taken  possession  of  our  churches.'' 

The  following  notes  respecting  the  later  development  of  Newcastle  Circuit  may  be 
found  useful.  They  will  serve  to  show  how  comparatively  recent  that  development 
has  been,  and  thus  confirm  the  truth  of  Mr.  Foster's  words  just  cited.     Dealing  first 

*  'With  the  concurrence  ot  an  influential  minority,  the  Conference  had  appointed  as  an  additional 
preacher  to  Newcastle  one  for  whom,  notwithstanding  his  acknowledged  ability,  it  could  find  no 
place.  The  circuit  stoutly  and  successfully  resisted  the  impost;  and  the  preacher  had  a  year's  rest. 
See  Rev.  J.  Atkinson's  "  Life  of  C.  C.  MeKeehnio,"  pp.  121 — 6. 


JOHN   KIDD. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE. 


197 


with  Newcastle  :  A  mission  at  the  west  side  of  the  town  (Scotswood  Road)  resulted  at 
length  in  the  building  of  Brunei  Street  Chapel.  This  was  in  1870  superseded  by 
Maple  Street,  which  in  1874  became  the  head  of  Newcastle  II.,  with  the  Rev.  James 
Young  as  its  superintendent.  Another  westward  mission,  Arthur's  Hill,  founded  in 
1842  by  Mr.  William  Armstrong,  gave  place  in  1864  to  West  Street.  This  in  turn 
was  vacated  in  1897  for  Kingsley  Terrace,  now  attached  to  Newcastle  II.  Eastward, 
Heaton  Road  Chapel  was  built  in  1877,  and  in  1892  was  constituted  the  head  of 
Newcastle  III.  Another  city  chapel  not  shown  on  our  full-page  illustration  is  Derby 
Street  which  in  1883  took  the  place  of  an  upper  room  where  we  had  long  worshipped. 
Strickland  Street  is  the  successor  of  a  joiner's  shop  in  Elswick.  Other  schemes  of 
local  extension  are  projected.  Finally,  Newcastle  II.  was  in  1894  again  divided  by 
Blaydon  and  Lemington  becoming  the  heads  of  circuits.  The  number  of  members 
for  the  five  circuits  reported  to  the  Conference  of  1904  was  1886,  as  against  747 
when  the  division  of  1874  took  place. 

Turning  now  to  Gateshead  :  Its  early  history  was  one  of  toil  and  disappointment, 
while  its  later  history  has  been  one  of  remarkable  success.  Made  a  circuit  in  1837, 
it  was  in   1841  again  joined  to  Newcastle.      Its  first  chapel  was  lost  to  the  Connexion 


JOHN  THOMPSON. 


E.  GOWLAND. 


G.  E.  ALMOND. 


through  the  defalcations  of  its  treasurer.  In  1854,  Nelson  Street  Chapel  was  opened 
by  Rev.  Ralph  Fen  wick.  The  lineal  successor  of  that  chapel,  sold  in  1886,  may  be 
said  to  be  the  fine  block  of  buildings  in  Durham  Road,  consisting  of  school  and  lecture 
hall  erected  in  1887,  and  chapel  and  manse  in  1892-3.  Meanwhile,  Gateshead  was  again 
created  a  circuit  in  1862. 

Gateshead  II.  was  formed  in  1891.  At  its  head  stands  Prince  Consort  Road  Chapel, 
the  outcome  of  a  mission  begun  in  1869.  The  Teams  mission,  begun  by  Messrs.  Carr 
and  Scope  in  1874,  has  similarly  resulted  in  Victoria  Road  Chapel;  and  the  Somerset 
Street  mission,  started  in  1875,  developed  nine  years  later  into  Sunderland  Road 
Chapel,  which  has  connected  with  it  a  Christian  Endeavour  Hall,  said  to  be  the  first 
of  its  kind  in  the  Connexion.  Still  another  mission  resulted  in  the  building  of 
Bank  Street  School-chapel  in  1891.     Further  extensions  are  projected. 

One  cannot  but  be  impressed  with  the  amount  of  work  that  has  been  crowded  into 
a  period  no  longer  than  is  often  the  term  of  one  man's  ministry.  How  much  of  this 
success  may  have  been  prepared  for  by  the  sorrowful  sowing  of  the  previous  period — who 
shall  tell  ?     Referring  to  the  progress  made  by  Gateshead  since  it  was  made  a  circuit 


108 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


THE   PERIOD    OF    CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE. 


WB: 


BENJAMIN   SPOOR. 


in  1862,  the  Rev.  G.  Armstrong,  to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  many  of  the  facts 
given,  says :  "  From  that  time  its  advance  has  been  rapid  and  continuous,  until  to-day 
its  membership  slightly  exceeds  that  of  Newcastle.  Its  more  prominent  leaders  included 
W.  Peel,  John  Thompson,  Edward  Gowland,  John  Scope,  John  Cherry, and  G.  E.  Almond, 
who  is  still  with  us,  and  is  yet  a  fewer  of  strength.  The  great  feature  of  Gateshead 
Primitive  Methodism  has  been  its  persistent  missioning,  and  its  dogged  determination 
to  succeed." 

Men'are  of  much  more  value  than  many  chapels,  and  however  beautiful  to  look  at 
they  may  be,  one  would  gladly  turn  to  the  men  who  got  them 
built,  or,  yet  more — because  they  are  in  greater  danger  of  being 
forgotten — one  would  fain  recall  the  men  who  worshipped  in  the 
humbler  buildings  of  the  early  days.  Some  of  these  we  have 
endeavoured  to  revive  the  memory  of ;  but,  though  Nelson  Street 
was  the  head  and  centre  of  the  old  circuit,  there  were  good  men 
and  true  connected  with  its  other  societies  no  less  worthy  of  being 
remembered.  From  Bessie  Newton,  of  Whickham,  the  popular 
preacheress,  and  Ealph  Waller,  the  Blaydon  coke-burner,  down 
to  the  men  of  the  present,  there  have  never  been  wanting  those 
who  have  stood  by  the  cause  and  furthered  its  local  interests — men 
like  David  Wright  of  Ballast  Hills,  Thomas  Scott  of  Walker,  the 
Pickerings  of  Winlaton,  and  many  others  who  might  be  named,  did  space  permit. 
Besides  these  who  have  lived  and  died  in  the  circuit,  others  have  gone  forth  from  it 
who  have  done  yeoman-service  in  other  parts  of  the  Connexion.  In  proof  of  this  the 
names  of  Benjamin  and  Ferdinand  Spoor,  and  Thomas  Robson  may  be  cited.  It  was 
at  Walker  the  brothers  Spoor  began  their  course  of  Christian  usefulness  which,  with 
concurrent  worldly  prosperity,  was  hereafter  to  make  them  so  influential  in  the  Bishop 
Auckland  Circuit,  and  far  beyond.  The  father  of  Thomas  Robson  was  one  of  the 
earliest  local  preachers  of  the  Newcastle  Circuit,  and  it  was  in  the  same  circuit  his 
son  began  to  exercise  those  gifts  which,  after  his  retirement  from  the  ministry, 
made  him  one  of  the  most  acceptable  local  preachers  in  the  Darlington  and 
Stockton  District. 

Sunderland. 
John  Branfoot  was  probably  our  Connexional  pioneer  in  Sunderland.  Tradition 
says  he  visited  the  town  in  1821  and  preached  on  the  pier. 
Further,  that  some  considerable  time  after,  John  Nelson  walked 
over  from  South  Shields  to  hold  a  service.  A  good-hearted 
woman  lent  him  a  chair  for  pulpit  which  he  placed  at  the  end 
of  the  Friends'  School — the  very  building  which  soon  after 
was  obligingly  placed  at  the  service  of  the  few  who  had  rallied 
round  the  missionary,  amongst  whom  are  particularly  named — 
George  Peckett,  John  Tiplady,  Benjamin  Dodds,  and  Christopher 
Fenwick.  So  far  tradition,  which  agrees  with  the  earliest  evidence 
afforded  by  printed  documents.  In  the  Journals  of  W.  Clowes  as 
found  in  the  Magazine,  lie  notes  being  at  Sunderland  on  July  16th, 
1822,   and   adds:     "there   is   likely  to    be   a  good  work    here." 


FERDINAND    SPOOK. 


200 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 


SATE5HEAD 


THE   PERIOD   OF    CIRCUIT    PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE. 


201 


On  September  1st,  he  meets  the  class  of  six  members  who  then  constituted  the 
Society.  Under  date  of  October  8th,  "I  preached,"  he  says,  "in  a  large  school-room 
kindly  lent  us  by  the  committee  of  the  school.  We  received  it  as  a  very  great 
kindness."  This  would  probably  be  the  service  attended  by  a  young  man  who 
became  a  New  Connexion  minister,  and  who  afterwards  recalled  his  impressions.  His 
ear  had  been  so  abused  by  tales  of  these  new-comers  that  he  went  to  the  room  full  of 
prejudice.  Mr.  Clowes  preached  from— "We  are  made  partakers  of  Christ  if  we 
hold  fast  the  beginning  of  our  confidence,  steadfast  unto  the  end.''  As  he  listened 
his  prejudices  gradually  gave  way,  and  he  pushed  further  into  the  room.  By  the 
time  the  preacher  had  finished  his  sermon,  Mr.  Lynn's  "  heart  was  bound  to  him  in 
love  as  a  precious  man  of  God.      After  the  singing  of  the  hymn  beginning : — 

'  Come  and  taste  along  with  me, 
Consolation  flowing  free,' 


VICTORIA   HALL,    FROM  THE  PARK,    SUNDERLAND. 
£cene  of  the  Disaster  of  June  16th,  1883,  in  which  182  children  lost  their  lives. 

he  engaged  in  prayer,  and  Divine  '  influence  came  streaming  down  in  such  a  way  as 
completely  overcame  me.  I  was  so  affected  that  I  could  not  stand  and  sank  on  my 
knees.  Oh,  the  unutterable  bliss  that  filled  my  soul !  For  many  days  after,  I  feasted 
on  the  rich  supply  of  grace  then  given ;  and  ever  after  I  revered  the  name  of  William 
Clowes."* 

Very  soon  after  this  Mr.  Clowes  went  on  his  Carlisle  mission  as  already  described. 
Not  quite  a  year  later  the  Sunderland  and  Stockton  branches  became  the  Sunderland 


Methodist  Records;  or,  Selections  from  the  Journal  of  the  Rev.  Andrew  Lynn,  1858." 


202 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


and  Stockton  Union  Circuit.  The  Circuit  thus  formed  was  of  wide  area.  It  embraced 
the  whole  of  the  south-eastern  part  of  the  county  of  Durham,  a  part  which  included 
the  towns  of  Hartlepool,  Stockton-on-Tees,  Houghton-le-Spring,  the  ancient  city  of 
Durham,  and  numerous  collieries  which  were  springing  up  and  rapidly  transforming  the 
character  and  increasing  the  population  of  the  district.  Such  was  the  old  Sunderland 
Circuit;  and  as  such  it  remained  until  1837  when  Stockton  Circuit  was  formed.  Two 
years  later  the  western  side  was  detached  to  form  the  Durham  Circuit ;  while  Hetton, 

in  the  heart  of  the  collieries, 
continued  its  connection  with 
Sunderland  until  1864.  We 
shall  not  now  interrupt  the 
narrative  in  order  to  follow 
the  process  of  circuit  sub- 
division further,  although  it 
has  resulted  in  giving  us 
some  twenty  circuits  instead 
of  the  one  circuit  of  1823. 

The  growth  of  the  Circuit 
was  rapid.  Primitive  Metho- 
dism quickly  rooted  itself 
both  in  Sunderland  and  the 
mining  village?.  This  will 
appear  from  two  extracts  we 
give  from  the  Journals  of  the 
time.  The  writer  of  the  first 
is  Thomas  Nelson,  whose  zeal 
and  unremitting  labour  had 
no  doubt  largely  contributed 
to  the  success  realised. 

Monday,  Awjust  25th, 
1823— Last  year  at  this 
time  in  Sunderland  we 
had  six  in  Society  and 
one  leader  ;  but  now  we 
have  275  members,  eleven  leaders,  and  a  very  large  chapel  building.  The  increase 
for  this  quarter  is  4.10.  What  hath  Ood  wrought  !  Shall  I  say  that  this  has  been 
one  of  the  best  and  most  wonderful  quarters  I  ever  saw  before  ?  I  have  preached 
nearly  every  sermon  in  the  open-air,  and  have  seen  the  good  effects  of  it.  I  am 
afraid  if  our  people  do  not  watch,  as  they  get  chapels  and  places  of  worship  , 
they  will  cease  to  preach  in  the  open-air,  and,  then  the  glory  will  depart  from  us 
as  a  people." 

Our  second  extract  is  from  the  Journal  of  N.  West,  and  is  dated  October  15th,  1823. 
As  usual,  what  he  writes  is  helpful.  It  gives  us  a  graphic  presentation  of  what  was 
going  on  amongst  the  colliers.      We   see  them  gladly  receiving  that  form  of   truth 


DURHAM    CATHEDRAL. 


THE   PERIOD   OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE.  203 

which  was  to  do  so  much  for  the  moral  elevation  of  their  class.  Alluding  to  its  being- 
loss  than  a  year  since  our  cause  was  introduced  into  the  northern  part  of  the  Circuit, 
he  proceeds : — 

"A  very  blessed  and  glorious  work  has  gone  on  for  some  time  in  (Sunderland  and 
the  neighbouring  collieries.  In  Sunderland  and  Monkwearmouth  (which  is 
a  village  on  the  opposite  side  the  river  from  Sunderland)  we  have  nearly  four 
hundred  members.  In  Lord  Steward's  and  Squire  Lambton's  collieries  we  have 
near  four  hundred  more.  Some  of  the  most  abandoned  characters  have  tasted  that 
the  Lord  is  gracious.  Indeed,  the  Lord  and  the  poor  colliers  are  doing  wondrously. 
Our  congregations  are  immensely  large,  and  well-behaved.  It  would  do  any  of  the 
lovers  of  Jesus  good  to  see  the  dear  colliers  sometimes  under  the  word.  On  some 
occasions  (for  want  of  time  to  wash  themselves),  they  are  constrained  to  come  black 
to  the  pieaching  or  else  miss  the  sermon.  And  when  the  Lord  warms  their  hearts 
with  His  dying  love,  and  they  feel  Him  precious  in  His  word,  the  large  and  silent 
tears  rolling  down  their  black  cheeks,  and  leaving  the  white  streaks  behind, 
conspicuously  portray  what  their  hearts  feel.  Their  hearty  and  zealous  exertions 
in  the  cause  of  God  would  make  almost  any  one  love  them.  We  have  five  preachers 
employed  in  this  Circuit,  and  a  blessed  prospect." 

Thomas  Nelson,  it  will  have  been  noticed,  alludes  to  the  building  of  Flag  Lane 
Chapel  as  already  going  on  in  the  autumn  of  1823.  The  date  is  significant,  as  is  also 
the  fact  that  the  chapel  was  not  opened  until  September  3rd,  1824.  For  a  society  not 
yet  a  year  old  to  buy  land  without  money,  and  to  begin  to  build  a  chapel  to  seat 
a  thousand  people,  was  a  bold  undertaking.  Judged  by  modern  methods  and  require- 
ments it  was  impolitic  and  rash  to  a  degree.  But  it  should  be  remembered  that  the 
Society  was,  thus  early,  joined  by  some  men  of  intelligence  and  character,  and  that  this 
saved  the  enterprise  from  being  as  Quixotic  as  at  first  tight  it  might  appear  to  be.  But 
even  so,  Flag  Lane  was  long  regarded  as  a  standing  monument  of  the  good  Providence  of 
God  over  His  people.  It  was  under  the  influence  of  this  feeling  that  N.  West,  after 
its  opening,  told  the  story  to  the  Connexion.  To  him  God's  hand  was  in  the  building 
of  Flag  Lane  as  surely  as  it  was  seen  in  the  rebuilding  of  Ihe  walls  of  Jerusalem  in 
Nehemiah's  days.  Difficulties  more  than  enough  to  daunt  any  but  the  most  determined 
were  met  and  overcome.  A  wall  stood  on  the  ground  promised  them,  which  wall 
was  claimed  by  one  who  refused  to  sell  except  at  an  exorbitant  price.  Faced  with  this 
difficulty,  the  Society  betook  itself  to  prayer.  From  the  prayer-meeting  Brothers 
Beckett  and  Sharkitt  waited  upon  the  owner  of  the  wall  who,  after  some  conference, 
gave  permission  for  its  removal.  When  the  work  was  begun  their  available  capital  was 
but  £23,  the  first  shilling  of  which  was  given  by  a  coal-porter.  This  is  but  a  sample 
of  their  difficulties  and  deliverances.  More  lhan  once  or  twice  the  work  was  brought 
to  a  stand  for  lack  of  money ;  but  prayer  went  up  continually,  and  sacrifices  were 
cheerfully  made,  and  all  conspired  to  beg  as  well  as  to  give  and  pray.  But  what  is 
worthy  of  remark  : — we  see  John  Gordon  Black  and  Henry  Hesman  moving  about,  inter- 
viewing this  man  and  the  other,  and  we  are  brought  back  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
character  of  the  men  associated  with  this  seemingly  rash  undertaking  was  a  valuable 
asset,  and  this  the  Church  in  Sunderland  found  to  its  own  great  advantage  in  this  and 


204 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


subsequent  years.  It  was  strong  in  the  moral  strength  of  its  earliest  and  most 
prominent  officials.  Of  these  John  Gordon  Black  was  as  long  as  he  lived  the  first  and 
foremost.  With  his  tall,  slender,  somewhat  stooping  form,  his  dark  visage,  deep-set  eyes, 
Melanchthon-like  forehead  crowned  with  steel-grey  hair,  and  his  sickly  cast  of 
countenance,  Mr.  Black  was  a  striking  if  not  a  prepossessing  figure.  He  gave  the 
impression  of  strength  of  character,  of  knowing  his  own  mind,  of  the  power  to  lead 
and  command  ;  and  fuller  knowledge  hut  served  to  confirm  the  correctness  of  such 
impressions.  He  had  a  clear  penetrative  intellect,  and  could  hold  his  own  in  argument 
even  with  men  who  might  be  more  fully  informed  than  himself.  By  the  exercise  of 
qualities  such  as  these  Mr.  Black  prospered  in  business,  and  in  the  end  amassed  con- 
siderable wealth.  He  was  a  convinced  and  loyal  Primitive  Methodist,  whose  services 
in  its  behalf  merited  the  distinction  of  his  name  being  included — the  only  one  of  the 
Sunderland  District — amongst  the  original  signatories  of  the  Deed  Poll.  He  loved  to 
gather  round  him  ministers  of  his  own  and  other  denominations,  so  that  his  home 
became  a  rallying-point  for  evangelical  Nonconformity  in  the  borough.     The  influence 


W.    HOPPEIt. 


K.    HUISON. 


of  these  re-unions,  and  of  Mr.  Black's  reputation  for  integrity  and  public-spirit,  were  of 
advantage  to  the  Church  to  which  he  belonged.  Sunderland  Primitive  Methodism 
has  always  been  strong  on  the  social  side,  and  has  stood  well  in  public  estimation. 
This  is  in  no  inconsiderable  measure  due  to  the  early  example  and  influence  of 
John  Gordon  Black.  His  funeral,  in  September,  1851,  was  attended  by  forty  ministers  of 
his  own  denomination,  as  well  as  by  many  ministers  of  other  Churches. 

Next  to  J.  Gordon  Black  should  certainly  come  a  reference  to  his  contemporary, 
Henry  Hesnian.  As  we  recall  the  reminiscences  of  his  physical  defects,  which  after  all 
were  but  the  foil  to  unusual  endowments,  we  are  reminded  of  Joseph  Polwarth,  the 
prophet-dwarf  of  George  Macdonald's  story.*  As  Mr.  MeKechnie  has  finely  written  in 
his  unpublished  autobiography :  "  That  dwarfed  and  deformed  figure  enshrined 
■i  richly  dowered  soul,  clear,  piercing,  far-reaching  in  its  perception,  and  with  capacities 
for  high  and  subtle  thought."  As  in  addit.^n  to  all  his  other  qualities,  Mr.  Hesman 
had  a  silvery  musical  voice,  oratorical  gestures,  and  a  singular  excellence  in  his  style  of 
address,  it  was  but  natural  that,  like  the  very  popular  Newriek  Featonby,  he  should  be 
well  received  as  a  local  preacher  by  the  Societies. 


*  "  Thomas  Wiugfold,  Curate.' 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE.  205 

Other  men,  the  contemporaries  or  immediate  successors  of  those  just  mentioned,  were 
prominent  figures  in  the  Sunderland  Circuit  for  many  years.  Such  were  Messrs. 
Whittaker,  W.  Hopper,  W.  B.  Earl,  R.  Huison,  Thomas  Gibson  and  others  we  need  not 
name.  The  fact  that  Mr.  Thomas  Gibson  finally  withdrew  from  the  Connexion  does 
not  annul  the  service  he  rendered  the  Sunderland  Circuit,  and  the  Connexion 
generally.  In  regard  to  the  latter,  the  practical  interest  he  took  in  the  higher  training 
of  the  ministry  demands  special  acknowledgment.  Men  quickly  pass,  and  memory  is 
short.  They  who  can  recall  Mr.  Thomas  Gibson  as,  unimpassionedly,  he  addressed  the 
Conference,  are  becoming  fewer  in  number  every  year.  The  few,  however,  who  remain 
will  not  fail  to  remember  his  skill  in  debate.  How  clearly  he  could  state  a  case, 
marshal  his  arguments,  controvert  a  position  ! 

The  men  we  have  referred  to  were  men  of  good  social  position.      They  were  the  men 

who  figured  on  platforms,  and  had  a  large  determining 
influence  in  the  councils  of  the  Circuit.  They  took  part 
in  the  full-dress  debates  of  the  Quarterly  Meetings  and  in 
the  sessions  of  the  District  Preachers'  Association — large 
and  notable  gatherings  both.  Yet  the  prominence  and 
usefulness  of  these  men  must  not  be  allowed  to  obscure 
the  fact  that  the  strength  of  the  Circuit,  and  the  secret 
of  its  success,  were  with  those  more  sequestered  souls-  in 
the  various  societies  who  quietly  did  their  duty  and  gave 
stability  to  the  cause.  This  was  seen  when  the  troubles 
arose,  ostensibly  through  the  building  of  Tatham  Street 
Chapel  (1875),  and  the  subsequent  division  of  the 
Sunderland  Circuit  (1877).  We  have  used  the  word 
"ostensibly  "  ;  for  though  these  events  were  the  occasion  of 
the  divergence,  their  real  cause  was  something  very 
different  from  the  cause  alleged.  However  the  issue  may 
have  been  confused,  the  vital  question  at  issue  was  between  the  will  of  the  few  and 
the  will  of  the  many ;  whether  government  by  the  people  for  the  people  was  not  after 
all  the  right  kind  of  government  for  Primitive  Methodism.  In  the  process  of  getting 
back  on  the  right  democratic  lines  mistakes  may  have  been  committed,  but  not  to  have 
got  back  would  have  been  the  greatest  mistake  of  all. 


Sunderland  Circuit's  Missions. 

Sunderland  Circuit  soon  began  to  carry  on  missionary  operations  beyond  its  own 
borders.  For  a  number  of  years  it  was  a  Missionary  Society  in  itself,  and  as  such 
published  its  own  Report.  In  that  for  1835  we  read:  "Sunderland  Circuit's  local 
situation  has  prevented  it  from  enlarging  its  own  borders  much  at  home,  but  distant 
places  such  as  Edinburgh,  and  other  towns  in  Scotland,  have  enjoyed  the  benefit  of  its 
surplus  moneys ;  missionaries  were  sent  to  these  places,  and  for  some  time  were 
supported  at  considerable  expense  by  this  circuit ;  societies  were  formed  through  their 


206  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 

instrumentality,  and  they  have  since  either  been  annexed  to  northern  circuits  or  formed 
into  new  circuits.'' 

Sunderland  Circuit  led  the  way  in  seeking  to  establish  missions  in  Scotland,  and 
Carlisle  Circuit  soon  followed  its  lead.  Edinburgh  was  Sunderland's  objective,  while 
Carlisle  fastened  on  Glasgow,  Scotland's  commercial  capital.  It  was  in  April,  1826, 
the  two  chosen  missionaries — Thomas  Oliver  and  Jonathan  Clewer — set  out  for  the 
northern  metropolis.  To  save  the  coach-fare  they  walked  the  whole  of  the  distance, 
billeting  and  preaching,  as  they  went,  at  Morpeth,  Alnwick,  and  Belford.  Arrived 
at  their  destination,  they  looked  round.  They  first  surveyed  the  city ;  not  as  sight- 
seers, but  as  prospectors,  anxious  to  find  the  most  suitable  spot  for  the  delivery  of  their 
message.  They  were  only  doing  in  the  Modern  Athens  what  Paul  did  in  the  ancient 
one  when,  first  of  all,  he  "  passed  through  the  city,"  and  his  "  heart  was  stirred  within 
him.''  So,  as  they  passed  through  the  Grass  Market,  the  impression  they  sought  was 
received.  Here,  where  so  many  of  the  martyrs  had  surrendered  their  lives  for  the  faith, 
they  would  open  their  commission.  Accordingly,  on  April  13th,  they  took  their  stand 
in  the  middle  of  the  Crass  Market,  and  after  singing  the  hymn  "  Arise,  0  Zion,'' 
Mr.  Oliver  preached  from,  "Is  all  well?  wherefore  came  this  mad  fellow  to  thee1?" 
(2  Kings  ix.  11).  On  the  Sunday  evening  following,  a  second 
service  was  held  at  the  same  place,  when  Mr.  Clewer  preached. 
A  room,  formerly  used  as  a  weaving  factory,  was  rented,  and  a  small 
society  formed.  At  first  their  efforts  were  not  confined  to  the 
city  ;  towns  and  villages  lying  within  an  eight  miles'  radius  were 
visited.  But  not  meeting  with  much  success  in  these  efforts  they 
resolved  to  concentrate  upon  Edinburgh.  Much  time  was  devoted 
to  house-to-house  visitation  in  the  Crass  Market,  Canongate,  and 
Westport.  In  three  months  715  families  were  visited,  and  the 
tabulated  results  of  the  visitation  were  published.  By  this  means 
public  attention  was  drawn  to  the  sad  spiritual  destitution  of  the 

REV.    THOS.    OLIVER.  ,-,,.,  ,  -r,  , .     ,  ,       ,  ,      ,  „ 

dwellers  in  these  populous  Edinburgh  slum--,  and  the  most  effective 
method  of  remedial!)'  dealing  with  this  destitution  was  suggested.  This  method  of 
systematic  house-to-house  visitation  was  afterwards  adopted  by  Drs.  Chalmers  and 
Guthrie  in  the  parochial  and  territorial  system  they  introduced.* 

Unfortunately,  the  bright  prospects  of  the  Edinburgh  mission  soon  suffered  disastrous 
eclipse.  Sunderland  Circuit  had  appointed  X.  West  to  superintend  the  mission,  and 
from  one  with  so  good  a  record  much  was  expected.  He  had  already  acquired  con- 
siderable Connexional  influence,  and  was  active  in  originating  legislation.  His  last 
effort  in  this  direction  was  to  prove  his  own  undoing.  At  the  Conference  of  1*27  he 
brought  forward  a  proposal,  which  became  a  law,  to  the  effect  that  any  preacher  who 
should  refuse  to  go  to  his  appointed  station  should,  by  such  refusal,  forfeit  his  position 
as  a  minister.  What  followed  furnished  a  striking  instance  of  the  "  engineer  hoist 
with  his  own  petard  "  ;  for  X.  West,  being  now  appointed  to  South  Shields,  declined 
the  appointment,   with  the  result  that  the  year   1828  saw  both  the  disappearance  of 

*  Nor  was  the  method  adopted  without  acknowledgment.  Rev.  J.  TVenn  affirms  that,  in  a  private 
conversation  with  him,  Dr.  Guthrie  made  such  acknowledgment. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT    PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE.  207 

N .  West's  name  from  the  list  of  preachers,  and  also  the  first  appearance  on  the  statute 
book  of  that  enactment  which  led  to  his  passing.  But  N.  West  did  not  leave  the 
Connexion  unattended.  He  took  possession  of  the  preaching-room,  and  drew  away 
the  greater  portion  of  the  society.  Then  John  Bowes  was  sent  to  patch  up  the  rent, 
but  made  it  worse  by  going  over  to  the  malcontents.  Jabez  Burns,  too,  who  had  given 
Mr.  Petty  his  first  ticket,  joined  the  secessionists.  For  a  time  they  worked  together 
and  established  several  societies,  but  ultimately  the  leaders  disagreed  amongst  them- 
selves, and  then  parted  to  go  their  several  ways.  N.  West  went  to  the  United  States, 
where  he  became  a  D.I),  and  chaplain  to  the  Federal  forces.  Jabez  Burns  also  became 
a  D.D.,  a  Baptist  minister,  and  a  publisher  of  sermons  that  had  some  vogue  in  their  day. 
As  for  Mr.  John  Bowes,  we  are  told  he  became  a  teetotal  lecturer  and  the  advocate 
of  an  unpaid  ministry.  Meanwhile,  the  Primitive  Methodist  society  was  a  mere  wreck, 
and  W.  Clowes  might  well  ask  in  writing  John  Flesher  :  "  What  shall  we  do  for 
Edinburgh?"  The  person  thus  appealed  to  was  sent  to  save  the  situation.  Hull  Circuit 
agreed,  with  certain  stipulations,  to  relieve  Sunderland  of  the  charge  of  Edinburgh ; 
and  Mr.  Flesher  spent  some  anxious  months  of  1830-1  in  the  northern  metropolis, 
away  from  his  wife  and  family  and,  vested  with  plenary  powers,  did  his  best  to  reorganise 
and  strengthen  the  society.  No  good  purpose  would  be  served  by  following  the  earlier 
history  of  Edinburgh  further  in  detail.  It  was  transferred  to  Berwick — to  Glasgow. 
It  became  an  independent  station  ;  it  came  again  under  Sunderland  Circuit's  sheltering 
wing.  Good  men  laboured  upon  it — men  like  David  Beattie,  J.  A.  Bastow,  Hugh 
Campbell,  Christopher  Hallam,  John  Wenn.  It  gave  James  Macpherson  to  our  ministry 
in  1833,  which  gift  compensated  for  much.  Other  Churches  reaped  large  benefit 
from  our  labours,  right  along  from  the  time  the  first  sermon  in  the  Grass  Market 
gave  Dr.  Lindsay  Alexander  one  of  his  best  deacons.  In  1838,  Edinburgh  missioned 
Alloa  and  Dunfermline,  and  two  years  afterwards  Alloa  was  taken  under  the  care  of 
Sunderland  as  a  separate  mission,  and  such  it  remained  for  some  years,  though  a  small 
and  feeble  cause. 

Our  remarks  on  the  earlier  history  of  Edinburgh  may  fittingly  end  by  a  glance 
forward  to  the  next  most  important  event  in  its  history.  This  was  the  erection,  in  1861, 
of  the  Victoria  Terrace  Chapel,  through  the  energetic  efforts  of  the  Kev.  J.  Vaughan,  the 
superintendent.  At  his  first  service  in  the  city  he  had  but  eight  hearers,  and  the 
outlook  was  anything  but  promising.  But  some  three  weeks  after  his  arrival,  great 
excitement  was  caused  by  the  fall  of  a  five-storied  building,  by  which  several  persons 
were  crushed  to  death  and  others  maimed.  It  was  then  the  well-known  incident 
occurred :  A  voice  was  heard  saying,  "  Heave  away,  lads,  I'm  no  dead  yet."  The 
voice  came  from  a  poor  fellow  buried  beneath  the  debris,  who  was  forthwith  extricated. 
Mr.  Vaughan  sought  to  improve  the  occasion  by  preaching  near  the  scene  of  the  catastrophe ; 
and  from  that  time  a  revival  began  which  greatly  assisted  the  forward  movement. 
It  might  almost  seem  as  if  preacher  and  people  had  adopted  the  motto  of  the  brave 
young  Scotsman  who  was  the  hero  of  the  hour.  A  chapel,  school,  and  dwelling-house 
were  built  at  a  cost  of  £1600,  and  of  this  sum  considerably  more  than  £1000  was 
raised.  After  all  the  migrations  of  the  years  from  one  rented  room  to  another  a  home 
was  at  last  obtained  in  the  chief  city  of  Scotland,  within  a  stone's  throw  of  the  old  Grass 


208 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 


Market,  where  the  first  missionaries  had  stood.  Tranent,  too,  and  Elphinstone  were 
missioned,  and  a  chapel  built  at  the  former  place.  But  long  before  these  events 
occurred  Edinburgh  had  passed  from  the  care  of  Sunderland  Circuit.  Its  subsequent 
history,  as  well  as  that  of  Paisley,  and  Glasgow  with  its  offshoots — Calder  Bank, 
Motherwell,  and  "Wishaw — must  be  glanced  at  when  we  come  to  consider  the  work 
of  the  General  Missionary  Committee  and  the  formation  of  the  North  British  District. 

Some  time  in  182ii  a  Christian  philanthropist  in  Scotland  wrote  W.  Clowes,  pressing 
him  to  begin  at  once  an  evangelistic  mission  in  that  country.     Through  some  mischance 

the  letter  was  not  read  by  Clowes 
until  a  year  after  it  was  written. 
Afterwards,  when  reflecting  upon 
this  incident,  Clowes  regretted  the 
mischance,  and  was  disposed  to 
blame  a  malign  power  for  its  occur- 
rence. "I  thought  it  was  unfortunate 
that  I  had  not  received  his  letter 
immediately  after  its  arrival :  as  I 
should  most  likely  have  missioned 
Scotland,  being  at  the  time  at  Shields 
in  the  North,  where  the  work  was 
^oing  on  prosperously.  I  believe 
Satan  laboured  unusually  hard  to 
get  me  out  of  the  North  ;  and  I  am 
persuaded  that  I  left  it  too  early.'' 
It  is  not  often  Clowes  criticises 
events  in  this  way,  and  acquaints  us 
with  his  personal  predilections.  One 
cannot  but  think  that  Primitive 
Methodism  might  have  got  a  better 

start  in  Scotland  if  that  letter 

but  we  leave  it.  Our  business  is  not 
with  the  might-have-beens. 

We  have  now  to  chronicle  the 
establishment  of  a  mission  in  the 
Channel  Islands  by  the  Sunderland 
Circuit.  This  was  in  March,  1832,  when  the  circuit,  having  been  relieved  of  the 
Edinburgh  mission,  was  now  free  to  turn  elsewhere.  Moreover,  the  circuit  was  in 
a  very  prosperous  condition.  The  tragic  death  of  Messrs.  Branfoot  and  Hewson  had 
been'  over-ruled  for  good.  The  event  had  left  a  deep  and  solemn  feeling  amongst 
the  societies.  The  places  left  vacant  were  immediately  filled,  March,  1831,  by 
Messrs  J.  Petty  and  "W.  Lister.  It  is  difficult  to  realise  that  at  this  time  Mr.  Petty 
was  but  four  and  twenty  years  of  age.  He  came  to  the  circuit  just  after  he  had 
experienced  an  extraordinary  work  of  grace  in  his  own  soul.  He  was  in  a  state  of 
spiritual  exaltation,  and  there  is  ample  evidence  to  show  that  his  preaching  of  holiness, 


FIRST     CHAPEL,    EDINBURGH. 


THE   PERIOD   OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND    ENTERPRISE.  209 

and  the  sanctity  and  sweetness  of  his  own  character,  had  a  powerful  influence  on  the 
societies  and  especially  on  his  colleagues.  "  I  had  not  been  an  hour  in  his  company,'' 
says  Mr.  Lister,  "before  I  was  united  to  him.''  Almost  the  first  duty  of  the  new- 
comers was  to  visit  the  widows  of  the  deceased  ministers.  While  praying  and 
conversing  together,  "we  had,"  says  Mr.  Lister,  "a  glorious  baptism;  Mrs.  Hewson 
praised  God  for  a  clean  heart."  Messrs.  Lister  and  Hebbron  both  became  seekers  of 
the  blessing  of  full  salvation,  and  both  rejoiced  in  its  realisation.  With  the  preachers 
thus  aglow  and  the  people  urged  to  seek  after  sanctification  of  heart  and  life,  a  revival 
broke  out,  as  might  have  been  anticipated.  In  another  way  the  revival  had  been 
prepared  for.  Towards  the  close  of  1831,  Sunderland  and  the  district  suffered  severely 
from  the  ravages  of  cholera,  and  the  minds  of  many  were  seriously  turned  towards 
religion,  the  result  being  that  in  1832  an  increase  of  six  hundred  members  was  reported. 
South  Shields  Circuit  shared  in  this  revival.  While  it  was  in  progress  certain  sailors 
from  Guernsey  had  attended  some  meetings  of  extraordinary  power,  and  had  expressed 
a  strong  desire  that  a  missionary  might  be  sent  to  their  native  island.  It  was  therefore 
resolved  that  the  two  circuits,  South  Shields  and  Sunderland,  should  co-operate  in 
sending  a  missionary.  Mr.  George  Cosens,  a  native  of  the  West  Indies,  was  the  person 
selected,  largely,  it  would  seem,  because  "his  colour  would  attract  in  open-air  services.*' 
Mr.  Cosens  reached  the  island  in  May,  1832,  and  began  his  work  under  promising 
conditions.  Soon  another  missionary  was  sent  to  his  support,  and  then  "  something 
happened."  At  St.  Peter's  Port,  Guernsey,  Mr.  Cosens,  being  annoyed  at  the  conduct 
of  some  giddy  young  people  who  were  present  at  the  service,  spoke  unadvisedly 
with  his  lips.  The  laws  of  the  island  are  peculiar ;  Mr.  Cosens  was  summoned  and 
fined,  and  in  April  Mr.  Petty  took  his  place  on  the  islands,  and  during  his  twelve 
months'  stay  endeavoured  to  repair  the  damage  the  mission  had  sustained. 

The  Norman  Isles  mission  is  of  some  importance  historically  because  it  was  but 
part  of  a  much  larger  scheme  which  never  came  into  being.  The  Norman  Isles  were 
to  be  but  the  stepping-stones  to  France.  Missionaries  were  to  be  sent  there  for  a  time 
to  acquire  the  language,  and  in  other  ways  to  prepare  themselves  for  what  was  to  be 
regarded  as  their  main  work — labouring  on  the  soil  of  France.  This  purpose  is  clearly 
stated  in  Sunderland's  Missionary  lieport  for  1834  : — 

"We  intend,  as  soon  as  circumstances  will  allow,  to  extend  our  exertions  to  the 
wide  continent  of  France — to  a  nation  proverbial  for  infidelity  and  vice — to  a 
people  who  seldom  or  never  have  the  opportunity  of  hearing  the  Gospel  preached 
in  its  purity.  Our  two  missionaries,  Messrs.  Petty  and  Macpherson,  inform  us 
that  they  have  now  learned  the  French  language  so  as  to  be  able  to  preach  in  it, 
and  are  ready  and  willing  to  go  to  France  as  soon  as  the  means  are  provided." 

Sunderland's  dream  of  a  Primitive  Methodist  Mission  in  France  has  been  one  of  the  Con- 
nexion's unrealised  possibilities.  It  is  a  dream  which  other  circuits  besides  Sunderland 
have  dreamed,  even  in  later  years.  In  1869,  North  Shields  tried  to  revive  the  project 
of  a  French  mission.  A  week's  Missionary  meetings,  beginning  as  was  fitting  with 
Old  Cramlington,  were  devoted  to  the  advocacy  of  such  a  mission.  Much  enthusiasm 
was  evoked,  and  representations  were  made  in  the  proper  quarters  ;  but  nothing  came 
of  it.     As  for  Sunderland,  it  is  interesting  to  recall  that  the  town  itself  has  still  had 


210  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 

its  honourable  association  with,  the  evangelisation  of  France,  since  the  founder  of  the 
Mc  All  Mission  was  for  some  years  one  of  its  ministers. 

In  March,  1834,  Sunderland  Circuit  reported  1400  members,  and  had  a  balance  at 
its  quarterly  board  of  £50.      At  the  suggestion  of  the  preachers  themselves  it  was 
resolved  to  devote   this   surplus   to   the  establishment  of   a  mission  in  Dorsetshire. 
Weymouth,  a  watering-place  beloved  of  George  III.,  was  selected  as  the  headquarters 
of   the  mission,  and   Messrs.  John   Nelson  and   Cosens  volunteered  their  services  as 
missionaries.     At  Weymouth  they  met  with  a  favourable  reception.     Their  open-air 
services  attracted  crowds,  and  some  remarkable  conversions  took  place.     The  Assembly 
Room,  which  had  for  many  years  been  the  scene  of  dancing  and  revelry,  was  turned 
into  a  Primitive  Methodist  chapel,  and  that  too  was  rightly  regarded  as  a  remarkable 
conversion.     Dorchester,  the  county-town  was  also  visited.      A  Congregational  minister 
who  had  known  our  people  in  Lincolnshire,  welcomed  the  missionaries.     He  promised 
them  the  use  of  his  chapel  when  the  weather  should  become  too  inclement  for  open-air 
services.     He  informed  them  that  though  Dorchester  had  a  population  of  six  thousand, 
no  more  than  about  five  hundred  persons  were  frequenters  of  public  worship  on  the 
Lord's  Day ;  and  that,  within  a  radius  of  ten  miles  of  the  town,  there  were  at  least 
fifty  villages  in  most  of  which  there  were  few  Dissenters  or  persons  making  a  profession 
of  religion.     Here,  it  might  have  been  thought,  were  so  many  cogent  reasons  why  the 
advent  of   the  missionaries  to  these  parts  should  have  been  gladly  hailed,  did  not 
experience  show  that  where  the  evangel  is  most  needed  it  is  often  the  least  desired. 
So  it  was  in  this  case.     At  Dorchester  and  in  the  surrounding  villages  the  missionaries 
met  with  a  rougher  reception  than  at  Weymouth.     At  first,  they  experienced  considerable 
annoyance  in  carrying  on  their  open-air  work  ;    guns  were  let  off,  bugles  were  blown, 
artificial  thunder  created  by  a  machine  brought  from  the  adjoining  theatre,  and  missiles 
thrown  ;  finally,  Mr.  Cosens  had  a  bucket  of  water  poured  over  him  while  preaching. 
Iu   the   villages    persecution   took   a  more   subtle   but   relentless   form.     Some,  whose 
incognito  is  preserved  by  the  use  of  dashes  in  the  Report,  resorted  to  intimidation. 
To  give  shelter  to  the  missionary  or  even  to  lend  him  a  chair  to  stand  upon,  might  mean 
loss  of  employment  or  ej  ectment  from  house  and  home.     One  day,  John  Nelson  walked 
eight  miles   to  a  village  during  fair-time  and,   after  preaching  in  the    open-air   amid 
interruption  from  drunken  men,  he  could  find  no  place  at  which  to  sleep.     Even  at  the 
inn  where  he  had  previously  stayed  he  was  refused  a  bed.     At  last  a  kindly  miller  took 
pity  on  him  and  allowed  him  to  sleep  iu  the  mill,  though  he  intimated  that  by  granting 
such  permission  he  might  jeopardise  his  tenancy  of  the  mill.     Still,  despite  the  boycott, 
fourteen   villages  around   Weymouth  and  Dorchester  were  visited  with  some  degree 
of  success. 

On  the  whole,  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  Sunderland  Circuit  was  unfortunate  in 
its  missions.  It  was  so  in  Edinburgh  and  in  the  Norman  Isles,  and  so  it  was  also 
in  Dorsetshire.  Here,  persecution  was  not  so  inimical  to  the  mission  as  was  internal 
dissension.  Paul  and  Barnabas  were  not  the  last  yoke-fellows  who  had  so  sharp 
a  contention  between  them  that  "they  departed  asunder  the  one  from  the  other." 
Mr.  Nelson  and  his  dusky-skinned  colleague  could  not  agree.  The  societies  took  sides 
with  one  or  the  other,  and  were  rent  and  divided.     Mr.  Cosens  withdrew  from  the 


THE    PERIOD    OF    CIRCUIT    PREDOMINANCE    AND    ENTERPRISE.  211 

Connexion  and  became  a  Baptist  minister.  Mr.  Nelson,  smarting  under  the  judgment 
which  Hugh  Bourne  and  others  had  taken  of  this  painful  episode,  also  withdrew 
soon  after  and  entered  the  ministry  of  the  New  Connexion,  in  which  he  was  spared 
to  labour  many  years. 

"Weymouth  Mission,"  says  Mr.  Petty,  ''did  not  soon  recover  the  shock  which 
the  unhappy  difference  we  have  just  named  occasioned,  and,  perhaps,  never 
presented  such  a  flattering  prospect  as  it  did  when  Messrs.  Nelson  and  Cosens 
began  their  missionary  labours  there.  In  a  subsequent  year  it  was  indeed  greatly 
enlarged  through  the  enterprising  labours  of  Mr.  Thomas  Russell,  and  in  the  year 
1839  we  find  no  fewer  than  four  travelling-preachers  stationed  to  it,  then  under 
the  care  of  Manchester  Circuit ;  but  the  societies  never  acquired,  unless  till 
recently,  the  prosperity  and  strength  which  most  societies  in  other  parts  in 
Dorsetshire  have  done." — (P.  324). 


:12 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHUKCII. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

THE   MAKINO    OF   NORWICH   DISTRICT. 


T  the  beginning  of  1823,  the  Nottingham  Circuit  had  six  branches — Boston, 

Spalding,  Norwich,  Fakenham,  Cambridge,  and  Lynn.     Of  these,  Norwich 

and  Fakenham  became  circuits  in  June,  1823,  and  Cambridge  and  Lynn  in 

March  of  the  following  year.     By  1S25,  Yarmouth  and  Upwell  (afterwards 

Downham  Market)  had  also  become  heads  of  circuits.     As  these  six  circuits  geographically 

formed  one  group,  the   Conference  of  1825  made   them  into  a  new  District,  of  which 


VIEW   OF    NORWICH. 

Norwich,  the  capital  of  the  Eastern  Counties,  was  naturally  constituted  the  head.  No 
doubt  this  step  was  taken  because  it^was  thought  it  would  conduce  to  the  more 
economical  and  eilective  administration  of  the  stations  themselves.  Such  at  least  is 
the  conclusion  to  which  we  must  come  after  reading  what  Hugh  Bourne  has  bluntly 
written  on  the  subject:  "In  LS25,  Norwich  District  was  formal  „f  .-.•/.,.•  xhathml  rin-uih 
from  Nottingham  District,  with  1516  members.     These  had  been  injured  by  employing 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE. 


213 


improper  characters."  After  this,  we  must  not  picture  to  ourselves  these  first  East 
Anglian  circuits  as  starting  on  their  careers  with  the  vigour  and  freshness  of  young 
athletes.  There  is  much  that  we  cannot  know,  and  need  not  care  to  know,  implied  in 
those  words  "  shattered  circuits."  All  the  more  remarkable,  then,  is  the  progress  which 
the  Norwich  District  made  between  1825  and  1842;  for  by  that  time  the  Norwich 
District  had  become  practically  co-extensive  with  what  we  know  as  East  Anglia. 

We  propose,  then,  in  this  chapter  to  show,  first,  how  Primitive  Methodism  reached 
and  rooted  itself  in  these  primary  circuits  of  the  old  Norwich  District,  and  then,  how 
from  these  circuits  as  the  nuclei  it  was  carried  here  and  there  by  missionary  efforts, 
until  the  greater  part  of  East  Anglia  was  covered  with  a  network  of  circuits. 
Unfortunately,  there  is  little  information  obtainable  as  to  the  first  planting  of  our 


THE  LOLLARDS     PIT. 


Church  in  Fakenham  and  Upwell  Circuits.  It  was  so  when  Mr.  Petty  wrote  his 
History,  and  it  is  now  too  late,  to  hope  that  the  facts  can  be  recovered.  Of  our 
Church-origins  in  the  remaining  primary  Circuits,  especially  in  Yarmouth,  something  more 
is  known.  We  begin  with  Norwich,  and  in  what  follows  we  shall  freely  use  the 
information  which  has  been  kindly  supplied  by  the  Rev.  W.  A.  Hammond,  who 
knows  so  much  of  East  Anglian  Primitive  Methodism. 

The  Primary  Circuits  : — I.  Norwich. 
The  first  Primitive  Methodist  services  in  Norwich  were  held  on  the  great  open 
common   known  as   Mousehold   Heath,   familiar   to   every   student    of    history  as  the 
camping-ground   of   Ket,   the   tanner   of   Wymondham,   whose  army  of   20,000   men 


»14 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


gathered  in  rebellion  against  Edward  VI.,  and  was  only  defeated  by  Dudley,  Earl 
of  Warwick,  after  much,  desperate  fighting.  Here  stands  the  oak — still  known  as 
Ket's  Oak — under  which  the  insurgent  sat  to  administer  justice.  Here,  too,  is 
the  Lollards'  Pit,  wherein  the  early  Reformers  used  to  gather  for  Divine  service  as  in 
a  mighty  amphitheatre.  Here,  as  in  another  Gwennap,  they  gathered,  row  upon 
row,  to  listen  to  the  Word.  To  this  historic  spot  the  early  missionaries  wended  their 
way  and  held  services,  so  that  it  soon  got  a  new  name  which  needs  no  guessing. 
For  many  years  crowds  gathered  at  least  once  a  year  for  a  camp  meeting  at  the  old 
trysting-place. 

It  was  not  long  before  the  missionaries  found  their  way  into  the  city.  Pockthorpe, 
its  most  degraded  quarter,  was  not  far  from  Mousehold,  and  soon  the  services  were 
transferred  to  one  of  the  yards  for  which  Norwich  is  famous — Kose  Yard  by  name, 

not,  however,  so  culled  because  it  was  fragrant 

with  the  scent  of  summer  roses,  but  because 
a  public-house  named  "  The  Rose "  stood  at 
its  entrance.  Here  the  open-air  services  were 
continued  and  at  last  a  chapel  secured,  and 
the  foundations  of  Primitive  Methodism  in 
the  city  laid.  Encompassed  with  formidable 
difficulties  the  infant  cause  pressed  on  its  way 
— sometimes  almost  crushed  with  financial 
difficulties  (for  some  of  its  early  trustees  were 
cast  into  prison),  and  sometimes  its  very 
existence  threatened  by  dissension  ;  yet,  for 
all  that,  it  had  such  vitality  and  vigour  that 
its  preachers  went  through  all  the  country-side 
preaching  the  gospel.  Xot  only  did  they 
enter  the  villages  contiguous  to  the  city,  but, 
as  we  shall  see,  they  sent  their  evangelists 
to  Yarmouth  and  Wymondham,  and  even  to 
Colchester,  sixty  mile's  away. 
'  Other  openings   in   the   city   were   eagerly 

tried  and  cottage-meetings  and  open-air  services 
was  Lakenham.  Here  a  loft  was  secured,  and 
a  chapel  built  at  a  cost  of  £360 — not  a  large 
outlay  for  providing  accommodation  for  five  hundred  people.  Subsequently,  however, 
£900  more  were  expended  upon  it,  and  Lakenham  chapel  became  the  headquarters 
of  Primitive  Methodism  in  the  city.  Out  of  the  way,  up  a  narrow  "loak"*  called 
Chapel  Loak,  that  a  stranger  would  have  had  some  difficulty  to  find,  this  building  yet 
became  the  home  of  a  strong  church.  Crowds  gathered  to  listen  to  such  preachers  as 
John  Oscroft,  Thomas  Charlton,  G.  W.  Bellham,  Richard  Howchin,  Thomas  Batty,  and 
Robert  Key.  Meanwhile,  the  Ruse  Yard  society  emerged  from  the  old  yard,  purchased 
an  old  brewery  and,  in  1842,  built  the  present  Cowgate  Street  Chapel  at  a  cost  of  £750, 

*  "Loak,"  a  lane  closed  in  with  ^ates,  or  through  which  there  is  no  thoroughfare. 


OLD    KOSJS    lAtli    CHAl'JiL. 

held,   the   most  important  of  which 
services    commenced,   and,   in    1823 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE. 


215 


in  which  good  work  has  been  done  in  a  very  needy  neighbourhood.  In  those  early 
days,  Norwich  Branch  with  its  "  appartments "  (sic),  as  the  outlying  districts  were 
strangely  called,  carried  six  preachers,  two  of  whom  were  stationed  at  Yarmouth 
and  one  at  Colchester.  In  1825,  Norwich  had  192  members,  Colchester  19,  and 
Yarmouth  112,  with  seven  chapels  and  twenty-four  local  preachers  all  told.  The 
missionary  character  of  the  work  carried  on  is  evidenced  by  a  resolution  of  one  of 
the  Quarterly  Meetings  ordering  five  hundred  hymn-books  to  be  bought  and  one 
hundred  plans  printed.  Local  preachers  were  to  have  their  licences  paid  for  out  of 
the  missionary  money,  and  no  person  was  to  be  allowed  to  sing  who  curled  his  hair 
or  behaved  disorderly  during  the  service. 


LAKENHASI     OLD  CHAPJ4L  AND  SCHOOL. 


Notwithstanding  all  difficulties  and  drawbacks  the  work  grew  and  prospered.  A  new 
cause  was  commenced  in  the  west  end  of  the  city,  and,  in  1864,  a  good  chapel  was 
erected  at  a  cost  of  £1300,  to  which  schools  have  since  been  added,  at  a  cost  of  £960, 
largely  through  the  energy  and  liberality  of  Rev.  R.  Key.  In  1872,  the  old  Lakenham 
Chapel  gave  place  to  the  present  fine  suite  of  buildings  in  Queen's  Road.  In  1879. 
a  new  mission  was  opened  in  Nelson  Street,  beyond  Dereham  Road,  and  a  chapel  and 
schools  built  at  a  cost  of  £1200;  and,  in  1892,  a  mission  was  opened  in  Thorpe,  and 


216 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHUKCH. 


a  school-hall  built  at  a  cost  of  =£900,  which  has  now  given  place  to  the  beautiful 
Scott  Memorial  Church,  erected  by  Rev.  John  Smith  at  a  cost  of  some  £6000. 

Norwich  has  had  a  long  succession  of  devoted,  earnest  officials.  Far  away  back  were 
William  Wilson,  William  Dawson,  John  Huggins,  and  William  Elmer.  Later  on,  we  have 
the  names  of  Samuel  Jarrold,  founder  of  the  well-known  publishing  house,  and  Messrs. 
Reeves,  Eggleton,  and  Spinks.  Nor  must  Elizabeth  Bultitude,  our  last  female  travelling- 
preacher,  be  forgotten.  She  was  converted  in  1 828  at  a  camp  meeting  on  Mousehold  Heath 
led  by  Samuel  Atterby,  and  preached  her  trial  sermon  in  old  Lakenham  Chapel.  In  1832, 
she  was  called  to  the  ministry  by   Norwich '  Circuit,  and  for  thirty  years  discharged 


SCOTT   MEMORIAL    CHERCH,    THOIIPE  ROAD,    NORWICH. 

the  full  duties  of  an  itinerant,  chiefly  in  the  old  Norwich  District,  at  a  time  when  the 
work  was  arduous,  the  salary  poor,  and  the  difficulties  many.  At  her  superannuation 
in  1862  she  settled  in  Norwich,  where  she  died  in  1891,  at  the  ripe  age  of  eighty-one 
years.  The  Conference,  in  its  "annual  address  to  the  stations,  noted  the  disappearance 
of  her  name  from  the  list  of  preachers  where  it  had  stood  so  long,  "as  though  to 
remind  us  that  the  gifts  of  the  Holy  Spirit  were  without  distinction  of  sex.'' 


THE   PERIOD   OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND    ENTERPRISE. 


217 


It  is  clear  even  from  the  brief  outline  just  given  that,  like  many  other  circuits,  Norwich 
had  its  intermediate  period  of  reaction  and  distress.     "When  we  find  the  circuit  reduced 

to  one  preacher  and  109  members,  as  was  the  case  in  1829, 
it  must,  one  thinks,  have  been  within  measurable  distance 
of  extinction.  Certain  minutes  recorded  in  the  books  of 
the  Hull  Circuit  throw  unexpected  light  on  this  trying 
period,  and  when  their  origin  and  purport  are  explained 
they  show  that,  at  the  prompting  of  W.  Clowes,  Hull  was 
ready  to  lend  a  helping  hand  to  a  struggling  circuit.  It 
could  come  down  from  its  "high  popularity"  to  act 
the  part  of  the  good  Samaritan.  "W.  Clowes  visited 
Norwich  in  1830  and  again  in  1831.  In  the  former  year 
he  assisted  at  a  Missionary  Meeting  in  Eose  Yard  Chapel. 
He  remarks  in  his  Journal  that  the  city  of  Norwich, 
notwithstanding  its  thirty-six  parish  churches  and 
numerous  clergy,  is  fearfully  wicked.  On  his  next  visit, 
"  after  conversing  with  our  friends  belonging  to  Rose  Yard 
Chapel,  I  saw,"  says  he,  "  the  necessity  of  a  preacher 
being  appointed  to  officiate  therein,   and    to    mission   sundry  places   around  the  city.'' 


ELIZABETH    BILTITUDE. 


ELIZABETH    BULTITUDE  S   HOUSE. 


218 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 


The  outcome  of  this  may  be  seen  in  the  following  enactment  of  the  Conference 
of  1831  :— 

Q. — "  How  shall  Rose  Yard  be  managed  ? 

A  .—"That  chapel  and  its  dependencies  shall  be  annexed  to  Hull  Circuit.'' 

And  so  it  was.  In  June,  1831,  David  Beattie  was  sent  as  a  missionary,  and  in 
September  he  was  asked  if  there  was  room  for  another.  Six  months  lie  laboured  at 
Rose  Yard,  and  was  succeeded  by  Thomas  Bennett.  In  1832,  Norwich  reported 
533  members,  and  the  tide  had  turned. 

II. — King's  Lynx. 
When,  in  the  year   1821,  Messrs.  Oscroft  and  Charlton,  finding  their  Lincolnshire 

Circuits  over-manned,  skirted  the  Wash  to  begin  their  mission  in  Norfolk,  King's  Lynn 

was  naturally,  from  its  position 
and  importance,  one  of  the 
first  places  they  visited.  From 
the  very  first  they  met  here 
with  an  encouraging  measure 
of  success  ;  so  much  so  indeed, 
that  a  letter  written  at  the 
time  affirms — "the  Primitives 
are  carrying  all  before  them 
in  King's  Lynn.'-  The  leader 
of  the  first  class  formed  is  said 
to  have  been  Mr.  Streader, 
whose  son  was  to  share  with 
John  Ellerthorpe  of  Hull, 
another  of  our  co-religionists, 
the  distinction  of  having  saved 
so  many  lives  from  drowning 
that  the  mere  recital  of  their 
exploits  makes  up  a  goodly 
volume.*  But,  unfortunately, 
disaster  soon  overtook  the 
promising  cause ;  for  when 
Hugh  Bourne  wrote  of  "  shat- 
tered circuits,"  and  of  the 
employment  of  "improper 
persons  "  as  the  cause  of  their 
shattering,  he  was  certainly 
thinkingof  Lynn,  and  of  the  dis- 
loyal and  divisive  conductof  the 

preacher  once  in  charge.      We  have  already  alluded  to  these  unhappy  occurrences,  and 

"  See  Rev.  IT.  Woodcock's  "The  Hero  of  the  Humber,  or,  the  Story  of  John  Ellerthorpe,"  and 
Rev.  S.  Horton's  "  To  the  Rescue  ;  "  being  the  Life  of  W.  T.  Streader. 


-*■--  ^ 


BKNNKT  S    YARD. 

Where  first  preaching  services  were  held  in  King's  Lynn. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND    ENTERPRISE. 


219 


need  not  dwell  on  them  further*  The  history  of  Lynn  Primitive  Methodism  began 
anew  in  the  year  1825,  when  G.  "W.  Bellham,  who  had  done  such  good  work  in  the 
Loughborough  Circuit,  was  appointed  to  Lynn,  his  native  place,  and  began  his  twenty- 
four  years  of  service  in  the  Norwich  District,  then  in  but  a  rudimentary  condition. 
He  had  a  heavy  task  before  him ;  but  he  bravely  set  himself,  in  the  spirit  of  Nehemiah, 
to  repair  the  breach.  He  brought  back  concord  to  the  society,  built  a  small  chapel,  and 
began  a  Sabbath  school  which  became,  as  it  still  is,  one  of  the  most  flourishing  schools 
in  the  District.     He  also  enlarged  the  bounds  of  the  Circuit  by  missioning  S  waff  ham, 


ALLEN  M    YARD. 
Where  the  first  Primitive  Methodist  Sunday  School  was  held  in  King's  Lynn. 

Litcham,  and  other  places  more  in  the  centre  of  the  county.  It  was  at  Litcham, 
while  holding  a  service  near  the  stocks,  that  the  familiar  trio  of  parson,  lawyer, 
md  constable  came  on  the  scene.  In  the  end,  Mr.  Bellham  was  given  in  charge  of 
the  constable,  and  next  day  was  brought  before  Col.  B ,  of  Lexham  Hall. 

"What  Act  am  I  taken  up  under?"  asked  Mr.  Bellham  of  the  Magistrate. 

Magistrate. — "The  Vagrant  Act.     You  are  a  common  vagrant." 

Mr.  B. — "  I  did  not  do  anything  to  obtain  money." 

*  See  vol.  i.  p.  322. 


221)  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 

JUnr/istnite. — "I  meant  the  Riot  Act.  You  collected  a  great  number  of  persons 
together,  I  suppose  to  make  a  riot,  as  it  was  late  in  the  evening." 

Mr.  /?.— "  If  I  am  taken  up  under  the  Riot  Act,  I  have  no  business  here.  Commit 
me  to  prison,  and  let  me  take  my  trial  before  more  than  one  magistrate." 

M<itjixtr«te,  with  an  oath.— "Be  off  out  of  my  sight." 

Mr.  i?.—  "It  is  wrong  to  swear,  sir.     Jesus  Christ  hath  said,  'Swear  not  at  all.'" 

M<i f/iatrrite.— "Then  don't  provoke  me."  At  last  the  Magistrate,  being  rather 
rusty  in  his  law  and  getting  the  worst  in  the  encounter,  said:  "Go  about  your 
business." 

Mr.  />'.—"  When  I  am  properly  discharged,  sir.' 

Muf/ixtrafe. — "  Are  you  any  trade  ? " 

Mr.  /?.— "  I  am  a  shipwright.     I  served  seven  years  under  Mr.  B of  Lynn." 

Mii'/ish-iitr.  — ■"  You  are  a  fine  fellow— a  shipwright,  a  parson,  and  a  lawyer.  Well 
you  may  go  about  your  business  ;  I  have  no  more  to  say  to  you." 

C/rrm/iii'in  to  the  Mitijixtnite.—"  Stop,  sir,  there  is  something  for  him  to  pay. 
Constable,  what  is  it  I 

Cniislnt/le. — "Eight  and  ninepence,  sir." 

C/eri/i/iiiari  to  Mr.  B—  "Eight  and  ninepence.  You  will  discharge  that  bill,  and 
then  you  are  at  liberty.' 

J/,-.  B.—"l  urn  at  liberty,  sir.     The  magistrate  has  set  me  at  liberty." 

J/iii/istrnte  to  the  C/rrf/t/iiian. — "Let  the  fellow  go.' 

(HeriH/iitaii.—"  But  who  is  to  pay  the  eight  and  ninepence  V 

Mtti/istrate—  "Pay  it  yourself  ;  bringing  your  fellows  here.' 

J/,-.  /;.—'•  I'll  pay  it  if  it  is  just  and  light.  But  I  think  the  debt  belongs  to 
Mr.  H." 

Mtnjixfl-ilte.—'1  lie   off." 

J/r.  11. — "Good  morning,  gentlemen.'' 

We  are  told  that  Mr.  Bellham  and  the  clergyman  left  the  room  together,  Mr.  1!. 
saying  to  him.  "God  forgive  you,  sir  ;  I  wish  you  well";  but  the  clergyman  was 
too  chagrined  to  reply. 
The  country  thus  missioned  in  1*:!5  by  Mr.  Bellham  became,  in  183(3,  the  Swaffham 
Circuit.  From  Litcham  Messrs.  James  and  Mark  Warnes  went  out  into  the  ministry; 
while  Sporle,  near  Swalfliam,  was  the  native  place  of  Horatio  Hall  and  Robert  Ward, 
the  Connexion's  pioneer  missionary  to  New  Zealand. 

Another  notable  advance  was  made  by  the  Lynn  Circuit  in  1831,  when  John  Smith  (1) 
became  the  superintendent  of  the  station.  He  had  come  from  his  native  Tunstall 
District  in  exchange  for  Thomas  Batty.  His  name  is  carved  deep  in  the  history  of  the 
Norwich  District,  not  because  of  any  special  intellectual  powers  he  possessed,  but 
because  of  the  intensity  of  his  zeal  and  his  single-minded  purpose  to  save  men.  Well 
might  men,  as  they  reflected  on  what  his  advent  had  meant  for  the  churches  of  East 
Anglia,  say  to  themselves  :  "  There  was  a  man  sent  from  God  whose  name  was  John. ' 
By  March,  18o:>,  the  membership  of  the  circuit  had  increased  by  2'M,  and  the  circuit 
was  stimulated  to  enter  once  more  upon  missionary  labours.  Mr.  James  Bole  was  sent 
to  the  north-western  corner  of  the  county,  and  missioned  Holme,  Hunstanton,  Ringstead, 
Locking,  Snettisham,  and  many  other  places.  The  mission  proved  so  successful  that, 
in  lS.'ili,  Snettisham  became  the  head  of  a  new  circuit,  afterwards  to  be  known 
as  Docking  Circuit.     The  village  of   Anmer  is   in   the    Docking   station.     From  an 


THE    PEKIOD    OF    C1KCU1T    PKKDOMINANCE    AND    ENTEKPKISE. 


221 


interesting  communication  we  have  received  from  Rev.  F.  B.  Paston,  we  learn  that 
the  time  was  when  the  old  squire  of  the  village  placed  Primitive  Methodism  under 
ban.  No  services  were  allowed  on  his  estate.  At  his  death  the  young  squire,  whose 
acquaintance  Mr.  Paston  had  made,  removed  the  ban  and  showed  himself  friendly  ; 
but  King  Edward  VII.,  who  acquired  the  village  by  purchase  and  added  it  to  his 
Norfolk  estate,  has  shown  himself  a  friend  indeed  to  our  Church.  He  has  built  us 
a  beautiful  village  sanctuary,  which  was  recently  opened  by  the  Rev.  Thomas  Woodall 
of  Lynn. 

In  1833,  the  membership  of  Lynn  Circuit  was  reported  as  1170,  being  an  increase 
of  843  for  the  preceding  five  y^ars.  It  should  be  noted,  too,  that  about  the  year 
1835  Lynn  sent  "W.  Kirby  to  commence  a  mission  at  Peterborough  which,  in  1839, 
became  the  Peterborough  Circuit. 

Returning  now  to  the  town 
of  Lynn  :  the  next  notable 
event  in  its  history  was  the 
holding  of  the  first  of  the  two 
Conferences  that  have  met 
here— that  of  1836.  The 
chapel  had  recently  under- 
gone its  second  enlargement, 
and  amongst  the  services 
held  therein  were  preaching 
services  at  five  o'clock  in  the 
morning.  At  this  Conference 
the  Minuteswere consolidated 
by  the  Conference  itself,  the 
onerous  duty  having  appar- 
ently been  shirked  by  the 
General  Committee  !  It  had 
been  noised  abroad  that  the 
authorities  Mould  interfere 
to  prevent  the  processioning 
of  the  streets  of  the  royal 
borough  on  the  Sunday.  None  the  less,  the  procession  moved  along,  and  one  of  the 
senior  brethren  not  only  preached  a  short  sermon  as  they  went  on  but  also  engaged  in 
prayer.  The  camp  meeting,  held  on  Hardwick  Green,  was  said  to  have  been  one  of  the 
largest  ever  held.  Numberless  conveyances  of  every  kind— waggons,  carts,  gigs,  besides 
single  horses— had  brought  the  people  from  a  distance  of  ten,  twenty,  thirty,  and  even 
forty  miles.     Lynn's  second  Conference  was  held  in  1844. 

London  Road  Chapel  was  opened,  March  31st,  1859.  The  site  on  which  it  stands 
had  formerly  been  occupied  by  the  ancient  chapel  of  St.  James.  At  the  Dissolution 
it  became  a  hospital  for  "  poor  and  impotent  people,"  and  still  later  a  workhouse.  The 
acquisition  of  such  a  site  for  a  Primitive  Methodist  chapel  was  regarded  as  little  short 
of  a  scandal  by  a  certain  section  of  the  inhabitants,  and  every  available  means  was 
tried  to  defeat  the  project— but  in  vain. 


LONDON    EOAD    CHAPEL, 
The  first  Primitive  Methodist  Chapel  in  King's  Lynn. 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


The  foundation-stone  of  this  new  structure  had  been  laid  by  Mr.  William  Lift,  of 
whom  a  few  words  must  be  said.  Converted  in  1828  when  the  church  was  but  seven 
years  old,  Mr.  Lift  survived  until  1893,  thus  enjoying  sixty-five  years'  fellowship  with 
the  society.  For  sixty-one  years  he  was  a  local  preacher.  "  His  position  in  the  King's 
Lynn  station  was  simply  unique.  He  grew  up  with  it,  he  lived 
through  two  generations  of  members  and  hearers,  he  helped  to 
nourish  and  make  it  what  it  is,  and  in  turn  he  was  nourished 
and  sustained  by  it.  In  truth  we  may  say  that  he  was  in  turn 
both  the  child  and  the  father  of  the  station.  He  gave  thought 
and  time  and  strength  to  promote  its  spiritual  growth,  and  his 
wealth  to  aid  its  material  expansion  and  financial  prosperity.  The 
evidence  of  this  is  found  in  the  fact  that  his  name  is  cut  into 
the  foundation-stones  of  twenty-one  chapels  or  schools,  and  what 
is  surpassingly  better,  his  name  is  cut  into  tables,  '  not  of  stone,' 
but  in  tables  that  are  hearts  of  flesh.  Hundreds  revere  his 
memory,  and  hold  his  name  and  work  in  undying  remembrance. 
Having  grown  up  with  the  station,  and  become  inseparably  associated  with  all  its  interests 
and  movements,  it  was  but  natural  for  the  (Quarterly  Meeting  in  1853  to  appoint 
Mr.  Lift  as  its  Steward,  and  to  renew  that  appointment  no  less  than  one  hundred 
and  twentv-six  times."* 


WILLIAM    LIFT. 


III.,   IV.  : — Fakenham  ;  Upwej.l. 

We  regret  that  so  little  is  known  of  the  earlier  history  of  the  Fakenham  and  Upwell 
Circuits.  These  centres,  as  probably  also  Wisbech  and  Cambridge,  would  be  amongst 
the  fifty-seven  places  found  on  the  plan  of  the  Norfolk  Mission,  which  J.  Oscroft  says 
was  printed  in  April,  1*21.  In  1821,  Fakenham  Circuit  had  no  fewer  than  six  travelling- 
preachers  appointed  to  it.  In  1826,  North  Walsham  Circuit  was  formed.  This  new 
circuit,  as  we  shall  see,  subsequently  sent  Robert  Key  on  a  mission  which,  in  1832, 
resulted  in  the  formation  of  the  Mattishall — afterwards  called  East  Dereham  Circuit. 
Fikenham  also,  in  1842,  missioned  Oundle  in  Northamptonshire, 
soon  afterwards  transferred  to  the  (Jeneral  Missionary  Committee. 

Upwell's  chief  claim  to  notice,  in  the  absence  of  other  information, 
must  rest  on  the  active  part  it  took  in  early  missionary  enterprise. 
In  1828,  Brandon,  in  Suffolk,  became  a  circuit,  and  it  is  probable, 
as  Mr.  Petty  seems  to  suggest,  that  it  was  reached  by  the  first 
missionaries  to  Norfolk.  At  that  time,  what  was  known  as 
Marshland  Fen,  at  the  western  extremity  of  Norfolk,  was  a  desolate 
and  barren  region.  Little  of  it  was  then  under  cultivation,  and 
the  moral  condition  of  its  inhabitants  was  conformable  to  their 
surroundings.  They  habitually  disregarded  the  Sabbath,  and  might 
have  said  with  the  navvy,  "  Sunday  has  not  cropped  out  here  yet  " ; 
for  there  were  no  ministers  or  places  for  public  worship.     In  1832,  Mr.  James  Garner 

* '  AVilliam    Lift :  a   Life   Nourished   by   Service,"  in  Aldersgate,  1894,   pp.   911-13,  by  Rev. 
John  Smith. 


JAMES  GAKNEB. 


THE    PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND    ENTERPRISE. 


223 


made  his  way  into  Marshland,  and  he  was  soon  followed  by  other  missionaries.  Eor 
two  years  services  were  held  in  the  house  of  Mr.  Collins,  then  in  a  lean-to  which  he 
erected  near  his  outbuildings.  Finally  in  1855,  largely  through  the  generosity  and 
zeal  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Neep  and  Messrs.  Collins  and  Taylor,  a  neat  chapel  was  erected 
for  the  society  which  had  done  so  much  for  the  moral  and  spiritual  enlightenment 
of  that  neglected  district. 

To  two  missionaries  of  Upwell  Circuit  belongs  the  honour  of  having  materially  extended 
the  Connexion  in  the  county  of  Essex.  Messrs.  Bedhead  and  J.  Jackson  were,  at 
the  March  Quarterly  Meeting  of  1838,  set  apart  for  missionary  work ;  but  no  precise 
directions  were  given  them.  They  went  forth  almost  at  a  venture,  and  at  the  end  of 
a  long  day's  journey,  found  themselves  at  Saffron  Walden,  forty  miles  away.  Here, 
on  the  2nd  of  May,  Mr.  Eedhead  preached  in  the  open-air  in  Castle  Street,  and  he 
and  his  colleague  also  visited  many  villages.     The  entire  cost  of  the  mission  for  two 


THE  CHURCH  AND  MANSE,  DOWNHAM  MARKET. 

years  was  £65,  which,  we  are  told,  was  regarded  as  unusually  heavy  I  The  mission 
continued  to  prosper  both  before  and  after  it  was  turned  over  to  the  General  Missionary 
Committee,  and  in  1850  Saffron  Walden  became  a  circuit  with  516  members.  Upwell 
also  missioned  the  city  of  Ely. 

The  old  Upwell  Circuit  is  now  Downham  Market,  a  place  first  missioned,  but 
afterwards  given  up,  by  Lynn.  Early  in  the  'Thirties  the  Upwell  Circuit,  under  the 
superin tendency  of  that  indefatigable  and  successful  minister,  Samuel  Atterby,  remissioned 
the  place.  A  cottage  was  first  used  for  services,  and  afterwards,  in  1834,  a  barn  was 
fitted  up.  The  first  chapel  was  erected  in  1855,  largely  through  the  instrumentality 
of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kemp,  who  now  resided  at  Downham  Market.  We  give  views 
of  the  present  Church  and  Manse,  erected  in  1871,  also  of  the  late  Rev.  J.  Kemish, 
who  spent  nine  useful  years  on  this  station.     Downham  Market  has  also  been  fortunate 


■2-2i 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 


in  having  had  Air.  AY.  .Sexton  Proctor  as  its  Circuit  Steward  for  so  many  years, 
a  convert  of  John  .Smith  (1),  and  a  local  preacher  for  fifty-six  years.  It  is  singular 
that  this  Primitive  Methodist  official  also  filled  the  office  of  churchwarden  for  twenty-one 

years,  and  was  twice  elected  by  the  vicar  as  his  warden. 
The  Assistant  Circuit  .Steward,  Mr.  Rose,  has  also  been, 
and  is,  a  stay  and  support  to  the  Circuit. 

Xor  does  this  exhaust  the  missionary  enterprises  of 
the  Upwell  or  Downham  Circuit.  Ely  was  prepared 
for  self-government  by  being  its  Branch,  and  it  began 
missions  at  Ramsey  (now  incorporated  with  Peterborough) 
and  Buckden. 

"Wisbech  formed  part  of  Upwell  Circuit  until  1833, 
when  it  was  granted  independence.  It  was  first  visited, 
in  1N21,  by  the  Nottingham  missionaries,  who  took  their 
stand  in  the  Horse- Fair.  At  first  they  met  with  con- 
siderable opposition,  and  hail  to  combat  strong  prejudice, 
so  that  slow  progress  was  made.  The  first  preaching- 
place  was  the.  humble  cottage  of  a  tinker  who  was  one 
of  the  first  c<  inverts,  and  this  was  afterwards  exchanged 
for  a  barn.  Yet  \Yisbeeh,  from  an  early  date  had  connected  with  it  some  estimable 
persons  who  had  also,  what  was  very  valuable — staying  power.     Such  were  Mr.  Gubbins, 


III  pins  " 

L     *H        Villi      I 


'-  Ul      ;"i!iii!;;  ■'f,:i-tffes. 


m 

m 

VIEW    FPOM    THE   NORTH    BETNK,     WIXJiF.eH.       EARLY    )  !lTJI    CKNTURY. 


iisli'W! 


Mrs.  Miller,  and  especially  Mr.  M.  Taylor  and  his  wife,  who  were  well-known  in 
the  district  for  their  hospitality  and  Christian  kindness.  A  notable  acquisition  to 
the  society  was  Edwin  Waller,  a  AVesleyan  local  preacher,  who  after  mature  delibera- 
tion, in  which  he  counted  all  costs,  united  with  the  society,  and  continued  to  be  its 
staunch  friend  and  supporter  until  his  death,  in  1X54.  AYe  have  already  met  with 
several   bearers   of  the  name  of  Waller,   who   have  deserved  well   of    the   Connexion. 


THE    PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE.  225 

We  do  not  forget  the  Wallers  of  the  Manchester  District,  or  Thomas  Waller,  the  coke- 
burner,  of  Blaydon ;  and  this  Edwin  Waller,  "  earthenware  dealer,''  of  Wisbech,  was 
evidently  a  notable  figure  in  the  Norwich  District  in  his  day.  He  was  for  long  the 
corresponding  member  of  its  District  Committee ;  often  its  chosen  representative  to 
the  Annual  Conference,  and  in  other  ways  he  played  an  influential  part.  He  was,  we  are 
told,  and  we  can  well  believe  it,  a  man  of  extensive  reading,  of  close  thought,  and  great 
originality.  Being  a  man  in  easy,  if  not  affluent  circumstances,  he  was  able  to  render 
material  help  to  the  struggling  societies.  He  became  responsible  for  the.  rent  of  the 
better  preaching-room  which  was  now  taken,  and  he  willingly  incurred  the  responsibility 
of  trusteeship  for  Connexional  buildings.  In  addition  to  this,  by  his  prudent  counsels 
and  his  abundant  labours  as  a  local  preacher,  he  greatly  assisted  in  the  development 
of  the  Wisbech  Circuit  and  of  Holbeach,  which  was  a  branch  of  Wisbech  until  1855. 
The  circuit  took  its  part  in  missionary  efforts  in  Huntingdonshire  and  at  Bamsey,  though 
the  shifting  relations  of  these  missions  to  Wisbech,  Upwell,  and  other  circuits  is  too 
intricate  a  matter  to  be  unravelled  here. 

V. — Cambridge. 

Our  two  ancient  University  towns  gave  our  first  missionaries  a  scurvy  reception. 
Oxford  well-nigh  smothered  G.  W.  Bellham  with  filth ;  Cambridge  did  its  best  to 
starve  Joseph  Eeynolds.  In  August,  1821,  he  found  his  way  here  from  distant 
Tunstall.  The  letter  he  wrote  giving  an  account  of  his  experience  is,  indeed, 
"  a  human  document '' — a  transcript  from  the  life,  touching  in  its  very  simplicity,  and 
revealing  a  heroism  all  unconscious  of  itself,  which  even  hunger  could  not  subdue. 
As  we  have  said  elsewhere,  it  might  have  been  written  by  a  suffering  follower  of 
George  Fox  long  ago.     We  give  an  extract : — 

"Dear  Brethren, — When  I  left  Tunstall,  I  gave  myself  up  to  labour  and 
sufferings,  and  I  have  gone  through  both  ;  but  praise  the  Lord,  it  has  been  for 
His  glory  and  the  good  of  souls.  My  sufferings  are  known  only  to  God  and  myself. 
I  have  many  times  been  knocked  down  while  preaching,  and  have  often  had  sore 
bones.  Once  I  was  knocked  down,  and  was  trampled  under  the  feet  of  the  crowd, 
and  had  my  clothes  torn,  and  all  my  money  taken  from|me.  In  consequence  of 
this  I  have  been  obliged  to  suffer  much  hunger.  One  day  I  travelled  nearly  thirty 
miles  and  had  only  a  penny  cake  to  eat.  I  preached  at  night  to  near  two  thousand 
persons.  But  I  was  so  weak  when  I  had  done,  that  I  could  scarcely  stand.  I  then 
made  my  supper  of  cold  cabbage,  and  slept  under  a  haystack  in  a  field  till  about  four 
o'clock  in  the  morning.  The  singing  of  the  birds  then  awoke  me,  and  I  arose  and 
went  into  the  town,  and  preached  at  five  to  many  people.  I  afterwards  came  to 
Cambridge,  where  I  have  been  a  fortnight,  and  preached  to  a  great  congregation, 
though  almost  worn  out  with  fatigue  and  hunger.  To-day  I  was  glad  to  eat  the 
pea-husks  as  I  walked  on  the  road.  But  I  bless  God  that  much  good  has  been  done. 
I  believe  hundreds  will  have  to  bless  Him  in'eternity  for  leading  me  hither." 

When  next  the  curtain  rises  on  Cambridge,  March  1824,  we  see  it  a  branch  of 
Nottingham,  but  about  to  be  made  a  circuit.  Its  two  preachers  are  to  be  lent  to  it 
until  the  District  Meeting,  and  the  new  circuit  is  requested  not  to  appoint  Delegates 
to  the  said  District  Meeting  unless  they  can  pay  their  own  expenses.     At  Midsummer 

p 


226 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST    CHURCH. 


of  the  same  year,  W.  Clowes  and  John  Nelson  were  at  Cambridge  for  the  purpose 
of  re-opening  the  chapel,  which  had  been  enlarged  by  the  putting  in  of  a  gallery. 
Clowes,  preaching  in  the  evening,  had  a  sprinkling  of  collegians  in  his  congregation, 
while  the  Wesleyan  superintendent  assisted  in  taking  up  the  collection. 

Again  the  curtain  drops,  and  Cambridge  is  lost  to  view  ;  unless,  indeed,  the  curtain 
is  unexpectedly  lifted  by  the  biographer  of  the  Rev.  Charles  Simeon,*  the  famous 
Evangelical  leader.     There  was,  he  tells  us,  in  Cambridge, 

"A  certain  enthusiastic  Nonconformist  labourer  named  'Johnny  Stittle';  a  kind 
of  well-meaning,  self-constituted  city  missionary  in  the  viler  parts  of  Cambridge, 
and  called  by  the  undergraduates  a  'Ranter.'  He  used  to  hold  his  meetings  in  a  room, 
and  when  the  attendance  grew  too  large  for  one  room,  he  threw  down  the  partitions 
and  used  the  whole  floor  of  the  house ;  and  again  enlarged  his  improvised  chapel 
by  taking  in  also  the  upper  story,  cutting  out  the  central  part  of  the  bedroom 
floor,  but  leaving  enough  to  make  a  wide  gallery  all  round,  upheld  by  pillars. 
As  he  was  but  a  day-labourer,  it  was  understood  that  Mr.  Simeon  aided  him  in  the 
expense  of  these  alterations.  This  man  and  his  services  were  the  butt  of  many 
a,  thoughtless  young  gownsman,  who  used  to  stand  outside  and  look  in  at  his 
chapel  window  and  listen  for  amusement's  sake,  and  whose  annoyances  he  yet 
patiently  and  kindly  bore.  On  some  occasion  of  bitterness  he  is  said  to  have 
invited  a  railing  youth  to  his  house  to  partake  of  the  '  herby-pie'  supper  provided 
for  himself  and  family,  and  then  persuaded  him  to  stay  and  join  in  his  simple 
but  hearty  family  worship,  which  resulted  in  the  young  man's  beginning  to  think 
seriously  on  religion,  and  ultimately  becoming  a  valuable  clergyman."* 

In  this  extract  the  "self-constituted  city  missionary"  has  given  him  the  same  reproachful 
name  our  fathers  bore ;  nor,  indeed,  do  we  know  of  any  other  denomination,  besides 
our  own,  that,  before  18.'? 6 — the  year  of  Simeon's  death — would  have  made  room  for 
John  Stittle  and  his  methods.  We  have  not  the  least  objection  to  acknowledge  him 
as  one  of  ourselves,  especially  as  the  sermon  given  as  a  specimen  of  his  preaching 
would  do  no  discredit  to  any  Cambridge  pulpit. 

In  the  course  of  years,  circuits,  like  soldiers  on  a  long  march,  are  apt  to  drop  out 
of  the  ranks.  So  it  was  with  Cambridge,  for  a  short  time. 
In  1842,  it  ranks  as  the  eighteenth  circuit  in  the  Norwich 
District,  whereas  it  began,  in  1*25,  as  the  third.  The  explanation 
is  that  for  three  years — 1834  to  1836  inclusive — it  disappeared 
from  the  list  of  stations,  but  came  on  again  in  1837.  The  plan 
of  1842  shows  six  places,  which  include  Waterbeach,  St.  Ives, 
and  Huntingdon.  St.  Peter's  Street  Chapel  had  recently  been 
acquired,  and  by  1855  the  progress  of  the  circuit  was  such  that 
a  second  chapel  was  secured  in  Barnwell,  the  eastern  district  of 
the  town.  This  was  Fitzroy  Street  Chapel,  the  first  which  the 
Wesleyans  had  possessed  in  Cambridge,  and  had  now  vacated. 
This  building  was  secured  on  generous  terms,  and  opened  by 
C.   Buck,  the  most  popular  female  preacher  in  this   period  of   our  history. 


MISS    M.    C.    BUCK. 


M 


.M. 


*  "  Recollections  of  the  Conversational  Parties  of   the   Rev.  Charles  Simeon,  etc.,"  by 
Brown,  M.A.,  pp.  13-15.. 


A.  W. 


THE    PERIOD    OF    CIKCL'IT    PKEDOMINANCE    AND    ENTEKPK1SE. 


227 


Miss  Buck  was  called  into  the  ministry  by  the  Burland  Circuit  in  1836  and  although, 
unlike  Miss  Bultitude,  she  ceased  "  to  travel "  in  the  technical  sense,  she  continued  to 
be  in  great  request  for  special  services.  The  fact  that  Cambridge  provided  for  the 
Conference  of  1857  marks  the  advance  which,  by  this  time,  it  had  made. 

A  word  as  to  the  interesting  towns  of  Huntingdon  and  St.  Ives,  so  full  of  Cromwellian 
associations.  From  the  Journal*  of  W.  Dawson  in  the  Mmja;:ine  for  1822,  we  learn  that 
as  a  preacher  of  the  Boston  Circuit,  he  spent  a  week  in  missioning  this  neighbourhood. 
Under  date  of  September  2nd,  1821,  he  writes:  "I  spoke  to  a  large  congregation  in 
the  market-place  at  Huntingdon.  Some  seemed  to  wonder,  some  mocked,  and  some 
wept.  At  two,  I  spoke  at  Godmanchester:  very  many  attended.  At  six,  T.  Steele, 
from  Tunstall,  spoke  at  Huntingdon,  together  with  a  blind  young  man  out  of  Cheshire." 
He  further  says  he  formed  a  class  of  seven  members  at  Godmanchester.     Whether 


THE  BKIDGE  AND  QUAY,    ST.    IVES,    HUNTS. 


Wisbech  found  any  vestiges  of  this  visit  when  it  began  its  missionary  labours  in 
Huntingdonshire,  we  know  not.  As  for  St.  Ives,  tradition,  apparently  trustworthy, 
gives  1837  as  the  year  when  Primitive  Methodism  entered  the  town.  It  is  said  to  have 
been  brought  by  one  —  Bridge  and  Mrs."Bcel.  The  former  is  on  the  Cambridge  plan 
of  1842  and,  as  a  member  of  the  Circuit  Committee,  was  evidently  a  leading  official. 
The  first  building  occupied  is  said  to  have  been  the  old  Baptist  Chapel  in  Water  Lane, 
and  much  later  a  remove  was  made  to  a  building  on  the  <L)uay,  said  to  be  the  oldest 
meeting-house  in  Huntingdonshire,  having  been  used  by  successive  bodies  of  Noncon- 
formists for  two  hundred  years.  This  was  occupied  until  the  present  new  and  handsome 
building  was  erected.*  In  1897,  the  General  Missionary  Committee  made  St.  Ives 
a  circuit,  and  it  was  annexed  to  the  Lynn  and  Cambridge  District. 


*  See  article  in  AUIersgate  Magazine,  1896,  pp.  2X2-6. 


228 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 


yi. — Yarmouth. 

Though  one  of  the  primary  circuits  of  the  original  Norwich  District,  this  strong 
circuit  was  in  its  beginning  an  offshoot  of  Norwich.  Yet  persistent  tradition  points 
to  a  man  rather  than  to  a  circuit,  to  individual  Christian  effort  rather  than  to  official 
action,  as  having  paved  the  way  for  the  establishment  of  a  Primitive  Methodist  cause 
in  Yarmouth.  One  Driver,  a  Primitive  Methodist  from  the  Midlands,  drawn  here  by 
his  employment,  is  said  to  have  preached  in  the  open-air  and,  if  he  did  not  actually 
organise  a  society,  to  have  "made  ready  a  people  prepared  for  the  Lord."  However 
this  may  be — and  one  could  wish  it  might  be  true — we  are  on  undisputed  ground  in 
giving  1822  as  the  date  when  the  evangelists  from  Norwich  took  their  stand  on  the 
Hog  Hill,  with  their  backs  to  the  Fisherman's  Hospital  wall,  and  proclaimed  the  gospel. 
J.  Brame,  a  travelling  preacher,  and  Mr.  J.  Turnpenny  are  said  to  have  been  the  names 
of  the  missionaries.  Periodical  visits  continued  to  be  paid  by  the  preachers  from 
Norwich,  and  on  February  14th,  1823,  a  preaching  licence  was  obtained  for  a  house 
in  Row  60.  In  1824,  Yarmouth  was  made  a  circuit,  and  it  appears  as  the  fifth  station 
of  the  newly-formed  Norwich  District  on  the  stations  for  182"). 

Just  as  the  magnificent  Church  of  the  Nativity,  built  by  Helena,  the  mother  of 
Constantine,  has  deep  down  at  its  heart  the  rocky  stable  where  Christ  was  born,  linking 
together  on  the  same  spot  the  present  and  the  past  in  striking  contrast,  so  the  Temple, 
the  chief  edifice  of  Yarmouth  Primitive  Methodism,  stands  on  the  identical  site  of  the 
hay-loft  which,  in  1H2'.i,  was  the  society's  humble  sanctuary.  The  Temple  epitomises 
the  history  of  our  Church  in  the  town,  alike  in  its  continuity  and  the  striking  contrast 
it  presents  to  the  first  and  successive  buildings  it  has  superseded.  First  there  stood 
here  the  hay-loft  already  mentioned.  It  was  the  upper  storey  of  a  building  which  had 
once  done  duty  as  a  joiner's  shop.  Its  roof  was  pantiled,  its  once  unglazed  apertures 
were  now  filled  in  with  small-paned  leaded  windows,  and  it  was  furnished  with  stiff 
rail-backed  seats.  In  front  of  the  loft  was  an  open  space,  flanked  by  a  saw-pit  on  one 
side  and  by  stables  on  the  other.  This  open  space  was  reached  by  a  path  some  ten 
feet  wide,  having  some  tumble-down,  disreputable  town-houses  on  either  hand.  For 
these  domiciles  the  occupants  paid  no  rent :  they  were  mere  squatters — unthrifty,  idle, 
depraved ;  so  that  intending  worshippers  had  to  make  their  way 
to  the  hay-loft  through  filthy  and  repulsive  surroundings,  and  run 
the  gauntlet  of  ribald  jests  or  maledictions.  Yet  this  unsavoury 
spot  had  a  history  going  far  back ;  for  the  hay-loft  rested  partly 
on,  and  partly  over,  a  portion  of  the  old  town-wall,  and  it  stood 
on  the  Priory  Plain,  afore-time  covered  by  a  religious  house. 
So  here,  at  Yarmouth,  as  at  Lynn  and  Scarborough,  Primitive 
Methodism  put  its  sanctuary  down  on  the  very  spot  where,  in 
Mediaeval  times,  monks  abode,  where  they  paced  to  and  fro  in  the 
cloisters  and  chanted  in  the  choir,  until  they  sank  into  sloth 
and  vice,  and  King  Henry,  as  the  besom  of  the  Lord,  swept 
them  all  away. 

Stage  No.  2  was  reached  when  "the  diligent  and  judicious  Samuel  Atterby  "  turned 
the  unpolished  building  into  a  galleried  chapel.     It  was  in  1827  that  this  first  Tabernacle 


SAMUEL   ATTERBY. 


THE   PERIOD   OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE. 


229 


was  reared,  and  it  lasted  until  1850.  Then,  as  John  Smith,  the  superintendent,  was  in 
declining  health  and  n^aring  the  verge,  Thomas  Swindell  indefatigably  laboured  at  the 
scheme  of  enlargement.  This  was  done  for  both  chapel  and  school  at  a  cost  of  £750. 
In  connection  with  the  opening  of  this  second  Tabernacle,  a  truly 
monster  tea-meeting  was  held  that  is  talked  of  to  this  day. 
Seven  marquees  were  joined  to  form  one  tent,  pitched  in  front 
of  the  Children's  Hospital,  and  here  eleven  hundred  people  sat 
down  at  the  tables.  By  the  erection  of  "the  Temple"  in  1876 
the  crowning  stage  was  surely  reached ;  but,  lest  it  should  be 
thought  that  pride  had  anything  to  do  with  the  bestowment 
of  the  name,  its  genesis  had  better  be  recorded.  When  it  was 
suggested  that  the  proposed  building  should  be  called  a  "  Church," 
a  veteran  local  preacher  exclaimed  :  "  Church  ?  You'd  better  call 
thomas  Swindell.  it  a  Temple  straight  away " ;  and  Temple  it  w»  called.  The 
only  untoward  event  that  marred  the  success  of    the  Temple,   was  an   accident   that 


mum 


1  vi«in,  ^**i^tftti/Sfp, 


YAKH0UTJI  FIRST  TEMPLE. 

occurred  while  it  was  in  course  of   erection.     By  the  fall  of   coping-stones  a  young 

workman  almost  immediately  lost  his  life,  and  Mr.  T.  Kirk,  a  trustee 

deeply  interested  in  the  progress  of  the  building,  received  such 

hurt  as  resulted  in  his  death.     Mercifully,  Mr.  T.  VT.  Swindell, 

who  was  with  him  at  the  time,  escaped  without  injury.     As  the 

Rev.  T.  Swindell  had  so  much  to  do  with  the  building  of  the 

second  Tabernacle,  so  his  son,  just  named,  the  Steward  of  the 

Circuit,    by  his  zeal,   financial    skill,   and    fertility   of   resource, 

greatly  contributed  to  bring  this  larger  enterprise  to  a  successful 

issue. 

Yarmouth  has  a  good  record  for  its  Sunday  School  work. 
Very  early  a  Sunday  School  was  established,  at  which  writing 
as  well  as  reading  was  taught.  It  was  located  first  in  the 
Garden  Row,  subsequently  in  the  two  other  rooms  shown  in  our  pictures,  and  then 


T.    W.    SWINDELL. 


230 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


it  was  removed  in  turn  to  the  old  and  to  the  new  school-rooms.  The  weekly  marching 
of  the  children— at  one  time  numbering  five  hundred— through  the  streets  to  the 
chapel,  stirred  up  the  church  people  of  the  town  to  establish  a  school  for  them- 
selves. Messrs.  R.  Todd,  J.  F.  Xeavc,  Rnbert  Bell,  AY.  Patterson,  and  W.  Buddery 
have  successively  laboured  through  the  years  as  superintendents  or  Bible-class  teachers, 
in  connection  with  the  school.  Of  these  and  others,  interesting  reminiscences  are  given 
by  Mr.  Arthur  Patterson  in  his  monograph  on  Yarmouth  Primitive  Methodism,  to 
which  we  express  large  indebtedness.*  Mr.  Patterson,  as  an  old  scholar  and  infant 
.•lass  teacher  and  "  lightning  sketcher,"  has  found  a  congenial  task  ;  nor  would  any  history 
of  Yarmouth  Primitive  Methodism  he  complete  which  should  contain  no  reference  to 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST  TEMTLE,    YARMOUTH. 

what  Mr.  Patterson  has  achieved  in  other  directions.  By  his  contributions  to  our 
Connexional  literature,  and  by  his  recent  works  on  Natural  History,  recording  the 
results  of  years  of  careful  observation,  he  has  obtained  a  more  than  local  reputation, 
while  the  story  of  his  life  of  self-help  and  devotion  to  natural  science  is  worthy  to  be 
placed  side  by  side  with  the  lives  of  Edward,  or  Dick  of  Thurso. 

Previous  t<>  the  building  of  the  Temple,  extensions  in  the  borough  had  taken  place  by 
the  erection,  at  the  South  End,  of  Queen  Street  Chapel  (1867).  Mr.  George  Baker,  J.P., 
materially  assisted  in  this  extension,  and  afterwards  received  the  thanks  of  Conference 
for  his  gift  to  the  chapel  of  an  organ  costing  £130. 

""From  Hayloft  to  Temple:  the  Story  of  Primitive  Methodism  in  Yarmouth."  1903.  London, 
R.  Urvrmt. 


THE   PERIOD    OF  'CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE. 


231 


ENTRANCE  TO   SCHOOLROOM,    YARMOUTH. 
Now  a  Tramps'  Lodging-house. 


So  far  as  persecution  by  the  populace  is  con- 
cerned, Yarmouth  can  show  a  clean  sheet.  In 
the  early  days,  the  singing  of  the  old  hymns 
seems  to  have  operated  like  a  charm  in  mollify- 
ing the  passions  of  those  whom  it  drew  to  the 
open-air  services.  Once  and  again  the  authorities 
have  backslidden  into  intolerance,  and  their 
attempts  to  put  down  preaching  in  the  open 
spaces  of  the  town  have  had  to  be  resisted. 
The  worst  case  occurred  in  1854,  when  several 
persons  were  arrested  for  holding  a  service  at 
the  Hall  Quay.  At  the  trial  which  ensued, 
the  accused  were  ably  defended  by  Mr.  Tillett 
of  Norwich,  a  staunch  Nonconformist.  The 
magistrates  found  themselves  in  a  cleft  stick 
and,  in  the  end,  the  case  was  dismissed.  At  a 
later  period  the  authorities  had  another  relapse, 
but  the  Eev.  John  Smith  (2)  at  once  took  steps 
to  vindicate  the  right  to  hold  services  at  the 
Jetty.     It  is  but  due  to  say  that,  in  1888,  the 

Salvation  Army  were  much  more  roughly  handled  at  Yarmouth  than  our  fathers  had 

ever  been,  and  the  magistrates  incurred  considerable  odium  by  instituting  proceedings 

against  them — a  course  which,  in  the  end,  produced  a  strong  reaction  in  their  favour. 
By     successive     partitions,     Yarmouth     has 

become    five    circuits    at   least.     As    early   as 

1823,    Wangford,    twenty    miles    away,    and 

Beccles    fifteen,    were    within    its    area,    and 

regularly    supplied    with     preachers.       When, 

in    1833,  the   Wangford  Branch  was  made  a 

circuit,  with  Eichard  Howchin  as  its  superin- 
tendent, it  reported  233  members.     Extensive 

missionary  operations  were  at  once  begun  in 

the  surrounding  villages.     More  than  a  score 

of  these  were  visited,  and  many  of  them  were 

morally  transformed.     The  result  was  seen  in 

the  report  of  540  members  given  to  the  Con- 
ference of    1835.      Wangford   has   been,   and 

still  is  a  strong  country  station,  and  from  the 

beginning  has  always  had  in  it  a  number  of 

loyal  adherents  of  the  Connexion. 

Lowestoft  was  an  integral  part  of  Yarmouth 

Circuit  until    1870,   and  Acle   and   Martham 

until  1883.     Alderman  Adam  Adams  was  called 

into  the  ministry  by  Yarmouth  Circuit,  and  stationed  there  1852-4 , 


st.  john's  head  mow,  Yarmouth. 
Our  old  Schoolroom  on  the  right. 

but  his  health 


232 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


failing  him  lie  became  a  successful  man  of  business,  and  has  long  been  one  of 
Lowestoft's  prominent  and  public-spirited  citizens.  He  has  been  its  Mayor,  a  candidate 
for  Parliamentary  honours,  and  he  is  a  Justice  of  the  Peace. 
But,  it  is  safe  to  say,  he  attaches  more  importance  to  the 
position  he  holds  as  a  hard-working  local  preacher  and  active 
official.  He  has  few  vacant  Sundays;  his  time  being  equally 
divided  between  his  own  circuit  and  lending  assistance  to 
neighbouring  ones.  His  Connexional  recognition  came  in  1900 
when  he  was  appointed  Vice-President  of  Conference,  and  as 
such  his  portrait  will  be  found  hereafter  in  its  due  order. 

We  must  refer  our  readers  to  Mr.  Patterson's  book  for 
interesting  reminiscences  of  some  of  the  veteran  local  preachers 
of  the  Yarmouth  Circuit — men  like  John  Bitton,  who  was  on 

A.    PATTERSON. 

the  plan  of  1824,  and  preached  when  he  was  eighty-four,  dying 
at  last,  in  1886,  at  ninety-three  years  of  age;  William   Perry,  forty-six  years  a  local 


W»»»._J| 

«>iS  fk 

if   i ""  ~ 

p-T 

YARMOUTH    HALL   yl'AY. 

preacher ;  George  Bell,  who  gave  thirty-seven  years  of  his  life  to  the  same  work,  and 
two  sons  to  the  ministry ;  John  Mason,   a  local   preacher  for 
over   thirty-six  years;  and    Henry  Futter,   still   spared   to   the 
Church  he  lias  served  so  long. 

Mr.  Patterson  also  gives  the  names  of  some  twenty  ministers 
whom  the  Yarmouth  Circuit  has  sent  forth.  The  list  includes 
the  names  of  J.  G.  Smith,  the  son  of  John  Smith  (1);  of 
George  and  Benjamin  Bell;  G  Eudram  and  F.  B.  Paston.  But 
of  all  who  in  the  early  days  were  closely  associated  with 
Yarmouth,  none  left  so  deep  and  lasting  an  impression  on  the 
District,  of  which  they  were  largely  the  makers  and  fashioners, 
as  did  John  Smith  (1)  and  Kobert  Key.  It  was  at  Yarmouth 
the  former  closed  at  once  his  ministry  of  twenty-seven  years         riohard  howchin. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND    ENTERPRISE. 


233 


and  his  life.  It  was  at  Yarmouth,  too,  Robert  Key  began  his  Christian  course.  The 
presence  at  the  services  of  the  rough  coal-heaver  occasioned  surprise  not  unmixed 
with  fear ;  for  it  was  hard  to  think  anything  but  a  mischievous  intent  had  brought 
him  there.  Like  Clowes  he  was  a  branch,  but  rougher  and  more  unpromising,  of 
the  "olive-tree  which  is  wild  by  nature;'-  but  he  was  "grafted  in'' — "brought  in" 
our  fathers  termed  it — and  the  process  was  finished  on  Easter  Sunday,  1823,  and 
very  soon  the  new  nature  began  to  show  itself  in  the  overcoming  of  the  defects 
•of  a  meagre  education  and  of  a  strong  but  undisciplined  character.  By  1825  or  1826 
he  had  become  a  local  preacher,  when  local  preachers  were  few  and  their  journeys  long 
and  frequent.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  Anthony  Race  of  Weardale,  who  died  at 
Yarmouth  in  1828,  was  of  great  assistance  to  Robert  Key  by  his  powerful  preaching 
of  the  doctrine  of  entire  sanctification,  and  still  more  by  the  exemplification  of  the 
doctrine  in  his  own  life.  The  influence  exerted  upon  hinij  by  this  apostolic  man  was  so 
great  that,  we  are  told,  "  no  wear  or  tear  of  years  or  circumstances  was  ever  able  to 
efface  it.''     In  1828,  Robert  Key  received  his  call  to  the  ministry. 

It  is  but  natural  we  should  desire  to  know  something  more  than  can  be  derived  from 


JOHN  EITTON. 


WILLIAM   PEEEY. 


GEOEGE    BELL. 


JOHN    MASON. 


tradition,  however  trustworthy,  of  these  men  to  whom  Primitive  Methodism  in  the 
Eastern  Counties  owed  so  much  in  the  early  days.  Fortunately,  we  have  a  sketch  of 
these  two  pioneers  by  a  contemporary  and  competent  hand.  Mr.  G.  T.  Goodrick,  who 
had  himself  been  a  travelling  preacher  for  three  years,  retired  in  1835  to  Yarmouth, 
where  he  became  a  leading  official.  He  became  well  known  to  the  Connexional 
authorities,  and  their  confidence  in  him  is  seen  in  his  appointment  as  one  of  the 
Connexional  Auditors.  Mr.  Goodrick  left  behind  him  a  "  Life  "  of  Robert  Key,  which 
has  never  been  published.  From  this  valuable  work  we  take  the  following  discriminating 
characterisation  of  John  Smith  (1)  and  Robert  Key : — 

"John  Smith— a  man  of  God  ;  of  all  we  have  met,  we  think  we  never  did  find 
a  man  so  much  under  the  influence  of  'this  travailing  for  souls.'  He  was  not  a 
great  preacher.  He  had  no  acquired  powers  of  oratory.  His  pulpit  efforts  were 
generally  disjointed  in  arrangement ;  and,  as  a  man  seeking  popularity  by  such 
methods,  he  would  certainly  have  failed.  But  no  hearer  could  doubt  his  sincerity, 
nor  fail  to  perceive,  if  he  had  spiritual  perception  at  all,  that  the  preacher  felt  for 
souls.  Indeed,  he  was  a  man  of  two  ideas— personal  holiness  and  the  conversion 
of   sinners.      These   were,  one  or   the  other,  generally  both,   the   burden   of   his 


234  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 

sermons,  and  the  topics  of  bis  conversation.  And  so  constantly  and  so  surely 
did  he  think  of  men  as  sinners,  and  the  necessity  of  their  salvation,  that  it  some- 
times absorbed  all  other  considerations  of  time  and  place,  and  made  him  silent 
in  the  midst  of  the  most  congenial  society.  At  other  times  he  would  literally 
groan  as  if  under  a  burden,  and  would  express  himself  as  if  he  could  not  live 
unless  souls  were  saved.  This,  to  some,  seemed  to  savour  of  rudeness,  indecorum, 
and  even  of  a  pharisaical  spirit.  But  what  prayers  !  what  power  !  what  influence 
attended  his  words  !  We  have  heard  him  pray  until  the  place  was  as  if  shaken. 
He  was  as  a  prince  with  God,  for  wrestling  he  overcame,  and  streams  of  mercy 
flowed  among  the  assembly.  We  have  known  him  lay  his  hand  upon  persons  and 
bring  them  to  their  knees  without  uttering  a  word  ;  and  a  whole  congregation, 
as  it  were,  gasp  for  breath  while  listening  to  his  impassioned  and  inspired  appeals, 
in  which  he  was  sometimes  lost  for  language,  and  coming  to  a  sudden  stop  would 
electrify  his  hearers  by  a  single  word  or  shout  of  'Glory  !' — a  shout  that  was,  as 
a  simple  countryman  expressed  it,  'Worth  some  men's  whole  sermons.'  His  soul 
burned  within  him  to  save  the  souls  of  others,  and,  as  in  other  instances,  burned 
too  fast  for  endurance  ;  and  after  a  brilliant  career  of  success  in  some  circuits 
in  the  Norwich  District,  entered  into  rest,  December  7th,  1<S51,  at  the  early  age 
of  fifty-one. 

"Between  these  two  men,  Brothers  Key  and  Smith,  there  was  a  great  similarity 
of  feeling,  thought,  and  experience,  and  if  need  be,  we  might  almost  substitute 
one  mental  picture  for  another  :  only  Mr.  Key  was  of  a  livelier  disposition,  a  warmer 
tempera 1 1 lent,  had  greater  mental  resources,  and  a  greater  aptitude  for  the  business 
and  arrangements  incident  to  the  establishment  of  u,  church  or  society.  He  was 
thus  better  qualified  as  a  missionary,  while  his  good  brother  Smith  found  a  field 
for  labour  in  the  already  enclosed  portions  of  his  Master's  vineyard.  Both  toiled 
and  wept  and  prayed,  'travailing  for  souls,'  and  now  both  'rest  from  their  labours 
and  their  works  do  follow  them.'" 

Primitive  Methodism  and  the  Agricultural  Villages  of  East  Anglia. 

The  work  done  in  East  Anglia  between  1825  and  1842  was  remarkable,  even  on  the 
imperfect  showing  of  statistics.  Here  are  the  figures  for  the  two  years  set  out  side  by 
side,  making  comparison  easy  and  leading  to  an  obvious  inference. 


1  82.V  1842. 


Circuits 

Ministers 

Members 


6 

Circuits 

19 

13 

Ministers 

59 

546 

Members 

-  9072 

Ar.d  yet  the  figures  furnish  but  imperfect  evidence.  From  the  very  nature  of  the  case 
a  very  large  percentage  of  the  direct,  no  less  than  the  indirect,  results  accomplished, 
must  have  fallen  to  the  share  of  Churches  which  seemed  to  have  a  strong  hereditary 
claim  and  had  more  to  offer.  Often  enough  they  carried  off  the  full  stook  to  their 
well-filled  granary,  and  left  us  only  the  gleanings  of  our  own  harvest.  The  words  of 
Christ  were  reversed  .  We  laboured,  and  others  entered  into  our  labours.  Especially 
was  this  the  case  in  Suffolk  and  Essex,  where  the  Congregational  and  Baptist  Churches 


THE   PERIOD   OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND    ENTERPRISE. 


235 


have  deeply  rooted  themselves.  At  Bury  St.  Edmunds,  for  example,  Mr.  Petty  tells 
of  a  Nonconformist  minister  who  stated  that  he  had  admitted  eighty  persons  to 
church-membership,  who  attributed  their  enlightenment  to  the  open-air  preaching  of  the 
Primitive  Methodists.  This  is  not  written  by  way  of  complaint,  but  simply  to  show 
that,  in  any  estimate  of  the  good  effected  by  our  Church  in  the  Eastern  Counties  during 
this  time,  account  must  also  be  taken  of  the  extent  to  which  other  Churches  were 
augmented  and  quickened  by  our  labours. 

But  as  to  these  figures  themselves  :  they  represent  a  most  active  and  persistent  village 
evangelisation.  Some  idea  of  the  network  reticulations  of  this  evangelisation  may  be 
gained  by  an  inspection  of  the  circuit  plans  of  the  time.  Here,  for  instance,  is  the 
plan  of  North  Walsham  Circuit,  in  the  north-eastern  corner  of  Norfolk,  for  the  year 
1835.  And  what  a  plan  it  is!  as  large  as  a  page  of  the  Primitive  Methoi7i.it  World, 
having  on  it  the  names  of  sixty-one  villages  and  sixty-nine  preachers  and  exhcrters. 

And  here  is  the  plan  of  the 
Mattishall,  now  East  Dereham 
Circuit  and  Sahara.  Branch,  not 
much  smaller  than  that  of  North 
Walsham,  showing  fifty-two  vil- 
lages and  forty-five  preachers. 
When  we  get  to  know  how  the 
Mattishall  Circuit  was  carved  out 
of  Mid-Norfolk  by  Kobert  Key, 
this  plan  becomes  a  most  signifi- 
cant broadsheet.  The  story  of 
the  making  of  this  circuit  is  an 
interesting  chapter  in  Norfolk 
village  evangelisation — a  chapter 
which  rightly  begins  by  showing 
us  the  antecedents  of  these  half- 
hundred  villages  in  the  heart  of  Norfolk ;  what  was  their  moral  and  religious  condition 
before  Eobert  Key  set  foot  in  them  and  went  on  circuit.  Had  we  a  map  of  the 
England  of  that  time — a  map  showing,  by  its  gradations  of  light  and  shade,  how  near 
any  district  approached  to  the  recognised  standard  of  good  morals  and  religion,  or 
how  far  it  fell  short  of  such  standard,  then  we  should  find  these  parts  around  East 
Dereham  deeply  shaded,  while  some  of  the  villages  thereabouts,  would  stand  out  on 
the  map  like  dark  islets. 

In  justification  of  what  is  here  written  we  would  adduce  the  testimony  of 
Canon  Jessopp,  the  genial  archaeologist,  historian,  and  broad-minded  political  economist. 
No  man  knows  the  history  of  his  own  county,  or  the  past  and  present  condition  of  the 
peasantry  of  Norfolk,  better  than  he.  In  1879,  he  was  instituted  to  the  rectory  of 
Seaming,  near  East  Dereham,  and  in  his  "  The  Arcady  of  our  Grandfathers,''  he  has 
put  down  what,  by  skilful  questioning  of  the  oldest  inhabitants,  he  could  gather  con- 
cerning the  former  manner  of  life  of  the  labourers  and  smaller  farmers  of  Seaming  and 
the  neighbouring  parishes.     Arcady,  indeed !     It  is  no  picture  of  Arcadian  innocence 


CHURCH  OF    EAST  DKBEHAM. 
Where  Cowper  was  buried. 


236  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 

we  get  from  these  combined  narratives,  but  rather  one  of  more  than  Boeotian  rudeness. 
There  were,  perhaps,  fewer  public-houses  eighty  years  ago  than  now,  and  the  drinking 
of  ardent  spirits  was  little  known  then,  though  there  was  much  beery  drunkenness. 
There  was  a  strain  of  cruelty  funning  through  social  life.  Masters  beat  the  boys  in 
their  employ,  and  not  infrequently  their  serving-men ;  wife-beating  was  so  common 
as  to  attract  little  notice.  Cock-fighting  was  the  popular  sport ;  football  matches 
were  played  on  the  Sunday.  Profanity  and  dissoluteness  were  crying  evils,  while 
a  good  part  of  the  little  religion  there  was,  ran  into  superstition  or  gross  formalism. 
At  the  annual  fair-time  men  indulged  in  a  surfeit  of  wickedness  and  pleasure,  as  though 
they  would  make  up  by  a  debauch  for  the  enforced  abstinence  of  the  working  year. 
Crime,  too,  was  rife:  "1  Hiring  the  nine  years  ending  in  1N08,  there  were  actually 
committed  to  the  four  prisons  at  Wymondham,  Aylsham,  "Walsingham,  and  Norwich 
Castle,  the  enormous  aggregate  of  2.'i36  men  and  women,  to  whom  we  may  be  sure 
little  mercy  was  shown."  * 

Testimony,  corroborative  of  that  given  by  Canon  .fessopp,  is  also  furnished  by 
Mr.  G.  T.  I  Joodrick,  already  named,  who  was  one  of  the  ministers  of  Lynn  Circuit  in 
183^,  and  residing  at  Swaffham  when  Hubert  Key  was  prosecuting  his  East  Dereham 
mission.  lie  writes  as  one  who  had  been  on  the  ground  and  had  an  intimate 
knowledge  of  the  people.  The  quotation  from  him  here  given  has  a  value  beyond  its 
special  local  reference,  as  it  fairly  and  fully  presents  the  claim  of  our  Church  to 
have  fastened  on  the  agricultural  villages  of  our  land  when  others  passed  them  by. 
He  probably  had  the  villages  of  East  Anglia  specially  in  his  mind,  but  his  words 
are  equally  true  of  other  parts  of  rural  England  in  the  'Twenties  and  'Thirties.  After 
claiming  that  the  Church  to  which  Eobert  Key  was  attached  had  laboured  much, 
and  contributed  no  little,  to  spread  the  leaven  of  righteousness  and  thereby  exalt  the 
nation,   he  continues  : — 

"  YVesleyanism  with  its  peculiar  organisation  had  won, — arid  deservedly  won,  her 
laurels,  and  could  boast  of  spoils  taken  from  the  hand  of  the  mighty,  and  these, 
too,  from  among  the  villages  and  cottages  of  many  a  tract  of  English  soil,  where 
the  sound  of  the  church-going  bell  was  seldom  heard,  or  if  it  were  heard,  it 
spoke  in  vain.  But  it  will  not  be  denied  that  Wesleyanism  bad  not  done  all  that 
was  needed,  or  all  that  she  could  have  done  ;  and  if  the  Wesleyans  turned  their 
strength  to  the  evangelisation  of  large  towns — so  be  it;  they  thought  it  best, 
and  God  is  with  them.  But  there  was  a  class  to  reach,  'a  region  beyond,' which 
they  had  not  penetrated;  a  people  to  whom  religion  was  unknown  except  by 
name,  whose  morals  were  loose,  and  their  habits  vicious  ;  u,  class  from  which  the 
ranks  of  the  poacher,  the  farm-robber,  and  the  stack-burner  were  ever  and  anon 
recruited.  The  character  of  the  labouring  class  in  the  agricultural  counties  was 
fearfully  deteriorated  ;  it  had  become  almost  brutish.  Cock-fighting,  dog-fighting, 
and  man-fighting  were  cruel  sports  freely  indulged  in  ;  the  cricket  club  and  foot- 
ball had  their  field-day  on  the  Sabbath,  and  a  drunken  orgie  at  a  fair  was  planned 
and  provided  for  out  of  hard-earned  wages  weeks  before  its  appointed  day.  Much 
has  been  said  of  the  sins  of  the  city,  but  if  we  were  to  care  to  draw  the  veil  from 
country-town  and  village-life  of  seventy  or  eighty  years  ago,t  the  seeming  disparity 

*  "  Ai-cady  :  For  Better  or  Worse."     6th  Edition,  p.  50. 

+ 1  have  altered  the  figure  to  allow  for  the  efflux  of  time  since  these  words  were  written. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE.  23T 

between  the  moral  life  of  city  and  country  would  vanish,  or  rather  the  sins  of  the 
former  would  be  eclipsed  by  the  deeper  darkness  of  the  latter.  But  God  knew  it 
all  !  and,  if  we  may  not  claim  a  plenary  inspiration  for  the  earlier  missionaries 
of  the  Connexion,  who  will  dare  deny  that  the  'Spirit  of  the  Lord  God  was  upon 
them,  anointing  them  to  preach  the  gospel  to  the.  poor'?  This  was,  indeed,  mission 
work — a  mission  to  the  heathen  in  all  but  in  name,  and  to  this  work  Brother  Key 
addressed  himself  in  all  the  vigour  of  manhood,  faith  in  the  divinity  of  his  mission, 
and  constrained  by  the  love  of  Christ  to  seek  the  souls  of  men."— (MS.  "  Life  of 
Robert  Key,"  pp.  49,  50.) 

As  the  Mid-Norfolk  of  1830  may  be  taken  as  a  typical  Norfolk  village-mission-field — 
though  it  must  be  confessed  the  type  is  very  pronounced  and  at  its  highest  power — so 
Robert  Key  may  be  taken  as  the  type  of  the  East  Anglian  pioneer  missionary.  If  we 
had  written  "the  ideal  East  Anglian  missionary,''  we  should  not  have  been  far  wrong. 
Robert  Key  began  his  ministry  in  North  Walsham  Circuit  in  1828,  and  thence  was 
sent  to  open  his  mission  in  central  Norfolk.  The  task  that  lay  before  him  was  such 
as  would  have  tested  the  physical  stamina  of  the  strongest,  the  courage  of  the  boldest, 
the  resourcefulness  of  the  most  experienced.  He  had  no  one  "to  hold  the  rope." 
He  had  to  make  his  own  way,  like  a  movable  column  in  the 
enemy's  territory,  with  no  base  to  lean  upon.  He  preached  in  the 
open-air  or  in  houses  that  might  be  offered  him,  and  suffering  as  well 
as  labour  was  his  lot.  Instead  of  being  welcomed  and  encouraged 
as  a  herald  of  the  gospel,  he  was  by  many  treated  as  a  pestilent 
fellow  to  be  got  rid  of  at  all  costs.  Certain  places  in  the  district 
made  themselves  specially  notorious  by  the  bitterness  of  their 
opposition.  "  Shipdham,  Watton,  and  East  Dereham,'-  says  Mr.  Key, 
"  might  have  been  matched  against  any  other  three  places  of  similar 
size  for  brutal  violence  and  inveterate  hatred  of  the  truth. 
robert  key.  Of   the    three  places    I    think    Shipdham  was    the  worst."      At 

Watton,  some  years  before,  a  Wesleyan  minister  had  attempted 
to  preach  the  gospel  in  the  open  air,  but  he  was  shamefully  treated,  and  barely 
escaped  with  his  life.  Here,  on  August  16th,  1832,  Mr.  Key  took  his  stand  in 
the  Market-place.  It  was  soon  pretty  evident  that  mischief  was  abroad.  A  number 
of  men  who  had  been  primed  with  drink  by  some  of  the  "  respectables  "  of  the  town,, 
gathered  round,  and  first  tried  to  drown  the  preacher's  voice  by  clamour  and  by  percussion. 
Then,  a  rush  was  made ;  the  preacher  was  knocked  down,  trampled  upon  and  kicked. 
He  struggled  to  his  feet  and  got  on  his  chair  again — still  preaching.  Another  rush — 
with  the  result  that  Key  was  tossed  backward  and  forward  like  a  football.  Then 
missiles  began  to  fly,  and  it  looked  as  though  the  unprovoked  riot  would  end  in  murder 
when,  suddenly,  deliverance  came  and  from  an  unexpected  quarter.  Some  of  the 
ringleaders,  though  still  under  the  influence  of  drink,  were  seized  with  compunction, 
and  changed  sides.  They  rallied  round  the  breathless  and  battered  preacher,  planted 
themselves  round  him  as  a  body-guard,  and  got  him  away  with  difficulty,  shouting  : 
"You  are  ri^ht  and  we  are  wrong,  and  no  man  shall  hurt  you!"  This  unlooked-for 
development  was,  we  are  told,  a  disappointment  to  the  "respectable"  men  who  had 


_Io8  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 

instigated  the  disturbance,  one  of  whom  was  the  person  entrusted  by  a  paternal  state 
with  the  cure  of  souls. 

As  for  Shipdham,  Mr.  Goodrick  fully  bears  out  what  Mr.  Key  has  said  of  it.  "  It 
made  itself  infamous  by  its  long  course  of  bitterest  opposition  to  the  preachers,  and  no 
wonder ;  for,  if  Satan  had  a  seat  upon  earth  it  was  there,"  and  more,  and  stronger 
words  he  writes,  which  we  need  not  give.  We  will  also  pass  over  the  details  of  the 
annoyances  to  which  the  preacher  and  his  little  flock  were  so  long  exposed,  since  these 
had  not  even  the  small  merit  of  originality.  One  little  fact,  however,  we  chronicle 
here,  partly  to  show  what  spirit  the  people  were  of,  and  partly  to  embalm  the  memory 
of  a  poor  widow,  "destitute,  afflicted,  tormented,  of  whom  the  world  was  not  worthy." 
A  poor  Frenchwoman  of  Shipdham  became  a  special  object  of  persecution.  Upon  her 
was  heaped  ridicule,  taunts,  and  blows.  She  was  driven  from  one  lodging  to  another 
and,  had  it  been  possible,  some  would  have  denied  her  even  a  pauper's  bread ;  and  all 
because  she  dared  to  become,  and  declared  herself  to  be,  "a  thorough  Primitive." 

Though  Robert  Key  had  many  marvellous  escapes  from  bodily  injury,  he  did  not 
bear  a  charmed  life.  Once  at  Reepham,  for  example,  he  was  hit  with  a  stone  thrown 
by  the  hand  of  the  zealous  parish  clerk,  and  bled  profusely.  "  But  why,"  it  will  be 
asked  "were  not  such  miscreants  brought  to  justice?"  Wre  answer:  once,  and  once 
only,  was  a  summons  taken  out  against  persecutors,  and  why  the  experiment  was  not 
repeated  the  sequel  will  show.  It  was  at  this  same  Reepham,  Key  was  followed  by 
another  preacher  who,  borrowing  a  chair,  began  a  service ;  but  he  was  pulled  down,  and 
by  clamour  and  violence  compelled  to  desist.  The  attack  was  so  outrageous  that,  in 
order  to  avoid  worse  consequences  from  the  rough  and  ready  action  of  the  justifiably 
incensed  populace,  Mr.  Key  reluctantly  consented  to  seek  legal  redress.  The  result 
shall  be  stated  by  Mr.  Goodrick  : — 

"To  the  everlasting  disgrace  of  the  magistrates,  the  chicanery  of  the  legal 
adviser,  and  the  subterfuges  of  the  law  itself  were  so  well  used  that,  although 
everybody  else  saw  through  the  whole  thing,  justice  was  blind,  and  her  constituted 
ministers  dismissed  the  case  !  and,  by  way  of  administering  some  soothing  palliative 
to  the  outraged  feelings  of  the  influential  and  respectable  blackguards  of  Reepham, 
condescended  to  stoop  so  low  as  to  pour  a  tirade  of  abuse  upon  Mr.  Key,  which 
for  virulence  of  language  might  have  been  borrowed  from  Billingsgate.  Such  has 
often  been  the  result  of  an  appeal  to  the  law  for  protection,  especially  when 
the  clerical  magistrate  occupies  the  bench  and  derogates  from  his  character  as 
a  minister  of  the  gospel  by  professing  to  administer  criminal  law."— (MS  "Life 
of  Robert  Key,''  p.  76). 

The  language  is  vigorous,  but  not  one  whit  more  so  than  that  employed  by  John  Foster 
who,  in  speaking  of  these  attacks  on  the  inoffensive  preachers  of  the  gospel,  once  so 
common,  says  :  "  These  savage  tumults  were  generally  instigated  or  abetted,  sometimes 
under  a  little  concealment,  but  often  avowedly,  by  persons  of  higher  condition,  and 
even  by  those  consecrated  to  the  office  of  religious  instruction  ;  and  this  advantage  of 
their  station  was  lent  to  defend  the  perpetrators  against  shame,  or  remorse,  or  just 
punishment,  for  the  outrage  "  *     No  wonder  that,  after  his  first  experience  of  Justices' 

"  Evils  of  Popular  Ignorance,"  pp.  75-6. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE. 


239 


REV.  ROBERT    EAGLEN 


justice,  Kobert  Key  should  say :  "  Never  more  !     Come  what  may  I  will  suffer  it,  and 
leave  my  cause  with  God." 

The  outer  conflicts  Eobert  Key  had  to  wage  during  his  Mattishall  Mission,  had  their 
reflection  and  counterpart  in  the  inner  conflicts  which  formed  so 
remarkable  a  feature  of  his  experience  at  this  time.  As  we  read  of 
these  we  are  reminded  of  the  views  held  by  J.  Crawfoot,  H.  Bourne, 
and  others  of  the  fathers  as  to  the  nature  of  spiritual  conflicts. 
They  would  have  said,  in  explanation,  that  such  conflicts  were  to 
be  expected ;  that  he  was  taking  upon  him  the  burden  of  souls ; 
that  there  was  "  a  conflict  of  atmospheres."  Sometimes  a  darkness 
which  might  be  felt  would  come  upon  him,  and  a  feeling  of 
hardness,  and  he  had  to  hold  on  grimly  by  naked  faith,  and 
wrestle  until  the  day  broke,  and  his  heart  softened  again  as  with 
the  dew  of  the  morning.  So  it  was  on  his  first  visit  to  Saham 
Toney  on  June  10th,  1832.  While  he  was  preaching  in  the 
open-air  the  heavens  became  suddenly  overcast,  and  the  rain  came  down  in  torrents. 
His  appeal  for  a  house  or  place  of  shelter  in  which  to  finish  the  service,  was  met 
by  the  offer  of  a  house — formerly  a  workhouse — capable  of  holding  two  hundred 
people.  Many  followed  him  there,  but  for  the  first  twenty  minutes  "all  appeared 
hard  and  dark,  and  nothing  moved.''  Then  the  cloud  passed,  and  men  and  women 
began  to  fall  to  the  ground,  while  others  hurried  away  as  if  the  house  were  on  fire,  in 
impenitent  terror  and  defiance.      "Did  his  spiritual  foes,''  asks   Mr.  Goodrick,   "on 

leaving  Mr.  Key,  attack  his  hearers, 
to  drive  them  from  the  place  1 "  It 
was  an  eventful  service.  In  the  fiery 
trial  of  that  night  was  forged  a  link 
in  the  providential  chain  of  events 
which  led  to  the  conversion  of 
C.  H.  Spurgeon ;  for,  amongst  those 
who  were  won  that  night,  was  Mary 
Eaglen,  whose  changed  and  Christly 
life  so  impressed  her  brother  that  it 
was  one  of  the  main  factors  in  his 
conversion,  which  took  place  soon 
after.  Mr.  Eaglen  spent  two  of 
the  thirty-six  years  of  his  active 
ministry  in  Ipswich  Circuit,  of 
which  Colchester  was  then  a  branch, 
and  it  was  he  who,  on  a  snowy 
morning  in  the  winter  of  1850, 
directed  the  youth  of  God's  election 
to  look  and  be  saved.  The  pulpit  in  which  Mr.  Eaglen  then  stood  is  preserved  in 
the  Stockwell  Orphanage.  On  October  11th,  1864,  Mr.  Spurgeon  preached  in  the 
old  Colchester  Chapel  (erected  1839)  from   the  text  used  in  his  conversion ;    and  it 


OOLOHESTER  CHAPEL. 
As  it  was. 


240 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


was  quite  fitting  that  Rev.  W.  Moore  should,  in  1897,  place  a  tablet  in  the  chapel 
commemorative  of  the  event. 

Despite  the  opposition  of  some  unreasonable  and  evil  men  in  East  Anglia  (most  of 
whom  afterwards  got  their  deserts'),  "  the  word  of  God  was  not  bound,''  but  rather  had 
"  free  course  and  was  glorified."  Some  mighty  camp  meetings  gave  it  impetus  and 
helped  it  forward.  That  such  numbers  of  people  could  be  brought  together  in  districts 
not  thickly  populated,   attested  the  hold  the  new  religious  movement  already  had  got 

on  the  rural  population.     But  not  as 

aggregations  of  people  merely,  or  as 
imposing  demonstrations  of  growing 
influence,  were  these  camp  meetings 
mighty.  The  word  belongs  to  them 
rather  because  they  were  generators 
and  distributors  of  spiritual  force ;  they 
were  "  mighty  before  (kid  to  the  casting 
down  of  strongholds.''  Mighty  in  all 
these  senses  was  the  camp  meeting  held 
at  East  Tuddenham  on  June  12th,  1831, 
which  may  therefore  serve  as  type  and 
representative  of  many  another  similar 
gathering  in  various  parts  of  East  Anglia. 
"It  was  thought  there  were  thousands 
of  people  present"  at  this  Mid-Norfolk 
camp  meeting.  "This,''  says  Mr.  Key, 
"  was  the  most  powerful  meeting  I  ever 
witnessed.  It  was  thought  that  more 
than  fifty  were  set  at  liberty." 

We  come  across  traces  and  echoes 
of  some  of  these  camp  meetings  in 
our  accepted  literature.  Readers  of 
Larritt/ru  *  will  recall  the  fine  description 
of  a  Norfolk  camp  meeting  in  that 
fascinating  book.  We  challenge  that 
camp  meeting  for  a  Primitive  Methodist 
one ;  for,  as  surely  as  it  took  place  as 
pictured,  so  surely  would  no  other  denomination  save  our  own  have  owned  it  at  the 
time,  and  it  is  too  late  now  for  any  other  to  prefer  its  claim.  Let  our  readers  turn  to 
this  passage  in  Lareiojro.  Our  present  concern  with  it  is  to  adduce  the  testimony 
of  George  Borrow — who  spent  his  later  years  at  Oulton,  near  Lowestoft— as  to  the 
ameliorative  influences  which  camp  meeting  preachers  and  preaching  exerted  upon  the 
rural  parishes  of  East  Anglia  •.— 

"There  stood  the.  preacher,  one  of  those  men— and,  thank  God,  their  number  is 
not  few— who,  animated  by  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  amidst  much  poverty,  and  alas  ! 

•*  Lnrengro.     Chapter  .\xv. 


SrUKCEONS  TABLET  IN   COLCHESTER   CHAPEL. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE    AND   ENTERPRISE.  241 

much  contempt,  persist  in  carrying  the  light  of  the  gospel  amidst  the  dark  parishes 
of  what,  but  for  their  instrumentality,  would  scarcely  be  Christian  England." 

Dark  parishes  they  were,  indeed,  in  the  'Thirties,  not  only  in  East  Anglia,  but  in  many 
other  parts  of  rural  England.  While  the  misguided  emissaries  of  "Capt.  Swing" 
were  burning  down  farmsteads  and  destroying  machinery,  Robert  Key  and  his 
coadjutors  were  amongst  them,  practically  doing  national  police-duty,  and  doing  it 
without  pay  or  recognition,  and  what  is  more,  they  often  accomplished  by  their  village 
evangelism  what  police  patrols  and  magistrates  were  unable  to  effect.  The  biographies 
of  the  time  bear  witness  to  the  wide-spread  alarm  which  these  agrarian  disturbances 
created.  Here,  for  example,  is  a  reminiscence  of  the  childhood  days  of  J.  Ewing  Ritchie, 
.spent  at  Wrentham,  in  Suffolk  : — 

"  I  can  never  forget  the  feeling  of  terror  with  which,  on  those  dark  and  dull 
winter  nights,  I  looked  out  of  my  bedroom  window  to  watch  the  lurid  light  flaring 
up  into  the  black  clouds  around,  which  told  how  wicked  men  were  at  their  mad 
work,  how  fiendish  passion  had  triumphed,  how  some  honest  farmer  was  reduced 
to  ruin,  as  he  saw  the  efforts  of  a  life  of  industry  consumed  by  the  incendiary's 
fire.     It  was  long  before  I  ceased  to  shudder  at  the  name  of  'Swing.'"* 

Robert  Key,  we  repeat,  was  down  amongst  the  rick-burners.  In  one  parish,  the 
miscreants  had  plotted  to  burn  down  all  the  farm-houses  in  the  district,  and  had 
actually  succeeded  in  burning  down  seventeen,  when  their  incendiarism  was  stopped 
by  the  advent  of  the  Primitive  Methodist  missionaries,  bearing  no  other  weapon  than 
the  Gospel.  Said  a  grateful  farmer  to  Robert  Key  :  "It  cost  me  two  shillings  a  night 
all  through  the  winter  to  have  my  house  watched,  and  then  we  went  to  bed  full  of 
anxiety  lest  we  should  be  burnt  out  before  morning.  But  you  came  here  and  sang 
and  prayeu  about  the  streets — for  you  can  never  get  these  '  varmints '  into  a  church  or 
chapel.  But  your  people  brought  the  red-hot  gospel  to  bear  upon  them  in  the  street, 
and  it  laid  hold  of  their  guilty  hearts,  and  now  these  people  are  good  members  of 
your  Church." 

Great,  indeed,  have  been  the  changes  for  the  better  brought  about  in  those  parts 
-of  East  Anglia  we  have  glanced  at,  since  Primitive  Methodism  was  introduced  into 
them,  and  in  effecting  those  changes  it  has  had  a  chief  part.  No  longer  is  North-East 
Norfolk  called  New  Siberia  because  of  the  backward  condition  of  its  inhabitants,  as  it 
was  called  when  R.  Key  began  his  labours  in  the  North  Walsham  Circuit.  In  this  corner 
of  the  county  is  the  newly-formed  Holt  and  Sheringham  Circuit,  carved  out  of  Briston 
and  Aylsham  Circuits.  The  rising  watering-place  and  fishing  village  of  Sheringham 
is  now  as  bright  a  spot  on  our  Connexional  map  as  Filey,  or  Cullercoats,  or  Staithes,  or 
Banks,  of  which  places  it  reminds  us.  In  its  pretty  village-chapel  Christians  of  various 
communities  love  to  join  with  the  fishermen  in  their  hearty  worship,  and  occasionally, 
like  Dr.  Eairbairn,  taste  a  fresh  experience  in  relating  their  Christian  experience  at  the 
call  of  a  guernsey-clad  leader. 

We  have  glanced  at  the  missioning  of  North- West  Norfolk  by  Lynn  Circuit.     The 
Rev.  F.  B.  Paston  tells  us  that,  even  in  1862,  when  he  began  his  labours  on  the 

*  "  East  Anglia.     Personal  Recollections  and  Historical  Associations/'  p.  31. 


■24:2  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 

Docking  Station  in  this  division  of  the  county,  the  villages  of  which  the  circuit  is 
composed,  were  in  a  sad  condition  of  ignorance,  poverty,  and  serfdom.  The  squire  and 
the  parson  ruled.  To  eat,  to  drink,  to  sleep — this  was  the  routine  of  the  labourers' 
life.  But  a  few  began  to  think  and  read  and  discuss,  and  got  their  eyes  opened  to 
discern  their  wants.  As  formulated,  these  were — the  establishment  of  a  trades  union, 
direct  Parliamentary  representation,  and  a  living  wage.  Thirty  years  after,  when 
Mr.  Paston  returned  to  the  station,  the  objects  aimed  at  had  been  gained.  The  day  of 
emancipation  for  the  agricultural  labourers  had  come  at  last.  Joseph  Arch,  the  founder 
of  the  Labourers'  Union  and  a  Primitive  Methodist  local  preacher,  was  member  for 
North-West  Norfolk.  The  composition  of  the  Parish  Council  showed  that  the  long 
sowing  and  waiting  had  not  been  in  vain,  that  the  East  Anglian  peasant  had  won  his 
freedom  and  knew  how  to  use  it. 

We  have  already  quoted  Canon  Jessopp  as  to  the  former  condition  of  the  peasantry 
of  Mid-Norfolk.  The  same  high  and  unexceptionable  authority  may  be  quoted  as  to 
the  influence  our  Church  has  exerted  and  still  exerts  in  East  Anglia,  where,  he  tells 
us,  the  immense  majority  of  those  who  attend  Nonconformist  chapels  are  Primitive 
Methodists.  This  reference  to  our  Church  must  not  suffer  curtailment,  and  it  is  with 
a  pride,  surely  pardonable,  we  give  it  place  here. 

"  Explain  it  how  we  will,  and  draw  our  inferences  as  we  ehoose,  there  is  no 
denying  it  that  in  hundreds  of  parishes  in  England  the  stuffy  little  chapel  by  the 
wayside  has  been  the  only  place  where  for  many  a  long  day  the  very  existence 
(if  religious  emotion  has  been  recognised;  the  only  place  in  which  the  yearnings 
of  the  soul  and  its  strong  crying  and  tears  have  been  allowed  to  express  themselves 
in  the  language  of  the  moment  unfettered  by  rigid  forms  ;  the  only  place  where 
the  agonised  conscience  has  been  encouraged  and  invited  to  rid  itself  of  its  sore 
burden  by  confession,  and  comforted  by  at  least  the  semblance  of  sympathy; 
the  only  place  where  the  peasantry  have  enjoyed  the  free  expression  of  their 
opinions,  and  where,  under  an  organisation  elaborated  with  extraordinary  sagacity, 
they  have  kept  up  a  school  of  music,  literature,  and  politics,  self-supporting  and 
unaided  by  dole  or  subsidy-  above  all.  a  school  of  eloquence,  in  which  the  lowliest 
has  become  familiarised  with  the  ordinary  rules  of  debate,  and  has  been  trained 
to  express  himself  with  directness,  vigour,  and  fluency.  What  the  Society  of  Jesus 
was  among  the  more  cultured  classes  in  the  sixteenth  century,  what  the  Friars 
were  to  the  masses  in  the  towns  during  the  thirteenth,  that  the  Primitive 
Methodists  are  iu  a  fair  way  of  becoming  among  the  labouring  classes  in  East 
Anglia  in  our  own  time."* 

The  Eamifh.'atioxs  of  Brandon  axd  Wang  ford  Circuits. 

Brandon,  made  a  circuit  in  1828,  demands  an  additional  word.  No  one,  judging  by 
the  present  shrunken  proportions  of  the  "Brandon  and  Methwold"  station,  would  suspect 
that  its  precursor  figured  so  largely  in  the  early  history  of  the  Norwich  District. 
James  Garner's  mission  to  Marshland  has  been  referred  to.f  In  1833,  Brandon  reported 
660  members.     In  1840,  through  the  labours,  in  turn,  of  Messrs.  Bellham,  Moss,  Knock, 

*  "  A  ready,  for  Uetler  for  "Worse,"  pp.  77-8.     t  8ee  Vol.  ii.  p.  222. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND    ENTEKPKISE.  243 

Winkfield,  and  their  colleagues,  the  membership  had  risen  to  954.  But  between 
these  years  Rockland  Circuit  was  made  with  472  members,  so  that  the  actual 
increase  for  the  seven  years  was  766.  This  numerical  advance  was  the  more  remark- 
able as,  during  the  earlier  part  of  the  septennate,  persecution  had  been  bitter  and  the 
poverty  of  the  people  extreme.  At  Thelnetham,  Rushford,  and  Bridgham  the  societies 
were  deprived  of  their  preaching-places.  At  Tottington,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cheston  (the 
latter  the  mother  of  the  Rev.  R.  Church)  were  turned  out  of  house  and  home,  and 
their  goods  left  on  the  open  green  for  three  days  and  nights  because  they  "  harboured 
the  Ranters.''     Ultimately  they  found  shelter  at  Thompson,  two  miles  away,  and  as 


ST.    NICHOLAS    ST1IKET,    THETFORD. 
Where  the  First  Opeu-air  Service  was  held,  conducted  by  Mr.  J.  Kent. 

they  opened  their  house  for  preaching,  their  settlement  there  was  the  means  of 
strengthening  the  village  society.*  It  was  in  the  face  of  difficulties  such  as  these 
that  the  Brandon  Circuit  extended  itself. 

Bury  St.  Edmund's,  Thetford,  Watton,  and  Diss,  each  now  the  head  of  a  circuit,  are 
all  found  on  the  early  plans  of  Brandon.  Bury  was  successfully  missioned  in  1829 
by  G.  Appleby  and  G.  Tetley,  and  formed  part  of  the  Brandon  Circuit  until  1842,  when 

*  See  the  Magazine  for  1861,  ]>.  232,  which  also  contains  the  account  of  the  opening  of  -  chapel 
at  Thompson  by  Messrs.  K.  Church,  O.  Jackson,  and  W.  H.  Meadows,  very  familiar  names  in 
East  Anglia. 


244 


PEIM1T1VE    METHODIST    CHUHCH. 


it  became  a  circuit  in  its  own  right.  Sudbury  Circuit  has  since  been  formed  from  Bury. 
Our  Church  found  it  no  easy  matter  to  get  footing  in  the  ancient  town  of  Thetford, 
once  the  capital  of  East  Anglia,  a  bishop's  seat  even  before  Norwich,  and  boasting  of 
its  eight  monasteries  and  twenty  churches.  Tiie  first  efforts  of  our  missionaries  were 
unsuccessful  but,  in  1836,  John  Kent  tried  it  again,  preaching  in  St.  Nicholas  Street, 
and  suffered  temporary  arrest  in  consequence.  After  this,  a  society  which  proved 
permanent  was  established,  and  a  chapel  opened  in  1839.  Under  the  able  superin- 
tendency  of  (jr.  Tetley  the  Thetford  Branch  became  an  independent  circuit  in  1859, 
and,  to-day,  it  takes  rank  as  a  good  country  station  with  some  twelve  or  thirteen 
separate  interests. 

Lopharn,  another  old-world  place,  is  on  the  Brandon  Circuit  plan  of  1834.  During 
the  last  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century  "Mr.  George  "Wharton,  a  good  specimen  of 
the  old  English  yeoman,  was  resident  at  North  Lopham.  He  accepted  Methodism, 
recently  introduced  into  the  village,  entertained  the  preachers,  and  allowed  them  the 
use  of  his  kitchen  for  their  services.  His  son  of  the  same  name  succeeded  to  the 
paternal  estate  and,  being  a  lover  of  old  Methodism  and  camp  meetings,  he  transferred 
his  patronage  to  the  Primitives  on  their  coining  into  these  parts.     He  granted  them  the 

use  of  a  shed  roofed  with  faggots  as  their 
.  •*"  ■       rf  preaching-place.     This  primitive  structure 

had  a  curious  origin.  Mr.  Wharton  was, 
in  his  way,  a  musical  amateur,  and,  on  his 
relinquishing  the  Grange  Farm  in  favour 
of  his  son  George,  he  built  the  shed  to 
serve  the  purpose  of  a  music-saloon,  to 
which  he  might  retire  at  will  and  play 
on  the  bass-viol  to  his  heart's  content, 
without  disturbing  his  wife,  who  did  not 
appreciate  his  musical  efforts.  The  old 
shed,  afterwards  enlarged  and  roofed  with 
the  "Old  Gospel  Shop.''  Subsequently,  we  are  told, 
Mr.  George  "Wharton  (the  third  of  that  name,  we  take  it)  built  a  chapel  for  the  use 
of  the  society  at  Lopham,  and  also  at  New  Buckenham,  Wortham,  and  East  Harling. 
By  his  will  he  devised  the  chapel  to  his  son  John,  and,  by  an  arrangement  with  the 
devisees,  the  Lopham  chapel  and  adjoining  schoolroom  were,  in  1861,  made  over  to  the 
Connexion.  There  is  a  tablet  in  the  chapel  to  the  memory  of  "  George  Wharton,  Gent., 
who  died  Feb.  4,  1837."  "  Several  members  of  the  Wharton  family  are  buried  in  and 
around  the  chapel,  and  in  a  garden  adjoining  are  the  graves  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  Rolfe 
(Lydia  Wharton),  and  Mr.  John  Bird.  The  garden  is  now  private  property,  and 
owned  by  a  descendant  of  George  Wharton."*  The  fact  that  Lopham,  beginning  as 
part  nf  Brandon,  was  afterwards  included  in  Rockland,  and  is  now  in  Diss  Circuit, 
points  to  the  changes  the  years  have  brought. 

Rockland  was  made  a  circuit  from  Brandon  during  1833,  and 
*  See  article  on  "  The  Lopham  People,"  by  Mr.  W  H.  Berry,  in  the  Ch 


*?>el0hoh 


•Jfa"/' 


thatch,   became    known 


PP- 


in  1834  Robert  Key, 

h'au  Messenger,  1900, 


THE   PEEIOD   OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE.  245 

fresh  from  his  triumphs  in  Mattishall,  became  its  superintendent,  and  continued  such 
for  two  years.  In  1835  the  newiy-formed  circuit  reported  710  members,  being  an 
increase  of  323.  Rockland,  in  its  turn,  missioned  Stowmarket,  which  was  made 
a  circuit  in  1835,  with  only  95  members. 

In  1837  Robert  Key  began  a  mission  at  Hadleigh,  in  Suffolk,  a  place  famous  in 
ecclesiastical  history  as  the  scene  of  a  martyrdom  and  as  the  place  where  the  Anglo- 
Catholic  movement  had  its  beginning.  On  a  common  near  the  town  Key  would  read 
the  inscription  : — 

"Near  the  spot  where  this  stone  stood, 
Rowland  Taylor  shed  his  blood." 

And,  only  four  years  before,  the  meeting  had  taken  place  in  the  rectory  parlour  of 
Hugh  James  Rose  from  which  resulted  the  "Tracts  for  the  Times.''  The  conditions 
under  which  Mr.  Key  prosecuted  his  mission  in  Suffolk  were  somewhat  different  from 
those  which  had  attended  his  work  in  Mid-Norfolk.  The  people  seemed  more  difficult 
to  reach — harder  to  impress.  There  was  a  good  deal  of  Antinomianism  about.  Many 
of  the  people,  too,  were  accustomed  to  "good"  sermonising  and  plenty  of  it,  and 
would  not  be  put  off  with  anything  else.  It  is  not  suggested  that  Mr.  Key  had  no 
message  for  the  people ;  only,  that  their  ecclesiastical  predilections  or  doctrinal  errors 
were  such  as  made  his  task  more  difficult,  and  drove  him  to  study  his  message,  and 
how  he  could  best  urge  it  home  through  the  resistant  coating  superinduced  by  habit 
or  prejudice.  Still,  Mr.  Key  met  with  a  measure  of  success,  though  not  on  the  scale 
to  which  he  had  been  accustomed.  Some  of  the  remarkable  displays  of  Divine  grace 
witnessed  by  him  about  this  time  he  has  duly  recorded  in  his  "  Gospel  among  the 
Masses.''  One  of  the  places  missioned  was  Polstead — a  veritable  "  Satan's  seat,''  on 
which  a  lurid  light  had  recently  been  cast.  A  crime  perpetrated  there  was  the 
sensation  of  the  day.  For  a  time  everybody  was  talking  of  the  Red  Barn  and  the 
murder  of  Maria  Martin.  Robert  Key  tells  us  that  when  he  visited  Polstead  it  was' 
little  better  than  a  den  of  thieves.  "  Seventeen  houses  in  the  village  were  unlicensed 
beer-houses  !  Barns,  malt-houses,  shops,  and  sheep-folds  were  visited  by  gangs  of  armed 
men  for  the  purpose  of  plunder,  and  seldom  were  the  county  Assizes  held  without 
some  criminals  from  Polstead  being  indicted."  In  this  notorious  place  his  labours 
were  crowned  with  marked  success.  Hadleigh  was  made  a  circuit  in  1838  with 
150  members.  In  recent  years  it  has  been  divided  up  between  Ipswich  and  Colchester 
Circuits. 

We  have  already  seen  Wangford,  as  an  offshoot  of  Yarmouth,  attaining  circuit 
independence  in  1833.  It  fell  to  its  lot  to  work  in  the  easternmost  part  of  England,  where 
the  land  bulges  out  like  a  bellying  sail,  although  the  sea  has  done  its  best,  or  its  worst, 
for, a  thousand  years,  to  throw  back  the  coast-line,  so  that  Dunwich,  once  a  famous 
city  of  East  Anglia,  which  fitted  out  fleets,  and  through  whose  brazen  gates  armies 
passed,  has  shrunk,  to  a  poor  village,  the  mere  wreck  of  the  ancient  city,  though,  until 
1832,  it  returned  two  members  to  Parliament.  Covehithe,  Southwold,  and  Wrentham, 
as  well  as  historic  Dunwich,  are  found  on  the  early  plans  of  Wangford  Circuit.  The 
making  of  Beccles  and  Bungay  Circuit  is  quite  recent.     Kelsale,  near  Saxmundham, 


246 


PRIMITIVE  METHODIST   CHURCH. 


has  had  a  chequered  history.  Originally  part  of  Wangford  Circuit,  it,  along  with 
Melton  and  a  few  other  places,  formed  a  distinct  circuit  for  two  years — 1837-8. 
Then  it  became  the  Kelsale  Mission  of  Wangford,  and  so  continued  until  1862,  when 
it  was  taken  over  by  the  General  Missionary  Committee,  and  remained  under  its  care 
until  1881.  The  year  1862  was  noteworthy  for  a  feat  in  chapel  removing.  In  1860, 
a  site  of  land  was  purchased  at  Melton,  in  the  Kelsale  Mission,  for  the  erection  of 
a  chapel.  The  site  was  contiguous  to  a  villa  occupied  by  a  barrister.  Some  few 
months  after  the  completion  of  the  building,  the  owner  of  the  villa  brought  an  action 
against  the  trustees  for  an  alleged  interference  with  his  light.     The  trial  was  heard  at 


THE  REMOVAL  OF  THE  CHAPEL  AT  MELTON,  WOODBRIDGE,  SUFFOLK 


the  Bury  Summer  Assizes,  1861,  and  went  against  the  trustees.  The  animus  of  the 
Church  party  was  notorious,  and  it  had  won  the  day.  At  this  juncture  Mr.  H.  Collins 
suggested  that  the  chapel  should  be  removed  bodily.  The  suggestion  that  at  first 
seemed  so  strange  was  soon  taken  up  seriously.  Additional  land  was  bought,  and,  by 
an  ingenious  process  we  do  not  stay  to  describe,  Mr.  Collins  and  his  brother,  as 
engineers,  effected  the  removal  of  the  chapel.  "A  Great  Moving  Day"  was  announced, 
and  hundreds  of  people  assembled  to  witness  the  successful  carrying  out  of  the  operation. 
Even  then  the  owner  of  the  villa  was  not  satisfied,  but  threatened  another  action 
because  the  chapel  had  not  been  removed  far  enough.  Counsel's  opinion  being  taken 
he  advised  that  as  the  trustees  had  yet  four  feet  of  land  intended  for  a  path,  this 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT    PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE.  247 

should  be  taken  advantage  of,  and  the  path  made  to  run  by  the  side  of  the  villa  for 
the  satisfaction  of  its  occupants.  This  was  done,  and  the  chapel  was  moved  in  all 
some  twenty  feet  eight  inches  without  a  window-pane  being  cracked,  or  the  building 
suffering  the  slightest  damage.  An  illustrated  account  of  this  triumph  of  mechanics 
over  bigotry  appeared  in  the  "  Illustrated  London  News "  of  the  time.  The  cost  of 
the  transaction  was  but  £31  12s.  6d.,  though  there  was  a  heavy  bill  of  legal  expenses 
which  brought  the  entire  cost  up  to  £800.  *  This,  we  are  told,  was  paid  off,  and  a  few 
years  ago  the  trustees  took  over  £50  of  the  debt  of  a  struggling  cause  at  Shottisham. 

*  "  To  J.  H.  Tillett,  Esq.,  solicitor  (Melton  Chapel  case),  £280.  To  W.  Harland,  to  Norwich  and 
Helton,  as  per  order  of  Conference,  £2  3s.'' — Minutes  of  Conference,  1862.  The  view  given  in 
the  text,  taken  at  the  time,  has  been  kindly  supplied  by  Mr.  Henry  Collins,  millwright,  etc.,  Melton 
through  Rev.  J.  H.  Geeson. 


248 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   OHTJKCH. 


CHAPTER   XIX. 

THE   ESTABLISHMENT   OF   PRIM [TI YE    METHODISM   IN   LONDON. 

A  Retrospect  and  Forecast. 

HE  history  of  Norwich  District  would  be  incomplete  were  we  to  omit  all 
reference  to  the  fact  that  for  seven  years — 1838  to  1834 — London  stood 
on  the  stations  of  that  District.  During  part  of  this  time,  Sheerness 
and  other  places  in  Kent  were  on  the  plan  of  London  Circuit,  so  that 
the  Norwich  District,  before  1842,  had  stations  or  missions  in  Essex,  Cambridge, 
Huntingdon,  Lincoln  (Holbeach),  Northampton,  Middlesex,  Surrey  and  Kent,  besides 
Norfolk  and  Suffolk,  in  all  some  ten  counties.  "We  see  that  this  connection  between 
London  and  East  Anglian  Primitive  Methodism  was  more  than  a  nominal  one — that  it  had 
practical  consequences  — when  we  find  John  Smith  (1)  and  Robert  Key  walking  all  the 
way  from  Norfolk  to  London  in  order  to  attend  the  District  Meeting  of  1833.  That 
year  the  District  increase  was  1638,  an  evidence  of  success  which  no  doubt  greatly 
encouraged  the  delegates.  It  was  during  the  District  Meeting  week,  while  speaking 
at  a  missionary  meeting  in  Blue  Gate  Fields  Chapel,  that  R.  Key  brought  down  his 
fist  with  such  emphasis  on  the  table  as  to  split  it  in  two,  while  Hugh  Bourne  picked 
up  the  scattered  candles.  London's  connection  with  Norwich  District  had  some  more 
lasting  results  ;  for,  while  Norwich  District  gave  such  preachers  as  James  Garner  (1), 
J.  Oscroft,  and  K.  Howchin  for  the  London  work,  London,  in  its  turn,  was  the  means  of 
strengthening  that  District  by  giving  it  such  men  as  W.  Wainwright  (1)  and  G.  Tetley. 
The  latter  was  one  of  the  early  fruits  of  Leeds  Primitive  Methodism,  became  a  notable 
figure  in  the  Norwich  District,  and  attained  to  the  Presidency  of  the  Conference  of 
1855.  If  for  no  other  reason  than  the  some-time  connection  of 
London  with  Norwich  District,  we  have  reached  a  convenient 
point  for  setting  forth  how  Primitive  Methodism  was  introduced 
into  London  and  how,  in  spite  of  great  difficulties,  it  rooted  itself 
there  and  grew.  But  there  is  a  further  reason.  The  narrative 
now  called  for  is  historically  knitted  to  what  has  already  been 
related,  and  to  what  yet  remains  to  be  told.  London  has  been 
reached  from  the  north  and  the  east.  Leeds  and  Hull  and,  after 
Norwich  District,  Hull  once  more,  have  had  a  hand  in  the  develop- 
ment of  our  Church-life  in  the  metropolis.  While  this  has  been 
w.  wainwkkjht.  going  on  on  one  side  of  the  island,  Tunstall  District  has  been 
consolidating  itself,  and  preparing  for  the  future  Manchester, 
West  Midland,  Liverpool,  and  Shrewsbury  Districts.    It  has  also,  by  its  Western  nnd  other 


THE   PERIOD   OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE    AND   ENTERPRISE.  240 

missions,  been  making  its  way  down  the  Severn  Valley  and  the  Thames  Basin.  On 
this  side,  the  outstanding  fact  is  the  creation  of  the  Brinkworth 
District  from  Tunstall,  just  as,  on  the  East,  the  outstanding  fact 
was  the  creation  of  Norwich  District  out  of  Nottingham.  The 
missionaries  of  Brinkworth  will  not  he  found  labouring  in  London 
itself,  but  they  will  be  found  labouring  very  near  to  it — in  Berk- 
shire, Buckinghamshire,  and  in  the  home-county  of  Hertfordshire. 
Looking  forward  a  few  years,  we  shall  see  how,  when  in  1853 
the  composite  London  District  is  to  be  formed,  Brinkworth  District 
becomes  one  of  the  largest  contributors,  surrendering  the  im- 
portant circuits  of  Reading,  High  Wycombe,  and  Luton,  as  well 
geo.  tetlet.  as    Maidenhead,    towards    the    formation    of    the    new    District. 

In    this   transitional   chapter  we   confine    ourselves    to   the   beginnings   of    Primitive 

Methodism  in  London. 

Early  Abortive  Missions  in  London. 

Hugh  Bourne  and  James  Crawfoot  spent  a  fortnight  in  London  in  the  autumn 
of  1810.  "Was  this  merely  a  pleasure-excursion,  or  an  evangelistic  mission?  If  only 
the  former,  then  it  belongs  to  the  biography  of  Hugh  Bourne  rather  than  to  this 
History.  But  it  is  clear,  from  the  very  first  mention  of  the  project  in  his  Journal, 
and  from  subsequent  references  to  the  visit,  that  Hugh  Bourne  himself  regarded  it  as 
a  "religious  excursion,''  as  likely  to  afford  him  the  opportunity  of  trying  his  methods 
of  evangelism  in  a  new  and  tempting  field.  While  going  in  and  out  amongst  the 
Independent  Methodists  at  Stockton  Heath,  W.  Clowes,  he  says,  "  Informed  me  that 
John  Shegog  [a  Staffordshire  man  resident  in  London]  wanted  me  to  go  to  London, 
and  that  there  seemed  to  be  a  call,  and  that  my  way  was  open  there.  This  kept  me 
awake  a  good  while ;  but  I  left  it  to  the  Lord,  and  it  seemed  as  if  the  Lord  directed 
me  to  go  to  London.  0  Lord,  Thy  will  be  done.''  Arrived  in  London,  Hugh  Bourne 
and  his  companion  did  not  entirely  neglect  seeing  the  sights.  They  saw  the  king's 
palace,  and  climbed  nearly  to  the  top  of  St.  Paul's,  "and  had  views  of  the  city.  It 
is  wonderful,"  adds  H.  B.  ;  "but,  0  Lord,  what  shall  be  done  for  the  multitudes  of 
the  inhabitants  1  0  Lord,  have  pity  on  them.''  Lancaster's  Free  School  was  visited, 
and  the  notorious  Joanna  Southcote,  whom  H.  B.  "  thought  was  in  witchcraft."  But 
still  their  main  pre-occupation  was  evangelism.  Each  preached  in  the  open-air  in 
Portland  Street  and  Kentish  Town.  They  held  various  cottage-meetings,  at  which 
converts  were  won.  Much  space  is  given  in  the  Journal  to  the  astonishing  cure, 
through  the  prayers  and  faith  of  James  Crawfoot,  of  Anne  Chapman,  a  pious  young 
woman  and  visionist,  who,  after  being  seven  months  in  hospital,  was  dismissed  as 
incurable.  What  were  the  results  of  this  short  visit  1  Under  date  of  October  23rd,  1810, 
Hugh  Bourne  writes  in  his  Journal : — 

"Clowes  has  received  a  letter  from  Mr.  Shegog,  of  London,  stating  that 
Anne  Chapman  was  at  the  chapel  last  Tuesday,  and  was  enabled  to  stand  up 
and  join  in  the  singing,  to  the  astonishment  of  the  congregation  ;  and  that  her 


250  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 

miraculous  restoration  from  what  appeared  to  be  the  bed  of  death  has  raised 
an  inquiry  in  many  as  to  the  deep  things  of  God.  He  says  they  greatly  desire 
to  see  us  again  ;  and  that  the  converts  the  Lord  gave  old  James  and  me  are  going 
on  well,  especially  sister  Chapman  and  two  brethren.  He  also  says  that  he  is 
endeavouring  to  fan  the  flame  which  the  Lord  enabled  us  to  kindle  in  London." 

This  record  explains  why,  in  the  autumn  of  1811,  we  find  John  Benton  labouring  in 
London.  If  he  shrank  from  entering  Leicester,  we  can  readily  understand  why  he 
should  feel  out  of  his  element  in  London,  and  soon  return  to  more  congenial  spheres 
of  labour.  Still,  Benton  met  with  considerable  success,  as  Hugh  Bourne's  Journal 
clearly  shows.  In  proof,  we  have  such  entries  as  these:  "Sept.  16th.  I  received  a 
letter  from  Mr.  Shegog,  of  London,  informing  me  that  John  Benton  had  great  and 
rapid  success  there."  And,  a  little  later:  "They  have  joined  about  forty- five  since 
John  Benton  went  to  London."  Then  in  October,  1811,  some  four  months  after  the 
new  denomination  had  been  formed  by  the  coming  together  of  the  Clowesites  and 
Camp  Meeting  Methodists,  we  find  Hugh  Bourne  including  High  Wycombe  and  London 
amongst  the  societies  claimed  by  the  denomination  which,  in  February,  IV 12,  was  to 
take  the  name  of  Primitive  Methodists.  But  the  society  in  London  was  too  far  away 
to  benefit  by  efficient  oversight.  Thus  cut  off  and  exposed  to  all  the  erosive  influences  of 
London  life,  such  an  isolated  society  would  be  likely  soon  to  fall  to  pieces  and  disappear. 
It  is,  therefore,  all  the  mure  surprising  to  find  Hugh  Bourne,  seven  years  after,  referring 
to  the  "London  Primitive  Methodists,''  and  noting  that  one  of  these — W.  Jefferson,  has 
been  selected  to  preach  the  opening  sermons  at  Lead  Lane  Chapel,  Loughborough,  and 
that  he  is  one  of  the  Loughborough  Circuit  preachers  for  1821.*  These  London 
Primitive  Methodists  of  1818  are  one  of  the  puzzles  of  our  early  history.  How  shall 
we  account  for  them?  Were  they,  after  all,  the  representatives  of  the  four  classes 
formed  by  lien  ton  in  1811,  or  had  a  new  section  of  religionists  in  the  meantime 
sprung  into  existence  and  assumed  the  name  Primitive  Methodists,  while  remaining 
unattached  to  the  Staffordshire  movement?  No  answer  to  these  questions  is  as  yet 
forthcoming.  That  there  were  Primitive  Methodists  in  London  in  1818  seems  to  be 
indisputable  ;  that  none  could  be  found  in  December,  1822,  is  equally  indisputable. 
This  will  be  clear  from  the  subsequent  narrative,  which  also  forces  on  us  the  reflection 
that,  in  the  earlier  stages  of  the  London  Mission,  Divine  Providence  again  and  again 
very  considerately  made  up  for  the  deficiencies  of  human  providence. 

The  Real  Beginning  of  London  Primitive  Methodism. 

Leeds  Circuit,  finding  itself  in  the  possession  of  a  respectable  balance,  resolved  to 
expend  it  in  starting  a  distant  mission.  But  where  1  Sunderland,  it  is  said,  was  fixed 
upon  as  the  centre  of  the  intended  mission,  and  Paul  Sugden  was  instructed  to  make  his 
way  there.  But  Sunderland  was  now  within  the  area  of  Hull's  new  Northern  Mission,  so 
the  objective  of  the  prospective  mission  was  changed  to  London.  Sugden  was  accompanied 
by  a  zealous  unpaid  volunteer  named  W.  Watson.  When  the  two  alighted  (December,  1822) 

*  See  Vol.  i.  p.  316. 


THE    PERIOD    OF    CIRCUIT    PREDOMINANCE.  AND    ENTERPRISE. 


251 


from  their  coach  in  the  yard  of  the  "Swan  with  Two  Necks,"  in  Lad  Lane  (now 
Gresham  Street),  they  were  the  joint  possessors  of  one  shilling,  which  soon  passed 
into  the  pocket  of  the  coachman  who  had  touched  his  hat  for  the  accustomed  gratuity. 
When  the  guard  also  approached  and  touched  hi*  hat,  they  told  him  frankly  they  were 
penniless,  and  what  had  brought  them  to  the  great  city.  The  guard  was  a  kind-hearted 
Christian  man,  who  knew  guilelessness  from  its  subtle  counterfeit.  He  took  the 
missionaries  home  with  him,  and  not  only  gave  them  breakfast,  but  bought  a  hymn- 
book  of  them  so  that  their  next  meal  might  be  assured.  The  lot  of  the  missionaries 
was  no  enviable  one.     They  were  practically  stranded  in  the  biggest  city  in  the  world, 


VAX    WITH    TWO   NECKS. 


with  no  supporters,  and  no  material  base  or  supplies  for  their  work.  Yet,  once 
more,  Providence  befriended  them.  If  there  were  no  Primitive  Methodists  in 
London  there  were  some  Bible  Christians  who,  as  usual,  showed  a  kindly  spirit. 
By  these  the  two  were  engaged  as  temporary  supplies,  P.  Sugden  going  into  Kent, 
while  W.  Watson  remained  in  London.  One  day  the  latter,  while  preaching,  let 
a  warm-hearted  allusion  to  the  fact  that  he  was  a  Primitive  Methodist  escape  him. 
This  disclosure  led  to  the  discovery  of  a  co-religionist  in  the  congregation.  They 
came  together,  with  the  result  that  next  day  a  small  chapel  in  Cooper's  Gardens, 
near  Shoreditch  Church,  was  taken.  Cooper's  Gardens,  euphemistically  so  called, 
was  a  narrow  thoroughfare  leading  off  Hackney  Road,  at  a  point  about  a  hundred 


ZOZ  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST   OHUKCH. 

yards  from  Shoreditch  Church,  where  Hackney  Koad  begins.  Access  to  this  thorough- 
fare was  gained  through  a  low,  flat  archway,  or  rather,  through  a  door-shaped  entry; 
then,  passing  some  shabby  cottages,  you  had  the  chapel  on  your  right.  In  those  days 
the  locality  did  not  improve  in  looks  as  you  went  further  on,  nor  was  its  reputation 
of  the  best ;  for  Xova  Scotia  Gardens,  where  the  notorious  murderers  Bishop  and 
Williams  had  lived,  were  not  far  away.  As  for  the  chapel,  well  may  Mr.  Yarrow  caH 
it  "one  of  the  quaintest  of  chapels."*  Eighty  years  ago  there  were  hidden  away 
in  odd  nooks  and  corners  of  London  many  such  old  conventicles.  They  recalled  the 
days  when  Dissenters  thought  it  best  to  keep  their  places  of  worship  out  of  sight  as 
much  as  possible.  Even  now,  you  may  occasionally  stumble  upon  a  building  given  up 
to  the  most  secular  uses  which  yet  shows  something  of  the  old  conventicle  look.     But 


ENTHANCE  TO  COOPERS  GARDENS. 


the  number  of  such  buildings  is  becoming  smaller  every  year.  Cooper's  Gardens  Chapel 
was  a  small,  almost  square  building,  being  about  twenty  feet  each  way.  Small 
though  it  was  it  boasted  three  galleries,  each  reached  by  a  separate  flight  of  stairs. 
The  pulpit  was.  stuck  against  the  left  or  eastern  wall.  The  chandelier  was  a  hoop 
suspended  by  ropes  from  the  ceiling,  with  tin  sconces  affixed,  and  tallow  candles  were 
the  illuminants.  Xo  picture  of  Cooper's  Gardens  first  chapel  is  now  procurable;  hence 
we  have  been  the  more  particular  to  give  some  idea  of  its  situation  and  appearance, 
because  this  was  our  first  Connexional  base  and  centre  in  the  metropolis.  Three  generations 
of  chapels  stood  on  this  site.  Cooper's  Gardens  first  chapel  lasted  until  1835,  then  came 
the  second  of  the  name,  and  in  1852  the  third.     For  fifty-three  years— 1822  to  1875 — 

*  "  The  History  of  Primitive  Methodism  in  London."     By  William  H.  Yarrow.    1876. 


Tl{E    PERIOD    OF    CIRCUIT    PREDOMINANCE    AND    ENTEUl'KISE.  253 

this  spot  in  Bethnal  Green  was  familiar  and  dear  to  Primitive  Methodists,  the  home 
of  a  strong  and  aggressive  society,  and  the  birthplace  of  many  souls. 

After  Cooper's  Gardens  Chapel  was  taken,  P.  Sugden  was  called  in  from  Kent, 
and  J.  Coulson  walked  from  Leeds  to  supply  the  place  of  W.  Watson.  He  walked, 
because  the  "  cause  "  could  not  afford  to  pay  for  an  inside  seat  in  the  coach,  and  it  was 
too  cold  to  ride  on  the  outside.  He  entered  London  late  in  January,  1823,  with  three 
shillings  in  his  pocket,  and  no  very  clear  idea  as  to  the  direction  he  should  take  to 
find  chapel  or  colleague.  He  had  a  hazy  notion  that  Cooper's  Gardens  was  somewhere 
near  Shoreditch  Church,  and  so,  as  he  made  his  way  along  Gld  Street,  he  kept  anxiety 
at  bay  by  lifting  up  his  heart  to  God  and  saying,  "  Lord,  it  would  be  a  little  thing  for 
Thee  to  let  me  meet  with  Paul  Sugden.'-     This  child-like  confidence  was  not  misplaced. 


COOPER  S   GARDENS  THIRD  CHAPEL. 


The  colleagues  did  meet,  and  that  "right  early";  for,  as  Coulson  a  little  later  passed 
along  a  certain  street,  he  was  seen  by  P.  Sugden,  who  happened  to  be  in  a  shop  at  the 
time.  To  run  out  and  welcome  his  colleague  was  the  work  of  a  moment.  We  may 
call  it  a  remarkable  coincidence,  but  the  men  more  directly  concerned  saw  the  hand 
of  God  in  the  rencontre. 

On  yet  another  winter's  day,  in  January,  1824,  W.  Clowes  took  charge  of  the  London 
Mission,  and  remained  in  charge  until  Sejjtember,  1825.  His  coming  opened  a  new 
chapter  in  the  history  of  London  Primitive  Methodism,  the  first  chapter  having  ended 
disappointingly.  During  the  year  1823,  the  few  and  feeble  societies  had  been  formed — 
and  prematurely  formed,  one  cannot  but  think — into  a  circuit.  Local  difficulties  led 
to  a  still  further  and  most  unwise  division  of  the  circuit  into  East  and  West,  with 
the  result  that  might  have  been  anticipated.     The  societies  soon  found  themselves 


254  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 

in  difficulties,  and  an  appeal  was  made  to  Hull  Circuit  to  save  them  from  utter  wreck. 
The  appointment  of  Clowes  at  this  crisis  was  a  wise  step.  Never,  perhaps,  during  the 
course  of  his  active  ministry  did  he  give  more  manifest  proofs  of  the  possession  of 
administrative  ability,  as  well  as  of  evangelistic  aptitudes,  than  during  his  twenty 
months  labours  in  London.  He  enforced  discipline ;  curtailed  expense  wherever 
possible ;  reunited  the  divided  East  and  "West,  and  set  himself  to  restore  the  societies 
to  solvency.  In  effecting  this  last  he  was  greatly  indebted  to  Mrs.  Gardiner,  one  of 
those  "honourable  women"  of  whom  there  have  been  "not  a  few"  in  the  history 
of  our  London  churches.  Mrs.  Gardiner  is  said  to  have  been  led  to  identify  herself 
with  our  cause  in  London  through  the  preaching  of  J.  Coulson.  She  had  both  the 
means  and  the  will  to  further  the  work  of  God.  The  poorly  paid,  and  often  insufficiently 
fed  pioneer  preachers,  were  welcomed  to  her  table  and  followed  by  her  thoughtful 
kindness.  At  this  juncture,  \V.  Clowes  appealed  to  Mrs.  Gardiner,  who  at  once  lent 
him  a  hundred  pounds  on  his  note  of  hand.  AY  ith  this  sum  he  was  enabled  to  pay 
off  outstanding  bills,  and  relieve  the  financial  pressure  on  the  societies.  As  for  the 
1  iromissory-note,  it  was,  not  long  after,  taken  out  of  the  escritoire  and  put  into  the 
fire  as  a  burnt-offering  to  the  Lord. 

Clowes  found,  as  many  both  before  and  since  his  time  have  found,  that  London 
evangelism  has  its  own  special  difficulties,  making  heavy  demands  on  faith  and  patience. 
Not  here,  least  of  all,  can  the  outworks  of  evil  be  carried  at  a  rush,  but  only  by  the 
slow  process  of  sapping  and  mining.  Clowes  had  a  sanguine  temperament,  and  had 
come  to  London  fresh  from  revivals  on  a  large  scale,  and  so  his  Journal  reveals  a  certain 
disappointment  with  what  seemed  to  be,  in  comparison,  the  meagre  results  of  his 
labours.  Now  he  writes  :  "  London  is  London  still,  careless,  trifling,  gay,  and  hardened 
through  the  deceitfulness  of  sin.''  And  again  :  "  Often  have  I  preached  within  and 
without  the  room  [in  Snow  Fields,  in  the  Borough],  and  laboured  with  all  the  powers 
of  my  body  and  soul ;  but  the  pride,  levity,  and  corruption  of  London  appeared  to  be 
unassailable ;  the  powers  of  hell  reigned  fearfully  triumphant,  the  pall  of  midnight 
darkness  rested  upon  thousands  of  all  orders  of  society.  Oh,  for  God's  mighty  arm 
to  be  outstretched,  to  shake  the  mighty  Babylon  to  its  centre  !  " 

Any  one  who  reads  the  accounts  Clowes  has  given  in  his  Journal  of  some  of  his 
experiences  as  an  open-air  evangelist  in  London,  will  cease  to  wonder  that  he  uses 
strong  language  in  writing  of  its  moral  condition,  as  he  found  it  in  1824.  Let  the 
reader  take  a  brief  summary  of  one  or  two  of  the  incidents  he  gives. 

As  he  passes  through  Clare  Market  his  soul  is  stirred  within  him  as  he  sees  the 
awful  profanation  of  the  Lord's  Day.  He  takes  his  stand  among  the  people  and 
beseeches  them  to  turn  from  their  evil  ways  and  seek  the  Lord.  The  next  Sabbath, 
true  to  his  promise,  he  is  in  Clare  Market  again.  He  begins  to  sing,  but  is  stopped 
by  a  policeman  and  forbidden  to  disturb  the  market-people.  When  asked  for  his 
authority,  the  officer  pulls  out  his  truncheon,  and  says:  "This  is  my  authority.''  An 
open  window  is  offered  him,  and  from  that  vantage-ground  Clowes  "  pours  the  thunders 
of  the  law  upon  the  rebels  against  God  and  the  King."  From  Clare  Market  he  goes 
down  to  Westminster,  and  stands  up  again  in  the  open-air.  "The  Philistines,"  says 
he,   "were  again  upon  me;    the   abandoned  of    God  and   man,   like   incarnate  devils 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE.  255 

raged  and  howled  around  ;  however,  I  cried  to  the  infuriated  multitude  to  repent  and 
believe  the  Gospel,  and,  contrary  to  my  expectation,  I  finished  my  address,  and  retired 
without  suffering  any  injury.''  We  may  recall  another  scene,  also  enacted  in  Royal 
Westminster.  While  Clowes  is  leading  a  camp-meeting,  three  men,  whom  a  publican 
had  primed  with  liquor  and  dressed  up  with  horns  and  wings  and  tails,  execute  a  sort 
of  devil's  dance  on  the  camp-ground.  They  yell  and  rush  about  amongst  the  people. 
The  women  scream,  and  for  a  time  the  meeting  is  thrown  into  confusion.  But  the 
preachers  do  not  flinch,  and  their  followers  soon  rally  to  their  support.  Presently,  two 
of  the  masqueraders  slink  away,  while  the  third  and  principal  one — a  gigantic  and 
fearsome  figure  to  look  upon — is  surrounded,  and  sung  and  prayed  over,  till  he  has 
no  spirit  left  in  him.  There  is  something  grotesque  about  this  incident,  but  its  sequel 
was  tragic  enough ;  for,  in  this  case,  as  in  a  similar  one  that  took  place  at  Walworth, 
retribution  speedily  overtook  the  persecuting  buffoons.  The  ringleader  of  the 
Westminster  trio  was  shortly  after  convicted  of  pocket-picking  and  hanged  at 
Newgate,  whilst  his  underlings  were  transported  to  Botany  Bay  for  house-breaking. 

Clowes  now  left  London  for  his  mission  in  Cornwall.  He  had  worked  hard  during 
his  twenty  months  of  service,  along  with  such  colleagues  as  J.  Hervey,  G.  Tetley, 
and  especially  John  Nelson,  who,  like  himself,  had  been  extraordinarily  successful  in 
the  North ;  .and  yet,  in  September,  1825,  the  combined  membership  of  the  London 
societies  was  but  170.  Well  might  he  sorrowfully  write:  "I  have  continued  to  labour 
in  conjunction  with  my  friends  in  London  day  and  night  for  the  salvation  of  sinners, 
but  the  chariot  rolled  on  slowly  and  heavily.''  Still  the  chariot  did  roll  on  ;  London 
continued  to  make  some  little  progress,  so  that  in  1826  the  societies  were  formed  into 
an  independent  circuit  which,  for  that  and  the  next  year,  stood  on  the  stations  of  the 
Hull  District.  Then,  as  we  have  seen,  from  1828  to  1834,  London  formed  an  integral 
part  of  the  Norwich  District  and  then  disappears,  to  emerge  in  1842  as  a  branch  of 
Hull.  A  second  crisis  had  occurred,  making  the  friendly  intervention  of  Hull  Circuit 
indispensable.  The  crisis  was  mainly  of  a  financial  character,  as  the  following  extract 
from  the  Journal  of  W.  Clowes  will  show  : — 

"  On  February  the  27th  [1835]  I  left  Hull  for  London,  in  order  to  take  the 
broken-down  circuit  of  the  latter  place  once  more  under  the  wing  of  Hull  Circuit- 
The  preachers  stationed  in  London  were  brothers  Oscroft,  Coulson,  and  Bland,  and 
the  number  of  members  was  294.  On  the  Sabbath  after  my  arrival  I  preached 
at  Blue  Gate  Fields ;  and  on  the  Monday,  I  had  to  advance,  on  the  part  of  Hull 
Circuit,  £16  to  pay  the  preachers'  deficient  salaries.  The  chief  of  the  circuit  was 
in  a  state  of  decay,  the  chapel  being  involved  and  mi  >st  of  the  places  in  a  shattered 
condition.  After  preaching  several  times,  and  arranging  for  the  taking  of  the 
circuit,  I  returned  to  Hull  to  communicate  the  result  of  my  mission  to  our  March 
Quarterly  Meeting  for  183f>.'' 

John  Flesher  was  sent  to  London  in  1835  to  save  the  situation,  just  as  he  had  been 
sent  to  Edinburgh  in  1S30  for  the  like  purpose  It  was  a  magnanimous  act  on  the 
part  of  Hull  Circuit  to  give  up  its  ablest  minister  at  this  crisis;  nor  was  this 
magnanimity  a  merely  transient  impulse,  but  rather  a  well-defined  policy,  dictated 
by  a  consideration  of  what  was  best  for  the  Connexion.     For  a  series  of  years  some 


2-5 G  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHUUCH. 

of  the  best  preachers  on  its  staff  were  drafted  to  the  London  work.     The  affairs  of 
Blue  Gate  Fields  Chapel  formed  the  crux  of  the  difficulty  Flesher  was  called  at  once 
to  face.     Its  history  can  soon  be  told.     As  early  as  1825  we  find  a  society  worshipping 
in  New  Gravel  Lane,  in  Shadwell.     The  preaching-room,  which  was  a  loft  over  a  stable, 
was  a  strange  place  for  one  of  the  best  and  most  well-to-do  of  the  London  societies  to 
forgather  in  ;  for,  over  and  above  the  disadvantage  of  its  location,   the  odour  of   the 
stable  was  often  unpleasantly  assertive,  and  the  sound  of   the  chaff-cutters  at  work 
below  jarred  on  the  sensibilities  of  the  worshippers.     Yet,  for  some  years,  this  upper 
room  was  the  home  of  a  vigorous  society,  and  a  Bethel  ashore  to  zealous  Primitive 
Methodists  who  sailed  from  North-Eastern  ports.    In  1829,  James  Garner  (1)  began  his 
two  years'  superintendency,  marked  by  peace  and  some  progress.     In  1830,  the  member- 
ship of  Cooper's  Gardens  had  risen  to  76  and  that  of  Shadwell  to  64.     When,  next' 
year,  John  Oscroft  succeeded  to  J.  Garner,  it  was  felt  the  time  had  fully  come  to  give 
the  Shadwell  society  more  eligible  headquarters,  and,  in  June,  1832,  Blue  Gate  Fields 
Chapel  was  opened.     The  entire  cost  of  the  undertaking  was  £1300,  a  sum  out  of  all 
proportion  to  the  financial  strength  of  the  societj'.     "What  follows  is  the  old  familiar 
story — a  crushing,   dispiriting  debt,   accumulating  arrears   of  interest,  angry  creditors 
becoming  vindictive.     From  the  perusal  of  private  letters  of  the  time  and  the  carefully 
written  minutes  of  the  Trustees'  Meetings,  we  see  John  Flesher  here  and  there  in  the 
■Connexion  preaching  and  making  collections  on  behalf  of  Shadwell  Chapel,  while,  in 
London,  his  colleagues  were  begging  almost  from  door  to  door  for  the  same  object. 
Thomas  Watson,  the  popular  boy-preacher,  had   worn  out  three  suits  of  clothes  with 
the  severity  of  this  work  ;  and  some  of  Thomas  Ratcliffe's  begging  reminiscences  mav 
be  read  in   Mr.  Yarrow's  book.'""     But,  in  spite  of  all  that  could  be  done,  Blue   Gate 
Fields  Chapel  had,  in  the  end,  to  be  sacrificed.     All,  however,  was  not  lost.     Much 
had  been  gained.     Connexional  honour  was  saved;  the  just  demands  of  creditors  were 
satisfied ;  and  the  society,   poor  but  honest,   chastened,  and   wiser   for  the  experience 
of    the  past,  could  face  the  future  with  hope.      Mr.  Yarrow  is  careful  to  inform  us 
that  when,  in   1*37,  Blue  Gate  Fields  Chapel  was  sold  for  £500,  the  Connexion  did 
not   own   a   shillingsworth   of    property   in  London.      True,    Cooper's   Gardens   second 
chapel  had  taken  the  place  of  the  dilapidated  structure  already  described.     But  this, 
for   the   time  being,   was   the   private    property   of    John    Friskin,    one   of    the    most 
prominent  and  active  officials  of  the  early  days.     Seeing  clearly  what  was  needed,  he 
had  bought  the  old  building  and  some  of  the  adjoining  property,  and  built  a  chapel 
which  was,  in  every  way,  an  improvement  on  the  old.     This  was  let  to  the  society  at 
a  moderate  rental,  and  subsequently  bought  on  easy  terms.     From  this  it  will  be  seen 
how    comparatively    recent    is    the    material    advance    our    Church    has    made    in    the 
metropolis,   and   how  considerable  and   creditable   to  all   concerned   that  advance  has 
been.     In   1837  the  membership  was  286,  and  the  property  owned  nil.     In  1847  the 
membership  was  700,  and   the  value  of  the   three  Connexional  chapels   then  owned 

*  Yarrow's  "History,"  pp.  53—210.  Our  authority  for  the  wear  and  tear  of  the  three  suits  of 
clothes  is  the  following  resolution  of  the  Trustees'  Meeting  :  -"  That  the  £4  entered  in  the  Account 
Book  as  a  present  to  Thomas  "Watson  while  begging,  be  granted;  as  he  wore  out  three  suits  of 
■elothes  while  begging." 


THE    PERIOD    OF    CIRCUIT    PREDOMINANCE    AND    ENTERPRISE. 


257 


was  £2500.     Xow,  in  1904,  there  are  9827  members,  115  chapels,  and  the  value  of 
the  Church  property  is  £284,308. 

After  the  loss  of  Blue  Gate  Fields*  Chapel  the  society  found  a  temporary  lodgment 
in  Ratcliffe  Highway,  worshipping"[in[a[room  that  could  only  be  reached  by  an  almost 
perpendicular  ladder.  Interesting  is  this  resolution  in  the  old  Minute  Book,  written 
August  9th,  1838  :  "That  we  approve'of  Brother  Flesher's  having  purchased  the  lease 
of  a  house  and  ground  on  which  to  build  a  chapel,  in  Crane  Yard,  Sutton  Street, 
Commercial  Road."  Then  follow  other  resolutions  which  show  that  much  was  expected 
of  Brother  Flesher.  He  was  to  ■'  purchase  bricks,  timber,  and  other  requisites  for  the 
building  of  the  chapel " ;  to  superintend  the  erection  "  in  all  its  branches,''  and  borrow 
the  money  necessary  to  complete  the  building.     If  tradition  be  trustworthy,  Mr.  Flesher 

did  even  more  than  was  expected  of  him, 
for  occasionally  he  might  have  been  seen 
dressed  as  a  navvy,  wheeling  barrows  of 
earth  for  the  foundation.  On  Tuesday, 
August  14th,  1838,  the  sermon  in  con- 
nection with  the  foundation-stone  laying  was 
preached  by  John  Stamp,  who,  it  will  be 
remembered,  was  at  this  time  on  London's 
Sheerness  Mission,  which  next  year  obtained 
circuit  independence.  1835-7  was  the 
turning-point  of  our  Connexional  fortunes 
in  London.  From  the  time  John  Flesher 
took  the  helm  of  the  labouring  ship  it 
righted  itself  and  made  headway.  The  story 
of  the  passing  of  the  crisis,  as  revealed  in 
these  old  letters  and  documents,  is  of  more 
than  local  interest.  It  suggests  that  there 
was  a  side  to  the  ministry  and  character  of 
John  Flesher  that  we  have  scarcely  seen  the 
importance  of.  We  have  thought  of  him 
as  the  Chrysostom  of  the  Connexion,  "one 
of  England's  untitled  noblemen,"  the  accom- 
plished  editor,   the   hymnist ;  but  it   gives 

MB.    AND    MBS.    FLESHER  IN   LATER  LIFE.  ug    &    ^    Qf    ghock    ^    ^    ^    absorbed    in 

such  salvage  work  as  fell  to  his  lot  in  Edinburgh  and  London.  Could  the  Connexion 
find  no  more  fitting  work  than  this  for  John  Flesher  to  do  1  It  may  tend  to  allay  what 
we  regard  as  our  justifiable  heat  to  learn  that  the  real  John  Flesher  was  essentially 
a  man  of  affairs — a  man  big  enough  for  large  affairs,  and  not  too  big  to  find  delight 
in  small  details.  Had  he  not,  unfortunately,  destroyed  his  papers,  abundant  evidence 
would  have  remained  to  make  this  fact  one  of  the  commonplaces  of  our  history. 
But  it  is  not  too  late  to  form  a  just  estimate  of  what  he  did  for  the  Connexion ;  for, 
in  recent  years,  from  various  quarters,  letters  and  documents  have  come  to  hand  which 
conclusively  prove   that,  from   1830  to  1850,  John  Flesher  was  one  of   the  busiest 

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258  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 

and  most  influential  men  in  our  Church-life.  He  had  an  intimate  knowledge  of 
connexional  affairs,  and  held  the  threads  of  many  of  them  in  his  hand.  He  was  the 
confidant  of  William  Clowes,  W.  Garner,  W.  Sanderson,  T.  Holliday,  and  other  men 
of  like  age  and  standing,  and  he  was  looked  up  to  by  the  younger  men  who  were 
afterwards  to  have  the  guidance  of  affairs.  In  his  person  were  represented  the  ideals 
and  strivings  of  a  wider,  more  liberal  connexionalism.  In  short,  we  make  bold  to  say, 
that  John  Flesher  was  the  man  of  the  transition  period  which  culminated  in  1843, 
but  which  had  begun  ten  years  before.  "  When  any  difficulty  arose  he  was  sent  for. 
Often  John  would  leave  me  after  the  Quarterly  Meeting,  and  I  did  not  see  much  more 


FOEEST   MOOK    HOUSE. 


of  him  until  the  next."  So  said  his  faithful,  self-sacrificing  wife.  On  his  retirement, 
he  could  claim  that,  "  whilst  it  was  never  my  policy  to  start  divisions  and  disturbances, 
it  was  often  my  work  to  have  to  allay  them  when  raging,  and  to  deprive  them,  to 
a  certain  extent,  of  the  power  of  a  resurrection."*  As  by  common  consent,  when  the 
denomination  or  its  ministers  was  defamed  in  the  public  press,  the  task  of  vindication 
was  left  to  John  Flesher.  So,  to  name  but  one  instance  out  of  many,  he  had  to  defend 
the  Connexion  against  misrepresentation  in  what  it  may  suffice  to  call  the  Stamp  Aflair, 
and  no  little  obloquy  did  he  incur  by  so  doing.  To  him,  more  than  to  any  other  single 
man,  was  due  the  epoch-making  events  of  the  transference  of  the  Book-Eoom  from 

*  Quoted  from  J.  Flesher's  Letter  of  Application  for  Superannuation,  1852. 


THE   PERIOD   OF   CIRCUIT    PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE. 


259 


Bemersley  to  London,  and  the  establishment  of  the  General  Missionary  Committee. 
To  him,  also,  was  owing  the  improvement  of  our  serials,  by  giving  them  a  wider  out- 
look and  a  more  literary  form.  The  characteristics  of  the  man — his  lawyer-like  mind, 
and  his  fond,  almost  finical  handling  of  details,  reveal  themselves  in  his  very  original 
Consolidation  of  the  Minutes  (published  1850).  Because  he  had  done  many  things 
so  well,  it  was  thought  he  was  just  the  man  to  prepare  the  Hymn-Book  that  was 
wanted;  and  here  he  was  misjudged.  But  one  failure  leaves  untouched  the  essential 
greatness  of  the  man  and  the  value  of  the  work  he  did.  The  policy  John  Flesher  had 
worked  for,  and  which  he  lived  to  initiate,  will  come  under  our  notice  again,  but  we 
may  briefly  set  down  here  the  main  facts  in  his  personal  history  which  yet  remain  to 
be  told.     Even  when,  in  1842,  he  entered  upon  his  editorial  duties,  there  were  already 

premonitions  of  a  physical  breakdown. 


The  throat-trouble  had  begun  to  show 
itself  which,  with  its  complications,  was 
ti>  disqualify  him  for  all  public  work. 
His  affliction  deepened  so  that,  in  1852, 
he  sought  superannuation.  He  retired 
to  Scarborough,  afterwards  to  Easing- 
wold,  then  to  Harrogate;  and  finally, 
having  sequestered  himself  at  Forest 
Moor  House,  between  Knaresborough 
and  Harrogate,  he  passed  away,  beloved 
and  revered,  July  16th,  1874,  and  his 
remains  were  laid  in  the  Harrogate 
Cemetery.  It  is  a  coincidence  that 
John  Flesher  and  W.  Sanderson  should 
both  have  been  superannuated  and 
have  died  in  the  same  year ;  yet  more 
striking,  that  our  two  most  eloquent 
preachers  of  the  early  period  should  both 
have  been  smitten  by  disease  in  such  a 
way  as  "  made  their  music  mute." 

The  plan  of  the  London  Mission  for 
1847  is  now  before  us.  When  this  plan 
was  printed  Primitive  Methodism  had 
been  introduced  into  the  metropolis 
just  a  quarter  of  a  century.  The  plan  in  question  shows  some  eighteen  preaching-stations, 
including  places  as  far  removed  from  each  other  as  Brentford  and  Acton  on  the  west, 
and  Woolwich  on  the  south-east.  Of  the  three  Connexional  chapels  on  the  Mission — 
Cooper's  Gardens,  Sutton  Street,  and  Grove  Mews,  the  precursor  of  Seymour  Place, 
Marylebone— Cooper's  Gardens  stands  first  in  order,  as  it  was  first  in  numerical  strength, 
having  a  membership  of  260,  while  Sutton  Street  comes  next  with  211.  Both  before 
and  after  1847,  Cooper's  Gardens  enjoyed  considerable  prosperity.  Joel  Hodgson,  who 
laboured  in  London  about  this  time,  speaks  of  it  as  a  veritable  "converting  furnace.'' 


MURAL  TABLET  TO  EEV.    J.    FLESHER 
IN  HARROGATE  PRIMITIVE  METHODIST  CHAPEL. 


2fiU  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHUKCH. 

The  chapel  was  often  too  small  to  hold  even  the  members  who  sought  to  attend,  so 
that  an  overflow  congregation  was  held  in  the  schoolroom.  To  supply  the  additional 
accommodation  so  urgently  needed,  the  third  Cooper's  Gardens  Chapel  was  opened 
in  1852.  The  same  year  Parkinson  Milson  began  his  two  years' memorable  ministry 
in  London.  At  the  close  of  a  hard  Sunday's  labour  in  connection  with  a  series  of 
Protracted  Meetings,  when  '  fourteen  persons  found  salvation,"  he  notes  in  his  diary  : 
"  There  are  some  blessed  and  mighty  local  brethren  here."  The  "  Breakfast  Meeting,'' 
which  stands  at  the  bottom  of  this  plan  of  1847,  was  a  notable  institution  of  Cooper's 
Gardens,  and  one,  so  far  as  our  knowledge  extends,  unique  in  the  Connexion.  The 
local  preachers  on  duty — as  most  of  them  usually  were  on  the  Sunday — assembled  at 
eight  o'clock,  and  after  breakfasting  together  and  discussing  some  topic  or  other, 
separated  to  go,  two  and  two,  to  their  various  and  often  distant  appointments. 

Dacre  Street,  Broadway,  Westminster,  is  the  third  place  on  the  plan.  Ever  since 
the  days  of  Clowes'  mission  we  had  been  at  work  somewhere  or  other  in  this  district, 
where  Wesleyan  Methodism  has  at  last  got  a  splendid  denominational  centre.  We  say, 
"somewhere  or  other  in  Westminster,"  for  a  glance  over  the  plans  for  successive  years 
will  show  that  this  west-end  society  had  flitted  from  street  to  street  and  room  to  room 
in  an  extraordinary  manner.  For  more  than  half  a  century  we  clung  tenaciously  to 
Westminster,  but  were  compelled  at  last  to  abandon  it ;  and  now,  alas  !  the  Connexion 
has  no  footing  in  this  wide  and  densely-populated  district. 

A  word  must  be  written  of  Elim  Chapel,  Fetter  Lane,  which  stands  on  the  plan 
after  Sophia  Street,  Poplar.  For  some  time  services  had  been  held  in  various  places 
in  the  centre  of  London,  viz.,  ( ree  Street,  Whitecross  Street,  Onslow  Stieet,  then  in 
Castle  Street  Chapel,  Clerkenwell.  When,  in  order  to  carry  out  city  improvements, 
the  chapel  in  Castle  Street  was  scheduled  for  demolition,  the  society  acquired 
a  disused  Baptist  chapel  in  Fetter  Lane,  off  Holborn.  This  was  "  Elim "  Chapel, 
which  in  its  day  had  had  some  notable  ministers.  At  the  time  of  its  acquisition — 
1845,  the  idea  seems  to  have  been  entertained  of  subsequently  making  this  very 
centrally-situated  building  connexional  property,  but,  in  the  end,  this  was  not  deemed 
advisable,  and  the  chapel  was  vacated  in  the  'Seventies,  some 
little  time  before  the  expiry  of  the  lease. 

In  this  same  year,  1847,  George  Austin,  fresh  from  his 
experiences  of  the  Irish  Famine,  began  his  lirst  ministerial 
term  of  service  in  London,  which  extended  to  six  years.  His 
coming  was  signalised  by  the  formation  of  some  of  the  western 
societies — Brentford,  Hammersmith,  etc. — into  a  mission,  taken 
charge  of  by  the  General  Missionary  Committee;  while  the  rest 
of  the  societies  were  formed  into  the  London  Circuit.  When, 
in  18.33,  the  London  District  was  created,  the  three  chapels  we 
GEORGE  austin.  have  (lescriDe(l — Cooper's  Gardens,  Elim,  and  Sutton  Street,  be- 
came the  heads  of  the  three  London  Circuits  called,  respectively, 
London  First,  Second,  and  Third. 

Further  developments  of  our  London  Circuits  we  do  not  follow  at  present.     It  only 
remains   that  mention  be  made  of  some  of  those  who,  for  one  reason  or  other,  have 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND    ENTERPRISE. 


261 


JOHX  FRISK1N. 


special  claim  to  remembrance.  John  Frisian,  though  not  a  local  preacher,  was  un- 
questionably the  best-known  London  layman  of  the  first  period.  J.  Booth,  whose 
name  heads  the  list  of  local  preachers  on  the  plan  of  18.34,  came  from  Derbyshire  in 
1826.  "What  kind  of  man  he  was  may  be  inferred  from  a  sentence  in  one  of  his  letters 
to  his  mother  :  "1  have  worn  my  coat  longer  than  is  respectable, 
hut  I  must  help  the  cause.''  It  was  a  loss  to  London  Primitive 
Methodism  when,  in  1848,  he  emigrated  to  the  United  States; 
but  he  at  once  joined  our  Church  in  Brooklyn,  and  served  its 
interests  many  years.  Jane  Phelps,  of  Shadwell,  whose  name 
stands  next  to  John  Booth's,  was,  from  1839  to  1842,  a 
travelling  preacher  in  the  Hull  District.  Mrs.  Maynard  and 
Mrs.  Jane  Gordon  were  also  notable  women  of  the  early  days. 
Ever  since  the  former  was  converted  under  the  wooden  chandelier 
of  Cooper's  Gardens  in  1827,  Maynard  has  been  a  name  familiar 
to  our  London  societies.  Her  eldest  son,  Thomas  Maynard,  was 
a  useful  local  preacher  until  he,  too,  in  1849,  emigrated  to  the  United  States,  and 
united  with  the  Brooklyn  church.  Mr.  C.  E.  Maynard,  of  the  Stoke  Newington 
Circuit,  is  the  present-day  representative  of  the  old  name. 

When  last  we  saw  Mrs.  Gordon  it  was  at  Filey.*  She  came  to  London  in  1839, 
and  was  closely  associated  with  Sutton  Street  until  her  death  in  1869.  Though 
a  class-leader  and  an  occasional  preacher,  she  is  best  remembered  as  the  champion 
Missionary  Collector.  From  the  Missionary  Reports  of  a  long  series  of  years,  any  one 
who  cares  may  ascertain  the  gross  sum  she  collected  for  missionary  purposes ;  but  who 
shall  tell  the  miles  she  walked,  or  the  amount  of  physical  labour  she  expended  ? 
Sometimes  the  canvasser  or  collector  is  the  less  respected  the  more  he  is  known ;  but 
not  so  Mrs.  Gordon.  City  magnates  did  not  count  her  annual  visit  an  unwelcome 
intrusion.  She  had  none  of  the  ways  of  the  importunate  beggar ;  rather,  there  was 
that  about  her  which  suggested  she  was  on  some  high  mission  it  would  be  an  honour 
to  have  anything  to  do  with.  Attired  in  old  Methodist  fashion, 
and  with  a  Christian  calmness  and  dignity  all  her  own,  she  was 
an  impressive  figure  as  she  went  about  the  disinterested  work 
which  more  and  more  became  her  chief  business. 

The  honour  of  starting  the  first  Primitive  Methodist  Sunday 
School  in  London  belongs  to  John  Heaps — a  youth  in  his  teens. 
The  school  was  begun  in  Baker's  Rents,  in  Hackney  Road,  in  1832, 
and  carried  on  there  until  accommodation  was  provided  for  it  in 
Cooper's  Gardens  in  1835.  When  the  young  man  had  seen  this 
school  established,  it  is  said  he  set  his  heart  upon  doing  the 
same  thing  for  "Westminster,  and  that,  to  accomplish  this,  he  cheer- 
fully walked  Sunday  by  Sunday  from  Hackney  to  Westminster, 
and  back  again.  The  life  of  this  young  Christian  endeavourer  was,  alas  1  very  brief, 
but  he  did  good  sowing.     John  Phillips,  a  watchman  at  St.  Katharine's  Docks,  in 


MBS.    GOKDON. 


Vol.  ii.  p.  100. 


262  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 

conjunction  with  F.  Salter,  began  a  Sunday  School  in  the  vestry  of  Blue  Gate  Fields 
Chapel  in  November,  1832.  Phillips  was  a  diligent  visitor  of  the  sick,  especially  of 
the  victims  of  cholera  and  fever.     He  died  in  1857. 

The  portrait  of  Mr.  James  Wood,  given  in  the  text,  links  us  with  the  past ;  for,  as 
a  youth,  he  joined  the  Cooper's  Gardens  society  as  far  back  as 
1839.  He  was  soon  put  on  the  plan  and  was  a  frequent  fellow- 
labourer  in  mission-work  with  John  Wilson,  who  came  out  of 
Staffordshire  in  1837.  Wilson  was  not  easily  daunted,  or  else 
he  would  not,  after  having  for  two  Sundays  sought  in  vain  for 
the  Primitive  Methodists  about  Corent  Gardens  (the  address  his 
minister  had  given  him),  have  persevered  in  his  search  till  he  had 
ferreted  them  out  in  Cooper's  Gardens.  No  doubt  it  was  the  zeal 
and  aptitude  displayed  by  John  Wilson  during  the  years  he  was 
in  London  that  led  to  his  designation,  in  the  Minutes  of  1873, 
as  "  Lay  Missionary,''  working  under  the  direction  of  the  General 
Missionary  Committee.  James  Wood  who,  as  we  have  said,  was 
requently  his  comrade,  has  been  equally  at  home  in  the  pulpit  or  the  business 
meeting,  at  the  street-corner,  or  taking  part  in  the  discussions  of  the  Sunday  morning 
breakfast  meetings.  He  represents  the  history  of  our  Church  in  the  metropolis  for 
the  last  sixty  years ;  for  he  still  survives,  and  although  he  has  lost  his  sight  and  his 
old-time  vigour,  he  has  not  lost  his  interest  in  all  that  pertains  to  the  Church  of  his 
early  choice. 

The  claims  of  Thomas  Church  and  W.  H.  Yarrow  to  special  recognition  chiefly  rest 
on  what  they  did  in  the  way  of  authorship.  Edward  Church,  the  father  of  the 
first-named,  was  one  of  the  fruits  of  London  street-missioning.  A  back-slidden 
Methodist  official,  he  was  reclaimed  as  the  result  of  an  open-air  service,  held  near 
Whitecross  Street  prison,  by  John  Oscroft  in  1831.  He  at  once  joined  the  Cooper's 
Gardens  society,  though  he  afterwards  identified  himself  with  Elim.  His  son,  Thomas, 
received  his  first  ticket  of  membership  in  18-11,  and  though,  in  his  later  years,  he 
was  unknown  to  our  churches,  yet  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  he  was  a  prominent 
figure,  and  both  by  voice  and  pen  did  his  best  to  further  the  interests  of  Primitive 
Methodism.  He  wielded  a  "  versatile  and  subtle  pen,''  and  as  he  took  part  in  most 
of  the  denominational  movements  and  controversies  of  his  time,  he  came  in  for  a  full 
share  of  the  hard  knocks  that  paper  controversialists  usually  get.*  When  the  much 
needed  Primitive  Methodist  Bibliography  comes  to  be  prepared,  it  will  be  seen  that 

*  "  Versatile  and  subtle  pen,"  are  T.  Bateman's  words,  occurring  in  a  caustic  letter  which 
appeared  in  the  Wesleyau  Times  of  August  29th.  js<56.  On  the  publication  of  the  Conference 
Minutes,  a  lively  discussion  arose  on  the  Conference  Address,  prepared  by  Bev.  \\ .  (afterwards  Dr.) 
Antliff.  In  this  discussion  Messrs.  Bateman  and  Church  were  on  opposite  sides.  T.  Church  had 
signed  himself  "A  General  Committeeman,"  whereupon  he  is  exhorted  "to  calmness  and  propriety 
of  speech  and  writing,  and  a  manifestation  of  all  the  qualifications,  mental  and  spiritual,  which  are 
expected  to  adorn  the  character  and  conduct  of  every  member  of  the  Primitive  Methodist  General 
Committee."  Seven  distinct  publications  of  Thomas  Church  are  known  to  us,  the  most  important 
of  which  bear  the  titles.  "  Popular  Sketches  of  Primitive  Methodism :  being  a  Link  in  the  Chain 
of  Ecclesiastical  History"  (1850),  351  pp.;  and  "A  History  of  the  Primitive  Methodists.'' 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE. 


263 


264 


PRIMITIVE   JIETHODIST   CHURCH. 


Thomas  Church  was  about  the  first,  and  certainly  the  most  prolific,  of  our  lay  authors, 
and  he  must  have  an  early  place  amongst  those  who  have  attempted  to  write  the  geneial 
History  of  our  Church.  Nor  should  it  be  forgotten  that  he  was  the  projector  of  the 
first  newspaper  that  has  borne  the  denominational  name — "The  Primitive  Methodist 
Advocate." 

Mr.  Yarrow  was  a  man  of  more  sober  and  more  reliable  type  —an  excellent  preacher, 
and  one  of  the  founders  in  1850  of  Philip  Street,  Hoxton.  The  esteem  in  which  lie 
was  held,  and  his  repute  as  a  preacher,  led  to  his  being  invited  to  become  the  minister 
of  the  Primitive  Methodist  Church  of  Shenandoah,  U.  8.  A.  The  invitation  was 
accepted,  and  he  sailed  in  1876,  but  not  before  he  had  prepared  for  the  press  his  well- 
known  and  valuable  "History  of  Primitive 
Methodism  in  London " — a  book  which  it 
would  be  well  if  some  competent  hand 
would  bring  down  to  the  present  time 
and  re-issue. 

Nn  pretence  is  here  made  that  we  have 
mentioned  all  those  to  whom  it  was  chierly 
owing  that  the  London  Mission  had,  by 
IS")?!,  become  three  circuits.  By  no  means. 
Oilier  names  of  early  workers  might  easily 
be  recalled  who  each  contributed  his  quota 
towards  the  common  result — such  names  as 
Hawksworth,  Chapman,  Leswick,  Garrud, 
Hensev,  Hurcomb,  Martin,  Kemp,  Cranson, 
and  Wesson.  J  Jut  what  has  been  said  must 
suffice  for  the  present ;  only,  as  showing 
that  1853  was  but  the  starting-point  of 
fresh  developments,  we  give  the  portrait 
of  Peter  Thompson,  a  Primitive  Methodist 
navvy  from  Witney,  who  that  year  missioned 
Canning  Town.  It  is  interesting  to  note 
that  C.  ( I.  Honor,  who  entered  the  ministry 
in  1854,  was  one  of  the  small  band  of 
missioners,  and  that,  after  experiencing  some 
rough  handling  by  the  mob,  Peter  and  he 
were  marched  off  to  Poplar  Police  Station.  John  Packham,  converted  at  Cooper's 
Gardens  in  1842,  had  then  already  entered  the  ministry;  and  John  Wenn,  a  local 
preacher  on  the  station,  began  his  honourable  course  by  becoming,  in  1853,  the  additional 
preacher  on  the  newly-formed  London  Third  station. 

We  shall  have  to  return  to  glance  at  the  later  and,  it  may  be  added,  the  creditable 
advance  of  our  Church  in  London,  especially  as  regards  the  multiplication  of  chapels. 
In  the  meantime,  the  page  of  views  here  given  as  an  instalment  will,  in  part,  prepare 
us  to  recognise  how  great  has  been  the'  material  advance  made  in  recent  years. 


PETEll  THOMl'Si 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE.  265 


CHAPTER   XX. 

LIVERPOOL   CIRCUIT, 

Axn  the  Beginnings  of  some  Circuits  of  the  Liverpool   District. 

1  have  already  glanced  at  the  "origins"  and  subsequent  development  (as  far 
as  1842)  of  the  circuits  comprised  in  the  Manchester  District  that  was 
formed  in  1827.  One  circuit  only,  then  standing  on  the  stations  of  that 
District,  has  been  reserved  for  notice  at  this  point — Liverpool.  It  is  due 
to  a  city  which  by  its  geographical  situation  and  national  importance  was,  we  may 
say,  predestined  to  become,  and  actually  has  become,  the  head  of  a  District,  that  we 
should  present  what  little  can  be  gleaned  respecting  the  beginnings  of  our  Church 
within  its  wide  area — beginnings  small  and  feeble  at  first,  but  which  have  now  happily 
attained  goodly  dimensions.  We  have  just  told  the  story  of  the  early  struggles  of 
Primitive  Methodism  to  gain  a  footing  in  London — the  most  populous  city  of  the 
world  :  it  does  not  seem  unfitting  now,  therefore,  that  we  should  do  the  same  for  the 
second  largest  city  of  England,  more  especially  as  the  history  of  our  Church  in  both 
cities  presents  certain  points  of  analogy.  Each  was  visited  by  a  founder  and  leading 
missionary,  before  a  cause  was  permanently  established.  In  both,  the  cause  was 
introduced  about  the  same  time,  and,  still  more  noteworthy,  both  have  made  up  by 
their  later  development  for  the  comparative  slowness  of  their  growth  in  the  early 
period.  We  have  already  tracked  the  course  of  our  Connexional  aggressive  move- 
ment from  Yorkshire  and  the  Humber  till,  by  way  of  the  Eastern  Counties,  it  converged 
on  the  metropolis.  It  now  remains,  in  some  succeeding  chapters,  to  show  how  a 
similar  process  went  on  in  the  West ;  how  from  the  Mersey  and  Dee  and  Severn  our 
missionaries  at  last  reached  what  we  know  as  the  home-counties,  and  the  very  suburbs 
of  London.  As  John  Smith  (1),  a  Burland  man,  became,  in  Thomas  Bateman's 
phrase,  the  "  bishop  of  Norfolk,"  and  found  his  way  to  Blue  Gate  Fields,  in  attending 
a  Norwich  District  Meeting  ;  so  John  Ride,  whom  Burland  sent  to  mission  Liverpool, 
became  the  Apostle  of  Wiltshire,  and  lived  to  become  the  successful  superintendent 
of  Cooper's  Gardens.     The  movement  rounds  itself  off  to  completeness. 

Besides  Liverpool,  other  contiguous  places,  which  were  early  reached  by  our  Church, 
and  have  had  some  interesting  passages  in  their  history,  may  be  shortly  glanced 
at.  As  circuits  attached  to  Liverpool  District  they  may  be  of  late  origin,  but  their 
beginnings  carry  us  back  almost  to  the  beginnings  of  the  Connexion.  Of  these 
Ellesmere  Port  and  Buckley  may  be  taken  as  examples. 

Liverpool. 

Clowes'  clear  ringing  voice  was  heard  preaching  the  Gospel  in  the  streets  of  Liverpool 
as  early  as  1812.  He  was  on  a  visit  at  the  time,  just  as  he  was  on  a  visit  to  Newcastle 
when  he  preached  there,  and  also  in  North  Shields,  in  the  autumn  of    1821.      The 


266  PKIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 

Liverpool  visit  was  paid  to  Charles  Mathers,  a  Burslem  potter,  who  had  been  Clowes 
fellow-workman  in  Hull  and  his  pal  in  wickedness.  Mathers  had  afterwards  removed 
to  Liverpool  and,  while  working  at  the  Herculaneum  Pottery,  had  come  under  powerful 
religious  impressions  that  were  deepened  by  the  tragically  sudden  death  by  drowning, 
in  1811,  of  T.  Spencer,  the  gifted  young  Independent  minister.  He  united  with  the 
Wesleyan  Methodists,  but  rather  as  a  seeker  than  as  one  who  had  found  salvation- 
Sick  of  soul,  he  bethought  him  of  his  old  companion  who  had  experienced  the  great 
change.  He  said  within  himself:  "If  only  I  can  see  Clowes,  he  will  tell  me  how  he 
found  peace,  and  how  I  too  may  find  it.''  Thus  motived  he  set  out  to  walk  to 
Staffordshire,  and  the  first  day  got  as  far  as  Knutsford,  where  he  stopped  at  an  inn  for 
the  night.  While  at  prayer  in  his  bedroom  "  the  Lord  appeared  in  power,  loosed  him 
from  his  guilty  chains,  and  set  him  free.  He  then  was  convinced  that  the  Lord  could 
convert  souls  without  William  Clowes."  Mathers  now  travelled  on  to  Staffordshire 
with  a  buoyant  heart,  telling  people  on  the  road  what  the  Lord  had  done  for  him. 
"When  we  met  together,''  says  Clowes,  "we  were  glad,  and,  some  time  after,  I  spent 
a  week  with  him  and  his  wife";  and  it  was  during  this  visit  that  Clowes  preached 
at  Liverpool,  "near  the  theatre,"  and  also  at  Buncorn.  From  the  fact  that  Mather's 
memoir  was  written  by  Clowes,  we  may  fairly  infer  that  he  died  in  1819  a  Primitive 
Methodist ;  but  as  the  memoir  is  silent  as  to  ichere  he  died,  we  cannot  be  sure  that 
he  died  a  Lirerpool  Primitive  Methodist. 

The  next  event  connected  with  Liverpool's  origin  known  to  us,  is  John  Eide's 
arrest  for  street-preaching,  and  his  speedy  release  through  the  alleged  intervention 
of  Dr.  A.  Clarke.  The  date  of  this  incident  may  approximately  be  fixed  as  March 
or  April,  18U1  ;  for,  Thomas  Bateman  tells  us,  it  was  the  March  quarterly  meeting 
of  Burland  Branch  which  sent  John  Bide  on  his  mission,  which  embraced  "  the  city 
of  Chester,  the  town  of  Wrexham,  several  growing  places  in  Wirral,  and  the  great 
town  of  Liverpool  at  the  end  of  them.'' 

Next,  we  have  the  published  recollections  of  Mr.  Henry  Howard — one  of  the 
original  members  of  the  first  society-class  formed  in  Liverpool — by  the  help  of  which 
the  story  is  carried  a  stage  further.*  According  to  Mr.  Howard,  on  a  certain  day — 
probably  May  .'list,  1821,  a  young  man,  plainly  attired,  might  have  been  seen  trying 
to  escape  from  a  number  of  persons  who  were  following  him  and  pelting  him  with 
mud.  He  and  his  assailants  had  just  landed  from  the  packet  plying  between  Buncorn 
and  Liverpool.  The  young  man  was  James  Boles,  the  Preston  Brook  preacher,  and 
this  was  how  he  came  to  the  Liverpool  mission.  He  had  been  redeeming  the  time 
by  preaching  to  his  fellow-passengers,  and  some  of  them  were  now  in  this  fashion 
requiting  him  for  his  well-meant  efforts.  The  young  man's  plight  was  observed  by  the 
proprietor  of  an  hotel  which  stood  near  the  landing-stage.  The  preacher  was  invited 
to  enter;  his  clothes  were  cleaned,  and  he  was  urged  to  remain  until  he  could  leave 
with  safety.  Mr.  Boles  stayed  three  days  with  his  hospitable  entertainers,  who  after- 
wards declined  all  remuneration,  and  then  found  lodgings  with  Mrs.  Bentley  in 
Westmoreland  Street,  where  the  first  class  was  afterwards  formed.  Mr.  Howard 
further  states  that  on  Sunday,   June   3rd,   he  heard  James   Boles  preach  at   the  top 

•"Primitive  Methodist  Jubilee  Report,  January  29tli.  1872."    Brawn  up  by  Rev.  W.  Wilkinson. 


THE   PERIOD   OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE.  267 

» 
of  Gascoyne  Street,  Vauxhall  Eoad,  in  the  morning,  and  at  six  p.m.  in  Galton  Street, 
Great  Howard  Street ;  and  that  he  heard  him  again  on  the  Sunday  following.  Then 
J.  Piatt,  a  native  of  Faddiley  in  Burland  Branch,  took  the  place  of  J.  Roles,  and,  on 
June  17th,  a  class  of  seven  members  was  formed.  The  small  society  took  and  fitted 
up  a  room  in  Upper  Dawson  Street,  behind  St.  John's  Market,  which  was  opened  by 
one  Jane  Gordon.*  So  far  Mr.  Howard,  whose  statements  must  be  harmonised — and 
probably  are  harmonisable — with  a  couple  of  entries  found  in  Thomas  Bateman's 
Journal  of  a  little  later  date.  On  October  2nd,  1821,  he  writes:  "We  have  opened 
Liverpool,  but  it  is  too  far  away  ;  we  cannot  work  it  as  we  ought.  So  we  are  tailing 
steps  to  get  the  Preston  Brook  Circuit  to  join  us — for  them  to  take  it  one  fortnight 
and  we  another."  The  arrangement  thus  foreshadowed  did,  in  fact,  obtain  between 
Michaelmas  and  Christmas,  and  so  on  January  27th  of  the  following  year,  Thomas 
Bateman  writes  again :  "  We  have  given  up  Liverpool  to  Preston  Brook,  our  hands 
being  too  full,  and  so  many  more  wanting  us.  But,  alas !  for  Liverpool.  I  fear  it 
won't  be  worked  very  well."  He  intimates  that  Burland  was  the  more  reconciled  to 
surrender  Liverpool  because  James  Bonsor,  "  that  successful  missionary,"  was  at 
Christmas  appointed  to  Liverpool.  He  arrived  on  January  12th,  but,  if  we  may 
judge  by  his  Journal  in  the  Magazine,  he  remained  there  only  three  weeks,  then 
moving  on  to  Chester.  Still,  while  he  was  in  Liverpool  he  worked  hard,  as  he  had  done 
in  Manchester  and,  indeed,  as  he  invariably  did.  His  Sundays  especially  were  crowded 
with  services  of  one  kind  or  another — indoors  and  out-of-doors.  He  speaks  of  having 
joined  six  members  at  one  service,  and  of  having  witnessed  many  conversions.  In 
March,  John  Abey  and  Sarah  Spittle  were  appointed,  and  between  the  Conferences 
of  1823  and  1824,  Liverpool  was  made  a  circuit,  and  its  name  duly  appears  on  the 
stations  for  the  latter  year,  with  Paul  Sugden  and  S.  Spittle  as  its  preachers. 

The  chapel  which  James  Bonsor  more  than  once  refers  to  was  possibly  old 
Maguiie  Street,  since  Mr.  Howard  tells  us  that  this  was  occupied,  conjointly  with 
the  Swedenborgians,  at  the  close  of  1821  or  beginning  of  1822.  The  Primitives 
had  the  use  of  it  at  9  a.m.  and  6  p.m.,  and  the  Swedenborgians  took  their  turn  at 
10.30  and  in  the  afternoon.  This  singular  arrangement,  though  the  result  of  a  friendly 
agreement,  ended  as  it  might  be  expected  to  end.  The  sequel  of  the  joint  occupancy 
reminds  us  of  the  cuckoo  in  the  hedge-sparrow's  nest.  The  Primitives  grew  and  the 
Swedenborgians  did  not;  and  in  1823  they  vacated  the  building,  and  left  the  more 
vigorous  section  in  sole  possession.  It  was  held  on  rent  until  1828,  and  then  purchased 
for  £600  and  retained  until  1864.  Thus  Maguire  Street  must  be  added  to  the  long 
list  of  plain  old-fashioned  chapels,  of  which  Cooper's  Gardens  was  the  latest  example, 
which,  during  the  early  years,  played  so  large  a  part  in  the  life  of  our  churches  in 
the  large  towns.  We  have  no  picture  of  Maguire  Street  to  present  to  our  readers, 
but  in  lieu  of  it  we  have  a  description  given  by  one  who  knew  it  well : — 

"Externally  there  was  nothing  but  a  dark  gable-end,  with  a  dwelling-house  on 
each  side,  which  formed  part  of  the  front,  and  not  in  the  least  detached.  A  door, 
level  with  the  street,  led  into  a  passage  between  the  houses,  and  running  their 

*  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  this  person  was  not  Mrs.  Jane  Gordon,  of  Filey,  who  w;is 
not  converted  until  1823. 


^1)8  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 

depth  ;  at  the  end  of  which,  on  the  ground-floor,  was  a  large  room  used  for  Sunday 
School  and  other  purposes.  On  each  side,  at  the  end  of  the  passage,  was  a  flight 
of  stone  steps  leading  to  the  chapel.  Internally  there  was  nothing  to  alter  my 
estimate  of  our  position  in  this  large  and  wealthy  community.  .V  few  rows  of 
pews  and  forms  in  the  centre  of  the  floor,  and  a  single  row  of  three  pews  fixed 
lengthwise  to  the  wall  on  either  side,  made  up  the  accommodation  below  ;  while 
a  gallery  crossing  the  end  of  the  chapel,  and  reached  by  a  flight  of  stairs,  to  he 
seen  when  you  had  ascended  from  the  passage  on  the  right-hand  side,  afforded 
all  the  accommodation  above.  A  large  dome-like  window  in  the  roof,  and  two 
large  circular-headed  windows,  looking  into  some  crowded  courts  behind,  afforded 
all  the  light  admitted  into  the  place.  The  pulpit,  fixed  against  the  wall  between 
the  long  windows,  faced  you  as  you  entered.  The  singers  occupied  the  space  on 
the  left  of  the  preacher,  the  pulpit-stairs  that  on  his  right."* 

The  situation  of  the  chapel  had  little  to  commend  it,  nor  were  its  approaches  at 
all  prepossessing.  The  opening  of  the  new  docks  had  changed  the  character  of 
A'auxhall  Road  and  the  streets  branching  from  it,  much  for  the  worse.  There  was 
a  large  Irish  element  in  the  population  of  the  district,  and  legalised  drunkeries 
abounded,  so  that  those  who  would  worship  in  Maguire  Street  had  often  to  run  the 
gauntlet  of  unseemly  sights  and  brawls.  But,  despite  these  drawbacks,  there  is  evidence 
to  show  that  the  old  building  could  inspire  warm  affection  in  those  whose  "due  feet "  did 
not  fail  to  attend  its  ordinances.  "Friends/'  said  Samuel  Atterby  (who  travelled  here 
in  1841-3),  "if  it  should  please  (rod  to  end  my  period  of  work  while  in  this  circuit, 
let  me  he  buried  in  this  '  Glory  hole.'  I  can  ask  nothing  better."  There  would  be 
many  who  could  appreciate  this  enthusiastic  outburst,  for  many  a  stirring  meeting 
was  held  in  the  schoolroom  to  which  he  referred  and  in  the  chapel  above.  AY".  Clowes 
was  at  Maguire  Street,  June,  1*29,  when  several  persons  "were  in  distress  for  their 
souls,  and  cried  to  (tod  for  mercy."  It  was  the  Sunday  after  he  had  assisted  at  the 
embarkation  of  the  first  missionaries  to  the  United  States.  William  Knowles,  who 
was  Liverpool's  only  minister  when  the  Conference  of  182'.)  met,  was  one  of  these 
pioneer  missionaries.  Thus  early  did  Liverpool's  sympathetic  connection  with  the 
wider  missionary  movements  of  the  Connexion  begin  to  show  itself.  All  down  the 
years  we  meet  with  other  indications  of  this  connection.  Thomas  Lowe,  an  eaily 
enthusiast  of  African  missions,  went  out  into  the  ministry  from  Liverpool  in  1836. 
Captain  Robinson,  of  the  "  Elgiva,'  and  ship-carpenter  Hands,  who  prepared  the  way 
for  our  mission  to  Fernando  Po,  were  both  members  of  Liverpool  Second  Circuit; 
and  W.  Holland,  who  succeeded  Messrs.  Burnett  and  Roe,  the  pioneer  missionaries 
on  that  island,  was  also  another  of  Liverpool's  gifts  to  Primitive  Methodism.  The 
Liverpool  societies  have  not  been  slow  to  speed  the  parting  and  to  welcome  the 
returning  missionary,  or  to  remember  him  practically  while  absent  on  the  field— as 
the  provision  of  i  boat  for  the  use  of  the  Fernandiau  mission  showed.  In  rendering 
such  service,  Ex-Yice-President  Caton  has  been  conspicuous. 

Thomas  Bateman  spoke  truly  of  Liverpool  when  he  said  :  "  It  did  not  improve  as 

*  "  Gatherings  from  Memory,"  a  series  of  interesting  articles  on  the  early  history  of  Liverpool 
Primitive  Methodism,  said  to  have  been  written  by  Mr.  H.  Simpson,  whioh  ran  through  the 
Christian  Messenger  of  1875. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND    ENTERPRISE. 


269 


HfBOofLEij 


:"' -lAlhTgEgjg 


270 


PKIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHUECH. 


REV.    W.    WILKINSON. 


fast  as  was  desired  or  expected."  In  1829,  when  the  numerical  returns  of  the  stations 
are  first  given,  it  reported  but  143  members,  and  the  second  hundred  was  not  turned 
until  1832,  in  which  year  it  had  but  one  preacher.  It  was  not  until  1860  that 
Birkenhead,  which  had  been  made  a  branch  in  1857  under  W.  Wilkinson,  became  an 
independent  station  with  260  members,  and  with  J.  Macpherson 
as  superintendent,  leaving  Liverpool  with  500  members  and 
three  preachers — J.  Garner,  J.  Travis,  and  E.  A.  Davies.  From 
these  facts  it  will  be  seen  how  comparatively  recent  has  been 
the  development  of  our  Church  in  the  city  by  the  Mersey,  which 
now  has,  including  Birkenhead,  seven  stations  and  an  aggregate 
membership  of  1536.  We  reach  the  same  conclusion  if,  turning 
from  the  numerical  returns  of  then  and  now,  a  comparison  be 
instituted  on  the  material  side.  It  is  not  so  much  a  development 
we  see  as  a  revolution.  Since  1849  the  old  chapels  have  gone  as 
though  they  belonged  to  another  dispensation.  In  the  early  part 
of  1834,  Maguire  Street  was  the  only  chapel  possessed  by  the 
Primitives  in  Liverpool,  though  services  were  held  in  rooms  and  houses  at  various 
points ;  but  towards  the  end  of  the  year  a  chapel  was  opened  at  Mount  Pleasant, 
afterwards  superseded  by  Walnut  Street  Chapel;  another  chapel  in  Prince  William 
Street,  which  had  belonged  to  the  New  Connexion  Methodists,  was  acquired,  and 
a  chapel  was  also  opened  at  Bebington,  on  the  Cheshire  side.  Save  that  Walnut  Street 
has  taken  the  place  of  Mount  Pleasant,  the  plan  for  the  first  quarter  of  1849  shows 
no  alteration.  Liscard,  Birkenhead,  Prescot,  Lime  Kiln  Lane,  Bootle,  Garston,  and 
Wallasey  are  names  of  places  found  on  this  plan.  Afterwards  the  Seaman's  Chapel  in 
Rathbone  Street  was  obtained,  and  in  1860,  under  the  superintendency  of  James  Garner, 
"  Pentecost"  and  the  "Jubilee"  chapels  were  opened. 

Who  and  what  sort  of  men  were  they  who  preached  in  these  old  chapels  and  rooms 
that,  like  themselves,  have  long  since  passed  away?  Here,  on  an  old  plan  of  1834, 
we  have  their  names.  Thanks  to  documents  and  reminiscences  penned  long  ago,  some 
of  these  names  stand  out  in  momentary  distinctness,  so  that  they  become  something 
more  than  names  to  us,  and  we  can  recognise  their  individual  traits.  Here,  for 
instance,  as  the  file-leader  of  the  locals  is  J.  Cribbin,  a  Manxman,  but  long  resident 
in  Liverpool,  a  notable  figure  in  his  day,  who,  in  the  decline  of  life,  will  die  in 
distant  New  Orleans.  No.  6  is  J.  Murray,  "a  Christian  lawyer,''  whose  face,  meant 
for  smiles,  cannot  disguise  the  marks  of  care  and  sorrow.  Next  to  him  stands  the 
name  of  ( I.  Horbury,  the  circuit-steward,  a  Yorkshireman,  who  had  been  associated 
with  the  founders ;  a  stickler  for  rule ;  a  plain-haired  Primitive  himself,  and 
who  expected  all  his  brethren  to  "wear  their  hair  in  its  natural  form.''  No.  13  is 
Hannah  Ashton,  who  was  skilled  in  helping  the  penitent  out  of  the  Slough  of  Despond, 
and  often  held  the  hand  of  those  who  went  down  into  the  dark  river.  Then 
comes  YV.  Gibson,  once  a  prosperous  merchant,  but  whose  ships  foundered  one 
after  another,  so  that  at  last  a  tablet  placed  over  the  door  of  his  residence  at  Everton 
had  inscribed  on  it  the  words:  "I  was  brought  low,  but  the  Lord  raised  me  up.'' 
No.  17  marks  the  name  of  F.  Hunt,  who  died  in  1849,  on  his  way  into  the  interior 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE    AND   ENTERPRISE. 


271 


of  South  America.     Lastly,  at  the  bottom  of  the  list  of  locals  on  "full"  plan  is  the 
name,  written  with  his  own  hand,  of  Eichard  Corfield,  who  in  1834  had  just  come 


HODSE  OF   IIS.  JOHN   WYNNE  AT  POOLTOWN,    ELLESMEKE  PORT. 

from  the  Oswestry  Circuit,  and  who  was  to  do  yeoman  service  for  Liverpool  Primitive 
Methodism  until  his  death  in  1900.     He  came  a  country-bred  youth  into  the  great 


BUCKLEY  TABERNACLE. 

town.     For  a  time  he  was  almost  stunned  by  the  tide  of  life  surging  around  him. 
It  was  some  time  before  he  could  find  his  feet  or  adapt  himself  to  his  environment ; 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 


had  his  struggles  with  the  seductions  and 


every  thing  was  so  strange  and  new.  H 
distractions  continually  presented.  But  he  was  a  strong  man  and  won,  anchoring 
himself  among  his  own  people.  But  as  we  read  in  the  autobiographic  memoranda 
he  has  left,  of  his  self-chidings  and  struggles,  we  think  we  can  the   better  understand 


SIRS.    STOCKTON. 


MR.    J.    STOCKTON. 


the  greatness,  and  the  inevitability,  too,  of  the  leakage  that  must  have  gone  on  in  the 
early  days  of  our  Church,  consequent  on  the  migration  of  our  adherents  from  the 
villages  into  the  big  towns.  Many  of  the  best  men  in  the  Liverpool  societies,  like 
Richard  Corficld,  were  from  the  country,  but  these,  it  is  to  be  feared,  were  but  the 
salvage  of  those  who  had  drifted.  They  were  the  stalwarts — men  like  John  Gledsdale, 
S.  Wellington,  H.  Simpson,  James  Kennaugh,  and  others  who  might  be  named. 

Some  i  if  the  societies  no  longer  forming  part  of  the  original  Preston  Brook,  Chester, 
or  Liverpool  Circuits  were  missioned  quite  early.  For  example,  the  societies  of 
Frodsham  and  Kingsley,  now  giving  their  joint  names  to  a  circuit  in  the  Liverpool 
District,  were  visited  by  H.  Bourne  as  early  as  1*19.  Parr,  now  part  of  the  Earlstown 
Circuit,  in  lN.'iG  had  been  recently  missioned  by  Liverpool,  and  had  a  society  of 
twenty-six  members.  As  late  as  1S;>9  no  permanent  footing  had  been  got  in  Birkenhead, 
but,  two  or  three  years  after,  the  opening  of  new  docks  and  streets  brought  an  influx 
of  population  to  the  district,  amongst  which  were  found  some  zealous  adherents  of  the 
Connexion,  one  of  whom  opened  his  house 
for  services,  and  a  cause  was  established 
which  continued  to  grow. 

Ellesmere  Port,  at  the  mouth  of  the  canal 

which  connects  the  Mersey  and  the  Severn, 

has    an    interesting    history    which    links   us 

with  the  past.     In  this  comparatively  modern 

village   our  ( 'hurch   holds   a  commanding,  it 

might   even    lie   said   a  unique,   position.     It 

possesses    property    to    the    value    of    about 

£9000,  including  a  splendid  chapel  with  an 

average   congregation   of    six    hundred,   large 

Day  Schools,  Public  Hall  and  Institute,  the  latter  comprising  Cafe,  Recreation  Rooms,  etc. 

The  foundation  of  this  success  was  prepared  for  in  the  old  cottage  at  Pooltown  (shown 

in  our  illustration),  where  Mr.  John  Wynne  and  his  twin-daughters  resided.     For  more 


K.    WOODWARD. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE. 


273 


than  eighty  years  services  were  held  in  this  cottage,  and  only  ceased  to  be  held  there 
some  few  years  ago,  on  the  erection  of  a  neat  chapel  at  Pooltown.  Mrs.  Lewis,  one 
of  the  daughters,  still  resides  in  the  cottage ;  the  other  daughter  was  married  to 
Mr.  John  Stockton,  who  not  only  opened  his  house  for  the  first  services  held  at 
Ellesmere  Port,  but  in  other  ways  greatly  assisted  in  the  establishment  of  the  society 
which  has  attained  such  proportions.  He  is  worthily  represented  by  his  grandson — 
Mr.  W.  Stockton.  Others  who  by  their  character  and  long  service  contributed  to 
mould  and  strengthen  the  cause  at  Ellesmere  Port,  were  Mr.  Richard  Woodward  and 

Mr.  Thomas  Hales.  The  latter,  who  came  from  Shropshire 
in  1840  to  take  up  the  position  of  canal  manager,  retired 
to  Ellesmere  on  vacating  his  post,  and  died  in  1892. 
As  superintendent  of  the  Ellesmere  Port  Sunday  School, 
it  was,  for  a  number  of  years,  Mr.  Hales'  custom  to  write 
a  hymn  for  the  recurring  anniversary.  Several  popular 
hymns,  of  which  probably  the  authorship  has  hitherto 
been  unknown  or  wrongly  attributed,  came  from  his  pen 
in  this  unobtrusive  way — hymns  such  as  "  Sabbath  Schools 
are  England's  glory";  "When  mothers  of  Salem";  "I'll 
away  to  the  Sabbath  School";  "When  the  morning 
light "  ;  ana  "  Till  Jesus  calls  us  home." 

Buckley  Circuit,  formed  from  Chester  in  1S71,  as  was 
also  Wrexham,  is  entirely  within  the  Welsh  county  of 
Flint.  Alltami,  missioned  more  than  seventy  years  ago, 
may  be  regarded  as  the  mother-society  of  the  circuit,  since 
in  1838  it  built  its  first  chapel  and  missioned  Buckley.  The  "Tabernacle,"  which  in 
1875  took  the  place  of  the  chapel  built  in  1841  and  enlarged  in  1863,  is  the  largest 
building  in  Buckley,  and  shares  with  the  City  Temple  the  distinction  of  being  one 
of  the  very  few  Nonconformist  places  of  worship  in  which  Mr.  Gladstone  delivered 
a  public  address.*  ".Among  the  many  names  cherished  in  the  station,"  says  one  who 
has  written  of  it,  "  are  those  of  such  men  as  Charles  Price,  clear-minded,  methodical 
and  faithful ;  Edward  Davies,  the  father  of  Rev.  E.  A.  Davies  ;  John  Roberts,  the 
quaint,  emotional  Welsh  preacher ;  Peter  Kendrick,  kindly,  loyal  to  his  Church,  mighty 
in  deed  and  word ;  Edward  Davies,  of  '  The  Mount,'  who,  though  not  a  local  preacher, 
was  a  devoted  member  and  official  of  our  Church  for  more  than  fifty  years."!  To 
these  names  may  be  added  those  of  Mr.  E.  Bellis,  a  tried  and  trusty  friend  of  the 
Buckley  Circuit,  and  W.  Wileock,  of  Penyffordd,  who  as  a  leader  in  the  last  tithe- 
war  in  North  Wales  had  his  goods  distrained.  His  cause  was  ably  championed  through 
the  press  and  on  the  platform  by  Rev.  J.  Crompton,  who  was  minister  of  the  Buckley 
Circuit  at  the  time,  and  had  a  long  and  useful  term  of  service  there. 

*  The  address  was  given  at  Buckley  on  Monday  evening,  November  1st,  1885. 
t  Rev.  J.  Phillipson  in  Christian  Messenger,  1900,  pp.  215—17. 


EDWARD  BELLIS. 


274  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


CHAPTER   XXI. 

The  Extension  of  Tunstall  District  in  Shropshire  and  adjoining 

Counties. 

[HE  appearance  on  the  stations  of  Oakengates  in  1823,  of  Shrewsbury  and 
Hopton  Bank  (afterward  Ludlow)  in  1824,  and  of  Prees  Green  in  1826, 
registered  the  geographical  advance  the  Tunstall  District  by  this  time  had 
made,  chiefly  in  Shropshire,  but  with  extensions  into  other  counties.  By 
this  enlargement  the  foundations  were  laid  of  the  whole  of  the  modern  Shrewsbury, 
and  of  a  goodly  portion  of  the  West  Midland  District.  Moreover,  some  of  these 
new  circuits,  almost  from  the  time  of  their  formation,  threw  out  missions  into  more 
distant  counties,  the  fruit  of  which  was  seen  after  many  days.  Indeed  it  would  be 
a  fairly  accurate  generalisation  to  say  that  we  owe  the  beginnings  of  our  present 
Briii kworth  District  to  Shrewsbury;  of  South  Wales  District  to  Oakengates;  of  Bristol 
District  to  Tunstall  and  Scotter's  "  Western  Mission " ;  and  of  Devon  and  Cornwall 
District  to  Hull  and  the  General  Missionary  Committee.  Besides  being  fairly  accurate, 
the  generalisation  also  furnishes  a  useful  clue  to  guide  us  through  the  maze-like  com- 
plexities of  our  Connexional  development  in  the  South-Western  counties.  Following, 
then,  the  actual  sequence  of  events,  we  now  proceed  to  glance  at  the  making  of  the 
four  Shropshire  Circuits  already  named,  beginning  with  the  earliest — Oakengates. 

Oakengates. 

Hugh  Bourne  had  frequently  visited  Shropshire  on  his  missionary  excursions ;  but 
if  any  fruit  remained  of  these  early  labours  it  had  been  gathered  by  other  communities. 
To  the  missionaries  sent  out  by  Tunstall  in  the  autumn  of  1821  Shropshire  was  new 
ground.  They  felt  their  way  by  Newport  and  other  places,  meeting  on  the  whole  with 
no  great  success,  until  they  came  into  the  neighbourhood  of  Oakengates  and  Wellington, 
lying  almost  under  the  shadow  of  the  Wrekin.  Here,  in  the  populous  coal  and  iron 
district  of  the  county,  James  Bonsor,  as  leading  missionary,  and  his  colleagues  at  once 
met  with  much  success.  Hugh  Bourne  came  to  assist  at  the  first  camp  meeting  ever 
held  in  this  part  of  the  country,  on  May  19th,  1822 — the  great  camp  meeting  day. 
Even  at  this  date  "  the  Shropshire  Mission  "  had  so  far  prospered  that  it  had  already 
become  "  the  Oakengates  branch''  of  Tunstall  Circuit ;  and  in  December,  1822,  it  became 
the  Oakengates  Circuit,  and  in  1827  had  seven  preachers  put  down  to  it.  In  1828 
the  name  of  the  station  was  changed  from  Oakengates  to  Wrockwardine  Wood,  probably 
because  a  chapel  was  built  at  the  latter  place  at  an  early  date,  while,  for  a  long  time, 
all  efforts  to  secure  a  suitable  place  of  worship  at  Oakengates  proved  unavailing. 
Subsequently,   however,   a   site   was   obtained    near    the    Bull   Ring,   where   the   first 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE.  275 

missionaries  had  taken  their  stand,  and  when  this  building  was  sold  to  the  Birmingham 
and  Shrewsbury  Railway  Company,  the  considerable  sum  realised  by  the  sale  enabled 
the  trustees  to  erect  a  much  larger  one  in  a  prominent  situation,  and  place  it  in  easy 
circumstances.  In  1834  Richard  Davies,  himself  a  fruit  of  the  Shropshire  Mission, 
was,  through  the  influence  of  James  Bourne,  appointed  to  Wrockwardine  Wood- 
The  circuit  had  declined,' and  there  were  special  difficulties,  both  legal  and  financial, 
pressing  upon  the  trust  of  Wrockwardine  Wood  Chapel.  Thus  early  the  remarkable 
business  abilities  of  Mr.  Davies,  from  which  the  Connexion  was  afterwards  to  reap 
such  advantage,  were  recognised  by  the  discerning.  During  his  four  years'  term  of 
service  the  station  experienced  renewed  prosperity.  Wrockwardine  Wood  Chapel 
was  freed  from  its  difficulties,  and  additional  land  bought  on  which  a  preacher's  house 
was  built.  Chapels  were  also  opened  in  the  summer  of  1835  at  Wellington  and 
Edgmond.  There  is  a  story  relating  to  Edgmond  Chapel  worth  telling,  since  it  shows 
how  formidable  were  the  difficulties  that  had  to  be  overcome  by  many  a  village  society 
before  it  could  secure  its  own  little  freehold  and  all  that  it  insured — independence  of 
outside  interference  and  a  reasonable  guarantee  for  the  future. 

At  the  time  the  story  opens,  Edgmond,  now  on  the  Newport  station,  was  a  village 
in  which  there  was  no  religious  competition.  The  State-Church  had  it  all  its  own 
way  and,  whether  coincidence  or  consequence,  the  village  was  in  a  bad  way.  The 
clergyman  was  one  of  the  old  type,  now  almost  obsolete.  He  kept  his  pack  of  hounds, 
and  was  not  more  eager  to  chase  the  fox  than  to  drive  Dissenters  from  his  parish. 
True  to  the  adage,  "  Like  priest,  like  people,''  many  of  his  parishioners  were  not  only 
benighted  themselves,  but  stoutly  resisted  the  introduction  of  the  light.  Several 
attempts  had  been  made  by  zealous  members  of  other  Churches  to  preach  the  Gospel 
in  the  village — notably  by  a  Methodist  and  a  Congregational  minister,  but  they  had 
been  driven  away,  bemired  with  the  filth  of  the  kennel  through  which  they  had  been 
dragged.  Now  Mrs.  Jones,  a  Primitive  Methodist  local  preacher  and  leader  of  Newport, 
who  brought  the  letters  to  Edgmond  every  morning,  was  deeply  concerned  at  the  moral 
condition  of  the  place.  At  her  request  preachers  were  sent  from  Wrockwardine  Wood 
to  mission  the  village,  and  preaching  was  established  at  its  outskirts.  But  the  distance 
of  the  preaching-house  from  the  village  and  the  bad  state  of  the  roads,  coupled  with 
the  persecution  to  which  both  preachers  and  congregation  were  subjected,  militated 
against  success,  so  that  at  the  September  Quarterly  Meeting  of  1834  the  question  of 
the  abandonment  of  the  place  was  seriously  discussed.  However,  it  was  finally  decidfd 
to  try  what  effect  would  follow  from  holding  a  camp  meeting  before  relinquishing  it 
altogether.  The  meeting  was  duly  held  in  a  field  lent  by  a  farmer,  who  had  opportunely 
quarrelled  with  the  rector,  and  it  was  in  every  way  a  great  success.  In  response  to  an 
appeal  Mr.  Minshall  offered  his  house,  which  stood  near  the  Church,  for  the  holding 
of  services,  and  a  small  society  was  formed,  of  which  Mrs.  Jones,  the  letter-carrier, 
became  the  leader;  while  Mr.  Vigars,  as  the  result  of  the  camp  meeting,  became 
a  staunch  adherent  of  the  society.  The  ire  of  the  clergyman  was  great.  Unmoved 
alike  by  the  clergyman's  persuasions  and  threats,  Mr.  Minshall  was  summoned  to 
appear  before  the  Petty  Sessions  at  Newport  for  permitting  an  unlicensed  conventicle 
to  be  held  in  his  house,  the  clergyman  publicly  boasting  that  the  fine  about  to  be 

s  2 


216 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHUKCH. 


DARK    LANE    OHAPEL. 


inflicted  should  be  distributed  among  the  poor  of  the  village.  Mr.  Davies  took  care 
to  appear  at  the  Justices'  Meeting,  and  as  the  clergyman  sitting  with  the  magistrates 
was  allowed  to  pour  forth  a  tirade  of  abuse  against  the  Church  of  which  Mr.  Davies 

was  the  recognised  minister, 
Mr.  Davies  also  claimed  and 
secured  the  right  to  speak  in 
vindication  alike  of  the  Church 
and  of  the  accused.  What 
followed  shall  be  given  in 
Mr.  Davies'  own  words  : — 

"  Here  one  of  the  magis- 
trates looked  at  theclergy- 
man,  and  asked  :  'Who  is 
the  owner  of  the  house  in 
which  the  meetings  are 
held  ? '  I  knew  what  that 
meant,  and  said  :  '  Please, 
your  worship,  it  is  now 
of  little  moment  who  his 
landlord  is,  because  land 
is  jiurr/taseil  on  mhieh  to  ereet  a  eha/iel  hi  the  ventre  <if  the  rtl/ai/e.  The  deeds 
are  executed  and  the  works  are  let  to  undertakers,  and  long  before  a  legal 
notice  to  quit  can  expire,  the  man's  house  will  not  be  needed  for  our  services.' 
'  I  never  heard  a  word  of  that,'  said  the  parson,  looking  at  the  magistrates. 
'They  must  have  been  quick  in  accomplishing  the  thing,  and  very  sly  about  it.' 
'Yes,'  said  I,  'both  rapidity  and  secrecy  were  needed,  when  we  considered  the 
gentleman  we  had  to  deal  with.'  The  magistrates  then  retired  for  consultation, 
and  on  their  return  into  court  the  chairman  said  to  the  poor  man  :  'Your  house 
is  properly  licensed,  and  you  have  a  perfect 
right  to  worship  God  in  your  o«n  way. 
The  case  is  dismissed.'  We  bowed,  and  were 
about  to  leave  the  court  when  the  parson 
asked  the  magistrate  in  a  loud  voice  :  'Who 
is  to  pay  the  expenses  1'  The  chairman 
looked  at  him,  and  sternly  said  :  'Pay  them 
yourself.'  On  leaving  the  court  »  gentleman 
desired  me  and  the  poor  man  to  dine  with 
him,  declaring,  although  a  Churchman,  that 
he  was  highly  pleased  with  the  result  of 
the  trial.  The  chapel  was  completed  in  a 
few  months,  and  the  two  ministers  [Messrs. 
T.  Palmer  and  J.  Whittenbury]  who  had  been  so  cruelly  treated  in  the  village 
by  the  persecutors  some  time  previously,  were  honoured  by  an  invitation  to  preach 
the  opening  sermons,  which  was  cheerfully  accepted  Henceforth  the  little 

chapel  at  Edgniond  had  rest,  and  the  hand  of  the  Lord  was  upon  it  for  good."* 
*  Rev.    It.    l).nies    signed    contribution   to      A    Book    of    Marvels   or    Incidents   of    Primitive 
Methodism,"  by  liev.  \Y.  Antliff,  assisted  by  numerous  contributors.     An  account  of  the  opening 
of  Edgmond  Chapel   is  given   in  the  iJuijuzme  for  1836.     The  names  of  the  actors  in  this  episode 
have  been  kindly  supplied  from  local  sources  by  Bev.  W.  Forth. 


THOMAS   TAKT. 


W'M.    WITHINIITON. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND    ENTERPRISE. 


277 


Another  chapel  in"this  same  coal  and  iron  district  which  also  has  its  history  may  be 
briefly  referred  to.  Dark  Lane  is  the  somewhat  significant  name  given  to  a  mass 
of  dwelling-houses  in  the  postal  district  of  Shifnal,  in  the  present  Oakengates  and 
Wellington  Circuit.  The  chapel,  which  has  been  erected  on  one  side  of  this  populous 
neighbourhood  perpetuates,  by  means  of  marble  tablets,  the  memory  of  two  men  who 
were  devoted  workers  of  the  society  for  upwards  of  fifty  years,  and  through  whose 
prayers  and  labours  the  erection  of  this  building  was  largely  due.  Thomas  Tart 
(died  1892)  and  William  Withington  (1902)  were,  it  is  said,  accustomed  to  kneel  on 
a  certain  piece  of  land  to  pray  that  the  way  might  be  opened  for  the  erection  of 
a  much-needed  chapel  in  the  place.    In  1863  permission  was  given  to  stake  out  a  site, 


THE   MARDOL,    SHREWSBURY. 


but  before  building  operations  could  begin  there  was  a  change  in  the  ownership  of  the 
land,  with  the  result  that  the  chapel  had  to  be  built  on  the  very  spot  on  which  they 
had  offered  so  many  prayers.  The  land  is  spacious,  and  the  saintly  William  Withington, 
during  his  latter  years,  took  an  interest  in  neatly  keeping  its  flower-beds. 

Some  of  the  changes  the  years  have  brought  to  what  we  may  call  the  home-part 
of  the  old  Wrockwardine  Wood  Circuit  may  •  be  briefly  noted.  Dawley  Green  and 
other  places  in  the  neighbourhood  were  successfully  missioned  in  1839-40,  with  the 
result  that  Dawley  became  an  independent  station  in  1854.  Madeley,  that  will  ever 
be  sacred  as  the  place  where  the  sainted  Fletcher  laboured  and  which  holds  his  ashes, 
formed  a  part  of  Dawley  Circuit  until  1881,  when  it  also  came  on  the  list  of  stations. 


278  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 

Here,  too,  the  venerable  Joseph  Preston  died  in  1896  in  the  94th  year  of  his  age  and 
the  73rd  of  his  ministry.  Stafford  also  was  for  some  time  a  branch  of  Wrockwardine 
Wood,  and  Oakengates  and  Wellington,  and  Newport  Circuits  were  made  from  it  in 
1865  and  1893  respectively. 

Shrewsbury. 

The  first  missionary  to  Shrewsbury  whose  name  is  given  was  Sarah  Spittle.  On 
Sunday,  June  30th,  she  preached  thrice  in  the  streets  of  the  picturesque  old  city,  led 
the  class,  and  "joined"  nine  new  members.  She  remarks  that  there  are  now  forty-four 
in  society,  and  "a  good  prospect.''  From  this  it  is  clear  that  Sarah  Spittle  must  have 
been  preceded  to  Shrewsbury  by  some  other  missionary.  James  Bonsor  followed  on 
August  4th,  by  which  time  the  society  numbered  sixty.  It  was  harvest-time;  and 
it  was  then,  and  long  continued  the  custom  at  that  season,  for  the  Mardol,  one  of  the 
principal  streets  of  the  city,  to  be  thronged  by  men  waiting  to  be  hired  for  the  harvest. 
James  Bonsor  was  moved  by  this  strange  profanation  of  the  Lord's  Day,  to  try  to 
engage  some  of  these  for  his  Master's  service.  He  took  his  stand  in  the  crowded  street 
and  began  to  preach  ;  but  before  he  had  got  through  the  service  he  was  marched  off  by 
the  constable  to  the  Court  House;  and  then,  as  he  would  not  promise  "never  to  preach 
there  more,"  he  was  led  off  to  prison,  singing  all  the  way,  and  followed  by  an  immense 
crowd.  Prayer  was  made  for  the  missionary  at  the  different  chapels,  and  as  a  practical 
proof  of  good-will  on  the  part  of  some  of  the  citizens,  they  provided  him  with  no 
less  than  eight  breakfasts  !  His  detention  was  but  short;  at  noon,  he  was  taken  before 
another  magistrate  who  set  him  at  liberty,  and  at  night  he  was  preaching  again  with 
"  not  quite  all  the  people  of  Shrewsbury  "  to  hear  him. 

James  Bonsor's  arrest  and  what  followed  was  the  talk  of  the  city.  It  resulted  in 
calling  attention  to  the  missionaries  and  securing  for  them  a  large  measure  of  public 
sympathy-  Shrewsbury  did  not  forget,  and  is  not  likely  to  forget,  the  hero  of  the 
Manlul  hirings  and  the  eight  breakfasts.  When,  in  1828,  he  died  at  Preston-on-the- 
Weald  Moors,  prematurely  broken  and  worn-out  with  his  excessive  labours,  the  Circuit 
Committee  decided  "that  the  Shrewsbury  Chapel  be  in  mourning 
for  James  Bonsor  for  six  weeks,"  and,  as  a  token  of  respect 
to  his  memory,  his  funeral  sermon  was  preached.  But  while 
James  Bonsor  is  remembered,  Sarah  Spittle  must  not  be  forgotten. 
Both  before,  and  for  some  weeks  immediately  after  the  Sunday 
of  the  imprisonment,  she  laboured  in  and  around  the  city — some- 
times preaching  at  a  camp  meeting,  at  other  times  in  the  street, 
or  at  the  Cross — so  that  she  is  entitled  to  rank  as  one  of  the 
Winters  of  our  Church  in  Shrewsbury.  One  of  the  earliest  con- 
verts in  the  city  was  a  girl — Elizabeth  Johnson.  She  soon  began 
mrs.  eliz.  brownhill,  to  exhort,  and  when  but  sixteen  years  of  age  went  out,  in  1824, 

m'e  Johnson.  ,  ...  .  .   ,  .  „  ~        ,      ,„  .  , 

as  a  travelling  preacher,  labouring  first  in  South  Hales,  ana 
aftei wards  in  Wrockwardine  Wood,  Preston,  Ramsor,  Darlaston,  and  Burton-on-Trent 
Circuits.  Elizabeth  Johnson  is  better  known  as  Mrs.  Brownhill;  for,  in  1828,  she 
was  married  to  Mr.   W.  Brownhill  of  Birchills,  Walsall.  .    Almost  until   her  death, 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE.  279 

in  1860,  she  preached  in  the  pulpits  of  what  are  now  circuits  in  the  West  Midland 
District.  Three  of  the  sons  of  this  girl-preacher  of  the  early  days  have  heen  Primitive 
Methodist  Mayors  of  the  borough  of  Walsall  and,  in  the  language  of  one  of  them, 
Mr.  W.  Brownhill,  J.P. :  "The  greatest  honour  in  the  family  is  the  life  of  the  mother; 
and  they  are  following  her  in  trying  to  make  the  world  better 
than  they  found  it.''  Sarah  Spittle,  the  Shrewsbury  pioneer, 
and  Elizabeth  Johnson,  one  of  its  proto-converts,  show  us  once 
more,  how  largely  in  the  early  days  our  Church  availed  itself  of 
female  agency,  and  with  what  far-reaching  and  satisfactory  results. 
Shrewsbury,  which  from  1823  had  been  a  branch  of  Oakengates, 
was  in  1824  made  a  circuit.  "Castle  Court  Chapel  was  purchased 
at  a  cost  of  £850,  and  was  opened  in  June,  1826.  It  was  an 
old  ecclesiastical  building  under  which,  at  the  time  of  purchase, 
were  two  vaults.  Originally  it  was  a  portion  of  the  old  Town 
in,  w  t-t»r™7XT-,,TT    ,  „   Prison  or  House  of  Correction.     It  stood  within  the  ancient  walls 

Mli.    \v.    BKOVVrJ HILL,    J.P. 

of  the  town,  and  overlooked  the  beautiful  vale  of  the  Severn."* 
In  this  old-time  chapel  the  brethren  met  to  discuss  the  affairs  of  their  wide  circuit, 
with  its  branches  and  distant  North  'Wales  and  Belfast  missions ;  for  Shrewsbury 
has  been  a  prolific  mother-circuit  from  which,  during  the  course  of  the  years,  the 
following  circuits  have  been  formed,  viz.:  Brinkworth,  1826;  Bishops  Castle,  1832; 
Newtown  (Montgomery),  1836;  Hadnall,  1838;  Minsterley,  1856;  Church  Stretton, 
1872,  and  Clun,  1884,  from  Bishops  Castle  ;  Welshpool,  1877,  from  Minsterley. 

Though  it  is  impossible  to  follow  in  detail  the  history  of  each  of  these  derivative 
circuits,  reference  must  be  made  to  the  missioning  of  Bishops  Castle  in  August,  1828, 
by  Bichard  Ward  and  Thomas  Evans,  a  local  preacher.  The  full  and  interesting 
Journals  of  Bichard  Ward,  who  came  from  Farndale  near  Kirby  Moorside,  reveal  a 
cheery  and  intrepid  spirit  which,  with  Divine  assistance,  was  his'_best  qualification  for  what 
seemed  a  forlorn  hope ;  for  Bishops  Castle  had  a  bad  name  that  found  expression  in 
more  than  one  reproachful  proverbial  saying.  It  was  called  "  the  Devil's  Mansion,''  and 
other  uncomplimentary  names.  Dissent  was  represented  by  one  small  Independent 
chapel  with  an  almost  extinct  church.  Other  denominations  had  tried  to  gain  a  footing 
— and  tried  in  vain ;  the  Primitives  being  amongst  the  baffled  ones.  Only  the  previous 
year,  W.  Parkinson,  one  of  the  Shrewsbury  preachers  who  had  been  a  missionary  in 
Jamaica,  made  the  attempt.  He  ought  to  have  succeeded  ;  for  he  had  as  his  ally  the 
clergyman  of  a  neighbouring  parish,  who  sometimes  preached  for  the  Primitives  and 
let  them  preach  in  his  kitchen.  But  the  two  were  stoned  out  of  the  place.  When,  on 
the  10th  August,  Mr.  Ward  and  his  companion  saw  Bishops  Castle  in  the  distance  and 
"heard  the  bells  giving  notice  for  steeple-worship,"  they  found  it  needful  to  encourage 
each  other  in  the  Lord,  and  succeeded,  Mr.  Ward's  faith  mounting  clear  above  all 
discouragements,  so  that  he  had  even  a  foresight  of  the  day  when  Bishops  Castle  should 
be  a  circuit.  Their  reception  was  rough,  and  it  would  have  been  rougher  still,  had 
not  a  noted  fighter  who  stood  wishful  to  hear,  sworn  to  defend  the  missionaries  against 

*  Communicated  by  Rev.  A.  A.  Birchenough. 


280 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


REV.    JAMES   HUFF. 


the  violence  which  threatened.  The  pugilist  was  one  of  the  first  to  enroll  himself 
a  member  of  the  society  afterwards  formed.  A  woman,  "  with  tears  in  her  eyes," 
offereil  her  cottage  for  the  evening  service,  but  as  the  mob  threatened  to  burn  it  down 
or  unroof  it  in  case  the  offer  was  accepted,  they  preferred  to  take  their  stand  again  in 

front  of  the  Castle  green.  Here  they  managed  to  deliver 
their  message,  though  under  strange  conditions ;  for,  while 
some  wept  under  the  influence  of  the  truth,  others  mocked 
and  swore  and  threw  stones.  No  sooner  was  the  service 
ended  than  the  preacher  and  his  friends  were  chased  by 
the  stone-throwers,  and  had  to  take  to  the  pastures  in  order 
to  escape  the  hail  of  missiles.  Mr.  Ward,  however,  seems 
to  have  thought  that  on  the  whole  his  mission  had  opened 
promisingly,  and  the  next  two  Sundays  found  him  again  at 
Bishops  Castle.  Tact  and  courage  won  the  day.  When 
Sunday,  August  24th,  closed  rowdy  opposition  had  died 
down.  A  society  was  established  and  friends  raised  up — 
notably  Mr.  Pugh,  a  respectable  tradesman  of  the  town,  who 
became  a  local  preacher,  as  did  also  his  two  sons.  The 
Pugh  family  were  of  great  service  to  the  new  cause,  and 
in  one  of  their  houses  services  were  held.  In  1832,  Eichard 
Ward's  prophecy  had  its  fulfilment,  for  in  that  year  Bishops  Castle  began  its  influential 
career  as  a  circuit.  The  circuit  early  gave  some  useful  men  to  the  ministry  of  our  Church, 
such  as  Thomas  Morgan,  John  Pugh  (son  of  Mr.  Pugh  already  named),  Eichard  Owen  ; 
also  Eobert  Bowen,  of  Asterton,  who,  in  1851,  began  to  travel  in  his  native  circuit, 
and  died  at  Bishops  Castle  in  1896.  A  sister  of  his  (who  afterwards  became  the  wife 
of  Eev.  Philip  Pugh)  was  instrumental  in  the  conversion  of  the  revered  James  Huff, 
whose  long  ministry  of  forty-six  years  was  one  of  remarkable  spiritual  power  and 
fruitfulness.  In  the  official  memoir  of  Mr.  Huff,  written  by  the  late  Dr.  Ferguson, 
we  are  told :  "In  1887,  at  the  time  of  his  superannuation,  it  was  said  that  out  of  sixty 
ministers  given  to  our  ministry  out  of  the  county  of  Shropshire, 
forty  had  been  led  to  Christ  by  our  sainted  friend."  If  this 
statement  be  even  approximately  true,  James  Huff  has  indeed 
carved  his  name  deep  in  the  history  of  Shropshire  Primitive 
Methodism.  He  was  appointed  a  permanent  member  of  Con- 
ference in  IS 86,  and  in  1903  died  at  Bishops  Castle  where,  in 
1842,  he  had  begun  his  ministry. 

It  was  at  a  camp-meeting  lovefeast,  conducted  by  James  Huff, 
that  a  youth  named  Eichard  Jones  made  the  great  decision. 
The  youth  developed  a  character  marked  by  a  fine  combination 
of  strength  and  tenderness.  As  leader,  local  preacher,  circuit 
steward,  district  official,  Mr.  Eichard  Jones,  of  Clun,  was  widely  known,  trusted,  and 
respected.  At  Clun  especially  he  was  the  stay  and  guide  of  the  society ;  and  it  was 
chiefly  through  his  liberality  and  guidance  that  the  present  church,  school,  and  manse 
were  erected,  forming,  as  they  do,  a  block  of  property  which  is  an  ornament  to  the 


EICHAKD  JONES. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE.  281 

town,  a  credit  to  the  Connexion,  and  a  tangible  memorial  of  the  faith,  tact,  and  sacrifice 
of  Mr.  Jones,  who  died  January  20th,  1900.* 

To  the  list  of  ministers  raised  up  by  the  original  Shrewsbury  Circuit  must  be 
added  the  eminent  names  of  Philip  Pugh  and  Richard  Davies.  The  former  entered 
the  ministry  in  1836,  and  died  in  1871.  As  early  as  1839 
T.  Bateman  notes  in  his  Journal :  "  We  have  got  a  new  staff 
of  preachers.  Pugh  is  a  young  man  from  Shrewsbury.  I  think 
there  /x  something  in  Mm — studious,  obliging,  and  a  tolerable 
preacher."  The  judgment  shows  the  discernment  of  the  writer, 
but  even  he  when  he  wrote  it,  could  not  have  divined  what 
possibilities  of  solid,  continuous  growth  were  latent  in  this  studious 
youth  from  Shrewsbury,  whom  he  lived  to  see  worthily  filling  the 
office  of  Editor  and  President  of  Conference  (1867).  Eichard 
Davies  was  one  of  a  number  of  youths  who,  in  1823,  invited  the 
Primitives  to  Minsterley,  promising  to  find  the  preacher  a  room 
for  the  services  and  to  provide  him  with  board  and  lodging.  Entering  the  ministry 
in  1825,  he  was  sent  to  the  Wiltshire  Mission,  but  returned  to  Shrewsbury  the  next 
year.  For  six  months  he  was  wholly  engaged  in  missioning  neglected  villages,  in 
five  or  six  of  which  he  succeeded  in  forming  societies  that  were  incorporated  with  the 
Shrewsbury  Circuit.  This  young  miner  of  Minsterley  was  to  become  General  Book 
Steward  and  the  first  Secretary  of  the  Primitive  Methodist  Insurance  Company. 

Probably  stimulated  by  the  success  of  its  Wiltshire  Mission,  Shrewsbury  Circuit  in 
1832  led  the  way  in  establishing  a  mission  in  the  North  of  Ireland.  Here  are  one 
or  two  items  from  the  old  minute-books  which,  doubtless,  got  written  down  only  after 
much  discussion  of  "pros  and  cons":  "March  18th,  1832:  That  Brother  Haslam  go 
into  Ireland  as  soon  as  he  can  after  next  Monday."  "  September  5th,  1832  :  That 
Brother  Haslam  beg  at  every  house  in  Shrewsbury  for  Ireland."  Unfortunately, 
T.  Haslam  soon  withdrew  from  the  Connexion,  and  his  place  on  the  Mission  was 
taken,  December,  1834,  by  W.  Bickerdike.  On  entering  upon  his  duties  Mr.  Bickerdike 
had  his  modest  presentation,  as  the  following  entry  shows  :  "December,  1836. — That 
Brother  Bickerdike  have  one  volume  of  our  Large  Magazine  given  him  as  a  token  of 
respect."  The  good  opinion  evidently  already  formed  of  W.  Bickerdike  was  abundantly 
justified  by  his  after  career.  He  applied  himself  vigorously  to  repair  the  mischief 
caused  by  the  withdrawal  of  his  predecessor,  and  succeeded  (1836)  in  building  a  chapel 
in  Belfast  to  take  the  place  of  the  room  in  Reas  Court.  In  1839  the  powerful  Dudley 
Circuit  relieved  Shrewsbury  of  the  charge  of  the  Belfast  Mission.  When,  in  1843-4, 
the  three  Irish  missions  were  taken  over  by  the  General  Missionary  Committee,  it 
cannot  be  said  that  they  had  hitherto  proved  particularly  successful,  or  answered  the 
expectations  of  their  promoters. 

Hopton  Bank,  or  Ludlow. 
Hopton  Bank,  afterwards  called  Ludlow,  represents  the  south-western  extension  of 
the  young  and  vigorous  Darlaston  Circuit.     Hopton  Bank  must  not  be  thought  of  as 

*  Rev.  W.  Jones  Davies,  a  spiritual  son  of  Mr.  Jones,  has  published  an  ■■  Appreciation "  of 
Mr.  Jones,  in  which  are  to  be  found  interesting  notices  of  Bishops  Castle  and  Clun  Circuits. 


282  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST    CHURCH. 

a  comparatively  compact  circuit  of  the  modern  type,  but  rather  as  a  tract  of  country 
extending  from  Kidderminster  to  Presteign.  About  midway  between  these  tvro 
extreme  points  is  Hopton  Bank  which,  probably  for  that  very  reason,  was  made  the 
titular  head  of  the  circuit ;  but  as  the  ancient  town  of  Ludlow  was  the  more  con- 
venient town  for  the  preachers'  residence,  the  name  was  changed.  We  are  not  able, 
any  more  than  was  Mr.  Petty,  to  furnish  interesting  particulars  as  to  the  first  missioning 
of  this  wide  district.  From  the  memoir  of  Mrs.  Grace  Newell,  who  is  stated  to 
have  provided  a  home  for  the  first  missionaries  that  reached  Presteign,  that  town  and 
other  places  in  Radnorshire,  were  visited  as  early  as  the  autumn  of  1821.  Again,  in 
the  memoir  of  Samuel  Morris,  who  was  born  at  Fordham  near  Clee  Hills  in  1815,  we 
are  told  that  the  Darlaston  Circuit  missioned  Fordham  and  the  district  around  while 
he  was  but  a  small  boy,  and  that  the  Morris  family  opened  their  house  for  preaching, 
and  were  among  the  chief  supporters  of  the  Hopton  Bank  Circuit.  Samuel  Morris 
began  his  ministry  in  his  native  circuit  in  1K30  and,  what  was  very  unusual  at 
that  time,  spent  the  whole  of  his  probation  upon  it.  Once  more  :  we  find  that 
Thomas  Norman  was  one  of  the  preachers  of  Darlaston  Circuit  in  1823  and  stationed 
in  Ludlow  when  seized  with  mortal  sickness  in  the  spring  of  that  year.  These  small 
pieces  of  evidence  justify  the  conclusion  that,  from  1821  onwards  to  1824,  when 
Hopton  Bank  was  made  a  circuit,  extensive  evangelisation  in  this  wide  district  was 
being  carried  on  under  the  direction  of  Darlaston. 

We  get  an  interesting  side-light  on  the  missionary  activity  of  the  Ludlow  Circuit 
(as  we  will  call  it)  from  the  life-story  of  Elizabeth  Smith,  afterwards  Mrs.  Russell. 
We  see  the  geographical  direction  that  missionary  activity  took,  how  far  it  reached, 
and,  above  all,  how  simply  and  trustfully  it  was  undertaken  and  carried  on. 
Elizabeth  Smith  is  one  of  the  most  picturesque  figures  in  our  early  history.  She 
deservedly  takes  a  high  place  among  the  many  female-workers  of  the  early  decades, 
and  the  reference  to  her  here  is  the  more  in  place  as  we  shall  soon  meet  with  her  hard 
at  work  in  Wiltshire.  She  was  converted  at  the  Christmas  of  1825,  while  on  a  visit 
to  Ludlow,  her  native  place.  She  soon  began  to  exercise  in  prayer  and  to  exhort,  and 
when,  in  the  September  of  182(i,  a  request  came  out  of  Radnorshire  that  a  missionary 
might  be  sent  to  ;i  part  of  the  county  as  yet  unvisited,  Elizabeth  Smith  was  urged  to 
undertake  the  mission,  and,  despite  the  opposition  of  her  friends,  gladly  consented. 
Her  going  forth  was  apostolically  simple.  The  superintendent  put  a  map  of  the  road 
into  her  hand,  and  supplemented  it  with  verbal  directions.  Said  he  :  "  You  will  have 
to  raise  your  own  salary — two  guineas  a  quarter."  "  Oh,  I  did  not  know  I  was  to 
have  anything,''  was  the  answer.  She  travelled  the  whole  of  the  first  day,  and  night 
found  her  on  a  lonely  common — or  rather  "  moss,''  for  it  was  partly  covered  with  water, 
and  there  were  deep  treacherous  peat>holes,  like  miniature  tarns,  all  around.  Fully 
alive  to  the  danger,  she  mounted  a  ridge  and  began  to  sing,  "  Jesu,  Lover  of  my  soul." 
While  still  singing  she  saw  a  light  gradually  coming  towards  her.  Her  singing  had 
been  heard  by  the  residents  of  a  cottage  that  stood  on  the  edge  of  the  common,  and 
one  of  them  bearing  a  lantern  had  come  out  to  learn  what  was  the  meaning  of  this 
unusual  nocturnal  hymn.  Guided  by  her  voice,  he  made  his  way  to  where  she  was 
standing.     She  found  shelter  in  the  cottage  which,  indeed,  proved  to  be  the  very  house 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE.  283 

to  which  she  had  been  directed.     "  Of  course,''  says  the  narrative,  "  they  all  believed 
the  hand  of  the  Lord  was  in  it.'' 

Elizabeth  Smith  met  with  another  similar  experience  while  pioneering  in  "  wild 
Wales."  When  crossing  the  Llandeilo  rocks  overlooking  the  valley  of  the  upper  Wye, 
the  mist  came  on,  and  she  got  off  the  track.  In  a  few  moments  she  would  have  fallen 
over  the  precipice,  had  she  not  given  heed  to  a  premonition  so  real  to  her  that  it 
sounded  like  a  voice  crying  :  "  Stop  !  come  back  ! " 

We  are  not  surprised  to  learn  that  Elizabeth  Smith  "  practised  great  frugality  so  as 
not  to  be  burdensome  to  the  friends,  that  she  won  the  affections  of  the  people,  and 
that  the  Welsh  mission  as  carried  on  by  her  cost  nothing  to  the  Ludlow  Circuit.'' 

Richard  Jukes,  the  poet-preacher,  has  been  more  than  once  referred  to  in  these 
pages.  In  him  we  have  another  link  connecting  Ludlow  with  the  general  history 
of  our  Church;  for  he  was  a  native  of  Ludlow  Circuit,  joined  the  society  in  1825 — 
the  same  year  as  Elizabeth  Smith — and  in  1827  began  his  ministry  of  thirty-two 
years  by  being  appointed  one  of  the  six  preachers  of  Ludlow  Circuit.  When,  in' 
January,  1900,  Mr.  James  Tristram  died  at  the  patriarchal  age  of  91,  there  passed 
away  one  who  had  been  connected  with  Ludlow  Primitive  Methodism  ever  since  the 
day  when  the  missioners  from  Darlaston  held  their  first  service  in  Old  Street.  He  was 
seventy-three  years  a  local  preacher,  and  when  a  young  man  was  engaged  by  his  circuit 
to  mission  Much  Wenlock,  Madeley,  Iron  Bridge,  and  other  places.  From  1886  to 
1896  James  Tristram  was  a  permanent  member  of  Conference,  and  his  descendants 
of  two  generations  are  in  the  ranks  of  the  ministry.  With  but  a  reasonable  degree 
of  prosperity  premised,  it  was  inevitable  that  Ludlow  Circuit  should  be  divided, 
comprising,  as  it  did,  portions  of  four  counties — Shropshire,  Worcestershire,  Hereford, 
and  Radnorshire.  It  was  natural,  too,  that  when  the  division  was  made  it  should 
take  effect  at  the  extremities.  This  is  indeed  what  happened,  and  the  statement 
of  the  fact  summarizes  the  external  history  of  the  circuit  for  a  period  extending 
beyond  1813.  First,  Presteign  was  detached  in  1828,  and  Kidderminster  followed  in 
1832.  Even  then  the  process  of  division  was  only  begun,  for  Presteign  still  included 
Knighton,  which  has  since  been  made  a  circuit ;  and  for  some  years  after  1851  Ludlow 
had  no  less  than  five  branches,  viz.,  Leominster,  Leintwardine,.  Weobley,  Bromyard, 
and  Worcester — all  of  which  are  now  circuits  of  the  West  Midland  District. 


"The  Shropshire  Station,''  and  Peees  Geeen  Circuit 
with  its  Offshoots. 

Things  which  happened  together  must  needs  be  told  one  after  the  other;  so,  at 
the  very  time  Oakengates,  Shrewsbury,  and  Ludlow  were  at  work  in  the  central  and 
Southern  parts  of  Shropshire,  Burland  was  at  work  in  the  Northern  part  of  the  county. 
Thanks  to  the  carefully-kept  Journal  of  Thomas  Bateman,  we  can  follow  the  progress 
of  the  mission  from  October,  1820,  when  "the  work  was  opening  out  in  Wirral  and 
Shropshire,"  to  1826,  when  the  Frees  Green  Circuit  was  made.  Here  also,  just  as  had 
been  the  case  at  Oakengates  and  Shrewsbury,  a  camp  meeting  and  an  imprisonment 
were  outstanding  events  having  important  consequences. 


284 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


At  the  Whitsuntide  of  1822,  news  reached  Burland  that  some  new  converts  were 
arranging  to  hold  a  camp  meeting  at  Waterloo,  between  Wem  and  Whitchurch. 
Dubious  as  to  the  young  people's  ability  for  the  work  in  hand,  and  having  a  whole- 
some dread  of  possible  irregularities,  the  Circuit  Committee  deputed  G.  Taylor,  J.  Smith, 
and  T.  Bateman  to  take  charge  of  the  camp  meeting.  They  rose  early,  for  they  had 
a  long  walk  before  them.  An  unexpected  rain-storm,  for  which  they  were  unprepared, 
led  them  to  turn  into  the  preaching-house  at  Welsh  End,  to  dry  their  clothes  by  the 
peat-fire.  But  the  drying  process  was  slow,  and  time  pressed,  and  they  resumed  their 
journey.     When  they  reached  Waterloo  the  camp  meeting  was  already  in  progress. 


■ 


BAILEY   HEAD,    OSWESTRY. 

They  found  a  Mr.  Humpage  in  charge,  who  gladly  resigned  its  management  into  their 
hands."  All  went  well  until  about  the  middle  of  the  afternoon  service,  when  a  number 
of  young  sparks  rode  up  and  formed  in  line  on  the  outskirts  of  the  crowd,  and  seemed 
disposed  to  mock ;  while  others,  who  had  behaved  decorously  enough  up  to  that  time, 
gave  signs  of  following  their  lead.  The  conduct  of  the  disturbers  was  felt  to  demand 
a  public  reproof,  and  Thomas  Bateman  was  chosen  to  administer  it.  Taking  as  his 
text  the  words  :  "  Suffer  me  that  I  may  speak  ;  and  after  that  I  have  spoken  mock  on, ' 
he  gave  a  pointed  exhortation,  every  word  of  which  seemed  to  find  its  mark.     It  was 

*  "We  conjecture  this  Mr.  Humpage  to  be  the  person  already  mentioned  in  Vol.  i.  p.  520,  in 
connection  with  Darlaston. 


THE   PERIOD   OF    CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE.  285 

noticed  that  the  heads  of   the  youths  soon  drooped;  they  listened  to  the  end,  and 
then  rode  quietly  away. 

This  originally  unauthorised  camp  meeting  had  on  it  the  seal  of  the  divine  approval ; 
for  its  results,  immediate  and  remote,  were  remarkable.  Thirty  years  after,  Thomas 
Bateman  was  riding  through  "Whitchurch  on  his  way  to  open  a  chapel  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Wem,  when  he  met  with  another  horseman  who  also  was  going  to  the  chapel- 
opening.  From  him  he  learned  that  the  faithful  words  spoken  so  long  ago  had  borne 
almost  immediate  fruit  in  contrition  and  amendment  of  life ;  that  the  young  men 
(of  whom  the  horseman  was  one),  as  they  rode  away  from  the  camp-ground,  had  made 
vows — vows  that  time,  and  the  efforts  some  of  them  had  afterwards  made  to  help  on 
the  evangelisation  of  the  country-side,  had  proved  the  sincerity  of. 

Waterloo,-  like  the  battle  of  that  name,  was  one  of  the  "  decisive "  camp  meetings 
of  our  early  history.  It  wonderfully  opened  up  the  way  into  this  part  of  Cheshire 
and  the  borders  of  Wales.  Many  requests  for  the  establishment  of  services  at  places 
around  Ellesmere,  Wem,  and  even  Oswestry  were  urged,  and,  from  this  26th  May,  1822 
increasing  headway  was  made  in  the  district.  In  June  there  had  been  but  four  local 
preachers  in  this  part  of  the  Burland  Circuit,  whereas  in  September  there  were 
thirteen,  besides  some  prayer-leaders.  It  was  now  determined 
that  this  side  of  the  circuit  should  be  constituted  a  branch 
under  the  name  of  "the  Shropshire  Station.''  This  somewhat 
unusual  designation  was  chosen  for  reasons  similar  to  those  which 
often  decide  the  election  of  a  pope.  Strong  rival  claimants 
who  will  not  give  way  for  each  other,  will  sometimes  combine  to 
elect  some  cardinal  whom  no  one  had  thought  of  as  a  possible 
competitor.  Market  Drayton  was  the  more  important  place,  and 
it  had  memories.     But  Market  Drayton  was  at  the  extremity  of 

the  branch.     Prees  Green  was  central,  but in  short,  they  shrank 

from  calling  it  as  yet  "  Prees  Green  Branch,'-  and  fell  back  upon 
the   neutral   "  Shropshire    Mission."      Three    preachers   were    put 
down  to  the  mission,  and  one  of  them — W.  Doughty — was  appointed  to  break  up 
new  ground. 

W.  Doughty  found  his  way  to  Oswestry,  and  on  his  third  visit,  there  occurred  his 
arrest  and  imprisonment  which,  next  to  the  camp  meeting  already  referred  to,  turned  out 
to  the  furtherance  of  the  cause.  On  June  8th,  he  took  his  stand  at  the  Bailey  Head, 
opposite  the  Red  Lion,  and  because  he  saw  neither  law  nor  reason  why  he  should 
desist  from  preaching  when  Brynner,  the  constable,  and  his  assistant  told  him  to  do 
so,  they  carried  him  off,  and  eventually  put  him  in  a  grated  cell  under  the  council 
chamber.  A  good  woman  named  Douglas  brought  him  food,  and  though  the  place  in 
which  he  was  confined  was,  to  use  his  own  words,  "  too  dark  to  write  clear,''  he 
did  indite  "  a  letter  from  prison "  to  his  benefactor  which  after  being  revised  by 
Mr.  Whitridge,  the  kindly  Independent  minister,  was  printed,  and  may  still  be  read. 
The  Independents,  both  minister  and  people,  showed  W.  Doughty  much  kindness. 
Acting  on  the  advice  of  one  of  them — Mr.  Minshall,  a  solicitor — he  refused  to 
walk   to   Shrewsbury   to   serve   his   sentence  of  a  month's  imprisonment,  so  a  tax-cart 


WILLIAM   DOUGHTT. 


286 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHDECH. 


was  provided  to  carry  him  there.  He  told  the  crowd,  gathered  in  Salop  Road  to  see 
him  off,  that  in  a  month's  time  they  would  see  him  coming  down  this  road,  and,  said 
he,  "  I  shall  sing  this  hymn '' — giving  out  a  line  of  it ;  and  he  kept  his  word.  From 
this  time  Primitive  Methodism  gained  a  footing  in  Oswestry.  Even  the  magistrate 
who  had  committed  him  to  prison  granted  him  his  licence,  and  granted  it  with 
kindly  words.  W.  Doughty  is  said  to  have  sought  the  protection  of  a  licence, 
warned  by  the  recent  experience  of  Mr.  Whittaker  of  Knolton  Bryn,  who  had  been 
fined  by  the  magistrates  of  Overton  twenty  pounds  for  preaching  in  an  unlicensed 
house."*  In  those  days  licences,  whether  for  places  or  persons  were  useful,  even 
indispensable  documents.  But,  though  Mr.  Doughty  might  now  enjoy  immunity  from 
persecution  in  Oswestry,  he  occasionally  met  with  it  elsewhere.  For  example,  it  is 
stated  that  when  he  and  J.  Mullock  were  at  Tetchill,  two  men  on  horseback  charged 
them,  and  that  Mr.  Doughty  was  ridden  over,  and  his  head  so  cut  that  the  blood  ran 

through  his  hat.  One  is  glad 
to  learn  that  a  gentleman  of 
public  spirit — Mr.  Hughes 
of  Ellesmere — took  up  the 
case,  and  brought  the  mis- 
creants to  justice.t 

For  a  time  the  services  in 
Oswestry  were  held  in  the 
house  of  Mrs.  Elliot,  who 
also  extended  hospitality  to 
the  preachers.  She  stood  by 
W.  Doughty  at  the  Bailey 
Head  on  the  8th  June,  as 
also  did  her  daughter,  who 
had  a  sweet,  well-trained 
voice  and  greatly  helped  in 
the  singing.  Elizabeth  Elliot 
deserves  to  be  remembered 
alike  for  her  graces  and  her 
fate.  She  should  be  placed 
side   by   side   with   Thomas 

TABLET  IN   OSWESTRY    CHAPEL    BURIAL  GROUND.  J 

Removed  from  old  chapel.  Watson,  and  John  Heaps  of 

Cooper's  Gardens,  as  an  example  of  the  amount  of  work  that  was  done — and  well 
done,  in  the  early  days  by  those  who  were  still  in  their  teens.  Doughty's  imprison- 
ment affected  her  more  than  his  sermon.  She  joined  the  church  and  began  to 
preach.  "She  was,''  we  are  told,  "an  excellent  speaker;  generally  short,  but  very 
powerful.'-     She  was  in  great  request,  very  useful,  much  beloved.     But  her  promising 


*"  Early  Recollections  of  Mr.  William  Doughty,  and  of  Primitive  Methodism  in  Oswestry." 
By  Mr.  Thomas  Minshall.     1.173. 

+  "Career  of  William  Doughty:  his  Preaching,  Punishment,  and  Prison  Thoughts."  Reprinted 
with  additions  from  the  "  Oswestry  Advertiser,"  April  8th,  1863. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE. 


287 


life  had  an  early  and  tragic  close.  On  Saturday,  April  23rd,  1825,  she  started 
for  her  Sunday  appointments  at  Llandreino,  in  Montgomeryshire.  As  she  stepped 
into  the  ferry-boat  at  Pant  (Llanymynech)  she  said,  in  parting  with  a  friend  whose 
hospitality  she  had  shared :  "  Pray  for  me.''  Now,  the  river  Virniew,  swollen  by 
the  rains  from  the  Welsh  mountains,  was  in  angry  flood.  There  was  a  chain  across 
the  river  to  keep  the  cattle  from  straying.  Instead  of  crossing  below  the  chain,  the 
boatman  fatuously  attempted  to  cross  above  stream,  and  the  boat,  being  violently 
thrown  against  the  chain,  capsized,  and  Elizabeth  Elliot  and  the  boatman's  wife 
were  drowned. 

At  the  June  Quarterly  Meeting  of  1825  the  Shropshire  Station  got  itself  made  into 
the  Prees  Green  Circuit.     We  say  "got  itself  made,"  because  the  making  was  done 


PREES  CHURCH. 


against  the  wishes  of  the  parent  circuit,  and  "  rather  prematurely,''  Hugh  Bourne 
thought.  Thus  a  mere  hamlet  came  to  give  its  name  to  a  historic  circuit  which 
embraced  more  than  north  Shropshire,  and  is  now  represented  by  at  least  seven  circuits. 
Hard  by  is  the  village  of  Prees,  with  its  "weather-beaten  church  on  the  hill."  Of  this 
church  Archdeacon  Allen,  the  friend  of  Edward  Fitzgerald  and  Thackeray,  was  vicar 
from  1846  to  1883.  The  vicar  was  on  good  terms  with  his  Primitive  Methodist 
parishioners.  He  took  the  chair  at  the  lectures  Kobert  Key  delivered  on  his  periodical 
visits  to  the  village.  He  co-operated  with  them  in  Temperance  work.  When  some 
one  asked  him  to  preach  in  the  Primitive  Methodist  chapel  he,  in  1874,  wrote  to 
Dean  Stanley  inviting  his  views  on  the  general  question  whether  there  is  any  law 
to  prohibit  a  clergyman  of  the  Established  Church  from  officiating  in  any  meeting-house 


288  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 

in  his  parish;  Archdeacon  Allen  evidently  believing  there  was  no  such  prohibitive 
law.  In  this  letter  to  the  Dean  he  says  :  "  The  Primitive  Methodists  have  done  a  great 
work  at  Prees  in  encouraging  sobriety  and  thrift.  Thirty  years  ago  there  were  ten 
houses  in  Prees  where  intoxicating  liquor  was  sold ;  now  there  are  only  two,  and  in 
only  one  of  these  can  drink  be  consumed  on  the  premises.  This  happy  change 
is  not  due  solely  to  the  Primitive  Methodists,  but  they  have  been  special  labourers 
on  the  side  of  sobriety.''  Who  were  these  "special  labourers"  who  commanded  the 
Archdeacon's  respect  and  willing  co-operation1?  Materials  for  an  answer  are  supplied 
by  Kev.  S.  Horton,  himself  a  native  of  Prees  : — 

"  Two  brothers  of  the  name  of  Powell  got  converted  at  a  camp  meeting.  From 
being  the  ringleaders  in  wickedness  they  became  the  ringleaders  in  righteousness. 
They  were  men  of  marked  ability  and  force  of  character.  William  Powell  prospered 
greatly,  and  became  the  head  of  i  large  firm,  employing  some  hundreds  of  men. 
He  could  neither  read  nor  write  when  he  was  converted  and,  when  he  commenced 
work  as  a  local  preacher,  used  to  recite  his  hymns  and  passages  of  Scripture  from 
memory.  But  he  was  a  force  in  the  neighbourhood  that  made  for  righteousness, 
and  everybody  respected  his  sterling  integrity  and  uprightness  of  character. 
Another  village-reformer  of  a  different  type  was  Samuel  Adams,  a  well-read, 
thoughtful  man,  with  deep  spiritual  insight,  and  a  lover  of  everything  beautiful 
and  true — the  leading  temperance  reformer  of  the  place.  Then  there  was  also 
Joseph  Ikin,  one  that  feared  God  and  eschewed  evil,  whose  descendants  are  among 
the  prominent  supporters  of  Methodism  in  the  neighbourhood  to-day.  These  and 
others,  less  prominent  but  like-minded,  were  the  leaders  of  the  Primitive  Methodist 
Church,  and  were  by  training  and  conviction  Nonconformists  of  the  old  sturdy 
type,  that  resisted  church-rates,  and  would  to-day  undoubtedly,  if  alive,  have  led 
a  campaign  for  'passive  resistance'  against  the  Education  Bill."* 

To  these  names  must  be  added  that  of  Thomas  Eogers,  whose  long  and  honourable 
connection  with  our  Church  was  recognised  by  his  election  as  a  permanent  member 
of  Conference.  He  was  house-carpenter  at  Hawkstone  Park — the  seat  of  the  family 
to  which  belonged  Lord  Hill,  Wellington's  second  in  command,  and  the  eccentric 
Rowland  Hill,  of  old  Surrey  Chapel.  Lord  Hill  of  Hawkstone  both  gave  and  sold 
several  sites  for  the  building  of  chapels  in  this  neighbourhood,  and  it  was  through 
Thomas  Rogers'  influence,  it  is  said,  that  the  first  of  such  sales  was  brought  about. 

Much  was  said  in  a  preceding  part  of  this  History  of  the  "  vision-work "  which 
marked  the  formative  period  of  the  Connexion.  Hugh  Bourne  came  across  it  again 
when  on  a  visit  to  Prees  Green  Circuit  in  October,  182M.  Two  young  women  went 
into  trance  while  he  was  there;  and,  though  he  was  struck  with  "the  dignity  with 
which  the  two  young  persons  conducted  their  cause,''  and  thought  their  singing  when 
in  the  trance  was  "  beyond  anything  he  remembered  to  have  heard,"  yet  the  counsel 
he  gave  the  society  indicates  a  more  critical  attitude  towards  these  doubtful  phenomena 
than  he  had  taken  twenty  years  before.  "  1  gave  them,''  says  he,  "  the  general  advices 
usually  given  in  our  Connexion,  and  which  are:  (1)  Xone  to  go  in  vision  if  they 
can  avoid  it.     (2)  Not  to  lay  too  much  stress  upon  it.     (3)  That  faith,  plain  faith, 

Article  on  "Archdeacon  Allen"  in  Primitive  Methodist  Quarterly  Review,  July,  HKi:'. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE.  289 

which  worketh  by  love,  is  greater  than  these  things;  but  that  if  any  one's  faith  was 
strengthened  by  them,  so  far  it  was  well." 

When  in  1833  Oswestry  was  formed  into  a  circuit,  a  huge  can  tie  of  territory  lying 
to  the  west  was  cut  off  from  Prees  Green.  Still,  Market  Drayton  remained  to  it  as 
a  branch  and,  more  singular  still,  Longton  in  the  Potteries  was  also  a  branch  until 
1836,  when  it  appeared  on  the  stations  for  a  time  as  a  separate  circuit,  with 
Thomas  Russell  as  superintendent.  Market  Drayton  continued  connected  with  Prees 
Green  until  1869,  and  Wem  until  1878. 

Oswestry  and  its  Offshoots. 

Oswestry  Circuit  had  a  good  start.  It  had  a  membership  of  69V,  and  a  good  staff 
of  workers  and  capable  officials.  Its  "lot" — no  narrow  one  to  begin  with,  was  capable 
of  indefinite  enlargement  in  certain  directions ;  for  its  way  lay  open  into  the  Welsh 
counties  of  Flint,  Denbigh,  and  Montgomery.  Its  history  shows  that  it  can  fairly 
claim  to  have  been  a  missionary  circuit.  It  did  cross  the  English  border.  Three 
other  circuits  have  been  formed  from  it  and,  in  addition,  it  undertook  for  some  years 
the  responsibility  of  the  Lisburn  Mission.  Moreover,  it  was  long  known  for  the 
liberal  support  it  gave  to  the  general  missionary  fund. 

In  Oswestry  itself,  a  building  called  the  Cold  Bath  had  been  transformed  into 
a  chapel,  which  was  opened  by  Thomas  Bateman  on  December  12th,  1824.  Soon  after 
this,  W.  Doughty  retired  from  the  ministry  and  began  business  in  one  of  the  houses 
attached  to  the  chapel ;  but  he  still  continued  a  most  active  official,  as  the  plans  and 
documents  of  the  times  clearly  show.  In,  or  about,  1840,  a  new  chapel  was  built 
in  Oswestry,  and  by  this  time  chapels  in  other  parts  of  the  wide  circuit  had  been 
acquired.  Trouble,  however,  arose  in  Oswestry,  which  led  to  a  serious  secession  and 
to  chapel  embarrassments.  The  primary  cause  of  the  trouble  seems  to  have  been 
disagreement  on  a  point  of  doctrine.  Some  young  men  adopted  and  publicly  advanced 
views  on  infant  purity  which  we  take  to  have  been  practically  identical  with  the 
published  views  of  Rev.  Nathan  Rouse,  which  brought  him  under  the  discipline  of  the 
Wesleyan  Methodist  Conference.  It  was  maintained  as  a  direct  corollary  of  John 
Wesley's  doctrine  of  Christian  Perfection  that,  in  the  case  of  children  born  to  parents 
who  are  themselves  entirely  sanctified,  the  entail  of  original  sin  is  broken.  Senior 
officials,  if  they  did  not  understand  or  share  the  views  of  their  juniors,  were  dissatisfied 
with  the  treatment  meted  out  to  these  by  the  local  and  District  courts,  and 
W.  Fitzgerald  and  R.  Thomas,  who  had  been  zealous  co-workers  with  W.  Doughty  from 
the  beginning  seceded,  and  many  others  with  them.*  W.  Doughty  himself  followed 
in  1846  (though  his  family  did  not),  and  the  secessionists  built  a  chapel  for  themselves 
as  an  "  Independent  Methodist "  society.  We  shall  not  seek  to  follow  the  secession 
through  its  subsequent  vicissitudes.  Our  only  reason  for  referring  to  it  at  all  is,  that 
the  crisis  it  created  served  to  bring  out  the  high  qualities'  of  Mr.  Edward  Parry  and 
other  of  the  Oswestry  Circuit  officials ;  and,  secondly,  because  the  secession  itself  is 
one  of  the  very  few  in  our  history  which  are  distinctly  traceable  to  doctrinal  differences. 

*  J.  Whitlaker,  W.  Fitzgerald,  and  R.  Thomas  are  the  first  three  names  on  the  plan  of  1843 
after  the  travelling  preachers. 

T 


■I'M) 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 


MR.    EDWARD   PARRY. 


MRS.    PARRY. 


Our  fathers  were  too  busy  pressing   home  vital  doctrines  to  have   time  or  disposition 
to  dispute  aliout  minor  ones. 

In  wiiting  of   Mr.  Edward  Parry  and  the  special  service  he  rendered  at  this  critical 

time,    we    will   borrow    the    words   of  Mr.   T. 

Ward  Green,  the  present  owner  of  "  The  Wood  " 

estate,  Maesbrook,  and  a  leading  official  of  the 

Llanym  vnech  Circuit : — 

"The  Oswestry  Circuit  of  that  time  was 
an  immense  affair,  more  resembling  in  its 
area  and  agencies  an  ecclesiastical  diocese 
than    a   Methodist    station.     Of   this    im- 
portant and  influential  circuit  Mr.   Parry 
was   for   thirty-seven   years  the   steward, 
and  on  his  retirement  from  office,  his  eo- 
cifHcials  presented  him  with  an  illuminated 
address.    It  is  not  too  much    to   say    that   Primitive    Methodism   in    North- west 
Shropshire  owes  much  of   its   present    position,  and    possibly  its   very  existence, 
to    Mr.  Parry's  continued  devotion  and    sagacity.      A  few  years  after  he   joined 
the   community   a   disruption   of    a    most    threatening    character    took    place   in 
the  Oswestry  society  ;    nearly  all  the  original  members  left  us,  and  the  heavily 
burdened  chapel  was  being  offered  for  sale.     At  this  supreme  crisis  in  our  local 
history,  Mr.  l'arry  came  forward,  consulted  solicitors,  undertook  responsibilities, 
obtained   new   trustees,  raised  fresh  loans  ;    in   short,   saved   the   property  to  the 
Connexion,  and  the  young  cause  from  ruin.     As  far  back  as  1832  he  missioned 
Maesbrook  :  .Morton  and  West  Felton  were  also  opened  by  him,  and  at  each  of 
these   places   we  have  still    progressive  societies.      He  six  times  represented  the 
Tunstall  District   in  Conference,  and  was  delegate  from  the  Oswestry  Circuit  to 
District  meeting  the  same  number  of  times."* 

Mr.  Parry  died  in  1894  in  the 
eighty-seventh  year  of  his  age, 
and  was  interred  in  the  grave- 
yard attached  to  the  Knnckin. 
Heath  Chapel,  which  represents 
the  oldest  interest  in  the 
present  Llanymynech  Circuit. 
His  eldest  fon  is  an  official  of 
long  standing  and  the  present 
Steward  of  Ellesmere  Circuit. 

Reference  is  made  in  the 
above  quotation  to  the  mission- 
ing of  Maesbrook  in  1^32. 
Services  were  at  first  held  in  an 
old  farmhouse  in  the  hamlet 
of  Llwynygo,  ,.. .,  the  Cuckoo'* 
One  of  the  earliest  converts 


ORIGINAL    VKKTINC-HOVSE    AT    51 AESBKOOK,     I.I.ANYMTNECH. 

Grove,  which  forms  part  of  the  Maesbrook  Wood  estate. 


*  Memoir  in  tlie  Alde.-sgate,  1S95. 


THE    PKItfOD    OF    CIKCU1T    PREDOMINANCE    AND    ENTERPRISE. 


291 


was  Mrs.  Ward,  the  widow  of  the  late  owner  of  the  estate,  who  was  married  to 
Mr.  Edward  Parry.  Her  only  son,  Samuel,  attended  the  services  in  the  farmhouse 
and  in  1841,  when  only  eighteen  years  of  age,  became  an  exhorter.  He  celebrated  the 
attainment  of  his  majority  by  giving  a  site  for  the  building  of 
a  Primitive  Methodist  chapel  fronting  the  avenue  to  his  own  house. 
Mr.  Ward  was  a.  well-read  man  and  became  a  popular  local  preacher, 
and  also  took  an  active  interest  in  connexional  movements. 
Iiis  patrimonial  home,  known  as  "The  Wood" — comfortable,  old- 
fashioned,  picturesque — came  to  be  as  well  known  to  the  Primitive 
Methodists  in  the  West,  as  Bavington  Hall  had  been  known  to 
Primitive  Methodists  of  the  Xorth.  Leading  ministers  and 
laymen  constantly  found  their  way  to  this  hospitable  homestead. 
In  the  days  of  the  undivided  Oswestry  Circuit,  it  was  the  custom 
for  one  Quarterly  Meeting  of  the  year  to  be  held  at  Maesbrook, 
in  an  upper  room  of  one  of  the  farm-buildings ;  and  when  we 
are  told  that  the  'squire  and  his  lady  cheerfully  dispensed  hospitality  to  some  two 
hundred  circuit  officials  at  these  times,  we  get  a  striking  illustration  of  that  period  in  our 


THK    Wool)    IIOCSE,    MAESBROOK. 


history  which  we  have  called  the  period  of  circuit  predominance  and  enterprise.  The 
Oswestry  Circuit  Quarterly  Meeting  was  a  more  important  gathering,  so  far  as  numbers 
Avent,  than  the  Conferences  of  the  same  period.  The  fact,  true  of  that  day  but  true 
no  longer,  sharply  contrasts  the  past  with  the  present.     Mr.  Ward's  useful  life  came  to 


29: 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


-^5ML  ANTLIFF.  DP; 


PRESIDENTS   OF   CONFERENCE  FROM    lSfilJ   To    1H74. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE  AND   ENTERPRISE. 


293 


STEPHEN   BATHO. 


RICHARD   MANSELL. 


a  close  in  1896,  and  he,  too,  lies  in  Knockin  Heath  Chapel  graveyard.  It  is  pleasing 
to  know  that  the  interest  Primitive  Methodists  feel  in  regard  to  The  Wood  does  not 
all  belong  to  the  past  as  in  the  case  of  Bavington  Hall,  but  that  its  present  owner, 
Mr.  T.  Ward  Green,  is  carrying  forward  the 
old  traditions,  and  is  his  uncle's  successor 
in  the  stewardship  of  the  Llanymynech 
Circuit.* 

Besides  Mr.  E.  Parry  and  S.  Ward,  J. 
Grindley  of  Knockin  Heath,  and  Stephen 
Batho  and  E.  Mansell  were  faithful  adherents 
of  the  cause  in  the  time  of  crisis  in  the 
Oswestry  Circuit  already  referred  to.  Stephen 
Batho,  who  died  in  1879,  was  a  local  preacher 
forty-five  years.  Richard  Mansell  was  con- 
verted at  Haughton  in  the  Ellesmere  Circuit 
in  1834,  was  a  most  acceptable  local  preacher  for  sixty  years,  and  for  a  considerable 
time  the  Steward  of  the  Oswestry  Circuit. 

It  is  noticeable  that  women  were  as  actively  associated  with  the  beginnings  of  our 
Church  in  North-west  Shropshire  as  they  were  elsewhere.  Thus  it  was  in  the  'Twenties 
at  Knockin  Heath,  where  the  three  daughters  of  a  large  farmer  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Ellesmere,  named  Bickley,  greatly  stimulated  the  cause.  So  also  at  Rhosymedre 
and  the  district  around.  Mary  Owens — said  to  have  belonged  to  the  family  of 
Admiral  Rodney — was  for  many  years  an  active  worker  and  altogether  a  remarkable 
woman.  Married  to  Richard  Williams,  himself  a  local  preacher, 
she  and  her  husband  were  associated  in  usefulness.  In  1827 
they  took  a  house  and  introduced  Primitive  Methodism  into 
Rhosymedre,  and  subsequently  assisted  to  do  the  same  at  Black 
Park.  R.  Williams  was  also  leader  of  a  class  at  Ruabon  for 
sixteen  years.  During  the  forty  years  Mary  Williams  was  a  local 
preacher  she  missioned  much  in  Shropshire  and  the  bordering 
counties,  and  even  found  her  way  to  London  in  1847  to  assist 
John  Ride  in  his  evangelistic  work. 

In  the  Magazine  we  have  an  account  of  the  opening  of  the  first 
chapel  at  Rhosymedre  in  1833  ;  a  larger  one  was  built  in  1842. 
When  the  latter,  through  depression  of  trade  and  removals,  was 
brought  into  financial  straits,  Mary  Williams  got  leave  to  beg  through  the  then  extensive 
circuit  in  order  to  raise  the  sum  required  for  arrears  of  interest  and  save  the  chapel — 
and  she  succeeded  in  her  object.  The  late  John  Evans  did  much  to  consolidate  the 
cause  at  Rhosymedre,  and  Henry  Lloyd  that  of  Black  Park. 

In  its  Jubilee  year — 1873,  Oswestry  Circuit  was  still  undivided,  having  900  members 
and  121  local  preachers.  Soon  after,  its  partition  began  by  the  making  of  Rhosymedre, 
1877 ;  Llanymynech,  1878  ;  and  Ellesmere  Circuit,  1895. 


MAKY    WILLIAMS. 


*  For  Mr.  S.  Ward,  see  an  interesting  article  in  the  Aldersgate 
shire  Village  Yeoman,"  by  Rev.  A.  A.  Birchenough. 


ne  for  1897—''  A  Shrop- 


294 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 


CHAPTER   XXII. 

The  Formation  of  the  Brinkworth  District. 


8.    Brinkworth,  1S2.">.     93.    Haverfordwest,  1S28. 

J.  (Jr.-'ory 


S.  West 

W.  Strongman 

J.  Baker 

S.  Turner 

A.  Slv 

J.  Blarkinorr 

W.    Wl-liT 

89.    Blaenayiln,  182ti. 

J.  Hibbs 

H.  llii^inson 

90.    Witney,  1.S20. 

G.  Appleby 
E.  Lump 


91.    Fromf.  ls-27 

.1.  Prince 
W.  Turner 

J.   Gov 

S.   Price 


92.      PlLHWFLL,     1S27 
J.  Morton 

P.  1!    Bronm 


94.      MoTCoMH,  JJS2S. 

R.  Davies 
\V.   Laimley 
W.  Yapp 


9.">.    Redruth,  1828. 

W  Driffield 
J.  Richards 
S.  Wilshaw 


9(i.    St.  Austell,  1829. 

T.  Ford 

R.  Tuffin 

B.  Tripp 

J.  Clark 

J.  Xoot 

One  to  lie  obtained 


97.     Bvrii,   1829. 
E.  Foizev 


9S.    Stroud.  1830. 

J.  Horsman 
M.  Bugden 

99     Salisbury,  1831. 

J    1'reston 
A    Woodward 

100.    SiiEFroRl'.  1S32. 

J.  Ride 
H.  Haves 
G.  Wallls 
E.  Bishop 
G.  Price 
J.  Coxhead 
\V.  Wiltshire 
J.  Humming 
T.  Jackson 

E.    Wheoldon 

.M.  Moor 
A.  (idiiduin 
S.  Wheeler 

101.     MoKLToX.   1*33. 
J.  Mori-h 

102.     St.  Ives,  1X33. 
H.  Pope 

T.   Meredith 


BuiXKWOlMTI     DisTKK  I    As    IT    FIRST    APPEARED    <>.\'    THE    STVITONS    OF    I  N33, 
WITH    THE    Yl'Ui    (IF    EACH    C'IHCT'It's    FORMATION. 


T  will  conduce  to  clearness  if,  in  this  chapter,  we  confine  ourselves  to  giving 
in  outline  a  sketch  of  those  evangelistic  efforts  of  certain  circuits,  the 
combined  result  of  which  is  seen  in  the  Brinkworth  District  formed  in 
Ls.'i.'-i.  That  result  is  set  forth  above  in  the  transcript  of  the  stations 
of  the,  Brinkworth  District  as  they  first  appeared  in  the  Conference  Minutes ;  the 
onlv  alteration  made  being  the  insertion  of  the  year  when  each  circuit  was  formed,  in 
place  of  the  letters  L.D.  or  T.P.D.  of  the  original  draft — letters  which  have  now  lost 
their  interest  for  us.  Several  distinct  lines  of  agency  converged  in  the  niakiuu 
of    Brinkworth    District.       First,    in    order    of    time,    came    Tunstall    and    Setter's 


THE   PERIOD    OF  CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE    AND   ENTERPRISE. 


295 


joint  "  Western  Mission"  which,  from  Stroud  in  Gloucestershire,  reached  Frome  and 
Bath  in  Somerset,  Motcombe  in  Dorset,  and  Salisbury  in  South  Wilts.  Second, 
Oakengates'  missions  to  the  Forest  of  Dean  and  Hereford,  and  to  Blaenavon  in 
South  Wales.  Third,  Shrewsbury's  mission  to  Brinkworth  in  Wilts,  and  thence  to 
Shefford  or  Newbury  in  Berks.  Fourth,  Hull's  mission  in  Cornwall  represented  by 
St.  Austell  and  St.  Ives.  Lastly,  we  have  Haverfordwest  in  the  Welsh  Peninsula, 
as  the  solitary  outcome  of  the  agency  of  the  abortive  Missionary  Committee  of  1825. 
Brinkworth  District's  fifteen  stations  of  1833  had,  by  1842,  become  thirty,  with 
fifteen  branches  and  missions.  Taking  these  lines  of  agency  in  their  order,  we  have 
first,  then  : 

I. — The  Western  ^Mission. 
In  1823  Tunstall  and  Scotter  jointly  undertook  a  mission  to  the  West  of  England. 
It  almost  looks  as  though  this  enterprise  was  regarded  at  the  time  as  one  of   the 
weightiest  the  Connexion  had  as  yet  entered  upon.     Tunstall  appointed  its  own  special 

committee  of  management,  and  hoped 
that  Scotter  would  do  the  same  : 
other  circuits  were  also  asked  to  co- 
operate. If  we  may  regard  this  as  an 
early  attempt  to  establish  a  General 
Missionary  Committee,  it  was  destined 
I  to  be  unsuccessful.  The  circuits  did 
co-operate,  but  each  co-operated  in  its 
own  way.  James  Bonsor  was  chosen 
to  be  the  leading  missionary.  When 
I  last  we  saw  him  he  was  at  Oaken- 
;ates  and  Shrewsbury.  After  his 
I  imprisonment  at  Shrewsbury  he  fell 
again  into  the  hands  of  the  police  at 
Bridgnorth,  and  spent  a  night  in 
prison.  Next  morning  three  proposals 
were  made  to  him  from  which  to  choose  :  to  promise  that  neither  he  nor  his  colleagues 
would  preach  any  more  in  die  streets  of  Bridgnorth ;  to  find  bail  for  his  appearance 
a!  the  Sessions  ;  or  to  be  sent  to  Shrewsbury  jail.  "  Then,"  said  Bonsor,  "  I  will  go  to 
Shrewsbury;  for  I  was  there  a  few  months  ago  and  they  used  me  extremely  well. 
They  brought  me  eight  breakfasts  to  prison  one  morning,  and  promised  that  they 
would  use  me  well  if  I  came  again.''  Plainly,  nothing  could  be  made  of  such  a  man, 
so,  after  straitly  charging  him  not  to  preach  in  the  streets  again,  the  bailiffs  dismissed 
him  in  a  friendly  way,  shaking  him  by  the  hand,  and  promising  to  protect  him  against 
persecution  when  preaching  in  licensed  houses.  And,  when,  soon  after,  three  of  the 
worst  persecutors  were  brought  before  them,  they  made  good  their  promise. 

This  was  in  November,  1822,  just  before  Oakengates  was  made  a  circuit.  In  1823 
Bonsor  is  Tunstall's  leading  preacher,  and  on  June  7th  he  set  out  on  his  mission,  calling 
at  Worcester  and  Tewkesbury  on  his  way.  At  the  latter  place  he  was  once  more  arrested 
for  preaching  in  the  open  air.      He   was  asked  to  find  bail  but  refused,  and  as  the 


THE  CROSS,    STROUD. 


L".l<j 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 


Dissenting  ministers  of  Tewkesbury  very  handsomely  spoke  up  in  the  court  on  his 
behalf,  and  public  opinion  was  on  his  side,  Bonsor  was,  after  much  discussion,  liberated. 
He  visited  also  some  of  the  villages  round  Gloucester,  but  no  permanent  societies  were 
formed  either  at  Tewkesbury  or  Gloucester  at  this  time.  His  objective  was  the  cloth- 
manufacturing  district  of  the  county,  and  here  he  met  with  an  encouraging  degree  of 
success.  At  Stroud,  tradition  says,  he  preached  at  The  Cross,  and  at  the  close  asked  the 
crowd  if  he  should  come  again,  to  which  the  response  was  a  hearty  "Yes.''  At  many 
villages  in  the  Stroud-water  valley  and  among  the  pleasant  Cotswold  Hills  societies  were 
established.  A  chapel  was  built  at  Chalford,  in  the  Golden  Valley,  as  early  as  1823, 
and  the  theatre  at  Stroud  was  fitted  up  as  a  place  of  worship — a  conversion  which  led 


CHALFOED   I'HAPEL,    BUILT   1K2M. 


the  people  jubilantly  to  sing :  "  Praise  the  Lord !  the  case  is  altered,  now  this  house 
belongs  to  the  Lord." 

In  1824  there  were  five  preachers  on  the  Western  Mission;  three  years  later  the 
direction  of  that  Mission  had  passed  from  Staffordshire  to  Somerset.  We  can  see  what 
happened  when  we  turn  to  the  Conference  stations  for  those  years.  In  1825,  Tunstall 
has  eleven  preachers;  in  1826,  seven;  in  1827,  but  two.  First,  Stroud  Branch  was 
detached  from  Tunstall  and  joined  to  the  adjoining  Brinkworth  Circuit,  on  its  formation 
in  1820.  Owing  to  slackness  of  trade  and  the  poverty  of  the  people,  Stroud  still 
needed  financial  support  and  oversight,  which  Brinkworth  was  ready  to  supply.  In  1826, 
James  Bonsor's  name  disappears  from  the  roll  of  preachers.     There  is  reason  to  believe 


THE    PERIOD    OF    CIRCUIT    PREDOMINANCE    AND    ENTERPRISE.  297 

that  he  had  been  closely  connected  with  Stroud  and  district  to  the  last,  and  hence  his 
retirement  from  the  Connexion  would  tend  to  accentuate  the  temporary  difficulties  of 
the  Stroud  Branch.  In  1830,  Stroud  became  an  independent  but  numerically  feeble 
circuit,  with  101  members,  thirteen  local  preachers,  and  one  chapel.  It  was  never  to 
he  its  lot  to  become  a  great  missionary  circuit  like  its  powerful  neighbour,  Brinkworth. 
In  fact,  the  Stroud-water  valley  was  an  eddy  of  the  particular  stream  of  evangelization 
which  the  Western  Mission  originated.  The  main  volume  of  the  stream  rolled  on. 
Fuome  Circuit,  formed  in  1827,  with  J.  Ride,  T.  Haslam,  and  8.  Spittle  as  its  preachers, 
shows  the  course  taken,  and  the  point  reached,  up  to  that  time.  We  find  W.  Paddison, 
in  1826,  holding  camp  meetings  at  Clandown  and  jS'unney,  and  missioning  various 
places  between  Frome  and  Bristol  in  the  vicinity  of  Wells.  Bristol  itself  was  visited, 
and  a  small  society  formed  which,  however,  soon  became  extinct,  so  that  a  more 
vigorous  and  sustained  attack  had  to  be  made  on  Bristol  a  few  years  later.  In  Bath, 
the  famous  city  of  pleasure,  greater  success  was  gained;  in  1828,  W.  Towler  was 
appointed  to  labour  in  the  city  and  its  immediate  neighbourhood.  Frome's  mission 
to  Glastonbury  in  1843,  which  afterwards  extended  to  Bridgewater,  belongs  to  a  much 
later  period.  Frome's  main  missionary  efforts  lay  in  another  direction  at  the  time  of 
which  we  write.  The  line  of  advance  went  obliquely  forward  into  Dorset,  and  on  to 
the  sea-coast.  Trowbridge,  in  Wilts,  was  visited,  and  Enmore  Green  and  Motcombe, 
and  other  places  round  Shaftesbury,  in  Dorset,  were  successfully  missioned.  Motcombe; 
made  a  circuit  in  1828,  played  an  important  role  in  the  evangelization  of  large  portions 
of  some  of  the  Southern  counties.  One  of  its  missionaries  seems  to  have  been  the 
first  Primitive  Methodist  to  preach  in  Hampshire — this  was  under  a  tree  at  Breamore 
in  1830 — and  also  first  in  the  city  of  Winchester.  But  the  circuit  was  not  strong 
enough  to  sustain  the  required  mission,  and  the  duty  was  afterwards  undertaken  by 
Shefford  Circuit.  Salisbury,  and  some  of  the  villagps  around,  were  visited  by  Motcombe 
preachers  as  early  as  1827.  Regular  preaching  services  were  established  in  the  city,  and 
since  1831,  when  Salisbury  was  made  a  circuit,  it  has  had  a  progressive  history,  which 
may  be  said  to  have  culminated  in  1893  (when  Salisbury  shared  with  Southampton 
the  distinction  of  giving  its  name  to  the  Salisbury  and  Southampton  District) ;  and  the 
neighbouring  circuits  of  Wilton  and  Woodfalls  are  its  offshoots.  But  Motrombe's  most 
distinctive  work  has  been  done  in  Dorset ;  in  the  towns  and  villages  of  that  Wessex 
whose  physical  features  and  people  have  been  illuminated  by  the  genius  of  Thomas  Hardy. 
In  1833,  Motcombe  penetrated  deeper  into  this  interesting  district — reaching  Blandford 
on  the  Stour — Thomas  Hardy's  "Shottsford  Forum."  How  this  was  done  Richard  Davies 
tells  us.     In  1831  he  says — 

"  From  Frome  we  removed  to  the  Motcombe  station,  and  resided  at  Enmore 
Green,  Shaftesbury.  Two  rooms  were  rented  for  our  accommodation,  very  scantily 
furnished,  owing  to  the  poverty  of  the  station.  Its  funds  were  insufficient  for 
the  salaries  of  a  married  man  and  a  single  one,  and  to  remedy  this  state  of  things 
the  Quarterly  Meeting  resolved  to  employ  a  third  preacher  and  to  set  me  at 
liberty  to  mission  some  villages  and  towns  which  lay  round  about  us,  some 
near  and  some  a  long  way  off.  Several  new  societies  were  formed  and  added 
to  the  circuit,  and  worked  afterwards   by  the  three  preachers  alternately  ;  and 


lI'.IK  PRIMITIVE    MKTHOIUST    CHURCH. 

by  this  means  the  funds  were  augmented  ami  the  station  relieved  of  debt." — 
(J/N.  Ai<tol,i,i<ir<ii>liii.) 

Blandford  Branch,  comprising  such  villages  as  Durweston,  Stickland,  etc.,  was  the 
outcome  of  this  mission.  Soon  the  old  seaport  town  of  Poole,  situated  on  its  sp  icious 
harbour,  was  reached,  and  adjoining  villages  evangelized  ;  and  when,  in  IS.'JS,  Poole 
became  a  circuit,  it  joined  hands  with  the  Weymouth  and  Dorchester  Mission,  already 
referred  to.  As  for  fashionable,  far-stretching  Bournemouth,  it  was  not  yet  thought 
of.  Where  it  now  stands  was  then  but  a  heath,  scored  with  chines  running  down  to 
the  sea,  and  covered  with  odorous  pines.  Its  astonishing  development  belongs  to  a  later 
period.  We  have  only  to  add  that,  in  184:2,  Motcombe  had  the  Sherborne  Branch 
and  Stoke  Mission  under  its  charge,  and  that  Blandford  was  made  a  circuit  in  1S80. 

From  this  sketch  of  the  Western  Mission  it  will  be  seen  that,  from  start  to  finish, 
that  Mission  gave  some  six  circuits  to  the  Bristol,  and  seven  to  the  Salisbury  and 
Southampton  Districts.  There  is  not  one  of  these  circuits  which  may  not  feel  itself 
to  be  historically  linked  to  the  powerful  but  distant  Tunstall  and  Scotter  Circuits, 
inasmuch  as  it  has  been  directly  or  indirectly  the  beneficiary  of  the  Western  .Mission. 

II.  —  (')akesoatks'  Missions. 
Blaenavon,  Cwm,  and  Pillawell,  which  came  on  the  stations  severally  in  1825,  '2li, 
and  '27,  form  ..  group  of  circuits  that  were  the  direct  or  indirect  outcome  of  Oakengates 
Circuit's  early  missionary  labours.  The  facts  as  to  the  origin  of  these  three  circuits  show 
that  the  tracts  of  country  they  named,  though  each  had  its  distinctive  physical  and 
industrial  features,  were  so  geographically  contiguous  as  to  be  within  the  walking 
powers  of  the  missionary.  They  were  visited  in  succession  by  the  same  pioneer,  and 
came  on  the  stations  one  after  the  other,  in  the  same  order  in  which  they  were  visited. 
Ever  since  their  formation  these  three  ciicuits  have  had  a  continuous  history,  and  that 
history,  important  as  it  is,  may  be  compressed  into  the  statement  of  the  capital  fact 
that  from  them  the  whole  of  the  present  Smith  Wales  District,  including  also  the 
missions  within  its  area,  has  sprung.  When,  in  188X,  the  South  Wales  District  was 
formed,  it  might  almost  seem  as  though  the  principle  determining  the  grouping  had 
been,  to  include  in  the  new  District  none  but  those  stations  which  derived  from 
Oakengates  through  Blaenavon,  Cwm,  or  Pillawell.  <  )f  course,  no  such  idea  would 
influence  the  minds  of  those  who  were  responsible  for  the  division  made,  yet  the 
coincidence  of  the  arrangement  with  the  actual  couise  of  development  is  striking. 

Blaenavon. 
The  Black  Mountains  that  rise  frowningly  from  the  valley  of  the  Usk  in  Brecknock, 
and  southward  sink  down  slopingly  through  West  Monmouth,  Glamorgan,  and  part 
of  Carmarthen,  form  the  great  South  Wales  coal-field,  covering  the  hill-sides  for  a 
distance  of  000  square  miles — rich,  too,  in  iron  and  copper.  All  this  mineral  wealth 
has  not  only  made  the  hill-country  a  populous  hive  of  industry,  but  accounts  for  the 
remarkable  development  of  the  Bristol  Channel  ports  of  Newport,  Cardiff,  and  Swansea. 
Blaenavon  is  on  the  north-eastern  edge  of  this  district,  where  the  hill-country  of 
Monmouth   rises   from   the   valley  of    the   Usk,    which   river  has   bent   round   to  pass 


THE    PERIOD   OF   CIRCUIT    PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE.  299 

through  Monmouthshire  to  find  its  debouchure  in  the  estuary  of  the  Severn.  It 
was  this  district  which  was  the  scene  of  the  Chartist  rising  of  1839  when,  on 
a  stormy  November  night,  the  miners  and  iron-workers  poured  down  from  the  hills 
into  Newport  and  came  in  conflict  with  the  military.  Some  twenty  persons  lost  their 
lives,  and  Frost,  and  two  other  leaders  of  the  abortive  rising,  were  sentenced  to  be 
"hanged,  drawn,  and  quartered,''  though  the  sentence  was  afterwards  commuted  to 
fourteen  years'  penal  servitude. 

When  Oakengates  sent  a  missionary  to  Blaenavon  it  was  like  succouring  like — one 
coal  and  iron  district  lending  a  helping  hand  to  another.  The  missionary  selected  was 
James  Roles,  whom  we  saw  making  his  entry  into  Liverpool  pelted  with  mud.  He 
found  his  way  to  Blaenavon  just  about  the  time  James  Bonsor  was  beginning  the 
Western  Mission.  Writing  on  August  10th,  1823,  he  reports  that  he  has  already 
preached  at  seven  distinct  places,  and  gathered  seventy  in  church  fellowship,  of  whom 
forty  were  in  Blaenavon.  Another  missionary  has  been  sent  to  assist  him,  and 
applications  for  their  services  are  constantly  being  received  from  various  quarters.  The 
first  chapel  in  South  Wales  is  said  to  have  been  built  at  Beaufort  about  this  time. 

Cwm. 
The  reader  should  be  advertised  that  he  will  not  find  Cwm  in  any  gazetteer  or  on 
any  ordinary  map.  It  is  not  even  a  hamlet,  much  less  a  considerable  village  or  town. 
It  is  only  the  name  of  a  small  estate  with  its  farmhouse  and  flour-mill  attached,  situate 
in  the  parish  of  Cloddock,  in  the  south-west  corner  of  Herefordshire.  The  Cwm  * 
lies  under  the  mountains  which  rise  just  within  the  Welsh  border  and  are  called  the 
Black  Mountains,  from  the  dark  heath  with  which  they  are  covered.  To  get  here 
from  Blaenavon  was  no  difficult  matter.  No  mountainous  barrier  intervenes  between 
Herefordshire  and  central  Monmouthshire,  as  a  glance  at  the  map  will  show.  But 
what  the  particular  reasons  were  which  brought  James  Boles,  or  other  missionary,  into 
this  secluded  corner  are  not  stated  and,  however  easy,  it  is  useless  to  conjecture  what 
those  reasons  were.  What  is  clear  is  that  the  missionary  from  Blaenavon  found  his 
way  here  in  the  early  part  of  1824,  and  met  with  hospitable  entertainment  at  the 
Cwm,  where  Mrs.  Phillips  resided  on  her  own  property  with  her  sons  and  daughters. 
Henry,  one  of  the  sons,  entered  the  ministry  in  1*40,  and  rose  to  be  President  of  the 
Conference  of  1878.  One  of  the  daughters,  too,  joined  the  society  established  at  the 
Cwm  in  1824,  and  in  1830  was  married  to  W.  Towler,  one  of  the  earliest  missionaries 
in  these  parts,  and  who  attained  to  a  position  of  considerable  influence  in  the  Connexion. 
There  were  other  families  of  good  standing  in  the  neighbourhood  who  identified  them- 
selves with  the  cause,  such  as  Messrs.  J.  and  W.  Gilbert.  At  the  adjoining  village 
of  Longtown  there  had  been  a  Methodist  cause,  but  it  had  become  extinct,  so  that  the 
advent  of  Primitive  Methodism  to  the  neighbourhood  was  opportune  and  welcome. 
In  1825,  Thomas  Proctor  entered  upon  his  all  too  brief  but  successful  ministry  by 
being  appointed  to  the  newly-formed  Blaenavon  Circuit,  and  was  at  once  sent  to  extend 
that  circuit's  mission  in  Herefordshire. 

'•*  Cwm  pronounced  Cuow,  is  a  AVelsli  word  signifying  a  dinyle  or  small  valley  in  a.  raDge  of  hills. 
The  word  occurs  frequently  in  the  Saxonised  form  of   Cunil/e. 


300  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 

It  may  be  questioned  whether  in  the  long  roll  of  the  worthies  of  our  Church  we 

have  met  or  shall  meet  with  a  name  that  should  more  absolutely  command  our  respect 

and  reverence  than  should  the  name  of  Thomas  Proctor.     He  was  dominated  by  one 

supreme  passion — to  be  entirely  consecrated  to  God  in  the  work  of  the  ministry.     As 

far  as  we  can  see  that   passion  was  without  any  taint  of  fanaticism.      We  can  observe 

no  trace  of  self-seeking  or  self-glorification ;  no  eccentricities  even  in  speech  or  conduct 

which  jar  and  offend,  while  we  readily  excuse.     And  yet,  although  there  was  a  "sanity 

in  his  faith  and   a  sweetness   in  his  disposition "   which   told    powerfully  upon   some 

of  the   families  of  the  district,  like  that  of  the   Llanwarnes  of  The   Park,  who  were 

brought   to    God   under    his   ministry,   and   did    much    in   their   turn   to   support  and 

extend    the    cause  ;    yet    these    were    exceptions.       They    were    outnumbered    by    the 

ignorant,  the  prejudiced,  and  the  persecuting.     Thomas   Proctor  had   often  to  endure 

privations — jhunger     and     cold,     and     the     brutal     assaults     of     men     who     pelted 

him   with    rotten   eggs   and    sludge   and    stones.     All    this    he    bore    uncomplainingly. 

"  When  he  could  obtain  no  house   for  shelter,  and  no  food  for  money,  he  frequently 

retired  to  the  shade  of  some  bush  or  tree  for  study  and  prayer,  got  what  sustenance 

he  could  from  the  hedges,  and  in  the  evening  went  into  some  neighbouring  village 

to   preach  in  the  open-air,  often   to  endure  insult  and  persecution  in   various  forms.'' 

No   wonder   that    Thomas    Proctor  succeeded;    that    he    laid    the    foundations  of    the 

Cwm  Circuit  deep  and   firm,  or  that  success  was  won  at  the  cost  of  health  and  life. 

For  some  months  ill    18 -J  6    W.  Towler  was  associated  with  him  in   labour,  and  that 

year  Cwm  was  made  a  Circuit.      He  laboured  on  until  October,  1827,  when  he  went 

to  his  home  in  Yorkshire  for  a  short  rest  and  change  ;  but  it  was  to  die.      Mr.  Petty 

who  laboured  in  the  Cwm  Circuit  in   1835,  and  had  abundant  opportunities  to  learn 

the  character  of  his   predecessor  and  the  effect  of  his  ministry,   has  penned  a  noble 

tribute  to  Thomas  Proctor,  of  which  we  cannot  forbear  quoting  a  portion. 

"His  ministerial  course  was  short,  but  it  was  a  glorious  one.     His  talents  were 
respectable,  his   piety   profound,  his  conduct  in  all  things  exemplary.     For  deep 
humility,  quenchless  love  for  the  souls  of  men,  and  intimate  communion  with  God, 
he  may  be  fairly  classed  with  Brainerd,  Kletclier,  and  Bramwell.    It  is  affecting  to 
think  that  a  young  man  of  his  character,  and  of  his  physical  strength,  should  have 
been  brought  to  the  grave  in  a  little  more  than  two  years,  through  the  hardships, 
privations,  and  excessixe  toils  he  endured  in  Herefordshire       He  fell  a  martyr 
to  his  work  ;  but  he  accomplished  a  wondrous  amount  of  good  in  a  little  time, 
and  left  a  name  fragrant  as  ointment  poured   forth.     The  remembrance  of  his 
excellencies  will  long  continue  in  the  families  by  whom  he  was  entertained,  and 
the  report  of  his  exalted  piety  will  descend  to  their  posterity.'' 
In  1S28  a  little  white  chapel  was  built  at  the  Cwm  on  a  site  given  by  Mrs.  Phillips. 
The  modest  building  might  almost  be  regarded  as  an  annexe  of  the  adjoining  farm- 
house, where  the  early  preachers  found  shelter  and  the  comforts  of  a  home.*     Chapel 

*  The  farm  was  also  the  uianse,  as  the  following  extract,  from  the  MS.  journal  of  Richard  Davies 
shows  :  "  In  1828  I  removed  to  the  Cwm  Circuit,  iu  which  I  had  no  home  in  one  sense,  but  two  good 
ones  in  another,  I  was  all  welcome  to  the  comforts  and  care  of  two  families,  in  particular.  The 
one  with  Mrs.  Phillips  of  Cwm  and  her  two  sous  and  three  daughters,  one  of  the  happiest  families 
I  ever  met  with;  the  other  with  Mr.  Llanwarne  of  the  Park,  a  very  kind  and  hospitable  family. 
Hence  I  had  much  to  be  thankful  for." 


THE    PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND    ENTERPRISE.  301 

and  farm — nothing  more,  gave  the  name  to,  and  formed  the  centre  of,  one  of  the  most 
important  circuits  of  Primitive  Methodism  in  the  early  days.     This  is  the  outstanding 
fact  challenging  attention  in  relation  to  the  early  history  of  the  Cwm  Circuit.     In 
1835,  when  John   Petty  was  on  the  circuit,  it  had  its  home-branch,  with  fifty-four 
distinct    preaching-places ;    its   Bromyard    Branch    in    East    Herefordshire,    and    its 
Monmouthshire   Mission ;   these   together   employing   eight   travelling   preachers  and 
having  an  aggregate  membership  of  796.     Nor  does  this  fully  represent  the  missionary 
activity  of  Cwm  Circuit  at  this  time;  for  the  Circuit  Report  of    1836  says:  "We 
have  taken  up  Tewkesbury  and  its  neighbourhood  as  a  mission  "  ;  and  we  learn  from 
Mr.  Petty's  Journal  that  at  the  June  Quarterly  Meeting  of  1836,  "an  order  was  made 
out  for  employing  a  hired  local  as  an  additional  missionary  on  the  Monmouthshire 
mission,  and  to  extend  that  mission  into  Brecknockshire,  and  as  far  as  Brecon,  the 
county  town."  *     Primitive  Methodism  does  not  seem,  however,  to  have  struck  root 
either  in  Gloucestershire  or  Brecknockshire  through  Cwm's  efforts  at  this  time.    Bromyard 
Branch,   as  we  have  seen,   was  afterwards    taken  charge  of   by  Ludlow ;  but  Cwm's 
hold  on  Monmouthshire  was  more  lasting.      Joseph  Grieves  and  Thomas  Llanwarne 
carried  on  a  vigorous  mission  in  the  hilly  and  thinly  populated  district  to  the  east 
of  Abergavenny.     When,  as  the  outcome  of  this  mission,  the  Rose  Cottage  Branch  of 
Cwm  Circuit  was  formed,  we  get  still  another  example  of  a  single  house  becoming  the 
titular  head  of  a  station.     Rose  Cottage  is  now  included  in  the  Abergavenny  mission. 
The  Thomas  Llanwarne  just  mentioned  was  a  man  remarkably  successful  as  an  evangelist. 
He  belonged  to  a  family  that  has  done  much  for  the  extension  and  strengthening  of  the 
Cwm  Circuit  and  its  offshoot — Kingstone,  made  a  circuit  in  1892.     Indeed,  one  cannot 
but  feel  that,  next  to  the  devoted  labours  of  its  pioneer  preachers,  the  healthy  develop- 
ment of  this  rural  circuit  is  largely  attributable  to  the  unusual  number  of  families 
of  standing  and  high  character  that  from  the  beginning  have  been  identified  with  its 
societies.     Besides  the  Gilberts  and  the  Llanwarnes,  yet  another  such  family  was  that 
of  which  Mr.  John  Gwillim  was  the  head.     In  1 830  he  took  up  his  residence  at  the 
Wayne,  and  soon  after  he  and  his  wife  joined  the  society.      Mrs.  Gwillim  was  the 
daughter  of  Mr.  Rogers,  the  vicar  of  Cloddock — a  man  so  liberal  and  evangelical  in 
sentiment  that,  when  he  had  concluded  the  services  in  the  parish-church,  he  would 
frequently  be  found  worshipping  with  the  Primitives  in  their  humble  sanctuary  or  in 
the  open-air.     John  Gwillim,  jun.,  entered  our  ministry  in  1843;  in  1856-9  he  was 
superintendent  of   Cwm  Circuit,   and  he  died  when  stationed  at  Presteign   in   1867. 
He  was,  we  are  told,  "  noted  for  hospitality  and  benevolence.''     William  Gwillim  was 
a  well-read,  intelligent,  public-spirited  yeoman.     He  began  to  preach   in   1832  and  to- 
the  end  of  his  life,  which  extended  to  1896,  lie  rendered  exceptional  service  to  the 
Primitive  Methodism  of  this  part  of  Herefordshire.     Mention  should  be  made,  too, 
of  the  Hancorns  of  Ploughfield,  and  of  Mrs.  Lea  and  her  daughters  of  Yew  Cottage 
near  Madeley,  who  joined  the  Church  about   1830.      At  her  own  expense  Mrs.  Lea 
fitted  up  the  "  Cottage  Chapel "  near  her  own  residence,  as  also  a  chapel  at  Shenmore. 
Of   this  lady  (who  died  in    1855)  and   her  family   Mr.   Petty  writes:   "  This   highly 
respectable  and  pious  family  rendered  eminent  service  to  the  community  in  various- 
*  "  Life  and  Labours  of  Rev.  J.  Petty,"  by  Rev.  James  Macpherson,  p.  i!87. 


.",02  PKIJIITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 

ways,  and  greatly  contributed  to  the  establishment  and  increase  of  the  societies. 
They  patiently  bore  the  sneers  amd  contempt  of  many  in  their  own  rank,  cheerfully 
encountered  persecution  in  different  forms,  and  zealously  endeavoured  to  spread  evan- 
gelical truth  and  Christianity  in  many  of  the  surrounding  villages  and  hamlets.'' 

PlLLAWELL    AND    ITS    (  H'FSHOOTs. 

The  Forest  of  Dean  is  "  an  island  of  the  coal  measures,"  lying  between  the  Severn 
and  the  Wye.  Still  mindful  of  its  fellow  colliers,  Oakengates  sent  James  Holes  to 
this  secluded  corner  of  Gloucestershire  to  seek  them  out,  just  as  before  it  had  sent 
him  to  Blaenavon.  We  find  him  at  Pillawell  in  the  autumn  of  1824,  and  we  may 
reasonably  conjecture  that  he  reached  it  from  Cwm,  where  he  had  been  doing  pioneer 
work.  We  are  furnished  with  no  particulars  of  his  experiences  in  opening  the  mission, 
but  it  is  evident  he  met  with  a  fair  measure  of  success  before  moving  off  to  Pembroke 
Dock;  for  in  December,  182(i,  Pillawell  was  made  <»  circuit.  A  "  circuit "  indeed  it 
was,  being  forty  miles  in  length  and  extending  some  miles  beyond  the  city  of  Hereford, 
which  was  visited  in  August,  1826,  if  not  before. 

From  the  Journal*  of  some  of  the  earliest  preachers  who  travelled  this  circuit  some 
idea  may  be  gained  of  the.  moral  condition  of  the  people  of  the  Forest  at  the  time, 
and  of  the  difficulties  and  privations  that  attended  the  work  of  the  missionaries 
amongst  them.  For  example:  Richard  Davies,  who  was  here  in  1827,  tells  us  that 
there  was  then  not  a  single  Connexional  chapel  in  the  circuit,  but  that  the  first  was 
soon  afterwards  built  at  Lydbrook.  Pillawell  got  its  chapel  in  1835,  at  a  cost  of  £70  ! 
He  notes  the  long  and  toilsome  journeys  and  "the  lack  of  suitable  and  seasonable 
refreshments."  From  what  befell  Edward  J  Jean  I  of  Oakengates,  we  can  see  that 
pioneering  under  such  conditions  exacted  its  penalties.  He  was  one  of  the  first 
missionaries  to  this  district,  and  preached  at  Ross  and  other  places  in  Herefordshire  ; 
but,  like  Thomas  Proctor,  he  was  soon  forced  to  relinquish  his  work  and  to  return  to 
his  native  circuit  broken  in  health. 

On  a  certain  day  in  1S29,  Joseph  M iddleton,  now  the  Pillawell  preacher,  walked 
fourteen  miles  with  the  snow  reaching  to  his  knees  ;  and  yet,  though  the  weather  was 
so  wintry,  it  was  spring  by  the  calendar,  being  April  -Jrd.  "Plainly  a  portent!"  said 
"a  certain  individual  near  Broad  Oak."  "Ood  is  angry  with  the  Ranters  for  using 
His  name  so  frequently  in  their  prayers,  and  so  has  sent  this  unseasonable  weather 
as  a  punishment!"  The  diarist's  blunt  comment  is:  "What  ignorant  stuff!"  But 
probably  this  man,  with  his  warped  and  ill-furnished  mind,  thought  he  was  drawing 
a  pious  and  legitimate  inference  from  the  facts  of  the  universe.  His  sapient  conclusion 
was  of  a  piece  with  the  reasoning  of  those  dwellers  under  the  Black  Mountain  who 
counted  Thomas  Proctor  and  his  followers  as  the  false  prophets  who  were  to  rise  in 
the  latter  days,  with  whom  therefore  it  was  a  self-denying  virtue  to  have  no  manner 
of  dealings,  not  even  monetary  ones.  From  boycotting  the  "  false  prophets  "  to  stoning 
them  was  but  a  short  step. 

If  this  was  how  the  Revival  and  its  agents  were  conceived  of  by  some  in  1829, 
there  were  others  who,  with  or  without  theorising,  set  their  faces  against  it.  It  was 
so  at  Xewnham  on  Severn — a  town  which  for  many  years  had   been  as  notorious  as 


THE    PERIOD    OF    CIRCUIT    PREDOMINANCE    AND    ENTERPRISE. 


:>():; 


Bishops  Castle  for  the  bitterness  of  its  opposition  to  religion  as  evangelically  presented. 
Nevertheless,  Samuel  Morgan  and  Kichard  Morris,  two  local  preachers,  had  the  temerity 
to  attempt  a  service  in  the  streets  of  Xewnhara  on  August  2nd,  1829.  "They  had 
not  unfurled  the  banner  of  the  Cross  more  than  a  quarter  of  an  hour  when  two 
constables  came  up,  and  without  any  authority  from  a  magistrate  put  the  hand-cuffs 
on  Mr.  Morgan  and  led  him,  with  Mr.  Morris,  to  the  stocks,  in  which  they  confined 
tliem  three  hours  and  a  quarter.''     But  though  their  feet  were  fast  in  the  stocks,  their 

tongues  were  free  :  "  they 
faithfully  warned  the  people 
standing  round,  and  like  the 
Apostles  they  prayed  and  sang 
praises  unto  God.""' 

On  another  day,  we  see 
William  Leaker,  the  superin- 
tendent, spending  the  whole  of 
the  day  on  his  knees  in  the 
Forest  of  Dean,  wrestling  with 
Uod  on  behalf  of  the  distressed 
condition  of  the  Pillawell 
society.  It  was  March  21st, 
1832,  the  day  appointed  by 
authority  as  a  day  of  humilia- 
tion, fasting,  and  prayer  on 
account  of  the  ravages  of  the 
cholera  in  the  land.  As  Mr. 
Leaker  rose  from  his  knees  to 
go  to  his  evening's  appointment 
he  rejoiced  in  the  assurance 
of  victory.  The  national  fast- 
day  was  the  day-dawn  to  the 
Pillawell  Circuit  which,  "from 
that  time,  became  an  important 
and  interesting  field  for  Primi- 
.tive  Methodist  enterprise  and 
toil."t 

These  excerpts  from  the  old 
Journal*  throw  their  flash-lights  on  the  early  history  of  what  has  now  come  to 
lie  the  Pillawell,  Hereford,  Monmouth,  Lydbrook,  and  Lydney  Circuits  of  the  South 
Wales  District.  Primitive  Methodism  did  not  win  a  place  and  position  in  Hereford 
without  a  struggle.  Indeed,  for  ..  number  of  years,  it  would  be  truer  to  say  that 
it   had   to   fi»ht  for   its   existence,    rather   than   that   it   flourished.       It   was  eighteen 


OLD   PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    rilAl'EI,,    HEREFORD 


*  \\c\-.  Joseph  Middletou's  MS.  Journal. 
f'Life  and  Labours  of  Rev.  M'm.  Leaker,"  i>.  :«.      We 
from  the  MS   Autobiographii-  Memoranda  of  Ke\    II.  l):ivie-. 


have  also  in  this  connection  quoted 


304 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHUUCH. 


years  before  Hereford  became  the  head  of  a  circuit.  The  society,  numerically  feeble,, 
had  to  do  its  best  to  grow  in  a  niggardly  soil  and  m  the  cold  shade  of  opposition, 
such  as  often  rests  on  Dissent  in  cathedral  cities.  During  this  time  there  was  much 
adverse  sentiment  to  face,  and  frequently  the  roughs  took  advantage  of  it  to  annoy 
the  worshippers  at  their  camp  meetings,  and  even  in  their  own  rented  room  in  Union 
Street.  But,  at  last,  persecution  was  undone  by  its  own  act,  and  better  times  came. 
On  August  26th,  1833,  when  Mr.  J.  Morton,  the  superintendent,  was  holding  an  open- 
air  service  at  the  Friars',  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Quaker  Lane,  he  was  arrested  by 
the  direct  orders  of  an  irascible  magistrate.  Mr.  E.  1'ritchard,  attorney  and  Congre- 
gationalist,  generously  undertook   to  plead   Mr.  Morgan's  cause  before  the  mayor  and 

magistrates  on  the  following 
day ;  while  Mr.  Morgan,  by  his 
firm  though  respectful  attitude 
made  a  powerful  impression 
on  the  crowded  court.  Messrs. 
Pritchard  and  Yapp  stood  bailr 
but  when  the  Sessions  came  no- 
"  true  bill"  was  found  against 
the  street-preacher ;  and,  after 
this,  street  preachings  were  un- 
molested, and  public  sentiment 
became  much  more  favourable. 
The  Circuit  Eeport  of  1836 
speaks  of  the  prosperity  of 
Hereford.  "  The  room  is  now 
generally  crowded ;  there  are 
now  eighty  members,  whereas 
in  1K29  there  had  been  but 
twenty-two.''  Persecution  is 
spoken  of  in  the  past  tense : 
"At  Hereford  our  people  have 
been  persecuted,  and  on  various 
occasions  life  has  been  in  danger. 
Several  attempts  have  been, 
made  to  obtain  redress  but  we  could  not  succeed,  because  many  of  the  higher  powers 
were  utterly  opposed  to  our  cause.  But  now  some  of  the  respectable  inhabitants  are 
favourable  towards  us,  and  use  their  authority  for  our  benefit,  and  some  of  our  most 
violent  persecutors  are  gone  the  way  of  all  flesh,  some  are  transported,  and  some 
converted  to  God."  In  June,  1838,  a  chapel  was  opened  in  the  city,  and  in  1H40 
Hereford  became  the  head  of  a  new  circuit  with  two  travelling  preachers  and  220 
members.  The  present  beautiful  church  in  St.  Owen's  Street  was  erected  in  1880  at 
i  cost  of  £3561,  and  yet  within  twelve  months  after  its  opening  the  building  was 
out  of  debt.  It  has  seatage  for  six  hundred  people,  and  the  schoolroom  behind. 
lias  accommodation  for  three  hundred  scholars. 


PI1IJ[1T1\K    J1KTHODIST  CHDKCH,    JIEHEFOW). 


THE   PERIOD   OF    CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE    AND    ENTEKPRISE. 


:!05 


MR.    T.    IIAVIES 


MRS.    DAVIES. 


The  name  of  Mr.  T.  Davies,  J. P.,  will  always  be  associated  with  the  building  of 
St.  Owen  Street  church,  as  well  as  with  the  early  struggles  of  Primitive  Methodism 
to  secure  a  position  in  the  city  of  Hereford.  Converted  about  1830  he  removed  to 
Hereford,  and  from  that  time  to  his  death  in  1893  he  stood  by  the  cause.  In 
his  case  physical  strength  was  mated  with 
a  resolute  will.  These  qualities  had  their  use  in 
the  early  days  of  persecution.  The  sight  of  his 
stalwart  figure  among  the  little  company  acted 
as  a  wholesome  restraint  on  the  roughest  of  the 
crowd,  some  of  whom  knew  the  power  of  his 
grip.  Mr.  Davies  was  a  builder,  and  prospered 
in  business.  That,  too,  was  of  advantage  to  the 
Church.  To  the  building  fund  of  St.  Owen's  he 
gave  £200  and  Mrs.  Davies  £25.  By  acting  as 
architect  and  superintending  the  erection,  and 
in  various  other  ways,  he  is  said  to  have  saved 
the  trustees  quite  another  £200.  The  confidence  of  the  Connexion  in  him  was 
expressed  by  his  being  appointed  the  first  Treasurer  of  the  African  Missionary  Fund. 
He  was  a  local  preacher  of  considerable  ability,  and  was  the  first  Circuit  Steward 
elected  in  the  Hereford  Circuit,  and  he  held  that  office  until  his  death.  He  was 
highly  esteemed  by  his  fellow-citizens,  and  for  many  years  held  the  position  of 
town  councillor  and  justice  of  the  peace.  His  good  wife  was  "  a  help  meet  for  him.' 
Her  sympathies  were  with  the  poor  and  suffering.  These  were  her  clients,  for  whose 
sake  she  gave  gifts  and  made  personal  sacrifices. 

The  present  Steward  of  the  Hereford  Circuit  is  Mr.  T.  A.  King,  whose  career  otters 
another  example  of  the  success  which  so  often  crowns  persistent  effort.  By  success 
we  do  not  mean  that  which  is  measured  by  mere  material  wealth  :  that  is  common  and 
cheap.  By  success  we  mean  the  fruition — the  return  into  the  man's  own  personality — 
of  his  endeavours  after  self-improvement ;  the  development  of  special  gifts  and  faculties, 
or  the  acquisition  of  knowledge.  In  Mr.  King's  case  irrepressible  instinct  has  made 
him  become  a  craftsman  of  so  superior  a  kind  that  his  work  need 
not  fear  comparison  with  that  of  the  acknowledged  artist.  This 
instinct  for  giving  expression  to  what  the  eye  saw  or  the  mind 
conceived  awoke  early,  and  not  amid  circumstances  that  might 
seem  likely  to  foster  it.  As  a  lad  of  seventeen  he  worked  for 
some  months  in  the  yard  of  a  monumental  mason,  his  employ- 

V'^'tyr^^^        ment  being  to  clean  and  prepare  the  surface  of  the  gravestones. 
4  jfl  But  he  rose  step  by  step.     He  sought  to  supply  the  defects  of 
/^k  a    somewhat    meagre  education,    and    to   become    more    deft    of 
/^S^^M         hand  in   carving,  modelling,  etc.,  until  he  has  made  for  himself 

a  name  and  a  position  as  a  sculptor.  Those  who  have  seen  the 
busts  of  Revs.  C.  T.  Harris  and  J.  Odell  done  by  his  chisel,  will  hardly  have  been  able 
to  stifle  the  wish  that  he  may  yet  live  to  give  us  the  "counterfeit  presentments" 
in  marble  of  the  founders  of  that  Church  to  which  Mr.  King  by  birth  and  life-long 
attachment  belongs.  u 


300  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 

Monmouth,  another  county-town,  was  missioned  in  the  early  part  of  1835,  under 
favourable  conditions.  Mr.  Bell,  supervisor,  who  had  been  a  local  preacher  at 
Louth,  gave  a  hearty  welcome  to  his  co-religionists,  and  by  his  zealous  labours  and 
liberality  greatly  assisted  in  establishing  and  strengthening  the  Monmouth  society 
which,  by  March,  1836,  numbered  forty  members.  After  the  separation  of  Hereford 
from  Pillawell,  Monmouth  became  the  residence  of  the  superintendent.  In  1869  we 
find  "Monmouth  and  Lydbrook  Circuit,''  and  in  1891  each  of  these  towns  became  the 
head  of  a  station,  as  in  1880  Lydney  already  had  become. 

The  Pembrokeshire  Mission'. 

Once  more,  and  finally,  we  follow  the  stirring  James  Roles — this  time  to  Pembroke- 
shire, where  he  had  gone,  probably  at  the  beginning  of  1825,  to  establish  a  mission  as 
the  agent  of  Oakengates  Circuit.  Becoming  somewhat  embarrassed,  Oakengates  offered 
its  mission  in  the  Finisterre  of  Wales  to  the  General  Missionary  Committee  which  had 
been  appointed  by  the  Conference  of  1825.  The  offer  was  accepted,  and  in  November 
of  the  same  year,  James  Roles  sent  a  roseate  report  of  the  prospects  of  the  mission  to 
the  Committee.  Twelve  places  had  been  opened,  and  ten  or  a  dozen  other  places 
wished  to  have  preaching  established  at  them,  etc.  The  same  sanguine  note  is  clearly 
perceptible  in  the  Secretary's  endorsement  of  the  report :  "  This  letter,''  writes  Hugh 
Bourne,  "  contains  an  account  of  the  first-fruits  of  the  labours  of  the  General  Missionary 
Committee  of  the  Primitive  Methodist  Connexion.  The  opening  of  their  missionary 
labours  the  Lord  has  thus  crowned  with  success.'  At  the  bottom  of  the  stations  of 
1826  we  still  have,  "Pembroke  Mission  :  J.  Roles";  but,  even  before  the  words  were 
printed,  the  fair  prospects  had  been  dashed  and  the  mission  become  like  a  wilted 
flower.  It  was  even  in  contemplation  to  withdraw  the  preachers  and  relinquish  the 
mission  but,  ultimately,  it  was  decided  to  continue  one  man  on  the  ground  and  see 
what  could  be  done.  A  youth  between  eighteen  and  nineteen  years  of  age  was  selected 
to  go  to  a  station  which  was  "in  a  manner  a  complete  wreck.''  When  John  Petty,  for 
it  was  he,  appeared  before  the  Committee  composed  of  men  with  whom  we  are  already 
familiar — Hugh  and  James  Bourne,  James  and  Thomas  Steele,  James  Nixon,  John 
Hancock,  C.  J.  Abraham,  John  Andrew  (sen.  and  jun.),  W.  Barker,  and  Joseph  Bourne — 
his  youthful  appearance  excited  grave  misgivings.  But  James  Bourne  had  full  confidence 
in  the  young  man,  and  he  was  sent  to  Haverfordwest,  arriving  on  July  26th,  1826. 
He  found  two  local  preachers,  eleven  members,  and  one  on  trial ! 

The  moving  story  of  John  Petty 's  two  years'  labours  in  Pembrokeshire  deserves  to 
be  placed  side  by  side  with  that  of  Thomas  Proctor  in  Herefordshire.  He,  too,  had 
his  full  share  of  long  journeys,  toils,  and  privations  ;  and,  though  he  did  not  suffer 
so  much  direct  persecution,  yet,  when  we  remember  his  youth  and  the  comparative 
isolation  and  loneliness  of  his  lot,  from  which  he  would  not  escape  even  when  the 
chance  was  afforded  him,  we  are  presented  with  an  example  of  moral  heroism  which 
cannot  fail  to  be  inspiring  to  those,  especially,  whose  situation  at  all  resembles  his  in 
that  they  are  striplings  called  to  "  endure  hardness  "  that  might  tax  seasoned  veterans, 
and  yet  who  have  to  endure  it  alone.  It  is  this  aspect  of  the  young  missionary's 
Pembrokeshire  labours  which  is  new  to  us  and  which  we  would  fasten  upon.  We  have 
had,  and  shall  have  again  in  plenty,  instances  of  missionaries   "  roughing  it  "  and,  so 


THE   PERIOD   OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE    AND   ENTERPRISE.  307 

to  speak,  "  fighting  with  beasts  at  Ephesus "  ;  but  the  sight  of  a  mere  youth  in  his 
teens  treading  his  own   special  winepress  alone,  and  coming  out  at  the  end  of  the 
ordeal,  chastened,  strengthened,  and  victorious,  is  a  picture  of  our  own  early  times 
that  has  its  own  distinctive  quality  and  value.     In  Pembrokeshire  John  Petty  had 
no  colleague,  few  fellow-labourers,  and  not  many  congenial  friends.     The  moral  ground 
was  sterile,  and  the  progress  made  for  a  time  almost  inappreciably  slow ;  yet,  when  in 
January,  1827,  the  General  Missionary  Committee  declared  it  had  no  funds,  that  the 
mission  must  no  longer  look  to  it  for  support,  and  had  better  give  up  its  preacher,  use 
the  mission's  money  to  pay  the  rents  of  the  rooms,  and  hope  ere  long  to  be  received 
as  a  branch  by  Cwm  or  Blaenavon  Circuit,  the  youth  who  was  more  than  three  hundred 
miles  from  home  and  friends,  instead  of  welcoming  the  prospect  of  gaining  a  more 
congenial  sphere,  pleaded  to  be  allowed  to  remain  on  the  mission  at  his  own  risk  until 
Conference  :  nay,  to  be  permitted  to  remain  a  year  beyond  that  Conference  if  there 
were  no  guarantee  that  in  1827  a  preacher  should  step  into  his  place.     His  plea  was 
heard.    He  was  allowed  to  stay  with  his  own  poor  people ;  to  sink  or  swim,  as  the  case 
might  be.     And  he  did  stay  until  1828,  and  did  not  sink,  or  the  mission  either.     Credit 
must  be  given  to  the  impecunious  Committee  that  it  let  John  Petty  have  his  way,  and 
afterwards  handsomely  acknowledged  that  "  he  had  fully  brought  up  the  work,"  and 
"  that  his  being  appointed  to  Haverfordwest  had  made  him  expert  in  the  office  of 
superintendent."*     The  truth  is,  the  time  to  establish  a  central  or  general  Missionary 
Committee  had  not  come,  and  the  attempt  made,  being  premature,  was  comparatively 
fruitless.      What  the   "first-fruits"  were  we  have  seen-   and,  though  certain   circuits 
might  be  subsidised,  yet  the  first  General  Missionary  Committee  has  left  no  distinctive 
mark  on  our  history.     In  1828  John  Petty  left  for  Brinkworth — where  we  shall  soon 
follow  him — and  Haverfordwest  was  declared  a  circuit. 

This  narrative  will  have  shown  that  Haverfordwest  (now  Pembroke  Dock)  can  claim 
to  be  the  Connexion's  premier  mission  station.  It  has  passed  through  many  vicissitudes 
but  it  is  a  mission  station  still.  It  was  a  circuit  until  1836  when,  presumably,  it  was 
taken  under  the  wing  of  Blaenavon  or  Swansea.  Some  few  years  after,  it  took  circuit- 
rank  a«-ain,  but  only  to  be  received  in  1851  by  the  General  Missionary  Committee. 
It  must  be  admitted  that  in  the  county  of  Pembroke  the  Connexion  has  lost  ground ; 
that  fewer  places  are  preached  at  in  1905  than  in  1828;  that  chapels  have  been  lost, 
and  Haverfordwest  itself  has  been  abandoned.  Our  business  is  to  record  facts  rather 
than  to  express  opinions ;  but  it  does  seem  that,  so  far  as  the  Peninsula  of  Wales  is 
concerned,  the  Connexion  ought  either  to  have  attempted  less  than  it  has  attempted 
or  what  would  have  been  better  still,  that  it  should  have  attempted  much  more. 
Either  it  should  have  relinquished  the  Peninsula  altogether,  or  have  made  a  vigorous 
effort  to  establish  a  chain  of  missions  irom  Swansea  to  Milford,  including  Carmarthen, 
Llanelly,  and  Tenby. 

The  Development  of  South  Wales  District. 

For    some    years    Blaenavon    was    the    only    circuit   in    the    Southern    part    of    the 
Principality,  and  it  may  fairly  be  regarded  as  the  "procreant  cradle"  of  the  South 

*  The  Committee's  Letter  is  given  in  Vol.  i.  p.  344.  U  2 


308 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 


Wales  District.  When  Cwm  was  parted  with,  its  work  lay  chiefly  among  the  hills 
and  valleys  of  Monmouthshire.  With  the  possible  exception  of  Newport,  it  had 
not  yet  found  its  way  to  the  sea-coast, — to  the  growing  towns  at  the  mouths  of  the 
rivers  that  were  the  ports  of  shipment  for  the  vast  mineral  wealth  of  the  mountainous 
hinterland.  But  in  1834  it  turned  its  attention  to  Swansea.  At  the  beginning  of  that 
year,  in  response  to  an  application  for  a  missionary,  Joseph  Hibbs,  the  superintendent, 
went  down  to  Swansea  to  prospect,  and  found  "  a  great  part  of  the  town  much  neglected 
for  want  of  open-air  preaching  and  family  visiting.'-  Eeporting  to  his  Committee  on 
his  return,  Henry  Higginson  was  instructed  to  open  a  mission  at  Swansea.  He  had 
entered  the  ministry  in  1833,  just  after  having  given  proof  of  his  fitness  for  the  work 
by  his  remarkable  labours  in  Darlaston  Circuit  during  the  visitation  of  cholera,  so  that 
Blaenavon  was  his  first  station.  He  walked  all  the  way  to  Swansea,  arriving  there  on 
the  third  day,  and  was  kindly  received  by  Captain  Alder,  whose  wife  had  been  a 
member  of  the  South  Shields  society.  He  began  his  labours  on  March  16th,  1834, 
by  preaching  on  the  Pier  Head  where,  as  he  reports,  "  the  nobility  and  gentry  are 
often  seen  promenading.''  Some  had  told  him  "  they  thought  the  back  streets  would  be 
best.  I  said,  I  had  been  there  long  enough.  I  would  try  what  the  front  would  do.'' 
Henry  Higginson  was  not  the  man  to  take  a  back  street  or  seat  if  a  front  one  was 
accessible.  He  was  but  two  months  in  Swansea  and  its  neighbourhood,  but  in  that 
time  he  seems  to  have  made  a  considerable  impression  by  dint  of  hard  work  and 
a  striking  personality.  He  was  tall ;  of  commanding  appearance  ;  with  a  good  address. 
He  had  received  an  education  above  the  average,  and  yet  that  educational  superiority 
formed  no  barrier  to  his  mingling  freely  and  unaffectedly  with  the  people.  Moreover, 
there  was  a  dash  of  originality  and  even  eccentricity  about  him  which  in  itself  was 
taking ;  and  as  this  became  even  more  strongly  marked  as  he  grew  older,  it  is  no 
wonder  that  tradition — to  which  a  striking  personality  dashed  with  eccentricity  always 

appeals — still  loves  to  talk  of  his  doings  and  sayings.  The 
young  missionary  seems  to  have  been  treated  with  respect 
and  kindness  by  all  and  sundrj'.  He  had  sometimes 
a  thousand  people  at  his  services  on  the  Pier.  '  All 
denominations  flocked  to  hear  him."  During  his  two 
months'  mission  he  visited  the  Mumbles,  Merton,  Llanmad- 
dock,  and  other  places,  and  left  44  members,  thirty  of 
them  being  at  Swansea  and  ten  at  the  Mumbles. 
The  superintendent,  Joseph  Hibbs,  now  took  his  col- 
league's place  and  carried  on  the  work,  spending  much 
labour  upon  family  visitation,  which,  he  observes,  was 
something  new  in  Swansea.  He,  too,  was  generally 
cordially  received,  though  he  met  with  a  cold  reception  at 
Xeath  and  found  it  "a  hard  place."  On  July  6th, 
a  room,  capable  of  seating  300  people,  was  opened  by 
E.  Foizey  of  Bath,  and  J.  Prosser  of  Presteign.  Swansea 
soon  became  a  Circuit  (1835),  and  Joseph  Hibbs  was  its  first  superintendent.  In 
1836  chapels  were  erected  at  Swansea  and  Llanmaddock,  the  one  at  Swansea  serving 


THE    PERIOD    OF    CIRCUIT    PREDOMINANCE    A.ND    ENTERPRISE 


309 


occurring    in    and 


ALD.    J.    KAMKmr.E.    J.P. 


until  1860,  by  which  time  it  had  evidently  come  to  be  considered  as  behind  the  times; 
for  m  the  Mwjazine  report  of  the  chapel  opening,  George  Dobson  quaintly  remarks 
of  the  old  chapel :  "  The  up-tendencies  of  the  times  and  the  lowering  sanitary  changes 
around  its  immediate  locality,  will  not  admit  the  application 
of  the  Scripture  precedent  and  commendation — 'Beautiful  for 
situation,'  etc.'' 

Progress  in  this  rapidly  developing  district  was  marked  by  the 
formation  in  1841  of  the  Tredegar  Circuit  from  Blaenavon — or 
rather  from  Pontypool  Circuit,  as  it  now  came  to  be  called.  This 
arrangement  was  tantamount  to  a  partition  of  the  hilly  hinterland 
already  referred  to.  In  1851  we  find  Tredegar  Circuit  still 
including,  amongst  other  places,  Merthyr  and  Dowlais  in  Glamorgan, 
Brynmawr  on  the  borders  of  Breckon,  as  well  as  Ehymney,  Ebbw 
Yale  and  Blackwood  in  Monmouth.  Some  of  these  places  are  now 
themselves  the  heads  of  circuits. 

It  seems  singular  that  Cardiff — whose  progress  in  recent  years 
is  said  to  have  been  the  most  remarkable  of  any  town  in  the  kingdom — was  not  seriously 
attempted  by  the  Connexion  until  1857,  when  it  was  missioned  by  Pontypool  Circuit 
again  under  the  superintendency  of  Joseph  Hibbs.  Afterwards  Cardiff  came  under  the 
care  of  the  General  Missionary  Committee  and,  in  1879,  it  was  made  a  circuit.  Newport 
with  Caerleon  and  Bisca  had  already,  in  1872,  been  detached  from  Pontypool  to  form 
a  new  circuit.  During  the  superintendency  of  P.  Maddocks,  Canton  and  Mount 
Tabor  chapels  were  erected,  now  the  heads,  respectively,  of  Cardiff  First  and  Second. 
Alderman  Joseph  Ramsdale,  J. P.,  the  Steward  of  Cardiff  Second  has,  ever  since  he 
came  to  the  town  in  1870,  rendered  eminent  service  to  Primitive  Methodism  in  the 
town  and  district.  Here  also  resides  Eev.  J.  P.  Bellingham,  who  entered  the  ministry  in 
1852  and  retired  in  1904.  Mr.  Bellingham  merits  record  here,  not  merely  because 
of  his  long  and  fruitful  ministry,  but  also  because  of  the  interest  he  has  taken  in 
scientific  questions  in  their  bearing  on  Christianity,  and  because  his  pen  has  been 
freely  used  in  the  service  of  our  Connexional  literature.  In  1904  Mr.  Bellingham 
was  appointed  a  permanent  member  of  Conference. 

In  1885  Aberavon  and  Briton  Ferry  wore  taken  from  Swansea  and 
formed  into  a  mission-station.  Abergavenny,  too,  formerly  a  branch 
of  Pontypool,  has  also  become  a  mission  station.  But  there  has 
been  loss  as  well  as  gain  in  South  Wales.  Carmarthen  was  made 
..  circuit,  with  Joseph  Hibbs  as  its  superintendent,  in  1839,  and 
in  1842  we  had  a  chapel  there  and  143  members.  In  1851  we 
had  connexionally  ceased  to  be,  and  now  we  have  no  foothold 
whatever  in  the  county  of  Caimarthen,  and  Pembroke  Bock  Mission 
is  our  solitary  outpost  in  the  peninsula  of  West  Wales. 

It  will  have  been  noticfd  how  frequently  the  name  of  Joseph 
Hibbs  has  recurred  in  writing  of  South  Wales.  His  ministry  was 
larn-ely  bound  up  with  South  Wales,  and  the  course  of  that  ministry 
singularly  followed  the  lines  of  its  connexional  development.     Appropriately  enough, 


EEV.  J.  P.  BELLING     t'AM 


M10 


PRIMITIVE    MKTHODIST    CHUKCH. 


he  began  his  labours  in  Oakengates  (Wrockwardine  Wood)  Circuit.  The  next 
four  years  he  spent  in  Blaenavon  ;  the  following  four  in  Swansea  ;  and  then  three 
more  were  spent  in  Carmarthen.  After  this  he  had  two  other  terms  of  service 
in  Pontypool  and  one  in  Tredegar.  As  we  have  seen,  he  had  much  to  do  with  the 
missioning  of  Swansea,  of  Carmarthen,  and  Cardiff.  With  the  exception  of  a  term 
in  Truro  and  another  in  Bristol,  the  whole  of  his  forty  years' 
ministry  was  spent  in  Blaenavon,  or  in  circuits  that  grew  out  of 
it,  largely  under  his  direction.  No  wonder  that  Joseph  Hibbs 
was  spoken  of  as  "  The  Bishop  of  South  Wales." 

In  turning  from  Blaenavon  or  Pontypool  we  give  portraits 
of  Isaac  Prosser  and  Alderman  Henry  Parfitt,  J. P.  The  former 
joined  the  society  at  Blaenavon  about  18-~>7,  and  as  Class-leader, 
Circuit  Steward,  Trust  Treasurer,  etc.,  rendered  inestimable  service 
to  the  society  especially  in  its  time  of  trial  and  adversity.  He 
was  an  overman  in  the  mine,  and  met  his  death  by  the  fall 
of  a  mass  of  rock,  September  27th,  1898.  Alderman  Henry 
Parfitt,  J.  P.,  was  a  good  friend  and  adherent  of  our  Church  in 
Pontypool — a  staunch  Nonconformist,  a  keen  politician,  and  a  devoted  worker  for  the 
public  good.     He  also  died  in  1S9N. 


ISAAC    PBOSSKK. 


III. — Shrewsbury's  Wiltshire  Mission. 
Brinkworth. 
In   the  autumn   of    lSi'-l    Samuel    Heath,    one   of    the   five    preachers   stationed    to 
Shrewsbury  by  the  preceding  Conference,  took  his  way  South  in  order  to  open  a  new 
mission.     He  had  volunteered  for  this  work   because  the  circuit,  having  relinquished 
a  mission  in  Wales,  had  now  a  preacher  to  spare.      At  Cirencester  he  was  stoned  and 
otherwise  ill-treated,  although  several    persons  are  said   to  have  received  good  under 
his  preaching  who  afterwards  joined  other  Churches.     Some  years  had  to  elapse  before 
the  Connexion  got  a  permanent  footing  in  Cirencester,  and  when  at  last  this  was  done, 
it  was  through  the  agency  of  the  very  circuit  whose  founder  was  Samuel  Heath,  the 
rejected  of  Cirencester.     So  the  missionary  passed  over  from  Gloucestershire  into  the 
adjoining  county  of  Wilts.     Now,  whether  S.  Heath  had  received 
general  instructions  to  seek  to  establish  a  mission  that  would  be 
in  alignment  with  the  one  already  recently  established,  we  cannot 
be  sure;    but  this,   as  things   turned    out,    was    what  really  took 
place,  so  that  Shrewsbury's   .Mission  is  quite  properly  spoken  of 
in  the   Mwjudne  as    having   been    "  into  the  parts  bordering  on 
the    Tunstall  Circuit's    Western    Mission.''      Instructions    or    no 
instructions,  Samuel  Heath  felt  it  was  plainly  the  will  of  heaven 
he  should  open  his  commission  here.      It   did   not  take  long  to 
convince  him  that  he  might  travel  far  before  he  found  any  piece 
of  English  soil  that  stood  more  urgently  in  need  of  the  preach- 
ing of    the  Gospel  in  all  plainness    and   directness  than   did  the 
northern  part  of  Wilts  in  which  he  now  found  himself.     And  yet  we  are  told  that, 


AT.l).    H.  PARFITT,   J  P. 


THE    PERIOD    OF    CIRCUIT    PREDOMINANCE    AND    ENTERPRISE. 


311 


some  seventy-five  years  before,  John  Cennick,  the  hymn-writer  and  former  friend 
of  Charles  Wesley  and  Whitefield,  had  not  only  preached  in  a  chapel  in  the  parish 
of  Brinkworth,  but  had  extensively  evangelised  the  surrounding  district,  so  as  even 
to  acquire  the  name  of  the  "  Apostle  of  North  Wilts.''  But  three  quarters  of 
a  century  afterwards  there  was  very  little  to  show  for  all  this  evangelistic  effort. 
"  The  spiritual  results  of  Cennick's  teaching  had,  to  human  observation,  almost  wholly 
disappeared.  No  doubt  the  moral  atmosphere  retained  some  of  the  evangelical 
sentiment  with  which  it  was  once  so  strongly  charged,  but  the  power  and  spirit  and 
activities  of  his  propaganda  had  passed  away.''  His  hold  upon  Brinkworth  may  at 
one  time  have  been  influential,  but  "  the  nature  of  his  church  organisation  failed  to 
invest  it  with  permanence."* 

A  little  later  on  we  shall  have  to 
consider  more  fully  the  social  and 
moral  condition  of  the  people  of  the 
i  Southern  counties,  especially  in  its 
bearing  on  the  severe  and  widespread 
persecution  to  which  the  pioneers  and 
makers  of  the  Brinkworth  District 
were  exposed.  But  there  is  one 
incident  in  which  Samuel  Heath 
figures  we  will  refer  to,  because  it 
took  place  at  Wootton  Bassett  (now 
in  the  Brinkworth  Circuit)  and  brings 
before  us  the  contest  called  back- 
swording — once  a  favourite  diversion 
at  the  revels  held  on  feast  and  fair- 
days  in  Wilts  and  Berks.  Thomas 
Hughes  shall  tell  us  how  the  "  noble 
old  game  of  back-s wording,''  as  he  calls 
it,  is  played.  Despite  the  name,  no 
sword  is  used  by  the  contestants : 
"The  weapon  is  a  good  stout  ash- 
stick  [with  a  large  basket  handle, 
heavier  and  somewhat  shorter  than  a 
common  single-stick.  The  players  are 
called  '  old  gamesters,' — why,  I  cannot 
tell  you, — and  their  object  is  simply 
to  break  one  another's  heads:  for  the  moment  that  blood  runs  an  inch  anywhere 
above   the  eyebrow,   the  old    gamester   to  whom  it  belongs    is  beaten,   and   has   to 


OLD  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHAPEL  AND   MINISTER  S 
HOUSE.    SHEPFORD,    BERKS. 


*  The  quotations  are  from  "Pioneer  Work  in  the  Old  Brinkworth  District,  being  Memorials 
of  Samuel  and  Ann  Turner,'  a  series  of  valuable  articles  which  ran  through  the  Aldersgate  Magazine 
for  1900,  from  the  pen  of  Mr.  Turner  of  Xewbury. 


312  PKIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHUliCII. 

stop."*  Though  the  genial  author  of  "Tom  Brown's  School  Days  '  laments  that  "  the 
noble  old  game  is  sadly  gone  out  of  late,"  and  has  done  his  best  to  glorify  and  rehabilitate 
it — for  all  that,  the  sport  was  quite  as  brutal  in  its  way  as  the  football  match  played  at 
Preston  on  Maudlin  Sunday,  and  quite  as  significant  of  the  rough  manners  of  the  people. 
S.  Heath  chose  to  take  his  stand  and  preach  in  the  main  street  of  Wootton  Bassett 
just  at  the  time  when  the  crowd  were  gathered  to  witness  a  back-swording  contest. 
He  went  up  and  down  the  country  preaching  from  one  favourite  text  which  spoke  of 
judgment  to  come;  nor  did  he  think  it  needful,  for  prudential  reasons,  to  change 
this  text  for  a  more  conciliatory  one,  now  that  he  was  going  into  the  midst  of  Vanity 
Fair  at  an  hour  when  the  people  were  excited  by  witnessing  a  gladiatorial  combat  on 
a  small  scale.  The  missionary  began  his  service,  but  before  long  he  was  haled  before 
the  local  authority  (Mr.  Petty  says  it  was  the  mayor)  for  unwarrantably  interfering 
with  the  due  order  ami  observances  of  the  Fair.  After  some  altercation  he  was  let 
go,  and  promptly  returned  to  the  same  place  to  finish  his  sermon.  Xor  did  he  preach 
in  vain.  Many  returned  to  their  homes  in  the  surrounding  villages  under  conviction 
of  sin,  and  some  of  the  inhabitants  of  Wootton  Bassett  never  forgot  that  day's  service. 
Soon  afterwards  a  long  room,  which  had  been  used  as  a  ball-room  in  connection  with 
a  public-house,  was  taken  on  rent,  and  for  some  time  used  as  a  place  of  worship. 
Of  course  the  worshippers  for  a  time  suffered  from  the  usual  annoyances  ;  but  the 
society  continued  to  prosper,  and  it  is  recorded  that  "  the  cruel  and  barbarous  practice 
of  back-swording  was  entirely  abolished  in  the  town.''  At  Biinkwortb,  a  village  mid- 
way between  Wootton  Bassett  and  Malmesbury,  a  strong  society  was  established,  and 
a  great  moral  change  wrought  in  the  face  of  considerable  persecution,  which  the 
clergyman-magistrate  was  averse  from  punishing  as  it  deserved.  Malmesbury, 
however,  was  easily  first  in  the  bitterness,  and  we  might  add — the  nastiness  of  its 
opposition  to  the  new  movement.  Not  only  were  the  windows  of  the  preaching-room 
continually  being  broken,  but  "  intestines  of  beasts  and  all  manner  of  filth  were  thrown 
in  upon  the  people.  On  one  occasion  during  service,  an  impious  man  got  the  Bible  out 
of  the  preacher's  hand  and  put  it  into  a  pot  then  boiling  on  the  fire  !  He  was  brought 
up  before  the  civil  authorities,  and  fined  oik;  .thill  inr/  ami  four/iriire  for  his  impious 
deed  !"  These  facts  were  told  Mr.  Petty  in  the  neighbourhood  not  long  after  they 
occurred. 

Samuel  Heath  had  found  a  fine  field  of  usefulness,  such  as  the  prophet  found  in  the 
Valley  of  Vision.  He  asked  for  additional  labourers,  and  two  Shropshire  preachers 
were  sent  him  in  .succession,  each  of  whom  began  his  ministry  on  the  Wiltshire 
Mission.  The  first  to  come  was  Edward  Vaughan,  a  man  of  whom  the  Connexion 
knows  but  little,  since  he  died  as  early  as  18:28.  But,  in  his  brief  ministry  he  did  good 
service,  not  only  in  Wiltshire  but  in  Blaenavon,  the  Isle  of  Man,  Tunstall  and  Boston, 
in  whose  churchyard  his  remains  are  buried.      In  his  own  quaint  way  Hugh  Bourne 

*  The  following  is  taken  from  the  I/mding  .Vi-n-ii,-//  of  May  :24th,  1S1U  .  -  lYITard  Revel  will  he 
held  on  Whit-Monday,  May  31,  and  for  the  encouragement  of  young  and  old  gamesters,  there  will 

he  a  g 1   hat  to  be  played  for  at  cudgels ;  for  the  first  seven  couples  that  play,  the  man  that  breaks 

most  heads  to  win  the  prize,  and  one  shilling  and  sixpence  will  be  given  to  each  man  that  breaks 
a  head,  and  one  shilling  to  the  man  that  has  his  head  broke.'' 


THE    PERIOD    OF    CIRCUIT    PREDOMINANCE    AND    ENTERPRISE.  313 

has  summed  him  up  in  the  words,  "Edward  Vaughan  was  of  slender  abilities  in  regard 
to  management ;  but  in  the  converting  line  the  Lord  put  great  honour  upon  lain. 
His  faith  in  the  Lord  was  great,  an  extraordinary  power  attended  his  word,  and 
many  souls  were  converted  to  God  through  his  ministry." — {Maijazinc,  1836,  p.  437.) 
Vaughan  was  followed  in  March,  1825,  by  Richard  Davies,  from  whose  MS.  Autobio- 
graphic Memoranda  we  can  gain  an  authentic,  and  helpful  glimpse  of  Brinkworth 
Circuit  in  the  making. 

"  In  due  course  I  reached  Seagry,  then  the  centre  or  head-place  in  the  Mission 
and  was  kindly  received  by  my  senior  brethren  in  the  work  and  others.  We  all 
went  to  work  in  good  earnest  and  many  and  striking  conversions  occurred  at 
many  places.  Several  powerful  societies  were  formed.  We  were  bitterly  opposed 
in  our  work  by  parsons,  magistrates,  and  roughs,  as  vile  as  the  beasts  at  Ephesus, 
but  we,  trusting  in  God,  defied  them  all,  rejoicing  in  these  tribulations.  For  a. 
long  time  we  preached  twice  a  day  on  week-days,  at  noon  in  towns,  and  in 
villages  in  the  evening,  walking  many  miles  daily.  Our  greatest  want  was 
suitable  places  to  worship  in,  and  we  were  often  led  to  be  thankful  for  cart-sheds, 
barns,  workshops,  cottages,  and  good  village-greens  as  our  sanctuaries.  The  first 
chapel  built  was  at  Seagry,  and  others  followed  in  due  time,  which  led  the  people 
to  believe  that  the  Primitive  Methodists  meant  to  remain  and  labour  amongst 
them,  although  some  ill-disposed  persons  had  said  they  would  not  do  so.  Amid 
our  heavy  persecutions  and  trials  we  were  blessed  with  many  friends  who  liberally 
supported  the  cause  of  God  according  to  their  ability.  There  were  now  five 
missionaries  on  the  Mission,  which  extended  over  many  miles  of  country,  and  such 
was  the  liberality  of  the  societies  and  congregations,  and  the  profits  arising  from 
the  amazing  sale  of  Hymn-books,  Magazines,  Nehon's  "Journal,"  etc.,  that  no 
demand  was  made  on  the  funds  of  the  Shrewsbury  Circuit.  On  the  contrary, 
that  circuit  received  considerable  pecuniary  aid  from  the  Mission.'' 

Brinkworth  became  a  circuit  between  the  Conferences  of  1826-7,  and  at  the  same 
time  it  took  over  the  Stroud  Branch  of  the  Western  Mission.  Mr.  R.  Davies  intimates 
that  his  own  unexpected  recall  to  the  home-branch  in  May,  1826,  was  the  circumstance 
that  incidentally  brought  about  the  severance  of  the  connection  between  Shrewsbury 
and  its  powerful  Mission.  It  was  felt  that  his  removal  was  likely  to  be  detrimental  to 
the  interests  of  the  Mission,  and  that  it  was  time  to  protect  itself  against  the  risks  of 
similar  "  untimely  and  uncalled  for  removals  of  preachers  "  in  the  future  by  applying  to 
be  made  into  an  independent  station.  The  General  Committee  of  the  time  gave  its 
sanction,  and  the  Shrewsbury  Circuit  acquiesced,  as  the  following  laconic  minute 
in  the  Circuit  books  shows: — "That  the  Wiltshire  Mission  become  from  this  day 
a  circuit  by  itself." 

Brinkworth  began  its  career  as  a  circuit,  having  five  preachers  appointed  to  it  by  the 
Conference  of  1827,  of  whom  S.  Heath  was  still  the  superintendent.  Unfortunately, 
his  name  must  be  added  to  the  list  of  pioneers,  who,  like  J.  Benton,  J.  Nelson, 
W.  Loughty,  J.  ilonsor  and  J.  Boles,  soon  dropped  out  of  the  ranks.  Ideally  one 
could  wish  it  had  been  otherwise,  but  historical  fidelity  demands  that  the  fact  be  duly 
noted.  After  what  has  been  written  of  Hutton  Rudby,  Scotter,  Ramsor,  Prees,  and 
especially  of  Cwm,  the  reader  will  feel  little  surprise  that  a  village  of  scarcely  more  than 


:_>  I  4  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHUKCH. 

a  thousand  inhabitants  should  have  become  not  only  the  head  of  a  powerful  and 
aggressive  circuit,  but  also  the  head  of  a  1  >istrict  which  at  one  time  extended  into  some 
ten  counties.  What  /»«//  awaken  surprise  is  the  fact  that  this  village  of  the  Wiltshire 
Inlands  should  through  all  the  changing  years  have  maintained  its  District  primacy, 
and  has  not  yet  lost  it,  though  Swindon  has  been  admitted  to  be  its  consort,  so  that  the 
style  now  runs,  "  Brinkworth  and  Swindon  District.''  Our  surprise  will  diminish  in 
proportion  as  we  come  to  know  the  history  of  Brinkworth,  especially  the  history  of  its 
achievements  as  a  missionary  circuit,  and  it  is  these  achievements  we  have  now  to 
chronicle.  Nowhere  is  our  Connexional  history  more  complex  and  difficult  to  follow 
than  in  this  section.  The  figures  called  up  before  us  are  so  many  and  always  in 
motion;  names  of  towns  and  villages  occur  with  bewildering  frequency;  persecution 
seems  everywhere,  so  as  almost  to  defy  record.  For  result  we  feel  like  an  uninstrueted 
civilian  who  is  watching  from  a  church  tower  the  progress  of  a  big  battle  to  which  he 
has  not  the  key.  Can  this  complexity  be  simplified  1  Having  regard  to  where  the 
events  happened,  as  well  as  to  the  events  themselves  and  the  order  of  their  happening, 
can  any  guiding  lines  be  traced  which  will  save  us  from  losing  the  sense  of  direction 
and  progress  in  the  midst  of  this  mass  of  detail  ?  We  think  so — that  the  task  of 
simplification  is  not  so  hopeless  as  at  first  sight  it  looks  to  be.  For  example,  if  we 
keep  an  eye  on  the  whereabouts  and  the  movements  of  John  Bide  from  1828,  when 
he  was  appointed  to  Brinkworth,  to  1844,  when  he  went  to  Cooper's  Gardens,  we  shall 
see  how  the  battle  is  going,  or,  to  speak  without  figure,  we  shall  be  able  to  follow  the 
main  lines  of  advance  which  first  took  their  direction  from  Brinkworth. 

Brinkworth  (1828  31),  Shefford  (1832-0),  Reading  (1N57-43),  London  (1814-7)— 
these  were  the  successive  stations  of  John  Ride  for  a  period  of  nineteen  years.  As  the 
superintendent  of  Brinkworth  he  directed  the  missionary  efforts  of  that  circuit  chiefly 
in  l'.erks,  and  Shefford  Circuit  was  formed  in  1832,  of  which  he  became  superintendent. 
Agents  were  multiplied,  and  a  vigorous  evangelisation  was  carried  on  in  Hants  of  which 
Mitcheldever  (1835)  and  Andover  (1837)  Circuits  were  the  outcome,  as  also  in  Berks 
represented  by  Faringdon  (1S37)  and  Wallingford  (1837)  Circuits.  The  magnitude 
of  Shefford  Circuit's  operations  may  be  judged  from  the  fact,  that  in  1835  it  had  no 
fewer  than  eighteen  preachers  labouring  under  the  direction  of  its  Quarterly  Meeting. 
I!ut  John  Bide  kept  to  Shell'ord's  mtiiii  live  of  advance  which  was  to  Beading  (1837). 
Thence,  still  under  his  direction  the  work  branched  out  in  various  directions. 
Aylesbury  in  Bucks  was  reached  and  became  a  Circuit  in  1840,  and  from  Aylesbury, 
Luton  in  Bedfordshire  was  made  a  Circuit  in  1843.  Br  this  same  year — 1843  — 
"Wallingford  had  its  two  branches  of  Oxford  and  Witney,  and  its  two  missions — Thame 
and  Camden.  Andover  had  its  Romsey  Branch  and  Lymington  Mission  in  the  New 
Forest  Reading  had  High  Wycombe  and  Windsor  Branches,  both  of  which  were 
made  Circuits  in  1848,  the  latter  taking  the  name  of  Maidenhead  Circuit.  Besides 
these  it  had  no  less  than  five  missions,  viz.  :  St.  Albans,  Hertford,  Henley,  Brentford, 
and  Fsm-x.  These  were  during  the  year  transferred  to  the  care  of  the  CM.  Committee. 
In  the  meantime,  the  prolific  mother-circuits  of  Brinkworth  and  Shefford  had  not 
been  inactive.  After  parting  with  Shefford,  Brinkworth  successfully  missioned  both 
Chippenham  and  Bristol  (made  circuits  in  1835  anil  1837  respectively),  and  in    1843  it 


THE    PERIOD    OF    CIRCUIT    PREDOMINANCE    AND    ENTERPRISE. 


315 


had  its  Cirencester,  Cheltenham,  and  Worcester  Branches,  and  its  Filkins  and 
Tormorton  Missions,  and  as  late  as  1854,  Malmeslmry  at  last  yielded  to  the  vigorous 
assaults  of  George  Warner,  and  in  1858  was  made  a  circuit.  Finally,  Shefford  in 
1843  had  its  Marlborough  Branch  and  its  Pctcrsfield  and  Aldermiston  Missions.  It  is 
better  to  give  these  dry  but  necessary  details  once  for  all.  But 
to  revert  to  our  clue,  which  is  as  we  have  seen,  the  movements  of 
John  Ride  ;  Brinkworth,  Shefford,  Beading,  mark  the  main  lines  of 
Connexional  advance  on  this  side,  though  what  we  may  call  the 
branch  extensions  are  scarcely  of  less  importance.  For  fifteen 
years  John  Ride  is  the  superintendent  of  these  three  historic 
Circuits,  which  were  the  successive  centres  of  that  semi-circular 
sweeping  movement  by  which  our  Church  reached  the  home- 
\  f^KMMP"/  counties.  After  Ids  three  years  term  at  Cooper's  Gardens,  John 
Ride  was  in  1848  put  down  for  Hammersmith  with  the  words  : — 
"To  evangelise  or  open  a  fresh  mission.''  As  though  his  work 
in  England  was  finished  and  lie  desired  more  worlds  to  conquer, 
he  in  1849  went  as  a  missionary  to  Australia  :  but  excessive  labour  had  debilitated  his 
frame,  and  he  was  compelled  to  superannuate  in  1853  and  died  15th  January,  1862. 

Some  elementary  knowledge  of  the  physical  geography  of  the  counties  of  Wilts, 
Berks,  and  Hants  makes  the  outline  facts  just  given  still  more  significant.  Some  one 
has  called  Wiltshire  "  a  mere  watershed — a  central  boss  of  chalk,  forming  the  great 
upland  mass  of  Salisbury  Plain  and  dipping  down  on  every  side  into  the  richer  basins 


REV.    GEO.    WAKNEK. 


NEWBURY  :    THE  TOWN   BRIDGE    OVER  THE   KEKNET. 


of  the  two  Avons  on  the  West  and  South,  the  Ken  net  on  the  East,  and  the  Thames 
on  the  North.''  The  elevated  table-land  of  Salisbury  Plain  which  is  a  continuation  of 
the  Hampshire  Downs  divides  Wilts  into  two  parts.  It  fell  to  Motcombe  and 
Salisbury   as  representing  the   Western   Mission  to  evangelise   the    Southern  part   of 


316  PKI.M1TJVE    METHODIST    CHL'KCH. 

Wilts  and  a  large  tract  of  Dorset.  To  Brinkworth  fell  the  northern  division  of  the 
county.  Here  the  escarpment  of  the  table-land  overlooks  to  the  North  the  Vale  of 
Pewsey,  a  tract  of  country  which  runs  across  the  county  from  West  to  East  in  which 
is  situated  Devizes.  The  northern  side  of  the  Vale  of  Pewsey  is  bounded  by  the 
upland  plain  of  the  Marlborough  Downs  with  their  continuations  in  Berks — White 
Horse  Hill  and  Ilsley  Downs  overlooking  to  the  North  the  Upper  Valley  of  the  Thames, 
called  the  Vale  of  the  White  Horse  and  the  Valley  of  the  Ock  in  which  are  Wantage, 
Alfred's  birthplace,  and  Faringdon.  Southward,  the  hills  fall  in  gentle  slopes  to  the 
Valley  of  the  Rennet  in  which  are  Hungerford,  Newbury  and,  at  its  junction  with 
the  Thames,  Reading.  Then  eonie  the  Hampshire  Downs,  and  at  their  foot  the  river- 
valleys  of  the  Test  and  Itchen  wherein  lie  Winchester  and  Southampton.  Evangelisation 
went  on  in  the  country  now  under  consideration  conformably  with  that  country's 
physical  features.  First  of  all,  as  Nature  had  divided  Wiltshire  into  two  parts,  the 
Western  Mission  had  to  do  with  the  one,  and  the  Wiltshire  Mission  with  the  other — - 
the  northern  part  of  the  county.  Starting  from  Brinkworth  as  a  centre,  it  soon 
reached  Shefl'ord  and  the  Valley  of  the  Kennet,  where  are  the  towns  of  Hungerford 
and  Newbury,  now  the  heirs  and  representatives  of  the  old  Shefl'ord  Circuit.  It 
descended  into  the  Vale  of  the  White  Horse  in  the  Upper  Thames  Valley,  and  thence 
crossed  over  into  Oxfordshire  and  the  Vale  of  the  Thame.  From  the  Valley  of  the 
Kennet  it  ascended  the  northern  slopes  of  the  Hampshire  Downs,  and  then  following 
the  downward  course  of  the  rivers  reached  Winchester,  and  finally  the  New  Forest 
and  the  low-lying  eountn  by  Southampton  Water.  Soon  also  it  reached  Heading  and 
the  Lower  Thames  Valley,  and  thence  spread  out  into  Buckinghamshire — the  Vale  of 
Aylesbury — on  the  one  hand,  and  into  Surrey  on  the  other.  Then,  while  the  country 
watered  by  the  Southern  Avon  was  left  to  Motcombe  and  Salisbury,  Brinkworth  turned 
its  attention  to  the  Vale  of  Pewsey,  and  followed  the  course  of  the  Bristol  Avon  by 
Calne  and  Chippenham  and  on  to  Bristol  itself  ;  it  even  extended  into  Gloucestershire 
to  the  North.  Chronoloey  and  geography  are  the  two  eyes  with  which  even  the 
humble  history  of  the  making  of  the  Brinkworth  District  can  easily  be  followed. 

But  wdiat  was  the  social  and  moral  condition  of  this  particular  District  in  1830,  when 
Brinkworth  Circuit  was  about  to  enter  upon  its  missionary  labours?  This  was  just  what 
John  Ride  and  the  Biinkworth  Circuit  authorities  wanted  to  know,  and  so,  in  their 
own  primitive  fashion,  they  sent  a  walking  commission  of  inquiry  into  the  north- 
eastern coiner  of  Wilts,  and  into  the  A'ale  of  the  AVhite  Horse — so  dear  to  Thomas 
Hughes,  in  order  that  they  might  see  and  learn  for  themselves  the  real  state  of  things, 
and  ascertain  whether  these  villages  did  or  did  not  need  the  simple  gospel  carrying  to 
them.  As  the  Israelites  sent  forth  spies  into  Canaan  before  attempting  to  take  posses- 
sion of  the  land,  so  in  a  sense  did  Brinkworth  Circuit  send  forth  it*  spies,  who  indeed 
saw  the  "nakedness  of  the  land."  The  Berkshire  Mission  was  inaugurated  at  a  famous 
Missionary  Meeting  held  after  the  Quarterly  Meeting  on  Good  Friday,  1829.  At  this 
meeting  there  was  much  earnest  prayer  on  behalf  of  the  proposed  mission,  and  faith 
rose  so  high  that  many  gained  the  assurance  that,  for  every  penny  given  that  day,  a  sold 
would  be  won.  John  Ride  and  John  Petty  (wdio,  in  l^L'S,  had  come  from  Pembroke 
Dock   to  Brinkworth   Circuit)  were  deputed  to  go  into  the  parts  already  mentioned  and 


THE   PEKIOD    OF    CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE    AND    ENTERPRISE.  317 

survey  the  land.     It  was  on  April  27th,  1829  they  set  out  on  their  mission,  which  it 

would  be  incorrect  to  regard  as  merely  a  reconnaissance,  inasmuch  as  they  preached   at 

cross  or  on  village-green  wherever  opportunity  offered.     These  two  Johns — Ride  and 

the  still  youthful   Petty — he  was  only  twenty — were  ;in  jorder  of  time  the  foremost 

pioneers  of  the  Berkshire  Mission.     The  first  Primitive  Methodist  sermon  in  Berkshire 

was  preached  at  Bourton.     They  found  this  fair  and  goodly  land,  so  rich  in  historic 

memories   going   back  to  the   days  of  good   King  Alfred,  a  moral   wilderness  indeed. 

Dissent  was  practically  unknown,  and  there  was  throughout  a  sad  dearth  of  evangelical 

preaching.     At   Ashburv  a  sermon  had  not   been   preached   by  a   Dissenter  for  forty 

years,  although  here,  mercifully,  there  was  a  good  evangelical  clergyman,  the  same  who 

afterwards    hailed  the  advent  of  the  Primitives'  missionary,  by  exclaiming,  "Now  my 

curate  has  come!"     They  preached  at  Ramsbury,   where  years   before  Dr.  Coke  had 

attempted  to  preach,  but  "  was  attacked  by  a  turbulent  mob  headed  by  the  vicar  of  the 

parish.''     Stones  and  sticks  were  plentifully  used.     Dr.  Coke  was  violently  pushed  from 

his  stand,  and  his  gown  torn  into  shreds.      Nothing  daunted,  he  continued  the  service. 

The  vicar   then   thought   of  another  expedient,   and  gave   the   order,   "  Brine  out  the 

fire-engine.''      The  mandate  was   obeyed,   and  both   preacher  and  congregation  were 

compelled  to  retire  before  the  well-directed  volleys  of  this  liquid  artillery.*     Here, 

strange  to  say,   their  service   was  unmolested,   but   that  cannot  be    said    of    the   one 

held  on   May-day  at  Aldbourne.       Never,    surely,   was    a  ^religious   service    "  begun, 

continued   and  ended "   under  conditions  more   extraordinary    and   embarrassing.      A 

troupe  of  merry-andrews  were  on  the  ground  in  front  of  the  cross,  with  the  double 

purpose  in   view   of  interrupting  the   preacher   and   of  competing   with   him   for   the 

attention  of   the    vast   audience.      There  was  hand-bell   ringing,   and   the   concerted 

shouting  of    children,  to   say   nothing    of    a    prancing    steed    bestridden    by    a    man 

bent  on  mischief.     Yet  John  Petty — saint  and  scholar  to  be — went  on  steadily  and 

solemnly  with  his  discourse  on  the  Second  Coming  of  Christ,  not  even  turning  his  head 

to  see  what  was  the  danger  threatening  from  behind,  although  that  there  was  danger 

he  could  see  from  the  tell-tale  faces  of  those  in  front.     At  the  very  hour  this  strange 

May-day  service  was  being  held,    the   friends  near  Wootton  Bassett  were  praying  hard 

and  long  for  the  missionaries. 

But  lest  it  should  be  thought  that  our  picture  of  the  bygone  Wiltshire  and 
Berkshire  wilderness  is  overdone,  we  would  like,  as  we  have  done  in  the  case  of 
other  districts  of  England,  to  adduce  corroborative  evidence  drawn  from  an  unbiassed 
and  unimpeachable  source.  For  our  present  purpose,  therefore,  we  will  call  as  witness 
Mr.  Richard  Heath,  author  of  "The  English  Peasant,"  admittedly  an  authority, 
and  who  himself  states  that  "so  far  as  he  has  personal  tastes  and  sympathies  they  are 
with  the  liturgy  of  the  Church  of  England."  In  the  book  just  named  he  refers  to  the 
agrarian  disturbances  which,  as  we  have  seen,  were  rife  in  various  parts  of  England 
in  1830-3 — in  the  Southern  counties  amongst  the  rest.  In  December,  1830,  three 
hundred  persons  were  tried  at  the  special  assize  at  Winchester.  The  Duke  of  Wellington 
was  sent  down  to  support  the  judges.      "They  were  brought  up  in  batches  of  twenty 

*''Life  of  the  Rev.  Thos.  Coke,  D.C.L.,'    p.  t>2. 


31*  PKIMITIVE    METHODIST   CHURCH. 

at  a  time,  and  all  had  sentence  of  death  recorded  against  them,  Six  wen'  actually 
sentenced  to  suffer  on  the  gallows  ;  twenty  were  transported  for  life,  the  remainder 
for  periods  varying  according  to  judicial  discretion.  The  Times  newspaper  for 
December  27th,  1830,  commenting  upon  the  Winchester  trials,  did  not  mince 
matters. 

"  We  do  affirm  that  the  actions  of  this  pitiable  class  of  men  [the  labourers],  as 
a  commentary  on  the  treatment  experienced  by  them  at  the  hands  of  the  upper 
and  middling  classes  ;  the  gentleman,  clergy  (who  ought  to  teach  and  instruct 
them),  and  the  farmers  who  ought  to  pay  and  feed  them,  are  disgraceful  to  the 
ISritish  name.  The  present  population  must  be  provided  for  in  body  and  spirit  on 
more  liberal  and  Christian  principles,  or  the  whole  mass  of  labourers  will  start 
into  legions  of  a  banditti — banditti  less  criminal  than  those  who  have  made  them 
so — than  those'  who  by  a  just  but  fearful  retribution  will  soon  become  their 
victims.'' 

I5nt  what  has  all  this  to  do  with  Brinkworth's  Ilerkshire  Mission?  Much  every 
way.  It  shows  that  that  mission  was  begun  and  carried  on  at  an  unprecedentedly  critical 
time  in  the  national  life.  It  may  also  go  some  little  way  to  explain  why  the  "peasant 
preachers  "  of  our  Church  had  not  only  to  suffer  from  mobs — ignorant,  brutalised  by 
neglect,  and  driven  by  poverty  almost  to  desperation  ;  but  also  why  their  betters, 
including  the  large  farmers,  the  clergy,  and  even  the  magistrates,  were  too  often  not 
merely  suspicious  but  bitterly  hostile.  We  were  between  two  fires.  The  labourers — 
poor  souls — did  not  know  their  true  friends  ;  and  those  of  a  higher  social  grade  so 
far  misconceived  our  character  and  aims  as  to  suspect  us  of  designs  intended  to  lie 
subversive  of  the  existing  order. 

Referring  to  the  formation  of  the  Labourers'  Union  in  1*72,  through  the  instru- 
mentality of  Joseph  Arch,  Mr.  Heath  asks  :  "  What  had  given  the  labourer  courage 
to  claim  his  rights?  I  will  answer  that  question  by  giving  the  following  narrative.'' 
The  story  of  "Old  Lien  Koper,''  the  Primitive  Methodist  local  preacher — which  we 
found  in  the  MiKjur.iue  for  1*5*,  is  the  narrative  he  proceeds  to  give  in  full.  This  story, 
touching  as  it  is  and  well  worth  reprinting,  we  omit.  What  follows  this  narrative, 
however,  we  venture  to  quote,  as  it  is  germane  to  the  matter  in  hand. 

"  Many  respectable  people  would  have  called  old  Ben  a  '  Ranter.'  I  should  call  him 
a  primitive  Christian,  for  though  I  do  not  believe  the  poor  in  Judsea  had  fallen  so  low 
as  the  English  poor  have  clone,  some  of  the  apostles  were  not  in  a  much  more  exalted 
station  than  old  Ben.  Poor  and  ignorant  as  he  was,  it  was  men  like  him  who  woke  in 
the  dull,  sad  minds  of  his  fellow-sufferers  a  new  hope,  a  belief  that  there  was  indeed 
a  Kingdom  of  Heaven  worth  struggling  to  obtain.  The  very  ignorance  and  poverty 
of  the  labourers  cut  them  off  from  knowing  anything  of  the  Gospel,  even  in  its 
narrow  English  form.  They  were  too  ignorant  to  understand  any  one  who  did  not 
speak  their  language  and  think  their  thoughts,  too  poor  to  support  any  kind  of 
ministry. 

"In  the  source  from  whence  the  foregoing  narrative  has  been  taken  [Tin:  P.M. 
.]fni/n:iiies]  will  be  found,  through  a  long  course  of  years,  the  obituaries  of  Christian 
apostles,  some  of  whom  laboured  all  the  week  for  a  wage  of  a  few  shillings,  and  then 
on  Sunday  walked  twenty  or  thirty  miles  to  preach  the  Gospel.  One  such,  having  six 
children,  for  weeks  ate  nothing  but  bread,  although  he  had  five  miles  to  walk  daily  to 


THE    PERIOD    OF    CIRCUIT    PREDOMINANCE    AND    ENTERPRISE.  iS19' 

a  barn  where  he  was  employed  as  a  thresher.  Vet,'  we  are  told,  '  he  sometimes  so 
felt  the  presence  of  God  that  he  seemed  to  have  strength  enough  to  cut  the  straw 
through  with  his  flail.'  Believing  literally  in  our  Lord's  promises,  he  realised  theii- 
fulfilment,  and  in  moments  of  dire  necessity  received  help  apparently  as  miraculous  as 
that  given  to  Elijah.  Nobody,  of  course,  will  believe  this  who  supposes  that  there 
is  no  other  kingdom  but  that  of  Nature.  However,  these  things  are  realised  by  the 
poor  who  have  the  least  faith,  'for  theirs  is  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven.' 

"These  were  the  kind  of  men  who  prophesied  in  '  the  valley  of  the  dry  bones '  ;  but,, 
of  course,  Resurrection  is  no  agreeable  task  to  unhealthy  souls.  Like  the  sickly 
sleeper,  who  has  passed  a  night  full  of  horrible  dreams,  and  has  just  fallen  into  a  heavy 
slumber  before  dawn,  the  benighted  -villagers  cursed  the  heralds  of  the  coming  day, 
and  bid  them  begone.  They  pelted  them  with  mud,  stones,  and  rotten  eggs  ;  some- 
times threw  ropes  over  them  to  drag  them  to  the  river  ;  often  sought  to  drown  their 
praying  and  preaching  with  fire-shovels  and  tin-kettles.  In  these  persecutions  they 
were  sometimes  led  on  by  the  authorities  ;  and  constables  wishing  to  ingratiate  them- 
selves with  the  upper  classes  laid  information  against  these  poor  preachers  as 
disturbers  of  the  peace."* 

We  do  not  follow  Mr.  Heath  in  his  further  reference  to  the  gross  malversation  of 
justice  by  which  John  Ride  and  Edward  Bishop  were  imprisoned  at  Winchester  in 
1834,  as  that  will  shortly  come  before  us.  The  long  citation  from  Mr.  Heath's  book  we 
have  given — creditable  alike  to  his  discernment  and  his  heart — amply  sustains  our 
contention  that,  in  the  early  'thirties  our  land,  and  not  least  in  its  southern  counties, 
was  indeed  in  a  parlous  state,  and  that,  under  God,  its  rescue  from  that  state  was 
largely  due  to  the  earnest  and  often  ill-requited  efforts  of  Primitive  Methodist 
missionaries.  And  yet,  there  are  journalists  and  publicists  amongst  us  who,  posing 
as  experts,  ami  professing  to  give  a  list  of  the  great  historic  revivals  which  have  swept 
healingly  over  our  land,  will  leap  at  once  from  John  Wesley  and  Whitefield  to  General 
Booth,  as  though  there  had  been  nothing  but  stagnancy  lying  between  !  So  little  do 
they  know  of  the  history  of  their  own  land,  or  so  much  have  they  forgotten. 

The   dark   shadow   which   rested    on    our    land    in    1830    cast    its    gloom    over    the 

Marlborough  Downs,  and  was  felt  by  Brinkworth's  mission- 
aries. They  had  enough  to  do  to  keep  it  from  getting 
into  their  souls  and,  as  with  mephitic  vapour,  stifling 
their  faith  and  paralysing  their  efforts.  John  Petty  had 
been  replaced  on  the  Berkshire  Mission  by  Richard  Jukes, 
to  whom  was  soon  added  John  Moore.  In  September,  1 829,. 
Thomas  Russell  took  the  place  of  the  latter.  The  work 
was  toilsome  and  the  prospect  gloomy.  The  nights  were 
getting  cold,  making  open-air  services  a  risk  to  health. 
At  Church  Lambourne,  over-exertion  in  order  to  make 
himself  heard  above  the  din,  caused  him  to  rupture 
rev.  thoiias  RussKLL.  one  of  the  s]maller  blood-vessels.      Houses   in  which   to- 

hold  services    were   difficult   to    get ;    for    even   though  the   "  common-people "    might 
be  favourably  disposed,  they  went  in  fear  of  their  masters  or  landlords  who  threatened 

*  "  The  English  Peasant.  Studies :  Historical,  Local  and  Biographic.  By  R.  Heath,"  1893,  pp.  5-1-5. 


:-;•}<)  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHUUCII. 

them  with  lo^s  of  work  or  roof-tvee  if  they  harboureil  the  missionaries,  or  in  any  way 
encouraged  them.  When  in  pity  a  house  at  Lambourne  was  offered  Mr.  Eussell,  he 
was  obliged  to  walk  at  once  to  Salisbury  in  order  to  procure  a  licence.  It  was  a 
dreary  journey  of  thirty  miles,  a  large  portion  of  which  was  over  Salisbury  Plain, 
which  he  travelled  on  foot,  with  snow  on   the  ground.      Sail  a  beginning  was  made. 

The  first  society  on  the  Mission  was  formed  at  Upper  Lamboume,  and  in  December, 
1829,   there  were  forty -eight  members  on  the  Misssion.     John  Ride  himself    became 
Mr.  Russell's  colleague  in  labour.       And  now  we  come  to  an  incident,  which,  though 
it  may  be  deemed  small  in  the  eyes  of  the  world  was  yet  fruitful  of  results  and  has 
withal  a  grandeur  and  pathos  all  its  own.     The  scene  of  the  incident  is  Ashdown  on 
the  Berkshire   Downs,  where  nearly  a  thousand  years   before,   King  Alfred  and    his 
brother  gained  a  victory  over  the  Danes.     As  for  the  time  it  is  a  dull,  cheerless  day 
in  the  month  of  February,  1*30.     We  give  the  incident,  we  cannot  do  better,  in  the 
words  of  a  writer  in  the  large  Mniia\inc  for  November,  1886,  who  has  drawn  out  the 
significance  of    the  event  under  the  strikingly  appropriate  title  of   "A   Parallel  and 
a  ( 'ontrast"*-  "Two  men  of  solemn  mien,  and  dressed  in  the  garb  of  peasant  preachers, 
are   to  be  seen   approaching  Ashdown  Park  Corner,  where  the  treeless,  rolling  downs 
are  varied  by  a  coppice  or  small  wood.     The  younger  man  had  already  that  morning 
walked  ten  miles  across  the  downs  to  meet  his  companion  for  prayer  and  counsel,  and 
they   were   now   returning  together.     Reaching  the   wood  they  had   to   part,  as  their 
destinations  lay  in  different  directions.     They  had   already  shaken  hands.     But  no ; 
they  must  not,  should  not  part  until  it  had  been  fought  out  on  their  knees  whether  their 
mission  was  to  prosper.      '  Let  us  turn  in  here  and  have  another  round  of  prayer  before 
we  part,'  was  the  remark  of  one  of  them,  and  turning  aside  into  the  coppice  and  screened 
by  the  underwood,  and  being  far  away  from  any  habitation,  no  mure  secluded  spot 
for  communion  with  <  lod  could  be  found.     Oblivious  of  the  snow,   and  of  personal 
considerations,  they   throw  themselves  upon  their  knees,  and  in  an  agony  they  pour 
out  their  souls  to  (lod.     The  success  of  their  mission,  which  is  for  God's  honour,  and 
the  salvation  of  souls,  is  summed  up  in  the  burden  of  their  prayer,  '  Lord,  give  us 
Berkshire  !     Lord,  give  us  Berkshire  ! '     The  pleading  continued  for  hours.     At  last 
the  younger  one  receives  the  assurance,  and  rising  to  his  feet,  exclaims  with  an  out- 
burst that  betokens  ..  new-found  possession,     Yonder  country's  ours,  yonder  country's 
ours  !     And  we  will  have  it,'  as  he  points  across  the  country,  the  prospect  of  which  is 
bounded  by  the  Hampshire  Hills  some  thirty  miles  distant.      '  Hold  fast !     I  like  thy 
confidence  of  faith  ! '  is  the  reply  of  the  more   sober  pleader.     They  now  part  with 
the  assurance  that  '  yonder  country  is  ours.'  " 

Such  was  the  conflict  in  which  were  arrayed  on  one  side,  the  powers  of  darkness, 
and  on  the  other  the  two  men  sent  forth  to  establish  the  Primitive  Methodist  Mission  in 
Berkshire.  Up  to  this  point  the  opposition  had  been  so  violent  as  sorely  to  try  the 
faith  of  the  missionaries.  On  leaving  the  wood,  John  Ride  and  Thomas  Russell,  for 
these  were  the  men  whose  names  will  be  imperishable  as  the  pioneers  of  Primitive 
Methodism  in  Berkshire,  went  to  their  respective  appointments.  On  the  following 
night  Thomas  Russell  was  at  Shefford ;  the  word  touched  the  hearts  of  Mr.  and 
*  The  writer  is  Mr.  Turner  of  Newbury. 


THE   PERIOD   OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE.  321 

Mrs.  Wells,  who  built  a  house  which  served  as  the  missionaries'  home  and  the  place  for 
worship.  This,  indeed,  has  been  the  roof-tree  of  Berkshiie  Primitive  Methodism,  the 
original  home  of  its  early  preachers,  as  well  as  its  first  meeting-house.  Few  incidents 
in  the  religious  history  of  the  county  are  of  greater  significance  than  this  afternoon 
prayer  in  the  wood  at  Ashdown. ,  Had  the  pleaders  lost  faith  in  their  cause  the  religious 
aspect  of  the  county  would  have  been  different.  Kemarkable  revivals  of  religion  followed 
this  time  of  wrestling  prayer,  the  habits  and  practices  of  the  people  became  changed, 
scores  of  sanctuaries  were  erected,  until  now  there  are  more  Primitive  Methodist 
congregations  in  Berkshire  than  of  any  other  Nonconformist  body,  and  probably  more 
Primitive  Methodist  Chapels.  It  is  surely  a  noteworthy  coincidence  that  almost  on  the 
spot  where  the  struggle  for  Saxon  and  Christian  supremacy  in  England  was  decided, 
there  also  took  place  a  struggle  which  decided  whether  Primitive  Methodism  was  to  be 
a  power  in  the  county.  It  is  also  illustrative  of  the  way  in  which  God  honours 
prayer,  for  while  Messrs.  Ride  and  Russell  pleaded  for  Berkshire,  He  gave  also 
territory  beyond.* 

IV. — Hull's  Mission  in  Cornwall. 

As  the  present  chapter  is  already  sufficiently  long,  we  will  glance  at  the  "  origins  "  of 
the  three  Cornish  Circuits  that  were  included  in  the  newly-formed  Brinkworth  District 
of  1833,  reserving  for  a  final  chapter  a  glance  at  some  of  the  lights  and  shadows  of 
Brinkworth  District  when  it  was  in  the  making.  "We  got  to  Cornwall  just  as  we  got 
to  Hull  and  Leeds — by  invitation.  The  invitation  was  addressed  to  William  Clowes 
whUe  labouring  on  the  London  Mission,  and  it  came  from  Mr.  W.  Turner,  of  Redruth. 
He  had  formerly  been  for  a  few  months  a  preacher  among  the  Bible  Christians,  but 
had  withdrawn,  and  for  two  years  he  and  his  wife  had  been  working  as  unattached 
evangelists  in  and  around  Redruth.  They  had  succeeded  in  gathering  some  one 
hundred  persons  into  their  societies.  These  societies  Mr.  Turner  was  now  anxious  to 
hand  over  to  the  Primitive  Methodist  Connexion  in  the  hope  that  the  flock  hitherto 
his  care  would  be  duly  shepherded,  and  the  work  of  evangelisation  be  vigorously 
pushed  forward.  Hull  Circuit's  Quarterly  Meeting  acceded  to  the  request,  having  first 
received  the  required  assurance  that  Mr.  Turner  and  his  followers  would  in  all  things 
submit  to  the  discipline  of  the  Primitive  Methodist  Connexion. 

Mr.  Clowes  arrived  at  Redruth  on  October  5th,  1825,  on  what  proved  to  be  his  last 
general  mission.  Though  exhausted  with  his  all-night  coach  journey  from  Exeter,  he 
yielded  to  the  importunity  of  the  friends  to  preach  to  them  the  same  night.  "While 
waiting  on  the  Lord  in  the  meeting  I  felt,"  he  writes,  "a  girding  on  of  the  Divine 
power;  the  mission  baptism  began  to  flow  upon  me'' — which  surely  was  of  good  omen 
for  the  success  of  the  mission.  As  the  people  retired  from  the  service  they  were  over- 
heard saying — "  He'll  do  ;  he'll  do.''  His  next  duty  was  to  hear  Mr.  Turner  preach  his 
trial  sermon  as  a  candidate  for  the  "full  plan.''  The  sermon  was  indifferently  good, 
but  at  one  point  in  his  discourse  the  preacher  went  off  into  a  fit  of  holy  laughter, 
which  many  in  the   congregation   seemed  to   find  infectious.     Clowes  met   with   this 

*  It  maj'  tie  as  well  to  state  that  the  account  of  this  incident  is  taken  from  the  writer's  smaller 
History  of  the  Primitive  Methodist  Connexion. 

x 


■VIZ  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST   CHURCH. 

laughing,  dancing  and  shouting  several  times  during  his  Cornish  mission,  and  he  did 
not  approve  of  it,  hut  expostulated  with  those  who  indulged  in  these  histrionic 
manifestations.  If  they  felt  happy,  let  them  bless  the  Lord  as  the  Psalmist  did,  when 
he  called  upon  his  "  soul  and  all  that  was  within  him  to  bless  and  praise  His  holy 
name.''  As  to  Mr.  Turner,  it  may  be  said  parenthetically,  he  seems  to  have  honoured 
the  terms  of  his  agreement.  He  remained  loyal  to  the  Connexion  to  the  end  of  his  long 
life.  For  ten  years  he  was  a  travelling  preacher  in  the  Connexion,  and  then  located  at 
Frome,  where  he  had  previously  travelled.  As  a  local  preacher,  class  leader,  and 
diligent  family  visitor  he  made  himself  useful  and  respected.  He  passed  away  as 
recently  as  1880.* 

Our  interest  in  all  that  relates  to  William  Clowes  must  not  induce  us  to  follow  him 
in  his  itinerations  from  place  to  place,  or  to  note  every  incident  which  occurred. 
Enough  to  say  that  his  labours  were  chiefly  confined  to  Redruth  and  its  vicinitv, 
varied  by  occasional  visits  to  .St.  Austell  and  the  Downs,  where  Mr.  Turner's  people 
had  chapels — one  the  walls  of  which  was  of  mud,  and  the  other  of  mud  and  stone.  He 
also  found  his  way  once,  at  least,  to  St.  Bay,  where  on  a  subsequent  visit  in  1 833  he  had 
one  of  those  experiences  of  a  ghostly  kind,  such  as  John  Wesley  loved  to  take  note  of, 
and  such  as  now  find  their  way  into  the  Transactions  of  the  Psychical  Research  Society.! 
The  impression  one  gets  from  the  careful  reading  of  the  Journal  so  far  as  it  relates  to 
this  time-  is  that,  while  in  Cornwall,  Clowes  was  not  equal  to  his  former  self;  that  his 
excessive  labours  and,  we  may  add,  the  sins  of  his  youth,  were  beginning  to  tell  upon 
him,  and  that  there  were  already  premonitory  signs  of  that  somewhat  serious  break- 
down which  occurred  in  February,  1827,  and  which  led  to  his  ceasing  to  have  charge 
of  a  station  from  Pecomber  of  the  same  year.  His  experience  was  marked  by  swift  and 
sharply  contrasted  alternations  of  mood.  Now  he  was  in  a  state  of  exaltation,  with 
all  the  old  sense  of  freedom  and  power.  "  He  felt  the  priestly  vestments  cover  his 
soul  as  the  glory  covered  the  mercy  seat."  Then  he  was  down  in  the  trough  of 
depression,  fighting  for  his  life  :  he  felt  as  if  he  were  near  the  gates  of  hell.  These 
vaiying  subjective  states  were  the  spiritual  counterpart  and  reflection  of  the  vicissitudes 
of  his  lot  and  circumstances  from  day  to  day.  Toil  and  exhaustion,  mental  tension 
and  reaction  swiftly  succeeded  one  another.  Like  Paul  he  knew  what  it  was  "both 
to  be  filled  and  to  be  hungry,  both  to  abound  and  to  be  in  want.''  Now  he  was  well 
and  comfortably  lodged,  with  a  good  table  spread  before  him  ;  the  next  day  might  find 
him  at  a  loss  for  i  meal  or  a  bed.  One  day,  when  no  hospitable  door  stood  open,  he 
went  on  the  top  of  Charn  Bray  Rock.  He  bethought  him  there  of  what  Wesley  and 
Xelson  had  done  in  the  same  county  and  under  the  like  circumstances,  and  looked 
round,  if  haply  he  might  find  some  blackberries  with  which  to  appease  his  hunger. 
One  blackberry,  and  that  an  unripe  one  was  all  he  could  find — and  he  dined  off  that. 
At  another  time  he  wandered  pensively  on  the  cliffs.  He  lay  down  on  a  rock  and 
watched  the  waves  as  they  dashed  against  the  reefs.  He  peopled  the  solitude  with 
the  forms  of    friends  whose   love   he  cherished.      Then   the   thought  of   the  London 

*  .See  his  memoir  in  the  Magazine  for  1881,  written  by  Eev.  J.  H.  Best. 

+  Clowes'  Journal,  p.  338.  See  also  article  by  Eev.  B.  Bocock  on  "  William  Clowes  and  the 
Uhost,"  AUersgate  Magazine,  1900,  p.  530. 


THE    PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT    PREDOMINANCE   AND    ENTERPRISE. 


323 


Mission  and  the  urgency  of  its  affairs  pressed  in  upon  him.  "Oh,  that  £100  that 
was  owing  to  Mrs.  Gardiner !  What  was  to  be  done  about  that  ? "  He  prayed,  and 
tried  to  believe  that  God  would  give  them  a  happy  issue  out  of  all  these  troubles. 
Soon  after,  G.  Tetley  sent  the  happy  news  that  Mrs.  Gardiner  had  consigned  the 
promissory  note  to  the  flames. 

Though  Mr.  Clowes  was  not  privileged  to  see  such  remarkable  results  follow  his 
labours  in  Cornwall  as  he  had  witnessed  in  the  North,  yet  his  labours  met  with  a  con- 
siderable measure  of  success.  When,  just  before  his  removal,  the  Quarterly  Meeting 
of  the  Mission  was  held  February  26th,  1826,  it  was  found  there  were  225  members  in 

church-fellowship  and  that  the 
financial  affairs  of  the  Mission 
were  in  a  satisfactory  state.  Mr. 
Petty  thought  it  unfortunate  that 
Mr.  Clowes  was  removed  just  at 
the  turn  of  the  tide ;  for  soon 
after  his  removal  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  revivals  for 
which  even  Cornwall  has  been 
distinguished  broke  out ;  and 
there  can  be  no  question  that 
this  revival  was  largely  due  to 
the  sound  preparatory  work  done 
by  Mr.  Clowes  during  the  four 
months  he  was  on  the  Mission. 
John  Garner  succeeded  Mr. 
Clowes  as  superintendent  in 
September,  1826,  and  he  had  as 
his  colleagues  Messrs.  Driffield, 
Abey,  and  Hewson,  all  of  whom 
we  have  met  before.  W.  Driffield 
was  a  Cleethorpes  man.  He 
was  taken  out  to  travel  by  Hull 
Circuit,  and  while  in  the  town 
he  lived  under  Mr.  Clowes'  roof. 
He  laboured  on  the  Bridlington 
and  .Scarborough  branches,  was  arrested  for  preaching  in  the  open-air  at  Beverley, 
laid  the  foundation-stone  of  its  first  chapel,  became  responsible  for  a  hundred  pounds 
of  its  cost,  and  along  with  John  Verity  begged  a  considerable  sum  of  money  on 
its  behalf.  Fourteen  consecutive  years  of  his  ministry  were  spent  at  Eedruth, 
St.  Austell,  and  St.  Ives,  and  being  a  man  of  some  means,  as  he  evidently  was, 
he  cheerfully  undertook  monetary  responsibilities  in  connection  with  buildings  erected 
or  rented  by  the  denomination.  At  Eedruth  he  is  said  to  have  found  an  unfinished 
chapel,  which  he  got  completed  at  a  loss  to  himself  of  nearly  £300.  It  need  scarcely 
be  said  that  the  chapel  thus  referred  to  was  not  the   one  shown  in  our  illustration, 

x  2 


r 

iff.  ■'•^^(i©4aS^!'Mfef 

t  Jain  vm *  if    .  mm  ■ 

JB    ;      MeR  ; 

JhRHi 

P       4  ■'      SgEaai*  'ii 

■jpf  1 1|  J  * 

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AvTirfilll       ■!■■          m.    ■ 

PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHAPEL,    KEDKUTH. 


324 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


which  was  built  in  1SS4.  He  paid  the  first  rent  of  the  room  at  Penzance,  Xewlyn, 
Falmouth,  and  Truro.  He  introduced  Primitive  Methodism  into  various  places  both 
in  the  western  part  of  Cornwall  and  in  some  parts  of  Devonshire.  "  I  missioned," 
he  says,  "  Devonport,  Exeter,  Bridgerule,  and  Barnstaple,  and  my  responsibilities 
at  one  time  must  have  amounted  to  nearly  £2000."  He  subsequently  travelled  in 
Brinkworth,  Salisbury,  Moteombe,  and  Banbury  Circuits,  and  at  his  death  in  1855, 
his  body  was  carried  to  Wootton  Bassett  for  burial.  It  is  due  to  such  a  man,  who 
was  also  "  a  most  powerful  and  zealous  revivalist,"  that  his  name  and  work  should 
be  remembered,  especially  by  the  circuits  he  helped  to  found  and  establish.  With 
such  fellow-labourers  as  these,  we  are  not  surprised  to  find  John  Garner  reporting  that 
in  ten  months  six  hundred  persons  had  united  with  the  Church.  In  1828  Eedruth 
became  a  circuit  with  twelve  preachers. 

One  of  the  most  notable  gains  of  the  great  Cornish  revival  of  the  'Twenties  was 
the  acquisition  of  Adolphus  Frederick  Beckerlegge  to  the  Church  and  the  ministry. 
Were  it  not  that  the  memory  of  men  is  so  short,  Mr.  Beckerlegge  would  rank  in  the 
general  regard  of  the  Connexion  as  one  of  the  most  remarkable  men  it  has  produced. 

And  yet  he  is  chiefly  remembered  on  the 
strength  of  one  or  two  extraordinary  sayings 
which  have  stuck  like  burrs  and  been  carried 
along  by  the  years,  while  his  more  solid 
qualities  and  extensive  services  have  been 
almost  forgotten.  There  is  no  memoir  of 
him  in  the  Mwja::ine  of  the  time,  and  the 
regulation  record  of  his  death,  in  the  Con- 
ference Minutes  of  1867,  is  scarcely  longer 
than  an  ordinary  tombstone  inscription. 
Happily,  Dr.  Joseph  Wood  did  much  to 
recall  to  the  attention  of  a  later  generation 
of  Primitive  Methodists  one  who  would 
have  a  strong  claim  to  remembrance,  were 
it  for  no  other  reason  than  that,  but  for 
his  influence,  Dr.  Wood  might  never  have  entered  our  ministry.  But  apart  from 
this,  Mr.  Beckerlegge  was  in  every  sense  an  uncommon  man.  From  his  name  to 
his  calligraphy  even  thing  about  him  seemed  exceptional.  He  had  a  commanding 
presence,  a  fine  voice,  a  refined  pronunciation,  and  as  a  preacher  he  was  far  beyond 
the  average.  He  was  born  at  St.  Ives  in  1798,  and  after  receiving  a  Grammar  School 
education,  settled  in  business  as  a  watchmaker  and  jeweller  at  Penzance.  Any 
worldly  ambition  he  might  reasonably  have  cherished  was  set  aside  when  the  call 
of  the  Church  came.  ,He  carried  out  the  injunction  he  himself  afterwards  laid 
on  young  Joseph  Wood  when  he  found  it  difficult  to  choose  his  path:  "There  is 
not  the  money  in  the  ministry,  but  there  is  the  glory;  ami  you  must  go  for  the 
glory.''  Mi.  Beckerlegge  was  statiuned  in  182s  as  one  of  the  preachers  of  Eedruth, 
and  after  subsequently  travelling  in  some  of  the  leading  circuits  of  the  Hull  and 
Nottingham]  Districts  he  returned  to  St.  Ives,  where  he  was  under  the  superintendency 


^S^fr/e/^-'t- 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE. 


325 


OAPT.    J.    HOSKING. 


of  that  apostolic  man — C.  T.  Harris.     Superannuated  in   1862,  Mr.  Beekerlegge  died 
at  Flushing  in  1868. 

Before  leaving  Redruth  to  glance  at  some  other  places  that  formed  part  of  the 
mission,  we  would  refer  to  two  captains  of  industry  who  have  lately  passed  away  who 
were  rightly  regarded  as  the  two  pillars  of  the  Redruth  Church, 
and  whose  names  will  serve  to  link  together  for  us  its  past  and 
its  present.  Captain  John  Hosking,  who  died  June  21st,  1901, 
was  for  many  years  probably  the  best-known  and  most  highly 
respected  layman  of  the  Cornwall  and  Devon  District.  His 
biographer,  the  Rev.  J.  H.  Best,  says  :  "  When  comparatively 
young  he  qualified  himself  for  and  attained  the  position  of  mine 
captain,  and  after  being  thus  employed  for  many  years  be  was 
appointed  mineral  agent,  and  had  the  direction  of  the  mining 
department  of  Tehidy  estate.  He  was  calm,  genial,  kind  in  bearing, 
wise  in  counsel,  and  of  a  truly  catholic  spirit.''  For  forty-seven 
years  he  was  a  local  preacher,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death  he 
had  two  classes  under  his  care.  For  many  years  he  was  also  Circuit  Steward  and 
school  superintendent.  He  loved  good,  sound  literature,  and  even  during  his  last 
affliction  this  love  showed  itself.  Books  were  strewn  round  his  pillow,  and  when  free 
from  the  paroxysms  of  pain  he  found  solace  in  turning  to  the  words  of  some  master 
of  thought. 

Captain  C.  F.  Bishop  was  the  manager  of  two  important  tin- 
mines  employing  more  than  a  thousand  men,  and  he  had  come 
to  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  leading  authorities  on  mining  in 
the  country.  Beginning  life  as  a  working  miner,  he  had  by 
dint  of  perseverance  worked  his  way  to  this  honourable  position. 
He  efficiently  discharged  the  duties  of  a  local  preacher  for  forty 
years,  and  was  also  a  class-leader  and  active  worker  in  the  Sunday 
school.  Together  with  Captain  Hosking  he  was  very  helpful  in 
the  building  of  the  Redruth  chapel.  Nor  should  his  systematic 
liberality  to  the  poor  go  without  mention.  Captain  Bishop  died 
November,  1902. 

St.  Austell. 


CAPT.    i-.    F.  BISHOP. 


The  great  revival  already  spoken  of  was  not  confined  to  Redruth,  but  was  mightily 
felt  in  the  St.  Austell  part  of  the  station,  where  John  Hewson  was  stationed.  In 
July,  1827,  Joseph  Grieves,  whom  we  saw  last  in  Weardale,  was  sent  to  assist  him. 
Shortly  after  his  arrival  a  notable  camp  meeting  was  held  on  the  "  Wrestling  Downs," 
so  called  because  the  annual  wrestlings  which  took  place  at  the  parish  wakes  were  held 
there.  These  were  due  to  come  off  on  the  Sunday  after  the  camp  meeting,  which  was 
one  of  great  power.  One  of  the  umpires  was  arrested  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  abandoned 
the  sport  to  which  he  had  been  addicted,  and  united  himself  with  the  Church.  The 
wrestlers  left  the  camp-meetingers  in  possession  of  the  field,  and  retired  to  a  spot  on 
the  other  side  of   the  town.     A   chapel  was  afterwards  erected  on  the  "  Wrestling 


326 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 


Downs.'  How  powerfully  the  revival  had  affected  the  district  will  be  made  evident 
from  Mr.  Grieves'  statement  that  in  September,  1828,  there  were  457  members  on  the 
mission  (St.  Austell)  and  282  on  the  home  branch  (Redruth).  In  1829  St.  Austell 
was  made  a  circuit.  It  afterwards  became  a  station  under  the  care  of  the  General 
Missionary  Committee  and  so  far  prospered,  especially  under  the  superintendency  of 
Mr.  K  Powell,  that  it  was  again  made  an  independent  circuit. 

St.  Ives  and  Penzance. 

Penzance,  the  last  town  in  the  South-west  of  England,  was  visited  by  John  Garner 
while  he  was  at  Redruth.  He  walked  there,  preached  in  the  Green  Market  to  an 
attentive  congregation,  then  made  his  way  to  Newlyn  where  he  also  preached,  after 
-which  he  returned  to  Redruth,  having  preached  twice  and  walked  thirty -seven  miles. 


PENZANCE    F1IOM    THE    HARBOUR. 


Shortly  after,  Mr.  Teal  was  appointed  as  a  missionary  to  Penzance.  He  was  successful 
in  raising  a  society  of  twenty  members  at  Penzance  and  one  of  about  thirty  at  Newlyn. 
But  this  devoted  young  man  caught  cold  at  a  camp  meeting,  and  consumption  soon 
claimed  him  for  its  victim.  His  place  on  the  mission  was  taken  by  Joseph  Grieves. 
From  an  interesting  article  which  appeared  in  the  Maijadrte  for  1857,  we  are  told  that 
the  first  place  occupied  in  the  town  was  a  low  dilapidated  schoolroom  in  Market  Jew 
Street.  Thence  a  removal  was  made  to  a  schoolroom  in  South  Parade.  Queen  Street 
Chapel  and  a  schoolroom  in  Xorth  Street  were  successively  occupied  until  1839,  when 
a  new  chapel  was  opened  in  Mount  Street  by  Messrs.  Cummin,  Driffield,  and  "Wigley. 
This  building  was  enlarged  in  1848,  1851,  1853,  and  1857  under  the  care  severally  of 
Joseph  Rest,  Robert  Tuffin,  John  Sharpe,  and  Robert  Hartley. 


THE   PERIOD   OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE.  327 

St.  Ives  was  "opened"  by  Joseph  Grieves  on  July  15th,  1829.  "When  he  arrived  at 
the  river  Hayle  to  cross  from  Penzance  to  St.  Ives  the  tide  was  up  ;  under  these 
circumstances  passengers  had  to  wait  the  reflux  of  the  waters  before  they  could  proceed. 
He  went  into  an  old  church,  nearly  buried  in  the  sand,  where  he  spent  about  three 
hours  in  prayer,  beseeching  God  to  go  with  him.  A  few  apples  made  the  missionary's 
dinner.  The  tide  having  now  ebbed  he  prepared  to  cross.  While  taking  off  his 
stockings  for  this  purpose,  a  strong  man  offered  to  carry  him  over  on  his  back,  and 
after  a  little  difficulty  Mr.  Grieves  reached  his  destination.  He  went  to  a  "decked 
boat "  on  the  Quay,  and  stood  upon  it,  and  there  alone  and  a  stranger  began  to  sing 
"  Come,  oh  come,  thou  vilest  sinner/'  etc.  The  people  were  struck  with  astonishment, 
and  a  crowd,  chiefly  made  up  of  sailors  and  fishermen  with  their  wives,  soon  gathered 
round.  With  great  liberty  the  preacher  offered  gospel  terms  to  the  worst  of  sinners. 
Many  wept  and  earnestly  entreated  another  visit,  promising  a  place  to  preach  in. 
When  he  returned  the  following  week  he  had  nearly  two  thousand  persons  to  preach  to. 
"  The  hearts  of  many  were  smitten ;  numbers  dated  their  first  religious  impressions 
from  this  night."  As  the  result  of  this  and  subsequent  visits  a  remarkable  revival  of 
religion  broke  out  which  extended  to  the  other  Churches  of  the  town,  and  a  striking 
reformation  took  place  in  the  manners  of  the  people.  We  read  of  no  persecution  being 
encountered  by  the  missionaries ;  on  the  contrary,  they  were  welcomed  and  treated  with 
kindness  and  respect  by  all  classes.  In  June,  1830,  there  were  136  members 
in  society.  The  Penzance  mission  became  first  the  St.  Ives'  Branch  of  Redruth  Circuit, 
and  then  in  1833  St.  Ives  became  the  head  of  an  independent  station.  A  large 
chapel  was  built  in  St.  Ives  which  Mr.  Grieves  had  the  gratification  of  opening. 
An  interesting  incident  occurred  at  St.  Ives  in  1839,  while  Mr.  Driffield  was  on  the 
station — made  such  in  1833  with  Penzance  as  its  second  place.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Malkin, 
clergyman  of  the  Established  Church  in  that  town,  became  converted  to  God  during 
a  powerful  revival  of  religion.  "  Attracted  by  a  spirit  of  curiosity,  he  entered  the 
chapel  at  a  late  hour  one  evening,  when  the  Spirit  of  God  instantly  arrested  him. 
In  a  few  days  he  obtained  pardon,  left  the  Church,  and  preached  his  first  evangelical 
sermon  in  our  (the  Primitive  Methodist)  Chapel  from  '  Come,  and  hear,  all  ye  that  fear 
God,  and  I  will  declare  what  He  hath  done  for  my  soul ' :  Psa.  lxvi.  16."* 

No  good  purpose  would  be  served  by  occupying  space  in  showing  what  was  done 
by  the  Connexion  in  the  county  of  Devon  during  the  first  period  of  its  history  since, 
unfortunately,  the  efforts  put  forth,  however  successful  they  might  seem  to  be  at  the 
time,  were  destined  to  end  in  failure  and  withdrawal.  The  story  of  the  renewal  of 
missionary  effort  in  this  charming  county — this  time  happily  successful — belongs  to 
a  later  period  of  our  history.  Mr.  Petty  lived  nearer  the  time  when  these  events 
happened,  and  presumably  was  conversant  with  all  the  facts ;  hence,  we  shall  content 
ourselves  with  reprinting  and  handing  on  his  well-weighed  words  on  this  sombre' 
episode  in  our  history. 

"  It  is  painful  to  add  that,  notwithstanding  the  labour  and  toil  which  several 
of  the  first  and  succeeding  missionaries  spent  on  the  mission  stations  in  this  fine 
county,  and    the  cheering   prospects  which  for  a  time  presented   themselves  in 

*  "  Memoir  of  Rev.  W.  Driffield."  Magazine,  1855,  p.  259. 


328  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 

some  of  them,  a,  succession  of  calamities  befell  them  all ;  and  through  the  improper 
conduct  of  one  of  the  preachers,  the  inefficiency  of  two  or  three  more,  the  lack  of 
sufficient  connexional  support,  and  of  courage  and  perseverance  under  difficulties, 
the  whole  county  was  abandoned  by  the  Primitive  Methodist  Connexion  !  It  is 
humiliating  to  record  these  facts,  but  truth  and  fidelity  demand  their  insertion 
in  these  pages.  It  was  certainly  not  honourable  to  the  community,  nor  in  harmony 
with  the  spirit  of  enterprise  and  perseverance  which  it  has  generally  displayed,  to 
relinquish  all  the  mission  stations  which  it  had  in  the  county,  though  several 
disasters  had  occurred  on  them.  However,  the  labour,  toil,  and  expense  spent 
thereon  were  not  altogether  in  vain.  A  few  souls  were  brought  to  the  Lord  under 
the  ministry  of  the  missionaries,  who  died  happy  in  communion  with  them  ; 
several  acceptable  and  useful  travelling  preachers  were  raised  up,  who  have 
rendered  good  service  to  the  Connexion,  namely,  Messrs.  Chubb,  Rooke,  Grigg, 
Mules,  etc.,  and  the  Wesleyan  and  Bible  Christian  communities  largely  shared 
in  the  fruits  of  the  missionaries'  labours  on  the  before-named  stations.  It  was 
well  that  these  two  denominations  were  able  to  collect  into  church-fellowship 
the  scattered  remains  of  the  societies  unwisely  relinquished  by  the  Primitive 
Methodists."— History,  p.  -292. 

Mr.  I'ctty's  closing  reference  to  the  Bible  Christian  Church  challenges  an  observation 
or  two  on  the  early  relations  of  that  community  with  our  own.  The  experiences  of 
the  two  denominations  at  the  opposite  extremities  of  England  were  curiously  parallel. 
In  Northumberland  societies  that  had  belonged  to  the  Bible  Christians  fell  to  our  lot, 
and  their  minister  withdrew.  In  Devon  much  the  same  thing  happened,  only  in  this 
case  it  was  we  who  withdrew  and  left  our  sheep  to  be  gathered  into  the  Bible  Christian 
or  Wesleyan  Methodist  fold.  But  the  parallel  is  not  merely  an  incidental  or  superficial 
one  :  it  goes  much  deeper  than  this.  The  two  denominations  were  alike  in  the  time 
and  circumstances  of  their  origin,  the  class  of  people  they  worked  amongst,  the  agents 
they  employed,  the  spirit  that  animated  them,  the  methods  of  evangelisation  they 
employed.  Each  was  so  like  the  other  that  they  might  have  been  called  the  Methodist 
twins.  Even  in  later  years,  when  each  denomination  has  developed  its  specific 
differences,  the  curious  resemblance  between  them  has  struck  the  attention  of  observers.* 
To  any  one  who  knows  the  early  history  of  both  communities  it  will  be  matter  for 
wonder  why  they  that  were  so  much  alike  and  so  near  together  did  not  come  nearer 
still,  and  it  will  be  cause  for  regret  that  alliance  or  union  was  not  something  more 
than  one  of  the  might-have-beens  of  history  ;  for  union  was  never,  perhaps,  so  near 
as  it  was  a  few  years  after  the  origin  of  both  denominations.  Even  as  early  as 
18*20  our  fathers  were  no  strangers  to  the  idea  of  amalgamation  with  another  religious 
body.  In  that  year,  as  the  old  Minute-book  of  the  Hull  Circuit  shows,  overtures  were 
made  for  union  with  the  Primitive  Wesleyans  of  Ireland.  Of  course  the  overtures 
came  to  nothing,  as  they  were  bound  to  do.  The  two  denominations  had  very  little  in 
common.  Each  attached  quite  a  different  meaning  to  the  word  "  Primitive."  To  the 
Primitive  "Wesleyans  it  meant  holding  tight  to  John  Wesley's  High-Church  notions— 

*  "  The  Bible  Christians  closely  resemble  the  Primitive  Methodists  in  character  and  spirit."— 
Rev.  J.  Telford :  "  Popular  History  of  Methodism."  "  There  is  a  striking  resemblance  between  this 
body  and  the  Primitives."— "The  Revised  Compendium  of  Methodism,"  by  James  Porter,  D.D. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE.  329 

no  service  in  church-hours,  no  sacrament  except  at  the  hands  of  the  Church  clergyman — 
notions  that  the  "Wesleyan  Methodists  had  quite  properly  discarded.  "What  we  meant 
by  "Primitive"  need  not  again  be  stated.  The  Primitive  Wesleyans  ran  off  with 
John  Wesley's  antique  garments  and  having  arrayed  themselves  in  them,  said  :  "  We 
are  the  true  followers  of  John  Wesley — the  primitive  Wesleyans."  The  Primitive 
Methodists  cared  not  one  jot  for  the  out-of-date  clothes.  What  they  were  anxious 
about  was  to  catch  his  spirit  and  to  follow  his  methods  of  evangelisation.  A  year 
after  Hull  Circuit  had  ineffectually  flirted  with  the  Primitive  Wesleyans,  Conference 
by  resolution  opened  the  pages  of  the  Matjirdne  to  Mr.  0' Bryan,  the  originator  of  the 
Bible  Christian  community,  and  articles  from  his  pen  appeared  there  dealing  with 
passages  in  his  own  life  and  with  the  question  of  female  preaching.  The  observations 
which  these  articles  drew  forth  from  Hugh  Bourne  on  "the  remarkable  similarity 
between  the  two  bodies  as  regards  their  practical  recognition  of  the  ministry  of 
females "  have  already  been  given  (vol.  ii.  p.  3).  This  interchange  of  courtesies 
might  easily,  one  thinks,  have  led  on  to  a  union  of  the  forces  and  fortunes  of  the  two 
denominations.  But  neither  was  this  to  be.  Each  denomination  took  its  own  course, 
like  the  rivers  Severn  and  Wye  which  rise  near  together  and  then  diverge,  but  only 
to  approximate  again  and  to  mingle  their  waters  at  last  in  the  same  broad  estuary.  It 
may  be  this  last  feature  is  a  parable  of  the  future,  as  the  other  features  are  a  parable 
of  the  past,  and  that  it  is  to  a  broad  United  Methodism  we  are  tending. 


330  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 


t 


CHAPTER  XXIIT. 

BRINKWORTH  DISTRICT,  1833-43. 

Lights  and  Shadows. 

ERSECUTION* — but  persecution  not  -without  its  alleviations  and  compensa- 
tions is  what  we  wish  to  write  of  in  this  chapter.  If  the  question  were 
simply  this: — "How  does  this  particular  southern  district  of  England 
compare  with  other  districts  you  have  passed  through,  in  regard  to  the 
amount  of  persecution  the  Connexion's  missionaries  met  with  in  doing  their  work  t "  there 
could  only  be  one  answer.  "  It  compares  unfavourably  with  other  districts,  and  for 
the  reasons  already  stated.  You  must  take  your  Persecution  Map  and  with  your 
brush  put  dabs  of  colour  on  the  counties  of  Wilts,  Dorset,  Berks,  Oxon,  Surrey;  and 
on  Hants  it  must  be  darker  than  anywhere  else  in  England."  We  will  suppose  the 
brush  has  done  its  work.  But  in  reality  tl  e  sombreness  of  the  story  is  relieved  by 
many  touches  of  brightness,  and  our  Persecution  Map  gives  only  half  the  truth.  There 
is  the  courage  and  cheery  hopefulness  with  which  the  missionaries  met  their 
persecutions.  There  is  the  success  that  at  last  came  to  them  as  a  reward.  If  they 
had  persecutors  they  also  had  an  ever-increasing  band  of  faithful  men  and  women 
who  "through  good  retort  and  evil,"  clung  to  them  and  the  cause.  If  there  weie 
raging  mobs  and  hostile  squires  and  parsons  and  magistrates,  there  were  here  ahd  there 
humble  cottages  and  farm-houses  wheie  they  found  sympathy  and  shelter.  So  the 
missionary's  experience,  as  he  toiled  on,  was  chequered  with  light  and  shade  like 
a  moonlit  path  through  the  trees.  This  is  the  impression  we  ought  to  gain.  Emphasis 
must  of  course  be  laid  on  the  fact  that  this  was  connexionally  our  Persecution  Area. 
Yet  we  must  not  forget  to  put  the  lights  in.  To  leave  them  out  would  be  like  stopping 
short  with  Christ's  words  :  "  In  the  world  ye  shall  have  tribulation.''  We  must  go 
on  ami  hear  the  finish:  "But  be  of  good  cheer;  I  have  overcome  the  world,"  and 
then  we  have  the  darkness  shot  through  with  light.  Somehow,  this  passage  haunts  the 
mind  as  we  write  of  Brinkworth  District's  formation  and  extension  ;  and  it  does  so 
because  men  endured  and  overcame  in  cheerful  mood  as  their  Master  had  done. 

In  the  parts  already  named,  persecution  was  so  common  as  to  be  the  rule  rather  than 
the  exception.  This  being  so,  it  follows  that  all  the  pioneers  of  the  old  Brinkworth 
District  came  in  for  their  share  of  it  when  labouring  hereabout.  Some  might  be  more 
daring,  or  less  prudent  and  tactful  in  their  handling  of  the  mob  ;  more  aggressive  in 
manner  and  more  provocative  of  speech,  being  less  able  to  withhold  the  retort,  and 
given  to  speaking  their  mind.  No  doubt  this  was  so,  and  perhaps  explains  a  good  deal. 
But  even  the  meekest  and   most  self-restrained    evangelist   did   not  always  escape;  nor 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE.  331 

did  the  gentle  women  whoso  sex  should  have  been  their  protection.  Several  pious 
females  were  employed  on  the  mission,  and  broke  down  in  health.  "  S.  "Wheeler  was 
taken  out,  but  could  not  bear  up  under  the  toils.  Then  Miss  Evans,  but  she  found  the 
journeys  too  severe,  and  persecution  too  violent.''  Ann  Godwin,  afterwards  the  wife 
of  H.  Green,  the  Australian  missionary,  was  brought  to  death's  door  as  the  result  of  her 
trying  experiences.  At  Childrey  "  it  was  grievous  to  see  the  young  women  with  their 
plain  neat  bonnets  crushed  down  on  their  heads  and  their  frocks  torn.''  At  Foot 
Baldon,  in  Oxfordshire,  a  female  preacher  was  knocked  down  with  a  stone.  As  for 
Elizabeth  Smith  (afterwards  Mrs.  Russell),  during  the  two  years — 1830-2 — she  was 
on  the  mission,  she  moved  about  amongst  the  rough  crowds  as  though  she  had 
a  charmed  life.  At  notorious  Eamsbury  she  walked  up  the  avenue  to  the  barn  where 
she  was  to  conduct  the  service,  singing  with  great  sweetness  and  pathos.  The  path 
was  lined  with  men  provided  with  stones,  eggs,  and  other  missiles  ready  to  fling; 
but  as  their  ringleader  saw  and  heard  the  preacheress,  "  dressed  in  the  characteristic 
garb  of  a  Friend,"  he  was  overawed,  and  turning  to  his  followers,  he  said  with 
authority  :  "  None  of  you  shall  touch  that  woman.'  And  this  disarming  of  opposition 
as  by  the  mere  efflux  of  her  own  personality  was  an  incident  often  repeated.  In 
referring  to  Miss  Smith  as  associated  with  Thomas  Russell  while  pioneering  in 
Hampshire,  Mr.  Petty  writes  :  "It  may  be  questioned,  however,  whether  his  excellent 
and  devoted  female  colleague,  who  laboured  with  him  in  the  gospel,  was  not  still  more 
successful  than  he.  The  novelty  of  female  preaching  attracted  crowds  to  hear  her ; 
and  her  modesty  and  good  sense,  her  clear  views  of  evangelical  truth,  her  lucid 
statements,  and  her  solemn  and  pathetic  appeals  to  the  heart  and  conscience,  under 
the  Divine  blessing,  made  deep  impressions,  and  rendered  her  very  useful  among  the 
peasantry  in  Hampshire.''  With  this  well-deserved  tribute  we  take  leave  of  one  of  the 
most  attractive  figures  in  our  history.  Elizabeth  Smith's  ail-too  brief  life  ended 
February  21st,  1836. 

"We  have  spoken  much  of  John  Ride,  and  Mr.  Petty  in  his  history  devotes  very 
considerable  space  to  the  doings  and  sufferings  of  Thomas  Russell,  as  we  too  have  done 
or  shall  have  to  do.  But  the  portrait-group  of  some  of  the  Brinkworth  District 
pioneers  — all  of  whom  we  believe  ended  their  days  at  Newbury  in  the  very  heart  of 
the  country  they  helped  to  evangelise — should  serve  to  remind  us  that  neither 
John  Ride  nor  Thomas  Russell  had  a  monopoly  of  toil  and  persecution.  They 
were  but  the  first  among  many  brethren.  For  besides  the  veterans  of  the  group 
referred  to,  there  were  others,  their  compeers,  who  also  did  their  part  in  the  same  work 
and  bore  the  brunt  of  opposition  in  doing  it.  The  names  of  some  of  these  will 
come  before  us.  With  all  this  mass  of  material  to  choose  from,  all  that  we  can  hope  to 
do  is  to  single  out  what  may  rightly  be  regarded  as  typical  examples  of  persecution. 
As  these  examples  are  to  stand  as  representative  ones  in  our  annals,  they  may  be 
considered  almost  in  the  light  of  documents  which  must  be  handed  down  in  the 
very  form  in  which  they  were  received.  First  then,  in  the  order  of  time,  we  give 
what  should  be  known  in  our  annals  as  "The  Chaddleworth  Case,  1830."  The 
persecution  which  clothes  itself  under  legal  forms  is  more  hateful  than  mob  violence 
and  it  is  harder  to  bear.      It  admits  of  less  excuse,   and   is   felt  by  the   sufferer  to 


332 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH 


Rev  Samuel Tumie 


RtvTHoriASCunnin 


SOME   PIONEERS  OF  BRINKUORTH    DISTRICT. 


eeper  outrage.  Cliaddleworth. 
Berkshire,  affords  a  glaring  and 
typical  example  of  this  kind  of  per- 
secution of  which  Thomas  Russell 
was  the  victim.  He  was  sentenced 
to  three  months'  hard  labour,  osten- 
sibly, for  selling  without  a  licence, 
but,  really,  because  he  would  persist 
in  preaching  the  gospel  in  the  streets 
of  Cliaddleworth — that  is  the  fact 
as  it  stands  forth  in  its  shameful 
nakedness.  It  was  a  "put-up  job" 
on  the  part  of  the  clergyman  and  a  magistrate.  The  phrase  used  has  vile  associations 
and  may  look  objectionable  in  print,  but  the  writer  knows  no  other  phrase  that  will  quite 
so  well  convey  the  meaning  intended.  It  was  known  that  Mr.  Russell  occasionally  sold 
denominational  magazines  and  hymn-books  to  his  people.  Here  was  material  to  hand 
for  the  making  of  a  cunning  trap.  But  the  official  representatives  of  Law  and  Religion 
would  not  themselves  set  the  trap.  That  work  was  assigned  to  the  parish  constable, 
who  was  a  tenant  of  the  magistrate.  Unsuspectingly,  Mr.  Russell  walked  into  the 
trap.  He  was,  as  we  have  said,  sentenced  to  three  months'  imprisonment  with  hard 
lahour  in  Abingdon  jail.  But  even  then  he  might  have  been  let  go,  had  he  but 
consented  to  give  an  undci taking  not  to  preach  any  more  in  the  neighbourhood.  But 
that  undertaking  lie  would  not  give ;  so  he  was  stripped,  made  to  put  on  a  felon's  garb, 
and  sent  to  work  the  tread-mill.  When  appetite  and  health  both  failed,  the  prison 
doctor  said  .  "  He  came  here  to  be  punished,  and  punished  he  must  be  "  ;  and  he  was 
ordered  back  to  the  wheel. 

But  this  prison  episode  is  nut  without  its  touches  of  brightness.  It  called  forth 
sympathisers  and  protectors,  and  was  overruled  for  final  if  not  immediate  good  to  the 
cause  which  was  sought  to  he  crushed.     The  Nonconformist  ministers  of  Abingdon — 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT    PREDOMINANCE    AND    ENTERPRISE.  333 

Mr.  Wilkins  (Congregationalist),  Mr.  Kershaw  (Baptist,),  and  Mr.  Loutit  (Wesleyan), 
made  themselves  fully  conversant  with  the  facts.     They  were  deeply  concerned  as  well 
as  interested,  and  at  once  brought  the  case  under  the  notice  of  the  Religious  Protection 
Society  of  London.     Mr.  John  Wilks,  the  secretary,  energetically  bestirred  himself  in 
the  matter,  with  the  result  that  Mr.  Russell  was  liberated  from  prison  on  June  5th,  1830, 
when  he  had  served  but  one  month  of  his  sentence.      Some  little  time  after  his  release 
Mr.  Willis  sent  to  request  his  presence  in  London,  and  remitted  him  money,  through 
Mr.  Kershaw  of  Abingdon,   to  bear   his  expenses  thither.      Mr.  Russell  accordingly 
repaired  to  the  metropolis,  and   had  several  interviews  with   Mr.   Wilks.      At  last, 
Mr.  Wilks  asked  Mr.  Russell  what  he  wished  to  be  done.     Mr.  Russell  replied :  "  All 
I  wish  is  to  go  on  preaching  unmolested  by  the  magistrate."     Mr.  Wilks  rejoined  : 
"  Mr.  Russell,  your  spirit  is  that  of  a  Christian,  and  your  wish  shall  be  granted.     Go- 
on, sir,  in  your  work,  and  we  will  protect  you."     At  parting,  Mr.  Wilks  kindly  gave 
Mr.  Russell  three  pounds  to  meet  his  expenses,  and  Mr.  Russell  bade  him  adieu  with 
a  grateful  heart,  and  returned  with  fresh  courage  to  prosecute  his  missionary  work  in 
Berkshire.     The  good  work  had  progressed  during  his  imprisonment,  and  a  powerful 
camp  meeting,  the  first  held  in  the  county  of  Berks,  was  held  on  Bishopstone  Down, 
near  Ashdown  Park,  on  Sunday,  May  30th,  1830.     Some  thousands  attended  in  the 
afternoon ;  much  divine  power  attended  the  word  preached,  and  great  good  was  effected. 
At  night,  an  excellent  lovefeast  was  held  at  Bishopstone,  and  several  persons  labouring 
under  a  burden  of  sin,  found  peace  in  believing. 

Let  us  note  that  what  we  see  at  Abingdon — the  sympathy  of  the  Free  Church 
leaders  taking  a  practical  form — was  repeated  again  and  again  in  other  parts  of  the 
Persecution  Area.  So  it  was,  as  we  shall  see,  at  Faringdon,  at  Shaftesbury,  and  notably 
at  Winchester.  More,  perhaps,  in  the  Southern  counties  than  in  other  parts  of 
England,  prominent  leaders  of  the  Free  Churches  made  it  quite  clear  on  which  side  their 
sympathies  lay.  They  came  forward  as  vindicators  and  protectors,  moved  to  action 
not  merely  by  a  feeling  of  common  humanity  but  by  enlightened  self-interest  and  the 
elementary  instinct  of  self-preservation.  They  had  the  discernment  to  see  what  were 
the  issues  involved  ;  what  were  the  aims,  the  tendencies,  the  possibilities  of  the  new 
movement.  They  were  not  slow  to  recognise  in  it  a  new,  and  what  in  the  end  might 
prove  to  be  a  valuable  ally.  It  therefore  behoved  them  not  to  allow  a  movement  of 
so  much  promise  to  be  crushed  before  it  could  acquire  strength  and  show  its  power. 

The  story  of  Thomas  Russell's  savage  handling  by  the  mob  in  King  Alfred's  native 
Vale  of  the  White  Horse  may  stand  as  a  typical  case  of  its  kind. 

"Mr.  Russell  entered  upon  the  Faringdon  mission  in  full  expectation  of  severe 
persecution,  in  which  he  was  not  deceived.  Before  four  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the 
third  Sunday  in  April,  1832,  he  prepared  for  his  journey  to  the  scene  of  his  intended 
missionary  operations.  His  mind  was  oppressed  with  the  burden  of  the  work  before 
him,  and  the  dread  of  persecution  and  suffering  ;  but  lie  was  supported  with  a  sense 
of  the  Divine  approval  and  the  hope  of  success.  When  he  arrived  at  the  summit  of 
a  hill  about  ten  miles  from  Wantage,  he  saw  the  town  lying  before  him,  and  instantly 
a  dread  of  what  awaited  him  well-nigh  overcame  him.  He  met  two  men  who  knew 
him,  and  they  advised  him  to  return  on  account  of  the  severe  persecution  which  they 
expected  he  would  have  to  encounter.     He  thanked  them  for  their  sympathy  but  went 


3:U  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 

forward  on  his  journey.     At  nine  o'clock  he  stood  up  in  the  market-place  and  began 
to  sing  a  hymn.     He  next  knelt  down  and  prayed,  and  concluded  without  molestation. 
But  ere  he  commenced  preaching  a  number  of  ruffians  surrounded  him,  and  he  had 
not  spoken  long  when  a  more  violent  company  arrived  and   pushed   him  from  his . 
standing-place,  driving  him  before  them  like  a  beast.     He  heard  some  of  them  cry, 
'Have  him  down  Mill  Street! 'and  suspecting,  perhaps  properly,  that  they  intended 
to  throw  him  into  the  river  which  flows  at  the  bottom  of  that  street,  he  determined 
if  ]  possible  to  pre\ent  being  driven  down  't,  and  managed  to  keep  in  the  market-place. 
After  being  driven  to  and  fro  an  hour  or  more,  his  inhuman  persecutors  paused,  when 
Mr.  Russell  threw  open  his  waistcoat,  and  in  the  true  spirit  of  a  martyr  cried  :  'Lads  ! 
if  the  shedding  of  my  heart's  blood  will  contribute  to  your  salvation,  I  am  willing  for 
it  to  be  shed  on  these  stones.     At   this  moving  statement  those  who  were  nearest  him 
drew  back  a  little,  and  seemed  to  relent ;  but  a  violent  gang  outside  the  throng  pushed 
forward  and  urged  the  rest  to  reaction  (sif).    A  respectable  looking  person,  who  Mr.  It. 
afterwards  learned  was  the  chief  constable,  came  to  him  and  said  :   '  Tf  you  will  leave, 
all  will  then  be  quiet.     Mr.  1!.  replied  :  '  If  I  have  broken  the  law,  punish  me  according 
to  the  law,  and   not   in  this  manner.'     The  constable   then  withdrew  without  ever 
attempting  to  quell   the  lawless  mob,  who  again  assailed  the  solitary  missionary  with 
ruthless  violence.     At  length  the  beadle  came  and  seized  Mr.  Russell  by  the  collar,  and 
led  him  to  the  end  of  the  town,  and  there  left  him.     Mr.  Russell's  strength  was  almost 
exhausted  with  the  violent  usage  he  had  suffered  in  the  market-place;  but  determining 
if  possible  to  address  those  who  had  followed  him  thither,  he  stood  upon  the  side  of  a 
hedge  and  preached  as  well  as  he  was  able.     But  his  persecutors  were  not  yet  satisfied; 
they   pelted  him  with  stones,  eggs,  mud,  and  everything  they  could  render  available 
for  the  purpose.     Kven  women,  unmindful  of  the  tenderness  of  their  sex,  joined  in 
this  cruel  treatment;  some  of  them  took  the  dirt  out  of  their  patten-rings  to  cast  at 
the  preacher  !     When   Mr.   Russell  concluded   the  sen  ice  he  was  covered  from  head 
to  foot  with  slime,  mud,  rotten  eggs,  and  other  kinds  of  filth  ;  and  his  clothes  were 
torn,  and  his  flesh  bruised.     As  soon  as  he  got  alone  by  the  side  of  a  canal,  he  took 
off  his  clothes  and  washed  them.     Then  putting  them  on  wet,  'enduring  hardness  as 
a  good  soldier  of  Jesus  Christ,    he  [proceeded  to  Faringdon,  where  similar  treatment 
befell  him.     When  he  came  to  a  pool  of  water  outside  the  town,  he  washed  his  clothes 
a  second  time,  and  then  went  five  miles  further  to  Shrivenham,  where  he  was  met  with 
another  violent  reception.     At  a   brook  he  cleaned  himself  a  third  time,  and  then 
proceeded  to  another  village,  where  he  preached  in  peace,  except  that  a  person  threw 
a  stone  or  other  hard  material  at  him,  which  cut  his  lip.     After  this  he  walked  six 
miles  to  Lambourn  to  rest  for  the  night.     He  had  been  on  foot  eighteen  hours,  had 
walked  thirty-five  miles,  had  preached  four  times,  and  had  gone  through  an  amount 
of  suffering  such  as  none  but  a  strong,  healthy  man  could  have  endured.     Next  day, 
however,  he  walked  twenty  miles  to  the  other  side  of  his  mission,  and  during  the 
week  preached  at  several  fresh  places." 

The  story  docs  not  end  here,  for  on  the  following  Sunday  Mr.  Russell  again  visited 
Wantage  and  Faringdon,  only  to  experience  similar  treatment.  At  Faringdon,  especially, 
he  was  so  savagely  baited  that  a  respectable  inhabitant  of  the  place  could  not  help 
exclaiming  :  "If  I  had  a  dog  which  had  to  suffer  what  that  man  endures,  I  would  cut 
off  his  head  to  put  him  out  of  his  misery.''  Yet  when  Mr.  Fox,  a  member  of  the 
Society  of  Friends,  deeply  stirred  by  the  inhuman  treatment  Mr.  Russell  was  subjected 
to,  wrote  to  a  clerical  magistrate  on  his  behalf  the  only  answer  he  got  was  :   "  The 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND    ENTERPRISE.  335 

people  have  as  much  right  to  take  the  course  they  do  as  the  preacher  has  to  preach 
in  the  streets."  This  magisterial  dictum  deserves  to  be  placed  on  record;  as  a  specimen 
of  callous  feeling  and  perverse  thinking  it  would  be  hard  to  beat.  If  these  were  the 
sentiments  of  the  magistracy  no  wonder  the  mob  waxed  bold  and  wantoned  in  their 
excess.  Still,  in  spite  of  mob  and  magistrates,  Thomas  Eussell  held  on  to  Faringdon, 
and  his  tenacity  had  its  reward.  In  June,  1832,  Mr.  Wiltshire  was  added  to  the  staff 
of  the  mission  and  its  borders  were  enlarged.  Under  the  labours  of  Messrs.  G.  Price, 
W.  Hervey,  and  W.  Peacefull  so  much  success  was  realised  as  to  justify  the  mission's 
bjing  formed  into  an  independent  circuit,  and  as  such  it  stands  on  the  Minutes  for 
1837,  with  H.  Heys,  Thomas  Cummin,  and  M.  Bugden  as  its  preachers. 

It  is  time  to  put  the  lights  into  our  picture  of  the  conditions  under  which  Shefford 
Circuit  was  formed  and  extended,  lest  a  wrong  impression  be  left  on  the  mind  of  the 
reader  by  its  unrelieved  sombreness.  Over  against  the  fact  of  the  prevalence  of 
persecution  must  be  set  the  compensating  fact  that  a  constantly  increasing  number 
of  adherents  were  won  for  the  cause  whose  sympathy  and  co-operation  augured  well 
for  still  greater  success  to  come.  It  would  be  a  mistake  to  suppose  the  missionaries 
to  have  been  men  of  a  sad  heart  and  rueful  countenance,  having  no  helpers,  and 
conscious  of  fighting  a  losing  battle.  So  far  from  that  being  so,  they  knew  they  were 
on  the  winning  side,  and  were  persuaded  that  opposition  would  gradually  die  down, 
and  in  the  end  die  out  altogether.  They  were  men  of  faith ;  so  in  Thomas  Eussell's 
phrase  they  "  tugged  at  it,''  and  bore  persecution  and  privation]  in  good  spirits  as  being 
part  of  the  day's  work.  Even  the  "Vale,''  as  they  called  it — the  Vale  of  the  White 
Horse — was  for  them  something  more  than  a  metaphorical  vale  of  tears.  How  often 
at  the  close  of  a  powerful  service  the  doxology  was  sung  for  those  who,  in  the 
expressive  phrase  of  the  time,  had  been  "  brought  in  ! "  Nothing  cheers  like  com- 
panionship and  belief  in  ultimate  success ;  and  Shefford  Circuit  was  succeeding  and, 
consequently,  the  company  of  the  faithful  was  being  steadily  enlarged.  In  this  country, 
which  John  Ride  and  John  Petty  had  surveyed,  and  Ride  and  Russell  had  prayed  for 
at  Ashdown,  there  were  now,  at  the  end  of  1832,  eleven  missionaries  at  work  and 
some  eight  hundred  members  in  church-fellowship.  As  yet  sparsely  dotted  in  this 
tract  of  country,  were  cottages  and  farm-houses  which  were  veritable  houses  of  refuge 
and  pilgrim-inns,  where  the  weary  and  often  buffeted  missionary  was  sure  of  a  hearty 
welcome  and  of  the  bjst  the  house  could  afford.  These  Gaiuses  of  the  pioneer  times 
who  ministered  out  of  their  poverty  and,  in  some  cases,  out  of  their  comparative 
abundance,  have  almost  as  strong  a  claim  on  our  remembrance  as  have  the  men  to 
whom  they  ministered,  since  without  them  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  the  bounds  of  the 
Connexion  could  have  been  widely  extended  in  the  Southern  counties,  or  Primitive 
Methodism  have  rooted  itself  amongst  the  villages  as  it  has  done.  We  can  only  make 
brief  mention  of  a  few  of  these  successors  of  "the  well-beloved  Gaius.''    There  were  such 

in  Wiltshire at  the  generating-point  of    this  wide-spreading  evangelistic   movement. 

For  example  under  the  powerful  ministry  of  Samuel  Turner,  Miss  Asenah  Ferris  was 
converted.  She  discarded  her  fashionable  attire  and  cast  in  her  lot  with  the  contemned 
Primitives.  Subsequently  she  became  the  wife  of  Mr.  Smith  of  Wootton  Bassett. 
She  and  her  husband  became  local  preachers ;  their  house  was  always  open  for  God's 


336 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


GEORGE   WALLIS. 


servants ;  they  did  much  in  helping  to  build  the  chapel  and  to  found  and  maintain 
the  Day  Schools  afterwards  established.  After  Mr.  Smith's  death  in  1845  the  widow 
continued  her  good  works,  and,  in  1849  was  married  to  Mr.  Abraham  Woodward 
of  Broad  Town,  member  of  a  family  to  whom  the  Primitive  Methodism  of  Brinkworth 
Circuit  owed  much. 

Another  Wiltshire  guest-house  was  the  home  of  Mr.  John  Davies,  on  the  Marlborough 
Downs,  where  the  little  flocks  often  met  for  shelter  and  for 
worship  in  the  time  of  persecution  at  Ramsbury  and  neighbouring 
places.  It  was  at  Ewin's  Hill  Harriet  Maslin  of  Ramsbury  gave 
her  first  public  exhortation.  She  was,  we  are  told,  diligent  in 
attending  the  five  o'clock  services,  which  were  held  all  the  year 
round,  and  took  her  turn  in  speaking  with  the  rest  of  the  new 
converts.  In  1834  she  came  on  the  plan,  and  in  1837  became  the 
devoted  partner  of  Mr.  George  Wallis. 

A  simple  incident  in  the  life  of  George  Wallis,  who  was  one 
of  the  gains  of  the  Wootton  Bassett  revival,  and,  as  a  young  man 
of  twenty-one,  became  one  of  Shefford's  first  staff  of  preachers, 
brings  us  into  Berkshire,  and  at  once  illustrates  the  scarcity  and 
the  value  of  these  hospitable  homesteads  of  those  early  days.  Sometimes  an  incident 
like  this  illumines  past  conditions  as  no  number  of  generalised  statements  could  do. 
Like  a  snap-shot,  true  to  the  actuality  of  things,  it  has  a  vivid  suggestiveness  as  to  the 
past  out  of  all  proportion  to  the  apparent  unimportance  of  the  incident  itself  at  the  time 
it  occurred.  "  A  few  miles  from  Newbury  there  stands  an  old  farm-house,  then  occupied 
by  Mr.  Simon  Goddard,  who  espoused  the  cause  of  the  missionaries  and  threw  open  his 
home  to  them.  <  hie  evening  Mr.  George  Wallis,  who  had  been  preaching  at  a  distant 
village,  made  for  this  hospitable  house,  but  reached  it  to  find  the  inmates  had  all  retired 
to  rest.  Xot  caring  to  disturb  them  he  crept  into  a  heap  of  straw  for  the  purpose  of 
passing  the  night.  Later  on  came  along  Mr.  Thomas  Bussell  who  had  heen  unahle  to  find 
die/fer  elsewhere.  The  family  were  soon  roused 
by  the  new-comer,  and  the  youthful  missionary, 
like  John  following  the  bolder  Peter,  left  the 
straw  for  more  comfortable  quarters.''  We  have 
no  report  of  the  table-talk  that  took  place  on  the 
morrow  when  the  family  and  guests  assembled 
at  meal-time.  Such  a  report  is  wanting  to 
complete  the  picture ;  but  we  may  be  sure  the 
talk  would  turn  on  the  progress  of  the  work 
of  God  ;  on  the  latest  additions  to  the  roll  of 
converts  ;  incidents  of  the  campaign  would  be 
related,  and  the  latest  novelty  in  persecution 
described.  We  can  imagine  how  Thomas  Russell  would  tell  how  some  one  at 
Faringdon,  with  a  turn  for  calculation,  had  estimated  that  no  less  than  two  sacks 
of  potatoes  had  been  flung  at  the  preacher  and  his  congregation  in  the  streets  of  that 
place,  and  we  can  picture  the  zest  with  which  he  would  round  off  the  story  by  the 


MRS.  PHELPS. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE. 


337 


statement  that  some  of  the  thrifty  people  of  Faringdon  had  picked  up  and  planted 
these  tubers  and  were  calling  their  produce  "  Faringdon-Russells."  Our  pioneers  were 
not  altogether  devoid  of  the  sense  of  humour,  and  many  incidents  happened  in  the 
'Thirties  in  the  persecution-area,  which  would  appeal  to  that  wholesome  sense,  like  the 
incident  just  given. 

In  this  connection  respectful  mention  should  be  made  of  Mr.  G.  T.  Phelps  of 
Hungerford,  who  is  one  of  the  very  small  number  still  surviving  who  have  sustained  an 
active  connection  with  the  Church  in  this  part  of  the  country  since  the  early  days  of 
struggle.  Much  might  be  said  of  the  character  and  work  of  Mr.  Phelps  and  his  excellent 
partner.  What  is  emphasised  here  however  is  the  fact  that  for  forty-eight  years  Mrs. 
Phelps  was  the  light  of  a  home  whose  hospitality  was  unceasingly  and  ungrudgingly 


NANCY  STREET'S  HOL'SE  (WITH  NANCY  IN  FEONT),  QUICKS  GEEEN,  BEADFIELD  CIRCUIT,  SEEKS. 


dispensed.  No  wonder  that,  under  the  influence  of  her  saintly  and  beneficent  life,  her 
children  should  turn  out  well.  When  she  died  in  1898  three  of  her  sons  were  ministers 
of  the  gospel — one  of  them  being  Rev.  T.  Phelps,  a  well-known  minister  of  the  Salisbury 
and  Southampton  District — while  her  three  daughters  were  the  wives  of  Primitive 
Methodist  preachers.  One  of  her  last  utterances,  disclosing  what  had  been  the  bent  of 
her  life,  was  -.   "  Always  make  room  for  the  preachers  "  ! 

We  get  glimpses  of  other  early  befrienders  of  the  cause  :  of  the  Alexanders  of 
Ramsbury,  one  of  whom  offered  his  joiner's  shop  for  the  first  meeting-place,  which  offer 
necessitated  another  journey  to  Salisbury  to  get  it  licensed  ;  of  William  Hawkin,  who, 
when  he  was  an  agricultural  labourer  earning  but  six  or  seven  shillings  a  week,  lost  his 


338  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 

■  employment  for  entertaining  the  preachers,  but  he  took  care  to  keep  his  integrity  and 
his  religion,  and  lived  to  become  a  prosperous  farmer  ;  of  George  and  Thomas  Waite  and 
Isaac  Hedges  who,  with  several  others,  started  for  Heaven  at  a  service  in  a  gravel-pit 
at  Hoe  Benhain  in  1830,  and  became  "eminent  in  the  good  cause";  of  Mr.  Kirby 
who  invited  the  Primitives  to  Bradfield,  and  of  Mr.  Nullis  of 
Ashmanstead  who  "became  a  great  helper  in  our  chapel-building 
/  jF*"*'  '''^  \  at  Burnt  Hill,  and  whose  son,  Isaac,  became  mighty  in  the  ministry 
with  us.''  The  reference  to  Bradfield  is  interesting  because,  as 
Thomas  Russell  asserts,  from  Bradfield  the  work  opened  out  to 
Heading. 

The  name  of  Isaac  S.  Nullis  brings  before  us  a  remarkable  per- 
sonality. His  life  was  an  intense  one  though,  measured  by  years, 
it  was  not  long.  It  was  his  companion,  George  Smith,  who  induced 
him  to  attend  a  prayer  meeting  in  Mrs.  Ann  Street's  cottage,  Quicks 
Green;  and  here  the  great  "turn"'  in  his  life  was  experienced. 
This  humble  cottage  is  connexionally  historic  and  as  such  we  have  pleasure  in  giving 
a  view  of  it,  especially  as  it  also  shows  us  "  Nancy  "  Street  herself — a  notable  figure 
of  those  days.  Isaac  Nullis  and  George  Smith  both  became  local  preachers  in  the 
Reading  Circuit.  The  latter  was  a  useful  travelling  preacher  for  thirty-nine  years 
(ok  1897),  while  Isaac  Nullis  also  toiled  successfully  as  a  home-missionary  for  a  few 
years.  He  died  in  1X68,  leaving  testamentary  gifts  to  his  Church,  and  his  remains  lie 
in  the  graveyard  opposite  the  cottage  where  he  found  the  Saviour.  There  too  is 
buried  the  mortal  part  of  Ann  .Street.  The  "  Life  "  of  Isaac  Nullis  has  been  written 
by  Mr.  Jesse  Herbert.  It  shows  us  a  man  whose  course  was  marked  by  consuming 
zeal  in  seeking  the  souls  of  men  :  it  also  contains  many  instances  of  remarkable  answers 
to  prayer.  Those  amongst  us — and  surely  they  are  an  increasing  number — to  whom 
prayer  is  a  subject  of  absorbing  interest,  who  seek  to  investigate  its  achievements,  its 
laws,  its  possibilities — should  keep  Isaac  Nullis  in  remembrance.  His  life  has  instruction 
for  us  and,  it  is  to  be  feared,  admonishment  as  well. 

In  turning  to  Hampshire,  we  cannot  do  better  than  preface  our  account  of  the  fierce 
persecutions  our  pioneers  underwent  in  this  county,  by  describing  a  journey  which  Hugh 
Bourne  took  along  with  Thomas  Russell  in  September,  1832,  from  ShefTord  across  the 
North  Western  borders  of  Hampshiie  on  to  Salisbury.  To  us  the  story  of  the  advance 
of  Primitive  Methodism  from  county  to  county  has  all  the  interest  of  a  moving  drama, 
and  so  the  description  of  this  journey  comes  in  at  this  point  with  all  the  appropriateness 
of  an  Interact,  equally  related  as  it  is  to  what  has  gone  before  and  to  what  it  foreshadows 
as  about  to  happen.     But  let  us  give  Thomas  Russell's  narrative  : — 

"Mr.  Hugh  Bourne  was  frequently  requested  to  pay  us  a  visit  ;  but  from  the  press 
of  business  and  calls  elsewhere  he  did  not  visit  us  till  Monday,  September  10th,  1832. 
However,  his  coining  then  was  very  opportune,  for  surely  no  men  needed  fatherly 
counsel  and  comfort  more  than  we  did  ;  persecution  raged  on  every  side,  and  our 
lives  were  often  in  danger.  Nor  can  I  forget  his  arrival  at  Shefford  the  morning 
after  our  quarterly  meeting.  Brother  Samuel  West,  who  had  come  to  see  his  friend 
[John  Ride]  and,  assist  us  at  the  quarter-day,  was  praying  at  full  stretch  and  in  the 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND   ENTERPRISE.  339 

full  glory.  Faringdon  and  Wantage  mission  was  then  the  burden  of  our  cry,  and 
many  a  hearty  "  amen "  ran  through  the  house,  when  suddenly,  at  a  quick  pace,  in 
walked  a  man  with  a  broad-brimmed  hat,  all  covered  with  dust,  a  brown  top-coat  that 
had  weathered  many  a  blast,  an  umbrella  which  had  been  stretched  against  many 
a  storm,  and  a  well-known  carpet-bag.  No  sooner  was  he  in  than  he  was  on  his 
knees,  and  with  loud  responses  he  joined  in  our  devotions.  The  voice  was  familiar  to 
myself  and  Messrs.  Ride  and  West  ;  and  when  we  rose  from  our  knees  we  gave  him 
a  hearty  welcome,  and  announced  him  to  the  rest  of  the  brethren,  and  most  tenderly 
and  affectionately  did  he  listen  to  our  tales  of  success,  and  those  of  woe  about  the 
persecutions  then  raging,  particularly  in  the  vale  of  Wantage.  He  gave  us  good 
counsel,  and  most  earnestly  prayed  for  us,  and  the  preachers  then  separated  for  their 
appointments.  On  Friday,  September  14th,  I  drove  Mr.  Bourne  into  Hampshire  to 
Hartbourne  [Hurstbourue?],  to  Squire  Blunt's.  I  was  delighted  with  the  ease  and 
freedom  as  well  as  ability  with  which  Mr.  B.  conversed  with  the  good  gentleman  on 
Cobbett  and  other  authors,  as  he  had  a  large  and  valuable  library.  In  the  evening, 
at  my  request,  Mr.  Bourne  preached  [in  Mr.  Farr's  house  at  Bindly]  from  'the  Great 
White  Throne,'  and  many  felt  the  force  of  truth.  The  next  morning  I  accompanied 
him  fourteen  miles  towards  Salisbury.  In  all  the  journey  I  found  him  very  con- 
versable, and  as  we  crossed  the  Hampshire  hills,  where  the  boundary-line  parts  it 
from  Berkshire,  he  said:  'That  might  form  the  boundary  of  two  circuits,  and  you 
might  take  Hampshire,'  But  I  said,  '  No,  sir '  ;  and  I  went  on  to  explain  that  I  was 
very  much  attached  to  Mr.  Ride  and  that  we  wrought  well  together.  Besides  this, 
I  wanted  Shefford  Circuit  made  stronger  before  a  separation  ;  Mrs.  Ride,  too,  was 
a  great  counsellor.  We  prayed  by  the  wayside  at  parting  when  within  seven  miles  of 
Salisbury,  and  I  returned  with  redoubled  resolution  to  my  station,  and  was  glad  that  in 
some  measure  persecution  had  begun  to  abate,  and  the  way  to  open  in  new  places.'* 

This  record  gives  us  an  authentic  glimpse  of  the  past.  We  see  Hugh  Bourne,  as  he 
crossed  the  Illsley  Downs,  manifesting  the  same  habit  of  close  observation  of  the 
natural  features  which  met  his  view  as  he  had  shown  when  he  strode  over  the  twenty 
miles  of  wild  country  between  Penrith  and  Alston  Moor.  No  fox-hunter  or  general 
had  a  keener  eye  for  the  salient  features  of  a  landscape  than  he ;  but  to  him,  as  he 
jogged  along  in  his  chaise,  these  hills  did  not  suggest  sport  or  strategy,  or  even 
picturesqueness — they  presented  themselves  to  him  as  the  natural  boundaries  of 
circuits.  We  see,  too,  that  at  the  time  to  which  this  incident  belongs,  as  the  result 
of  Thomas  Russell's  and  Elizabeth  Smith's  short  tentative  missions  within  the  borders 
of  the  northern  division  of  Hants  in  1831-2,  some  useful  adherents  had  already  been 
won,  that  houses  were  available  for  preaching,  and  that  guest-houses  stood  open — 
in  short,  we  see  that  a  base  for  future  labours  on  a  larger  scale  had  already  been 
secured.  As  early  as  1831,  when  Thomas  Russell  made  his  excursion  into  Hampshire, 
two  families  were  won  whose  adhesion  was  of  the  greatest  value  to  our  Church  in  the 
trying  days  that  were  to  come.  For  if  persecution  had  by  this  time  somewhat  abated 
in  the  Vale  of  the  White  Horse,  it  was  yet  to  gather  and  break  in  Hampshire.  On 
his  first  visit  to  Linkenholt  Mr.  Michael  Osmond  showed  himself  very  friendly,  and 
united  with  the  society  that  was  formed,  as  did  also  his  brothers  Richard  and  Stephen, 

*  Combined  quotation  from  T.  Russell's  "  Primitive  Methodism  in  Berkshire,"  1885,  and  a  letter 
by  him  included  in  Walford's  "  Life  of  Hugh  Bourne,"  vol.  ii.  pp.  403-5. 

y  2 


340 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 


MRS.    OSMOND. 


189: 


and  his  sister — afterwards  Mrs.  Tasker.  Messrs.  Richard  and  Michael,  we  are  told, 
at  one  time  rented  the  whole  of  the  parish  of  Linkenholt,  and  were  able  to  retire  with 
a  competence  when  none  of  the  subsequent  occupiers  succeeded.  Stephen  Osmond 
entered  the  ministry  and  travelled  for  some  years  ;  while  Richard,  after  having  been  an 
active  and  efficient  local  preacher  in  the  Andover 
Circuit,  on  his  retirement  from  business  removed 
with  his  family  to  Bath,  and  interested  him- 
self in  mission  work  in  a  neglected  part  of  the 
city.  A  building  was  secured,  and  a  congre- 
gation and  Sunday  school  formed.  After  her 
husband's  death  in  1 865,  Mrs.  Jane  Grundy 
Osmond  felt  it  a  sacred  duty  to  carry  on  the 
work  initiated  by  her  husband.  She  and  her 
family  liberally  aided  in  the  erection,  in  1881, 
,,R'  "•  oslION»-  of  Claremont  Church  and  school  buildings, 
which  became  ISath  Second  Circuit.     Mrs.  Osmond  died  December, 

Among  other  of  the  earliest  converts  of  Thomas  Russell  were  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Farr 
of  blindly,  in  whose  house  Hugh  Bourne  preached  his  famous  sermon  on  "the  Great 
'White  Throne/'  No  less  than  two  hundred  persons  are  stated  to  have  been  converted 
in  that  farm-kitchen.  Miss  Farr,  who  had  strong  mental  powers  and  had  received 
a  superior  education,  became  a  local  preacher,  and  in  1837  was  married  to  George  Price, 
one  of  the  makers  of  the  Biinkworth  District.  He  it  was  who,  in  1838,  took  charge 
of  Sheil'urd  Circuit  when  John  Ride  moved  on  to  Reading;  he  purchased  the  Union 

Chapel,  Xewbury,  which  for  thirty- 
eight  years  served  the  uses  of  the 
denomination  until  superseded  by  the 
present  handsome  Gothic  church  during 
the  superintendency  of  Mr.  Edward 
Alford.  Mr.  Price  died  suddenly  in 
full  harness  in  1869,  while  his  widow 
survived  until  1895,  dying  at  the 
residence  of  her  eldest  son,  who  was 
at  the  time  the  Steward  of  the  Croydon 
Circuit. 

For  Hamphire  the  curtain  rises  in 
the  spring  of  1833  on  scenes  of  mob- 
violence  and  legal  oppression  that  throw 
a  lurid  light  on  the  social  and  moral 
condition  of  that  part  of  England  in  the 
'thirties.  Already,  since  1832,  Shefford 
had  had  its  branch  in  Hampshire  of 
which  Mitcheldever  was  the  centre : 
now,  at  its  March  quarter  day,  1833,  it  was  resolved  to  send  George  Wallis  and 
W.   Wiltshire    to    begin    a    mission   at    Andover.      ^Nothing    will    be    gained   for   our 


l'UIMITIVE    METHODIST  JJANsE  AND   CHAPEL,  NEWBVEY. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE   AND    ENTERPRISE.  341 

purpose  by  keeping  these  two  missions  rigidly  distinct,  since  they  were  contiguous 
to  each  other  and  were  being  pushed  forward  at  the  same  time.  All  we  can  hope 
or  shall  attempt  to  do  is,  by  samples,  to  convey  a  sufficient  impression  both  of  the 
amount  and  virulence  of  the  persecution,  in  its  two  forms,  with  which  Shefford's 
devoted  missionaries  had  to  contend  on  both  branches  before  they  became  circuits — 
Mitcheklever  in  1835,  and  Andover  in  1837.  On  three  successive  Sundays  Mr.  Wallis 
visited  Andover.  His  first  service,  on  May  5th,  was  held  amid  a  scene  of  great 
disturbance.  On  the  second  Sunday  a  godless  gang  broke  up  the  service  and  knocked 
the  preacher  down.  On  the  third  he  was  pulled  down  while  preaching  in  the  market- 
place and  he  and  his  colleague  were  dragged  through  the  streets  ,by  the  beadle  and 
the  constable,  while  the  mob,  with  discordant  cries,  struck  them  with  besoms,  sticks, 
and  whatever  came  handy.  The  skirts  of  their  coats  were  torn  off,  and  there  is 
a  record,  in  the  circuit  books,  of  a  grant  of  money  for  making  good  their  sartorial  loss. 
Years  after,  Mr.  Wallis  pointed  out  to  his  son  the  place  in  Old  Basing  where  he  had 
taken  his  stand  and  was  thrice  knocked  down  by  a  mob  who  trampled  upon  his  body 
till  they  thought  life  was  gone,  and  then  ran  away.  Once  it  was  his  lot,  with  others,  to 
be  drenched  with  bullock's  blood  !  At  Alresford,  some  seven  miles  from  Winchester, 
certain  of  the  inhabitants  had  in  readiness  against  the  coming  of  Mr.  Watts,  six  dozen 
of  rotten  eggs,  a  tub  of  coal-tar,  and  two  bundles  of  rods.  "  On  his  approaching  the 
place  where  he  intended  to  preach,  they  hailed  him  with  shouts  of  rage  and  madness. 
He  called  at  a  friend's  house,  which  was  instantly  beset  by  the  mob,  and  to  escape  their 
violence  he  was  obliged  to  conceal  himself  ;  they  broke  the  windows,  and  covered  one  of 
the  room  floors  with  eggs."  Fortunately  some  of  the  persecutors  left  their  devil's  work 
to  go  to  church  ;  then  Mr.  Watts  made  his  escape,  but  was  followed  by  numbers  who 
stoned  him  more  than  a  mile.  Primitive  Methodism  has  had  its  revenge  on  Alresford : 
it  has  planted  there  its  first  Orphanage.  At  another  village  in  this  same  county  the 
clergyman  threatened  to  prosecute  the  preachers  should  they  dare  to  preach  in  his  parish. 
When,  undeterred  by  his  threats,  Mr.  Watts  duly  made  his  appearance,  the  haughty 
priest  went  round  ordering  his  parishioners  "  to  go  into  their  houses  and  shut  their  doors 
and  windows : "  and  they  did  as  they  were  told.  Further  south,  at  Stockbridge, 
persecution  was  no  less  virulent.  Here,  William  Fowler,  a  young  preacher,  who  soon 
after  finished  his  course  with  joy,  was  violently  assailed.  He  and  his  friends  were 
enmeshed  in  a  rope  flung  round  them  and  were  being  dragged  towards  the  river.  When 
some  of  those  enclosed  drew  their  clasp-knives  and  cut  the  rope,  they  were  beaten  with 
the  pieces,  and  then  pelted  out  of  the  place.  At  St.  Mary  Bourne,  in  order  to  escape 
further  ill-usage,  Mr.  Fowler  and  his  followers  deemed  it  advisable  to  put  on  the  smocks 
of  some  labouring  men,  and  thus  get  away  from  their  persecutors. 

But  enough,  and  more  than  enough  of  such  incidents  as  these,  which,  though  they  are 
but  a  few  out  of  the  many  that  might  be  given,  yet  revolt  us  by  their  brutality  and 
weary  us  with  their  monotony,  since  they  lack  even  the  poor  merit  of  the  inquisitors' 
torments— ingenuity.  The  facts  are  set  forth,  not  to  raise  pity,  except  for  the  poor 
neglected  misguided  men  who,  by  a  strange  perversity,  abused  their  best  friends- 
Rather  are  they  given  to  show  that  Hampshire  sorely  needed  the  Gospel  at  this  time, 
and  that  our  missionaries  willingly  braved  much,  and  counted  not  their  lives  dear  unto 
them  in  the  attempt  to  supply  that  need. 


:U2 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHUKCH. 


But  a  few  words  must  be  said  of  the  much  more  reprehensible  attempt  to  set  the  law 
in  motion  against  the  missionaries — to  compromise  them  and  their  work  by  confounding 
them  and  it  with  the  machinations  of  revolutionaries,  at  that  time  a  quite  legitimate 
reason  for  alarm.  Perhaps  the  worst  case  of  the  kind  that  occurred  in  Hampshire — at 
any  rate  the  one  of  most  notoriety — was  that  in  which  Messrs. 
John  Eide  and  Edward  Bishop  were  the  sufferers.  On  Tuesday, 
June  6th,  1834,  the  quarteily  meeting  was  held  at  Mitcheldever 
and  it  was  arranged  to  hold  a  missionary  meeting  at  its  close.  As 
the  cottages  available  for  services  would  not  accommodate  the  con- 
gregation expected,  it  was  arranged  that  the  meeting  should  be 
held  on  a  piece  of  waste  ground  on  which  services  were  accustomed 
I  A^~"  *  /  to  be  held.  1  lespite  the  notice  affixed  to  a  neighbouring  cottage 
^^M  ^m/        prohibiting  the  meeting  under  legal  penalties,  it  was  agreed,  after 

^Bk         W  serious  deliberation,  to  hold  the  meeting  as  arranged.     The  speakers 

ci mfined   themselves    strictly   to   the   subject  of  missions  and   the 

KDWAHl)  Bisnor.  . 

meeting  closed  in  an  orderly  and  peaceable  manner,  tor  all  this, 
shortly  afterwards,  "  says  Mr.  Bishop,''  a  summons  reached  us,  under  the  hand  of 
Sir  Thomas  Baring,  Bart,  of  Stratton  Bark.  This  legal  instrument  charged  John  Bide 
and  Edward  Bishop,  on  the  oath  of  Thomas  Eitery,  with  leadiruj  and  /ipailinr/  a  riotous  moh 
at  Mifrhi'/ilrrpr — with  l/eimj  armed  with  l>hul<jrons,  awl  that  the;/  did,  try  forrp  and  arn/x, 
put  His  Majesty's  peacptitl  suiijerts  hi/par — that  they  ofistrurtpd  flu-  thoromjhfare — and 
that  they  wrrp  a  n/(isaitre. 

The  sequel  of  the  story  shall  be   told  in  the  words  of  Mr.  Richard   Heath,   from 
whose  work  we  have  already  quoted.* 

"On  such  .i  charge  John  I  tide  and  Edward  Bishop  were  cited  before  the 
magistrates  of  Winchester  on  July  19th,  1834.  No  breach  of  the  law  being 
proved  against  them  the  magistrates  offered  to  let  them  go,  if  they  would  promise 
not  to  preach  again  at  Mitcheldever.  Refusing  to  do  this,  they  were  bound  over 
to  be  tried  at  the  Oimrter  Sessions,  and  during  the  twelve  days  they  were  finding 
bail,  they  were  kept  in  the  same  prison  in  which  the  victims  of  1K30  had  been 
confined. t  I  do  not  suppose  they  had  any  idea  of  the  dignity  of  their  martyrdom, 
or  how  really  they  were  being  associated  with  the  sufferings  of  Christ.  For  we 
must  not  expect  the  thoughts  of  even  the  poorest  among  English  evangelists  to 
i-ise  above  the  level  of  nineteenth  century  Christianity.  However,  no  one  can 
preach  the  Onspel  of  the  Kingdom  or  sincerely  pray  that  that  Kingdom  may  come 
without  helping  to  bring  about  »  revolution  of  the  most  radical  description.'' 

We  may  smile  at,  while  we  forgive  the  implied  assumption  that  John  Ride  and  E.  Bishop 
were  simple-minded  evangelists  who  were  incapable  of  understanding  the  relations  and 
issues  of  the  events  in  which  they  were  leading  actors.  Never  was  there  a  greater 
mistake.  We  doubt  whether  even  my  Lord  Bishop  of  Winchester  himself  was  as  wide 
awake  to  the  "condition  of  the  people  question"  in  his  diocese  as  was  Edward  Bishop. 


*"The  English  Peasant."     Quoted  ante  vol.  ii  p.  55. 

t"The  fortnight  we  spent  in  that  county  jail  whs  the  best  portion  of  college  life  with  which  we 
had  ever  been  favoured." — E.  Bishop. 


THE    PERIOD    OF    CIRCUIT    PREDOMINANCE    AND    ENTERPRISE. 


343; 


SAMUEL    TURNER. 


This  is  clear  from  his  published  views  and  from  what  we  know  of  the  man  ;  and  in 
far-sightedness,  ''in  understanding  of  the  times  to  know  what  Israel  ought  to  do,'' 
in  mental  vigour,  E.  Bishop  was  but  one  of  a  number  of  men  who  in  the  wide  old 
Brinkworth  District  laid  the  foundations  of  the  Connexion 
deep  and  strong — men  like  S.  Turner,  C.  T.  Harris,  and  many 
others  who  might  be  named. 

Connexionally  as  well  as  nationally  better  times  came  to 
Hampshire.  Andover,  with  its  missions  extending  to  the  New 
Forest  and  the  Solent,  became  one  of  the  widest  circuits 
in  the  Connexion  and  did  good  work.  As  for  Winchester, 
it  was  long  a  struggle  to  gain  a  Connexional  foothold  in  the 
ancient  city,  but  in  1852  Mitcheldever  made  another  vigorous 
attempt  to  mission  it,  which  proved  successful.  Through  all 
these  years  of  persecution  and  struggle  the  Rev.  W.  Thorn, 
Congregational  minister  of  Winchester,  had  shown  himself 
our  vindicator  and  friend."  His  church  having  built  a  new 
sanctuary  on  a  portion  of  the  site  of  the  old  prison  where  Messrs.  Eide  and  Bishop 
were  incarcerated,  their  vacated  chapel  was  secured  on  most  favourable  terms,  and 
Mr.  Thorn,  Dr.  Beaumont,  and  E.  Bishop  were  among  those  who  took  part  in  the 
opening  services.     The  occasion  naturally  lent  itself  to  retrospect  and  to  comparison. 

"Let  any  Christian  man,''  says  Mr.  Bishop 
(and  we  must  remember  the  words  were  written 
in  1853),  "calmly  contrast  the  religious  state 
of  this  country  now  with  what  it  was  nearly 
thirty  years  ago,  and  he  will  find  facts  which 
must  cause  his  heart  to  rejoice.  The  religious 
and  educational  efforts  which  have  been 
employed  for  the  benefit  of  the  people  have 
produced  great  results.  Religious  services  and 
Sabbath  schools  have  been  greatly  increased. 
There  are  villages  in  which  we  found,  in  1832, 
only  one  religious  service  on  the  Sabbath  day, 
and  no  week-evening  lecture,  and  no  Sabbath 
school ;  in  which  there  may  now  be  found  four 
or  more  religious  services  on  the  Sabbath,  Iwo 
or  more  on  week-evenings,  and  two  Sabbath 
schools  ;  and  he  must  be  under  the  influence 
of  strong  prejudice  who  will  not  admit  that  the 
labours  and  sufferings  of  Primitive  Methodist 

preachers  have,  under  God,  had  much  to  do  in  producing  this  happily  altered  state 
of  things.  Let  this  be  admitted  or  denied  by  erring  men,  the  record  of  these 
brethren  is  on  high,  and  their  work  with  their  God." 


C.    T.    TIARRTS. 


The  Windsor  Mission  of  Reading  Circuit  will  furnish  our  next  sample  of  persecution. 
April  12th,  1835,  is  given,  as  the  date  when  the  first  effective  move  was  made  on 
Reading.      On  that   Sunday   a   full  day's  services  were   held  on  Forbury  Hill,   the 


>>44 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 


MR.    JESSE  HERBERT. 


preachers  being  Messrs.  Ride,  Bishop,  Kirby  (of  Bradfield),  and, 
in  the  evening,  Mrs.  Ride.  From  this  day  began  Mr.  Jesse  Herbert's 
life-long  connection  with  the  Reading  Circuit.  For  some  time  he 
was  engaged  in  home-mission  work  like  his  friend  Isaac  Nullis, 
but,  his  health  breaking  under  the  strain  that  work  imposed  he 
returned  to  Reading  in  1841,  and  henceforward,  until  his  death 
in  1896,  did  much  to  extend  and  consolidate  Primitive  Methodism 
in  the  town  and  neighbourhood.  He  was  a  local  preacher  for 
fifty-nine  years,  and  the  founder,  in  1858,  of  the  Young  Men's 
Bible  Class — the  greatest  work  of  his  life — of  which  he  had  charge 
for  thirty  years.     As  an  active  and  public-spirited  citizen  of  the 


MAET   BOVASTON. 


A   VIEW  OP  THE  FOKBURY,    IN   READING. 

biscuit-town  he  was  respected  and  trusted, 
serving  as  a  member  of  the  School  Board 
for.  fifteen  years,  and  being  rate-collector  for 
twenty-three  years.  Mr.  Edward  Long,  the 
father-in-law  of  the  late  Rev.  R.  W.  Burnett, 
and  Miss  Mary  Bovaston  ( Mrs.  Joseph  Coling) 
were  also  amongst  the  earliest  members  and 
local  preachers  of  the  Reading  Society.  Mr. 
Long  was  for  many  years  the  Steward  of  the 
Circuit,  and  died  in  1897. 


MR.    E.    LONB. 


THE   PERIOD   OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE    AND    ENTERPRISE.  345 

Iii  October,  1835,  St.  Giles'  Hall,  in  London  Street,  was  taken  on  rent  for  religious 
services  and  served  until  1839,  when  a  building  in  Minster  Street,  formerly  a  Baptist 
chapel,  was  secured.  This  more  commodious  building  formed  the  chief  centre  of  the 
society  until  1866,  when  a  hall  was  purchased  and  converted  into  the  present  chapel 
in  London  Street.  Meanwhile,  Shefford  had  made  Beading  a  circuit.  This  was 
done  in  March,  1837,  just  two  years  from  its  opening.  The  circuit  began  its 
career  with  450  members  and  four  preachers,  John  Eide  being  the  superintendent. 
His  transference  from  Shefford  to  Beading  was  not  effected  until  Sheftord's  other 
missions — Mitcheldever,  Faringdon,  Andover,  and  Wallingford — had  all  likewise  been 
constituted  circuits.  His  transference  to  Beading,  therefore,  showed  that  another  stage 
in  the  advance  of  the  Connexion  on  London  and  the  home-counties,  from  this  side, 
had  been  reached,  and  that  Reading  was  regarded  as  a  convenient  base  for  pushing 
the  advance  still  further.  Hence  it  is  to  be  noted  that  it  was  in  1836,  just  before 
these  changes  were  made,  that  Shefford  Circuit  reached  its  acme.  On  the  stations  for 
that  year  it  has  twenty-three  preachers  and  2031  members,  thus  ranking  next  to  Hull, 
which  the  same  year  had  twenty-five  preachers  and  4438  members. 

During  its  first  year  an  outrageous  case  of  persecution  (of  which  we  can  give  no 
particulars)  cost  the  Reading  Circuit  the  sum  of  £150.  Despite  this  untoward  event, 
a  mission  in  the  county  of  Surrey  was  resolved  upon.  On  April  17th,  1838,  Messrs. 
Ride  and  Aaron  Bell  *  set  out  on  their  pioneer  journey,  walking  thirty  miles  as  far  as 
Guildford.  On  their  way,  John  Bide  accosted  an  old  lady,  a  native  of  those  parts, 
and  a  dialogue  took  place,  of  which  the  following  is  a  specimen : — 

Mr.  Ride.—  "  Do  you  know  anything  of  Jesus  Christ  1 " 

Aged  Woman. — "There  is  no  man  of  that  name  living  anywhere  about  here.'' 

Mr.  R. — "Do  you  know  the  way  of  salvation?  " 

Aged  Woman. — "  I  have  lived  here  many  years,  but  I  have  never  heard  of  such  a 
way  yet.  But  there  are  some  men  making  a  new  road  down  yonder ;  you  had 
better  ask  them  if  that  is  the  way  of  salvation.'' 

After  this,  one  can  well  believe  the  statement  of  Mr.  John  Guy,  who  in  June  succeeded 
Mr.  Ride  on  this  mission :  "  The  people  were  the  darkest  I  had  ever  met  with." 
Reading  Circuit  continued  to  prosper.  In  1839  it  employed  eight  preachers  and 
reported  600  members.  In  1840  the  number  of  its  preachers  had  risen  to  twelve 
and  its  membership  to  871.  The  circuit  was  enabled  to  enter  more  extensively  upon 
missionary  work  through  the  liberality  of  Mr.  Thomas  Baker  who,  though  a  member  of 
another  community,  contributed  the  sum  of  £100  towards  the  employment  of  five 
missionaries  in  the  neighbouring  counties.  Messrs.  Guy,  Hedges,  and  Grigg  were 
appointed  to  the  Windsor  Mission  in  1839.  "Their  labours  were  hard,  their  privations 
many,  and  their  persecutions  neither  few  nor  small."  As  a  concrete  illustration  of  this 
statement  of  Mr.  Petty's,  let  us  give  a  leaf  from  the  experience  of  Mr.  Grigg,  one  of  the 
pioneers  of  this  mission.  In  his  experience  we  have  the  same  combination  of  light  and 
shadow  which  we  have  met  with  elsewhere. 

On  the  24th  of  September,  Mr.  Grigg  went  to  preach  at  Winkfield-row.       He  had 

*  This  devoted  young  minister  lost  his  life  in  August,  1838.     In  passing  through  Eton  he  turned 
aside  to  bathe  in  a  back  stream  of  the  Thames,  and  was  drowned. 


346  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 

previously  heard  of  the  moral  degradation  of  many  of  the  inhabitants,  and  they  had  been 
informed  of  his  coming  to  preach  to  them.  He  selected  the  Green  in  the  centre  of  the 
village  for  the  purpose — but  ere  he  began  the  service,  he  sat  down  on  some  logs  of  wood 
to  rest  a  little  and  to  read  a  portion  of  the  Bible.  Mrs.  Searle,  a  woman  of  great 
physical  strength  and  of  a  generous  disposition,  but  not  then  renewed  by  Divine  grace, 
came  to  ask  him  whether  he  were  the  gentleman  that  was  going  to  preach.  Being 
answered  in  the  affirmative,  she  strongly  advised  him  not  to  make  the  attempt,  assuring 
him  that  he  would  be  "roughly  handled.'  Mr.  Grigg  replied  that  he  was  often  cruelly 
treated,  and  that  he  could  not  conscientiously  leave  the  place  without  attempting  to 
preach.  "Then,''  said  his  generous  adviser,  "  I  will  lend  you  a  chair  to  stand  upon,  and 
you  had  better  stand  near  my  garden  gate.''  Mr.  ( Jiigg  did  so,  and  began  to  sing  a  hymn. 
He  had  sung  one  verse  in  quietness,  when  a  number  of  young  men  came  out  of  a  public- 
house   opposite,    and  one   of  them  overturned   the  chair  upon   which    Mr.   <!rigg  was 


O.S.MAN  S    REMOKNC'E 


standing,  by  which  he  was  thrown  upon  the  ground.  His  kind  female  friend,  not 
having  yet  learned  that  the  weapons  of  the  Christian  warfare  are  not  carnal  but  spiritual, 
struck  the  disturber  on  the  back  of  his  head,  and  knocked  him  down.  Then  seizing  the 
chair  with  one  hand,  and  Mr.  Grigg  with  the  other,  she  pulled  him  within  her  garden 
gate,  and  said,  "  Stand  and  preach  there.''  Mr.  Grigg  proceeded  with  singing,  and  the 
persecutors  began  to  pelt  him  with  flint  stones  and  other  missiles,  and  to  besmear  him 
with  the  sediment  of  a  horse-pond  close  by.  When  he  had  finished  singing  he  knelt 
down  to  pray  ;  and  while  in  this  solemn  act  of  devotion,  his  godless  persecutors  rushed 
through  the  gate,  seized  him,  tore  his  coat,  and  dragged  him  out  of  the  garden,  and  along 
a  flint  road  about  fifty  yards.  Turning  to  the  ringleader,  the  suffering  missionary 
inquired  what  he  had  done  to  he  served  in  that  manner.  The  persecutor  candidly 
replied  that  he  could  assign  no  reason  for  the  ill-treatment, — and  apparently  conscious 
that  he  was  liable  to  be  prosecuted,  and  fearing  the   result,  he  expressed  a  hope  that, 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CIRCUIT   PREDOMINANCE    AND    ENTERPRISE. 


34? 


JIRS.    H.    OSMAN. 


Mr.  Grigg  would  not  "  do  anything  in  the  affair.''  The  latter  replied  that  if  he  and  his 
companions  would  promise  never  to  molest  him  or  any  other  preacher  any  more,  he 
would  freely  forgive  them.  They  promised  that  they  would  never  interfere  again,  and 
he  shook  hands  with  them,  and  returned  to  his  former  standing-place,  where,  though  his 
coat  was  torn  to  rags,  his  person  besmeared  with  filth,  and  blood  was  flowing  from 
his  wounded  face,  he  preached  to  those  who  were  willing  to  hear.  After  the  service,  his 
kind  friend  took  him  into  her  house,  procured  him  water  to 
wash  himself,  cleaned  his  clothes  as  well  as  she  was  able, 
whilst  her  husband  prepared  some  tea  for  his  refreshment. 
They  expressed  their  deep  sympathy  with  him  in  his  suffer- 
ings, and  regretted  that  they  could  not  accommodate  him 
with  lodgings.  He  thanked  them  for  their  kindness,  prayed 
with  them,  bade  them  good  night,  and  then  tried  all  the 
public-houses,  and  several  of  the  farmers  and  cottagers  in 
vain  to  obtain  a  night's  lodging.  Being  at  length  told  that  no 
one  dare  entertain  him,  through  fear  of  the  most  influential 
persons  in  the  parish,  he  ceased  to  inquire  further,  and  being 
too  remote  from  the  residence  of  any  friend,  he  walked  on 
the  road  till  midnight,  and  then  went  into  a  field,  where 
he  slept  till  five  o'clock  in  the  morning.  But  his  patient 
endurance  of  the  inhuman  treatment  he  received  was  not  in  vain.  He  shortly  afterj 
wards  received  a  written  invitation  from  Mrs.  Henry  Osman  and  her  mother-in-law, 
Mrs.  R.  Osman,  to  visit  Winkfield-row  again,  engaging,  if  he  did  so,  that  bed  and 
board  should  be  found  and  a  room  provided  for  the  services.  These  two  good 
women  were  true  to  their  promise  :  they  took  a  house  and  furnished  it  with  forms 
and  candlesticks  and  everything  that  was  necessary,  and  became  responsible  for  the 
rent.  AVhen  the  room  became  too  small,  Mrs.  R.  Osman  gave  the  use  of  her  dining- 
room  till  the  present  chapel  was  built.  From  that  time,  until  her  death  at  the 
great  age  of  89,  Mrs.  H.  Osman  continued  to  take  the  deepest 
interest  in  the  cause.  For  years  she  provided  the  school-treat, 
and  at  the  time  of  her  death  she  had  money  put  aside  for  that 
purpose.  Her  eldest  son,  Mr.  H.  M.  Osman,  became  a  local  preacher 
in  1858,  and  has  been  the  mainstay  of  the  cause  for  many  years. 
The  farm  is  still  in  the  family,  and  "the  prophet's  chamber"  has 
been  kept  for  the  use  of  the  preacher  from  that  day  to  this.  It  is 
pleasing  to  know,  too,  that  the  Amazonian,  Mrs.  Searle,  afterwards 
became  a  convert,  and  that  her  two  sons  are,  or  till  recently  were, 
local  preachers  with  us.  So  trial  and  suffering  pass  while  the 
good  they  yield  are  abiding. 

By  its  Thame  mission,  Wallingford,  made  a  circuit  in  1837, 
carried    Brinkworth    District    into   the    southern    projection   of    Oxfordshire   and    into 
Bucks.     This  geographical  extension  enlarged  the  persecution  area  ;  progress  had  its 
attendant   shadow.      Bicester  and  Ambrosden,   in  Oxon.,   should  be  marked  on  our 
connexional  map  with  crossed  swords  as  though  they  were  battle  sites,  for  at  these 


348 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 


places  two  of  the  very  worst  cases  of  persecution  recorded  in  our  annals  took  place. 
For  the  credit  of  our  countrymen,  and  also  for  the  sake  of  our  readers,  we  are  glad 
to  say  they  are  also  the  last  cases  we  shall  need  to  refer  to  in  this  chapter.  Not  that 
it  is  affirmed  tlicvc  was  no  persecution  after  1843,  hut  only  that  the  cases  that  did 
occur  after  that  date  were  isolated  ones,  all  taken  together  not 
being  numerous  enough  to  compromise  a  county,  or  characterise 
a  period.  With  the  close  of  the  first  period,  persecution,  as 
quite  an  ordinary  thing  to  be  expected  and  reckoned  with,  went 
out — and  went  out  flagrantly  and  stormily. 
j»        ~™z  (K-jP"  The  date  of    the   Bicester  man-baiting  was   July   31st,    1843. 

^^L*mj3r  ife  Already,  in  the  March  of  the  same  year,  Mr.  George  Stansfield 
■^  i|^.  t|  'l;"t  served  seven  days  in  Dover  jail  for  having  sung  and  prayed 
■k  f|Hk  in  the  streets  of  Margate — the  happy  hunting-ground  of  nigger- 
^^i^^^M  minstrels.  Let  it  be  noted  that  it  was  the  rector  of  St.  Peter's 
george  stanspiemj.  who,  as  the  spokesman  of  the  Bench,  announced  its  decision. 
So  little  did  Mr.  Stansfield  look  like  a  misdemeanant  that  the  prisoners  took  him, 
from  his  dignified  and  gentlemanly  bearing,  to  be  some  one  who  had  come  to  inspect 
the  prison.  The  chief  victim  of  the  savage  attack  at  Bicester  was  S.  West,  the  joint 
re-opener  of  Bristol,  the  remissioner  of  Oxford,  and  the  man,  who,  of  all  who  preached 
at  the  Conference  camp  meeting  at  York  in  1853,  made  the  profoundest  impression 
on  C.  C.  McKechnie.*  This  was  the  man  who  bote  the  brunt  of  the  Bicester  baiting, 
his  colleague,  <_'.  Elford,  having  succeeded  in  escaping  into  a  friendly  house.  As  for 
S.  West,  he  was  treated  in  much  the  same  way  as  Thomas  Russell  was  treated  at 
Wantage,  but  with  aggravations.  He  Was  made  a  spectacle  to  scoffing  ladies  and 
gentlemen  (!)  who  saw  him  driven  from  one  side  of  the  market-place  to  another — soused 
with  water,  and  buffeted.  In  their  small  way,  they  behaved  as  heartlessly  as  the 
spectators  in  the  amphitheatre,  whose  upturned  thumbs  gave  the  signal  for  the  dispatch 
of  the  gladiator,  "butchered  to  make  a  Roman  holiday."  "It  is  as  much  fun  as  a  bull-bait," 
was  their  delighted  comment,  as  they  saw  Mr.  West  driven  from 
under  their  window  where  lie  had  vainly  thought  he  would  find 
protection.  Though  the  chief  actors  in  this  disgraceful  scene 
escaped  all  legal  pains  and  penalties,  men  noticed  with  awe  how 
soon,  by  the  act  of  God,  retribution  came  upon  some  of  the 
ringleaders. 

The  sufferer  in  the  Ambrosden  case  was  Isaac  Hedges.     In  the 
early   days  Brink  worth  District  grew  its  own   preachers.     It  was 
argely   self-sufficing  and   was   extended   by   those   who  were   the 
first-fruits  of  its  own  missionary  labours.     Men  like  James  Hurd, 
George    Wallis,    W.    Brewer,    E.    Rawlings,    J.    Guy,    G.    Obern,  samuel  west. 

T.  Cummin,  J.   Best,   the  brothers  Harding,  and  many  others,  became  the  successors 

*"Of  all  I  lie  preachers  Samuel  West  produced  the  mightiest  impression.  He  attracted  an 
immense  concourse  and  preached  with  extraordinary  unction."— MS.  Autobiography.  By  a  slip 
Mr.  McKechnie  has  written  "Nathaniel  West,"  but  he  disappeared  years  before.  S.  West  was  a 
delegate  to  the  York  Conference. 


THE    PERIOD    OF    CIRCUIT    PREDOMINANCE    AND    ENTERPRISE. 


349- 


ISAAC  HEDGES. 


of  the  pioneers  by  whose  instrumentality  they  were  won.  Such  was  Isaac  Hedges, 
a  plain,  fear-nought,  laborious  preacher,  who  never  forgot  the  gravel-pit  where  he  was- 
converted,  and  who  did  his  best  to  bring  men  and  women  out  of  Nature's  quarry. 
For  standing  in  front  of  a  wheelwright's  shop  at  Ambrosden  in  Oxfordshire  and 
preaching  to  five  persons,  on  July  16th,  1843,  Isaac  Hedges 
was  sentenced  to  twenty-one  days  imprisonment,  with  hard 
labour,  by  the  Rev.  A.  B.  Matthews  and  Mr.  W.  Davis,  surgeon. 
We  give  the  names,  and  not  dashes,  and  let  the  record  stand 
without  comment. 

As  a  sort  of  appendix  to  this  chapter,  a  few  words  must 
be  written  concerning  Brinkworth's  resumption  of  missionary 
labours,  which  resulted  in  the  enlargement  of  the  District  in 
another  direction.  The  reference  to  these  productive  labours  has 
been  deferred  until  this  point  in  order  that  we  might  uninter- 
ruptedly follow  the  development  of  Shefford  Circuit.  After 
parting  with  Shefford,  Brinkworth  Circuit  seemed  to  be  suffering 
from  a  temporary  reaction,  and  missionary  labours  were  suspended.  But  it  was  soon 
borne  in  upon  the  minds  of  its  leading  officials  that  a  circuit  only  "gains  strength 
as  it  goes."  In  June,  1832,  Messrs.  S.  Turner  and  J.  Baker  were  sent  to  open 
Chippenham.  Though,  at  this  time,  Mr.  Turner  had  but  just  entered  the  ministry,  he 
soon  gave  proof  of  possessing,  in  happy  combination,  qualities  which  afterwards  made 
him  one  of  the  most  successful  superintendents  of  the  Brinkworth  District.  With  the 
zeal  and  courage  of  the  evangelist  he  united  the  prudence  and  discernment  of  the  man 
of  affairs.  The  missioning  of  Chippenham  was  successful  despite  the  ill-concealed 
opposition  of  the  magistrates.  A  collision  with  the  authorities  was,  however,  avoided, 
without  any  sacrifice  of  principle.  A  society  was  formed  at  Chippenham  on  October 
2nd,  1832,  and  the  way  soon  opened  for  the  purchase  of  the  Friends'  meeting-house 
which,  with  the  enlarged  accommodation  supplied  by  the  putting  in  of  galleries,  served 
the  uses  of  the  society  until  1896,  when  a  handsome  church  was  erected.  Marshfield 
and  Calne  were  also  successfully  visited ;  and  five  months  after  entering  upon  the 
mission,  Mr  Turner  was  able  to  write  :  "  We  now  preach  at  thirteen  places,  three  of 
which  are  market-towns ;  the  work  of  conversion  is  going  on,  and 
we  have  one  hundred  members."  In  1835  Chippenham  became 
a  circuit  with  350  members  and  employing  three  travelling 
preachers. 

A  famous  union  camp  meeting  of  the  Brinkworth  and  Shefford 
Circuits,  held  on  Bishopstone  Downs — one  of  many  such  historic 
gatherings — coincided  with  and  inaugurated  a  yet  bolder  enter- 
prise, the  missioning  of  Bristol.  The  two  Samuels,  West  and 
Turner,  whom  Mr.  Petty  describes  as  "  zealous,  laborious  brethren,' 
were  designated  for  this  important  work,  which,  under  the  Divine 
blessing,  proved  successful.  On  Sunday,  July  14th,  1832,  the 
mission  was  opened  in  Poyntzpool  (one  of  the  lowest  parts  of  the  city).  Here 
Mr.   West  preached.     In  the  afternoon  Mr.  Turner  preached  in  Queen  Square,  and 


EDMOND  KAWLINGS. 


350  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST    CHURCH. 

in  the  evening  his  colleague  stood  up  at  the  Drawbridge.  From  the  first  the  services 
were  fruitful  in  conversions,  nor  do  we  read  of  any  special  persecution  being 
encountered.  The  first  Bristol  society  was  formed  on  August  4th.  and  on  the  25th, 
an  old  building  called  Dolman's  Chapel  was  opened  by  E.  Foizey.  Tins  building,  dating 
back  to  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  had  formerly  been  used  by  John  Wesley, 
and  also,  it  would  seem,  by  Dr.  Kyland,  and  was  more  or  less  in  use  by  our  people 
until  1849,  when  Ebenezer  Chapel  was  opened,  under  the  superintendency  of  C.  T.  Harris. 
No  one  has  left  a  deeper  impress  of  himself  on  Bristol  Primitive  Methodism  than 
C.  T.   Harris,    eleven   years    of    whose  remarkable   ministry   were    spent   in    the    city. 


PRESENT    MEW  OF   BUILDING    KNOWN  AS  DOLMAN  S  CHAPEL,    BRISTOL. 

The  first  chapel  in  this  neighbourhood  was  built  in  1841,  at  Kingswood,  which,  along 
with  Beduiinster  and  Fishponds,  shared  in  the  labours  of  the  pioneers.  In  18.'!5, 
Ilristol  was  made  a  circuit,  but  its  progress  was  comparatively  slow.  In  1843,  it  had 
hit  two  preachers  and  284  members,  and  though,  for  convenience,  we  give  here  the 
\iews  of  its  chapels,  they  belong  to  a  much  later  stage  of  its  connexional  development. 
1 1  was  not  until  the  last  year  of  the  nineteenth  century  was  reached  that  Bristol  becalm' 
i  Conference  town,  while  Reading  had  its  first  Conference  as  early  as  1841. 

The  Reading  Conference  of  1841  is  noteworthy.       It  was  held  at  the  time  when,  ami 
in  that  part  of  the  country  where,  the  evangelistic  movement  we  have  been  following 


THE    PERIOD    OF    CIRCUIT    PREDOMINANCE    AND    ENTERPRISE. 


351 


KINSSWOOPt-^ 


352  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHUECH. 

was  nearing  its  completion.  We  do  not  know  much  about  the  Heading  Conference, 
There  were  troubles,  we  are  told ;  and  as  the  thorny  Stamp  Case  had  to  be  dealt  with, 
it  is  likely  enough  some  minds  were  lacerated.  But  the  most  significant  thing  about  the 
Conference  is,  that  it  was  held  at  Eeading.  No  Conference  had  ever  been  held  so  far 
South  before— a  plain  proof  that  the  Connexion  had  made  notable  advance  in  this  part 
of  the  country,  and  had  effectively  occupied  the  county  town  of  Berks,  though  that 
town  had  been  the  head  of  a  circuit  only  four  years.  The  time  and  place  of  this 
Conference  are  significant,  too,  when  we  notice  how  the  district,  for  which  Beading  was 
one  of  the  chief  generating  stations,  was  the  focus  on  which  various  lines  of  evangelisation 
were  evidently  converging.  Some  of  these  lines,  extending  far  from  their  base,  had 
been  interrupted,  and  in  some  cases  even  broken  off,  but  the  vigorous  Brinkworth 
District  had  resumed  them  and  carried  them  forward.  The  statement  of  a  few  facts  will 
make  this  plain. 

Burland  still  held  on  to  its  Northampton  mission,  and  Hull  to  Bedford;  but  Hull  and 
Driffield's  mission  to  Hertford  was,  in  1840,  taken  over  by  Reading  and  greatly  extended, 
so  as  to  include  Bickmansworth,  Watford,  St.  Albans,  and  other  places.  Academic 
Oxford,  which  was  "stormed"  by  W.  Bellham  in  1825,  was  remissioned  from  Witney 
in  1835,  by  Joseph  Preston,  who  bluntly  calls  it  "a  sink  of  iniquity."  The  society  he 
then  formed  had,  in  1838,  become  extinct,  though  three  local  preachers  resided  in  the 
town.  S.  West,  the  superintendent  of  Wallingford  Circuit,  visited  it  that  same  year 
and  re-formed  the  society.  Mr.  Dingle — one  of  the  local  preachers  already  referred  to — 
erected  a  small  chapel  for  the  use  of  the  society,  which  was  taken  on  rent,  and  in  1845, 
Oxford  attained  circuit  independence.  As  for  Witney  itself — it  formed  part  of  the 
Brinkworth  District  at  its  formation  in  1833.  In  1836,  Joseph  Preston,  its  super- 
intendent, successfully  missioned  Chacombe,  and  other  places,  in  north  Oxfordshire, 
which,  in  1840,  were  constituted  Banbury  Circuit.  In  1841,  Witney  became  a  branch 
of  Wallingford  and  remained  such  till  1844.  We  turn  to  Buckinghamshire  and 
Bedfordshire.  On  April  21st,  18.">9,  while  still  a  branch  of  Shefford,  Aylesbury  began 
its  mission  in  the  straw-plaiting  towns  of  Luton  and  Dunstable.  S.  Turner  and 
H.  Higginson  were  our  connexional  pioneers  in  these  towns,  and  were  favourably 
received  by  the  inhabitants.  In  Luton  especially,  rapid  progress  was  made.  Seven 
months  after  the  first  sermon  had  been  preached  in  the  town,  a  flourishing  society  had 
been  raised,  and  a  chapel  built.  Aylesbury  became  a  circuit  in  December,  1839,  and 
about  the  same  time  took  over  the  derelict  mission  of  Buckingham  belonging  to  distant 
Congleton.  At  one  time  Aylesbury  was  an  immense  circuit  extending  over  a  large  part  of 
two  counties.  In  such  a  circuit  there  was  room  and  need  for  the  display  of  Mr.  Turner's 
qualities  as  an  evangelist  and  administrator.  When,  after  a  four  years'  term,  he  removed 
from  the  circuit  in  1842,  he  left  435  members  more  than  he  had  found,  and  ten  chapels 
where  there  had  been  none.  High  Wycombe  affords  yet  another  instance  of  the 
complementary  and  terminal  character  of  Brinkworth  District's  work  at  this  time.  As 
early  as  1811,  Hugh  Bourne  refers  to  Wycombe  as  the  location  of  a  society.  We  hear 
nothing  more  of  the  town  until  April  8th,  1835,  when  we  find  James  Pole,  one  of  the 
preachers  of  Hounslow  Circuit,  then  belonging  to  Norwich  District,  after  a  walk  of 
twenty  miles,  preaching  in  Queen's  Square.      This  extension  into  Bucks  was  the  salvation 


THE    PERIOD    OF    CIRCUIT    PREDOMINANCE    AND    ENTERPRISE. 


353 


H.M0OO) '  PHOTOGMFHM  °C 


354  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHUBCH. 

of  the  Hounslow  Circuit,  which  now  took  the  name  of  High  Wycombe,  and  continued 
to  form  part  of  the  Norwich  District  until  1840.  Then  as  a  branch  it  too  came  under 
the  protection  and  governance  of  Eeading  until  1848,  when  it  resumed  its  status  as 
a  circuit. 

These  facts  will  suffice  to  show  what  was  the  part  taken  by  Brinkworth  District  in 
the  geographical  extension  of  the  Connexion.  It  fell  to  its  lot  to  cover  the  last  lap  of 
the  course ;  to  round  off  and  wind  up  a  movement  which  had  been  going  on  for  just  a 
generation.  When,  in  1843,  we  see  Hull  and  Eeading — two  great  missionary  circuits — 
handing  over  their  missions  to  the  newly  established  Missionaiy  Committee,  and  when 
we  see  John  Ride  removing  from  Reading  to  Cooper's  Gardens,  we  feel  we  have  seen 
the  end  of  the  Period  of  Circuit  Predominance  and  Enterprise,  and  that  the  Period 
of  Consolidation  is  about  to  begin. 


BOOK  III. 

THE   PERIOD  OF  CONSOLIDATION    AND 
CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT 


* 


INTRODUCTORY. 


HOUGH  we  speak  of  the  Period  of  Consolidation,  a  more  thorough  analysis 
of  the  facte  of  our  History  will  show  that,  since  1843,  in  reality  there  have 
been  two  well-defined  periods  in  that  History — one  of  which  closed  in  the 
memory  of  many  yet  living.  Indeed,  the  very  description  of  the  period 
we  have  given,  like  a  binary  star,  is  clearly  resolvable  into  two  ;  for  Church  development 
implies  something  more  than  Consolidation.  The  establishment  of  Foreign  Missions,  of 
a  Connexional  Orphanage,  the  entrance  upon  Social  work  in  London  and  other  large 
cities — these,  to  name  only  a  few  of  the  new  departures  of  the  later  years,  are  signs,  not 
so  much  of  consolidation,  as  they  are  signs  of  a  functional  equipment  for  those  higher 
duties  which  have  come  into  view  along  with  the  attained  consciousness  of  true  Church 
life.  There  may  be  a  "Society'' — there  may  even  be  a  large  "Connexion'' — with  no 
Foreign  Missions,  and  without  any  provision  for  higher  ministerial  education,  and  the 
advancement  of  Christ's  Kingdom  in  social  forms  of  service.  But  there  cannot  be  a 
true  Church  without  these  things.  Hence,  the  History  of  Primitive  Methodism,  frdm 
first  to  last,  is  viewed  by  us  as  the  setting  forth  of  the  process  by  which  what  began  as 
a  purely  evangelistic  movement  gradually  evolved  and  organized  itself  into  a  Church. 
The  movement,  in  its  first  form,  had  been  animated  with  a  spirit  of  evangelism  so 
aggressive  that  it  could  not  rest  until  it  had  practically  overrun  this  country  from 
Berwick  to  Penzance,  and  from  Kings  Lynn  to  Monmouth,  with  extensions  into  Wales, 
Scotland,  Ireland,  and  the  great  continent  of  America.  When  this  movement  closed  in 
1843,  it  did  not  at  once  attain  to  the  full  consciousness  of  Church-life.  It  entered  upon 
its  second  phase,  one  intermediate  and  largely  preparative  and  transitional.  It  had 
taken  just  one  generation  to  secure  the  area  for  future  working  and  more  thorough 
cultivation  ;  to  get  together  the  material  which  was  to  be  fashioned  and  wrought  into 
another  wing  of  the  building  of  God.  It  was  to  take  yet  another  generation  of  strenuous 
endeavour  to  conserve  the  gains  of  the  past,  to  acquire  the  needful  "plant"  for  future 
work,  to  get  rid  of  particularism,  whether  in  the  form  of  circuit  or  district  prejudices  and 
partialities,  and  to  become  possessed  with  the  "  Connexional  spirit,"  as  we  term  it — the 
sense  of  our  participation  in  a  corporate  life  with  all  its  enjoyments  and  responsibilities. 
Then,  and  not  till  then,  did  we  come  to  feel  that  the  union  of  heart  and  purpose  we  had 
arrived  at  in  our  Church  relations,  was  too  real  and  spiritual  a  thing  to  be  fittingly 
described  by  a  word  so  suggestive  of  material  and  artificial  attachments  as  the  word 
"  Connexion."  If  we  be  asked  :  "And  when,  pray,  did  your  denomination  arrive  at  this 
consciousness  of  Church-life  ? "  it  may  be  difficult,  or  even  impossible,  to  answer  the 
question,  just  as  we  may  be  unable  to  tell  the  precise  day  or  hour  when  the  consciousness 
of  our  own  individuality  first  dawned  upon  us.    It  is  certain  the  consciousness  of  Church- 


:->58  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 

life  is  enjoyed  and  claimed  now.  It  is  printed  on  every  quarterly  ticket  of  membership. 
There  stands  the  claim — "  Primitive  Methodist  Church."  *  More  significant  still  :  while 
every  digest  of  the  laws  of  the  denomination,  up  to  and  including  1892,  had  heen  content 
to  use  the  word  "  Connexion,"  the  latest  Consolidated  Minutes — those  of  1902 — ousted 
that  word  wherever  possible  in  favour  of  the  word  Church.  Now,  official  endorsement 
almost  invariably  lags  behind  the  communal  consciousness;  it  follows  rather  than  leads 
public  opinion.  It  is  a  fair  inference  therefore  that  there  must  have  been  a  strong 
church-sentiment  at  work  for  some  years  before  its  emphatic  official  endorsement. 

We  have  already  written  :  "  In  the  century's  evolution  of  our  Church  we  have  had  in 
turn  the  flourishing  and  energising  of  the  Circuit,  the  District,  the  Church  ;  just  as  in 
the  order  of  Nature,  we  have  first  the  blade,  then  the  ear,  then  the  full  co7n  in  the 
ear*'  (vol.  i.  p.  159).  We  can  be  in  no  doubt  as  to  when  the  second  period  began,  nor 
shall  we  be  far  wrong  if  we  make  its  close  approximately  coincide  with  the  passing 
of  another  generation— 1876.  The  relaxation  of  the  stringent  rules  relative  to  the 
stationing  of  preachers,  which  began  in  1872,  by  the  concession  of  invitations  to 
preachers  within  their  own  districts  and  ended  by  the  levelling  of  district  "barriers,'' 
as  they  were  significantly  called — these  successive  enactments  marked  the  opening  of 
the  era  of  Connexionalism,  as  we  have  already  defined  that  term. 

There  is  no  need  to  delay  the  narrative  by  seeking  to  point  out  the  various 
characteristics — the  drawbacks  or  the  advantages — of  Districtism  :  some  of  these  will 
meet  us  as  we  proceed.  One  feature  of  the  period  however  should  be  pointed  out,  as  it 
has  an  interesting  bearing  on  the  secprence  of  events.  The  very  segregation  of  the 
Connexion  into  Districts,  for  a  generation,  was  an  ultimate  advantage.  Each  District 
being  more  or  less  like  a  garden  enclosed,  naturally  tended,  within  limits,  to  develop 
itself  in  its  own  way  under  the  influence  of  its  dominant  minds — the  typical  "District- 
men  of  the  'fifties  and  'sixties.''  It  is  no  mere  fancy  that  would  find  in  each  of  the 
leading  Districts  of  that  time,  a  physiognomy  and  tone  of  its  own  ;  it  had  its  ideal,  to  be 
kept  ever  in  view  and  striven  for.  It  might  be  better  chapels,  as  in  the  case  of  Hull 
District;  or  African  Missions,  or  ministerial  education,  as  in  the  case  of  Norwich  and 
Sunderland  and  Manchester  Districts.  Though  this  1  (istrict  individuality  might 
sometimes  have  its  inconveniences,  and  even  dangers,  in  the  end  it  served  to  enrich  the 
Church  as  a  whole.  Thus  we  shall  see  how  almost  every  District  became  a  contributor 
to  the  general  good,  and  how  the  District  Period  naturally  merges  into  the  Church 
Period. 

*  The  ticket  is  shown  vol.  i.  p.  112 


THE   PERIOD    OP   CONSOLIDATION   AND    CHURCH    DEVELOPMENT.  359 


I 


CHAPTER  I. 
THE   PASSING    OF   THE   PIONEERS. 

HE  Conference  of  1842  deemed  it  prudent  to  superannuate  both  Hugh  Bourne 
and  William  Clowes.  The  event  was  significant  of  the  changes  the  years 
had  brought  and  prelusive  of  the  still  greater  changes  that  were  to  follow. 
To  Mr.  Clowes  superannuation  would  come  as  no  shock,  since  he  had 
virtually  been  superannuated  as  long  ago  as  1827.  The  Hull  Circuit's  Quarterly 
Meeting  of  that  year,  perceiving  plain  signs  of  failing  strength  in  Mr.  Clowes,  had 
decided  that  "he  should  be  without  ministerial  charge,  and  receive  his  usual  salary  ;  but 
if  his  health  permitted  him  to  labour  in  other  stations,  at  special  services,  then  the 
remuneration  received  for  his  services  should  be  paid  into  the  Hull  Quarter  Day.''  The 
arrangement  then  made  had  continued  until  1842,  so  that  to  Mr.  Clowes  superannuation 
meant  little  more  than  that  he  must  now  look  to  Connexional  Funds  rather  than  to 
the  Hull  Circuit  for  the  very  modest  provision  needful  for  his  support. 

But  to  Mr.  Bourne,  superannuation  came  as  a  painful  surprise  ;  as  a  strong  man  armed. 
"  It  was  contrary  to  his  wishes  and  repugnant  to  his  feelings."  He  had  not  sought  it, 
nor,  when  it  came  did  he  like  it,  though  he  submitted  to  it.  Mr.  Walford  is  of  opinion 
that  the  superannuation  was  premature,  and  that  though  Mr.  Bourne  was  now  seventy 
years  of  age,  there  were  no  signs  observable  of  failure  of  power,  either  physical  or  mental, 
sufficient  to  justify  the  step  taken  by  the  Conference."  But  Mr.  Walford  is  scarcely  an 
impartial  witness.  The  presumption  is  in  favour  of  the  Conference's  having  tried  to  do 
the  right  and  just  thing ;  and  if  it  be  suggested  that  even  the  Conference  is  not  always 
infallible,  then  we  must  add,  that  acquaintance  with  all  the  facts  of  this  particular  case 
will  not  dispose  us  to  challenge  either  the  sincerity  or  the  wisdom  of  the  Conference's 
action.  Even  in  1838  the  course  now  taken  had  been  foreshadowed;  for,  in  recording 
the  appointment  of  Hugh  Bourne  as  Editor,  it  was  added:  "But  if  Hugh  Bourne, 
through  indisposition,  be  unable  to  fill  the  office  of  Editor,  that  John  Flesher  be  called 
in  to  assist."  This  same  Conference  of  1838  took  another  significant  step  in  the  same 
direction.  Up  to  that  time  the  appointments  of  the  General  Committee  Delegates  to 
the  various  District  Meetings  had  invariably  been  made  by  the  General  Committee  itself. 
These  appointments  had  almost  invariably  been  given  to  Messrs.  H.  and  J.  Bourne  and 
W.  Clowes ;  but  by  far  the  largest  number  of  District  Meetings  were  attended  by 
Hugh  Bourne.  Now,  however,  the  Conference  of  1838  took  the  appointment  of 
General  Committee  Delegates  into  its  own  hands.  H.  Bourne  was  deputed  to 
attend  the  Tunstall  and  Brinkworth  District  Meetings  of  1839;  W.  Clowes  the  Hull, 

*  Memoirs  of  the  Life  and  Labours  of  the  Venerable  Hugh  Bourne  (vol.  ii.  pp.  292-3). 


360  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 

W.  Garner  the  Sunderland,  James  Garner  (1)  the  Norwich,  and  John  Hallam  the 
Manchester  District.  Thus  a  partial  devolution  and  distribution  of  official  authority 
took  place  which  distribution  became  the  usage. 

"But,'-  it  will  be  said,  "Hugh  Bourne  lived  ten  years  after  1^42,  and  during  that 
decade  he  performed  an  amount  of  labour  truly  astonishing.  He  was  always  on  the 
move  ;  travelling  from  circuit  to  circuit.  That  did  not  content  him  ;  he  even  crossed 
the  Atlantic  to  visit  the  mission  stations  in  Canada  and  the  United  States  ;  he  threw 
himself  with  enthusiasm  into  the  struggling  cause  of  Christian  Temperance.  Does 
not  all  this  look  as  though  Mr.  Walford  was  right  and  that  the  Conference  was  wrong 
in  superannuating  Hugh  Bourne  in  LSi2  !" 

All  this  is  true,  and  the  question  is  a  perfectly  natural  one.  No  one  can  look  with 
any  other  feeling  than  admiration  on  the  sight  of  the  brave  septuagenarian  toiling  to 
the  very  end  on  behalf  of  the  cause  he  loved  so  well.  But  the  history  of  this  period 
will  remain  something  of  a  puzzle  unless  we  recognise  that  the  declining  age  of  our 
founders,  with  its  limitations  and  infirmities,  created  difficulties  which  the  men  of  the 
transition  period  had  to  face  and  deal  with  as  wisely  and  as  considerately  as  they 
knew  how. 

Old  age  may  bring  with  it  other  infirmities  besides  dimness  of  vision  or  stiffness 
of  limbs.  It  may  bring  with  it  infirmity  of  temper  or  of  judgment;  and  surely  these 
infirmities  are  just  as  valid  disqualifications  for  holding  a  position  where  self-control 
and  sober  judgment  are  essential  as  colour-blindness  would  disqualify  a  man  for  being 
<i  signal-man.  In  order  to  convey  the  meaning  intended,  it  will  be  sufficient  to  give  one 
illustration  of  the  friction  and  embarrassments  caused  by  this  personal  factor,  which 
those  who  had  the  guidance  of  affairs  at  this  time  had  to  reckon  with.  The  incident  us 
not  the  only  one  that  might  be  given,  nor  is  it  by  any  means  the  most  painful.  Indeed, 
it  has  its  humorous  side,  and  it  may  also  have  the  further  use  of  suggesting  the  dangers 
that  might  be  lurking  in  the  District  system — the  danger  of  "  Particularism ''  as  we  have 
called  it.  In  passing,  we  need  not  do  more  than  allude  to  the  Xewcastle  Conference  of 
1833,  when  Hugh  Bourne  made  a  three  hours'  vehement  attack  on  Clowes  and  his 
policy.*  Mr.  Walford  does  not  make  the  slightest  reference  to  this  Conference,  nor,  as 
far  as  we  can  find,  do  any  of  the  later  biographers  of  Hugh  Bourne,  who  have  largely 
followed  "Walford.  The  incident  has  little  interest  for  us  now, — since  Christian 
forbearance  prevented  any  serious  consequences  resulting  therefrom ;  its  main   value 

*  The  evidence  for  the  statements  made  in  the  text,  and  the  evidence  for  much  more  than  is  there 
stated,  is  supplied  by  various  letters  and  documents  of  the  time  now  in  our  possession.  Chief  amongst 
these  are  a  number  of  memorandum  books,  in  which,  with  his  oun  hand,  \Y.  Clowes  narrates  the 
facts,  and  replies,  one  by  one,  to  the  charges  made  against  him  and  the  Hull  Circuit.  W.  Clowes 
writes  in  an  admirable  spirit.  He  indulges  sparingly  in  invective  and  confines  himself  mainly  to  a 
defence.  These  valuable  documents,  which  include  letters  of  Clowes.  Fleslier,  and  others,  were  long 
in  the  possession  of  J.  By  water.  At  his  death  they  came  into  the  hands  of  the  late  liev.  G.  Shaw, 
who,  in  the  presence  of  the  late  Dr.  J.  Wood,  handed  them  to  the  writer  on  the  understanding  that, 
they  should  ultimately  become  the  property  of  the  Connexion.  The  importance  of  these  documents 
caDnot  well  be  exaggerated,  and,  in  view  of  their  disclosures,  less  could  not  well  have  been  said  than 
is  saiil  above. 


THE  PERIOD  OF  CONSOLIDATION  AND  CHUKCH  DEVKLOPMENT. 


361 


consists  in  its  showing  how,  in  Hugh  Bourne's  case,  the  stress  of  the  years  had  disturbed 
the  fine  balance  of  imagination  and  judgment,  imparting  to  his  anxiety  for  the  welfare 
of  the  Connexion  an  element  of  morbidity,  and  making  him  look  at  men  and  things 
through  an  atmosphere  of  illusion,  especially  at  all  that  related  to  W.  Clowes  and  the 
Hull  District.  There  was  nothing  in  the  affair  that  need  disquiet  the  reader.  The 
incident  has  now  sunk  to  the  dimensions  of  a  storm  in  a  tea-cup,  although  at  the  time  it 
might  look  portentous  enough. 

Soon  after  this  Conference  a  circular  bearing  the  imprint  of  the  Bemersley  Book-Room 
appeared  with  the  strange  title  : — 

A    FEW    PLAIN    FACTS. 

Faith  axd  Industry  superior  to  High  Popularity, 

As  manifested  in  the  Primitive  Method-id  Connexion  between  the  Conference  of 

the  year  1824.,  and  that  of  1833 — nine  years. 

Tunstall,  Norwich,  and  Manchester  Districts  were  the  Low  Popularity  Districts,  and 
Nottingham,  Hull,  and  Sunderland,  the  "  High.''  Nevertheless  it  was  sought  to  be 
shown,  that,  despite  their  elevation  and  prestige,  the  Districts  of  "high  degree"  had  in 

nine   years   only   added  some   276 
members  to  the  Connexion,  while 
in  the  Districts  of  "  low  degree " 
there  had  been  an  increase  in  the 
same    period   of    14,814   members. 
"  If  any  error  be  discovered,  please 
to  make  it  known,''  said  the  circular. 
Copies  were  disseminated,  and  in 
due    time,    found    their    way    to 
Hull.     W.  Garner  was  one  of  the 
ministers  in  the  town  at  the  time. 
Speaking  of  the  circular,  he  says  : — 
"This    eccentric    missal 
answered    its    purpose    for    a 
moment.      It    was    no    doubt 
aimed  at  William  Clowes,  and 
it  hit  the  mark.     It  wounded 
his   spirit  He  keenly 

felt  the  stroke,  and  expressed 
his   astonishment  at   the   un- 
provoked and  needless  attack. 
But  he  did  not  allow  it  to  do 
him  much  harm.     We  never- 
theless   thought    it   best    not 
to  allow  the  document  to  be 
circulated  and  remain  silent ; 
and  therefore  decided  to  put  in  a  rejoinder.     The  circuit  records  were  accordingly 
examined  with  a  view  to  ascertain  the  numerical  result  of  Hull  Circuit's  labours, 
apart  from  those  of  the  entire  District." 


Clowes'  chaik. 


362 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHUKCH. 


Mr.  Garner  goes  on  to  say,  that  the  result  of  his  examination  showed  that  from  the 
day  Mr.  Clowes  entered  Hull,  in  1819,  to  1835,  that  circuit  had  raised  14,116  members, 
or  about  one-fourth  part  of  the  entire  Connexion.  These  findings  were  published  on  the 
Hull  Circuit  plan. 

From  this  it  will  be  seen  that  Primitive  Methodism  has  had  its  "fly-sheets." 
Mr.  W.  Lister  gives  us  a  glimpse  of  the  Sunderland  District  Meeting  which,  in  1835, 
was  held  at  Northallerton.  Hugh  Bourne  was  G.  C.  D.  of  that  assembly,  and  here  the 
fly-sheet  made  its  appearance,  and  was  duly  dealt  with,  as  the  following  extract  from 
Mr.  Lister's  Journal  will  show. 

"It  was  the  first  time  I  had  met  with  Hugh  Bourne  in  a  business  meeting.  He 
was  firm  but  I  thought  a  little  captious,  and  at  times  his  movements  were  not 
likely  to  promote  brotherly-kindness.  He  had  a  paper  which  he  had  got  printed — 
[Here  follows  a  description  of  the  circular.]  In  the  midst  of  a  discussion  on 
decreases  of  members  he  introduced  the  paper  for  the  Secretary  to  read  to  the 
meeting.  This  led  tu  some  ansrry  remarks.  Mr.  Dawson  took  up  the  subject  by 
asking  — "Who  the  author  was?  What  was  the  design  for  wishing  it  to  be  readl  etc. 

Mr.  B.,  finding  himself  taken 
to    task     and    pressed    with 
questions,    begged     to    have 
the  paper  handed  back  and 
the  matter  to  drop.     To  me 
there    appeared    a    lack    of 
judgment,    whatever    might 
be    said     in     favour    of    an 
anxious   wish    for   the    pros 
perity    of    the    cause.     The 
whole   thing  was   calculated 
to   yjrovoke  disaffection  and 
I  fear  would  do  no  good." 
The   Conference  of  1842,   as   we 
have  said,  "  deemed  it  prudent  to 
superannuate  both  Hugh  Bourne 
and   Wr.   Clowes.''      After  super- 
annuation— death.     There  may  be 
a  considerable  interspace  between 
the  two  events,  as  there  was  in 
the  cases  of  our  founders;  but  the 
interval,  though  of  interest  to  the 
biographer,   may   be   passed  over 
by   the    historian,    as    it    has   no 
direct   hearing   on  events.     It   is 
significant    that    Clowes'  Journal 
ends    with    his     superannuation, 
though  he  continued  to  visit  the 
Churches   as   much   and  as   long 
as    health    and     strength    would 


?m  ''tUinoni  of  the  late 
REV.  WILLIAM  CLOWES, 

ONI''   o|'    ill!.   loI'NDERS  OF  THE 

J'Jnmitibc  Jtluljo&tst  Connexion. 

riim-fiii-lion  preys  (Hi  hjn  body,  not  on  his  HAUic 
'I  l:>- in-live  hides  Imii  n-uui  the  smiie  of  graUtiule*hut 
buries  nothii  wrtues. 


■^  A  .MAN'— llf  waa  kind,  cuurteoua, bold  ami  dtuiiiL;. 
•of  Khnrt,  strong  b"dil>  i'urin;  his  countenance  Cull  ••( 
.ApiTBsii.n  :  his  \une  loud,  shrill,  arid  musical. 

:\>  A  MNXKR—  II.'  wfiB  a  Wading-  spirit,  h  eaphmi, 
tut  iiiiIkii^hk-ih  i. fui i s,  hn-r.  the  oracle  uf  his  companion^, 
lull  ur  wii,  plee,  song,  and  dance. 

,\s  \.  rilRISTJVN— lie  waxed  valient  in  fight,  wax 
hi  mm*-  in  faith,  a  burning  and  shitting  light;  a  ceutre, 
ii/lijjinussly  radiating  an  r<\(c usive  circle. ' 

AS  a  MIMMF.l;  -i[r  despised  meteor  and:  mortal 
<:loi-n^  mid  &.»u^ht  ih.-  i.nL'lituess  of  the  firmament;  he 
»uir  niifh  waters  niHji<<it:d  mid  sweet,  and  (hough  the 
tinLKCK  i->  now  coiK't'iiifd,  (lit  liver  vnns  for  ever  oil 

as  A  MISSIONARY — He  wuH  oharged  -with  .an,  awa- 
kening rommiBsion,  and  Smitten  !»y  constraining  love, he 
K.-pt  the  cum u try  nwake  l>\  the  lmisfl  he  made  in  it,  bv  his 
c.niicst  iu-ou«iog  tjiiiinci:iii.tM.s.  he  threw  himself  and  Ins 
*i  inject  on  the  spirits  oi  listening  multitude.  *>  tliut 
ninny  (\chimjed,-1'  What  must  X  do  to  be  wived  ?" 

As  A  IWSTOK— lit*  was  honoured  and  beloved  for 
ihc  wnu'lilul  cure  he  liud  for  the  Houk, 

1 1^  uu  longer  walks  the  earth,  but  he*  speaks  h\  tin* 
t-Miinple  lie  Iiht.  set  us. 


Mfwa,-  Horn.  Haven  12th,  1780.  &$ 

lie  was  ''ouvurrtfiK-fttituarv  ii'th,  l.-Vtr*. 
H*  .-ntereil  .m  Iih  MhjiMrv    UhviuIht  Ishj. 
II    d>nl.  Mar.  h  Mi.  l^.-»l. 


THE   PERIOD   OF   CONSOLIDATION    AND    CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT. 


363 


permit.     He  resided  in  Hull,  where  he  led  his  class,  and  went  in  and  out  amongst  the 
people  by  whom  he  was  affectionately  known  as  "Father  Clowes.''       How  great  was 

= — : the  value  of  his  prayers  and  holy  life  to  Hull 

•J  Primitive  Methodism  who  shall  estimate1?      The 

last  meeting  he  attended  was  one  in  Mason  Street 
Chapel  to  make  arrangements  for  the  erection 
of  a  new  chapel  in  Jarratt  Street,  better  known 
as  Clowes'  Chapel.  In  February,  1851,  he  was 
stricken  with  paralysis  and  died  March  2nd, 
1851,  sixty  years  to  the  month  and  day  after 
John  Wesley.*  As  Parkinson  Milson  stood  in 
the  death-chamber  he  noticed  upon  his  coffin-lid, 
representations  of  quivers  filled  with  arrows. 
"  I  was  much  affected,"  says  he,  and  thought : 
"How  he  hurled  the  arrows  of  Divine  truth.' 
Of  him  it  might  have  been  said  :  "  Thine  arrows 
are  sharp  in  the  heart  of  the  King's  enemies ; 
whereby  the  people  fall  under  thee.''  His 
remains  were  followed  by  a  large  concourse  of 
people  and,  amidst  tokens  of  the  deepest  respect 
and  reverence,  were  laid  to  rest  in  the  Hull 
General  Cemetery.  Messrs.  Harland,  By  water, 
w.  clowes'  toiib.  and  Lamb  took  part  in  the  service  at  the  grave. 

The  old   table-tomb,   which   was    erected    by 

subscription,    has   given    place    to    a   worthier 

memorial.  At  the  initiative,  and  mainly  through 

the    exertions    of     Rev.    W.    Smith,    a    lofty 

obelisk  of  granite  (unveiled   September   29th, 

1898)  now  marks  the  spot  where  W.  Clowes 

lies ;  and  clustered  round  it  are  the  resting- 
places  of  many  noted  adherents  of  our  Church 

— so   many  indeed,   that   the   sacred    spot    is 

known  as  "  Primitive  Corner.'' 

Hugh  Bourne  did  not  long  survive  his  old 

friend,  but  he  was  full  of  work  almost  to  the 

last.      There    is    something    pathetic    in   the 

circumstances     of     his    death.       He     suffered 

excruciating  pain  in  his  foot.      Nature  was  at 

last   exacting    a    full    penalty.      Yet,    as   we 

look   upon    the    scene,   we    do    not   think    so 

much    of    Nemesis   as   of    vicarious    suffering. 

We  are  reminded  of  the  words  of  the  dying 

De     Quincey    who,    as    the    attendants    were 

moving  him  in  bed  and  lifting  his  feet,  said  : 
*  By  a  strange  blunder  March  4th  is  given  as  the  date  of  Clowes'  death  on  the  Funeral  Card 

printed  at  the  time,  shown  on  the  other  page. 


HUGH    BOURNES  TOMB 


3(i-t  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST   CHUKCH. 

' '  Be  gentle ;  bo  tender.  Remember  that  those  are  the  feet  that  Christ  washed."  So 
those  poor  much  abused  feet  remind  us  of  the  Christly  service  they  did  all  through  the 
years — running  to  and  fro  doing  the  Master's  will.  Unlike  ~\Y.  Clowes,  speech  was  not 
denied  him  in  the  extreme  hour,,  and  his  last  words  show  how  the  mind  harked  back 
to  the  scenes  and  figures  of  the  past.  He  was  heard  to  murmur — "  Old  companions  ! 
Old  companions!  My  mother!"  He  died  October  11th,  1852.  His  body  was  taken  to 
Englesea  Brook  for  burial.  The  whole  country  through  which  the  cortege  passed  from 
Bemersley  was  moved.  It  was  computed  that  in  Tunstall  marketplace  16,000  persons 
were  present  as  Mr.  Leech  gave  the  address.  At  Englesea  Brook  hundreds  filed  past 
the  open  coffin  ;  and  the  great  number  of  Sunday  school  children  present  was  a  most 
appropriate  feature  of  the  occasion.  Messrs.  Sanders,  T.  Russell,  and  Higgins  committed 
the  body  to  its  rest  in  the  graveyard  of  the  Englesea  Brook  Chapel ;  and  a  subscription 
tomb  was  afterwards,  largely  through  the  exertions  of  Mr.  Flesher,  placed  over  the  grave. 

We  shall  not  attempt  here  an  estimate  of  our  two  chief  founders  or  draw  out  the 
contrast  between  them — striking  as  that  contrast  was.  This  has  already  been  done  by 
Mr.  Petty  in  his  History.  He  had  personal  knowledge  of  both  Hugh  Bourne  and 
\V.  Clowes,  and  it  is  right  that  his  summing  up  of  their  characters  and  work  should  be 
handed  on  to  another  generation  of  readers  than  that  for  which  he  wrote. 

"  His  own  denomination  owes  him  a  great  debt  of  gratitude  for  the  sacrifices  he  made 
for  its  welfare  and  the  energetic  and  efficient  manner  in  which  be  promoted  its  interests. 
He  was  not  indifferent  to  the  prosperity  of  other  communities,  in  whose  well-being  he 
sincerely  rejoiced  ;  but  believing  that  the  Providence  of  God  had  called  him  to  labour 
among  the  community  in  whose  formation  he  had  taken  so  prominent  a  part,  he 
consecrated  all  his  powers  both  of  body  and  mind  to  promote  its  weal.  His  life  was 
bound  up  in  its  prosperity ;  his  constant  study,  his  unvaried  aim  was  to  minister  to  its 
usefulness ;  his  toilsome  and  zealous  labours  were  all  intended  to  enhance  its  well-being. 
And  it  is  difficult  to  calculate  aright  the  amount  of  good  which  he  accomplished  by  his 
caution,  his  forethought,  his  energy  of  purpose,  and  his  determined  perseverance.  The 
regulations  he  successfully  sought  to  carry  into  effect  for  the  benefit  of  the  community, 
in  some  cases,  bore  hardly  upon  the  regular  ministers,  and  it  cannot  be  denied  that  a  few 
of  them  presented  an  aspect  of  severity  which  it  would  be  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to 
justify;  for  instance,  one  which  provided  that  if  unpleasantness  should  arise  in  any 
society  which  should  call  for  investigation,  and  a  travelling  preacher  should  be  found 
faulty  in  the  least,  he  should  pay  all  the  expenses  attendant  on  the  inquiry,  though 
other  parties  might  be  far  more  blameable  than  he  :  an  example  of  partial  legislation 
which  a  later  Conference  saw  proper  to  abolish  ;  but,  notwithstanding  imperfections  of 
this  character,  which  Mr.  Bourne's  measures  occasionally  displayed,  his  influence  in  the 
management  of  connexional  affairs  was,  on  the  whole,  salutary,  and  even  eminently 
beneficial.  For  many  years  he  was  the  leading  spirit  in  the  denomination,  and  took  an 
active  part  in  its  most  important  transactions.  In  pulpit  and  platform  efforts  Mr.  Clowes 
was  incomparably  superior  to  Mr.  Bourne  ;  in  legislative  or  administrative  ability  he 
was  immeasurably  inferior.  Both  exerted  a  powerful  and  beneficial  influence  in  the 
Connexion,  but  it  was  in  some  respects  different.  Both  commanded  veneration  and 
esteem  by  their  years,   their   manly   piety,   their   eminent   usefulness,  and   their  high 


THE   PERIOD    OF    CONSOLIDATION   AND    CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT.  305 

position  in  the  Body ;  but  Mr.  Bourne's  influence  was  exercised  with  more  apparent 
authority,  and  with  occasional  harshness  and  severity ;  Mr.  Clowes'  with  more  paternal 
kindness  and  with  a  winning  sweetness  of  disposition  and.  manner.  Mr.  Bourne 
sometimes  erred  on  the  side  of  severity ;  Mr.  Clowes  occasionally  on  the  side  of  leniency. 
The  former  had  much  of  Luther  in  his  temperament ;  the  latter,  more  of  Molanchthon. 
Their  difference  of  views  in  certain  cases,  and  the  different  course  they  pursued  in  some 
matters  of  discipline,  unhappily  caused  -a  measure  of  estrangement  between  them  for 
some  years  ;  and  in  moments  of  severe  trial,  Mr.  Bourne  sometimes  spoke  of  Mr.  Clowes 
in  unwarrantable  terms,  for  which,  on  more  than  one  occasion,  he  had  the  manliness  and 
grace  to  express  his  deep  regret, — and  in  his  calm  moments  he  frequently  spoke  and 
wrote  of  his  early  friend  in  the  highest  strains  of  eulogy.  In  many  respects,  however, 
these  distinguished  men  greatly  resembled  each  other.  Both  were  actuated  by  a  pure 
and  ardent  desire  to  promote  the  extension  of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom.  Both  were 
zealous  in  an  extraordinary  degree  in  their  efforts  to  snatch  perishing  men  as  brands 
from  the  burning.  Both  looked  for  prevent  effects,  througli  the  blessing  of  God  on 
their  labours.  Both  used  great  plainness  of  speech  in  their  public  addresses.  Both 
enforced  with  uncommon  clearness  and  power,  the  doctrine  of  a  present  salvation  through 
faith  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Both  were  firm  believers  in  the  theology  of  Wesley, 
and  great  admirers  of  his  character  and  labours.  Both  were  mighty  in  prayer,  and 
strong  in  faith.  Both  were  eminently  prudent  in  the  management  of  societies  and  the 
erection  of  chapels.  Both  were  men  of  strong  determination  and  of  fixedness  of  purpose. 
And  well  was  it  for  the  body  of  which  they  were  the  principal  founders,  that  both  of 
them  were  permitted  to  live  to  a  good  old  age,  and  to  promote  its  well-being  by  their 
sanctified  wisdom  and  growing  piety. 

"  "Who,  of  the  two,  was  the  more  useful  we  presume  not  to  determine.  Their  talents 
and  acquirements  materially  differed,  and  so  did  the  sphere  of  their  labours.  Mr.  Bourne 
had  more  strength  of  mind  :  Mr.  Clowes  more  fire  of  imagination.  The  former  had 
more  learning  ;  the  latter  had  a  richer  command  of  language,  and  a  more  fluent  utterance. 
Mr.  Bourne  took  a  much  larger  share  in  the  management  of  the  Connexion  than  Mr. 
Clowes  ;  the  latter  did  incomparably  more  than  he  in  active  labours  to  extend  its  borders. 
While  Mr.  Bourne  was  efficiently  serving  the  denomination  as  the  editor  of  its  magazine, 
and  as  the  ruling  mind  in  its  General  Committee  and  annual  assemblies,  Mr.  Clowes  was 
pursuing  evangelical  labours,  or  Home  Missionary  operations,  with  apostolical  ardour 
and  success.  Both  excelled  in  their  spheres  of  operation  ;  both  were  eminently  adapted 
to  the  work  respectively  allotted  to  them.  Mr.  Bourne  could  not  have  accomplished 
what  Mr.  Clowes  effected;  Mr.  Clowes  could  not  have  performed  what  Mr.  Bourne 
achieved.  The  Connexion  has  abundant  cause  to  "  glorify  God  in  "  both  of  them,  and 
to  render  Him  unfeigned  thanks  for  the  incalculable  benefit  derived  from  their  judicious 
counsels,  their  extraordinary  labours,  their  earnest  prayers,  and  their  fervent  piety. 
They  were  holy  and  useful  in  their  lives,  and  in  their  death  they  were  not  long  divided 
Their  mortal  remains  do  not  indeed  rest  in  the  same  sepulchre  ;  but  their  immortal 
spirits  have  met  in  the  regions  of  the  blessed.  They  mingle,  we  doubt  not,  in  the 
blood-washed  throng  before  the  throne  of  God,  and  unite  in  the  loud  hosannahs  chanted 
to  the  Saviour's  name.'' 


366  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


CHAPTEK    II. 

MEN  AND  CONFERENCES  OF  THE  TRANSITION— 1843-60. 

N  the  retirement  of  Hugh  Bourne  and  AV.  Clowes  the  direction  of  affairs 
naturally  devolved  on  those  who  were  themselves  no  longer  young;  who 
indeed  were  veterans  of  such  long  standing  that,  if  they  were  not  the 
actual  founders  of  the  Connexion  as  a  distinct  community  they  had,  never- 
theless, worked  side  by  side  with  the  founders  ;  men  who  had  been  the  makers  of  the 
Connexion  and  the  pioneers  of  its  geographical  progress  during  the  period  of  circuit 
predominance  and  enterprise  we  have  been  following.  We  may  call  these  men  the 
Men  of  the  Transition,  since  the  terminal  points  of  their  activity  fell  on  either  side 
of  1842,  overlapping  and  bridging  the  two  periods.  As  a  matter  of  course  some  of 
these  men  became  holders  of  connexional  offices,  and  so  they  head  the  succession 
of  Editors,  Book  Stewards,  and  Missionary  Secretaries,  whose  grouped  portraits  are 
given  in  this  chapter  with  the  double  purpose  of  being  convenient  for  present  and 
future  reference.  Still,  it  is  not  the  offices  these  men  filled  we  are  now  considering, 
but  rather  their  fitness  and  inevitability  for  office,  as  being  the  chief  representatives 
of  the  Men  of  the  Transition  to  whose  lot  it  fell  to  be  the  shapers  and  directors 
of  the  Connexion  until  the  early  'sixties. 

All  through  this  period  the  governing  power,  so  far  as  the  Conference  was  its 
depositary  and  organ,  was  exclusively  in  the  hands  of  the  Men  of  the  Transition — 
ministers  and  laymen.  In  this  respect  the  Conference  presented  a  marked  contrast 
to  the  District  Meetings,  which  were  elected  on  a  much  broader  suffrage  and  which, 
consequently,  grew  in  popularity  and  influence,  while  the  Conference  was  little  known, 
jealously  guarded  its  deliberations  from  publicity,  and  did  its  best  to  wrap  itself  in 
obscurity  and  mystery.  It  is  in  the  contrast  between  the  District  Meetings  and  the 
Conference,  in  the  explanation  of  this  contrast,  and  in  the  consequences  practical  and 
sentimental  that  resulted  from  this  difference,  that  we  shall  find  the  key  to  the  history 
of  the  time — a  time  less  familiar  to  our  people  than  any  other  in  our  annals,  since  it 
is  out  of  the  range  of  the  personal  experience  of  all,  except  a  very  limited  number,  and 
lies  under  the  still  further  disadvantage  that  the  material  for  rightly  judging  of  it  is 
scanty  in  the  extreme. 

In  1845  the  rules  regulating  the  appointment  of  District  representatives  to  Conference 
were  revised  in  the  direction  of  stringency.  Hitherto  superintendents  of  three  years' 
standing,  and  lay  officials  who  had  been  such  for  the  year  immediately  preceding,  had 
been  eligible.  But,  in  1845,  the  time-qualification  was  greatly  lengthened  both  in  the 
case  of  minister  and  layman.  It  was  enacted  that  no  preacher  must  be  sent  to  Conference 
unless  he  had  travelled  eighteen  years  and  been  a  superintendent  twelve.  The  layman, 
too,  must  have  been  a  member  twelve  years  and  an  official  ten.     .Such  was  the  law 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND   CHURCH    DEVELOPMENT.  S6h( 


T  NEWELL 


H  YOOLL. 


CONNEXIONAL   EDITOBS  PBOM  THE  BEGINNING    TO  THE  PRESENT. 


•')(i(S  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 

determining  District  representation  to  Conference  until  1865,  when  it  underwent  some 
relaxation.  From  this  it  will  follow  that  no  one  entering  the  ministry  in  1841  or  '2 
could,  or  as  a  matter  of  fact  did,  take  part  in  the  deliberations  of  our  chief  assembly 
before  1859  or  '60.  Before  they  had  become  eligible  on  the  old  and  more  liberal 
qualification,  the  stringent  provisions  of  1845  came  in  to  bar  their  entry.  When 
we  look  down  the  list  of  men  who  were  pledged  in  1841  we  find  such  names  as 
G.  Smallman,  S.  Antliff,  T.  Southern,  P.  Clarke,  R  Bootland,  W.  Yeadon,  and 
D.  Ingham.  The  list  for  1842,  includes  such  men  as  J.  Huff,  E.  Morton,  T.  Whitehead, 
J.  Holroyd,  J.  T.  Shepherd,  K.  Church,  and  J.  Mules.  All  these  were  prominent 
District  men  and  some  of  them  attained  to  connexional  eminence,  yet  it  is  safe  to  say 
of  one  and  all  of  them  :  it  took  twenty  years  for  time  to  mature  their  qualifications 
for  Conference.  Their  qualifications  blossomed  with  the  coming  of  the  first  grey  hairs 
or  of  baldness.  Samuel  Antliff  was  fortunate  in  making  his  debut  in  Conference  in 
the  nineteenth  year  of  his  ministry,  while  C.  C.  McKechnie  was  not  eligible — because 
of  the  twelve  years'  superintendency  requirement — until  he  had  actually  travelled 
twenty-seven  years. 

The  value  of  a  knowledge  of  these  facts  consists  in  their  enabling  us  to  picture 
the  composition  and  almost  the  personnel  of  the  Conferences  of  the  'fifties.  We  see 
that  the  asembly  has  on  it  the  aspect  of  maturity  and  even  of  age.  It  is  a  Uerousia — 
a  senate  ;  made  up  of  old  officials,  of  men  whose  connexional  record  goes  back  into 
the  preceding  period.  It  is  an  assembly  with  conservative  tendencies,  having  in  it 
many  who  think  the  old  times  were  better  than  the  present.  The  younger  rising  men 
are  not  here.  Their  time  is  not  yet  come.  As  yet  they  are  finding  an  outlet  for  their 
energy  in  Circuit  and  District  administration,  with  the  result  that  Districtism  is  being 
fostered  at  some  expense  to  Connexionalism.  Some  day  the  roles  of  District  Meeting 
and  Conference  will  be  inverted  ;  but  that  as  yet  is  in  the  future. 

If  we  pass  from  the  constitution  and  composition  of  the  Conference  to  look  at  the 
way  it  hedged  itself  about  with  restrictions  so  as  to  secure  the  minimum  of  publicity, 
we  shall  better  understand  why  Ave  know  so  little  of  these  early  Conferences  and  their 
doings.  The  endeavour  seems  to  have  been  to  make  them  as  much  like  meetings  with 
closed  doors  as  possible.  Certainly  Conference  hearers  were  not  encouraged.  How  far 
they  were  to  be  allowed  was  regulated  by  the  same  Conference  of  1845,  which  decided 
that  the  first  and  second  oldest  local  preachers  residing  at  a  town  within  fifty-one  miles 
of  a  Conference-town  might  be  admitted  as  hearers  on  showing  a  certificate  properly 
signed.  These  certificates  were  closely  scanned,  for  the  post  of  door-keeper  was 
a  responsible  one,  and  any  laxity  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties  rendered  him  liable 
to  censure  and  even  fine.* 

To  all  this  must  be  added  that  the  published  records  of  the  transactions  of  the 
Conferences  of  this  transition  time  seem  to  have  been  prepared  on  the  principle  of 
giving  the  minimum  amount  of  information  such  as  contemporaries  find  most  interesting 
and  the  historian  most  helpful.     We  look   in  vain  in  the  Minutes  of  1S41   for  any 

*  It  is  fair  to  say  that  the  stringency  of  the  rule  was  somewhat  relaxed  in  1850;  but  only  in 
favour  of  Male  travelling  preachers,  and  other  leading  officials  of  the  male  sex. 


THE  PERIOD  OF  CONSOLIDATION  AND  CHURCH  DEVELOPMENT.       369 

reference  to  the  "Stamp  Case'';  or  in  the  Minutes  of  the  early  'Fifties  for  information 
as  to  the  genesis  of  the  Hymn  Book  of  1853  and  the  controversy  which  grew  out 
of  its  publication. 

To  get  to  Conference  has  always  been  a  legitimate  and  laudable  ambition.  Men 
were  moved  by  this  ambition  even  in  the  early  Middle  period  of  our  history  when, 
in  comparison  with  the  Conferences  of  these  later  days,  our  chief  assembly  was  but 
a  numerically  small,  less  popular,  and — having  regard  to  the  qualification  for  election — 
a  more  exclusive  -body.  Men  were  not  disposed  to  sit  down  quietly  under  their 
exclusion.      "  District   Meetings  were  all  very   well,  but,   after   all,   Conference  was 

Conference,  and ,"  in  short,  they  would  like  to  form  some  of  its  constituent  atoms. 

Those  who  were  debarred  by  the  existing  years-of-travelling  rule,  and  those  who  were 
qualified  but  who,  in  the  number  of  competitors,  felt  that  their  chance  of  often  getting 
to  Conference  was  but  slender,  put  forth  efforts  to  secure  such  changes  in  the  law  as 
would  obviate  for  them  its  exclusive  effects.  They  were  not  conspicuously  successful. 
An  early  and  interesting  example  of  such  infructuous  efforts  is  supplied  by  the  minutes 
of  an  "Association  of  Travelling  Preachers  formed  at  Pontefract  in  1845."*  Its 
declared  object  was  to  enable  preachers  who  had  travelled  fifteen  years  and  been 
superintendents  ten  years  successively,  to  have  a  seat  and  a  voice  in  Conference  on 
condition  that  they  bore  their  own  expenses  to  the  Conference  town  and  supported 
themselves  while  there.  The  Association  sought  to  gain  its  end  by  legislation, 
petition,  etc.,  and  there  is  evidence  that  in  these  respects  it  was  not  inactive.  We 
have  not  a  list  of  the  members  of  the  Association,  but  J.  Bywater  was  the  Secretary 
and  W.  Taylor  the  Treasurer ;  and  these,  together  with  W.  Sanderson  and  G.  Lamb, 
formed  the  Committee.  It  transpires,  too,  that  J.  Flesher  was  an  honorary  member 
of  the  Association,  and  had  given  one  pound  to  its  "campaign  fund";  so  that  it  is 
evident  even  some  leading  men  of  the  transition  were  in  sympathy  with  the  endeavour 
to  enlarge  and  popularise  the  Conference,  and  could  have  had  no  part  in  framing  or 
passing  the  reactionary  rules  of  1845.  The  proposals  of  the  Association  were  a 
plagiarism  ;  evidently  they  were  suggested  by  the  Wesleyan  Conference,  of  which  the 
legal  hundred  is  the  core.  Had  the  legislation  promoted  by  the  Pontefract  Association 
met  with  favour  instead  of  repeated  rejection,  then  the  Primitive  Methodist  legal 
Conference  must  still  have  remained  that  part  of  the  composite  body  which  consisted 
of  the  permanent  members,  "the  four"  elected  by  the  previous  Conference,  and  those 
duly  sent  up  by  the  District  Meetings.  But  Conference  reform  was  not  destined  to 
come  on  these  lines,  but  rather  by  the  removal  of  restrictions  and  by  the  method  of 
expansion  and  evolution. 

We  have  alluded  to  the  Hymn  Book  of  1853  and  to  the  controversy  which  followed 
on  its  publication.  Each  of  the  three  chief  periods  of  our  History  has  had  its  Hymn 
Book,  and  each  was  a  characteristic  product  of  its  time.  The  first  period  had  its 
"Small"  and  "Large"  Hymn  Book,  not  inappropriately  bound  together  like  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments  ;   for  the   Small  Hymn   Book   went  back  to  the  time  of   our 

*  The  Minute  Book  of  the  Association,  as  also  the  copies  of  many  letters  written  to  ministers  on 
the  aims  and  progress  of  the  Association  by  the  Secretary,  are  in  our  possession. 

A  A 


370 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 


-I6LAMB 


;knkk.m.  nook  stewards  no  WS5. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CONSOLIDATION    AND    CHURCH    DEVELOPMENT.  371 

"origins.''  It  was  reminiscent  of  Lorenzo  Dow  and  camp  meetings,  and  was  essentially 
a  revival  Hymn  Book;  while  the  "Large,''  as  it  was  called,  provided  a  greater  variety 
of  hymns  for  the  uses  of  public  worship.  The  Middle  Period  gave  us  Mr.  Flesher's 
compilation,  while  the  "  Hymnal  "  is  the  worthy  exemplar  of  the  Church  Period  of 
our  history.  It  is  with  the  Hymn  Book  of  185:1  and  the  controversy  it  roused  that 
we  have  now  to  do. 

The  early  portion  of  the  Middle  Period  was  a  trying  and  somewhat  uneasy  one  as 
most  transition  periods  are.  The  cars  rocked  as  they  got  on  the  new  rails.  Controversies, 
big  and  little,  there  were  in  plenty  ;  but  most  of  them  involved  no  great  issues  and  have 
no  lessons  for  us  of  the  present.  Such  was  that  which  arose  in  1 S47  respecting  the 
founding  of  a  Local  Preachers'  Provident  Institution,  which,  therefore,  it  is  not  worth 
while  dwelling  upon.  Of  a  somewhat  different  kind,  however,  was  the  Hymn  Book 
controversy.  It  did  raise  an  issue  of  some  importance.  Altogether  apart  from  the 
question  as  to  the  merits  or  demerits  of  the  book  itself,  it  was  alleged  that  the  Hymn 
Book  had  been  sprung  on  the  Connexion.  It  was  in  the  North  and  especially  in 
Sunderland  and  Newcastle  where  dissatisfaction  with  the  book  was  most  deeply  felt,  and 
where  it  took  its  most  active  form.  C.  C.  McKechnie — afterwards  Editor  and  President — 
became  the  Secretary  of  an  association  pledged  to  secure,  if  possible,  the  withdrawal f 
the  book.  Trenchant  reviews  of  it  were  written  and  the  Connexion  was  "circularised." 
The  circular  was  signed  by  Messrs.  Thos.  Gibson  and  Joseph  Fawcett  of  Sunderland, 
and  A.  McCree  and  George  Charlton  of  Newcastle.  In  this  circular  the  third  and  last 
reason  for  the  action  taken  is  stated  to  be  : — 

"The  indifference  manifested  to  Connexional  Opinion  in  that  the  new  Book 
was  authorised,  stereotyped,  and  issued  without  an  opportunity  being  given  for 
the  Connexion  to  judge  of  its  suitability." 

To  this  the  General  Committee  in  its  counter-circular  to  the  stations  replies  : — 

"  That  the  statement  about  the  issue  of  the  New  Hymn  Book  manifesting 
'indifference  to  connexional  opinion'  is  not  in  harmony  with  the  facts  of  the  case, 
both  the  j/re/wdfion  and  jnihlinttion  of  the  book  having  been  directed  by  duly 
elected  delegates  or  representatives  of  the  Connexion  in  Conference  assembled, 
comprising  a  considerable  number  of  intelligent  connexional  office- bearers  capable 
of  expressing  their  views  and  those  of  the  brethren  whom  they  represented, 
and  who  were  not  distinct  from  the  Connexion,  but  forming  an  important  and 
influential  part  thereof." 

From  the  strictly  legal  side  the  circular  of  the  General  Committee  was  a  complete 
answer  and  put  the  agitators  in  the  wrong.  Undoubtedly  the  Conference  had  authorised 
the  preparation  of  the  Hymn  Book,  and  had  entrusted  the  work  to  Mr.  Flesher,  though 
when,  and  under  what  circumstances  this  was  done,  does  not  appear.  It  may  be  a 
search  through  the  Conference  Journals  would  show,  but  the  published  Conference 
Minutes  and  our  Histories  are  silent.  Formal  authorisation  was  probably  given  in  1851, 
and  by  the  close  of  1853  the  book  was  printed  and  stereotyped  and  twenty  thousand 
copies  sold.  But  the  Hymn  Book  controversy  naturally  grew  out  of  the  working  theory 
of  the  Conference  in  use  and  favour  at  the  time,  and  this  incident  came  to  reveal  its 
drawbacks  and  possible  dangers.     To  us  the  chief  value  of  the  incident  lies  in  its  bearing 

a  a  2 


372  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST    CHURCH. 

on  the  history  of  the  evolution  of  the  Conference.  The  questions  as  to  whether  or  no 
Mr.  Flesher  was  the  best  man  who  could  have  been  selected  for  the  work  of  compiling 
a  new  Hymn  Book  ;  whether  he  were  a  poet  as  well  as  a  great  preacher  and  rhetorician  ; 
whether  his  hymns,  and  those  of  his  wife,  possessed  or  were  destitute  of  poetic  merit  ; 
whether,  above  all,  he  was  or  was  not  justified  in  mutilating  and  amending  the  hymns 
of  others — all  such  questions  have  undoubtedly  their  interest,  but  just  now  we  are  more 
interested  in  the  aforesaid  question  of  the  evolution  of  Conference.  For  that  there  has 
been  evolution  here  is  plain.  In  the  early  'Fifties  the  ideal  Conference  would  seem  to 
have  been  a  select  assembly  in  which  men  should  deliberate  and  decide  in  camera, 
uninfluenced  by  the  outside  non-conferential  world,  which  must  be  told  hereafter  as 
little  as  possible.  How  far  we  have  got  from  such  ideas  !  Instead  of  seclusion  and 
reticence,  the  ideal  of  Conference  has  become  publicity  and  frankness.  We  smile  at  the 
old  restrictions  on  hearers  as  we  see  our  people  flocking  to  the  Conference  town  like  the 
tribes  going  up  to  the  sacred  feasts.  Eepresentatives  of  the  press  are  welcomed  and 
even  thanked  for  the  fulness  and  accuracy  of  their  reports. 

There  can  be  no  question  that  the  Hymn  Book  controversy  and  other  incidents  of  the 
kind  have  helped  to  bring  about  this  change  of  view  and  sentiment.  The  controversy 
raid  no  serious  results  but  closed  amicably.  The  case  was  taken  to  the  Conference  of 
1854,  where  G.  Charlton  represented  the  Northern  dissentients.  But  mutual  concessions 
were  made.  On  the  one  side,  the  withdrawal  of  the  Hymn  Book  was  not  pressed, 
withdrawal  being  manifestly  impossible.  On  the  other  side  an  undertaking  was  given 
that  some  of  the  most  objectionable  features  of  the  book  should  be  removed.  We  agree 
with  the  late  John  Atkinson  that  it  was  fortunate  for  the  Connexion  at  this  juncture 
that  the  opposition 

"Was  calmly  and  fairly  met  by  those  who  were  in  official  position  at  the  time 
The  liev.  John  Petty,  with  his  colleagues  in  London,  lievs.  T.  King  and  J.  Bywater, 
and  the  l!ev.  \X.  Garner,  who  was  then  in  Hull,  by  the  Christian  spirit  they 
manifested,  and  the  concessions  they  made,  earned  the  gratitude  of  the  Connexion, 
for  they  did  much  to  save  it  from  a  disastrous  agitation.  Their  efforts  were 
appreciated  by  the  brethren  who  had  taken  an  active  part  in  the  agitation,  and  a 
working  settlement  was  reached  which  restored  harmony  and  peace  And  in 

justice  to  Mr.  Flesher  and  his  work,  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  the  book 
possessed  qualities  that  at  first  were  not  recognised,  as  is  evident  from  the  fact 
that  for  over  thirty  year's  it  met  the  growing  needs  of  our  Church  life,  a  very 
sufficient  testimony  that  it  was  not  devoid  of  excellence.  Another  very  good  effect 
came  out  of  this  controversy.  When  another  hymnal  was  necessary  the  Connexion 
was  taken  into  confidence."  * 

Perhaps  these  Conferences  of  the  'Fifties  may  be  made  something  more  real  to  us  if  we 
give  the  plan  of  the  Conference  held  at  Sheffield  in  1852.  The  reader,  if  he  has  good 
eye-sight  or  artificial  aids  thereto,  will  not  fail  to  make  out  many  names  with  which  he 
has  by  this  time  become  very  familiar.     There  is  no  breach  of  continuity  ;  for  it  must  be 

*  "  Lite  of  the  Eev.  C.  C.  JleKechuie,"  by  J.  Atkinson.  The  best,  and  in  fact,  the  only  published 
■iccnunt  of  the  Hymn  Book  controversy  is  Mr.  Atkinson's  chapter  on  the  subject,  based  on  Mr. 
Mc.Kechnie's  MS.  Autobiography. 


THK   PERIOD    OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND   CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT. 


373 


GENERAL  MISSIONARY   SECRETARIES. 


:V74 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 


remembered  we  are  dealing  with  a  Conference  composed  of  men  elected  on  the  eighteen 
years'  qualification  for  preachers,  and  twelve  years'  for  laymen,  so  that  they  are  Men  of 
the  Transition  whose  names  are  found  here.  Forming  our  opinion  of  the  Conference  by 
these  names,  we  see  at  once  that,  in  its  personnel,  it  was  a  strong  Conference.  It  was 
the  first  from  which  both  our  founders  were  absent.  Hugh  Bourne's  name  heads  the 
list ;  but,  though  he  had  signified  his  intention  to  attend,  when  the  time  came  he  was 
too  ill  to  do  so.  From  other  sources  than  the  Minutes — which  as  usual  are  silent  about 
such  matters — we  learn  that  the  intelligence  of  his  critical  condition  was  the  occasion  of 
an  impressive  scene  in  the  Conference.  Mr.  John  Reynard  of  Leeds  was  present  as  a 
delegate,  and  writing  to  Mr.  James  Bourne,  he  says  :  "This  morning  a  letter  was  read 
from  you  in  Conference,  giving  an  account  of  the  affliction  and  present  state  of  your 


T 


A  PLAN  OF  THE  RELIGIOUS  SERVICES  OF  THE 

S>35ISfSY*VE     aaE^HOBIST     COMFESSHC'S!, 

TO  DB  B1LD  4.T  9KBTTXBLB,  Jim.  1041. 


M     ^  r«MW.i1 


oetiikl  a  i  Arm. 


& 

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.Tta/  Fn  J  ij.l'SoiJmm'ToJwJ  rta 


alt 


us  "Ma, 


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""'  H»V-"  ™  Dm  Sixth,  la  th*  annum*  a<Uolnlna  Odckat  lana,  nw  Bt_  Jofcn'.  Chunk.  Snrb     enbl  , 


at  half-part  Kin*  a 


P-t*  1  fr««  nnM  CI»p.J 


F  CAMP  1U5ETJNO 


U  nub  ,  Ulll  «■»,  It,  ».  41.  «T,  ti.  S  ,    ■ 
J    UvtbtC  >t^lt>l>  E.  tlKtJu-l  wl  It 

iba  ntum.  ■lit  luil>i   Sunt  JisMr  i- 


UW^T.C^?^-"*^ 


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brother,  which  was  received  with  deep  sympathy  by  the  Conference,  and  a  motion  was 
made  that  we  had  a  few  moments'  prayer  on  his  behalf,  when  Bro.  Harland  offered  up 
a  very  powerful  appeal  to  the  Throne  of  Grace,  followed  up  by  prayers  and  tears  which 
[  doubt  not  had  audience  with  Heaven,  and  prevailed." 

An  increase  of  1,203  was  reported  for  the  year  1852,  but  there  was  to  be  no  increase 
again  until  185(>,  so  that  for  a  triennium  the  course  of  the  Connexion  lay  through  a 
valley  of  Humiliation.  The  Conference  of  1855  reported  4,126  members  less  than  in 
'52 — 2,055  being  the  loss  for  the  single  year  '54-5 — the  heaviest  decrease  recorded  in  our 
annals.  The  explanation  of  these  facts  is  in  great  part  to  be  found  in  the  condition  of 
our  land  at  the  time,  socially  and  ecclesiastically.      The  gold-fields  were  spreading  their 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND    CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT. 


375 


lure  and  attracting  thousands  to  California  and  Australia.  In  one  year  672  members 
were  lost  to  the  Connexion  from  this  single  cause  alone.  The  Norwich  and  Brinkworth 
Districts,  in  especial,  were  drained  and  enfeebled  by  this  exodus,  some  of  the  societies 
being  brought  nearly,  if  not  quite,  to  extinction.  In  the  Eastern  Counties  a  series  of 
disastrous  storms  and  floods  added  to  the  difficulties  of  the  time.  Strikes,  abnormal 
dearness  of  provisions,  must  be  mentioned  as  contributory  factors  to  this  complication  of 
adverse  causes.  Ecclesiastically,  too,  we  must  remember  that  this  was  the  period  when 
Ritualism  began  to  exert  its  baneful  influence,  and  that  for  Methodism  it  was  the  period 
of  strife  and  disintegration.  The  Parent  Body  was  disrupted.  In  one  year — 1849-50 — 
it  lost  nearly  57,000  members,  and  in  the  five  years  ending  in  '55,  it  was  depleted  to  the 
extent  of  100,469  members.  All  this  was  not  to  the  advantage  of  our  Church  but  very 
much  the  reverse.  Ecclesiastical  strife  is  a  fire  which  scorches  the  finer  feelings.  You 
cannot  come  near  it  without  getting  the  wings  of  your  soul  singed.  We  are  glad  to 
record  that  our  Church  preserved  her  neutrality  and  did  not  seek  to  profit  by  plunder  or 
by  others'  misfortune.  We  may  be  mixing  our  metaphors  but  we  will  write  it — All 
honour  to  our  pilots  who  skilfully  and  resolutely  kept  the  vessel's  course  midway 
between  the  rocks  and  the  whirlpool,  though  it  was  not  done  without  scathe  and  strain. 
That  it  was  indeed  a  trying  time  will  appear  from  a  part  of  the  Conference  Address 
to  the  Churches  for  the  year  1854  : — 

"If  we  have  not  entered  into  the  arena  of  religious  strife,  we  have  unavoidably 
occupied  its  immediate  vicinity  ;  and  many  a  missile  which  has  been  aimed  at  other 
objects  has  fallen  among  our  tents  and  created  some  alarm  and  misapprehension  in 
timorous  and  unstable  minds.  Names  have  been  confounded  with  things.  In  the 
midst  of  this  confusion  it  has  been  found  impossible,  in  numerous  instances,  to 
correct  the  errors  of  good  but  misguided  men.  A  n  unskilful  captain  may  navigate 
a  ship  in  favourable  seas  and  with  a  fair  breeze  ;  but  a  dangerous  ocean  and  foul 
winds  may  baffle  the  most  experienced  commander.  Nor  is  it  less  difficult  for 
organised  Churches  to  make  headway  in  a  troubled  state  of  religious  society.  If 
progress  is  not  impossible,  it  is  nevertheless  unusually  difficult.'' 

Among  the  names  of  the  delegates  to  this  Sheffield  Con- 
ference we  note  the  names  of  several  who  were  destined  to 
attain  to  note  and  exalted  Connexional  position.  Such  were 
Moses  Lupton  and  Thomas  Smith,  who  began  their  ministry 
in  1822  and  1834  respectively.  There  is  another  name 
which  calls  for  special  remark — that  of  William  Antliff 
— who  was  rising,  nay,  had  already  risen  into  prominence, 
and  was  to  be,  probably,  the  best  known  and  most  influential 
ligure  in  the  middle  period  of  our  history.  William  Antliff 
came  of  a  godly  Methodist  ancestry,  whose  home  was  at  the 
village  of  Caunton  in  Nottinghamshire.  William  Antliff, 
the  elder,  joined  the  Primitives  on  their  first  coming  into 
these  parts,  but  was  suddenly  removed  in  the  midst  of  his 
usefulness.  A  sentiment  graven  on  his  tombstone  was 
objectionable   to   the    High    Church    rector,    who    had     it 


KEV.    W.    ANTLIFF. 


376  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHUECH. 

chiselled  out,  and  there  the  defaced  stone  stands.  Perhaps  it  was  the  assurance  the 
erased  line  gave  of  William  Antliff's  eternal  safety  that  gave  the  oifence.  Be  this 
as  it  may,  its  erasure  did  not  put  the  good  man's  safety  in  question,  and  was  a  petty 
thing  to  be  done  by  one  who  afterwards  became  a  famous  rose-grower  and  Cathedral 
dignitary.  The  son  and  bearer  of  the  dead  man's  name  joined  our  Church  when  a  boy, 
and  "made  his  first  out-and-out  attempt  at  preaching"  at  Eakring.  In  1.S30,  when 
little  more  than  sixteen  years  of  age,  he  entered  the  ministry,  his  first  station  being 
Balderton.  AVe  have  already  seen  him  winning  his  youthful  spurs  at  Nottingham  in 
the  troublous  times  of  1834.*  "W.  Antliff  was  more  fortunate  than  his  brother  in 
getting  to  Conference  when  young  in  the  ministry.  He  got  there  under  the  old 
qualification  as  early  as  1838,  and  it  may  be  questioned  whether  any  other  preacher — 
even  Hugh  Bourne  himself — was  officially  present  at  a  greater  number  of  Conferences 
than  he.  His  commanding  appearance,  his  pleasing  elocution,  his  skill  in  debate,  his 
remarkable  knowledge  of  the  Connexion  and  its  laws  and  usages,  all  combined  to  make 
him  a  great  figure  in  Conference,  and  other  Connexional  Courts.  Such  was  W.  Antliff, 
who  was  present  at  this  Conference  of  1852,  and  was  there  appointed  "vice"  to 
Mr.  Petty,  who  now,  as  Connexional  Editor,  took  the  place  of  Mr.  Flesher,  this  year 
superannuated. 

W.  Antliff  was  also  at  the  next  Conference — that  held  at  York  in  1853.  Here 
C.  C.  McKeclmie,  who  was  present  at  this  Conference  as  a  hearer,  along  with  his  friend 
George  Pace,  had  his  first  opportunity  of  seeing  and  hearing  the  future  President, 
Editor,  and  College  Principal.  It  was  an  interesting  meeting  of  two  notable  men, 
who,  while  in  many  respects  they  represented  different  types,  and  were  often  found  on 
different  sides,  were  yet  both  to  hold  the  same  high  offices,  to  become  leaders  of 
Connexional  thought,  and  the  shapers  of  its  polity  and  policy  in  the  later  Middle  period 
of  our  history.  The  relations  of  the  two  to  the  existing  regime  were  somewhat  different. 
In  his  autobiography,  Mr.  McKechnie  notes  that  Mr.  Antliff  was  "a  coming  Conference 
man;"  but,  while  the  latter  was  among  the  Men  of  the  Transition,  he  could  scarcely  be 
said  to  be  one  of  them.  He  was  rather  the  harbinger  of  the  new  period  already 
preparing,  and  was  so  regarded  by  the  then  occupants  of  the  Government  benches.  As 
for  Mr.  McKechnie  his  development  was  slower.  He  had  not  yet  come  to  the  front, 
except  in  his  own  district,  and  was  unknown  by  face  to  such  men  as  John  Garner  and 
Thomas  Holliday,  to  whom  the  young  Scotsman  was  now  introduced  by  Henry  Hebbron. 
So,  men  come  and  go,  and  the  strangest  thing  about  this  wave-like  succession  is,  that 
those  who  go  may  little  suspect  who  will  afterwards  fill  their  places. 

At  this  Conference  there  was  a  big  debate  on  the  Teetotal  question,  to  which 
Mr.  McKechnie  listened  with  interest.  "The  preponderance  of  opinion,  and  of  oratorical 
power,  were  in  its  favour.  Mr.  Antliff  led  the  Temperance  party  and  he  did  his  duty 
well.     He  spoke  with  fluency  and  fervour  and  commanded  a  good  hearing." 

Returning  to  our  Plan  of  the  Sheffield  Conference  of  1852  :  as  we  again  glance  down 
the  names  of  the  delegates,  we  are  struck  with  the  fact  that  the  plan  might  serve  as 
a  biographical  epitome  of  our  history  up  to  this  time.  There  is  scarcely  an  unknown 
name  in  the  list,  or  one  that  fails  to  call  up  reminiscences  or  provoke  remark.      John 

Ante  Vol.  i.  p.  241 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND   CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT. 


377 


Wood  of  Nantwich,  James  Broad  of  Congleton,  William  Mason  of  Leicester,   Samuel 
Raines  of  Winster,  David  Hodgson  of  Croydon,  William  Byron  of  Louth,  George  T. 
Goodrich  of   Yarmouth,  George  Wakefield  of   Scotter,  Richard  Mason  of   Edenfield, 
George  Race,  John  Reynard,  George  Charlton, 
Joshua  Rouse,  Charles  Bowman,  W.  T.  Lumley 
— all  these  names  of    notable  laymen — and 
many  more  besides  these,  are  to  be  found  here. 
With  interest  we  notice  the  name  of  Charles 
Morse  of  Stratten  St.  Margaret's,  in  the  list 
of   the    representatives   of    the    Brinkworth 
District.      For    fifty    years    Mr.    Morse   was 
a  member  and  local  preacher   in  Wiltshire, 
where  his  son,  Mr.  L.  L.  Morse,  has  more  than 
rev.  w.  lea.  filled  his  place  as  a  devoted  adherent  of  our         mr.  j.  spencer. 

Church  and  the  liberal  supporter  of  its  institutions  and  movements.  Thus  C.  Morse's 
name  links  together  the  past  and  the  present — 1852  with  1896 — when  his  son  was 
elected  Vice-President  of  Conference. 

As  the  plan  shows,  Mr.  W.  Lea  was  the  superintendent  of  the  Sheffield  Circuit  at  the 
time  the  Conference  of  1852  was  held.  He  did  good  work  during  his  term  in  the  circuit, 
especially  by  the  erection  of  new  schools  for  Bethel  Chapel  (opened  October,  1852). 
We  give  also  the  portrait  of  Mr.  J.  Spencer,  a  leading  Sheffield  official  of  the  time. 
There  are  many  references  to  him,  and  to  his  hospitable  home,  in  the  memoirs  and 
letters  of  contemporaries.  He  was  a  friend 
of  Hugh  Bourne,  and  was  present  at  his 
funeral.  Mr.  Spencer  was  an  active  and 
capable  circuit  official,  a  member  of  the  Not- 
tingham District  Committee,  and  frequently 
represented  that  district  in  Conference. 

1860  was  the  Jubilee  Year  of  our  Church. 
It  had  been  long  looked  forward  to  and  was 
prepared  for.  The  preceding  Conference, 
held  at  Newcastle,  asked  the  question : 
"  What  are  the  arrangements  for  the 
approaching  Jubilee?"  and  framed  the 
answer  in  some  fifteen  resolutions,  which, 
for  convenience  of  reference,  we  will  set 
out  in  a  paragraph,  though  in  a  condensed 
form. 

(1)  March  11th,  1860,  to  be  set  apart 
as  a  day  for  thanksgiving  and  prayer. 
(2)  One  public  meeting  at  least  to  be 
held  in  each  station,  and  attended  by 
an  efficient  deputation.  (4)  Sermon  or 
lecture,  and  collection  at  each  society, 
if  possible.       (5)  The  Fund  to  be  kept 


H.    HODGK. 


37S 


FHIMITlVli    J1ETH0DIST    CHURCH. 


ovit  for  four  years.  (6)  A  camp  meeting  to  be  held  in  every  station  on  the  last 
Sabbath  in  May.  (7)  Stations  to  be  willing  to  allow  their  preachers  to  serve 
as  deputations,  (ft)  (9)  Provide  for  the  appointment  of  Local  and  District 
Treasurers  and  Secretaries.  (11)  H.  Hodge  to  be  the  General  Treasurer  and 
J.ohn  By  water,  General  Secretary.  (]i!)  The  objects  to  which  the  Fund  are  to 
be  applied  are  :  (a)  The  General  Missionary  Fund,  (b)  General  Chapel  Fund  for 
grants  and  loans.  (c)  A  school  for  preachers'  children  and  children  of  members. 
(d)  The  education  of  acceptable  candidates  for  the  ministry  and  itinerant  preachers 
on  probation.  (13)  A  Large  Committee  appointed.  (14)  The  executive  to  consist 
of  the  Hull  members  and  the  District  Committee.  (15)  Contributors  free  to  choose 
the  object  for  which  their  contribution  shall  be  applied. 

It  should  be  added,  that  a  medal  to  commemorate  the  Jubilee  was  struck,  both  sides 
of  which  are  shown' in  the  accompanying  illustrations. 


OliVEKSH   OK    .HUII.EE    MKH.\L. 


REVERSE   OF   JUBILEE    MEHAL. 


From  all  this  it  will  appear  that  the  arrangements  for  the  appropriate  and  profitable 
keeping  of  the  Jubilee  of  the  Connexion  were  not  wanting  in  elaborateness.  It  was 
inevitable  that  the  Conference  of  this  notable  year  should  be  held  on  the  soil  whence  our 
Connexional  fathers  sprang,  and  where,  through  them,  our  Church  had  its  beginnings. 
This  forty-first  Conference  had  its  sessions  in  the  Jubilee  Chapel,  Tunstall,  which  had 
been  enlarged  and  beautified  during  the  year.  The  C  inference  camp  meeting  was  held  on 
the  historic  ground  of  Mow  Cop,  on  Sunday,  June  10th,  and  on  the  following  morning 
the  Jubilee  sermon  was  preached  by  Thomas  King,  the  oldest  travelling  preacher 
in  active,  work. 

by  the  time  the  Jubilee  Conference  of  1860  had  come  and  gone,  many  of  the  Men  of 
the  Transition  had  themselves  passed  off  the  stage.  This  was  the  fact  that  was  present 
to  the.  minds  of  the  men  who  assembled  at  the  Tunstall  Conference  of  1*60.  The 
Jubilee  celebrations  had  many  aspects,  some  of  them  practical  enough.  There  were 
questions  the  Jubilee  would  assist  in  answering — such  questions  as  :  To  what  extent 
will  this  appeal  to  Connexional  loyalty  and  sentiment  be  successful?  What  disclosures 
will  it  yield  as  to  the  financial  resources  of  our  people,  or  their  sympathy  with  education 
and  the  higher  training  of  the  ministry?  How  will  the  index-finger  point?  These 
were  some  of  the  questions  which  awaited  their  answer  then,  and  some  of  the  points 
raised  by  these  questions  we  ourselves  mav  have  to  look  at  in  another  connection.     But 


THE    PERIOD    OF    CONSOLIDATION    AND    CHUKOII    DEVELOPMENT.  o79 

somehow,  that  morning,  when  the  delegates  had  taken  their  places  and  looked  round, 
and  were  made  to  realise,  by  the  epochal  character  of  the  gathering,  how  many  once 
familiar  faces  and  figures  had  gone,  their  dominant  feeling  was  the  feeling  of  the 
transiloriness  of  human  life — the  life  of  the  generation  as  well  as  of  the  individual 
Unbidden,  the  sacred  words  came  •to  remembrance — "  Your  fathers,  where  are  they,  and 
the  prophets,  do  they  live  for  ever?"  This  feeling  found  its  expression  in  the 
Conference  Minutes  of  the  year. 

"The  Conference  is  impressed  with  the  fact,  that  not  one  of  the  brethren  who 
were  life-members  of  the  Conferences,  as  per  provisions  of  the  Deed  Poll,  has  lived 
to  see  the  Conference  of  our  Connexional  Jubilee  year,  although  Mr.  James  Bourne 
was  spared  until  the  beginning  of  the  present  year.  The  aged  pilgrim  arrived  at 
the  threshold  of  our  jubilant  season,  but  ere  we  commenced  our  songs  in  the 
militant  Church,  he  joined  the  Church  triumphant  in  Heaven." 

So  also  Mr.  Petty,  who  brings  down  his  valuable  History  of  the  Connexion  to  the 
Jubilee  Conference  of  1860,  closes  his  survey  of  the  course  of  events  by  giving  brief 
sketches  of  several  prominent  men  of  long  Connexional  standing  who  had  passed  away 
during  the  last  decade.  These  are  J.  G.  lilack,  J.  Peynard,  John  Garner,  Thomas 
Dawson,  James  Nixon,  Robert  Atkinson,  James  Bourne,  and' John  Day.  All  these, 
with  the  exception  of  the  last-named,  were,  at  the  time  of  their  decease,  permanent 
members  of  Conference,  though  Ii.  Atkinson  was  privileged  to  attend  only  one  Conference 
in  that  capacity.  He  died  at  Thirsk,  August  12th,  1858,  in  the  thirty-ninth  year  of  his 
ministry. 

Mr.  John  Day  entered  the  ministry  in  1821.  He  was,  says  Mr.  Petty  "a  man  of 
sound  judgment  and  respectable  abilities,  and  travelled  in  many  of  the  most  important 
circuits  with  acceptability  and  success.''  In  January,  1859,  he  entered  upon  the  office 
of  Book  Steward,  at  the  advanced  age  of  sixty-three  years,  but  died  suddenly  at  Luton, 
while  attending  the  District  Meeting  of  the  London  District,  after  delivering  an 
appropriate  address  to  the  young  ministers  finishing  their  probation,  and  assisting  in  the 
administration  of  the  Lord's  Supper. 


380  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 


CHAPTER  III. 

REMOVAL   OF   THE   BOOK-ROOM   TO   LONDON. 

From  Sutton  Street  to  Aldersgate  Street. 

HE  changes  that  took  place  after,  and  largely  in  consequence  of,  the  retirement 
of  Hugh  Bourne,  were  epochal.    Probably  the  supersession,  though  gradually 
accomplished,  of  circuit  missions  by  a  General  Missionary  Committee  was 
the  more  radical  and  far-reaching  change,  but  the  changes  which  took  place' 
in  Book-Room  affairs  were  scarcely  less  important. 

Chronologically,  and  for  other  reasons,  these  new  departures  call  for  notice  here,  and 
must  not  be  held  over  until  we  come  to  deal  with  the  later  institutions  of  our  Church 
properly  so-called.  For  the  functions  discharged  in  our  Body  by  the  Book-Room  and  the 
General  Missionary  Committee,  and  the  relation  of  the  one  to  the  other,  would  be  much 
better  denoted  by  some  analogy  borrowed  from  the  human  organism  than  by  the  word 
Institutions.  If  we  were  to  call  one  the  brain  and  the  other  the  motor  nerves  of  our 
denomination  we  should  not  be  far  wrong.  From  the  very  beginning  of  our  history  the 
relation  between  the  two  has  been  exceedingly  close  and  sympathetic.  The  Book-Room 
has  helped  on  the  Missionary  work.  "With  his  usual  sagacity  Hugh  Bourne  soon  saw 
that  this  might  be,  and  so  he  was  resolved  it  should  be.  Hence  he  lost  no  time  in 
bringing  about  the  establishment  of  a  Book-Room,  so  that,  if  Institution  it  be,  the  Book- 
Room  was  our  first  institution — almost  coeval  with  our  first  efforts  in  Church  organisation. 
Events  proved  Hugh  Bourne  was  right.  It  is  difficult  to  see  how  the  missions  of  the 
Connexion  could  have  spread  from  county  to  county  without  the  aid  of  the  Bemersley 
Book-Room.  Many  a  mission,  on  new  ground,  was  soon  more  than  able  to  pay  its  way 
because  of  the  astonishing  number  of  hymn  books  and  other  publications  that  were  sold. 
In  some  cases  the  mission  became  richer  than  the  parent  circuit,  and  for  a  time,  their 
natural  relations  were  inverted ;  we  see  the  mission  subsidizing  the  circuit  instead  of  the 
circuit  subsidizing  the  mission.  And  in  more  recent  years  :  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  our 
Church  could  have  done  what  it  has  done,  or  been  what  it  has  been,  had  it  not  been  for 
Book-Room  allocations.  If  it  had  not  been  for  the  grist  the  Book-Room  brought  to  the 
mill  there  must  have  been  much  less  grinding  done.  But  returning  to  the  earlier  days  : 
not  only  did  the  Book-Room  help  on  mission-work  by  supplying  the  sinews  of  war,  but 
it  gave  it  moral  support.  The  Magazines  fanned  the  missionary  spirit,  spread  intelligence 
of  Connexional  progress,  and  brought  widely  separated  labourers  into  touch  with  one 
another.  The  close  connection  between  the  Book-Room  and  Missions  continued  even  after 
1843.  They  migrated  to  the  Metropolis  together.  The  Book-Room  and  the  Mission 
House  were  practically  under  the  same  roof  in  old  Sutton  Street,  and,  as  we  shall  see,  it 
was  some  time  before  the  offices  were  entirely  separated — the  Assistant  Book  Steward 
being  also  the  Treasurer  of  the  Missionary  Fund. 


THE   PERIOD   OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND    CHUECH   DEVELOPMENT.  381 

We  trust  we  have  given  sufficient  reasons  why  we  do  not  relegate  the  Book-Room 
and  the  establishment  of  the  General  Missionary  Committee  to  the  later  section  dealing 
with  Institutions  ;  also  reasons  why  they  should  be  treated  sequently,  the  Book- Room 
coming  first. 

The  Conference  of  1842  appointed  J.  Flesher  Editor,  and  re-appointed  John  Hallam 
Book  Steward,  and  James  Bourne  Connexional  Treasurer.  The  Book  Committee  for 
the  year  was  composed  of  H.  Bourne,  J.  Bourne,  J.  Flesher,  J.  Hallam,  and  R  Jukes, 
the  superintendent  of  Tunstall  Circuit.  The  new  Editor  proceeded  to  Bemersley  to  take 
up  the  duties  of  his  office.  Now  the  troubles  of  editors  are  proverbial,  and  Mr.  Flesher 
had  his  full  share  of  them.  From  a  MS.  book  now  before  us  entitled — "  Memoranda  of 
certain  things  which  transpired  at  Bemersley  and  the  neighbourhood,  beginning  from 
September,  1842," — we  can  learn  what  was  the  nature  of  these  troubles.  He  was 
hampered  by  his  committee,  and  by  the  opposite  views  held  by  himself  and  one  member 
of  the  committee  especially  (not  Hugh  Bourne),  as  to  the  style  in  which  it  was  expedient 
the  articles  appearing  in  the  Magazines  should  be  written.  What  were  the  committee- 
man's views  on  style  would  have  mattered  little  had  the  Editor  but  had  a  free  hand. 
But  he  had  not.  The  old  rules  regulating  the  mode  of  preparing  the  Magazines  had 
been  solemnly  re-enacted  on  Mr.  Flesher's  appointment  to  the  office.  Strictly  enforced, 
these  rules  made  the  question  of  an  article's  fitness  or  unfitness  for  publication  in  the 
Magazine  turn,  not  on  the  judgment  of  the  Editor,  but  on  a  show  of  hands  of  the  Book 
Committee.*  Mr.  Flesher  was  counselled  and  warned  that  there  must  not  be  too  great  a 
departure  from  the  old  style,  etc.,  lest  old  friends  should  be  alienated.  Now  Mr.  Flesher 
was  severely  conscientious  and  took  a  serious  view  of  his  editorial  duties  and  responsi- 
bilities. He  could  not  listen  and  smile  and  say  nothing,  and  allow  things  to  settle 
themselves,  which  they  often  do  without  our  interference.  This  was  not  his  habit  or 
temper  of  mind  :  hence,  in  committee  he  did  not  flinch  but  stood  on  his  rights  as 
understood  by  the  Conference,  and  as  interpreted  by  common  sense ;  and  as  he  was 
loyally  supported  on  this,  as  on  other  occasions,  by  Mr.  Hallam,  he  was  not  overborne. 
Yet,  if  Mr.  Flesher  was  conscientious  and  determined,  he  was  also  keenly  sensitive, 
hence  we  find  him  almost  plaintively  recording  : — "  My  situation  as  Editor  is  difficult, 
not  from  this  source  alone,  but  also  from  the  awfully  imperfect  style  in  which  most  of 
the  original  articles  are  written.  I  have  already  repented  often  that  I  accepted  the 
Editor's  Office.' 

But  bigger  troubles  were  looming,  compared  with  which  clashing  views  on  editing  and 
literary  style  were  light  as  air.  Mr.  James  Bourne's  temporal  affairs  were  becoming 
embarrassed.  Once  he  had  the  reputation  of  being  a  comparatively  rich  man,  and  had 
he  but  remained  content  with  the  safe  returns  of  his  printing  and  farming  all  might  have 
been  well.  But  he  became  "entangled  with  the  potters,'-  and  there  were  already 
ominous  signs  of  the  impending  crash  which,  when  it  came,  entailed  so  much  suffering 
upon  Hugh  Bourne,  although  he  had  neither  seen  it  coming  nor  was  he  in  any  way 
involved,   except  as  a  sufferer.     Mr.  Flesher  observed  these  signs  and  notes  them  in 

*  This  curious  regulation  remained  some  time  on  the  Statute  Book.  In  1849  a  parenthetic  clause 
appears— ("  unless  there  be  an  understanding  between  him  and  the  Committee.")  In  1860  this  has 
become  incorporated  with  the  Rule.     In  1870  the  Rule  itself  has  disappeared. 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    C1IUKCH. 


THE    PERIOD    OF  CONSOLIDATION    AND    CHUKCH    DEVELOPMENT. 


383 


his  "  Memoranda."  There  was  danger  lest  Book-Koom  affairs  and  Friendly.  Society 
affairs  should  be  complicated  with  the  concerns  and  shaky  fortunes  of  private  persons. 
It  was  highly  expedient  that  the  Book-Room  should  be  extricated  from  the  danger  of 
local  entanglements. 

The  inconvenience  of  Bemersley  as  the  Seat  of  the  Book- Room  was  more  and  more 
making  itself  felt  at  the  stage  the  Connexion  had  now  reached  in  its  history.  Allied  to 
this  question  of  locality — of  fitness  and  relative  convenience — was  that  of  economy. 
The  "Memoranda"  recall  a  session  of  the  General  Committee  (l)eeeinher  9, '42)  at 
which  Mr.  Flesher  fully  delivered  his  sentiments  on  this  subject.  There  was  ... 
discussion  on  a  matter  of  finance,  affecting  the  Conference  Fund,  in  which  Mr.  H.  Bourne 
defended  his  views  on  the  ground  of  economy.     Thereupon,  writes  Mr.  Flesher, 

"I  replied,  and  in  the  course  of  my  remarks  said  :  Economy  was  a  good  thing  ; 
that  the  argument  had  opened  upon  me  a  flood  of  light  which,  by  God's  help, 
I  would  improve  ;  and  that,  as  a  servant  of  the  Connexion,  I  would  press  economy, 
not  only  on  the  Conference  Fund,  but  also  on  the  affairs  of  the  Book- Room,  and 


also  on  those  of  the  1'rintimj.      Having  given  firm,  free,  and  full  utierance  to  these 

views,  I  felt  delivered  from  heavy  mental  darkness  under  which  I  have  struggled 

for  some  time.      I  took  this  deliverance  as  a  signal  that  God  approved  of  my 

conduct  in  notifying  my   purpose  ;  and  I  now  pray  that  I   may  not  sin  against. 

God  and  the  Connexion  by  allowing   the  latter  to  lose  hundreds  a  year  through 

having  its  printing  executed  dearer  than   the  printing  of  any  other  Connexion 

in  the  Kingdom,  while  all  its  other  establishments  are    wrought  on  the  severest 

economy.  I  am  happy  that  J.  Hallam  takes  the  same  views  as  myself,  and  is 

maturing  plans  to  ell'ect  an  alteration.      God,  being  my  helper,  1  will  support  him 

in  carrying  them  out." 

After  this,   and  more  than  this,  written  in  the  same  tone  of  high  seriousness,  we  shall 

probably  be  right  in  concluding  that  the  chief  factor  in  the  removal  of  the  Book-Koom 

to   London   was   economy.     In  the   extract  given,   Mr.  Flesher    writes  as   though  the 

thought  of  economy  had  come  to   him   as  a  revelation  in  the  meeting   of  the  General 

Committee  ■  but,  doubtless  what  is  meant  is,  that  then  and  there  the  thought  first  found 


384 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 


expression,  and  crystallised  into  a  resolve  by  which  his  mind  was  relieved  from 
darkness.  But  there  is  evidence  to  show  that,  for  some  time  before  this  meeting,  Mr. 
Flesher  had  been  revolving  the  subject  and  making  inquiries,  and  that  the  thoughts  of 
others  were  turned  in  the  same  direction.  Mr.  ~\V.  Harland  tells  us  that  young  Thomas 
Church  of  London,  meditating  a  modest  publishing  venture,  had  obtained  specimens 
of  various  styles  of  printing,  with  quotations  of  prices.  These  he  showed  to  Mr. 
Harland,  who  thought  them  worth  sending  to  Messrs.  Flesher  &  Hallam.  Some  time 
after,  he  was  requested  by  them  to  call  on  some  respectable  city  firms  for  the  purpose 
of  making  inquiries.  Thus,  by  the  interaction  of  causes  and  the  co-operation  of  various 
persons,  the  materials  were  ready  at  the  Conference  of  1843  for  discussing  the  question 
of  the  removal  of  the  Book-Room  to  London,  and  for  coming  to  an  intelligent  decision. 
That  decision  was  that  the  removal  of  the  Book  establishment  to  London  should  take 
place  as  early  as  possible.  The  imprint  of  the  Minutes  of  this  Conference  is  "  Tyler 
and  Reed,  Bolt-Court,  London,''  and  the  address  of  the  Conference  Offices  is 
"Sutton  Street.'- 

It  will  be  remembered  that  when  John   Flesher  built  Sutton  Street  Chapel  in  1838, 


PACKING    AND   F0KWAK1HNG    I IEFAKTA1KNT,    SLTTON    STREET. 


our  Church  secured  its  first  Connexional  Chapel  in  London.  It  was  to  Sutton  Street 
inquiring  and  discerning  eyes  were  turned  at  this  juncture.  "Can  you  by  any  means 
find  room  for  us,  so  that  we  may  set  up  our  staff  by  your  side?"  the  look  said.  We 
have  the  answer  in  certain  resolutions  passed  by  the  trustees  of  Sutton  Street  at  their 
meeting  held  on  July  6th,  1842,  the  gist  of  which  was,  that  two  cottages  and  the 
preacher's  house  in  Chapel  Place,  of  which  the  trustees  were  the  lessees,  should  be  let 
to  the  Connexion  for  Book-Room  and  other  purposes.  The  offer  was  accepted  ;  forty- 
one  pounds  eight  shillings  was  paid  as  rent  the  first  year,  as  the  accounts  show.  Thus 
the  "  central  wheel  of  management  "  that  directed  the  administrative  and  disciplinary 
affairs  of  the  Connexion,  its  missionary  operations,  and  the  preparation  and  dissemination 
of  its  publications,  was  set  up  in  the  vicinage  and  on  the  very  premises  of  Sutton 
Street.  For  many  years  to  come  notable  men  in  the  Connexion  would  live  and  labour 
here,  pass  in  and  out  of  that   gateway,  preach  and  worship  in   that   Chapel,  and,   from 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND   CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT.  385 

their  modest  Offices  and  Committee  Koom,  keep  in  touch  with  the  most  distant  parts 
of  the  Connexion.  For  years  to  come,  too,  country  Primitives  on  their  occasional  visits 
to  London  would,  as  in  bounden  duty,  bend  their  steps  to  Commercial  Eoad,  E.,  in 
order  to  see  the  great  wheel  in  motion,  and  those  who  directed  its  revolutions.  Nor 
was  Sutton  Street,  apart  from  its  temporary  convenience,  so  unsuitable  a  location  for  a 
Connexional  centre  at  that  time  as  might  be  thought,  or  as  it  afterwards  came  to  be. 
The  East  and  North-East  of  London  had  long  been  a  stronghold  of  Nonconformity,  and 
the  tradition  and  sentiment  of  Nonconformity  were  still  a  power,  though  a  diminishing 
one.  The  Colleges  of  Hackney  and  Stepney  had  been  famous  in  their  day,  and  it  would 
be  some  time  yet  before  Congregationalism  moved  citywards  and  acquired  its  Bicentenary 
Memorial  Hall  and  City  Temple.  Then,  after  a  time,  Primitive  Methodism  will  follow 
in  its  track  and  hold  its  Connexional  Committees  in  New  Surrey  Chapel — a  name 
redolent  of  Nonconformist  traditions — and  then  in  Aldersgate,  close  to  where  Milton 
once  lived  and  where  he  lies  buried,  and  hard  by  Smithfield  where  the  martyrs  suffered. 
A  word  or  two  respecting  the  external  history  of  the  Sutton  Street  Book-Koom  may  be 
given — the  tenure  on  which  it  was  held  and  the  term  of  its  occupancy.  In  July,  1850, 
a  lease  of  the  property  for  twenty -one  years  was  obtained  from  the  Trustees.  In  1876 
all  interest  in  the  property  for  the  remaining  term  of  the  lease  which  would  expire 
in  1897  was  purchased,  the  actual  owners  of  the  property  being  the  Mercers  Company. 
But  before  1897  came  Sutton  Street  knew  us  no  more.  On  October  25th,  1894,  one  of 
the  largest  and  most  influential  Committees  ever  held  in  the  Connexion's  history 
assembled  in  the  Library  of  the  Memorial  Hall,  to  consider  the  report  presented  by  the 
Sites  Committee.  After  a  prolonged  discussion  of  the  comparative  merits  of  various  sites 
and  buildings  referred  to  in  the  Committee's  report,  the  choice  fell  on  a  noble  block 
standing  at  the  junction  of  Jewin  and  Aldersgate  Streets,  the  property  of  the  Hon. 
Company  of  Goldsmiths,  from  whom  the  property  was  acquired  for  a  period  of  sixty-five 
years,  for  the  sum  of  £7850.  After  structural  alterations,  electrical  installation,  etc., 
the  new  premises  were  formally  opened  on  June  6th,  1895,  in  the  presence  of  a  large 
and  representative  gathering.  The  doors  were  opened  by  the  retiring  Book  Steward, 
Mr.  J.  B.  Knapp  ;  the  incoming  Steward,  T.  Mitchell,  also  took  part,  and  the  Editor, 
H.  B.  Kendall,  B.A.,  gave  an  address,  in  which  the  significance  of  the  event  in  its 
historic  aspects  was  sketched.  But  it  was  only  by  gradual  steps  this  comparative 
climax  was  reached.  The  two  converted  cottages  with  their  five  small  rooms — some 
of  which  are  shown  in  our  illustrations — grew  like  a  tree,  thrusting  out  extensions  here 
and  there,  regardless  of  beauty  but  with  much  regard  to  utility  and  convenience,  until 
at  last  both  school  and  chapel  of  Sutton  Street  were  annexed.  In  1861  R.  Davies 
added  a  large  wing  with  a  gallery  at  a  cost  of  £418.  G.  Lamb  built  a  further 
extension  of  one  floor.  J.  Dickenson  annexed  the  school  and  J.  Toulson  the  chapel. 
Finally  the  Book-Boom  spread  its  branches  beyond  Sutton  Street,  and  a  house  in 
Johnson  Street  was  acquired.  "Until  lb57  oil  and  candles  were  the  illuminants ;  then 
for  something  more  than  a  generation  gas  reigned  ;  last  of  all  came  the  era  of  the  electric 
light.     The  three  successive  stages  not  inaptly  symbolise  the  progress  made. 

We  have  the  same  growth  and  development  in  the  staff  of  the  Book-Koom.     At  first, 
probably  there  was  but  one  assistant,  in  addition  to  the  two  conferentially  appointed 

BB 


:'.S(i 


PRIMITIVK    MKTHODIST    CHt'UCH. 


PRIMITIVE  METHODIST  BOOK-ROOM,    ALDERSGATE  STREET,    E.C. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND   CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT. 


387 


1843-7." 


BOOK-ROOM   MANAGERS. 


1875-1903. 


Book  Stewards.  This  assistant  was  Mr.  Brown,  who  was  the  permanent  manager  of  the 
Book-Boom,  until  his  death  at  the  Christmas  of  1875.  In  the  memoir  of  Mr.  George 
Baron  it  is  stated  that  so  much  of  the  Bemersley  stock  as  it  was  thought  necessary  to 
remove  to  London  was  placed  in  his  charge,  by  him  conveyed  to  London  and  housed  in 
the  new  Book-Room  ;  that  Mr.  Baron  paid  repeated  visits  to  London,  as  he  had  done  to 
Bemersley,  to  help  in  the  management ;  and  that  when  unable  any  longer  to  do  this  he 
recommended  Mr.  Philip  Brown  for  the  office,  In  1873  there  were  the  manager  and  five 
assistants.  In  1875  Mr.  T.  C.  Earner,  who  had  entered  the  establishment  in  1865, 
succeeded  Mr.  Brown.  For  twenty-eight  years,  under  the  direction  of  successive  General 
Book  Stewards,  he  continued  to  discharge  the  duties  of  Manager  with  much  energy  and 
ability.  His  appointment  as  Manager  of  the  TVesleyan  Book-Room,  which  took  place  in 
1903,  may  justly  be  regarded  as  a  recognition  of  his  business  qualifications  and  as  a 
compliment  to  the  Institution  in  which  those  qualifications  were  acquired  and  exercised. 
On  Mr.  Earner's  translation  to  City  Road,  Mr.  A.  E.  Spratt,  who  also  had  risen  step  by 
step  to  the  position  of  chief  clerk,  was  appointed  to  succeed  him.  All  this  time,  as 
the  business  of  the  Book-Room  flowed  with  constantly  increasing  volume,  additions 
continued  to  be  made  to  the  staff,  until  at  the  present  time  it  consists  of  the  Manager  and 
twenty-eight  assistants,  while  at  the  monthly  packings  some  twelve  others  are  temporarily 
engaged. 

It  now  remains  to  indicate  the  succession  of  Book  Stewards  and  Editors  from  1843. 
That  succession  will  most  conveniently  be  set  forth  in  tabular  form.  But  the  somewhat 
complex  arrangements  that  obtained  from  1843  to  1848  need  a  word  of  explanation. 
During  these  five  years  the  duties  attached  to  the  various  Connexional  offices  were 
discharged  by  four  persons.  Two  of  these  create  no  difficulty  as,  during  the  whole  of 
the  time,  John  Garner  was  the  Secretary  of  the  Missionary  Committee  and  John  Flesher 
the  Editor.      There  remained  four  offices  for  two  men.      Two  of  these  offices  were  held 

R  R     9 


388 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 


REV.    EDWIN    DALTON. 
GENERAL   BOOK    STEWARDS,    1885— 1 91.15. 


joint]}',  viz.,  the  Book  Stewardship  and  the  Missionary  Treasurership,  while  two  offices 
were  held  separately— the  Secretaryships  of  the  General  Committee  and  of  the  Book 
Committee.  It  is  as  though  Messrs.  Bryant  and  Welford  should  be  joint  Book  Stewards 
and  joint  Missionary  Treasurers,  while  Mr.  "Welford  should  retain  the  Secretaryship  of 
the  General  Committee  in  his  own  hands,  and  Mr.  Bryant  should  act  alone  as  Secretary 
of  the  Book  Committee.  In  1848  the  Book  Steward  ceased  to  have  a  divided  responsi- 
bility or  to  be  called  to  perform  other  functions  than  those  which  concerned  the  Book- 


THE   PERIOD   OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND   CHUUCH   DEVELOPMENT. 


389 


-ITHE  RETAIL.DEPll- 


jTHEfORWARDINi?.DLPT|- 


.,:,.90 


PKIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHUKC'H. 


Room.  He  became  its  exclusive  officer.  In  other  departments,  however,  co-ordination 
continued  for  some  time  to  prevail :  one  man  continued  to  fulfil  diverse  offices.  On  the 
retirement  of  John  Garner  in  1848,  William  Garner  became  Missionary  Secretary, 
General  Committee  Secretary,  and  Treasurer  for  the  Missions.  In  further  elucidation  of 
the  Table  it  may  also  be  stated  there  is  evidence  to  show  that  Thomas  Holliday  declined 
to  act  in  Book-Boom  affairs  until  1845  ;  that  in  1850,  the  five  years'  rule  relating  to  the 
holding  of  Connexional  office  became  absolute ;  that  the  official  year  then  closed  on 
December  31st,  and  that  the  incoming  Book  Steward  was  "assistant"  for  the  six  months 
immediately  preceding  his  formal  entry  on  office  in  January.  Finally,  it  may  be  mentioned 
that  John  Petty's  appointment  as  Assistant  Editor  was  occasioned  by  the  declining 
health  of  John  Flesher,  and  that  from  the  time  of  his  taking  up  his  duties  Mr.  Petty 
was  virtually  the  Editor. 


Book  Stewards. 

Editors. 

1843-5 

f  John  Hallam. 

1843. 

John  Flesher. 

(  Thomas  Holliday. 

John  Petty,  Assist.  1851. 

,    .  _ 

*'  Thomas  Holliday. 

1852. 

John  Petty. 

184(w 

(.  William  Garner. 

1857. 

W.  Harland. 

1848. 

Thomas  Holliday. 

18H2. 

W.  Antliff,  D.D. 

1854. 

Thomas  KiDg. 

1867. 

P.  Pugh. 

1859. 

John  Day. 

1871. 

J.   Macpherson. 

1859. 

Richard  Davies. 

187(1. 

C.  C.  UcKHchnie. 

1865. 

William  Lister. 

1887. 

Thomas  Newell. 

1870. 

George   Lamb. 

1H91'. 

H.  B.  Kendall,  B.A. 

1875. 

J.  Dickenson. 

1901. 

Henry  Yooll. 

1880. 

R.  Fenwick. 

(Present  holder  of  the  Office). 

188.:.. 

Joseph  Toulson. 

1890 

J.    B.   Knapp. 

1895. 

Thomas  Mitchell. 

1900. 

Robert  Bryant. 

1905. 

Edwin  Dalton. 

Table  showing  the  Succession  of  Book  Stewards  and  Editors  from  1843 
to  the  present  time. 

Mr.  John  Hallam,  the  first  Book  Steward  under  the  new  regime,  died  September  8th, 
1845.  His  last  days  were  clouded  by  anxieties  and  troubles  associated  with  his  office. 
We  have  already  narrated  the  circumstances  which  led  to  his  introduction  to  partici- 
pation in  Book-Boom  Management  (Vol.  ii.  p  7),  and  his  appointment  by  the  Conference 
of  1838  to  be  General  Book  Steward  has  also  been  referred  to.  Hence  arose  one  of 
those  minor  tragedies  of  life  in  which  we  see  a  man  taken  from  a  post  for  which  he  is 
eminently  fitted,  and  set  to  fill  another  for  which  he  is  unfitted.  Let  any  one  read 
Mr.  Hallam's  papers  and  journals  as  found  in  the  Magazine  for  1835,  and  he  will  find 
reason  to  conclude  that  Mr.  Hallam  had  a  genius  for  family  visitation.  In  his  practice 
it  became  a  fine  art.  He  was  an  ideal  pastor  and  circuit  superintendent.  He  knew  the 
deep  things  of  experience,  and  how  to  handle  the  human  heart,  but  the  intricacies  of  a 
big  business  were  a  confusing  mystery  to  him.  Hence,  while  he  was  an  excellent  man 
against  whose  moral  character  there  rests  no  imputation,  in  the  absence  of  a  capable 
business  manager,  he  was  overweighted  by  some  of  the  duties  of  his  office. 


THE   PEEIOD    OF   CONSOLIDATION    AND   CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT.  391 

The  method  of  book-keeping  and  stock-taking  in  use  from  1838  was  defective;  so 
much  so  that  when  Thomas  Holliday  was  appointed  Joint  Book  Steward,  he  declined 
responsibility  until  the  method  in  practice  had  been  revised.  Mr.  Holliday  was 
instructed  to  point  out  to  Mr.  Hallam  the  defects  of  the  system  in  use,  and  to  explain 
the  features  and  advantages  of  the  better  system  proposed  to  be  adopted.  T*he 
accounts  from  January  to  December,  1844,  were  kept  on  this  system,  and  in  1845  Mr. 
Holliday  took  joint  office.  Meanwhile,  the  accounts  from  1838  to  1844  were  submitted 
to  careful  scrutiny  by  duly  appointed  auditors.  Mr.  Hallam  willingly  agreed  to  such 
a  course,  and,  notwithstanding  his  declining  health,  rendered  all  the  aid  he  could  to  the 
investigation.  The  results  showed  that  an  error  of  judgment  had  been  committed. 
Mr.  Hallam  accepted  the  findings,  and  in  his  will  made  provision  for  the  complete 
rectification  of  the  error.  This  is  the  sum  of  what  can  be  said  against  Mr  Hallam,  and 
it  is  better  the  real  facts  should  be  given  rather  than  that  wrong  impressions  should  be 
made  by  the  use  of  vague  general  terms.  Besides,  the  episode  has  its  lesson,  which 
should  not  be  passed  over.  We  would  vindicate  the  memory  of  John  Hallam.  Here 
to  explain  is  largely  to  exculpate.  What  was  the  impression  the  good  man  had  left 
on  the  mind  of  such  an  acute  observer  as  Thomas  Bateman  will  be  clear  from  the 
following  entry  taken  from  his  Journal : — 

"October  ls2th,  1845. — Chorley,  at  two,  I  preached  a  funeral  sermon  to  a  host  of 
people  for  my  old  friend  John  Hallam.  I  believe  he  was  a  good  man,  and  very 
useful  in  the  Circuits  where  he  travelled.  He  always  had  increases.  He  was  one 
of  the  best  family  visitors  I  have  known,  hence  his  constant  success.  Quite  true 
his  sun  has  set  under  a  cloud.  For  some  time  he  has  been  Book  Steward,  and  it  is 
said  there  are  some  errors  in  his  accounts.  I  don't  understand  it  exactly,  but, 
although  I  much  regret  it,  yet  my  confidence  in  his  integrity  is  unshaken." 

It  must  not  be  thought  that  we  are  going  to  pass  from  portrait  to  portrait  in  the 
succession  of  Book  Stewards  and  Editors  and  appraise  the  merits  or  demerits  of  each. 
We  shall  attempt  no  such  invidious  task.  Of  course,  as  we — reader  and  writer  alike  — 
look  at  the  portraits,  it  is  almost  unavoidable  but  that  we  should  say  of  this  or  that  one  : 
Here  is  a  man  who  was  a  born  Book  Steward  or  Editor  ;  and  here  is  one  who  was  made 
such  by  the  suffrages  of  his  brethren.  But  both  he  that  was  born  to  the  office  and  he 
that  was  made  for  it  did  their  best,  "  and  both  will  get  their  penny  at  last.''  Such 
thoughts  as  these,  we  say,  will  come  to  the  reader  as  well  as  the  writer ;  and  to  the 
reader  we  leave  them.  But,  indeed,  the  history  of  the  Book-Room  with  its  associated 
office,  is  largely  an  impersonal  history ;  it  is  the  growth  and  development  of  an 
Institution — if  we  must  use  the  word.  The  history  offers  little  in  the  way  of  piquant 
personalia  or  of  "  secret  history.''  With  Canning's  Knife  Grinder  we  may  say — "  Story, 
sir !  There  is  none  to  tell."  There  are  no  secrets  to  drag  to  the  light,  or  many 
interesting  incidents  to  impart.  If  we  cannot  speak  of  the  "  fierce  "  light  that  beats 
upon  the  Steward's  Desk  or  the  Editor's  Chair,  we  can  say  that  all  has  been  open  to  the 
light  of  day.  And  as  to  the  interesting  details  :  We  have  been  struck  in  consulting 
our  own   nine  years'  experience,    and   in    reading    the    experience    of    Editors    Petty 

*  See  Dr.  W.  Antliff's  clearly-expresseil  views  as  given  in  a  Note  to  \Y;ili'ord's  Life  of  Hugh 
Bourne,  vol.  ii.  p.  290. 


39j 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 


PRESIDENTS  OF   CONFERENCE    FROM    1S75  TO   ]KS(i. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND    CHURCH    DEVELOPMENT. 


393 


and  McKechnie  in  their  recorded  lives,  how  little  there  is  in  an  Editor's  life  to  tell. 
Not  that  there  is  not  toil,  and  that  in  plenty.  But  the  work  is  monotonous  and  devoid 
of  incident.  The  most  precious  and  volatile  part  of  it  is  diffused,  and  is  now,  one  may 
hope,  circulating  and  working  in  men's  lives ;  and  as  for  the  heavier,  palpable,  and 
tangible  part  of  the  work,  is  it  not  entombed  or  enshrined  in  that  goodly  row  of 
volumes  ?  So  also  is  it  largely  with  the  Book  Steward  and  his  work.  The  men  and 
their  work  are  lost  and  absorbed  in  the  Institution  they  help  to  direct  and  extend; 
and  the  capital  gratifying  fact  remains  that  the  history  of  the  Book-Room  from  1843 
has  been  one  of  steady  and  almost  amazing  progress.  It  was  already  a  success  in  1844 
when  Thomas  Bateman  attended  the  Lynn  Regis  Conference.  One  might  perhaps 
reasonably  have  expected  him  to  be  in  sympathy  with  the  old  regime,  and  to  have  looked 
doubtfully  on  the  new  departure.     But  no  !     Here  is  his  judgment. 

"June  18th. — Some  very  important  steps  had  been  taken  by  direction  of  last 
Conference  which  were  now  found  to  promise  much  The  Book-Room  was 


OHDER  DEPARTMENT,    SBTTON    BTKEET. 

moved  from  Bemersley  to  London.    This  had  been  long] desired,  but  there  were 

obstacles  in   the   way.      Now,   Mr.   J.   B.'s   affairs   having   taken  a   strange   and 

unexpected  turn  to  the  surprise  of  everybody,  the  way  was  open,  and  although  it 

had  only  been  moved  a  few  months,  it  promises  well,  [Italics  our  own]  the  Stewards 

having  sent  between  One  and  Two  Hundred  Pounds  for  the  Mission  Fund." 

We  shall  not  burden  our  pages  with  tables  showing  the  turn-over  and  the  profit  of  each 

year's  working — even  if  all  the  materials  for  setting  forth  such  a  table  were  available. 

Nor  shall  we  give  a  table  showing  the  comparative  circulation  of  our  serials  at  different 

epochs.       "We  do  not  do  this  here  because  the  inferences  sometimes  sought  to  be  drawn 

from  such  figures  as  these  are  not  to  be  trusted.    The  broad  fact  remains  that  the  volume 

of  Book-Room  business  has  gone  on  increasing,  is  pointed  to  as  an  example,  and  that, 

despite  the  fact  that  now  and  again  there  may  have  been  a  slight  retrogression.     But, 

unless  this  retrogression  cannot  be  accounted  for  by  temporary  and  contingent  causes, 

it  does  not  afford  a  safe  basis  for  inference,  and  it  is  dangerous  and  wrong  to  begin 

to  locate  blame.      The  tide  may  still  be  rising  though  now  and  again  a  wave  may 


:wi 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHUKCH. 


Vlf'E-PKKtlUKXTS   OF   CON  F  FRENCH    FROM    1SS4   'I  ( )    lMIIi. 


THE    PERIOD    OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND   CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT. 


395 


fall  short  of  the  point  reached  by  its  predecessor.  There  is  one  fact,  very  soon  stated,  but 
yet  which  means  so  much  that  it  deserves  to  be  printed  in  big  letters  and  to  be  worn  as 
frontlets  before  the  eyes  of  the  Connexion.  The  gross  amount  of  Book-Room  allocations 
to  various  Connexional  Institutions  and  objects  since  1843,  is  £167,647  9s.  lOd. 

And  as  for  Magazine  circulation  :  Figures  here  too  may  be  deceptive,  unless  it  be 
incontestably  certain  that  extent  of  circulation  is  per  se,  the  unfailing  criterion  of  quality. 

But  our  history  traverses  this  canon.      There  may  be  a  sm-wx  ,1  ,vtii,te a  general  and 

well-nigh  universal  acknowledgment  of  the  intrinsic  literary  quality  of  serials,  while  a 
success  of  circulation  that  ought  to  follow  is  denied.  Why  this  should  be  so  even 
experts  may  find  it  difficult  to  say.  The  causes  are  complex  and  are  to  be  found  in  such 
considerations  as  the  condition  of  the  Book  Market,  the  competing  claims  of  other  printed 
matter — the  degree  of  Connexional  interest  in  Connexional  literature  or  Connexional 
prosperity. 

Briefly,  it  may  be  chronicled  that  in  1865,  during  the  Editorial  term  of  "W. 
Antliff,  the  "  Christian  Messenger  "  and  the  "  Child's  Friend  "  were  originated,  making  the 


PKIZE  DEPARTMENT,    SUTTON   STREET. 


magazines  issued  from  the  Book-Room  four  in  number.  The  new  ventures  met  with 
immediate  success,  the  circulation  of  the  "  Messenger  "  reaching  30,000,  and  the  "  Child's 
Friend"  21,500.  In  1873,  during  J.  Macpherson's  editorship,  the  "Teachers'  Journal" 
began  its  useful  course.  During  what  must  be  called  the  brilliant  period  of  C.  C. 
McKechnie's  editorship,  which  extended  to  eleven  years,  the  Large  Magazine  was  greatly 
improved  both  in  character  and  appearance.  Now,  writers  were  first  paid  for  their 
contributions  to  our  serials.  The  "  Christian  Ambassador "  was  transformed  from  a 
shilling  tri-monthly  magazine  into  the  "  Primitive  Methodist  Quarterly  Review,'' 
selling  at  two  shillings,  and  soon  took  high  rank  amongst  publications  of  its  class. 
"Springtime,"  the  literary  child  of  Mr.  McKechnie's  affection,  designed  specially  for  the 
"  young  men  and  maidens "  of  our  Church,  began  in  1886,  and  at  once  became  a 
favourite.  To  Mr.  McKechnie  also  fell  the  onerous  duty  of  seeing  through  the  press 
the  new   Hymnal,  to  which  we  shall  have  to  refer  in  another  connection.     Since  1892 


3%  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHUUCH. 

all  the  Magazines  issuing  from  the  Book-Room  have  been  enlarged  and  remodelled. 
The  "Large"  or  the  "Sixpenny'  Magazine,  as  it  had  been  called,  now  became  the 
"  Aldersgate,"  enriched  by  serial  stories  by  such  writers  as  Joseph  Hocking  and 
original  articles  by  writers  of  good  repute.  The  Juvenile  Magazine"  became 
"Morning";  "Springtime"  was  adapted  so  as  to  become  the  recognised  organ  of  our 
Societies  of  Christian  Endeavour,  while  the  "Christian  Messenger''  has  been  and  is 
doing  a  useful  work  in  helping  forward  the  culture  and  training  of  our  local  preachers. 
Lastly,  it  may  be  added  that  1905  has  witnessed  the  effecting  of  still  further  improve- 
ments in  the  "Primitive  Methodist  Quarterly  Review,''  which  have  been  received  with 
much  favour. 

The  "Christian*  Ambassador." 

This  would  seem  to  be  a  convenient  time  for  placing  on  permanent  record  the 
facts,  so  far  as  they  can  be  recovered,  concerning  the  origin  and  development  of  the 
"  Christian  Ambassador,''  with  which  Mr.  McKechnie  was  associated  until  his  death 
in  September,  1896,  though  it  should  be  said  that  from  1894  Dr.  John  Watson,  while 
nominally  only  Assistant  Editor,  discharged  the  full  duties  of  the  office,  and  continued 
to  do  so  until  his  own  impaired  health  necessitated  his  retirement.  He  was  succeeded 
in  the  Editorship  in  1903  by  H.  B.  Kendall,  B.A. 

The  Preface  to  the  first  volume  of  the  "  Christian  Ambassador  "  is  worth  giving  for 
the  light  it  throws  on  the  circumstances  of  its  origin  and  the  aims  and  motives  of  its 
promoters. 

"  In  the  autumn  of  1849  several  Primitive  Methodist  ministers  happening  to 
meet  on  a  missionary  occasion  at  Sunderland,  the  conversation  turned  on  various 
topics  relative  to  the  ministry  of  the  Connexion  ;  and,  in  particular,  many  remarks 
transpired  on  the  necessity  of  something  being  done  to  associate  the  preachers 
more  closely  for  purposes  of  mutual  improvement,  with  a  view  especially  to  aid 
and  encourage  probationers  in  qualifying  themselves  for  their  important  work. 
After  this  conversation  steps  were  immediately  taken  to  form  a  Preachers 
Association  in  the  Sunderland  District  ;  and  the  promptness  with  which  the 
brethren  in  the  various  circuits  responded  to  the  appeal,  the  heartiness  with 
which  they  have  co-operated  during  the  seven  years  of  the  Association's  existence, 
together  with  the  beneficent  influence  exerted  upon  the  minds  of  the  brethren 
generally  at  the  yearly  gatherings  and  by  means  of  epistolary  correspondence  ;  — 
these  considerations  lead  us  to  hope  and  believe  that  the  movement  was  of  God. 

"To  this  Association  the  present  volume  owes  its  existence.  The  various  papers 
of  which  it  is  composed  were  mostly  read  at  the  yearly  meetings  of  the  Association. 
It  was  judged  desirable,  however,  that  they  should  be  circulated  in  a  permanent 
form,  as  the  younger  brethren  among  us  required  something  of  the  sort  to  guide 
them  in  their  work  ;  and  as  it  was  also  hoped  that  a  somewhat  higher  tone  migh 
be  imparted  to  the  character  of  our  people  generally. 

"  <  >f  these  Essays  different  opinions  will  be  formed.  In  judging  of  their  merits, 
however,  it  ought  to  be  considered  that  the  writers  are  for  the  most  part  unpractised 
in  the  art  of  literary  composition  ;  and  also,  that  the  audience  they  specially  address 
is  composed  of  persons  who,  like  themselves,  have  not  been  favoured  with  regular 
scholastic  training." 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND    CHUKCH   DEVELOPMENT.  397 

"  If  this  small  work  afford  direction  or  encouragement  to  any  young  brother  in 
the  pursuit  of  his  studies;  if  it  contribute,  in  however  small  a  degree,  towards 
the  development  of  a  higher  type  of  character  in  the  Primitive  Methodist  churches ; 
if  in  any  way  which  God  may  please,  it  subserve  the  interest  of  truth  and 
righteousness — the  Editors  will  be  amply  rewarded." 

Mr.  "W.  Lister  was  appointed  the  business  manager,  and  Messrs.  Thomas  Smith  and 
C.  C.  McKechnie  joint  editors.  But  this  arrangement  lasted  only  a  short  time, 
Mr.  McKechnie  becoming  sole  Editor  in  May,  1855.  As  the  first  volume  of  the 
"  Christian  Ambassador ''  is  now  exceedingly  scarce,  it  may  be  interesting  to  refer 
briefly  to  its  contents  and  writers.  The  Editor  himself  has  two  articles — "  The  Lamb 
in  the  midst  of  the  Throne,''  and  "  Eeligion's  Ultimate  Design,"  besides  a  trenchant 
review  (far  too  trenchant,  one  cannot  but  feel)  on  Walford's  recently  published  "Life 
of  Hugh  Bourne.''  Messrs.  R.  Fenwick,  J.  A.  Bastow,  T.  Greenfield,  J.  Lightfoot, 
W.  Dent,  T.  Butterwick,  W.  Antliff,  and  P.  Clarke,  have  signed  contributions.  Of 
the  laymen  who  contribute  to  this  volume  two  are  yet  with  us — Robert  Foster  and 
John  Coward ;  while  George  Race  has  three  articles  and  J.  Fawsit  one.  As  might  be 
expected,  many  of  the  articles  bear  on  the  office  and  work  of  the  Christian  ministry ; 
no  less  than  ten  out  of  the  number  being  of  this  character. 

The  first  number  of  the  "Ambassador"  was  published  in  October,  1854.  It  was 
designed  to  be  a  bi-monthly  publication,  and  it  was  expected  that  two  years  would  see 
the  completion  of  the  volume  ;  but  this  was  not  to  be.  As  we  have  seen,  it  took  two 
years  for  the  first  volume  of  the  Magazine  to  struggle  into  existence,  and,  singularly 
enough,  it  took  three  years  for  the  ' '  Ambassador  "  to  be  born.  How  was  this  1  The 
answer  throws  some  light  on  the  Transition  Period.  It  shows  us  that  conservative  and 
progressive  forces  were  at  work  and  did  not  fully  understand  each  other.  We  see  how 
some  of  those  who  had  the  guidance  of  affairs,  regarded  movements,  which  we  can  now 
see  had  in  them  the  germs  of  much  promise,  with  jealousy  and  even  alarm,  and  how 
they  lost  their  composure  as  they  read  the  expression  of  opinions  which,  to  us,  appear 
comparatively  mild  and  harmless.  The  establishment  of  a  Preachers'  Association  in  the 
Sunderland  District  was  eyed  askance.  It  was  thought  the  Association  "might  become 
a  hot-bed  of  revolutionary  ideas  and  disturb  Connexional  peace."  *  Several  papers 
which  had  been  read  before  the  Association  were,  for  some  reason  or  other,  declined 
insertion  in  the  Magazine,  and  this  fact  no  doubt  had  something  to  do  with  the 
inception  of  the  "  Christian  Ambassador."  But  it  was  an  article  by  one  who  after- 
wards became  President  of  Conference  that  gave  the  greatest  alarm.  Yet  really  in 
Mr.  H.  Phillips'  article  on  "  The  Present  as  contrasted  with  the  Past  condition  of  the 
Connexion  "  there  would  seem  to  be  little  to  alarm  anybody.  In  these  days  it  would  be 
deemed  quite  tame  and  innocuous.  However,  the  publication  of  this  article  led  to 
correspondence  and  to  the  temporary  stoppage  of  the  "Ambassador"  by  the  General 
Committee.  After  an  interchange  of  views  a  satisfactory  working  understanding  was 
arrived  at,  and  being  let  go,  the  first  volume  got  itself  completed  in  July,  1857. 

In  October,  1857,  the  "Christian  Ambassador"  began  to  be  published  as  a  quarterly 

*  Rev.  J.  Atkinson,  "  Life  of  C.  C.  McKechnie,"  p.  214. 


308 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


and,  with  the  exception  of  one  year,  when  there  was  a  reversion  to  the  old  bi-monthly 
form  of  publication,  it  has  continued  a  quarterly  ever  since.  It  entered  on  a  further 
stage  of  development  in  January,  1.^63,  as  thus  described  by  Mr.  McKechnie  in  his 
Autobiographic  Memoranda : — 

"In  the  year  1*63.  the  '  Ambassador '  underwent  a  great  change.  Previously, 
though  serving  a  good  purpose  among  many  of  our  preachers  and  people,  it  bore  a 
sort  of  nondescript  and  ephemeral  character.  Its  general  contents  and  get-up 
seemed  to  indicate  that  it  was  nothing  more  than  a  temporary  makeshift.  And 
indeed,  this  was  very  near  the  idea  formed  of  it  for  the  first  few  years  of  its 
existence  by  its  principal  supporters.  Xow,  however,  in  1863  it,  as  it  were,  dropped 
its  temporary  features  and  assumed  a  permanent  form,  or  at  least,  a  form  which 
promised  permanence.  While  enlarged  from  sixty -four  to  ninety-six  pages,  and 
bearing  the  usual  marks  of  regular  periodicals,  the  quality  of  its  literary  papers 
was  improved,  and  the  price  raised  from  eight-pence  to  a  shilling.  It  had 
now  become  recognised  indirectly  as  a  semi-eonnexional  organ,  and  though  not 
patronised  so  generally  as  we  thought  its  merits  deserved,  it  nevertheless  received 
considerable  support.  An  important  circumstance  to  be  noted  is,  that  at  this  time 
the  Sunderland  Preachers'  Association,  to  which  the  -  Ambassador "  belonged, 
surrendered  its  copyright  to  the  Preachers'  Friendly  Society,  and  thenceforth  it 
became  the  property  of  that  Society,  yielding  it  its  profits  and  subject  to  its  control. 
Though  having  more  than  sufficient  to  do  in  managing  the  North  Shields  Circuit, 
I  continued  to  edit  the  Ambassador,'  and  had  every  reason  to  believe  that  it 
exerted  an  influence  for  good  among 
our  preachers  and  people. 

It  is  hard  to  repress  a  feeling  of  envy 
when  we  learn  that  the  Primitive  Methodist 
Quarterly  Review  started  on  its  career  with 
a  circulation  of  2,-°>GS  and  yielded  a  first- 
year's  profit  of  £207  to  the  Preachers' 
Friendly  Society. 

Book  Committee  axd  Auditors. 

The  Book  Committee,  of  which  the 
General  Book  Steward  has  always  been  the 
Secretary,  has  differed  in  its  constitution 
at  various  times  and  has  fluctuated  in  its 
numbers.  We  have  seen  who  composed  it 
in  1843.  From  1S-U  to  1S4-7,  inclusive,  it 
was  the  same  in  its  personnel  as  the  General 
Committee.  In  is  18,  however,  there  was 
a  reversion  to  the  old  type  of  Book  Com- 
mittee. All  through  the 'Fifties  theconimittee 
was  a  small  special  one  composed  of  persons 
resident  in  or  near  the  metropolis.  For  the 
three  years  ending  in  1850  it  consisted  of 
but  three  persons — T.  Holliday,  J.  Flesher, 


GEOEGE  BAEON. 
(Connexional  Auditor. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND    CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT. 


390 


and  W.  Garner.  For  a  few  years  after  this  it  was  a  mixed  committee  of  ministers  and 
laymen,  but  it  still  continued  a  small  committee,  the  persons  composing  it  never 
exceeding  ten  in  number.  Then  in  1863  the  Book  Committee  once  more  lost  its 
separateness  and  was  but  the  General  Committee  discharging 
special  functions  under  the  direction  of  the  General  Book  Steward. 
This  obtained  until  the  formation  of  the  special  and  influential 
Book  Committee  that  dates  from  1895  and  that  may  be  said  to 
lie  a  feature  of  the  latest  phase  and  period  of  Book-Room 
administration.  This  would  seem  to  be  the  time  also  to  refer  to  the 
Connexional  Auditors  who,  as  Conferentially  appointed  officers, 
have  since  1843  been  annually  closely  associated  with  the  Book- 
Room,  in  order  to  examine  the  year's  accounts,  setting  forth  the 
year's  working  of  the  department.  The  accounts  of  the  Missionary 
(  onneionaiNAuditor.  Society  have  also  come  under  their  inspection ;  but  it  is  with  the 
relations  in  which  they  have  stood  to  the  Book-Room  that  we  have  now  specially  to  do. 
At  the  very  beginning  of  this  period  the  auditors  had  an  onerous  piece  of  work  to  do, 
and  the  manner  they  discharged  their  duty  tended  to  inspire  that  confidence  which 
was  the  best  foundation  for  progressive  development.  It  may  serve  a  useful  purpose 
to  give  here  in  tabular  form  the  names  of  these  men  of  Connexional  standing, 
approved  business  ability,  and  high  character,  who,  in  succession,  have  cheerfully 
rendered  this  particular  form  of  service  to  the  Connexion  though  at  an  expenditure  of 
considerable  time  and  toil  to  themselves. 

It  will  be  noticed  how  many  of  these  men  we  have  already  met  with — men  like 
S.  Longdin,  J.  Sissons,  J.  Rouse,  G.  Baron,  T.  Dawson,  G.  T.  Goodrich.  We  have  seen 
them  rendering  distinguished  Connexional  service  in  their  several  localities.  The 
portraits  of  many  of  these  men  have  already  been  given ;  those  of  Messrs.  J.  Jones  and 
J.  Coward  will  he  found  among  the  Vice-Presidents,  while  that  of  Mr.  Joseph  Hunt,  an 

influential  layman  of  High 
Wycombe  and  former  Mission- 
ary treasurer,  and  the  portraits 
of  Messrs.  Amos  Chippindale 
of  Harrogate,  and  J.  Brearley 
of  Halifax,  are  inserted  in  the 
text  0  ur  three  present  auditors 
— Messrs.  Chippindale,  Brear- 
ley, and  Greenhalgh — have  a 
long  and  honourable  record  of 
service  rendered  in  their  own 
Districts,  and  in  the  general 
administration  of  Connexional 
affairs,  and  that  record  does  not 
need  to  be  set  out  here  at  large. 
In    fine,     the    list     we    give 


MR.    AMOS  CHIPPINDALE. 
Connexional  Auditor. 


ME.    J.    BREARLEY. 
Connexional  Auditor. 


400 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


not  only  shows  who  have  acted  as  auditors  since  1843,  but  gives  us  the  names  of  some 
men  of   Connexional  mark  in  the  period   of  consolidation  and  organisation. 


1843  S.  Longdin,  J.  Sissons. 

1845  S.  Longdin,  T.  Dawson,  J.  Sissons. 

"  The  auditors  have  great  sati6faction,  in  examining 
the  accounts,  to  find  them  clear,  distinct  and 
correct." 

1846  S.  Longdin,  J.  Sissons. 

1847  Emerson  Muschamp,  AY.  Garner,  T.  Dawson. 

1848  S.  Longdin,  T.  Dawson. 
1849—50  J.  Sissons,  T.  Bateman. 

1851  T.  Bateman,  J.  Reynard. 

1852  Joshua  Kouse,  T.  Bateman. 

1853  T.  Bateman,  T.  Dawson. 

1854  T.  Bateman,  AV.  JI.  Salt. 
1855 — 8  T.  Bateman,  Joshua  Kouse. 
1859—60  Joshua  Rouse,  G.  T.  Goodrich. 
1861 — 2  Joshua  Rouse,  J.  Sissons. 
1863—5  T.  Bateman,  J.  Hunt. 

(A  Report  of  the  Book  Committee  begins  in  1865  to 
be  attached  to  the  Balance  Sheet). 

1866  |         T.  Bateman,  J.  Hunt. 

(The  monthly  circulation  of  the  Magazines  now  first 
;  given) . 

1867  :         T.  Bateman,  J.  North. 
1868—9  T.  Bateman,  J.  Hunt. 

1870  I         T.  Bateman,  Joshua  Rouse. 

i  Up  to  this  point  the  Financial  year  ended  December 
31st,  and  the  audited  accounts  are  given  in  the 
Conference  Minutes  of  the  year  following  Now 
the  Financial  year  is  made  to  end  March  31st,  so 
that  1871  is  from  January,  1871,  to  April,  1872) . 

1871  T.  Bateman,  Joshua  Rouse. 
1872—8  T.  Bateman,  G  Baron. 
1879—82  T.  Bateman,  G.  Baron,  John  Lowe. 
1883 — 4  T.  Bateman,  James  Greenhalgh. 
1885—6  G.  Baron,  J.  Greenhalgh. 

1887  J.  S.  Parkman,  John  Jones,  J.  Greenhalgh. 

1888  J.  Jones,  James  Kichards,  J.  Greenhalgh. 
1889—  94  J.  Jones,  John  Coward,  J.  Greenhalgh. 

1895  J.  Jones,  J.  Greenhalgh. 

1896  J.  Jones,  Amos  Chippindale,  J.  Greenhalgh. 
1897—  1905  A.  Chippindale,  J.  Brearley.  J.  Greenhalgh. 


Table  showing  the  succession  of  Auditors  from  184.3  to  the  present. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND    CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT.  401 


CHAPTER   IV. 

THE   RE-ORGANIZATION   OF   THE   MISSIONARY   COMMITTEE. 

J  HE  Conference  of  1843,  which  removed  the  Book-Room  to  London,  also 
re-organized  the  Missionary  Committee  and  located  its  executive  in 
the  metropolis.  We  say  the  Conference  "re-organized"  the  Committee 
rather  than  that  it  established  it ;  for  a  Missionary  Committee  had  been 
established  as  far  back  as  1825,  but  its  income  had  been  small  and  its  operations  had 
been  conducted  on  a  very  limited  scale.  Its  income  for  the  year  1826  had  been 
£49  8s.  ljd.,  and  in  1843,  after  seventeen  years,  it  was  but  £125  14s.  2^d.  making, 
with  the  balance  of  the  preceding  year  and  the  balance  of  the  Charitable  Fund,  a 
total  sum  of  £311  3s.  10^d.  Its  expenditure  for  the  year  was  but  £17,  consisting 
of  grants  to  Lancaster  Mission,  to  Tunstall  on  behalf  of  its  Irish  Mission,  and  to 
Reading  Circuit's  Missions.  Still,  the  idea  of  a  centralised  Committee  directing  the 
missionary  operations  of  the  whole  Connexion  by  means  of  contributions  from  all 
the  Circuits  was  there,  waiting  its  time  to  become  effective.  Like  a  rudimentary 
organ,  the  day  would  come  when  it  would  be  called  upon  to  perform  its  functions  for 
the  general  good  of  the  body  to  which  it  belonged.  By  1843  this  time  seemed  to 
have  come.  No  doubt  the  missionary  policy  pursued  during  the  firsjt  period  had 
justified  itself.  Circuit  missions,  as  the  usual  and  favourite  aggressive  agency,  were 
well  adapted  to  a  period  marked  by  general  enthusiasm ;  just  as  the  revolutionary 
ardour  of  France  made  its  citizen  army  for  a  time,  carry  all  before  it.  But  by  1843 
something  of  the  old  ardour  had  died  down.  The  disadvantages  of  the  old  system 
were  beginning  to  show  themselves.*  Circuits  were  pre-occupied  with  efforts  to  con- 
serve their  gains  and  consolidate  themselves.  Hence,  many  of  the  leading  minds  in 
the  Connexion  were  of  opinion  that  the  time  had  fully  come  for  a  change  of  policy. 
Says  Mr.  Flesher :  "  Hitherto  the  Connexion  has  been  isolated  in  its  missionary 
operations.  Each  circuit  which  has  been  able  has  employed  a  missionary,  and  with 
few  exceptions  has  had  to  support  him  with  its  own  resources.  In  the  youth  of 
the  Connexion  this  plan  appears  to  have  been  best  adapted  for  the  diffusion  of  its 
energies  through  the  land  ;  but  growing  events  seem  to  demand  a  different  state  of 
things,  and  hence  arrangements  were  made  at  the  Conference  to  concentrate  our 
missionary  energies,  in  part,  that  we  may  try  on  a  partial  scale  whether  the  plan  is 
not  better  suited  to  the  altered  state  of  the  Connexion.'' 

The  administrative  changes  effected  in  1843  were  regarded  very  differently  by  our 

*  "  But  the  system  was  clogged  with  numerous  difficulties.  The  managing  committees  were  too 
many.  In  action  some  of  them  were  too  slow ;  others  were  too  precipitate.  Some  had  large  funds 
at  their  disposal ;  others  were  compelled  to  alter  their  course  for  the  want  of  a  little  money."— 
W.  Garner,  "  Life  of  Rev.  John  Garner." 

C  C 


402  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 

chief  founders.  The  mind  and  will  which  re-organized  the  old  Missionary  Committee 
and  hreathed  new  life  into  it,  came  from  Hull  rather  than  from  Tunstall,  as  also  did 
the  movement  which  resulted  in  remodelling  the  Book-Boom  and  changing  its  location 
from  Bemersley  to  London.  Here  we  have  the  first  and  palmary  example  of  the  way 
in  which  Districtism,  by  encouraging  the  growth  of  variations,  has  in  the  end  modified 
and  enriched  our  Connexional  life.  Other  examples  of  the  working  of  this  same 
principle — so  active  in  the  middle  and  later  periods  of  our  history — will  meet  us  as 
we  go  along.  Tunstall  had  had  a  long  and,  on  the  whole,  a  successful  innings :  it  was 
now  Hull's  turn  to  contribute  to  the  general  good  by  carrying  through  its  legislative 
proposals.  What  Hugh  Bourne  was  likely  to  think  of  these  may  be  gathered  from 
a  remark  of  his  which  Thomas  Russell  has  preserved  for  us.  "  I  took  the  liberty 
of  questioning  him  as  to  the  General  Committee's  not  continuing  an  efficient  minister 
under  its  direction.  He  replied  :  '  I  do  not  believe  the  Lord  designs  the  General 
Committee  to  have  such  a  care  on  their  hands  ;  as  /  believe  it  would  cramp  individual 
and,  circuit  effort.'"  Though  this  remark  was  made  in  1832  there  is  no  evidence  to 
show  that  Hugh  Bourne  was  of  a  different  opinion  in  1843.  As  to  Clowes'  feelings 
and  attitude  towards  the  new  departure,  we  have  positive  evidence.  According  to  the 
testimony  of  AV.  Garner,  not  only  did  he  approve  of  the  changes  effected  in  18-12-3, 
but  he  largely  contributed  to  bring  these  changes  about.  Mr.  Garner's  precise  words  are  : 
"Through  the  influence  of  W.  Clowes,  chiefly,  the  missions  belonging  to  Hull  Circuit 
were  given  up  to  the  Conference  of  1843  as  a  nucleus  for  a  new  missionary  organization.'' 
Other  facts  confirm  this  explicit  statement.  The  "  nucleus  of  the  new  missionary 
organization"  was,  with  the  exception  of  Oswestry's  Lisburn  Mission,  composed 
exclusively  of  the  missions  of  Hull  Circuit,  viz.,  London,  Newport  (I.W.),  Portsmouth, 
Southampton,  Brighton,  Bedford,  Sheerness,  Ramsgate,  Maidstone,  and  Canterbury. 
These  missions  were  to  be  taken  over  by  the  Committee  as  soon  as  possible  and, 
in  the  meantime,  were  to  be  under  the  management  of  Hull  and  Oswestry  Circuits. 
Further,  the  Missions  were  to  belong  to  Hull  District ;  their  chief  officer,  together 
with  the  Book  Steward,  was  to  have  a  seat  in  the  Hull  District  Meeting ;  and  this 
arrangement  held  good  until  the  formation  of  the  London  District  in  1853.*  Lastly, 
Hull  District  was  to  be  exempt  from  the  levy  made  on  the  other  circuits,  but  was 
"  affectionately  desired  to  continue  its  powerful  missionary  services  and  operations,  and 
to  afford  the  Missionary  Committee  pecuniary  aid  equal,  at  least,  to  that  which  it 
has  had  to  allow  in  support  of  these  missions"  {Minutes,  1843). 

Constitution  and  Officers  of  the  General  Missionary  Committee. 

For  many  years  the  General  Missionary  Committee  was  composed  of  the  same  persons 
as  the  General  Committee.  It  was  one  body  discharging  different  functions.  But  in 
1888  the  Quarterly  Committee  was  created  and,  in  the  end,  this  strong  and  thoroughly 
representative  body,  like  Moses'  rod,  swallowed  up  the  Fortnightly  Committee,  thus 
effectually  cutting  off  all  occasions  of  conflict  as  to  respective  rights  and  powers.  The 
Quarterly  Committee   is  a  circulatory  one,   while  its  executive,  composed  of  fifteen 

*  Still  later — 1S71 — the  Missions  were  formed  into  a  separate  District. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND    CHUKCH   DEVELOPMENT.  403 

persons,  holds  its  monthly  meetings  in  London.  We  should  bear  in  mind  what 
has  already  been  stated,  that,  until  1864,  the  Secretary  of  the  General  Missionary 
Committee  was  the  same  person  as  the  Secretary  of  the  General  Committee.  Little 
change  has  taken  place  during  the  years  either  in  the  name  or  functions  of  the 
Missionary  Committee's  chief  officer.  He  is  still  modestly  called  its  "  Secretary,''  and 
as  such,  through  his  Committee  he  still  has  the  oversight  of  both  the  Home  and 
Foreign  Missions,  no  division  of  these  two  departments  having  as  yet  taken  place. 
And  yet  when,  as  early  as  1845,  we  find  John  Ride  set  apart  as  visitor  of  the  Home 
Missions  and  as  such  invested  with  rather  large  powers,  we  can  easily  see  how 
development  might  have  proceeded  on  somewhat  different  lines  from  the  lines  actually 
followed.  In  the  Minutes  there  are  no  less  than  a  dozen  regulations  relating  to  his 
visitorial  functions,  one  of  which  suggests  the  tireless  energy  of  the  man  : — 

"John  Eide  shall  be  seriously  and  importunately  desired  not  to  arrange  work 
that  cannot  be  executed  regularly  by  himself  in  his  sundry  visits,  or  by  any  man  of 
ordinary  mental  and  physical  energy  ;  for  while  the  Conference  is  desirous  on 
one  hand,  not  to  countenance  an  effeminate,  indolent  ministry,  it  is  wishful  on  the 
other,  that  such  a  system  of  labour  shall  be  adopted  as  will  not  hastily  ruin  the 
health  of  the  labourers.'' 

After  1845  we  hear  no  more  of  the  visitorial  powers  of  John  Eide.  The  episode 
suggests  the  passing  reflection — how  close  Primitive  Methodism  has  kept  to  strict 
Presbyterial  lines.  It  has  not  even  succeeded  in  developing  a  "District  Superintendent" 
or  "Chairman  of  the  District,''  although  it  has  had  nearly  a  century  in  which  to  make 
the  experiment.  Indeed,  in  some  respects,  our  Church  is  more  rigidly  Presbyterian 
than  it  was  in  the  days  when  Nottingham  urged  the  appointment  of  Thomas  King 
as  District  Superintendent,*  and  when,  for  a  time,  Hugh  Bourne  was  really  such, 
and,  year  after  year,  he  sat  as  General  Committee  Delegate  in  some  of  the  District 
Meetings. 

It  was  not  until  1851  that  the  Treasurership  of  the  Mission  Fund  was  made 
a  distinct  office.  On  January  1st  of  that  year  Joseph  Hunt  of  High  Wycombe  took 
up  its  duties,  and  thus  was  the  first  of  a  line  of  distinguished  laymen  who  for  more 
than  half  a  century  have  gratuitously  discharged  responsible  duties.  We  will  now 
give— as  we  have  done  in  the  case  of  the  General  Book  Stewards,  Connexional  Editors, 
and  Auditors—  a  table  showing  the  chronological  succession  of  the  Secretaries  of  the 
General  Missionary  Committee  and  of  the  Treasurers  of  its  funds.  The  portraits 
of  all  of  these  have  already  been  given  in  other  connections. 

A  supplementary  remark  or  two  may  be  made  on  the  following  table.  It  is  to  be 
noted  that,  although  by  the  rule  of  1850  the  term  of  connexional  office  was  limited  to 
five  years,  four  Missionary  Secretaries  have  not  served  the  allotted  term,  while  only 
in  one  instance  has  that  term  been  exceeded.!  The  rule  of  1850  laid  great  stress  on 
seniority  as  a  condition  for  office.     Other  things  being  equal,  seniority  was  to  decide 

*  See  ante  vol.  i.  p.  448. 

tin  1888,  the  rule  of  1850  was  brought  up  again  and  re-affirmed,  but  it  was  added— "  This 
legislation  shall  not  apply  this  year  to  the  General  Committee  Secretary  and  the  General  Missionary 
Secretary." 

C  C  2 


+04 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


-UWENN1- 


-UHALLAMt- 


GEXERAl  COMMITTEE    SECRETARIES   PROM    1SI',.\    WHEN   THE   OFFICE   WAS   SEPARATED   FROM   THAT 
OF   GENERAL   MISSIONARY    SECRETARY. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND    CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT. 


405 


the  appointment.     This  naturally  resulted  in  veterans  being  designated  to  the  office. 

Though  they  might  not  be  old  as  counted  by  years,  they  had  seen  much  service.     The 

excessive  labours  of  their  youth  and  prime  had  left  their  mark.  The  old  wounds  they 
got  when  in  the  "  active  work  "  sometimes  smarted  and  even 
crippled  them  as  they  sat  at  the  departmental  desk  or  visited 
the  outposts.  So  John  Garner  was  but  forty-three  years  of 
age  when  he  entered  upon  office,  but  the  toil,  persecution 
and  exposure  he  underwent  in  the  pioneering  days  had 
planted  the  seeds  of  disease  in  his  otherwise  strong  con- 
stitution, and  he  became  the  victim  of  recurring  attacks  of 
asthma.  His  experience  of  London  winters  was  a  veritable 
martyrdom.  "The  Missionary  Committee  indulged  him  with 
an  easy-chair  in  which  he  might  recline  when  he  dare  not 
venture  to  lay  his  weary  head  upon  his  pillow.''  When  he 
left  the  Mission  House  his  active  labours  for  the  Connexion 
were  done,  and  at  quiet  Burnham,  near  Epworth,  be 
patiently  awaited   his  release   from  cruel    suffering,   which 

release  came  February  12th,  1868.      His  body  was  interred  near  the  pulpit  of   the 

old  sanctuary. 


JOHN  WELFOED, 

Present 

General  Committee  Secretary. 


Secretaries  of  the  General 
Missionary  Committee. 


1843. 

1848. 
1854. 
1859. 


John  Garner. 
William  Garner. 
John  Bywater. 
Moses  Lupton. 


In  1864  the  office  was  dissociated  from 
that  of  Secretary  of  General  Com- 
mittee, and  the  Missionary  Secretary 
is  now  also  styled  "Superintendent 
of  the  Home  Missions." 

1 865.  Thomas  Jobling. 

1869.  Samuel  Antliff. 

1874.  William  Eowe  (1). 

1878.  William  Cutts. 

1883.  John  Atkinson. 

1889.  James  Travis. 

1894.  John  Smith. 

1899.  It.  W.  Burnett. 

1902.  John  Slater. 

1903.  James  Pickett. 

(Present  holder  of  office). 


Treasurers  of  the  General 
Missionary  Fund. 


1843. 
1844-5 


Thomas  Holliday. 

Thomas  Holliday. 

John  Hallam. 
.....  C  Thomas  Holliday. 
184b-7.  £  William  Garner. 

1848-50.  William  Garner. 
The  Treasurership  becomes  a  separate 
office. 

1851  (Jan.)  Joseph  Hunt. 

1856  Wm.  Byron  &  J.  Maltby. 

1863      ..       John  Maltby. 

1864.        James  Meek. 

1869.        Thomas  Gibson. 

1871.  H™  i  y  Hodge. 
S.  AntlifE  filled  the  new  office  of  Deputy 
Treasurer  and  Financial  Secretary 
from  77  to  '81.  In  the  latter  year  the 
Secretary  of  the  General  Committee 
was  appointed  Deputy  Treasurer. 
This  arrangement  continued  until  1902, 
when  Thomas  Mitchell,  the  Secretary 
of  the  Chapel  Extension  Fund,  was 
appointed  Deputy  Treasurer. 

1890.        W.  P.  Hartley. 

(Present  holder  of  office). 

Treasurers  of  African  Fund. 

1871.      William  Beckworth. 
1875.      Thomas  Davies. 
1878.       Thomas  Lawrence. 

(Present  holder  of  office). 


Table  showing  the  succession  of  Secretaries  of  the  Missionary  Committee 
and  the  Treasurers  of  its  Funds  from  1843  to  the  present  time. 


400 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


So  it  was,  too,  with.  John  Bywater.  His  strong  frame  had  become  broken  and 
disabled  by  rheumatism,  and  a  year  after  vacating  his  office,  finding  himself  unequal 
to  the  duties  of  a  station,  he  sought  superannuation. 

Next,  we  have  the  case  of  John  Jobling,  the  Tyneside  youth,  and  early  companion 
of  Joseph  Spoor.  He  had  already  laboured  as  a  minister  thirty-two  years  in  the 
Manchester  District  when  he  became  Missionary  Secretary.  He  had  proved  himself 
"a  thoroughly  upright,  industrious  and  hard-working  labourer  in  the  Lord's  vineyard." 
and  withal  a  man  of  remarkable  prayerful  spirit.  He  had  seen  a  net  increase  of  1619  on 
his  stations,  and  had  superintended  the  erection  of  thirteen  chapels.  He  gave  himself 
to  his  new  duties  with  anxious  assiduity,  but,  as  his  friend  Dr.  W.  Antliff  testified, 
"the  pressure  on  his  nervous  system  seemed  more  than  he  could  well  sustain,''  and, 


THE   OLD   AND    NEW    CHAPEL,    EPWOKTU. 

Old  Chapel,  date  ls^l,  Imilt  on  Piece  of  Ground  John  Oxtoby  prayed  for.    Rev.  John  Garner 
is  "buried  in  the  Chapel. 

after  four  years  at  the   Mission  House,  his  superannuation  was  swiftly  followed  by 
death,  July  22nd,  1869. 

\Villiam  Kowe  (1)  was  no  novice  when  he  took  up  the  direction  of  Missionary 
affairs.  During  his  thirty-four  years'  ministry  in  the  Manchester  District  he  had 
become  known  as  a  popular  pulpit  and  platform  speaker,  as  well  as  a  capable 
superintendent.  "  Connexional  honours  are  onerous,"  as  quaint  Thomas  Greenfield 
was  wont  to  say.  S<>  "William  Rowe  was  to  find.  "His  pulpit  and  platform  labours, 
and    the    responsibilities    of    the    mission-office    were    too    much    for    his    strength"* 


*  Official  Memoir  bj'  Kev.  J.  Travis,  Conference  Minutes,  18SS. 


THE   PERIOD   OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND   CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT.  407 

and  he  was  superannuated  in  1878,  with  one  year  of  his  allotted  term  still 
to  run. 

The  cold  print  of  the  last  lines  of  the  first  column  of  our  table  brings  the  truth 
home  to  us  that  the  office  of  Missionary  Secretary — never  a  light  one — has  become 
heavier  still  with  the  passage  of  the  years.  So  much  is  this  the  case  that  only 
the  most  vigorous,  and  those  who  are  happily  constituted  as  to  temperament  and 
nerve,  may  hope  to  bear  up  under  the  strain  of  its  heavy  and  constant  demands. 
By  a  touching  coincidence  the  same  Conference  Minutes  of  1903  contains  the 
memoirs  of  two  Missionary  Secretaries  who  fell  at  their  post.  That  amiable  man 
and  veteran  missionary,  K.  W.  Burnett,  died  June  21st,  1902,  of  a  disease  contracted 
in  Africa's  malarial  climate ;  while  John  Slater,  genial,  hearty,  strenuous,  passed 
away  March  17th,  1903,  not  unfittingly,  while  on  a  preaching  visit  to  Manchester 
Fourth  Circuit,  on  which  he  had  spent  eleven  years  of  laborious  and  fruitful  service, 
and  where  the  noble  church  which  overlooks  Ardwick  Green  will  long  perpetuate 
his  name. 

Methods  of  Home  Missionary  Administration. 

Evidence  is  not  wanting  to  show  that  the  new  system  was  regarded  in  the  light  of 
an  "experiment" — this  is  the  very  word  used  by  W.  Garner  to  describe  it.  The 
efforts  were  tentative ;  the  Connexion  was  somewhat  timidly  feeling  its  way  towards 
the  effective  control  of  the  Home  Missions  by  a  central  authority.  In  proof  of  this,  it 
is  only  necessary  to  adduce  the  fact  that  Circuit  Missions  were  not  superseded  at  one 
stroke,  but  only  gradually,  and  by  steps  and  stages.  Indeed,  in  1844,  the  Circuit 
Missions  outnumbered  those  under  the  immediate  control  of  the  Missionary  Committee, 
the  actual  numbers  being  . — 

Circuit  Missions  ...         ...  35         Preachers  39        Members  2684 

General   Missionary  Committee's  ^  „„  „,  „„„.. 

Missions  ..  ...  ...  S 

Thus  the  two  systems  worked,  and  continued  for  some  years  to  work,  side  by  side. 
Gradually  the  number  of  Circuit  Missions  decreased,  but  the  system  was  in  vogue  for 
some  twenty  years  longer,  and,  we  believe  we  are  right  in  saying  that  the  last  Circuit 
Missions  (old  style)  were  the  Bromyard  Mission  of  Ludlow,  and  the  Falmouth  Mission 
of  Truro  Circuit,  which  stood  on  the  list  of  stations  in  1861,  and  were  taken  over 
in  1862. 

The  existence  of  so  many  Circuit  Missions  had  an  important  bearing  on  the  amount 
of  revenue  available  for  missionary  purposes ;  for  the  circuits  which  still  held  to  their 
missions  needed  their  revenue  to  maintain  these  missions,  and  were  allowed  to  retain 
and  use  it  for  that  purpose.  So  that  the  Missionary  Committee  had  to  look  for  its 
supplies  to  those  circuits  which  had  no  missions  of  their  own.  The  financial 
arrangements  made  show  that  the  Connexion  was  still  mainly  composed  of  what 
were  really  missions ;  or,  to  put  the  fact  in  another  way,  that  there  was  little  to  choose 


408  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 

between  the  so-called  circuits  and  missions.*  Circuits,  themselves  poor  and  weak, 
were  yet  expected  to  lend  a  helping  hand  to  tho^  stations  that  were  still  poorer  and 
weaker  than  themselves.  Those  which  had  no  Circuit  Missions  were  required  to  send 
the  whole  of  the  missionary  money  contributed  for  special  purposes,  i.e.,  for  the 
Australian  and  New  Zealand  Missions,  but  were  allowed  to  retain  a  fixed  proportion  of 
the  general  income  raised  at  not  less  than  half  the  places  on  their  plan.  The  proportion 
of  money  to  be  sent  to  head-quarters  varied  in  successive  periods,  though  the  variation 
was  steadily  in  the  direction  of  increase.  In  1842,  the  proportion  to  be  sent  was 
one-eighth;  in  1843,  one-sixth;  in  1849,  one-fifth;  in  1861,  one-third,  and  in 
1870,  one  half.  Finally,  in  1876,  in  view  of  the  increased  demands  likely  to  be 
made  on  the  Mission  Fund,  it  was  enacted  that  the  whole  of  the  missionary  money 
raised,  both  general  and  special,  should  be  remitted  to  the  respective  treasurers.  So 
we  may  say  that  for  some  thirty-three  years  the  Connexion  was  in  missionary  matters 
resolutely  trying  to  get  from  fractions  to  whole  numbers.  There  was  neither  stop  nor 
stay  till  that  was  accomplished.  Everything  was  provisional  and  temporary ;  nor 
could  it  fail  to  be  otherwise,  until  not  merely  one  central  missionary  executive  had 
taken  the  place  of  many  local  ones,  but  had  also  got  the  power  to  handle  and  dispose 
of  all  the  money  raised  for  avowedly  missionary  purposes  on  all  the  circuits  and 
missions.  In  the  meantime,  until  this  desirable  goal  was  reached,  the  Connexion  got 
a  good  drilling  in  fractions. 

But  it  might,  and  often  did,  happen  in  this  fractional  period,  that  the  minimum 
proportion  of  missionary  money  could  not  be  sent  as  a  first  charge  without  reducing  the 
preachers  below  the  level  of  what  was  then  considered  a  living  wage.  Kecourse  was 
therefore  had  to  a  Fund  which  was  the  outcome  of  the  troubles  of  the  period  ending 
in  1828.  As  we  have  seen,  owing  to  the  drastic  measures  then  taken,  a  considerable 
number  of  "runners  out"  left  the  ministry,  and  some  of  the  worthy  men  who  took  their 
places  found  the  circuits  so  impoverished  that-  even  the  moderate  salary  then  allowed 
was  not  forthcoming.  The  Charitable  Fund  was  established  to  aid  these  worthy 
embarrassed  men  to  tide  over  their  difficulties.  The  first  report  of  this  Fund  is  given 
in  1830,  when  the  income  is  set  down  as  £27  13s.  5Jd.,  and  that  amount  is  shown  as 
having  been  expended  in  paying  half  the  deficiency  in  the  salaries  of  the  preachers  in 
Retford,  Norwich,  Cambridge,  and  Whitby  Circuits.  In  1842,  the  sum  of  £216  odd 
was  paid  in  this  way,  and  it  was  ordered  that  each  circuit  should  contribute  at  least 
twelve  shillings  a  year  towards  this  Fund,  but  that  travelling  preachers  should  not  be 
obliged  to  contribute  anything  as  hitherto  they  had  been  required  to  do.  The 
Charitable  Fund  was  essentially  a  branch  of  Home  Mission  finance.     As  its  design  was 

♦"Very  many  of  our  stations  were  made  into  circuits,  or  continued  in  the  list  of  circuits  when  the 
missionary  institution  was  formed,  and  subsequently  organized,  with  the  understanding  that  they 
should  be  entitled  to  a  stipulated  amount  of  assistance  from  the  missionary  revenue,  and  without 
such  an  arrangement  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  sustain  such  stations  in  an  efficient  condition. 
The  mere  circumstance  of  changing  the  name  or  title  of  a  station  did  not,  and  could  not,  change 
their  real  missionary  condition,  and  consequently  as  a  mere  matter  of  simple  justice  did  not  require 
such  stations  on  their  becoming  or  remaining  circuits  to  forego  their  claim  to  aid  from  the 
Missionary  Committee."  W.  Garner  in  the  Prim  it  ire  Methodist"  September  3rd,  1868. 
Mr.  Garner  it  must  be  remembered  was  Missionary  .Secretary  from  1S4S  to  '54,  and  also 
.Missionary  Treasurer  for  some  years,  so  that  he  writes  with  authority. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CONSOLIDATION    AND    CHURCH    DEVELOPMENT.  409 

to  assist  poor  but  improving  Circuits,  it  answered  the  purpose  of  a  sustentation  or 
auxiliary  fund;  indeed,  this  latter  name  was  in  1865  given  to  it,  as  being  "more 
agreeable  and  appropriate.''  During  this  fractional  period,  as  we  have  termed  it, 
repeated  enactments  on  salaries  were  made  with  the  view  of  adjusting  the  rate  of 
salaries  paid  to  the  proportion  of  missionary  money  sent.  This  sliding-scale  arrange- 
ment, which  was  an  attempt  to  strike  an  equitable  balance  between  the  competing 
claims  of  the  local  and  central  authorities,  was  in  force  until  1876.  In  that  year — so 
notable  in  various  regards* — the  tangle  of  fractions,  of  checks  and  counter-checks  and 
compromises  was  nearly  threaded,  and  the  firm  ground  of  a  clear  common-sense  principle 
set  foot  on  at  last.  "  See  to  it,"  said  the  authorities,  "  that  you  send  the  whole  of  the 
net  proceeds  of  your  missionary  meetings  to  us.  That  done,  you  can  pay  your  preachers 
what  you  please ;  only  take  care  not  to  pay  them  less  than  what  we  regard  as  the 
'  irreducible  minimum.' "  The  Auxiliary  Fund  was  now  abolished,  and  the  Missionary 
Fund  became  available  for  the  helping  of  needy  circuits.  Then  another  step  in 
advance  was  taken  in  1888  by  the  establishment  of  the  Missions  Quarterly  Committee. 
But  here  a  slight  and  temporary  deviation  into  fractions  was  made.  The  "seventy- 
five  per  cent,  arrangement,"  as  it  was  called,  provided  that  any  District  whose  annual 
missionary  revenue  should  be  in  excess  of  the  sum  sent  by  that  District  to  the  Deputy 
Treasurer  for  the  Audit  of  1888,  should  be  allowed  to  retain  three-fourths  of  that 
excess  sum  for  the  purpose  of  extending  and  strengthening  connexional  interests  within 
the  District.  Here  we  have  an  evident  attempt  to  encourage  Districts  to  do  what 
had  been  done  with  such  conspicuous  success  by  many  Circuits  in  the  first  period. 
The  method  has  in  it  great  possibilities,  as  some  recent  examples  show.  The  seventy- 
five  per  cent,  arrangement  lapsed  in  1898,  which  year  is  memorable  for  the  establishment 
of  the  Connexional  Sustentation  Fund.  Now  it  was  required  that  missionary  meetings 
should  be  held  at  all  the  places  in  a  Circuit  at  which  there  were  regular  preaching 
services.  Further,  the  Missions  Quarterly  Committee  was  constituted  the  allocating 
authority  for  making  grants  to  needy  stations. 

Thus,  then,  next  to  1843,  '76,  '88,  and  '98  are  notable  dates  for  Home  Missionary 
administration.  Of  these,  '98  was  as  the  goal  to  which  things  had  been  tending  ever 
since  the  re-organization  of  the  General  Missionary  Committee,  while  '76  and  '88  were 
waymarks  on  the  road.  These  modifications  of  administration  were  not  made  without 
much  anxious  deliberation.  Many  were  the  Connexional  Committees  that  sat  to  con- 
sider questions  of  finance  and  administration,  as  the  records  show.  There  were  long  and 
lively  discussions  in  the  newspaper  press  on  Home  Missionary  and  other  Connexional 
affairs.     The  Westgate  proposals  for  a  fixed  salary,  as  against  the  Equalization  Fund,+ 

*  1876  was  also  the  year  in  which  the  representation  to  Conference  was  placed  on  a  numerical  basis. 

t  Equalization  Fund. — The  roots  of  this  Fund  go  a  good  way  back  in  our  history.  There  were 
legislative  proposals  from  seven  Circuits  on  the  question  at  the  Conference  of  ]851,  and  John 
Flesher  was  desired  to  draw  up  a  report  on  the  subject.  This  report,  which  was  issued  in  1852, 
consists  of  eight  pages  of  small  type,  and  is  of  an  elaborate  character.  Mr.  Flesher  was  in  favour  of 
District  Funds  rather  than  of  one  Connexional  Fund,  which  he  deemed  unworkable.  On  this 
permissive  line  Districts  wanting  an  Equalization  Fund  have  been  allowed  to  establish  one.  Hull 
District  was  the  first  to  avail  itself  of  the  privilege,  in  1870.  Now  every  District  has  such  a  Fund 
except  Sunderland,  Darlington  and  Stockton,  Carlisle  and  Whitehaven,  North  British,  and  the 
Missions  Districts.     The  "  North  "  has  stoutly  resisted  the  Equalization  Fund  from  the  beginning. 


410  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 

were  as  the  flag  round  which  the  tide  of  battle  surged.  Much  dust  was  stirred  while 
the  controversy  was  going  on.  Xo  doubt  mistakes  were  made,  and  needless  delays  took 
place.  All  who  had  the  direction  of  affairs  were  not  equally  far-sighted.  Some  could 
not  see  a  long  way  before  them,  while  others  had  a  clearer  prevision  and  a  more 
statesmanlike  grasp  of  affairs.  But  still,  the  main  thing  to  notice  is  that,  with  all 
abatements,  and  on  the  whole,  progress  was  being  made  towards  greater  simplicity  and 
efficiency  of  administration.  It  is  but  fair  to  our  predecessors  to  recognise  the 
difficulties  under  which  they  had  to  carry  on  their  work,  not  the  least  embarrassing  of 
these  being  of  a  financial  character.  They  would  have  gone  faster  and  done  much 
more  had  larger  resources  been  at  command.  As  it  was,  we  venture  to  say  few 
Societies  have  carried  on  so  large  a  business  with  so  small  a  capital. 

Other  recent  Connexional  developments  closely  related  to  Home  Mission  work  may 
be  noted  here  in  order  to  get  a  connected  view,  though  their  more  detailed  consideration 
will  be  necessary  when,  in  closing,  we  have  to  look  at  some  of  the  present  features  of 
our  Church-life,  of  which  the  quickened  interest  in  social  work,  and  improved  methods 
of  finance  are  amongst  the  most  striking.  Amongst  these  may  be  mentioned,  Large 
Town  Missions,  social  and  Philanthropic  Agencies  (esjtecially  in  London),  the  Van 
Missions,  Evangelists  in  the  Kural  Districts,  the  Missionary  Jubilee  Fund,  and  the 
Church  Extension  Fund. 

Some    Results. 

For  our  own  instruction  and  use  we  have  drawn  up  a  table  showing  the  circuits 
made  from  the  Missions  by  the  General  Missionary  Committee  from  1843  to  the 
present,  with  the  number  of  ministers  and  members  in  them  at  the  time  of  their 
transference  to  the  Home  Districts.  Though  the  preparation  of  this  table  entailed 
a  considerable  amount  of  research  we  are  still  doubtful  as  to  its  absolute  correctness 
in  every  particular,  owing  to  the  difficulty  of  procuring  precise  information  on  some 
points.  Still,  we  have  reason  for  believing  it  to  be  approximately  correct,  and  although 
we  shall  not  take  up  our  space  by  giving  this  table  in  full,  we  can  by  its  help  do 
something  towards  answering  the  question  :  "What  has  the  General  Missionary  Committee 
been  doing  in  the  Home-field  through  all  these  years  ?  First,  then, 
our  table  shows  that  in  the  sixty-two  years  from  1813  to  1905, 
some  ninety-four  Missions  that  had  been  under  the  care  of  the 
General  Missionary  Committee  were  formed  into  independent  cir- 
cuits, having  on  them  at  the  time  of  their  formation  142  preachers 
and  an  aggregate  membership  of  18,133.  Since  they  achieved 
their  independence  some  of  these  circuits  have  been  divided  again 
and  again;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  there  have  been  one  or  two 
eases  in  which  a  circuit  on  being  let  go  was  found  on  trial  unaUe 
to  walk  alone,  and  so  was  taken  back  on  the  Missions  until  it  should 

be  qualified  for  self-government.      So   I>over  stands  twice  on  our 
rlv.   ,.  DORUICOTT.  ,  , 

table,     it   was   made   a   circuit  in   1*82,    as   also    were  Deal  and 

Folkestone.     In  1885  it  reverted  to  the  Missions ;  but  in  1904,  under  hopeful  con- 
ditions, Dover  and  Deal  took  its  place  amongst  the  circuits  of  the  London  District. 


THE   PERIOD   OF    CONSOLIDATION   AND    CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT.  411 

No  doubt  this  promising  state  of  things  is  largely  due  to  the  fact  that,  for  the  space 
of  ten  years  during  its  second  probation,  the  Dover  Mission  was  under  the  judicious 
superintendency  of  Isaac  Dorricott.  With  the  co-operation  of  such  officials  as  Messrs. 
S.  Lewis  and  G.  Brisley,  and  the  liberality  of  Mrs.  Russell — the  widow  of  the  late 
Thomas  Eussell — steady  advance  was  made.  Old  Peter  Street  (1860)  was  replaced 
by  the  church  and  schools  in  London  Road  (1902),  one  of  the  neatest  and  completest 
blocks  of  property  the  Connexion  possesses  in  the  south  of  England.  Thus  the  old 
mission  and  young  circuit  enters  upon  its  career  under  favourable  auspices,  just  at  the 
time  when  the  ancient  Cinque  Port  seems  destined  to  play  even  a  more  important  role 
in  the  future  than  it  has  done  in  the  past.  This  reference  to  Dover  points  the  moral 
that,  after  seeming  failure  and  trying  delay,  success  may  come  at  last.  The  husband- 
man has  to  exercise  "  long  patience '' ;  so  has  the  General  Missionary  Committee ;  and 
sometimes  the  long  patience  has  its  abundant  reward. 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST   CHUKCH,    LONDON    KOAD,    DOVER. 

To  the  figures  already  given  as  to  the  work  of  the  General  Missionary  Committee, 
there  should  be  added  some  dozen  Missions  which,  after  a  time,  were  either  joined  to 
neighbouring  circuits  as  branches  or  were  incorporated  with  circuits.  A  typical  example 
is  afforded  by  the  case  of  Southampton  which,  after  being  for  five  years  a  mission 
station  became,  in  1848,  a  branch  of  Andover.  Then,  in  1904,  we  have  the  Eastleigh 
Mission  taken  over  and  becoming  part  of  Southampton  First.  So  also  Diss  Mission 
in  1871  became  a  branch  of  Rockland,  and  in  1885  Longton  a  branch  of  Hanley ; 
while  Marlborough,  Richmond,  Haywards  Heath,  etc.,  have  undergone  absorption. 
Geographically  the  chief  work  of  the  General  Missionary  Committee  has  been  carried 
on  in  the  South  Midlands,  the  South  and  West  of  England,  and  in  parts  of  Scotland 
and  Wales.  This  is  only  what  we  might  have  looked  for.  AVhen  the  Committee  was 
re-organized  the  geographical  extension  of  the  Connexion  was  not  complete,  nor  can  we 


412 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 


say  that  it  is  even  now  complete.  There  are  still  spatial  gaps  to  be  filled  up,  tracts  of 
country  and  good-sized  towns  and  villages  where  the  denomination  has  not  got  a  footing. 
The  General  Missionary  Committee  took  up  the  unfinished  work  of  such  missionary 
circuits  as  Hull,  Scotter,  Burland,  Reading,  and  Manchester.  Circuits,  the  outgrowth 
of  the  Committee's  labours,  have  been  formed  in  Cornwall  and  along  the  sea-coast  to 
the"  mouth  of  the  Thames,  including  the  Isle  of  "Wight  and  the  Channel  Isles.  London, 
too,  and  the  Home-counties,  parts  of  Essex  and  Kent,  and  the  tract  of  country  extending 
from  Gloucester  to  Peterborough  have  been  the  field  of  its  operations.  The  circuit 
gains  resulting  from  these  operations  are  registered  on  the  District  stations;  so  that, 
tracing  the  circuits  to  the  Districts  to  which  they  have  been  attached,  we  find  that  the 
two  London  Districts  have  profited  the  most  by  this  accretive  process,  and  next  to 


STROUD  EOAU   PRIMITIVE   METHODIST  CHAPEL,    GLOUCESTER. 

them,  the  Salisbury  and  Southampton,  the  North  British,  and  the  Devon  and  Cornwall 
Districts.  In  1851,  London  was  a  single  circuit  made  from  the  Missions;  in  1881, 
London  XIV.  is  on  the  stations.  Xext  year,  the  cumbrous  method  of  distinguishing 
the  stations  by  ordinal  numbers  was  discarded  in  favour  of  local  designations,  London  I. 
giving  place  to  Hackney  Road,  London  YI.  to  Croydon,  etc.  While  here,  as  elsewhere 
the  division  and  sub-division  of  circuits  has  gone  on  apace,  the  outstanding  fact  remains 
that  the  General  Missionary  Committee  has  handed  over  to  the  two  London  Districts 
eight  metropolitan  and  twenty-seven  provincial  stations,  while  it  has  contributed  seven 
each  to  the  Districts  already  named.  There  is  no  need  to  go  into  details  as  to  the 
gains  of  the  other  Districts  since,  so  far  from  modifying,  they  would  but  confirm  the 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND   CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT. 


413 


FIRST  PREACHING  ROOM  OVER  BAKER'S  SHOP 
IN  GROVE  STREET,  GLOUCESTER. 

ecclesiastics  as  Archbishop  Magee  and 
position  of  Primitive  Methodism  in  these 
places,  no  one,  unacquainted  with  the 
early  history  of  our  Church,  would  suspect 
that  they  had  ever  been  Mission  stations, 
much  less  would  be  suspect  that  they 
were  once  feeble  and  struggling  mission 
stations.  Yet  such  they  were.  The  cause 
of  this  is  perhaps  not  far  to  seek.  They 
all  may  be  said  to  have  been  situated  in 
the  Primitive  Methodist  Mercia,  just  as 
some  of  them  are  within  what  was  the 
old  Mercia  of  the  Heptarchy.  The  name 
is  strictly  appropriate  because  these  towns 
lie  on  the  marches  or  outskirts  of  the 
old  Districts  of  Tunstall,  Nottingham, 
Norwich,  and  Brinkworth ;  hence  they 
lay  remote  from  the  circuits  responsible 
for  their  care  and  were  difficult  to  work. 
In  this  frontier  country  we  have  had 
some  losses.     Once  we  had  circuits  and 


conclusion  already  reached  as  to  where 
the  General  Missionary  Committee  has 
been  doing  its  chief  work  during  the 
last  sixty  years. 

To  give  the  history  of  every  mission 
the  General  Missionary  Committee  has 
undertaken,  or  even  to  sketch  the  history 
of  those  which  have  attained  circuit  rank 
is  plainly  impossible.  If  it  were  possible 
it  would  still  be  unnecessary.  It  will 
be  enough  to  single  out  from  the  rest 
one  or  two  examples  of  successful 
missions,  and,  for  a  combination  of 
reasons,  Gloucester,  Northampton,  Bed- 
ford, and  Peterborough  shall  be  taken 
as  our  samples.  There  are  points  of 
similarity  recognisable  in  all  of  these 
as  well  as  some  points  of  difference. 
They  are  all  important  towns  or  cities, 
three  of  them  being  county  capitals 
famous  in  the  annals  of  Nonconformity, 
while  the  fourth  is  the  seat  of  a  bishopric 
which  has  been  filled  by  such  eminent 
Mandell     Creighton.      From    the    present 


SECOND  PREACHING  PLACE,  RYEOROFT  STREET, 
GLOUCESTER. 


414 


PKIMITIVE   METHODIST    CHURCH. 


missions  bearing  names  now  unfamiliar  to  our  people.  AYelton,  Daventry,  Chacombe, 
Moreton-in-the-Marsh,  Filkins,  no  longer  figure  on  the  list  of  stations.  It  is  well 
we  can  also  point  to  some  substantial  gains  in  this  same  Mercian  land.  That  under 
the  management  of  the  General  Missionary  Committee  the  four  places  already  named 
qualified  themselves  for  circuit  independence ;  that  on  the  foundations  then  laid 
they  have  risen  course  by  course ;  that  Kettering,  the  scene  of  past  failures,  is  now 
one  of  the  Committee's  most  promising  missions — these  are  facts  justificatory  of 
the  policy  of  1843,  and  suggesting  the  hope  that  still  more  old  ground  may  be 
recovered  and  new  ground  won. 

Gloucester,  the  birthplace  of  AThitefield  and  the  home  of  Robert  Raikes,  is  said  to 
have  been  missioned  by  J.  Richards,  the  superintendent  of  Pillawell,  as  early  as  18.'"!  7. 
Though  the  difficulty  and  expense  of  working  the  mission  so  far  from  the  centre  led 
to  its  practical  abandonment,  occasional  open-air  services  were  still  held  in  the  city 
down  to  18-34.  Late  in  '54,  on  the  invitation  of  a  worthy  man — W.  J.  Wellington — 
the  Committee  sent  J.  Howard  as  a  missionary  to  Gloucester.  The  first  nieeting-place 
was  an  upper  room  behind  a  baker's  shop  in  Grove  Street;  then  the  ground-floor  of 


REV.    J.    RICHARDS. 


J.    WELLINGTON. 


REV.    LEVI  NORRIS 


a  house  in  Ryecroft  Street  was  taken,  the  rooms  of  which  could  be  thrown  together  by 
folding-doors.  The  Committee  was  happy  in  its  next  appointment.  In  '56  John  AVenn 
found  a  small  church  of  twenty-one  reported  members,  and  at  once  set  himself  to 
encourage  self-reliance  and  vigorous  methods  of  evangelisation.  Out-door  services  were 
begun.  Some  notable  conversions  took  place— especially  that  of  an  avowed  atheist — 
which  had  for  result  the  bringing  of  the  work  of  the  society  into  public  notice.  In  1858, 
the  first  Barton  Street  Chapel  (now  used  for  business  purposes)  was  opened  by  Robert 
Hartley,  one  of  our  chief  pioneers  in  Queensland,  who  was  then  stationed  at  Bristol. 
As  a  pendant  and  contrast  to  the  views  of  our  first  preaching-places  in  Gloucester, 
we  give  a  view  of  the  Stroud  Road  new  church,  erected  in  1901  under  the  superin- 
tendency  of  Levi  Norris,  at  a  cost  of  £2680.  The  present  Barton  Street  Chapel  was 
opened  in  1882  at  a  cost  of  £3786,  and  Milburn  Street  in  1880. 

Cheltenham's  early  history  resembles  that  of  Gloucester.  It,  too,  was  a  derelict 
mission.  For  two  or  three  years  it  stood  upon  the  stations  as  one  of  the  branches  of 
Brinkworth;  then,  in  1845,  it  disappears;  but  while  Mr.  Wenn  was  on  the  Gloucester 


THE   PERIOD   OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND   CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT.  415 

station  it  was  re-missioned.    He  himself  thus  describes  the  circumstances  in  notes  taken 
from  his  Journal  of  the  time. 

"  In  August  of  this  year  1856,  Mr.  Joseph  Wellington  accompanied  me  to  Cheltenham, 
where  we  had  no  interest  except  in  the  prayers  and  expectations  of  Miss  Mary  Ducker, 
a  Primitive  Methodist  from  Wiltshire.  This  good  sister  had  for  years  been  waiting 
for  a  door  to  be  opened  'of  the  Lord'  in  this  town.  After  some  conversation  we 
informed  her  that  we  had  come  not  merely  to  see  the  beautiful,  and  at  that  time 
especially,  the  renowned  town  of  Cheltenham,  but  to  preach  the  Gospel  in  its  streets  and 
1  gather  a  people  for  the  Lord.'  Thereupon  Miss  D.  said  she  thought  she  knew  of  five  or 
six  persons  who  had  been  Primitives  elsewhere,  but  had  joined  other  Churches,  who 
would  help  to  sustain  the  service.  She  volunteered  to  look  them  up,  but  returned  saying 
that  'they  all  with  one  consent  began  to  make  excuse.'  Consequently,  the  three  of  us 
held  a  service  at  the  top  of  Winchcombe  Street,  after  which  I  asked  the  loan  of  a 
cottage  in  which  to  hold  a  class  meeting.  One  was  offered  and  we  entered  it,  the 
children  gathering  about  the  windows  to  see  what  was  going  on.  After  singing  and 
prayer  and  '  the  relation  of  our  experiences,'  I  asked  Miss  D.  if  she  would  be  our  first 
member  in  the  church  at  Cheltenham.  'We  have  no  church,'  was  her  reply.  'No  ;  but 
we  shall  have,'  I  remarked.  'In  that  case,'  she  went  on,  'I  shall  be  delighted  to  have 
my  name  down  as  the  first  member.'  Accordingly,  having  brought  a  class-book  with 
me,  I  produced  it  and  wrote  her  name  in  it.  She  paid  her  contribution,  and  the  cause 
was  started. 

"  How  often  since  have  I  wished  that  I  had  that  class-book  !  I  should  value  it 
almost  beyond  any  other  book  in  my  possession  ;  for  it  contained  not  only  the  honoured 
name  of  Miss  Ducker,  but  also  a  record  of  progress  in  the  number  and  liberality  of 
members  such  as  I  have  rarely  witnessed  elsewhere.  And  that  progress  and  liberality 
were,  I  am  bound  in  honesty  to  say,  largely  the  result  of  the  modest,  brave,  self-denying, 
unresting  labours  of  the  lady  who  was  not  only  the  first  member  but,  until  the  church 
became  too  large  for  her  to  take  oversight  of  all, — the  'Leader  '  of  the  rest.  Her  whole 
soul  was  bound  up  with  the  prosperity  of  the  cause.  She  never  rested  until  she  had 
obtained  respectable  lodgings  for  me  when  I  was  at  work  in  the  town,  nor  until — when 
we  came  to  have  local  preachers — their  needs  were  provided  for  at  her  expense  in  the 
house  of  a  poor  member. 

"  In  all  weathers  during  the  winter  of  1 856-7  we  were  out-of-doors,  usually  returning 
to  the  cottage  of  a  chimney-sweep — whose  wife  was  a  member — for  prayer  and  class- 
meetings,  and  for  an  occasional  preaching-service  when  the  rain  pelted  us  in 
As  the  winter  waned,  an  empty  chapel,  situated  in  »  slum  off  Winchcombe  Street, 
facetiously  called  '  Mount  Pleasant,'  was  offered  us  on  rent  and  accepted.  But 
ineligible  as  was  its  situation  and  unpretentious  as  were  its  architectural  features,  it 
was  a  great  and  joyful  day  for  us  when  we  took  possession  of  it ;  and  that  joy  was 
enhanced  when  whole  families  were  swept  to  the  Cross  and  into  the  Church  by  the 
high  tides  of  grace  that  were  flowing. 

"Just  prior  to  my  leaving  the  station  in  1859,  »  lady  hearing  of  the  nature  and 
success  of  our  work,  sent  for  me  and  offered  to  sell  us  King  Street  Chapel.  '  At  what 
price?'  I  queried.  '£450.'  'Too  much,'  I  replied.  'Well,  how  much  can  you  give?' 
'  Subject  to  the  approval  of  our  General  Missionary  Committee,  £300.'  '  Well,  you  are 
doing  good  work  and  you  shall  have  it.'  The  bargain  was  struck  but  not  completed 
until  the  arrival  of  my  successor  "  [W.  Mottram,  own  cousin  to  the  famous  George  Eliot]. 

In  closing  his  interesting  narrative  of  the  re-introduction  of  Primitive  Methodism 


41 G  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 

into  this  part  of  Gloucestershire,  Mr.  Wenn  adds:  "On  the  whole  I  have  never  left 
a  station  on  which  I  was  permitted  to  witness  such  signal  displays  of  Gospel  power 
as  on  what  are  now  the  Gloucester  Circuit  and  the  Cheltenham  Mission."  Gloucester 
was  made  a  circuit  in  1697  with  Thomas  Randall  as  its  superintendent,  who  is  now 
spending  the  days  of  his  retirement  in  the  city  with  which  he  has  been  so  closely 
associated. 

Northampton. 

The  beginnings  of  the  Northampton  Mission  are  fully  described  by  Thomas  Bateman. 

'June  30th,  1834. — Having  begun  to  hold  missionary  meetings  and  collect  money 
by  boxes  and  books,  and  having  already  £20  in  hand,  as  we  still  retained  the 
missionary  spirit  and  could  see  no  chance  of  extension  about  this  part  of  the 
country,  we  obtained  the  services  of  James  Hurd  as  a  missionary,  and  we  sent 
him  away  with  directions  to  go  into  the  regions  beyond,  not  only  where  we  as 
a  circuit  had  not  yet  gone,  but  to  where  none  of  the  Primitive  Methodist 
missionaries  had  as  yet  found  their  way.  So  he  set  out,  scarcely  knowing  whither 
he  went.  He  journeyed  as  far  as  Northampton,  where  he  pitched  his  tent  and 
commenced  his  labours. 

Burland's  Northampton  Mission  was  for  a  long  time  hard  and  unproductive  soil,  and 
sorely  tried  the  patience  and  taxed  the  resources  of  the  distant  parent  circuit.  One 
would  like  to  know  the  reason  for  this.  It  could  not  be  that  Northampton  or  Kettering 
was  averse  from  religion  and  unfriendly  to  Dissent.  In  past  years  Northampton  had 
been  favoured  with  the  ministry  of  such  men  as  Philip  Doddridge  and  Dr.  Kyland. 
It  was  at  Paulerspury,  a  few  miles  off,  that  William  Carey  was  born,  and  in  the  river 
Xen,  just  beyond  Doddridge's  chapel,  he  was  publicly  baptized.  At  Kettering,  sturdy 
Andrew  Fuller  exercised  his  ministry,  and  there  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society  was 
formed.  Perhaps  these  very  facts  put  us  on  the  track  of  the  explanation  sought. 
Northampton  was  a  stronghold  of  Dissent,  but  of  a  Dissent  of  a  respectable  and 
self-sufficing  kind,  not  likely  to  take  kindly  to  our  modes  of  evangelism.  The  ground 
was  pre-occupied  and,  it  may  be,  impregnated  with  Calvinism.  Whether  this  was  so 
or  not,  one  thing  is  clear — our  missionaries  found  the  people  unimpressionable.  Their 
ministry  was  not  followed  by  such  crowds  as  had  gathered  to  hear  the  first  missionaries 
in  the  neighbouring  county  of  Leicestershire.  It  was  not  persecution  they  had  to 
complain  of;  but  rather  of  indifference.  The  people  were  difficult  to  get  at;  hard 
to  move.  One  special  reason  for  this  unpropitious  state  of  things  is  alleged  to  have 
been  the  doings  and  disappearance  from  these  parts,  of  the  Eevivalists,  founded  by 
Richard  Winfield.  These  people  once  had  a  strong  footing  in  Northamptonshire, 
but  had  died  out.  Ordinary  persons  found  it  difficult  to  distinguish  between  the 
Revivalists  and  Primitive  Methodists.  They  sang  the  same  hymns,  and  were  much 
alike  in  other  respects;  so  the  public  looked  mistrustfully  on  a  body  of  religionists 
that  might  be  here  to-day  and  gone  to-morrow,  and  turned  aside  to  communities  which 
could,  as  they  thought,  offer  them  better  sureties  as  to  their  permanence.  All  this 
had  to  be  lived  down ;  and  that  took  time. 

The  Memoir  of  John  Petty  affords  ample  evidence  of  the  fact  that  the  two  years— 
1842-4 — spent    by   that  devoted   man  on    the    Northampton    Mission   were    the  most 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND   CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT. 


417 


distressful  period  of  his  life.  Though  now  in  the  prime  of  manhood  as  years  go,  his 
health  was  indifferent,  and  his  strength  severely  taxed  by  the  long,  trying  journeys 
and  exposure.  Besides  this  there  was  a  burdened  chapel  to  give  him  anxiety.  This 
would  be  Horsemarket  Chapel,  built  in  1840,  and  rebuilt  in  1872.  What  troubled 
him  most — he  was  denied  his  wonted  success.  Men's  hearts  seemed  cased  in  mail. 
The  work  of  conversion  flagged.  "  Never,"  says  he,  "  did  I  labour  in  soil  so  unfruitful, 
or  see  such  little  good  resulting  from  my  labours."  He  goes  to  Kettering  and  buys 
a  penny  roll,  and  walks  about  till  the  time  of  service.  He  has  an  uncomfortable  night, 
and  next  day  spends  the  dinner-hour  in  the  fields.  His  luncheon  is  some  bread  and 
cheese  a  kind  body  had  given  him ;  but  he  comforts  himself  with  the  reflection  that 
"  the  God  of  Home  as  well  as  Foreign  Missions  is  his  support  and  strength.''  Then 
he  arises  and  walks  forward  to  Pytchley  and  visits  thirty  or  forty  families.  He  attends 
a  round  of  missionary  meetings  in  another  circuit.  At  Daventry  the  collection  is  put 
off  to  another  meeting ;  while  the  proceeds  of  the  other  three  meetings  totalled  eight 


HORSEMARKET  CHAPEL  (OLD). 

shillings  and  sixpence.  However,  he  philosophically  adds  :  "  The  company  of  Brother 
Wiltshire  and  the  other  preachers  was  profitable  and  agreeable,  and  in  some  measure 
compensated  for  the  bareness  of  the  places." 

In  1852  things  had  not  grown  much  more  promising,  as  we  find  J.  Ijarnes  writing: 
"  It  is  well  known  that  Northamptonshire  has  been  and  still  is,  to  a  great  extent, 
a  barren  soil  for  Christianity  in  the  form  of  Methodism.  Primitive  Methodism  has 
had  to  struggle  with  formidable  and  various  difficulties   for  many  years.  Our 

chapels  have  been  a  source  of  great  grief  and  toil  to  many  of  our  friends,  particularly  in 
Northampton."  He  reports  that  "they  had  just  raised  their  banner  in  the  streets  of 
Towcester "  (where  we  are  afraid  it  has  ceased  to  wave),  "  that  the  mission  is  thirty- 
two  miles  from  end  to  end,  that  they  suffer  from  the  lack  of  local  preachers,  especially 
on  the  Brigstock  and  Kettering  side  of  the  station."  In  1866  the  General  Missionary 
Committee  was  asked  to  take  over  the  Brigstock  side.  This  does  not  appear  to  have 
been  done  ;  but,  in  1868,  the  Raunds  Branch  was  taken  over  as  a  separate  mission, 

D  D 


418 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 


and,  in  1875,  this  became  the  Wellingborough  Circuit.  At  the  long  last  our  Church 
seems  to  have  got  a  firm  hold  of  Kettering,  and  the  omens  are  favourable  that  this 
shoe-town  will  become  the  head  of  a  sound  and  progressive  station.  No  sooner  had 
Northampton  been  granted  independence  in  1856  than  disaster  came  upon  it,  caused 
by  the  misconduct  of  a  junior  travelling  preacher  who  shall  be  nameless.  Much 
against  their  will  those  good  men  and  true,  Dennis  Kendall  and  Reuben  Barron,  had 
to  appeal  for  assistance — December,  1857 — to  the  Auxiliary  Fund,  the  appeal  stating 
that  two  places,  132  members  and  many  hearers  had  been  lost  to  the  station,  while 
many  who  remained  had  become  unsettled. 

Thanks  to  a  succession  of  faithful  and  hard-working  ministers,  and  the  co-operation 
of  the  societies  and  officials,  the  breach  was  in  time  repaired,  and  now  our  Church 

in  Northampton  holds  a  position  in 
striking  contrast  with  that  it  presented 
in  the  first  half  of  its  history.  1876 
saw  the  building  of  Kettering  Road 
Church,  which  ten  years  after  became 
the  head  of  Northampton  Second. 
Theophilus  Wallis,  its  first  superin- 
tendent, was  succeeded  by  George 
Parkin,  B.D.,  and  he,  after  eleven  years 
of  efficient  service,  by  H.  J.  Pickett, 
who  is  still  on  the  ground ;  thus,  for 
twenty  years,  Northampton  .Second  has 
had  but  three  ministers.  From  feeble 
beginnings  Kettering  Road  Society 
has  grown  into  a  strong,  progressive 
church,  with  a  large  Sabbath  School, 
and  one  of  the  best  Sunday  morning 
congregations  in  the  Connexion.  This 
church,  and  Northampton  and  the  dis- 
trict generally,  owes  much  to  the  Gibbs 
family.  Mr.  Gibbs,  sen.,  was  among 
the  first-fruits  of  Primitive  Methodism 
in  Northampton.  On  the  testimony  of  Jesse  Ashworth  (who  was  superintendent  from 
1873  to  '78),  we  learn  that  not  only  was  Mr.  Gibbs  a  useful  class  leader  but  also 
one  of  those  local  preachers  who  would  walk  twenty-two  miles  out,  conduct  several 
services,  and  then  walk  back,  getting  home  at  two  or  three  o'clock  on  Monday  morning. 
Joseph,  his  son,  prospered  in  business,  joined  the  Church,  and  became  useful  in  various 
departments  of  denominational  service.  He  was  Circuit  Steward,  Joint  Treasurer 
of  the  Chapel  Aid  Fund,  Treasurer  of  the  District  Orphanage  Fund,  and  one  of  the 
Connexional  representatives  to  the  Methodist  (Ecumenical  Conference  at  "Washington 
in  1891.  Reverence,  love  of  the  beautiful  both  in  nature  and  art,  and  beneficence 
were  leading  traits  in  his  character.     He  died  March  19th,  1893. 

We  give  the  portrait  also  of  William  Gent,  a  local  celebrity  of  his  time.     His  had 


KETTERING  BOAD  PRIMITIVE  METHODIST    CHAPEL. 
(NORTHAMPTON   II.) 


THE   PERIOD   OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND    CHURCH    DEVELOPMENT. 


419 


been  a  wonderful  conversion ;  and  when  made  a  local  preacher  in  the  late  'forties,  his 
force  of  character,  powerful  voice,  and  ready  utterance  drew  crowds  to  hear  him  in 
the  open-air.     He  passed  away  February  8th,  1882. 


MR.    G.    GIBBS. 


MB.    J.    GIBBS. 


MB.    WILLIAM  GENT. 


Besides  the  two  chapels  already  named  we  may  chronicle  the  facts  that  in  1892 
St.  James'  Hall  was  bought,  afterwards  the  scene  of  a  stiff  and  memorable  education 
fight ;  and  that  in  1899,  Harlestone  Road  Chapel  was  built  under  the  superintendence 
of  Jabez  Bell  who,  as  we  shall  see,  had  made  his  mark  on  the  mission-field. 


HAKLESTONE  BOAD  PBIMITIVE   METHODIST  OHAPEL  (NOBTHAMPTON   I.). 

Bedford. 

The  cradle  of  Primitive  Methodism  in  Bedford  was  rocked  in  storm  and  was  all  but 
swamped.  It  was  March,  1834,  when  Nottingham  Circuit  Quarterly  Meeting  resolved 
to  send  T.  Clements  to  open  a  mission  in  Bedford.  He  was  to  go  in  a  month's  time,  and 
to  be  pledged  in  1835  "if  his  way  opened."  His  way  did  not  open;  for  the  General 
Committee  deeming  him  unsuitable,  declined  to  sanction  his  continuance.  Instead 
of  returning  to  his  station  as  instructed,  he  remained  as  the  head  of  a  society  of 
"Independent  Primitive  Methodists."     As  such  he  struggled  on  for  a  time,  and  then 

d  d  2 


420 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 


besought  Hull  Circuit  to  receive  him  and  his  societies.  That  circuit,  rather  imprudently 
one  cannot  but  think,  acceded  to  the  request,  and  Clements  dropped  the  "  Independent " 
and  again  became  a  Primitive  Methodist.  But  he  and  the  colleague  assigned  him  could 
not  agree,  and  were  both  removed,  and  in  1841   Clements'  name  disappears  from  the 


HASSETT  STREET   CHAPEL.      BEDFORD   FIRhT   CIRCUIT. 

stations.  That  same  year  Jeremiah  Dodsworth  was  made  superintendent  of  the  Bedford 
Mission,  and  threw  himself  into  his  work  with  both  zeal  and  prudence.  He  had  need 
of  both,  for  Clements  returned  to  the  scene  of  his  past  mischief,  drew  away  a  number 


BUNYAN  S    COTTACE,    ELnTOW. 


of  his  former  friends,  and  did  his  best  to  prejudice  the  minds  of  the  public  against 
our  Church  and  its  representatives  in  Bedford.  The  Hull  Circuit  Missionary  Report 
for  1841   has  this  reference  to  the  troubles  of  the  time:  "Bedford  Mission  continues 


THE   PERIOD   OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND    CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT.  421 

its  onward,  its  upward  course — a  subject  this  that  demands  our  most  sincere  and  fervent 
thanks  to  God.  In  this  mission  a  base  and  strenuous  effort  has  been  made  to  malign 
the  Connexion,  and  to  ruin  the  interests  of  Zion  ;  but  God,  even  our  God,  has  been  at 
the  right  hand  of  our  esteemed  friends,  and  hence  they  have  not  been  greatly  moved." 

Elstow  and  Bedford  will  always  be  linked  in  thought  with  John  Bunyan.  It  is 
therefore  of  interest  to  note  that  among  the  places  missioned  by  Mr.  Dodsworth 
was  Elstow,  and  that,  for  a  time,  religious  services  were  held  in  the  very  cottage  where 
Bunyan  first  saw  the  light.  In  1844,  Bedford  had  176  members  and  Northampton  174  ; 
in  1853  the  figures  were — Bedford  217,  and  Northampton  220;  so  that  the  curious 
parallelism  between  the  two  towns  extends  even  to  the  number  of  their  members.  In 
this  same  year  of  '53  the  Committee  reports  the  station  to  be  gradually  acquiring 
strength  and  importance ;  that,  under  the  successive  labours  of  Messrs.  Parrott,  Cooper, 
and  their  colleagues,  it  had  greatly  improved ;  that  in  Bedford  there  was  an  excellent 
chapel  with  a  preacher's  house  attached,  and  five  chapels  in  the  surrounding  villages, 
all  Connexional  property;  and  that  eight  or  ten  other  places  were  served  with  preaching. 
The  mission  was  made  into  an  independent  station  in  1857  with  248  members,  and 
in  1897  the  circuit  was  divided,  Hassett  Street  remaining  the  head  of  Bedford  I., 
while  Cauldwell  Street  became  the  head  of  the  Second  Circuit  with  R.  N.  Wycherley 
as  its  superintendent. 

Peterborough. 

Peterborough  is  another  of  these  District  borderland  towns  which  had  their  early 
Connexional  vicissitudes.  Its  missioning  by  Lynn,  and  its  formation  into  a  circuit  in 
1839,  have  already  been  mentioned  (vol.  ii.  p.  221).  We  have  the  plan  of  the  Circuit 
for  1847  now  before  us,  which  shows  thirteen  preaching  places.  One  is  rather  surprised 
to  find  Brigstock,  first  missioned  by  Northampton  in  1842,  on  this  plan  as  a  mission 
of  Peterborough,  with  Grafton,  Sudborough,  and  Geddington  as  associated  places. 
Yet  this  is  not  so  surprising  as  that  Brigstock  should,  in  1846,  be  found  attached  to 
Pakenham  as  a  mission  ;  for,  after  all,  Peterborough  is  partly  in  Northamptonshire,  while 
Fakenham  is  in  the  heart  of  Norfolk.  Such  chopping  and  changing  as  we  have  here 
shows  how  difficult  it  was  found  to  work  some  of  the  outlying 
places  of  this  geographical  district.  We  notice  among  the  three- 
and-twenty  locals,  all  told,  having  their  figures  on  this  plan,  that 
W.  Edis  is  No.  7  and  Isaac  Edis  No.  12.  When  the  latter  died 
in  May,  1902,  there  passed  away  the  representative  layman  of 
Peterborough  Primitive  Methodism,  whose  life  had  more  than 
spanned  its  history  in  the  city  and  district,  and  who  had  largely 
contributed  to  make  it  what  it  had  become.  At  the  time  of  his 
death  he  had  been  Circuit  Steward  fifty  years,  while  his  first 
wife  was  the  daughter  of  Robert  Lee,  the  Circuit  Steward  of  1847. 
He  had  attended  seventeen  Conferences,  filled  the  offices  of  Sunday  MK-  ISAA0  EDIS- 

School  superintendent,  leader,  local  preacher,  and  Society  Steward.  Throughout  he 
had  been  a  lover  of  Connexional  literature  and  a  liberal  contributor  to  its  institutions. 
Por  a  time  he  was  on  the  Board  of  Guardians,  and  a  member  of  the  County  Council. 


422 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 


No  wonder  his  funeral  was  one  of  the  largest  that  had  taken  place  for  some  [time!  in 
the  city,  or  that  the  London  District  should  mark  its  sense  of  the  loss  it  had  sustained, 
by  deputing  Henry  Carden  to  attend  the  funeral  as  its  representative — a  minister  who, 
as  a  former  superintendent  of  both  Peterborough  and  Northampton,  could  with  full 
knowledge  testify  to  the  worth  and  work  of  the  deceased. 

At  the  Conference  of  1853  the  Ramsey  part  of  the  Peterborough  Circuit,  with 
a  mere  handful  of  members,  was  taken  over  by  the  General  Missionary  Committee, 
and  next  year  Peterborough  itself  was  attached  to  the  mission.  So  Peterborough 
temporarily  fell  out  of  the  list  of  circuits  and  parted  company  with  Norwich  District. 
If  we  inquire  into  the  causes  of  this  decline,  we  must  remember  that   1853-4-5  were 


PETERBOROUGH   NEW   ROAM  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST  CHAPEL. 


the  three  lean  years  of  Norwich  District's  history,  as  also  of  the  Connexion,  judging 
by  the  heavy  successive  decreases  of  the  time.  Norwich  District's  net  decrease  for 
the  triennium  was  1665.  The  action  of  the  political,  economic,  and  ecclesiastical 
causes  which  left  their  mark  on  the  general  numerical  returns  had  full  play  in  the 
Eastern  Counties.*  Emigration  alone  was  accountable  for  the  loss  of  160  members 
of  the  410  reported  as  the  decrease  of  the  Norwich  District  for  1853.  Disastrous 
floods  were  another  adverse  item  not  to  be  left  out  of  the  account.  "  In  some  parts 
of  the  [Norwich]  District,"  says  ^Y.  Garner,  "the  long-continued  and  heavy  rains 
which  fell  during  the  winter,  produced  alarming  floods,  laid  thousands  of  acres  under 
water,  involved  the  destruction  of  property  to  a  vast  extent,  compelled  the  inhabitants 


Tor  these 


causes,  see 


e  ante  vol.  ii.  pp.  374-5 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND    CHDECH   DEVELOPMENT.  423 

to  escape  for  their  lives,  broke  up  preaching-stations,  scattered  societies,  and  seriously 
interrupted  the  wonted  labours  of  the  preachers ;  heavy  losses  were  the  unhappy 
result."*  In  the  light  of  these  facts  it  is  probably  more  than  a  coincidence  that  by  1854 
the  membership  of  Peterborough  had  been  reduced  to  one  hundred,  and  that  it  passed 
into  the  hands  of  the  General  Missionary  Committee. 

From  1855,  under  the  three  years'  superintendency  of  William  Freear,  the  mission 
began  steadily  to  revive.  During  the  eight  years'  term  of  his  successor — Jesse 
Ashworth  (1858-66) — much  was  accomplished  for  the  numerical  and  material  progress 
of  what,  in  1862,  became  again  the  Peterborough  Circuit,  standing  next  to  Northampton 
and  Bedford  on  the  stations  of  London  First  District.  The  New  Koad  Church  was 
built  in  the  city,  and  many  country  chapels  erected.  It  would  be  difficult  to  say  how 
much  Peterborough  Circuit  owes  to  Jesse  Ashworth ;  for,  after  his  superannuation 
in  1879,  he  ultimately  settled  down  at  Etton,  near  the  city,  and  continued  to  take 
a  deep  interest  in  all  that  concerned  the  station.  He  watched,  and  assisted  in,  its 
development.  He  also  to  the  very  close  of  his  long  life  of  eighty-four  years  preached 
and  lectured  throughout  the  Connexion,  and  was  welcomed  wherever  he  went.  On  the 
day  of  his  interment  in  the  quiet  churchyard  of  Glinton  (February  19th,  1904),  it 
was  noticed  that  three  local  rectors  were  present,  and  two  of  them  subsequently  in 
their  parish  churches  drew  the  attention  of  their  congregations  to  his  life  and  example. 
It  remains  finally  to  be  noted  that,  like  Northampton  and  Bedford,  Peterborough 
Circuit  has  been  divided.  This  was  done  in  1898  when  Cobden  Street  Chapel,  built 
on  a  site  presented  by  Mr.  I.  Edis,  became  the  head  of  the  Second  Circuit. 

*  "Address  of  the  Primitive  Methodist  British  Conference  to  the  Societies  in  Foreign  Missions."— 
Minutes,  1853. 


42-1  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 


CHAPTER.   V. 

THE  COLONIAL   EXPANSION   OF  PKIMITIYE    METHODISM. 

TNCE  Professor  Seeley  wrote  Lis  famous  book  on  "  The  Expansion  of  England" 
we  have  gained  a  new  conception  of  the  course  and  meaning  of  English 
history.  He  showed  that  the  development  of  constitutional  lilierty, 
culminating  in  1088,  was  followed  by  a  still  more  remarkable  development — 
the  Expansion  of  England  into  Greater  Britain.  The  significance  of  this  latter 
development  is  lost  upon  the  historians  of  the  old  school,  so  that  when  they  have 
described  the  successful  struggle  for  liberty  they  sink  the  historian  in  the  mere  annalist 
or  chronicler.  What  they  have  written  of  the  later  stage  of  our  history  seems,  by 
contrast,  tame  and  uninteresting.  As  one  reads  of  the  conflicts  between  King  and 
Parliament,  of  the  rise  and  downfall  of  ministries  and  the  rest,  one  might  fancy 
oneself  looking  upon  the  mimetic  play  of  feeble  shadows  trying  to  do  over  again  what 
had  already  been  done  long  since  by  the  stalwart  figures  of  the  past.  What  is  set  before 
us  somehow  lacks  vraisemblance.  What  is  wrong"?  The  historian,  Professor  Seeley 
tells  us,  needs  vastly  to  enlarge  his  stage,  to  open  a  new  scene,  and  bring  into  the 
foreground  new  actors  ;  then  there  will  be  no  reason  to  complain  that  the  dramatic 
movement  is  lacking  in  interest. 

Now,  though  we  have  to  work  on  a  much  smaller  canvas  than  Professor  Seeley,  we 
may  take  warning  and  gather  some  useful  hints  from  his  imperial  presentation  of  facts. 
If  there  be  any  danger  of  our  interest  flagging  as  we  follow  the  later  history  of  our 
Church,  that  interest  should  be  stimulated  anew  by  seeing  that,  from  1843  and  onwards 
for  sixty  years,  we  were  taking  our  part  in  that  great  movement  which  Professor  Seeley 
felicitously  calls  the  Expansion  of  England.  If  one  kind  of  development  had  ceased, 
another  development  on  a  much  wider  scale  then  began.  It  is  only  in  a  general  sense 
that  1843  marked  the  termination  of  the  Home-missionary  period  of  our  Church. 
But,  even  admitting  that  the  most  romantic  and  heroic  period  of  our  history  coincided 
with  the  beginnings  of  the  Industrial  revolution  in  England,  we  have  only  to  lift  our 
eyes  to  see  this  period  beginning  again — in  1843 — in  the  new  lands  under  the.  Southern 
Cross  or  in  the  vast  stretches  of  Canada,  whither  our  missionaries  had  followed  the 
tide  of  emigration.  In  Great  Britain  a  good  work  had  been  done  under  the  peculiar 
conditions  of  a  very  old  civilisation  :  in  Canada  and  Australasia  our  fathers  succeeded 
in  laying  the  foundations  of  churches  in  lands  raw  in  their  newness  ;  and  they  did  so 
under  conditions  so  strange  and  difficult  as  to  test  their  physical  stamina,  their  resource- 
fulness, and  their  faith.  No  wonder  that  many  failed ;  the  still  greater  wonder  is 
that  so  many  remained  firm,  and  did  work  that  abides — work  of  such  a  quality  as 
justifies  us  in  regarding  them  as  pioneer  missionaries  of  the  first  order.    It  is  a  thousand 


THE  PERIOD  OF  CONSOLIDATION  AND  CHURCH  DEVELOPMENT.       425 

pities  that  the  projected  History  of  our  Foreign  and  Colonial  Missions  has  not  been 
written, *  for  it  would  certainly  have  contained  chapters  quite  as  romantic  as  any  found 
in  the  life  of  "  Peter  Cartwright,  the  Backwoods  Preacher,"  while  it  would  have  done 
justice  to  such  outstanding  men  as  R.  Ward,  J.  Long,  J.  Sharpe,  R.  Hartley,  M.  Clarke, 
and  others  whose  names  will  come  before  us — men  who  gave  proof  of  higher  qualities 
than  those  of  endurance  and  courage.  The  remembrance  of  these  men  and  their 
doings  is  our  permanent  possession. 

True,  our  Canadian  and  Australasian  churches,  with  the  exception  of  those  of  New 
Zealand,  have  left  us,  and  some  may  think  the  knowledge  of  this  fact  enough  to  discount 
any  interest  which  might  be  felt  in  their  founding  and  development.  But  this  would 
be  to  take  a  very  insular  and  short-sighted  view  of  the  matter.  The  history  of  our 
Colonial  Missions  is  no  mere  parenthesis  having  no  close  organic  connection  with  the 
rest  of  the  narrative.  The  enthusiasm  of  the  'forties  and  'fifties  for  Colonial  missions 
was  the  old  missionary  passion  finding  a  new  outlet  and,  as  we  have  said,  it  provi- 
dentially fitted  into  that  great  movement  still  going  on — the  expansion  of  England 
into  Greater  Britain.  On  the  forefront  then  of  this  chapter,  we  record  the  facts  that 
our  contribution  to  the  Methodist  Church  of  Canada  was  8223  members,  and  to  the 
Methodist  Church  of  Australasia,  11,683.  The  Primitive  Methodists  of  the  U.S.A. 
number  6834  ;  while  there  still  remain  in  New  Zealand  2536  members  who  are  in 
communion  with  the  parent  Church,  making  in  the  aggregate  29,276,  a  number  of 
adherents  quite  sufficient  to  constitute  a  respectable  denomination,  and  a  number 
actually  in  excess  of  those  found  combined  in  the  two  denominations  of  the  Independent 
Methodists  and  Wesleyan  Reform  Union. 

In  1835  the  European  settlers  of  Australia,  including  Tasmania,  amounted  to  80,000. 
By  1851  the  population  had  risen  to  350,000.  The  discovery  in  that  year  of  the  gold- 
fields  caused  a  sudden  and  enormous  rush  of  immigration  from  all  parts  of  the  world. 
We  have  not  the  emigration  statistics  for  1851-2;  but  the  returns  issued  by  the 
Board  of  Trade  show  that  during  the  thirty-six  years — 1853-88 — 1,324,018  emigrants 
left  British  ports  for  Australasia.  Amongst  these  were  many  who  had  been  members 
and  adherents  of  our  Church — how  many  we  shall  never  know.  It  could  not  have 
been  otherwise.  Our  work  has  largely  been  amongst  the  class  which  is  as  sensitive 
to  economic  and  social  conditions  as  the  barometer  is  sensitive  to  atmospheric  changes. 
Our  adherents  have  been  migratory — not  from  choice  but  often  from  grim  necessity. 
The  closing  of  mines  and  factories,  the  fluctuations  of  trade,  the  decay  of  home- 
industries  and  of  the  villages — these,  and  the  play  of  a  hundred  similar  causes,  have 
often  made  havoc  of  our  societies.  Relatively,  no  denomination  has  suffered  more 
from  "removals"  than  ours.  But  it  is  well  to  remember  that,  while  emigration 
(limiting  ourselves  to  that  for  the  present)  has  often  weakened,  and  sometimes  even 
depleted  our  societies,  and  been  responsible  for  much  Connexional  leakage,  it  has  yet 
worked  out  a  counterbalancing  advantage.     "They  that  were  scattered  abroad"  became 

*  The  reference  is  to  the  Resolution  of  the  Conference  of  1892.  "  That  as  it  will  be  the  Jubilee 
of  the  formation  of  our  Missionary  Society  next  year,  we  deem  it  desirable  that  a  history  of  our 
missionary  work  be  written,  and  we  request  the  Revs.  John  Atkinson  and  James  Travis  to  undertake 
the  work." 


420  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 

the  cause  and  occasion  of  our  Colonial  Missions.  It  was  by  a  process  of  natural 
expansion  our  Colonial  Missions  were  established.  It  was  so  in  the  United  States 
of  America,  and  in  Canada.  It  was  so  also  in  Australia,  as  we  must  now  briefly 
try  to  show. 

Among  the  early  settlers  in  South  Australia  (Adelaide)  were  several  who  had  been 
adherents  of  Primitive  Methodist  societies  in  various  parts  of  the  fatherland.  These 
drew  together  and,  on  July  26th,  1840,  they  held  an  open-air  service  in  the  streets 
of  Adelaide,  and  the  same  evening  met  for  worship  in  the  house  of  Mr.  Wiltshire,  and 
organized  themselves  into  a  society.  From  this  time  church-life  proceeded  on  the  lines 
they  had  been  accustomed  to  in  the  old  country.  Mr.  Bullock  "  from  Yorkshire " 
gave  them  a  site  of  land  for  a  small  chapel,  which  was  opened  October,  1840.  The 
society  held  a  (Quarterly  Meeting  in  March,  1841,  when  it  was  found  there  were 
10  members,  7  local  preachers,  and  22  Sunday  School  scholars.  Thus  there  was 
a  Primitive  Methodist  church  "in  being"  at  the  Antipodes  as  early  as  1840,  though 
it  was  some  years  before  it  found  official  recognition  in  the  Minutes  of  Conference. 
The  home-circuits  of  Darlaston  and  Oswestry,  to  which  two  of  the  leading-spirits  of 
the  Adelaide  society  had  belonged,  were  urgently  requested  to  send  out  a  missionary. 
But  the  responsibility  was  too  heavy  for  even  these  enterprising  circuits  to  undertake. 
Rather  did  it  seem  that  so  weighty  a  business  should  be  carried  through  by  the 
Connexion  as  a  whole ;  and  the  matter  came  under  consideration  at  the  Conference 
of  1842.  During  the  delay,  and  while  discussion  as  to  ways  and  means  was  going 
on,  the  Bottesford  Circuit  threw  out  the  happy  suggestion  that  the  mission  should  be 
sustained  by  the  Sunday  School  children  of  the  societies  throughout  the  Connexion. 
But  though  the  suggestion  was  enthusiastically  taken  up  and  the  required  means  soon 
forthcoming,  there  was  still  further  delay,  this  time  caused  by  the  difficulty  of  securing 
right  men  for  the  work.  During  this  pause  the  famous  missionary  meeting  was  held 
at  Old  Cramlington,  which  enlarged  the  scope  and  field  of  the  contemplated  mission 
by  the  inclusion  of  ZS'ew  Zealand.  It  is  evident  that  Robert  Ward  had  originally 
been  designated  for  Australia,  but  now  his  destination  was  changed  for  'Sew  Zealand ; 
while  Joseph  Long  of  Darlington  Circuit  and  John  Wilson  of  Ipswich  Circuit  were 
designated  for  Australia.  After  unaccountable  delay,  Mr.  Long  and  his  colleague 
sailed  June  12th,  1844,  six  weeks  after  Mr.  Ward,  and  after  four  months'  voyage 
arrived  safely  at  Port  Adelaide.  So  there  quietly  slipped  on  to  the  stations  of  1845, 
the  lines : —  -.-      „,         ,, 

Jew  Plymouth, 

Xeiv  Zealand. 

E.  Ward. 

South  Australia. 

J.  Long. 

J.  Wilson. 

There  the  lines  stand  at  the  end  of  the  Home  Missions,  undistinguished  by  any 
prominence  or  peculiarity  of  type  or  display,  as  though  nobody  was  aware  of  their 
significance.  What  concerns  us  now  to  note,  however,  is  the  fact  that  when  the  two 
missionaries  landed  at  Port  Adelaide  it  was  as  the  ministers  of  a  church  which  had  been 
in  existence  and  at  work  four  years  and  three  months ! 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND    CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT. 


42^ 


JOSEPH   LONG. 


What  was  primarily  and  markedly  true  of  South  Australia  was  also  true  without 
exception  of  all  the  Australian  colonies.  Adelaide  may  stand  as  the  type  of  the  way 
in  which  Primitive  Methodist  societies  were  first  established  and  extended  in  the 
Colonies.  So  it  was  in  New  South  Wales,  the  premier  colony 
of  Australia.  Certain  persons  resident  in  Sydney  forwarded  to 
Adelaide,  1200  miles  off,  an  urgent  request  for  a  missionary. 
In  response  to  this  request,  J.  Wilson  went  to  Sydney  in  the 
spring  of  1847.  In  this  one  case,  however,  the  principle  of  a 
church  before  a  minister  did  not  work  well.  A  false  start 
was  made  with  consequences  that  a  little  preliminary  sifting 
and  disciplining  might  have  obviated.  "  The  men  who  had  taken 
the  lead  in  sending  for  a  missionary  proved  to  be  of  question- 
able character,  and  their  reputation  reflected  no  credit  upon  the 
infant  cause."*  The  bright  prospects  at  Sydney,  and  at  Morpeth, 
a  hundred  miles  away,  were  soon  obscured.    Mr.  Wilson  succumbed 

to  the  difficulties  he  met  with  at 
Morpeth  and  withdrew ;  while  E.  Tear, 
who  had  been  sent  out  from  England, 
struggled  along  with  a  faithful  remnant 
to  build  a  small  chapel  at  Sydney, 
opened  in  1849.  In  1854,  when 
J.  Sharpe  arrived  from  England,  there 
was  but  one  mission  in  New  South 
Wales  with  116  members. 

The  founding  of  our  Church  in 
Victoria  was  in  its  circumstances  almost 
a  replica  of  that  of  Adelaide.  A  group 
of  recently-arrived  immigrants  formed 
themselves  into  a  class  on  January  21st, 
1849,  and  held  an  open-air  service  on 
Flag-staff  Hill.  Already  an  urgent  request  had  been  sent  to  England  for  a  missionary ; 
the  foundation-stone  of  a  small  chapel  in  La  Trobe  Street  had  been  laid,  and  a  Quarterly 
Meeting,  held  December,  1849,  had  drawn  up  a  statement  of 
the  society's  position  and  prospects  .  for  transmission  to  London. 
But  even  while  they  were  doing  it,  John  Ride,  the  veteran 
missionary,  was  far  on  his  outward  voyage,  arriving  at  Port  Philip, 
January  17th,  1850.  The  wisdom  of  this  appointment  may  well 
be  questioned.  Primitive  Methodism  never  had  a  more  laborious 
or  capable  missionary  than  John  Ride,  but  he  was  now  fifty-five 
years  of  age.  Failing  health  soon  necessitated  his  superannuation 
and  Michael  Clarke  stepped  into  the  place  he  vacated.  At  this 
time  there  were  in  the  Colony  of  Victoria  two  stations — Melbourne 
and  Geelong  with  133  members. 

Turning  now  to  Tasmania  we  meet  with  the  same  interesting 

*  Petty's  History,  p.  484. 


PRIMITIVE    JIETHODIKT  CHAPEL,    HOBART  TOWN, 
(18G1). 


E.  C.   PRITOHAKD. 


428  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 

class  of  facts.  In  the  'fifties,  among  the  immigrants  who  settled  in  the  north  and 
north-east  of  the  island,  were  many  hailing  from  East  Anglia,  including  as  a  matter 
of  course  some  who  had  been  members  and  local  preachers.  These  held  a  camp 
meeting  on  a  hill  now  forming  part  of  Launceston,  November  28th,  1858,  at  which 
the  Rev.  J.  Lindsay,  a  Presbyterian  minister,  took  a  prominent  part.  The  little  band — 
twelve  in  number — formed  themselves  into  a  class,  and  sent  £60  as  their  contribution 
towards  meeting  the  expense  of  sending  a  missionary.  In  1858,  J.  Langham  arrived 
as  the  first  missionary,  and  he  was  soon  followed  by  J.  A.  Foggon  and  E.  C.  Pritchard. 
The  latter — still  happily  surviving  in  the  home-land — was  the  pioneer  of  our  Church 
to  Hobart  Town,  the  capital  of  the  island.  Its  first  chapel,  still  in  use,  was  bought 
from  a  branch  of  the  Presbyterians  in  1861.  It  was  in  this  chapel  Dr.  Paton  and  his 
companions  were  first  welcomed  in  the  Southern  world  as  missionaries,  Mr.  Pritchard 
being  present  and  taking  part  in  that  service. 

Lastly,  we  have  Queensland,  the  youngest  Australian  Colony,  which  affords  another 
instance  of  a  people  "  prepared  of  the  Lord  "  asking  and  waiting  for  a  missionary,  but 
not  waiting  with  folded  arms.  "\V.  Colley,  a  native  of  Strensall  near  York,  was  in 
1860,  our  pioneer  missionary  in  Queensland.  The  first  chapel  in  the  colony  was  that 
of  Fortitude  Valley,  a  suburb  of  Brisbane,  built  on  a  site  of  land  given  by  James  Graham 
who,  years  before,  had  proposed  in  his  heart  that  if  ever  a  preacher  should  come  to  this 
part  of  the  country  this  spot  should  be  given  to  the  people  of  his  early  choice.*  In 
1863,  J.  Buckle  was  appointed  to  Brisbane  and  Robert  Hartley  to  Rockhampton,  and 
each  did  splendid  work  in  establishing  and  extending  our  denominational  interests  in 
their  respective  centres.  It  shows  that  big  maps  are  indispensable  where  Australian 
matters  are  in  question  when  we  find  Mr.  Buckle  telling  us  that,  when  in  Brisbane  in 
1866,  his  nearest  colleague  in  Rockhampton  was  separated  from  him  a  distance  of 
441  miles  by  the  overland  route,  or  550  by  sea — a  distance  as  great  as  that  between 
London  and  Edinburgh.t 

Colonial  Missions  in  the  Providential  Order. 

We  have  preferred  a  high  claim  for  Primitive  Methodism  in  its  first  period — that 
it  did  much  to  prevent  a  national  revolution  and  greatly  helped  to  pave  the  way  for 
peaceful  reform.  Now  the  claim  is  made  that  by  its  Colonial  Missions,  which  were 
a  marked  feature  of  its  second  period,  our  Church,  along  with  others,  rendered  a  national 
service.  By  its  pioneer  work  amongst  the  pioneers  of  the  new  lands  it  helped  to 
"prepare  the  way  of  the  Lord,"  and  assisted  in  laying  the  foundations  of  our  Colonial 
Empire  in  righteousness.  It  is  not  claimed  that  our  Church  did  all  that  it  might  have 
done  in  this  behalf,  but  it  was  early  in  the  field,  toiled  hard  in  its  preventive  and 
constructive  work ;  nor,  as  the  facts  already  given  show,  did  it  toil  in  vain. 

One  has  only  to  ask  :  "  AVhat  would  have  been  the  result  for  Greater  Britain  and  the 
world  if,  when  the  tide  of  immigration  was  rolling  in  on  the  new  lands  with  such 
volume  in  the  'forties  and  'fifties,  all  the  Churches  at  home  had  with  one  consent  taken 

*  Primitive  Methodist  Magazine,  1861,  p.  119. 
t  Xen-  South  Wales  Primitive  Methodist  Messenger,  April,  1862. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND   CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT.  429 

up  a  waiting  attitude  and  said,  '  Let  us  go  on  for  a  time  as  we  have  been  going  on,  and 
look  after  our  home-population.  When  the  rush  is  over,  and  the  gold-fever  has  abated, 
and  the  settlements  and  the  cities  have  got  a  little  age  upon  them, — thm  we  will  send 
missionaries  with  the  Gospel,  and  take  possession  of  these  new  lands  in  the  name  of 
Christ.'  "  Why  then  it  would  have  been  too  late.  The  tares  the  devil  had  industriously 
sown  while  the  Churches  were  sleeping  would  have  been  coming  up  vigorously.  The 
mischief  would  have  been  done.  It  would  have  been  like  applying  salt  to  flesh  too 
long  exposed  to  the  sun.  It  is  a  truism  that  when  men  lose  touch  with  Christian 
civilisation — take  a  plunge  into  an  unaccustomed  medium — they  are  in  danger  of 
throwing  off  much  that  Christian  civilisation  has  given  them.  Whether  it  be  at 
Californian  diggings  or  Australian  gold-fields,  at  "  Roaring  Camp "  or  Burra  Burra 
or  Ballarat,  in  the  backwoods  of  Canada  or  the  Bush  of  Australia,  it  is  the  easiest 
thing  in  the  world  for  character  to  deteriorate.  There  is  a  tendency  to  revert  to 
primitive  rudeness.  Eeligion  with,  its  sweet  and  regular  observances  is  never  more 
needed  than  it  is  under  such  conditions  of  life.  As  well  might  the  dweller  amid 
malarial  swamps  forget  to  bring,  or  throw  away,  his  Peruvian  bark.  Human  nature 
being  what  it  is,  the  pressing  duty  of  the  Home  Churches  at  the  time  we  have  reached 
was  to  prevent  the  deterioration  and  lapse  of  Englishmen  who  had  gone  beyond  the 
seas.  Beyond  that,  it  was  to  insure  that  religion  should  be  incorporate  with  the 
embryonic  life  of  states  and  nations  yet  to  be,  so  that  religion  might  grow  with  their 
growth  and  become  strong  in  their  strength. 

The  Colonial  Missions  were  much  in  the  thought  of  Primitive  Methodists  forty  and 
fifty  years  ago.  The  Magazine  and  Missionary  Notices  of  the  time  give  much  space 
to  intelligence  from  the  various  fields  as  to  the  arrival  of  missionaries,  the  establish- 
ment of  societies,  the  building  of  chapels,  etc.  It  is  not  necessary  for  us  even  to 
epitomise  all  this.  These  items  were  the  chronicles  of  a  day.  But  in  these  communi- 
cations we  occasionally  meet  with  matter  of  deeper  import.  Some  of  the  more 
thoughtful  of  the  missionaries  write  as  though  they  would  fain  supply  those  "  bigger 
maps ''  we  have  spoken  of,  and  help  their  readers  to  study  them  through  colonial  eyes. 
They  set  themselves  to  remove  misconceptions  and  prejudices,  and  to  make  it  clear 
how  great  are  the  differences  between  evangelistic  work  in  Canada,  Australia,  and 
New  Zealand,  and  the  same  work  as  carried  on  in  the  old  country.  They  emphasise 
the  special  difficulties  the  colonial  evangelist  is  everywhere  confronted  with.  Thus, 
level-headed  Michael  Clarke  once  and  again  reminds  his  compatriots  in  the  old  land 
of  these  difficulties,  and  makes  them  the  basis  of  a  claim  upon  their  sympathy 
and  patience. 

"Here  we  are,  in  a  foreign  land,  with  its  often  debilitating  climate,  interminable 
forests,  scattered  and  migratory  population,  partly  indicated  and  half-formed  roads, 
pursuing  our  work  isolated,  and  frequently  discouraged  by  the  delirious  excitement 
of  gold-getting,  the  inordinate  habits  of  speculation,  enterprise,  and  extortion, 
drunkenness,  the  hydra-headed  monster-crime  of  this  country,  antagonistic  to  the 
spread  of  the  Gospel." — {Miujuzine,  1859,  p.  567). 

At  times  the  missionary  speaks  out  still  more  plainly  concerning  the  rapid  deterioration 
of  character  which  sets  in— for  which  the  "  fell  lust  of  gold "  is  mainly  responsible. 


430  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 

As  one  reads  it  becomes  clear  that  the  good  men  who  founded  the  societies  in  Adelaide, 
Melbourne,  and  the  other  chief  cities  of  Australia  were  after  all  but  a  faithful 
"remnant,"  the  mere  salvage  from  the  crowd  of  professedly  Christian  emigrants. 

"There  are  many,  we  fear,  who  forget  to  bring  their  religion  on  board  with 
them  ;  many  more  who  throw  it  overboard  before  they  reach  the  shores  of 
Australia  ;  and  more  still  who  on  reaching  these  shores,  become  swamped  in  the 
morass  of  its  engrossing  worldliness." — (W.  Calvert  in  Magazine,  1855,  p.  369). 

"  Many  of  our  members  of  course  are  noble  exceptions  to  this  worldliness ;  but 
some  (I  speak  it  with  the  deepest  sorrow)  prefer  going  into  neighbourhoods  where 
the  means  of  grace  can  never  reach  them  ;  far  away  into  the  bush,  and  all  for  the 
sake  of  a  little  gain  which  often  turns  out  to  be  no  gain  at  all,  but  a  serious  temporal 
loss,  and  of  course  invariably  a  spiritual  one."  * 

One  concrete  case  is  better  than  any  number  of  generalised  statements.  One  out  of 
many  such  we  give,  from  the  experience  of  a  missionary  who  rode  out  from  Bathurst 
to  see  for  himself  what  the  moral  and  spiritual  condition  of  the  people  was  like. 
"I  stopped,"  he  writes,  "another  down-the-river  man.  'It's  no  use,'  said  he,  'for  you 
to  take  any  trouble  with  us  old  hands  ;  we're  hardened.  It's  three-and-twenty  years 
since  I  spoke  to  one  of  your  sort,  and  it's  no  use  deceiving  you — I  don't  believe 
I  have  a  soul;  it's  dead  and  done  with.'" — (Magazine,  1858,  p.  291). 

No  more  witnesses  need  be  cited  to  prove  how  urgent  was  the  need  fifty  years  ago 
for  pushing  forward  the  Australian  Missions.  The  more  far-seeing  were  chiefly  moved 
by  the  reflection  that  men  "  whose  souls  were  precious  in  Christ's  sight''  were  in  danger 
of  losing  the  very  faculty  for  religion,  as  though  their  souls  were  "dead  and  done  with.'' 
Men  whose  souls  were  dead  within  them  would  have  made  but  sorry  empire-builders. 
The  appeal  was  taken  up  and  pressed  home  by  the  authorities — notably  by  the  Editor. 
A  stirring  article  from  his  pen  appeared  in  the  Magazine  for  1855  under  the  title, — 
"  Great  Want  of  more  Missionaries  for  our  Canadian  and  Australian  Missions ;  an  Appeal 
to  Preachers,  Missionary  Collectors,  and  the  Friends  of  our  Missions.''  To  Mr.  Petty, 
next  to  the  demands  of  the  work  at  home,  the  duty  of  the  hour  was  to  strengthen 
and  extend  the  Missions  in  the  Colonies.  "  Shall  we,"  he  asked,  "  as  a  section  of  the 
Church  neglect  our  duty  to  our  blessed  Saviour,  and  to  our  brethren  and  countrymen 
who  have  emigrated  to  Canada  and  Australia,  and  who  loudly  call  for  sympathy  and 
assistance  1 "  He  speaks  of  the  Connexion's  "  manifest  duties  to  our  Colonies  abroad." 
"We  have  not  at  present,"  he  goes  on  to  say,  "the  means  of  engaging  in  a  mission  to 
the  heathen,  but  we  have  abundant  means  of  engaging  largely  in  Colonial  as  well  as 
in  Home  and  City  and  Town  Missions.  Oh,  that  we  may  knoiu  our  mission,  listen 

devoutly  to  the  calls  of  Providence,  and  enter  fully  those  fields  of  usefulness  to  which 
we  are  invited." 

The  facts  and  appeals  published  in  our  denominational  serials  were  not  without 
effect.  A  group  of  Newcastle  officials,  whose  names  have  come  before  us,  jointly  con- 
tributed £25.  That  may  now  appear  a  trifling  sum  but,  in  forwarding  the  amount  to 
the  Treasurer,  George  Charlton  wrote  words  which  showed  that  he  and  his  friends 

*"  Thoughts  on  the  Difficulties  of  the  Missionary  "Work  in  Australia,"  by  an  Australian 
Missionary. — {Magazine,  1862,  p.  569). 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CONSOLIDATION    AND    CHURCH    DEVELOPMENT.  431 

had  got  the  true  perspective  :  "  The  importance  of  the  Australian  Colonies  at  this 
crisis  cannot  be  over-rated.  The  future  stability,  progress,  and  religious  character  of 
that  important  country  depend  to  a  great  extent  on  the  efforts  of  this  generation." 
These  are  weighty  words,  and  doubtless  they  were  needed  at  the  time ;  for,  in  the 
'fifties  and  early  'sixties,  there  were  those  who  almost  resented  the  fact  that  we  had 
no  "  Foreign  "  Missions  in  the  true  acceptation  of  that  term.  They  chafed  under  the 
postponement  of  missions  to  the  heathen  while  attending  to  the  wants  of  the  colonists 
who,  it  was  hinted,  ought  by  this  time  to  be  well  able  to  look  after  themselves.  These 
opponents  or  lukewarm  supporters  of  the  current  Missionary  policy  needed  to  have 
brought  home  to  them  the  significance — in  view  of  the  future — of  the  work  that 
was  being  done.  We,  too,  as  we  look  at  the  matter  historically,  may  well  ponder 
George  Charlton's  words.  The  "this  generation"  he  spoke  of  has  passed;  but  its 
"  efforts "  were  not  in  vain.  Those  efforts  were  timed  by  Providence  and  fitted  into 
the  providential  order.  To  us  who  occupy  the  vantage-ground  of  a  new  century  the 
marvellous  advance  of  our  Colonies  is  a  most  impressive  fact.  In  view  of  that 
advance,  which  is  bound  to  go  on  beyond  any  limit  we  can  set,  who  can  fail  to  see 
that  what  was  done  for  the  Colonies  in  the  middle  period  of  our  history  was  wise 
husbandry  ?  If  that  were  a  waste  of  time  and  effort,  then  is  the  sower  who  goes  forth 
to  sow  foolishly  spendthrift  of  both.  What  was  done  was  done  for  God  and  for  God's 
redeemed  world,  and  whether  the  results  be  surnamed  after  us  or  not  is  a  matter 
of  infinitely  small  moment. 

Progress  op  the  Australian  Districts  until  their  Separation. 

We  will  briefly  glance  at  the  progress  of  the  Australian  Missions,  taking  them  in 
the  order  of  their  formation.  Joseph  Long,  our  pioneer  missionary  in  South  Australia, 
remained  at  Adelaide  until  the  early  part  of  1850,  when  he  removed  to  New  Zealand, 
in  which  new  colony  we  shall  soon  see  him  also  doing  excellent  pioneer  service.  At  this 
time  there  were  two  mission  stations  in  South  Australia — Adelaide  and  Mount  Barker, 
with  143  and  90  members  respectively.  W.  Whitefield  arrived  from  England  in 
December,  1851,  for  the  purpose  of  superintending  the  new  mission  at  Kooringa, 
about  one  hundred  miles  from  Adelaide,  where  were  the  famous  Burra  Burra  copper- 
mines.  He  had  no  sooner  begun  his  labours  in  this  apparently  promising  district 
than  the  gold-fever  broke  out ;  and  when  gold  holds  out  its  lure  it  is  not  copper 
that  is  going  to  keep  men  back.  So  the  Burra  was  forsaken  and  the  mines  closed 
for  want  of  men  to  work  them.  Even  Adelaide  was  "  almost  deserted  by  its  able- 
bodied  male  population,  and  its  recently  flourishing  settlements  were  reduced  to  a 
comparative  wilderness."*  The  missionary  in  charge  thought  it  bis  duty  to  follow 
the  greater  part  of  his  flock  to  the  diggings,  and  Mr.  Whitefield  repaired  to  Adelaide 
to  look  after  the  enfeebled  societies  left  without  a  pastor.  For  this  service  he  received 
the  thanks  of  the  Home  Committee. 

A  good  deal  of  wastage  went  on  amongst  the  pioneer  preachers  of  all  the  Colonies — 
of  Adelaide  amongst  the  rest.  There  were  occasional  withdrawals,  early  superan- 
nuations  through   physical   breakdown,    invalidings   home,   etc.      Nor  is   this   at   all 

*  Conference  Address,  1853. 


432  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 

to  be  wondered  at.  For  one  thing,  the  untamed  wildness  of  the  country  and  the 
material  conditions  under  which  the  preacher  had  to  pursue  his  labours  made  heavy 
demands  upon  his  strength  and  endurance.  The  journeys  were  often  long  and 
arduous  and,  leaving  bushrangers  out  of  the  reckoning — not  unfrequently  attended 
by  mischances  more  or  less  serious.  Of  E.  Tear,  who  came  to  Xew  South  "Wales 
in  1847  and  was  transferred  to  Mount  Barker  in  1852,  we  are  told  that  in  ridine 
through  the  bush  from  an  appointment  he  struck  against  a  tree  and  was  thrown 
to  the  ground,  where  he  lay  stunned  for  a  time.  Some  while  later,  a  damp  bed  in 
which  he  passed  the  night  did  him  still  greater  physical  mischief,  and  in  1858  he 
was  compelled  to  seek  superannuation.  William  Whitefield  has  been  already  named. 
His  health  failed,  and  he  too  retired  from  the  active  ministry  in  1861.  His  death 
was  hastened  (1871)  by  falling  into  a  deep  "creek"  in  returning  from  fulfilling  an 
appointment  in  the  "Willunga  Circuit.  Such  incidents  were  by  no  means  uncommon 
in  the  early  days,  and  must  not  be  left  out  of  the  picture  of  pioneering  in  the 
Colonies. 

During  the  'fifties  the  slender  staff  of  missionaries  in  South  Australia  was  reinforced 
by  various  brethren  sent  out  from  England,  who  had  done  good  service  there  previous 
to  their  selection.  J.  I).  Whittaker  and  H.  Cole  arrived  in  '54  ;  J.  G.  Wright  in  '55; 
John  Standrin  in  '57,  and  Joseph  "Warner  and  Thomas  Braithwaite  in  '59.  The  first- 
named  laboured  in  South  Australia  until  ISfil  when,  on  account  of  his  health,  he 
removed  to  Wellington,  Xew  Zealand,  dying  there  in  1862.  H.  Cole  laboured  in 
South  Australia  until  1874,  in  which  year  he  was  transferred  to  Victoria.  On  his 
death  in  1890  it  was  said:  "Our  present  standing  at  North  Adelaide  is  very  much 
due  to  the  zeal  and  faithful  labours  of  H.  Cole.''  J.  O.  Wright's  active  ministry  lasted 
forty-seven  years,  and  it  is  said  he  had  an  increase  on  every  station  he  travelled. 
John  Standrin  we  have  met  with  before — as  a  convert  at  Ashton-under-Lyne  and  the 
leader  in  a  great  revival  at  Knowlwood.*  Thomas  Braithwaite  affords  another  example 
of  the  wear  and  tear  of  a  colonial  missionary's  life.  After  eleven  years  he  was  invalided 
home  and  died  at  Richmond  (Yorks)  in  1*72.  Of  all  the  names  we  have  mentioned 
that  of  Joseph  Warner  will  be  most  familiar  to  British  Primitive  Methodists,  and  it  is 
a  name  deservedly  held  in  high  esteem  by  all  who  were  privileged  to  know  the  sterling 
qualities  of  the  man.  For  nearly  sixteen  years  Mr.  "Warner  did  yeoman  service  in 
South  Australia,  and  then  returned  to  this  country,  where  his  wide  experience  and 
sober  judgment  of  Colonial  affairs  were  ever  at  the  service  of  the  Home  authorities. 
Mr.  "Warner  finished,  as  he  had  begun,  his  ministry  at  St.  Austell  in  1893,  and  died 
in  1HUU.  One  who  knew  him  well  wrote  :  "Had  he  been  favoured  with  more  robust 
health,  a  touch  of  brilliance  and  a  dash  of  pushfulness,  he  would  easily  have  reached 
a  position  in  the  front  rank  of  our  Connexional  life. "  t  Even  as  it  was,  despite  these 
minus  quantities,  the  more  discerning  could  easily  recognise  in  Joseph  "Warner  "  a  still, 
strong  man,  who  could  rule  and  dare  not  lie. ' 

From  1857  the  mission  stations  in  South  Australia  made  steady  advance.  In  that 
year  the  three  missions  already  named  were  constituted  circuits  and  formed  into  the 

See  vol.  ii.  p.  4ij. 
t  Kt-v.  "\V.  Sawyer,  quoted  in  Aldersgate  Xagazine,  1901. 


THE  PERIOD  OF  CONSOLIDATION  AND  CHURCH  DEVELOPMENT.       433 

Adelaide  District.  New  men  came  to  the  front — capable  men  like  J.  Stuart  Wayland, 
James  H.  Williams,  John  Goodwin,  Henry  J.  Pope,  W.  Diment,*  and  others  of  whose 
character  and  work  we  might  speak  more  fully  did  space  permit.  But  to  us  in  this 
hemisphere  Adelaide  has  a  special  interest  as  having  been  the  scene  of  the  labours 
of  a  succession  of  gifted  ministers.  John  Watson  (afterwards 
Dr.  Watson)  left  Aliwal  North  for  Adelaide  in  1884,  and  returned 
to  England  in  1889.  Hugh  Gilmore  took  charge  of  Wellington 
Square  Church  in  1889,  until  his  lamented  death  in  October,  1891. 
He  was  succeeded  by  John  Day  Thompson  in  1892-7.  Thus, 
for  thirteen  years,  a  trio  of  ministers  of  marked  individuality 
fulfilled  their  ministry  in  the  progressive  city  of  Adelaide.  They 
were  very  variously  gifted.  Dr.  Watson  was  pre-eminently  a  theo- 
logian rather  than  an  ecclesiastic;  broad-minded,  but  thoroughly 
evangelical  in  sentiment.  Hugh  Gilmore  was  no  trained  theologian, 
still  less  a  scholastic  or  typical  Churchman,  but  he  was,  above  all, 

MR.  J.  DAY  THOMPSON.  Jr  '  ,   cuuy^oix, 

a  convinced  Christian  democrat  with  the  gifts,  fervour,  and  calling 
of  a  poet-prophet.  J.  Day  Thompson — the  bold  thinker,  the  sworn  foe  of  traditionalism, 
possessed  to  the  finger-tips  with  the  scientific  spirit,  and  yet,  with  all  this,  as  in  the 
case  of  Dr.  R.  F.  Horton — whom  in  many  respects  he  so  closely  resembles — the 
spiritual,  mystic  side  of  his  nature  will  not  be  repressed  but  successfully  asserts 
its  rights.  It  was  a  rare  succession  of  men,  and  when,  after  J.  D.  Thompson's 
return  to  England,  Brian  Wibberley  entered  upon  it,  the  succession  becomes  yet 
more  striking. t  We  do  not  say  a  deliberate  attempt  was  made  to  found  "a  select 
preachership "  beyond  the  seas ;  to  try  the  experiment  whether  the  Primitive 
Methodism  of  the  old  land  would  not  be  found  even  better  adapted  to  the  progressive 
lands  under  the  Southern  Cross.  All  the  same,  we  see  now  an  experiment  was  being 
made.  Now,  for  the  success  of  an  experiment,  much  will  depend  upon  the  conditions 
under  which  it  is  tried.  In  England,  under  the  shadow  of  the  dominant  Church, 
a  thinker  or  leader  of  the  people  is  heavily  handicapped.  By  the  spirit  of  caste 
society  is  sectionalized  as  though  divided  into  water-tight  compartments.  We  can 
only  reach  our  own  little  world.  Time  is  consumed  and  temper  ruffled  in  fighting 
for  the  veriest  elementary  principles.  In  Australia  they  have  religious  liberty,  and 
a  Christian  leader  has  no  need  to  have  his  credentials  vise  by  Society  or  the  Church 
before  men  will  listen  and  follow.  Two  of  the  "  select  preachers  "  we  have  referred  to 
are  with  us  today.  But  Hugh  Gilmore  is  gone ;  and  we  may  very  properly  ask — 
What  was  the  result  of  the  experiment  in  his  case  ?  We  have  called  him  a  Christian 
Democrat.  Is  such  a  title  incongruous  as  applied  to  a  Primitive  Methodist  minister? 
By  no  means.  We  firmly  believe  that  Primitive  Methodism  is  much  more  democratic 
than  its  polity.  At  its  core — in  its  true  inwardness — it  is  in  deepest  sympathy  with 
Christian  Democracy,  and  what  is  now  largely  implicit  will,  by  a  process  of  immanent 

*  "  The  large  and  beautiful  church  in  Tynte  Street,  which  is  the  pride  of  our  people,  was  built 
under  his  superintendence  [in  North  Adelaide]."—  Official  Memoir  of  W.  Diment,  Conference 
Minutes,  1892. 

t  Brian  Wibberley  was  a  pupil  of  the  writer,  and  went  out  to  Australia  in  1886.  Besides  his 
ministerial  gifts  he  has  won  for  himself  considerable  reputation  as  a  musical  composer. 


434 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


logic,  show  itself  explicitly,  as  it  is  increasingly  showing  itself,  in  movements  and 
institutions.  If  any  man  we  have '  had  may  be  regarded  as  the  representative  and 
exponent  of  Christian  Democracy,  it  is  Hugh  Gilmore.  In  that  remarkable  and  in- 
tensely interesting  series  of  papers  published  in  the  'eighties,  entitled  "  Spiritual 
Revealings,"*  he  wrote:  "  Xow  I  began  to  question  with  myself  whether  this  [the 
ecstatic  mind,  and  consequent  indifference  to  the  common  concerns  of  the  daily  life] 
was  being  religious,  and  I  was  compelled  to  acknowledge  that  the  teaching  of  our  Lord 
and  his  apostles  clearly  show  that  not  in  isolation  and  meditation  do  we  serve  God, 
but  in  the  sen-ire  of  man.  This  was  the  ground  to  which  I  attained  years  ago,  and 
where  I  must  stand  ;  which  I  still  believe  to  be  the  ground  of  spiritual  and  rational 


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Christianity."  Such  being  Gilmore's  convictions,  what  was  the  influence  of  his  ministry 
in  Adelaide  during  the  brief  period  allowed  him  by  Providence  in  which  to  work  ? 
For  the  answer  we  fall  back  upon  the  testimony  of  others  competent  to  give  an  opinion. 
Dr.  Watson  in  his  funeral  sermon  for  H.  Gilmore  refers  to  the  features  of  his  ministry 
in  Wellington  Square  ;  and  his  biographer  and  old  friend,  Ebenezer  Hall,  speaks  of  the 
larger  ministry  which  made  him  a  power  in  Adelaide  and  far  beyond :  — 

"The  Xorth  Adelaide  Church,  now  that  a  gallery  has  been  put  into  it  [by  Gilmore] 
is  commodious  and  splendidly  situated,  and  the  people  were  prepared  to  give  their 

*  These  ought,  by  all  means,  to  be  republished  along  with  a  new  edition  of  the  Twenty-two 
Sermon*  stenographically  reported,  and  published  after  his  death. 


THE    PERIOD    OF    CONSOLIDATION    AND    CHUKCH    DEVELOPMENT.  435 

confidence  to  a  true  man.    His  congregations  were  overflowing  from  the  first.   Artisans, 
professional  men,  statesmen,  crowded  his  ministry  ;  Agnostics  and  Socialists,  who  had 
not  darkened  a  church-door  for  years,  sat  alongside  of  men  of  different  creeds.     Each 
man  felt  that  there  was  a  preacher  who  had  a  message  for  them.     The  pulpit  was  the 
great  power  he  wielded,  but,  as  in  England,  his  energies  ran  out  in  various  directions. 
All  the  Churches  laid  his  services  under  contribution  for  special  occasions,  and  crowds 
came  whatever  church   he  was   in.     He  was  literally  always  at  work.     He  was  an 
enthusiast  in  the  advocacy  of  Land  Nationalisation  ;  then  he  became  an  ardent  worker 
in  the  Single  Tax  Crusade.      Not  only  did  he  preside  at  Mr.   Henry  George's  own 
meetings  :  he  strove  with  all  his  might  to  spread  his  economic  doctrine  by  personal 
persuasion  and  by  lectures,  speeches,  and  classes.     For  a  time  he  edited  the  Pioneer, 
the  Single  Tax  organ,  and  wrote  much  for  its  columns,  he  was  also  President  of  the 
League.     The  celebrated  Sir  George  Grey  presided  at  one  of  his  lectures,  and  was  so 
much  impressed  that  at  the  close  he  paid  the  highest  tribute  that  one  man  can  pay 
another.     He  said  :  '  I  have  never  heard  an  address  so  eloquent,  arguments  so  cogent, 
or  seen  an  audience  so  moved.'    Another  chairman  said  he  was  the  'finest  speaker  in 
Australia.'    In  a  strike  of  dockmen  and  sailors,  Gilmore  stood  out  boldly  for  the  men. 
So  popular  was  he  that  if  he  stole  into  a  meeting  to  enjoy  it  unobserved,  some  one 
was  sure  to  recognise  him,  and  then  clamorous  shouts  would  be  raised  of  '  Gilmore  ! 
Gilmore  ! '  till  he  was  obliged  to  come  to  the  front.     The  Irish,  who  were  delighted 
with  his   advocacy  of   their   cause,  reverenced   him,  and  doffed  their  bonnets  as  he 
passed.     Once  a  week  he  conducted  a  class  of  young  men  for  the  study  of  Christian 
Sociology,  and  on  another  evening  he  had  a  class  for  business  men.     One  of  the  chief, 
and  certainly  one  of  the  most  practical  of  all  his  schemes  was  the  organisation  and 
working  out  of  '  The  Commonwealth.'     The  city  was  mapped  out  into  districts,  and 
bands  of  men  and  women  (not  concerning  himself  as  to  who  or  what  they  were,  only 
they  must  be  followers  of  Christ,  and  willing   to  serve  men),  went  from    house   to 
house  to  seek  and  save  the  lost.     The  struggling  poor  were  assisted,  waifs  and  strays 
were  picked  up,  the  drunkard  reclaimed,  new  arrivals  in  the  colony  looked  after,  men 
and  women  out  of  employment  assisted  to  get  work.     Bands  of  Hope  and  Temperance 
propaganda  were  carried  on  vigorously,  Free  Libraries  established  to  bring  healthy 
literature  to  the  people,  and  bands  of  ladies,  or  rather,  sisters  of  the  people,  were  to 
minister  to  the  sick  in  their  homes.     Reports  were  to  be  brought  in  regularly  and 
discussed.     This  Christ-like  programme  was  a  sign  and  proof  of  the  one  consuming 
passion  of  his  life— to  save  men  ;  becoming  '  all  things  to  all  men  that  he  might  save 
some.'    If  he  was  first  to  organise,  he  was  also  first  to  work." 

The  "  experiment "  must  be  pronounced  to  have  been  a  success,  and  an  object-lesson 
as  to  the  possibilities  of  Primitive  Methodism  in  the  direction  of  social  service;  an 
objecUesson  similar  in  character  to  those  supplied  in  the  Home-land  at  Clapton, 
Whitechapel,  Southwark,  and  elsewhere,  which  also  owed  their  origin  to  personal 
initiative — to  the  Christ-enkindled  enthusiasm  of  humanity.  But  all  this  time  Gilmore's 
work  was  nearing  its  completion.  Insidious  disease  was  undermining  the  citadel  of 
life.  We  draw  the  veil  over  the  last  pathetic  scene,  only  lifting  it  a  moment  to  see 
how  the  whole  city  was  moved  by  his  loss.  When  the  day  came  for  his  remains  to  he 
interred  in  the  cemetery  at  Payneham,  where  so  many  of  his  co-religionists  lie,  a  vast 
crowd  assembled  to  pay  the  tribute  of  respect  to  his  memory.  It  was  felt  that  Adelaide 
and  the  colony  had  lost  one  of  its  best  and  greatest  men. 


43(.J  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 

The  progress  made  by  Xew  South  Wales  was  less  rapid  and  at  first  more  interrupted 
than  in  the  other  Colonies.  One  proof  of  this  we  have  in  the  various  administrative 
changes  made  by  the  Home  authorities.  In  1857  Sydney  was  made  a  circuit  and,  being 
the  only  one  in  the  Colony,  it  was  attached  to  the  Melbourne  District.  One  thinks 
bigger  maps  were  wanting  when  this  arrangement  was  made,  as 
the  Sydney  delegate  would  have  to  travel  1200  miles  to  attend 
his  District  Meeting.  In  1859  the  two  Xew  South  Wales  cir- 
cuits were  constituted  the  Sydney  District,  while  the  Missions 
in  the  Colony  continued  to  be  managed  by  the  Home  executive 
In  1865  all  the  stations  of  the  Colony  reverted  to  the  old  footing 
of  Missions,  and  such  was  their  status  until  1870,  when  important 
changes  were  made.  As  these  changes. affected  all  the  Australasian 
stations  they  had  better  be  summarised  here  once  for  all.  The  Con- 
ference of  1870,  then,  resolved :  "That  the  Australasian  Circuits 
and  Missions  shall  be  united  and  formed  into  three  Districts. 
theophilus  park,  si. a.  The  Victori.ul  District  shall  consist  of  the  circuits  and  missions 
in  that  Colony  and  Tasmania.  The  South  Australian  District  shall  consist  of  the 
stations  in  South  Australia  and  <  Queensland.  And  the  Xew  South  Wales  District 
shall  consist  of  the  stations  in  that  Colony  and  in  New  Zealand."  At  the  very 
next  Conference,  however,  it  was  found  necessary  very  considerably  to  modify 
these  arrangements.  Xew  Zealand  appealed  against  being  administratively  joined 
to  Xew  South  Wales.  Xor  can  we  wonder  at  this  unwillingness  when  we  remember 
that  Sydney  is  some  1130  miles  distant  from  Auckland.  Hence  it  was  decided 
that  after  the  Conference  of  1872  the  Xew  Zealand  stations  should  be  constituted 
a  separate  District ;  also  that  those  in  Queensland  should  at  once  be  attached  to 
Xew  South  Wales.  But  this  union  lasted  only  UDtil  1873,  when  Brisbane  became 
the  head  of  a  new  District.  The  partition  of  Brisbane  in  1889  gave  Queensland 
a  second  district  in  Kockhampton.  The  same  year  Sydney  District  was  divided,  and 
for  some  years  Xewcastle  stood  as  the  head  of  a  District.  Theophilus  Parr,  M.A.,  who 
like  Dr.  Watson  had  done  good  service  in  the  African  mission-field,  went  out  in  1890 
to  take  charge  of  Xewcastle,  and  after  spending  some  ten  years  in  Xew  South  Wales 
resumed  his  place  in  the  Home  ministry.  Matthew  Reavley  and  William  Atkinson  were 
also  amongst  those  who  about  this  time  reinforced  the  ministerial  staff  in  Xew  South 
Wales.  A  few  words  may  be  added  as  to  the  numerical  progress  of  the  denomination 
in  Xew  Smith  Wales.  In  1871  the  Sydney  District  had  815  members;  whereas,  in  1901, 
when  it  last  stood  on  the  stations,  the  number  reported  was  2036.  In  1897,  when  the 
Brisbane  and  Rockhanipton  Districts  parted  company  with  the  British  Conference,  the 
reported  membership  was  2 1 20.  From  this  it  will  be  seen  that  Primitive  Methodism 
had  made  encouraging  progress  in  Queensland,  the  youngest  of  the  Colonies. 

The  coming  of  John  Sharpe  to  Xew  South  Wales  in  1854  has  already  been  mentioned. 
He  spent  twenty  years  of  the  best  part  of  his  life  in  the  Colonies,  returning  to  England 
in  1874.  Fifteen  out  of  this  score  of  years  were  spent  in  Sydney  and  its  immediate 
neighbourhood.  John  Sharpe  is  a  figure  that  ought  to  receive  more  than  casual  mention 
in  any  History  of  Primitive  Methodism.     He  was  no  ordinary  man  in  whatever  light 


THE   PERIOD   OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND   CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT.  ^37 

we  view  him.  This  impression  is  strongly  confirmed  by  a  close  inspection  of  the 
neatly- arranged  documents  and  letters  he  has  left,  setting  forth  his  relations  to  New 
South  Wales  Primitive  Methodism  and  the  Home  authorities.  Thoroughly  con- 
scientious, his  course  was  always  straightforward,  like  a  Roman  road.  "  Upright  and 
Forthright  "  might  have  been  his  chosen  motto.  He  had  a  vigorous 
mind  and  strong  will ;  yet,  though  firm,  he  was  unassuming  and 
courteous.  He  was  a  great  reader,  and  well  versed  in  Ecclesias- 
tical History,  especially  in  all  the  points  at  issue  between  Romanism 
and  Protestantism — a  very  serviceable  mental  equipment  for  a 
Christian  teacher  set  down  in  Sydney  forty  years  ago.  Nor  was 
he  indisposed  to  enter  the  controversial  lists,  seeking  truth  rather 
than  victory.  Under  the  iiom-Je-<juerre  of  John  Search — a  name 
that  Thomas  Binney  had  already  made  famous — he  wrote  several 
series  of  articles  in  the  Protestant  Standard  on  such  subjects  as 
"Mariolatry,"  "Readings  in  Romanism,"  "Popery  in  Ritualism,"  etc. 

r      J  '  JOHN  SHARPE. 

In  these  articles  we  do  not  find  much  of  that  rhetorical  invective 
so  frequently  indulged  in  by  some  controversialists.  The  writer  goes  to  the  original 
authorities  for  his  facts,  and  finds  in  them  the  material  for  his  arguments  which  he 
knows  how  to  drive  home  with  force.  If  these  articles  were  collected  and  published 
even  after  this  long  lapse  of  time  they  would  still  have  their  distinctive  value, 
and  would  make  a  volume  of  fair  size.  For  some  years  Mr.  Sharpe  edited  the 
"New  South  Wales  Primitive  Methodist  Messenger/'  and  some  of  the  characteristic 
qualities  of  the  man  are  revealed  in  the  sermons,  selections  from  books,  comments 
on  current  topics,  and  reviews  contributed  by  him  to  that  periodical.  Amongst  the 
last-named,  the  notice  he  wrote  in  1866  of  Bastow's  "Biblical  Dictionary"  may  be 
singled  out  as  a  good  specimen  of  his  acumen  and  fair-mindedness.  In  these  respects 
it  compares  very  favourably  with  the  official  review  of  five  closely-printed  pages  which 
appeared  in  the  denominational  Magazine  for  1862.  In  the  preparation  of  this  notice 
the  Editor  had  been  assisted  by  several  brethren  whose  names  are  not  given.  The 
task  of  examining  the  Dictionary  had  been  put  in  commission.  The  standard  to  which 
the  critics  appeal  and  by  which  Mr.  Bastow  was  found  wanting  was  Adam  Clarke's 
"  Commentary  "  and  Watson's  "  Institutes.''  Referring  to  this,  Mr.  Sharpe  says  :  "  We 
thought  then  and  we  think  still,  that  this  was  rich — rich  indeed.  And  we  were  led 
to  wonder  if  Mr.  B.'s  critics  had  never  heard  that  both  Drs.  Clarke  and  Watson  had 
themselves  been  charged  with  heresy.''  All  this  may  appear  very  trivial  now,  for  there 
is  nothing  staler  than  the  controversies  of  bygone  years.  It  is  referred  to  here  because 
John  Sharpe's  review  is  an  Antipodean  side-light  on  a  little-known  episode  in  the 
literary  history  of  the  denomination.  Bastow's  "  Biblical  Dictionary "  was  the  most 
considerable  and  scholarly  contribution  as  yet  given  to  the  world  by  the  denomination, 
and  ought  not  to  be  forgotten.  As  to  John  Sharpe,  though  he  was  not  "  tainted  with 
German  Neology,''  as  the  phrase  went,  he  was  clear-sighted  and  broad-minded,  as  the 
following  additional  extract  from  his  review  will  show  : — 

"We  are  free  to  admit  that  Mr.  Bastow  advances  some  few  things  which  do  not 
square  with  our  views  ;  but  what  then  ?     Does  it  necessarily  follow  that,  fully  as 


438 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 


we  may  be  persuaded  of  the  correctness  of  our  opinions,  and  firmly  as  we  may 
hold  them,  that  we  are  infallible— and  the  error  is  wholly  on  Mr.  Bastow's  side, 
and  that  therefore  we  must  brand  him  as  heretic  and  his  book  as  dangerous? 
Let  us  rather  hope  that  additional  reading  and  meditation  may  bring  fuller  and 
clearer  light  to  all  concerned,  modifying  their  views  and  drawing  them  closer  to 
the  one  grand  centre  of  all  truth.     We  have  very  little  faith  in  those  who  appear 


SOME   PORTRAITS   OF    DECEASED   AUSTRALIAN    MINISTERS. 

(1)  Rev.  W.  Gould,  died  190:2;  (■>)  Rev.  H.  Cole,  died  1891;  (3)  R.-v.  G.  Grey,  died  1902; 
(t)  Rev.  J.  Langhani,  died  1881?  ;  (5)  Rev.  R.  Allen,  died  1S99;  (0)  Rev.  G.  "Watts,  died  1809; 
(7)  Mrs.  Watts,  a  devoted  minister's  wife  and  lady  preacher,  died  1899;  (8)  Rev.  M.  Clarke, 
died  1892;  (9)  Rev.  J.  Smith,  died  1901;  (10)  Rev.  G.  Hall,  died  1871;  (1J)  Rev.  F.  Sinder, 
died  1897  ;  (12)   Rev.  W.  J.  11  ray,  died  1897. 

to  think  that  to  them  is  given  a  full  and  unlimited  commission  to  hunt  out  and 
to  hound  down  what  they  consider  heresy.  We  have  no  sympathy  with  them; 
we  feel  no  interest  in  their  work.     If  the  class  may  be  judged  of  from  the  few 


THE  PERIOD  OF  CONSOLIDATION  AND  CHURCH  DEVELOPMENT. 


439 


BEV.  H.  HEATHEESHAW. 


we   have  known,  it   surely  does  contain  some  strange  and 
some  very  unlovely  specimens  of  human  nature."* 

Like  Mr.  Flesher  in  Hull,  John  Sharpe  in  Sydney  was  called  upon 
to  vindicate  Primitive  Methodism  through  the  press.  A  minister 
who  had  once  done  good  work  in  England  was  now  pursuing 
a  divisive  policy ;  and  the  public  mind  had  to  be  disabused.  So 
his  pen  was  kept  busy.  Finally,  we  may  say  of  John  Sharpe 
that  there  was  scarcely  any  official  position  he  was  not  qualified 
to  fill ;  but  the  position  of  Editor  was  that  for  which  his  bookish- 
ness,  his  practised  pen,  and  his  mental  tastes  peculiarly  fitted  him. 
Yet  on  his  return  home,  save  that  he  made  a  distinct  impression 
on  the  Conference  of  1876,  no  special  Connexional  recognition 
awaited  him.  The  prime  of  his  life  had  been  given  to  Australia,  and  his  strength  was 
not  now  what  it  had  been.  He  travelled  a  few  years  longer,  and  then  came  superan- 
nuation (1890),  and  death  (1895),  quickly  following 
on  that  of  his  faithful  wife.  That  fine  poem, 
"  Under  one  Roof,"  is  the  poignant  expression  of 
this  double  loss.f 

We  can  only  mention  and  must  not  linger  over 
the  names  of  other  men  who  gave  lengthened  ser- 
vice to  Xew  South  Wales  and  Queensland — names 
such  as  J.  F.  Foggon;  Bernard  Kenny,  the  fervid 
Irishman,  who  wherever  he  happened  to  be — in 
Scotland,  Ireland,  or  Australia,  was  always  the  in- 
veterate foe  of  Popery;  George  James,  one  of  the 
prime  movers  in  the  movement  which  resulted  in 
Methodist  Union;  W.  Sparling,  the  first  Primitive 
Methodist  minister  who  died  in  New  South  Wales  ;  B00K-K00M>  LT00N  8TBKET>  Melbourne. 
and  W.  Kingdom  For  Queensland,  J.  Buckle,  who  prior  to 
his  sailing  for  Australia  did  good  work  in  Scotland,  and  Robert 
Hartley  must  not  be  forgotten.  The  influence  of  the  latter, 
especially  in  Rockhampton,  was  profound  and  has  been  lasting. 
Among  the  papers  of  John  Sharpe  are  preserved  many  intimate 
letters  of  Mr.  Hartley,  which  show  the  transparency  of  his 
character,  the  close  friendship  existing  between  the  two  men, 
and  their  anxious  toil  for  the  churches  under  their  care. 

In  Victoria  and  Tasmania  Primitive  Methodism  was  more 
prosperous  than  in  some  of  the  other  Colonies.  From  the 
statistics  of  the  Melbourne  District,  given  for  the  last  time  in 

*  Mr.  Bastow  was  our  Erasmus,  and  Erasmus  was  no  martyr  but  died  in  his  bed.  The  critique 
in  the  Magazine  of  '62  closed  with  the  statement :  "  We  have  received  from  the  author  of  the 
Bible  Dictionary  the  most  frank  assurance  that '  anything  unsound,  or  against  the  vital  doctrines 
of  John  Wesley  and  the  Church  of  England,  I  shall  be  happy  to  alter,  nay  I  shall  think  it  a  duty 
and  privilege  to  do  so.' " 

t  Aldersgate,  1900,  p.  859.  In  any  Primitive  Methodist  Anthology  this  poem  would  deservedly 
take  a,  foremost  place. 


REV.   W.   HUNT. 


440  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 

the  Conference  Minute*  of  1901,  we  find  it  then  reported  27  Ministers  and  10  Home 
Missionaries,  125  chapels  and  1306  members.  We  give  the  portraits  of  some  of 
the  deceased  ministers  of  the  Melbourne  District,  and  would  also  make  mention 
of  Henry  Heathershaw  and  Thomas  Copeland,  who  have  filled  the  office  of  Book 
Steward  (Lygon  Street,  Melbourne),  and  other  positions  of  trust.  Our  historic 
survey  of  Primitive  Methodism  in  Australia  may  very  fittingly  close  with  a  reference 
to  William  Hunt,  who  attended  the  British  Conference  of  1899  as  the  representative 
of  the  Australian  Districts  in  the  settlement  of  the  financial  questions  connected  with 
the  proposed  Union  of  the  Methodist  Churches.  The  ability  and  courtesy  shown  by 
Mr.  Hunt  in  the  conduct  of  these  delicate  negotiations  were  recognised  by  a  special 
resolution  of  the  Conference. 

New  Zealand. 

The  history  of  Primitive  Methodism  in  New  Zealand  readily  lends  itself  to 
summarisation.  In  1870,  after  a  quarter  of  a  century's  labours,  there  were  but 
three  stations  in  the  Colony,  all  of  them  in  the  North  Island,  though  situated  at 
widely  separated  points  and  in  different  Provinces.  The  earliest  of  these  was  at 
New  Plymouth,  in  the  South-west  of  the  Island,  in  the  provincial  district  of  Taranaka ; 
the  second  at  "Wellington,  in  the  district  of  the  same  name;  and- the  third  in  the 
Xorth,  at  Auckland,  which,  until  1864,  was  the  seat  of  government.  With  the  early 
history  of  these  three  stations  the  name  of  Robert  Ward  is  closely  linked,  and  next 
to  his  the  names  of  Joseph  Long  and  Henry  Green.  The  apparently  slow  progress 
made  in  the  Colony  by  the  denomination  during  the  first  twenty-five  years  (in  1870 
there  were  396  members  all  told)  was  but  the  reflex  of  the  state  of  the  Colony  during 
the  same  period  arising  out  of  the  gold-discoveries  and  their  resultant  fluctuations  of 
population  and  trade,  and  the  unsettledness  and  disorganization  caused  by  the  Maori 
wars.  These  events  reacted  on  the  policy  of  the  Missionary  executive  at  Home, 
which,  so  far  as  New  Zealand  was  concerned,  was  timid  and  unaggressive.  But  when 
in  1873  the  first  District  Meeting  was  held  in  New  Zealand  as  already  mentioned, 
a  more  prosperous  era  had  begun  as  well  for  Primitive  Methodism  as  the  Colony.  No 
doubt  Mr.  Ward's  visit  to  England  in  1871  largely  contributed  to  the  inauguration 
of  that  more  forward  policy  on  the  part  of  the  executive  which  may  be  dated  from 
this  time.  The  fruit  of  this  was  seen  at  the  first  District  Meeting,  when  three  new 
stations  in  the  South  Island  were  represented,  as  well  as  the  three  old  ones  in 
the  North  Island.  These  were  Christchurch,  in  the  province  of  Canterbury,  and 
Invercargill  and  Dunedin,  in  Otago — all  chief  towns  admirably  situated,  in  view  of 
the  prospective  development  of  the  Colony,  and  likely  to  afford  good  strategical  bases 
for  Connexional  extension.  Mr.  Ward  was  the  first  minister  stationed  at  Christchurch, 
and  he  was  the  president  of  the  first  New  Zealand  District  Meeting;  so  that  his 
pioneer  efforts  did  not  stop  short  with  the  North  Island  or  with  the  old  era.  Since  then, 
there  has  been  development.  The  six  stations  of  1873  have  grown  into  the  15  Circuits 
and  15  Missions  of  1905.  But  New  Zealand  is  the  country  for  making  experiments, 
and  there  has  been  development  of  another  kind ;  the  District  Meeting  has  become 
the  New  Zealand   Conference.      This  title  was  first  assumed  by  permission  of   the 


THE  PERIOD  OF  CONSOLIDATION  AND  CHURCH  DEVELOPMENT.       441 


ROBERT  WARD. 


Home  authorities  in  1893,  and  it  is  to  be  noted  that  two  ladies  took  their  seats  in 
that  assembly  as  duly  elected  representatives,  six  years  before  a  lady  was  elected  to 
sit  in  the  British  Conference.  Should  the  proposed  legislation  to  divide  the  New 
Zealand  stations  into  Districts  become  law  and  the  missing  link  be  supplied,  it  is  more 

than  probable  that  five  of   the  towns  already  named 
will  become  the  heads  of  the  administrative  units. 

The  history  immediately  before  us  will  be  best 
approached  by  our  following  the  movements  of  Robert 
Ward.  He  was  in  the  strictest  sense  a  prospector, 
a  pioneer  and  planter  of  churches.  Such  was  his 
relation  to  New  Plymouth,  Wellington,  Auckland,  and 
largely  also  to  Christchurch. 

A  valedictory  service  was  held  at  old  Sutton  Street 
Chapel  on  April  30th,  1844,  when  Messrs.  Ward, 
Long,  and  Wilson  related  their  experience  and  call 
to  the  mission-field.  The  sermon  was  preached  by 
Joseph  Preston,  who  next  day  went  on  board  the 
" Raymond"  "to  see  and  pray  with  Mrs.  Ward  and 
the  children.''  He  was  much  impressed  with  the 
missionary's  wife,  whom  he  pronounces  a  "  noble 
woman,"  and  he  records  in  his  Journal  that  "so  great  had  been  her  desire  to  be 
employed  in  mission-work  that  she  had  often  wished  she  had  been  a  man ;  and  that 
when  the  letter  of  invitation  to  the  mission-field  came  she  had  sung  and  danced 
for  very  joy.''  Emily  Brundell,  like  her  husband,  was  born  and  bred  in  Norfolk,  and 
it  certainly  was  not  unfitting  that  the  first  to  cross  the  line  as  a  Primitive  Methodist 
missionary  should  have  hailed  from  a  district  which  has  always  taken  a  peculiar  interest 
in  missions. 

The  "  Raymond  "  landed  on  August  29th.  Only  three  years  before,  the  first  batch 
of  settlers  had  arrived  in  the  "  William  Bryan."  As  most  of  them  had  come  from 
Devon  and  Cornwall,  they  gave  the  name  of  the  chief  town  they  had  been  familiar 
with  in  the  old  country  to  the  new  settlement.  So  New  Plymouth  naturally  recalls 
the  famous  New  England  Plymouth  Rock  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers.  Robert  Ward 
landed,  a  stranger  amongst  strangers.  There  was  nothing  to  distinguish  him  from  the 
immigrants  he  had  voyaged  with.  He  was  unknown ;  his  coming  unprepared  for  and 
unexpected.  There  was  no  nucleus  of  a  church,  however  small,  awaiting  his  fostering 
care,  as  was  the  case  in  the  Australian  Colonies.  Single-handed  he  had  to  begin 
from  the  bottom,  and  he  lost  no  time  in  beginning.  On  Sunday,  September  1st,  he 
opened  his  mission  by  preaching  in  the  open-air,  taking  as  his  text,  "This  is  a  faithful 
saying,"  etc.  He  toiled  on  amid  manifold  discouragements,  rendered  all  the  greater 
by  the  depression  which  rested  on  the  infant  settlement.  Still  he  gathered  a  few  into 
church  membership,  and  in  November  his  hands  were  strengthened  by  a  small  society 
of  Bible  Christians  coming  over  to  him.  These  good  people  had  formed  themselves 
into  a  society  on  landing,  and  had  even  built  themselves  a  small  chapel,  They  had 
no  minister   over    them,    nor  any  prospect  of    obtaining   one.       On   the   other    hand, 


442  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 

Mr.  Ward  had  no  chapel  and  was  short  of  helpers.  So  it  seemed  to  be  for  the 
interest  of  both  societies — so  alike  in  doctrine  and  discipline — to  join  their  forces. 
The  union  thus  effected  worked  well  and  was  never  regretted.  The  five  local  preachers 
gained  by  the  union  were  a  welcome  reinforcement,  and  enabled  Mr.  Ward  to  extend 
the  mission. 

When  just  two  years  had  passed  Eobert  Ward  had  the  joy  of  welcoming  a  colleague. 
It  was  on  September  1st,  1846,  that  H.  Green  and  his  wife — whom  we  knew  in  the 
Brinkworth  District  as  Ann  Goodwin — landed  from  England.  Now,  at  last,  Mr.  Ward 
found  himself  in  circumstances  to  carry  the  Gospel  to  the  natives  of  the  settlement. 
He  had  applied  himself  to  the  study  of  the  Maori  tongue  and,  if  we  may  judge  by 
an  incident  lie  tells,  he  had  attained  to  tolerable  proficiency  in  its  use.  Coming  one 
day  upon  a  group  of  natives  who  were  reading  the  Xew  Testament  in  turn,  Mr.  Ward 
took  his  place  at  the  bottom  of  the  class  ;  but  he  gradually  worked  his  way  up  until 
he  became  head-scholar,  and  was  rewarded  by  being  made  monitor,  which  enabled  him 
to  assume  the  functions  of  catechist.  At  another  time  he  had  received  a  rebuff  at 
a  pah  or  native  village,  and  was  returning  home  weary  and  dispirited,  when  he  saw 
a  light  and  heard  voices  in  the  bush.  It  proved  to  be  a  party  of  natives,  who 
permitted  him  to  preach  to  them.  He  chose  for  his  subject  the  Lord's  conversation 
with  Nicodemus  and,  surely,  never  was  the  great  truth  of  the  New  Birth  enforced  under 
more  picturesque  conditions  :  "  Stars  gleamed  through  the  foliage  of  the  trees,  the  fire 
lighted  up  the  swarthy  countenances  of  the  hearers,  and  at  a  few  yards  distance  the 
darkness  wrapped  us  round."  During  this  time  he  endeavoured  to  systematize  his 
labours  amongst  the  natives  by  drawing  up  a  plan  and  time-table  for  his  own  guidance. 
His  "Circuit"  comprised  eleven  paltx,  all  situated  within  ten  miles  of  his  home,  which 
he  made  it  his  business  to  visit  in  turn.  In  carrying  out  his  self-imposed  duties  he 
was  often  weary  and  hungry,  and  occasionally  he  was  fain  to  sleep  on  the  ground 
wrapped  in  his  cloak.  These  facts  are  of  peculiar  interest.  They  show  that  during 
the  last  four  months  of  1846  Primitive  Methodism  had,  in  Robert  Ward,  one  who 
was  to  all  intents  and  purposes  doing  the  work  of  a  foreign  missionary.  It  is  difficult 
to  see  what  definition  of  a  foreign  missionary  can  be  framed  which  will  exclude  him. 
lie  was  devoted  to  the  work  of  teaching  and  preaching  to  men  on  their  own  ground 
who  were  of  another  hue,  and  spoke  another  language  which  he  himself  had  laboriously 
mastered  :  a  missionary  in  Bengal  or  Madras  could  do  no  more.  After  some  months 
of  labour  of  this  kind  Mr.  Ward  was  reluctantly  driven  to  the  conclusion  that,  with 
the  staff  available,  a  simultaneous  mission  to  the  colonists  and  natives  was  impracticable. 
Yet  limitation  in  one  direction  led  to  extension  in  another.  In  January,  1847,  Mr.  Ward 
paid  a  pioneer  visit  to  the  rising  settlement  of  Port  Nicholson  where,  for  several  weeks, 
he  did  as  he  had  done  in  New  Plymouth  after  his  landing  there — he  visited  and 
preached  in-doors  and  out  to  the  settlers  and  soldiers,  and  thus  paved  the  way  for  the 
arrival  of  H.  Creen  as  the  first  appointed  missionary  to  Wellington,  May,  1847. 
Thirty-four  members  were  reported  at  the  first  Quarterly  Meeting,  held  in  September. 
Mrs.  Green  established  and  taught  a  day-school ;  a  mud  chapel  was  built,  and  when 
this  was  destroyed  by  the  terrible  earthquake  of  1848  it  was  replaced  in  three  weeks 
by  a  plain  weather-board  building.     In  1857  Mr.  Green  removed  to  New  South  Wales, 


THE   PERIOD   OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND    CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT.  443 

and  he  was  succeeded  in  tarn  by  Joshua  Smith  from  England,  J.  D.  Whittaker  (who 
died  in  1862),  Charles  Waters  (1864),  and  R.  Ward,  who  came  from  New  Plymouth 
in  1868.  During  his  term  several  chapels  were  built,  including  Sydney  Street,  "which 
was  soon  filled  with  attentive  worshippers,  among  the  most  constant  of  whom  were 
the  then  Premier  of  the  Colony,  the  Hon.  (afterwards  Sir)  William  Fox  and  his 
wife.''  In  1870  Wellington  became  a  self-supporting  station,  and  at  the  close  of  that 
year  Mr.  Ward  returned  to  England  on  furlough. 

We  have  now  to  see  how  Primitive  Methodism  got  to  Auckland,  the  third  station 
in  the  North  Island.  James  Harris,  a  former  member  of  Cooper's  Gardens  Society, 
London,  had  emigrated  to  New  Zealand  in  1838  and  was  now  residing  at  Auckland. 
As  early  as  1846  he  had  urged,  and  he  continued  to  urge,  that  a  missionary  should 
be  sent  there,  he  promising  to  lend  him  all  the  assistance  in  his  power.  Until  a  third 
man  was  on  the  ground  it  was  difficult  to  see  how  this  was  to  be  done  ;  and  there  was 
considerable  delay  in  supplying  the  third  man.  In  these  circumstances  Mr.  Ward 
paid  two  separate  visits  to  Auckland  in  1849,  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  and 
organizing  a  society.  It  was  on  his  return  from  Auckland  the  first  time  that 
Mr.  Ward  made  a  journey  that  probably  holds  the  record  among  the  pedestrianising 
experiences  of  Primitive  Methodist  preachers.  Even  the  journey  of  Clowes  and 
Wedgwood  over  Morridge  was  as  nothing — a  mere  holiday  jaunt — compared  with 
Kobert  Ward's  journey  from  Kawhia  mission-house  to  his  home  in  New  Plymouth. 
The  full  description  of  that  journey  is  too  long  to  be  given  here,  but  something  of  its 
unique  character  may  be  gathered  from  the  fact  that,  when  he  bade  adieu  to 
Rev.  John  Whitely  and  his  hospitable  wife,  he  had  before  him  a  walk  of  a  hundred 
miles  over  rough  and  dangerous  country.  He  had  to  cross  swamps,  climb  mountains, 
creep  along  narrow  and  precipitous  ledges,  make  his  way  over  rock-strewn  beaches, 
sleep  in  native  pahs,  and,  once  at  least,  his  Maori  guide  and  himself  had  to  make  their 
bed  on  the  .sand.     Such  was  missionary  pioneering  in  the  early  colonial  days.* 

When  at  last,  in  accordance  with  instructions  received  from  England,  Joseph  Long 
reached  New  Plymouth  from  Australia,  Eobert  Ward  was  at  liberty  to  proceed  to 
Auckland,  where  the  society  he  founded  stood  much  in  need  of  his  oversight.  Here 
he  continued  from  May  1850,  to  1858,  and  then  changed  stations  with  Joseph  Long. 
The  latter  was  at  Auckland  until  his  removal  to  Tasmania  in  1864,  while  R.  Ward's 
second  term  at  New  Plymouth  extended  to  1868.  It  will  thus  be  seen  how  closely 
the  early  history  of  these  two  stations  was  identified  with  the  two  pioneers  of  our 
denomination  in  the  Southern  hemisphere.  Within  this  period  fell  the  excitement 
of  the  gold-fever— 1851.  R.  Ward  felt  the  full  force  of  this  in  Auckland.  The 
necessaries  of  life  rose  almost  to  famine  prices.  His  quarter's  salary  did  not  meet 
his  quarter's  flour-bill.  By  reason  of  the  fluctuations  of  population,  the  chapel  he  had 
built  in  Edwardes  Street  on  land  given  through  the  Government  by  Sir  George  Grey, 
was  alternately  filled  and  emptied.     Worse  than  this,  he  keenly  felt  his  isolation  by 

*•  For  a  full  description  of  this  journey  see  "  Jubilee  Memorial  Volume,  or  Fifty  Years  of 
Primitive  Methodism  in  New  Zealand,"  1893— a  very  useful  book,  to  which  we  acknowledge  our 
indebtedness.  The  Rev.  J.  "Whitely  referred  to  above  was  murdered  in  1869.  His  death  marked 
the  close  of  the  Maori  war. 


44-4 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


ME.    D.    GOLDIE. 


the  Home  authorities  and  the  lack  of  Connexional  information.*  Then  the  beginning 
of  Mr.  Ward's  second  term  in  New  Plymouth  coincided  with  the  breaking  out  of  the 
Taranaki  war,  which  greatly  disorganized  the  work  of  the  church.  Two  of  his  sons 
bore  arms  as  volunteers,  and  one  was  wounded.  Often  had  he  to  minister  consolation 
to  the  dying  and  the  bereft.  Later,  Mr.  Long  and  the  society  in 
Auckland  had  similar  experiences  to  pass  through  during  the  nine 
months  the  Waikato  war  was  raging — 1863-4.  It  is  necessary 
these  facts  should  be  written  in  order  that  we  may  learn  through 
what  difficulties  Primitive  Methodism  in  New  Zealand  had  to 
struggle  in  its  earlier  years,  and  also  that  we  may  duly  appreciate 
the  courage,  staying-power,  and  unshakable  loyalty  of  our  pioneers. 
Wellington  and  Auckland  hold  the  dust  of  R.  Ward  and 
Joseph  Long.  The  former  died  in  harness  at  Wellington  in 
1876;  the  latter  ended  his  days  in  retirement  at  Auckland  in 
1892.  At  Wellington,  too,  the  only  superannuates  in  the  New 
Zealand  Conference — W.  J.  Dean  and  Joseph  Dumbell — are 
spending  their  declining  days.  To  Wellington  and  Auckland,  also,  A.  J.  Smith  devoted 
ten  years  of  fruitful  service.  He  arrived  in  New  Zealand  in  1879,  and  in  1891 
returned  to  England  to  take  an  honoured  place  in  the  ranks  of  the  British  Conference. 

We  must  refer  our  readers  to  the  official  history  of  New  Zealand  Primitive 
Methodism  for  notices  and  portraits  of  many  devoted  men  and  women  who  have 
served  the  Connexion  during  the  first  fifty  years  of  its  history  in  the  Colony.  We  are, 
however,  able  to  give  the  portraits  of  two  prominent  laymen  out  of  the  many  equally 
worthy  of  recognition.  Mr.  David  Goldie,  M.H.R.,  of  Auckland,  has  for  many  years 
taken  a  leading  part  in  the  administrative  life  of  the  Colony,  in  Temperance  and  Sunday 
School  work,  as  well  as  in  the  progress  of  his  own  Church.  He  was  president  of 
the  District  Meeting  of  1885.  Mr.  Charles  Manly  Luke,  J. P.,  of  Wellington,  is, 
perhaps,  even  still  better  known  to  Primitive  Methodists  in  this  country,  as  he 
represented  the  New  Zealand  churches  at  the  Scarborough 
Conference  of  1905.  He,  too,  is  deservedly  popular  in  the 
Colony,  and  was  president  of  the  District  Meeting  of  1890. 

Pleasing  evidence  of  the  loyalty  and  perseverance  of  Primitive 
Methodist  settlers  in  New  Zealand  is  furnished  by  the  early 
history  of  the  Christchurch,  Invercargill,  and  Dunedin  stations — 
the  three  stations  represented  at  the  first  District  Meeting  of  1873 
still  undescribed.  The  colony  established  on  the  east  coast  of  the 
South  Island  under  High  Church  auspices  is  commemorated  in 
Canterbury,  the  name  of  the  province,  and  Christchurch,  its  chief 
city.  Hnvv  our  Church  got  a  footing  amongst  the  "Canterbury 
Pilgrims"  is  succinctly  told  by  Kev.  J.  Cocker,  f     "In  1860  a  few 


*  Quite  sufficient  evidence  for  this  statement  will  be  found  in  the  "  Jubilee  Memorial  Volume  *' 
already  referred  to  (see  especially  p.  145).  After  1859  i  very  different  policy  was  inaugurated 
(p.   153). 

f  Aldersgate  Magazine,  June,  1905. 


THE   PERIOD   OF   CONSOLIDATION    AND   CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT.  445 

Primitive  Methodists  met  in  the  city  and  formed  themselves  into  a  society.  For 
a  time  they  carried  on  a  mission,  but  ultimately  the  services  fell  through,  several 
of  the  leading  workers  having  moved  to  other  parts  of  the  Colony.  Eight  years 
later  services  were  again  commenced  and,  in  1871,  Robert  Ward  was  appointed  first 
minister  of  the  Christchurch  Mission.  The  work  prospered,  and  the  surrounding 
districts  were  missioned  by  labourers  sent  out  by  the  Christchurch  Mission.  To-day 
there  are  in  the  Province  of  Canterbury  six  Circuits  and  one  Branch  with  eight 
ministers  labouring  upon  them.'' 

There  is  something  in  the  very  remoteness  of  Invercargill,  and  especially  of  its 
offshoot — Bluff,  which  strikes  the  imagination.  There  they  stand  on  the  confines  of 
Southland,  as  the  southern  outpost  of  the  empire,  looking  out  towards  the  mysterious 
Antarctic  Sea.  Mr.  C.  Froggatt,  from  the  Ludlow  station  in  Shropshire,  was  the 
chief  means  of  planting  our  Church  in  this  southern  Pinisterre  in  1872,  and  now  the 
bells  of  Primitive  Methodist  churches  call  our  people  to  their  Sabbath  worship.* 

It  was  in  January,  1875,  during  his  official  visit  to  the  Australasian  Churches,  that 
Dr.  S.  Antliff,  accompanied  by  W.  J.  Dean,  organized  the  first  Primitive  Methodist 
society  in  Dunedin.  The  society  of  fifteen  members  then  constituted  kept  together 
until  the  settlement  of  the  first  minister  in  1876. 

We  cannot  follow  the  process  by  which  the  circuits  whose  origin  has  been  described 
have  branched  out  and  multiplied.  Some  idea  of  the  way  in  which  this  extension 
has  been  brought  about  may  be  gained  from  the  subjoined  quotation,  which  for  several 
reasons  is  worth  giving.  It  relates  to  Greendale,  one  of  the  six  circuits  deriving  from 
Christchurch,  "the  City  of  the  Plains.''  The  picture  the  quotation  calls  up  has  about 
it  the  colour,  the  spaciousness,  the  fresh  breeziness  of  the  new  world.  It  shows  us  the 
original  settler  at  work ;  and  in  this  case  the  settler  bears  a  familiar  name  which  recalls 
Yorkshire  Primitive  Methodism,  and  we  see  how  the  piety  of  many  of  the  emigrants 
from  the  old  country  was  hardy  enough  to  bear  transplanting  to  a  land  on  which 
other  constellations  look  down. 

"  A  short  time  previously  [to  E.  Ward's  taking  charge  of  Christchurch],  Mr.  George 
Puidd  had  taken  up  his  residence  at  Greendale,  about  thirty  miles  distant  from 
Christchurch  on  the  plains.  In  those  early  days  there  were  no  well-kept  fences  and 
fruitful  cornfields,  no  comfortable  homesteads  ;  but  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach  on 
every  side,  one  wide  expanse  of  brown  tussocks,  which  swayed  in  the  wind  like  the 
billows  of  the  ocean.  They  had  a  monotony  of  their  own,  those  extensive  plains, 
before  the  settler  cultivated  them— a  monotony  which  reminded  one  of  the  ocean — 
of  its  boundless  expanse  and  freedom.  Overhead  arched  the  sky,  deep  blue  in  summer  ; 
and  away  from  your  feet  the  brown  flat  stretched,  on  the  one  hand  to  the  distant 
horizon,  where,  from  the  roundness  of  the  earth,  it  left  a  golden  line  against  the  blue  ; 
and  on  the  other  to  the  mountains,  whose  rugged  crests  for  nine  months  in  the  year 
were  white  with  snow.  The  story  of  Mr.  Budd's  settlement  on  the  plains  reads 
almost  like  one  of  the  pastoral  scenes  in  the  Old  Testament. 

*  "  A  fine  bell  was  also  purchased  and  hung  in  the  belfry  [of  Don  Street  Church,  Invercargill] 
which  on  Sabbath  days  since  then  [1880]  has  called  the  people  to  the  house  of  prayer."  "  At  the 
Bluff  there  hangs  in  the  belfry  a  small  bell  which  once  belonged  to  the  Ann  Gambles,'  a  ship 
which  was  wrecked  on  the  rocks  near  by."—"  Jubilee  Memorial  Volume,"  pp.  263-4. 


44 1  i  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 

"In  the  year  I sOT,  in  the  month  of  October,  Mr.  Eudd  and  his  youngest  son  James 
set  out  from  their  cottage  on  Shand's  Tract,  to  the  land  which  he  had  selected  on  the 
banks  of  the  Hawkins,  with  horses,  plough,  dray,  dog,  etc.,  not  forgetting,  too,  some 
loaves  of  bread  which  Mrs.  Eudd  had  baked  for  their  use.  Remembering  that  their  loaves 
were  to  last  them  a  fortnight  at  least,  they  kept  them  in  a  basket  which  was  placed  in 
a  hole  dug  out  of  the  tussocks.  'Well  do  I  remember  (we  quote  from  Mr.  James  Rudd) 
the  first  time  we  got  the  horses  into  the  plough.  I  was  very  anxious  to  steam  ahead, 
but  father,  not  forgetting  that  the  blessing  of  the  Lord  resteth  upon  those  who  acknow- 
ledge Him  in  all  their  ways,  said,  "Now,  Jim,  my  lad,  we  must  ask  the  blessing  of  God 
on  our  labours.''  The  horses  were  started  a  few  yards,  the  sod  was  turned  up,  and 
then  we  knelt  down  by  the  plough,  and  father  told  the  Lord  how  we  had  come  to 
this  new  country,  and  invoked  His  blessing  upon  our  labours.  And  who  shall  say 
that  God  was  not  present?  We  were  a  lonely  pair  upon  that  lonely  plain,  yet  God 
was  surely  there  and  heard  our  petition.  Our  first  crop  was  put  in,  and  proved  the 
goodness  of  our  Father  in  heaven  in  giving  us  a  plenteous  harvest.' 

"There  can  be  little  wonder  that  prosperity  crowned  the  labours  of  the  pioneer 
settlers.  God  has  said  •  'Them  that  honour  Me  I  will  honour.'  In  due  course  a  sod 
house  was  erected,  with  a  roof  of  thatch,  and  there  Mrs.  Eudd  and  the  other  members 
of  the  family  took  up  their  residence.  The  farm  flourished,  and  from  time  to  time 
other  settlers  arrived  in  the  district.  That  sod  cottage,  the  first  house  of  the  Rudds 
at  Greendale,  was  a  hallowed  spot.  There  the  family  altar  was  erected,  and  morning, 
noon,  and  night  that  gracious  God  whose  blessings  were  so  richly  bestowed  was 
acknowledged  and  devoutly  worshipped.  Mrs.  Eudd  was  a  true  mother  in  Israel. 
Her  cheerful  spirit,  her  strong  common  sense,  and  her  true  piety,  made  a  deep  and 
lasting  impression  upon  her  sons  and  daughters,  each  of  whom,  in  early  life,  professed 
conversion  and  in  later  years  rendered  valuable  service  to  the  Ohurch." 

It  adds  interest  to  the  foregoing  narrative  to  know  that  Mrs.  Rudd  was  the  sister 
of  Jeremiah  Dodsworth,  author  of  "The  Better  Land."  Before  her  marriage  she 
was  nurse  in  an  English  family  in  Paris,  at  whose  house  Louis  Phillipe,  king  of  the 
French,  used  to  visit  incog.  One  night,  when  seeing  him  to  the  door,  he  said : 
"  I  wish  I  were  half  as  happy  as  you  seem  to  he."  * 

The  United  States. 

How  Primitive  Methodism  was  carried  to  the  USA.  has  already  been  described 
(vol.  i.  p.  138),  and  it  has  also  been  stated  that  the  Conference  of  1843  had  before  it 
what  were  considered  as  bona  fide  overtures  from  the  "  American  Primitive  Methodist 
Church"  for  re-incorporation  with  the  parent  body.  Still,  ever  since  1843,  the 
relations  between  the  two  Churches  have  been  anything  but  close ;  for  the  most 
part  sentimental  rather  than  real.  What  intermittent  bond  of  connection  there  may 
have  been  has  been  the  personal  one  supplied  by  the  men  whom  the  mother-Church 
has  occasionally  given  or  lent  to  its  daughter  Church  in  the  States.  Very  soon  after 
the  Conference  of  1844  Hugh  Bourne  crossed  the  Atlantic  to  visit  the  churches  of 
Canada  and  the  United  States,  returning  in  time  for  the  Conference  of  1846.  He 
went  out  invested  with  the  title  of  "Adviser  from  the  English  Conference.''     It  would 

*  Rev.  H.  Woodcock's  "Primitive  Methodism  on  the  Yorkshire  Wolds/' p.  163.  See  also  ante 
vol.  ii.  p.  61. 


THE  PERIOD  OF  CONSOLIDATION  AND  CHURCH  DEVELOPMENT.       447 

be  easy  to  attach  too  much  significance  to  this  visit,  and  to  credit  it  with  results  it 
was  never  expected  to  yield.  Our  venerable  founder  volunteered  for  this  work  and, 
although  many  thought  it  unwise  for  one  who  was  more  than  seventy  years  of  age  to 
undertake  such  a  task,  yet  out  of  respect  for  the  man  they  yielded  to  his  urgently 
expressed  desire.  The  expedition,  from  first  to  last,  was  a  remarkable  feat  of  zeal 
and  endurance,  very  characteristic  of  the  brave  old  man.  More  cannot  well  be  said 
of  it  than  this.  Mr.  Petty's  statement  that  "  his  visit  was  not  the  most  happy,  either 
for  himself  or  the  leading  brethren  there,"  is  amply  borne  out  by  the  documentary 
evidence.  The  adviser  and  the  advised  did  not  always  see  eye  to  eye ;  for  their 
standards  of  measurement  were  not  the  same. 

For  three  months  Hugh  Bourne  did  duty  as  emergency  minister  in  New  York  city, 
and  before  he  embarked  for  home  met  with  William  Towler  who,  in  January,  1846, 
had  arrived  to  take  over  "  the  general  superintendency  of  the  United  States  Missions 
until  the  General  Missionary  Committee  should  direct  otherwise."  W.  Towler  was 
a  man  of  fine  presence  and  of  equally  fine  character,  a  minister  of  experience,  and 
an  eloquent  preacher.  His  appointment  involved  a  double  sacrifice ;  the  Connexion 
parted  with  a  minister  doing  good  work  at  home  in  order  that  he  might  go  on  what 
was  little  better  than  a  forlorn  hope ;  while  Mr.  Towler  himself  left  an  assured  position 
for  one  full  of  uncertainty  and  trial.  We  have  now  before  us  in  MS.  his  "  Notes, 
Correspondence  with  the  General  Missionary  Committee,"  etc.,  which  gives  the  history 
of  his  appointment,  and  his  experience  in  fulfilling  it  until  August,  '46.  The  reading 
of  this  book  heightens  our  estimate  of  Mr.  Towler's  character  and  ability ;  but  it  also 
leaves  us  with  the  decided  impression  that  the  United  States  Mission  before  1843 
makes  the  least  brilliant  page  of  our  history,  and  that  the  less  said  about  some  who 
tarnished  it  the  better.  Not  only  is  it  true,  as  the  first  Missionary  Eeport  says,  that 
"These  Missions  have  suffered  more  from  defections  in  their  missionaries  than  any 
belonging  to  the  Connexion;"  but  the  conduct  of  some  who  were  for  a  time  the 
early  agents  of  the  Society  was  such  as  to  invite  failure  and  bring  reproach  on  the 
denomination.  Yet  had  Mr.  Towler  only  been  spared  a  few  years  he  might  have 
rallied  the  faithful  remnant,  and  given  character  and  strength  to  the  churches.  But, 
alas !  he  was  struck  with  mortal  illness  soon  after  his  return  from  Toronto,  where  his 
public  efforts  had  made  a  great  impression,  and,  to  the  grief  of  all  who  knew  him, 
he  died  December  4th,  1846,  in  the  fortieth  year  of  his  age.  With  his  premature 
decease  the  bond  of  connection — apparently  dependent  on  the  slender  thread  of  a 
human  life — snapped,  and  the  American  Primitive  Methodist  Church  resumed  its 
independent  course. 

We  anticipate  a  little  in  saying  that  in  1875  Joseph  Odell  went  out  to  the  U.S.A. 
to  take  charge  of  the  church  at  Brooklyn,  and  remained  there  until  1880.  In  what 
follows  we  give  the  substance  of  a  communication,  kindly  supplied  by  him,  in  which 
he  not  only  refers  to  his  own  experience  at  Brooklyn,  but  touches  on  the  difficulties 
Primitive  Methodism  has  had  to  contend  with  in  the  U.S.A.,  and  the  causes  of  its 
comparative  failure. 

The  great  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  the  U.S.A.  is  distinctively  and  aggressively 
Evangelistic.     It  is  also  most  patriotic  and  American  in  its  relations ;  while  our  little 


448  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 

churches  appeared  to  be  "very  small  English  colonies,"  living  within  themselves,  and 
not  appealing  to  the  young  life  of  America.  The  "  old  country  stamp  "  of  our  services 
appeared  as  recently  as  1878-9;  for  all  the  Primitive  Methodist  churches  on  the 
stations  were  using  the  old  Hymn  Book,  published  from  Sutton  Street,  containing 
the  national  anthem — "  Cod  save  the  Queen '' — while  no  opportunity  was  given  for 
the  national  airs  of  America  to  be  sung  at  the  services.  Then  the  opportunities,  both 
of  social  position  and  increasing  salary,  proved  inducements  to  many  of  the  missionaries, 
and  they  left  us  and  joined  the  larger  forces  found  everywhere  around  them.  But  there 
were  some  loyal  men  who  continued  their  labours  and  retained  their  interest  in  the 
denomination.  Where  these  laboured,  as  in  Pennsylvania,  the  churches  kept  together 
in  a  little  Conference,  and  found  in  Charles  Spurr  a  faithful  representative  of  our 
Connexion.  In  the  West,  chiefly  in  Wisconsin,  there  continued  a  small  Conference 
of  varying  fortunes.  The  earliest  centres  were  at  New  Diggings  and  Mineral  Point. 
At  the  latter  place  the  church  continues,  and  has  an  influential  position  and  a  credit- 
able structure  of  its  own.  For  this  position  the  Connexion  is  indebted  in  large 
measure  to  Mr.  Philip  Allen,  sen.  ;  and  his  son,  P.  Allen,  the  chief  banker  of  the 
town,  is  to-day  the  honoured  laydeader  of  the  church,  and  nobly  supported  the 
Rev.  R.  Chubb  in  the  erection  of  the  present  church-buildings.  The  minister  now  there 
is  Rev.  T.  W.  Walker,  one  of  the  earliest  representatives  of  the  Evangelist's  Home. 

In  New  York  city  and  Brooklyn  little  has  really  been  done,  although  Brooklyn  has 
always  had  a  centre  of  Connexional  life  since  the  first  missionaries  arrived,  and  several 
of  these  made  "  Little  Jacob,''  the  first  church  in  that  city,  a  kind  of  head-quarters. 
It  was  not  until  1875  that  a  suitable  church-building  was  secured  in  that  delightful 
city,  and,  unfortunately,  the  opening  services  had  scarcely  closed,  and  no  proper 
adjustment  of  any  of  the  funds  had  been  possible,  nor  any  mortgage  secured,  when 
a  gross  scandal  occurred.  At  two  weeks'  call,  in  the  month  of  March,  1876,  Joseph 
Odell,  with  his  wife  and  young  children,  arrived  there  to  enter  the  breach  and  to 
stand  for  the  virtue  of  clean  life  and  the  vindication  of  Primitive  Methodism. 
Mr.  Odcll  was  lent  for  the  emergency.  It  was  a  severe  ordeal.  Circumstances  invested 
the  already  grave  position  with  prejudice.  The  city  sided  with  the  violators  of  morality 
and  left  the  mere  handful  of  heroic  Primitive  Methodists  to  their  fate.  For  many 
months  the  new  minister  received  not  a  visit  of  welcome  or  recognition,  save  from 
English  ministers,  and  these  came  rather  out  of  sympathy  than  from  admiration  of 
the  position.  But  faith  in  God  and  fidelity  to  truth  won.  Converts  were  made 
each  Sabbath;  vast  and  far-reaching  improvements  commenced;  new  missions  were 
opened,  and  new  institutions  sprang  up  which  greatly  stirred  the  city.  A  Temperance 
organization  called  after  the  pastor,  "The  Odell  Temperance  League,"  achieved  mar- 
vellous reforms ;  four  drinking-saloons  around  the  church  were  closed.  This,  of  course, 
led  to  retaliation  by  the  liquor-interest ;  the  parsonage  front  was  twice  smashed  in,  and 
the  pastor  needed  the  special  care  of  the  police  authorities.  Such  victories  largely 
augmented  the  church  and  congregation  and  restored  the  confidence  of  the  city.  There 
were  noble  men  associated  with  this  church.  Mr.  Howard  Darsley  has  for  many  years 
been  its  chief  pillar.  As  a  loyal  Primitive  Methodist  he  has  been  a  tower  of  strength 
to  every  connexional  cause,  and  a  most  hospitable  friend  to  many  ministers  and  their 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND   CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT.  449 

families.  During  the  period  of  Mr.  Odell's  ministry  Mr.  John  Thatcher  and  his 
excellent  wife  became  active  members  of  the  Brooklyn  church,  and  ever  since  those 
days  have  never  ceased  to  love  its  services  and  to  look  after  its  needs  and  expenses. 
To  this  day  this  family  make  Brooklyn  Primitive  Methodism  a  first  call  upon  their 
estate,  time,  and  service. 

The  Brooklyn  church  shares  with  mother  Tunstall  the  honour  of  having  received 
into  its  fold — the  former  in  1875 — that  remarkable  and  much-mistaken  man — Joseph 
Barker.  The  life-history  of  Joseph  Barker  is  full  of  thrilling  interest — of  adventure 
and  change ;  and  his  lapse  into  infidelity  was  most  painful  and  pathetic.  It  was, 
when  on  a  visit  to  England  and  amongst  old  friends  in  the  Potteries,  that  he  was 
restored  to  the  fellowship  of  Jesus  Christ.  Love  conquered  where  argument  would 
have  been  useless.  On  Mr.  Barker's  conversion  the  Press  of  the  time  made  its 
comments ;  but  its  reality  became  evident.  He  sought  everywhere  the  company  of 
simple  believers.  He  gave  his  library  to  the  Primitive  Methodist  College,  Sunderland, 
and  on  his  return  to  U.S.A.,  joined  the  Brooklyn  church,  and  spent  a  lengthened 
period  in  residence  there.  He  also  made  a  will  giving  to  the  Primitive  Methodist 
Connexion  vast  tracts  of  land  in  Nebraska.  Mr.  Odell,  on  going  to  U.S.A.,  carried 
this  document  with  him  and  verified  its  value,  and  interviewed  the  son  and  heir  of 
Mr.  Barker.  Direct  information  was  given  to  the  General  Committee,  and  a  sum 
of  money  was  accepted  by  the  Connexion  in  settlement.* 

The  Brooklyn  church  still  continues,  but  finds  itself  a  down-town  problem.  In 
later  years,  and  during  Mr.  Odell's  stay  in  Brooklyn,  a  new  movement  was  inaugurated 
in  the  New  England  States.  Mr.  N.  W.  Matthews  left  Mr.  Odell's  roof,  and 
went  first  to  Trenton  and  then  to  Lowell,  Mass.  He  has  proved  most  efficient  and 
successful,  and  now  the  best  Primitive  Methodist  Churches  and  Conference  can  be 
found  in  the  region  nearer  Plymouth  Kock  and  in  the  old  Colony. 

Canada. 

The  planting  of  Primitive  Methodism  in  Canada  has  already  been  described 
(vol.  i.  p.  438).  The  first  chapel  built  at  Toronto  in  1832  is  shown  in  our  picture. 
The  plainness  and  simplicity  of  the  building  itself,  the  planked  side-walk,  the  domestic 
fowls  quietly  pecking  on  the  roadway — all  these  are  quite  in  keeping  with  early  colonial 
days,  when  what  is  now  one  of  the  most  advanced  cities  in  the  British  Empire  was 
vulgarly  known  as  "  Muddy  Little  York.''  This  somewhat  primitive  yet  commodious 
structure  served  its  day,  and  was  superseded  by  Alice  Street  in  1854 — the  very  year 

*  "  The  Primitive  Methodists  at  Tunstall  invited  me  to  join  their  community,  and  as  soon  as 
I  consistently  could,  I  did  so.  I  was  afterwards  accepted  as  a  local  preacher.  My  labours  as 
a  preacher  and  lecturer  have  been  mostly  in  connection  with  that  community.  I  was  specially 
struck  with  the  zeal,  the  labours,  and  the  usefulness  of  the  Primitive  Methodists  while  on  my 
way  from  the  wilds  of  error ;  and  my  intercourse  with  its  ministers  and  members  since  I  became 
a,  Christian,  has  proved  to  me  an  unspeakable  comfort  and  blessing.  I  have  received  from  them 
the  greatest  kindness :  and  I  pray  God  that  I  may  prove  a  comfort  and  a  blessing  to  them  in 
return."— Joseph  Barker's  "  Teachings  of  Experience,"  p.  170.  In  the  preface  to  this  remarkable 
book  Mr.  Barker  names  J.  A.  Bastow  as  one  who  helped  to  lead  him  back  to  Christ. 

F  p 


450 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


in  which  the  Canadian  churches  were  empowered  to  hold  their  first  Conference  and 
were  free  to  enter  upon  their  period  of  Church  organization  and  development.  Then, 
in  1874,  the  society  that  had  successively  worshipped  in  Bay  Street  and  Alice  Street 
(burnt  down  in  '73)  took  possession  of  the  noble  pile  of  buildings  in  Carlton  Street, 
which  cost  50,000  dollars.  At  this  time  all  the  signs  were  prelusive  of  change. 
Primitive  Methodism  was  being  drawn  into  the  current  which  ten  years  later  was 
to  merge  it  in  the  great  Methodist  Church  of  the  Dominion.  So  it  will  be  seen  that 
the  three  buildings  of  our  picture  not  inaptly  symbolize  the  successive  stages  through 
which  Canadian  Primitive  Methodism  has  passed ;  and  it  will  be  well  to  keep  these 
stages  in  view  as  we  proceed. 

Everything  goes  to  show  that  the  missions  in  British  North  America  were  the  most 
popular,  and  were  regarded  as  being  on  the  whole  the  most  successful  of  our  Colonial 
Missions.  For  one  thing  they  had  the  advantage  of  being  in  closer  touch  with 
England,  and  though  they  had  difficulties  of  their  own  to  face,  they  were  free  from 
some  of  the  special  difficulties  which  militated  against  success  in  Australasia.     Had 


ALICE    STREET   CHURCH,    ]M."l4.  EAT    STREET   CHURCH,    1832.  CARLTON    STREET   CHURCH,    1S74. 

the  Missionary  Committee  only  been  able  to  send  out  more  men  of  the  right  stamp 
when  emigration  was  at  its  height,  the  success  realized  would  have  been  vastly 
greater  than  it  was.  The  bulk  of  the  Canadian  immigrants  did  not  remain  stationary. 
Population  did  not  agglomerate  in  one  or  two  centres  merely,  but  spread  out  like 
a  fan,  or  like  projectiles  from  a  machine-gun.  Clearly,  therefore,  the  policy  needed 
was  to  have  a  sufficient  number  of  missionaries  to  follow  in  the  wake  of  those  going 
to  take  up  land  in  the  back  settlements.  Even  as  it  was,  with  the  limited  means  and 
few  men  at  command,  this  kind  of  work  was  not  neglected. 

It  was  well  for  Primitive  Methodism  that  it  had,  from  the  first,  some  families  of 
standing  and  character  connected  with  it  who  stood  by  the  cause  and  rendered  it 
increasing  help  as  their  own  temporal  circumstances  improved.  Chief  among  these 
were  Messrs.  W.  Lawson,  K.  Walker,  and  J.  Elliott  formerly  of  Carlisle  Circuit,  and 
T.  Thompson  formerly  of  Driffield.  Than  E.  Walker  it  would  be  difficult  to  point 
to  a  layman  of  finer  type.  He  was  no  seeker  of  office,  yet  there  were  few  positions 
of  trust  he  did  not  fill.  He  was  a  generous  giver  to  good  causes,  and  he  gave  from 
principle  and  by  rule.     Mr.  Walker  was  not  unknown  by  face  to  Primitive  Methodists 


THE   PERIOD    OF    CONSOLIDATION   AND    CHUEGH   DEVELOPMENT. 


451 


in  this  country :  he  was  chairman  of  the  great  public  meeting  at  the  Grimsby 
Conference  of  1869,  and  with  J.  C.  'Antliff,  B.D.,  represented  Canadian  Primitive 
Methodism  at  the  Methodist  (Ecumenical  Conference  of  1881.  He  survived  his  friend 
and  fellow-worker,  W.  Lawson,  ten  years,  dying  in  1885.* 

Among  the  pioneer  ministers  of  Canada,  or  among  those  who  immediately  succeeded 
the  pioneers,  were  N.  Watkins,  W.  Summersides,  W.  Lyle  (1833-57);  J.  Lacey  ('36-65), 
"  a  walking  cyclopoedia  of  divinity,  a  man  whom  men  crowded  to  hear " ;  W.  Jolley 
('38-44);  M.  Nichols  ('41-54);  John  Towler,  brother  of  W.  Towler  ('43-51);  Thomas 
Adams  ('44-65);  Robert  Boyle,  D.D.  ('46-80),  an  Irishman,  "sensitive,  clever,  popular, 
much  in  demand  among  the  churches  ';  James  Edgar,  D.D.  ('46-80),  "a  man  nearly  all 
soul  and  sympathy";  John  Davison  ('47-61);  John  Garner  ('48-81),  the  son  of  the 
John  Garner  we  know  so  well,  and  son-in-law  of  John  Flesher ;  W.  Gledhill,  an 
eccentric  but  saintly  man,  who  returned  to  England  in  1861. t 

Matthew  Nichols  will  be  an  unknown  name  to  Primitive  Methodists  on  this  side 
the  Atlantic ;  but  it  ought  not  to  be  unknown.  In  his  ardent  piety,  consuming 
labours,  and  early  death  he  reminds  us  of  Thomas  Proctor  and  Atkinson  Smith 
and  with  such  men  as  these  he  should  ever  be  bracketed.  He  was  a  Norfolk  lad 
who  emigrated  to  Canada,  and  was  carried  off  by  cholera  in  the  very  midst  of  his 
successful  toil.  That  he  was  a  man  of  grit  as  well  as  grace  may  be  inferred  from 
his  experience  in  opening  the  Guelph  mission  :  "  On  this  mission  he  was  an  entire 
stranger,  and  had  to  practise  self-denial,  suffer  privations,  endure  fatigue,  and  perform 
labours  sufficient  to  wreck  a  Herculean  constitution.''  Yet  go  where  he  might,  "  he  rode 
on  the  crest  of  a  wave  of  perpetual  revival  enthusiasm.'' 
He  would  overwhelm  a  whole  congregation  with  emotion 
while  preaching  from  the  text,  "  What  mean  ye  to  weep 
and  break  mine  heart.''  His  memory  was  revered  by 
the  many  steadfast  converts  he  had  won. 

John  Davison  was  a  man  of  very  different  type  who 
demands  an  additional  word.  He  was  a  convert  of 
"William  Morris,  the  potter-friend  of  William  Clowes, 
and  joined  the  first  society  formed  in  Newcastle-on-Tyne. 
He  entered  the  ministry  in  1823,  and  soon  gave  evidence 
of  the  possession  of  those  solid  qualities  which  marked 
his  after  career.  He  was  the  step-son  of  William  Clowes, 
and  we  are  indebted  to  him  for  the  publication  of  the 
Journals  of  William  Clowes  (1844)  and  also  for  the 
"Life"  published  in  1854.  In  1847  he  yielded  to 
the  request  of  the  General  Missionary  Committee  to  go 
out  to  Canada,  and  for  some  years  acted  as  a  kind  of  Colonial  Bishop,  being  vested 


KEV.    JOHN  DAVISON. 


*  See  ante  vol.  i.  p.  438  for  his  portrait.  There  is  a  good  sketch  of  Mr.  Walker  in  "  A  Memorial 
of  the  Centenary  of  the  Venerable  Hugh  Bourne,"  1872.  See  also  "  Old-Time  Primitive  Methodism 
in  Canada,"  by  Mrs.  Hopper,  1904. 

t  The  dates  cover  the  years  of  active  ministry  in  Canada.  The  brief  characterizations  are  quoted 
from  K.  Cade,  D.D.,  in  "  Old-Time  Primitive  Methodism  in  Canada." 

F  P  2 


PEIM1TIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 


REV.    W.    HOWE. 


by  the  Conference  with  authority  "  to  visit  the  stations,  counsel  the  missionaries, 
preachers  and  societies,  and  to  open  new  missions.''  He  started  the  Ecamjeliaf  on  his 
own  responsibility,  and  when  in  1858  that  journal  was  merged  in  the  Christian  Journal, 
he  became  its  editor,  and  also  Book  Steward  until  his  superannuation  in  1866.  He 
also  compiled  the  first  Book  of  Discipline,  and  for  nine  years — 
'57-66 — was  Missionary  Secretary.  He  was  present  as  a  delegate 
at  the  Grimsby  Conference  of  1869,  and  died  in  1S84  with  the 
words  upon  his  lips:  "I  believe  in  the  communion  of  saints, 
the  forgiveness  of  sins,  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  and  the  life 
everlasting.'' 

It  was  fitting  that  such  a  man  should  be  the  General  Committee 
Secretary  of  the  first  Canadian  Conference  which  was  held  at 
Brampton,  named  after  Brampton  in  Cumberland  by  Mr.  John 
Elliott,  one  of  the  first  settlers,  and  a  devoted  Primitive  Methodist. 
At  tins  time,  April,  1854,  there  were  two  Districts,  15  stations, 
"23  ministers,  and  2326  members. 
For  the  sake  of  convenience  and  more  efficient  working  the  Canadian  "  appointments  " 
were,  in  '60,  re-arranged  in  six  Districts.  The  establishment  of  a  Book-Room,  the 
publication  of  a  denominational  organ,  and  the  appointment  of  a  General  Missionary 
Secretary,  were  all  movements  in  the  same  direction.  The  question  of  the  better 
education  of  the  ministry  also  forced  itself  to  the  front,  and  in  '66,  T.  Crompton 
stands  on  the  stations  as  Theological  Tutor.  Next  year  G.  Lewis,  B.A.,  is,  in 
addition,  named  as  English  and  Classical  Tutor.  Ve  judge  Mr.  Lewis  would  be 
the  first  minister  in  the  denomination  who  obtained  a  diploma  by  residence  at 
a  University,  as  J.  C.  Antliff,  B.D.,  was  the  first  minister  of  the  British  Conference 
to  do  so.  In  1870,  however,  the  Institute  was  discontinued,  and  it  was  decided 
that  young  men  who  took  the  two  years'  course  at  Toronto  University  should  have 
one  year  deducted  from  their  probationary  term.  It  should  also  be  stated  that 
Dr.  S.  Antliff  visited  the  Canadian  churches  in  '71,  and  G.  Lamb  in  '76,  when  his 
presence  at  a  critical  time  was  of  great  value. 

During  this  period  several  ministers  went  out  from  England  who  took  an  active 
part  in  the  expansion  and  internal  development  of  Canadian 
Primitive  Methodism.  Messrs.  T.  Crompton  and  TV.  Rowe 
arrived  in  '54,  W.  Bee  in  '56.  Still  later,  J.  F.  Porter  and 
G.  P.  Clark  went  out  in  '71  and  '72  respectively,  and  after 
some  years'  labours  returned  to  do  good  work  under  the  British 
Conference.  By  special  request  Thomas  Guttery  went  out  in  '76 
and  J.  C.  Antliff,  B.D,  in  '80. 

Mr.  Rowe  rendered  efficient  service  in  Canada.  For  five  years 
he  was  General  Missionary  Secretary  and  Book  Steward,  and 
from  '71  to  '73  was  in  the  Editorial  chair.  Not  only  did  he  fill 
these  positions  of  trust.  In  Toronto  the  Church  never  prospered 
more  than  during  Mr.  Rowe's  superintendency.  Churches  were 
erected  in   Parliament  Street,  Queen  Street,  a  new  church  built  at  Yorkville,  and  the 


REV.  T.   GUTTEI1Y. 


THE   PERIOD   OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND   CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT.  453 

ministerial  staff  increased.  The  stations  constituting  the  London  District  were,  with 
the  exception  of  two,  created  and  formed  by  Mr.  Rowe,  who  spent  several  years  in 
following  the  settlers  into  new  townships  and  organizing  them  into  Primitive  Methodist 
churches.*  Through  failure  of  health  Mr.  Rowe  superannuated  in  1873  and  returned 
to  this  country,  and  was  cordially  received  by  the  Conference.  He  afterwards  filled 
the  position  of  Principal  of  the  Ladies'  College,  Clapham  Common,  and  is  now  enjoying 
a  hale  and  vigorous  old  age,  still  often  filling  the  pulpits  of  the  churches  near  his 
residence  at  Kew. 

Thomas  Guttery  went  out  to  Toronto  in  1871,  and  returned  to  England  with 
impaired  health  in  1879.  He  was  pastor  of  the  Alice  Street  (afterwards  Carlton 
Street)  Church  for  five  years,  and  then  of  the  Yorkville  Church.  He  was  known 
as  the  foremost  representative  of  his  Church  and  as  an  eloquent  preacher.  He  edited 
the  Christian  Journal  with  an  ability  which  amply  justified  his  appointment  in  '92 
as  vice  to  the  Connexional  Editor.  As  we  all  know,  he  did  not  live  to  reach  the 
position  for  which  he  was  so  eminently  fitted.  Though  he  bravely  battled  with 
disease,  it  was  in  vain.  During  the  sittings  of  the  Edinburgh  Conference  of  '95  the 
end  came,  and  the  lips  of  one  of  the  most  eloquent  ministers  Primitive  Methodism 
has  produced  were  closed  in  death. 

The  last,  like  the  first  Primitive  Methodist  Conference  in  Canada,  was  held  at 
Brampton,  in  1884. 

*  "  Old-Time  Primitive  Methodism  in  Canada." 


4:4 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


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PRESIDENTS  OF   CONFERENCE,    1KN7  —  ]S07. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND    CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT.  455 


CHAPTER   VI. 
THE   MATERIAL   EXPANSION  OF   PRIMITIVE   METHODISM. 

1  HE  material  expansion  of  the  Connexion  since  1843  lias  been  a  noteworthy- 
feature  of  its  history.  The  multiplication  of  chapels  and  schools,  and  the 
improvement  in  the  architectural  character  and  adaptability  for  worship 
and  work  of  the  buildings  owned  by  the  denomination  are  facts  which, 
from  the  very  nature  of  the  case,  catch  the  eye  and  impress  the  mind.  Wherever 
you  may  go — alike  in  town  and  country — you  come  across  fabrics  which  bear  on  their 
front  the  denominational  name.  Those  who  are  old  enough  to  remember  how  the 
Connexion  was  off  for  chapels  forty  or  fifty  years  ago,  and  how  it  is  provided  for  now, 
will  best  be  able  to  appreciate  the  contrast  that  memory  calls  up  before  them.  When 
we  see  that  the  present  value  of  our  Connexional  property  is  estimated  at  more  than 
four  millions  and  a  half  sterling,  we  do  not  need  to  be  told  that  this  sum  represents 
in  the  aggregate  an  amount  of  enterprise,  thought,  and  activity  on  the  part  of  ministers 
and  people  truly  astonishing.  That  activity  has  been  pretty  general  throughout  the 
Connexion,  and  has  been  constantly  going  on,  though,  naturally,  it  has  had  its  varying 
degrees  of  intensity  at  different  periods. 

This  marked  activity  of  our  Church  on  the  material  side  has  not  escaped  the  notice 
of  critical  observers.  Sometimes,  indeed,  there  has  been  the  hinted  reproach  that 
ministers  and  people  were  too  much  absorbed  in  bricks-and-mortar  and  money-raising, 
as  though  this  were  the  be-all  and  end-all  of  a  Church's  existence.  The  danger  may 
readily  be  admitted,  as  also  the  easy  possibility  of  succumbing  to  it.  At  the  same 
time,  it  needs  to  be  pointed  out  that,  though  the  danger  might  be  avoidable,  the 
necessity  that  created  and  involved  the  danger  was  not.  The  chapel-building  era  was 
bound  to  come,  and  to  come  with  the  insistency  of  "  the  strong  man  armed."  So  much 
ground  had  been  quickly  covered  during  the  specially  missionary  period,  that  the 
housing  of  the  new  converts,  the  making  provision  for  their  needs,  and  the  creation 
of  the  plant  needful  for  future  working,  were  practical  matters  admitting  of  little 
delay.  So  our  fathers  thought, — and  hence  we  find  Robert  Smith  and  John  Jobling 
writing  in  1853:  "The  most  casual  observer  of  the  Connexion's  interests  must  have 
remarked  that  suitable  chapels,  on  good  sites,  and  in  workable  circumstances,  are 
among  the  most  effective  secondary  agencies  for  promoting  the  welfare  of  old  societies 
and  congregations,  and  for  giving  permanency  and  extension  to  new  ones.  Hence  the 
importance  of  both  building  such  places  and  of  attending  wisely  and  diligently  to 
their  affairs  when  erected."* 

The  chapel-building  era  developed  here  and  there  a  minister  of  a  special  type. 
These  men  of  the  time  became  known  as  "chapel-builders"  and  "debt-reducers." 
The  biographies  and  obituary  notices  of  the  time  witness  to  the  current  belief  that 

*  General  Chapel  Fund  Report,  1853. 


4"ifj  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST  CHURCH. 

some  degree  of  such  work  as  this  would  come  in  the  way  of  a  minister's  regular  duty, 
and  must  not  be  shirked ;  hence,  next  to  his  having  had  no  decrease  on  his  stations, 
it  is  counted  to  him  as  a  distinction  that  he  has  built  or  enlarged  so  many  chapels. 

We  would  assign  1847  as  about  the  year  when  the  Chapel  Building  Era  began. 
In  1843  the  reported  number  of  chapels  is  1278;  the  number  of  rented  chapels  and 
rooms  is  not  given.  If  the  figures  for  1845-6  are  correct,  then  there  was  an  actual 
decrease  of  chapels  for  those  years  on  the  number  reported  in  1843.  The  increase 
began  with  1847,  when  the  numbers  stood — Chapels,  1421  ;  Kented  Chapels  and 
Rooms,  3340 ;  and  ever  since  that  date  any  decrease  in  the  number  has  been  apparent 
rather  than  real,  to  be  accounted  for  by  the  loss  of  the  Australian  or  Canadian 
churches.  The  annual  statistics  also  disclose  the  interesting  fact  that  while,  in  1847, 
the  rented  rooms  outnumbered  the  Connexional  chapels  by  more  than  two  to  one ;  in 
twenty -one  years  the  ratio  was  reversed.  By  1868  the  Chapels  outnumbered  the 
Rented  Rooms,  the  precise  figures  being  3235  chapels  and  3034  rented  places.  All  this 
not  only  points  to  the  inference  that  the  Connexion  has  sustained  its  chief  losses  in 
those  localities  where  we  had  but  the  precarious  tenancy  of  a  rented  building ;  but 
still  more  unmistakeably  it  shows  that  very  much  of  the  activity  displayed  in  chapel- 
building,  especially  in  the  early  years,  consisted  in  substituting  for  a  building  held  on 
rent,  and  probably  ill-adapted  to  its  purpose,  one  held  in  trust  for  the  Connexion,  and 
built  expressly  for  worship  and  Christian  service.  But  still  another  inference  is 
suggested,  and  one  of  more  sinister  import.  If  there  had  not  been  a  decline  of 
home-missionary  enterprise  on  the  part  of  the  Circuits  during  this  period,  would  there 
have  been  this  steady  diminution  in  the  number  of  Rented  Rooms  ? 

The  statistics  of  the  number  of  chapels  built  in  successive  years  confirm  the  view 
that  the  period  of  greatest  activity  in  chapel-building  falls  within  the  triennium — 
1850-79 ;  and  that  this  activity  reached  its  height  during  the  decade  1863-72  when  no 
less  than  1191  chapels  are  reported  to  have  been  built,  giving  an  average  of  two  chapels 
for  every  week  of  the  decade.  Of  course  there  are  chapels  and  chapels,  and  the  mere 
number  of  chapels  built  gives  us  no  clue  to  their  actual  cost  and  value.  Unfortunately, 
it  was  not  till  1871  that  the  cost  and  value  of  newly  acquired  Connexional  property 
began  to  be  published  in  the  yearly  Minutes  of  Conference.  Any  estimate,  there- 
fore, relating  to  the  comparative  value  of  property  in  the  earlier  and  later  periods  is 
precluded.  We  can,  however,  ascertain  the  value  of  the  property  acquired  in  1870-9. 
The  value  of  the  897  chapels  built  in  these  ten  years  was  £1,057,511,  which  figures 
give  an  average  per  chapel  of  £1179. 

Chapel-Building  under  Regulations. 

The  "  boom  "  in  chapel-building,  as  we  might  well  call  it,  was  not  allowed  to  go  on 
without  surveillance  or  without  an  attempt  being  made  to  regulate  it.  The  need  for 
this  must  have  been  brought  home  to  the  minds  of  the  fathers  by  the  disasters  in 
Kent  and  Louth  Circuit  still  fresh  in  their  memory — disasters  which  had  been  largely 
brought  about  by  John  Stamp's  reckless  chapel-building  and  chapel-buying.  It  was 
high  time  a  stop  was  put  to  the  building  of  chapels  without  leave  asked,  without 
trustees,  without  any  reasonable  prospect  of  paying  for  them.     Hence  the  prudential 


THE   PERIOD    (^'CONSOLIDATION    AND    CHUECH   DEVELOPMENT.  457 


458  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 

enactments  of  1843  which,  amongst  others,  contained  a  regulation  requiring  one- 
third  of  the  money  the  chapel  would  cost  to  be  raised. 

By  1SS2  the  recommendation  had  stiffened  into  a  statutory  requirement,  and  the 
"  one  year  after  opening"  had  contracted  into  "  six  months.''  Moreover,  the  application 
for  leave  to  build  was  to  show  that  one-fourth  of  the  estimated  cost  had  already  been 
raised.  These  more  stringent  regulations  were  passed  not  a  day  too  soon,  and  the  effects  of 
their  working  were  all  to  the  good.  They  might  to  some  extent  react  upon  building 
projects — nipping  some  of  them  in  the  bud, — but  they  also  did  something  to  check  the 
accumulation  of  debt  on  connexional  property,  which  had  long  been  out  of  proportion 
to  the  money  raised,  and  a  source  of  growing  anxiety  and  weakness  to  the  churches. 

The  requisite  machinery  for  the  carrying  out  of  these  regulations  had  long  been 
available.  District  Building  Committees  had  been  established  in  1835,  and  District 
Chapel  Committees  in  1847.  In  the  same  year — '47 — the  General  Chapel  Fund  was 
created  for  the  purpose  of  rendering  financial  assistance  to  distressed  chapels.  Though 
much  crippled  in  its  praiseworthy  endeavours  by  limited  resources  this  fund  saved 
many  chapels  to  the  Connexion,  and,  as  the  aid  it  rendered  was  conditional  upon  local 
effort,  the  fund  materially  helped  to  reduce  chapel  debts.  The  Loan  Fund,  which  is 
now  a  section  of  the  General  Chapel  Fund,  though  with  a  separate  Treasurer,  was 
launched  as  a  centenary  commemoration  of  the  birth  of  Hugh  Bourne.  For  many 
years  the  Leeds  District  was  the  managing  committee  of  the  General  Chapel  Fund. 
At  present  it  is  constituted  on  a  much  wider  basis,  having  on  it  not  only  persons 
elected  by  the  Districts  and  Conference,  but  also  the  Secretary  and  Treasurer  of  the 
Connexional  Fund,  the  General  Missionary  Fund,  and  two  members  elected  by  the 
Chapel  Aid  Association,  and  two  by  the  Directors  of  the  Insurance  Company.  In 
fact  the  General  Chapel  Fund  is  thoroughly  representative  of  the  improved  and 
Scientific  Finance  which  we  take  to  be  a  striking  feature  of  the  latest  period  of  our 
history.  This  will  appear  all  the  clearer  after  we  shall  have  made  brief  reference  to  the 
origin  of  the  Insurance  Company  and  the  Chapel  Aid  Association  just  mentioned,  and 
what  they  have  done  and  are  doing  to  help  to  place  our  Connexional  property  in 
a  sounder  financial  position. 

Hull  Leads  the  Way. 
From  facts  and  figures  and  regulations  relating  to  chapels  let  us  turn  to  some  typical 
examples  of  chapel  building.  We  cannot  do  better  than  begin  with  Hull,  since,  as  the 
late  Dr.  Wood  contended,  it  was  there  the  chapel-building  era  of  the  Connexion 
commenced.  Dr.  Wood  furthermore  claims  that  to  John  Bywater  belongs  the  honour 
of  inaugurating  this  era.  Other  men  of  mark  might  be  chapel-fillers ;  John  Bywater 
was  pre-eminently  the  chapel-builder.  Such  honoured  men  as  Flesher,  Sanderson,  and 
Lamb  might  build  chapels  occasionally,  but  they  did  not  take  to  the  business  as  though 
''to  the  manner  born,"  as  did  Mr.  Bywater.  Such  are  the  views  of  Dr.  Wood  who,  we 
must  remember,  had  been  the  colleague  and  intimate  friend  of  Mr.  Bywater  in  Hull, 
and  who  writes  as  one  thoroughly  conversant  with  the  facts  of  the  case.* 

*  See  a  series  of  valuable  articles  on — "  Recollections  of  Rev.  John  Bywater  and  early  chapel- 
building  in  the  town  of  Hull." — .ilderxr/aif  Magazine,  180S. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND    CHUECII   DEVELOPMENT. 


459 


460  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHUKCH. 

When  Mr.  By  water  went  to  Hull  "West  Branch  in  18-17,  there  were  three  chapels  in 
the  town — "West  Street,  Mason  Street,  and  Kile  Street — and  all  of  them  were  crowded.* 
He  soon  saw  what  was  needed,  and  he  had  the  requisite  courage  and  ability  to  push 
forward  and  carry  through  a  new  chapel  project.  Thornton  Street  Chapel,  situated  not  far 
from  the  Pottery  at  which  "William  Clowes  had  worked,  was  opened  in  1849 — that  year 
of  ill  omen,  when  no  less  than  two  thousand  persons  were  swept  off  by  the  cholera  in 
Hull  in  the  short  space  of  three  months.  Thornton  Street  proved  a  great  success  but, 
unfortunately,  after  a  fire  which  broke  out  on  Easter  Sunday,  1856,  all  that  was  left  of 
the  Chapel  was  bare  blackened  walls.  The  congregation  found  shelter  in  a  vacant 
Episcopal  Chapel  hard  by,  which  was  lent  gratuitously,  and  the  new  Thornton  Street 
Chapel,  improved  and  somewhat  enlarged,  was  opened  in  September  of  the  same  year. 

Meanwhile — in  1850 — John  By  water  had  removed  to  Hull  East  Branch  where 
a  still  weightier  task  awaited  him,  and  a  still  stronger  title  to  grateful  remem- 
brance was  to  be  won.  All  were  agreed  that  increased  chapel  accommodation 
was  urgently  needed,  but  opinion  was  divided  as  to  the  particular  policy  to  be  pursued 
in  supplying  that  need.  Some  were  of  opinion  that  a  Chapel  should  be  built  beyond 
the  bridge  in  the  Holderness  Koad  direction,  while  others  advocated  the  replacing  of 
Mason  Street  by  a  large  central  Chapel.  Mr.  Bywater  was  strongly  in  favour  of  the 
latter  policy,  and  by  his  tact  he  so  far  disarmed  opposition  as  to  be  able  peaceably  and 
strenuously  to  proceed.  A  splendid  site  was  obtained  in  Kingston  Square  in  the  centre 
of  the  town  ;  Mr.  William  Sissons  was  called  in  as  architect,  Mr.  Musgrove  was  the 
bricklayer,  and  Mr.  Margison,  a  trustee  and  official,  undertook  the  joiner-work.  It  is 
interesting  to  note  that  Messrs.  Sissons  and  Margison  were  respectively  the  architect 
and  contractor  for  the  Thornton  Street  Chapel  of  1856  just  mentioned.  Mr.  Clowes 
was  fully  in  sympathy  with  the  views  of  Mr.  Bywater,  and  some  of  the  last  meetings 
he  attended  were  in  connection  with  the  Jarratt  Street  project.  The  foundation-stone 
of  "Clowes'  Chapel,"  as  after  the  death  of  Mr.  Clowes  it  was  decided  to  call  it,  was 
laid  on  the  Good  Friday  of  1851.  There  were  troubles  and  accidents  as  the  big 
building  (it  was  to  seat  1400  people)  went  up.  The  far-end  gable  gave  way,  killing  two 
workmen  and  injuring  others.  The  arch  that  supported  the  massive  stone-steps 
subsided  under  the  superincumbent  weight.  There  began  to  be  pessimistic  whisperings 
and  head-shakings.  When  a  heavy  thunderstorm  passed  over  the  town,  and  the 
rumour  spread  that  the  unfortunate  gable  had  been  struck  by  lightning,  some  said  it 
was  plain  to  see  God  was  against  the  project.  Amid  all  this  the  calmest  and  most 
cheerful  man  was  John  Bywater,  although  he  had  been  struck  down  by  illness.  When 
the  news  was  brought  him  that  the  gable  had  fallen — "Then,''  said  he,  "they  must 
build  it  up  again,  and  do  it  better  next  time.''  July,  1852,  saw  the  opening  of  Jarratt 
Street,  when  sermons  were  preached  by  Mr.  Bywater  and  Dr.  Beaumont,  whose 
impressive  death  took  place  (1855)  in  the  pulpit  of  Waltham  Street  Chapel,  not  far 
away.  It  is  but  natural  that  something  like  a  halo  of  sentiment  should  invest  Jarratt 
Street  Chapel,  as  though  it  were  a  personal  entity.  At  its  inception  Clowes  assisted. 
lie  bore  the  undertaking  up  before  God  in  prayer.      His  shadow  seemed  to  rest  on  its 

*For  previous  references  to  these  chapels  see  anie  vol.  i.  pp.  373,  386,  457. 


THE   PERIOD   OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND    CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT. 

4' 


4G1 


{ESENKEKj— 


462  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 

foundation  and  opening  services.  It  bears  his  name  and  stands  as  his  memorial. 
Ministers  of  power  have  preached  from  its  pulpit.  Three  Conferences  have  held  their 
sittings  within  its  walls.  It  is  right  we  should  speak  of  it  here ;  and  although  it  has 
now  stood  more  than  half  a  century,  and  many  sanctuaries  fair  to  look  upon  have 
sprung  from  it,  yet,  to  our  partial  eyes,  this  mother-chapel  in  its 
goodly  proportions  recalls  Milton's  words  concerning  our  first 
mother  Eve — "fairest  among  her  daughters.'' 

Since  the  erection  of  Jarratt  Street  the  multiplication  of  chapels 
and  the  division  of  circuits  have  gone  on  apace  in  the  town  of  Hull. 
As  long  as  Mr.  Clowes  lived  there  seemed  to  be  an  indisposition, 
even  on  the  part  of  some  of  the  stronger  Branches,  to  part  company 
with  Hull  Circuit  which,  one  may  say,  was  at  that  time  a  congeries 
of  Branches.  But,  in  1853,  the  two  Town-Branches  of  West 
and  East  became  respectively  Hull  First  and  Second  Circuits, 
while  Scarborough  and  Brisg  Branches  were  formed  into  separate 

ME.    SAMUEL  HODGE.  .  D  .  * 

stations.  I  he  only  Branches  still  retained  were  Barton  and 
Patrington  which  were  attached,  the  one  to  Hull  First,  and  the  other  to  Hull  Second. 
By  successive  divisions  and  sub-divisions  the  two  Hull  Circuits  of  1853  have  become 
the  eleven  of  1905,  employing  eighteen  ministers,  who  minister  to  some  twenty 
congregations  within  the  borough,  as  well  as  to  a  number  of  country  congregations. 

We  will  borrow  from  Dr.  AVood's  informing  articles  a  brief  account  of  the  course 
chapel  enterprise  took  in  Hull  after  the  erection  of  Jarratt  Street : — 

"The  two  chapels  next  in  time  to  Clowes'  Chapel  were  Holderness  Boad  and  Jubilee, 
Spring  Bank.  The  one  was  undertaken  by  Bev.  William  Garner,  and  the  other  by 
Rev.  John  Petty.  Each  seats  more  than  a  thousand  persons,  and  is  a  noble  and 
commanding  structure  ;  and  each  since  its  erection  has  had  considerable  additions 
made  to  its  schoolroom  accommodation.  The  Rev.  Thomas  Whitehead  had  the  honour 
of  building  our  largest  chapel  in  Hull,  the  fine  Gothic  building  in  Anlaby  Road,  which 
seats  1420.  The  year  after,  Henry  Hodge's  Memorial  Chapel,  Williamson  Street,  with 
seating  accommodation  for  1400  persons  and  a  splendid  suite  of  school-rooms  and 
class-rooms,  was  built  under  the  superintendency  of  Rev.  Parkinson  Milson,  to  provide 
for  the  overflow  from  Holderness  Road,  and  this  has  now  become  the  head  of 
Hull  Sixth  Circuit.  About  the  same  time,  the  writer  was  busy  in  getting  a  better 
home  for  old  Church  Street  society  by  the  erection  of  Lincoln  Street  Chapel— the 
Samuel  Hodge  Memorial — to  seat  050  people,  with  commodious  school  and  class-rooms. 
Rev.  P.  Cheeseman  commenced  and  Rev.  F.  Rudd  completed  the  Fountain  Road 
premises  which  provide  for  800  worshippers,  and  a  large  Sabbath  School,  and  are 
situated  in  the  midst  of  a  rapidly-growing  population.  This  was  the  second  great 
offshoot  from  Clowes'  Chapel,  and  it  very  much  weakened  for  a  time  the  old  con- 
gregation there.  In  1878  our  early  companion  and  intimate  friend,  Rev.  Thomas 
Whittaker,  had  to  provide  for  the  overflow  of  Jubilee  Chapel,  and  courageously  did 
he  undertake  the  erection  of  Ebenezer  on  Spring  Bank,  one  of  the  finest  Methodist 
structures  in  the  town,  seating  about  1200,  and  having  first-class  accommodation  for 
all  departments  of  Sunday  School  work.  In  1881,  a  second  offshoot  from  Great 
Thornton  Street,  under  the  vigorous  superintendency  of  Rev.  W.  Robinson,  undertook 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND    CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT.  463 

the  erection  of  Hessle  Eoad  Chapel  and  Schools,  another  magnificent  pile  of  buildings 
of  which  any  Church  might  be  proud,  and  where  there  are  seats  of  the  most  approved 
style  for  1000  worshippers.  Lastly,  St.  George's  Road  in  the  Fifth  Circuit,  and 
Lambert  Street,  seating  850,  another  branch  from  Clowes'  Chapel,  are  noble  monuments 
of  the  skill  and  enterprise  of  Rev.  Thomas  Mitchell.  All  these  were  large  and 
expensive  erections,  involving  an  outlay  of  from  £3000  to 
£8000  or  £9000;  yet  they  are  all  plain  Methodist  chapels, 
without  spires  and  costly  ornamentation.  We  could  go  on  when 
Mr.  By  water  had  set  the  example  and  made  a  beginning  ;  but 
we  claim  him  as  the  leader  of  the  forward  chapel  movement  in 
the  town  of  Hull." 

It  must  lie  admitted  that  for  one  city  this  is  a  goodly  record, 
amply  justifying  reference  being  made  to  it  here.     And  yet,  since 
Dr.  Wood  wrote,  the  work  of  material  extension  has  gone  on,  as 
the  reader  who  inspects  the  views  of  Hull  chapels  inserted  in  the 
mb.  j.  wright,  text  will  discover;  and  we  may  add  further — the  work  is  still 

AlCh  e°is°bi HaUand0,1    S°^nS  on  ')  f°r  some  of  the  most  recent  acquisitions  to  our  chapel 
District.  property  in  Hull  are  not  shown  in  our  illustrations.     As  supple- 

mentary to  these  we  give  the  portrait  of  Mr.  J.  Wright,  formerly  the  well-known 
architect  of  some  of  the  principal  Hull  chapels  of  the  'sixties  and  'seventies.  Towards 
the  erection  of  Williamson  Street  Mr.  Henry  Hodge  gave  no  less  a  sum  than  £600 
and,  quite  properly,  that  chapel  stands  as  his  abiding  memorial.  His  grandson, 
Mr.  Edward  Robson,  worthily  maintains  the  honourable  traditions  of  the  family 
for  liberality,  and  activity  in  various  forms  of  service. 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that  Hull,  by  the  number  and  still  more  by  the  position 
and  character  of  its  chapels,  provided  an  object-lesson  for  the  Connexion  at  a  time 
when  it  was  needed  much  more  than  it  is  to-day.  Hull  in  these  respects  set  a  high 
standard  and  an  inspiring  example  which  must  often  have  had  its  influence.  That  it 
had  in  one  case  is  clear,  from  the  following  little  anecdote,  with  which  we  may 
appropriately  end  the  present  section  : — 

"In  the  year  1874  Mr.  T.  W.  Swindell  and  the  late  Mr.  Robert  Bell  visited  Hull 
during  the  sittings  of  the  Conference,  the  latter  in  the  capacity  of  delegate,  the 
former  merely  as  a  visitor.  They  were  impressed  with  the  proportions  and 
imposing  exteriors  of  the  chapels,  more  especially  with  the  Jarratt  Street  edifice, 
as  they  sauntered  up  and  down  outside  it. 

" '  We're  not  up-to-date  at  Yarmouth  ! '  remarked  Mr.  Swindell,  in  which  opinion 
Mr.  Bell  concurred.  Whereupon  the  former,  waxing  eloquent  and  enthusiastic  on 
the  subject,  made  up  his  mind,  on  returning,  to  lay  before  the  Yarmouth  trustees 
the  startling  proposition  to  pull  down  the  old  barns  and  build  greater."* 

The  outcome  of  this  resolve  was  the  transformation  of  the  Yarmouth  "  Tabernacle  " 
into  the  "  Temple,''  as  already  told  (vol.  ii.  pp.  223-9). 

*  "  Prom  Hayloft  to  Temple,"  by  Arthur  H.  Patterson,''  p.  88. 


464  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHUKCI1. 

Material  Extension  in  some  op  the  Large  Towns. 

We  have  said  (vol.  i.  p.  293)  that  at  first  Primitive  Methodism  put  its  main  strength 
into  village  evangelisation ;  that  it  was  in  fact  and  by  preference  a  village  rather  than 
an  urban  movement ;  and  that  it  was  only  tardily  and  by  degrees  that  its  reluctance 
to  attack  the  rapidly  growing  cities  was  overcome.  But,  true  though  these  statements 
may  be  of  the  first  period  they  no  longer  hold  good  if  applied  to  the  middle  and  later 
periods  of  our  history.  Indeed,  to  say  this  does  not  fairly  represent  the  full  extent 
of  the  change  which  has  taken  place.  Perhaps  it  might  be  too  much  to  say  that 
town  and  village  have  exchanged  their  role ;  but  it  would  be  quite  correct  to  say 
that  the  tendency  is  in  another  direction  than  formerly.  The  swinging  pendulum  is 
not  where  it  was  sixty  years  ago.  The  time  came  when  not  only  was  there  no 
reluctance  to  lay,  as  it  were,  sap  and  mine  to  large  towns,  but  when  the  doing  so 
satisfied  a  preference  and  became  the  recognised  policy.  Now  the  big  towns  and  cities 
of  England  bulk  largely  before  the  eyes  of  the  Connexion  as  they  do  in  the  general 
affairs  of  the  country.  We  find  many  of  these  places  in  the  list  of  Conference  Towns, 
simply  because  the  Connexion  has  won  for  itself  a  position  in  these  towns  and  can 
rely  upon  meeting  with  hospitality  and  have  the  use  of  buildings  (usually  its  own) 
capable  of  accommodating  the  crowds  that  come  together  at  such  high  times. 

The  evidence  goes  to  show  that  by  1870  the  Connexion  had  become  much  more 
alive  to  the  needs  and  possibilities  of  large  towns — to  the  need  of  their  evangelisation, 
of  the  living  voice  of  the  preacher,  of  sanctuaries  easily  accessible  and  inviting,  and 
to  the  possibilities  they  offered  for  Connexional  extension.  The  writer  of  the 
Conference  Address  of  that  year  seems  naturally  to  slide  into  the  use  of  military 
figures  when  referring  to  the  condition  of  the  large  towns  and  the  manifest  and  urgent 
duty  of  the  Church  in  relation  thereto.  Says  he  :  "  Our  large  towns  and  growing  colonies 
claim  our  best  attention  and  must  be  care/J  for.  The  time  has  come  when  bolder 
aggressions  must  be  made  on  the  strongholds  of  the  enemy.  We,  as  a  contingent 
of  the  army  of  Immanuel,  must  be  prepared  to  take  part  in  the  conflict  that  is 
assuredly  thickening  around  us.  We  ask  for  an  increased  liberality  from  our  friends 
to  enable  us  to  extend  our  conquests  still  further  and  to  secure  the  spoil  already  taken.'' 
The  action  of  the  General  Missionary  Committee  in  establishing  some  large  town- 
missions  and  special  missions  in  London  is  approved  by  a  subsequent  Conference,  and 
the  Committee  is  encouraged  to  go  further  in  the  same  direction.  In  this  newly- 
awakened  solicitude  to  do  something  more  considerable  for  the  large  towns  and  cities, 
our  Church  has  shared  in  a  feeling  very  general  at  the  time  in  the  religious  world, 
and  that  has  gone  on  growing  in  intensity.  Dr.  Guthrie's  "  The  City,  its  Sins  and 
Sorrows,'-  "The  Bitter  Cry  of  Outcast  London,"  and  General  Booth's  "Darkest 
England "  were  successive  publications  which  made  this  feeling  vocal  and  reacted 
upon  it. 

No  doubt  there  has  been  considerable  numerical  increase  in  favour  of  our  Church 
in  the  large  towns.  Boughly  speaking,  some  38,584  adherents  out  of  a  total  of 
201,333  are  to  be  found  in  the  eighteen  most  populous  towns  of  Great  "Britain  and 
Ireland.     Poor  as  such  returns  may  be  they  give  a  hint  of  the  position  of  our  Church 


THE   PERIOD    OF  CONSOLIDATION  AND   CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT. 


465 


in  relation  to  [large  urban  centres.     Whether  the  increase  that  has  taken  place  has 

been  at  all  proportionate  to  the  growth  of   the  towns  themselves  during  the  same 

period  is  another  matter ;  and  it  would  probably  be  found  that  in  the  case  of  towns 

of  abnormal  growth  the  increase  has  not  kept  pace  with  the  growth  by  a  long  way. 

But  when,  still   having  the  large  towns  in  view,  we  turn  from  numerical  increase  to 

material  extension,  there  can  be  no  question  that  there  has  been  a  notable  advance. 

The  reader  has  only  to  look  at  the  views  inserted  in  the  text  of  chapels  owned  by  the 

Connexion  in  Hull,   Leicester,   Sheffield,   Nottingham,  and  other  large  towns  to  be 

convinced  of  this.     To  give  the  history  and  description  of  every  one  of  the  buildings 

represented  might  be  interesting  to  those  locally  concerned.     But  to  do  so  in  the  space 

at  command  is  quite  impossible,  nor  is  it  necessary.     The  views  might  be  allowed  to 

stand  as  they  are.     Even  without  a  word  written,  they  afford  a  striking  illustration  of 

the  remarkable  advance  the  Connexion  has  made  on  the  material  side  in  the  large 

towns.      Any   observations   we   may   make    as   we   go    along   must   be   regarded    as 

supplementary,  intended  to  point  out  certain  facts   or  features  of    more  than   local 

interest. 

Manchester. 

Some — and  only  some — of  the  Manchester  Chapels  have  been  shown  (vol.  ii.  p.  27), 
and  amongst  these  is  Upper  Moss  Lane,  which  merits  a  word.  Chronologically,  Moss 
Lane  comes  between  Great  Thornton  Street  and  Jarratt  Street  Chapels  in  Hull.  It 
was  opened  in  Xovember,  1850,  the  first  sermon  in  connection  with  the  series  of 
opening  services  being  preached  on  a  week-day  by  Dr.  Beaumont  in  Cavendish  Street 
Congregational  Church.  Moss  Lane  has  been  enlarged  from  time  to  time,  and  now 
affords  sitting  accommodation  for  850  persons.  Including  the  cost  of  these  successive 
alterations  and  enlargements,  the  sum  of  £7,562  has  been  spent  on  the  building.  In 
1900,  when  the  jubilee  of  the  Church  was  celebrated,  through  the  efforts  of  the 
church  and  congregation  the  building  was  entirely  freed  from  debt.  Since  then 
a  long-cherished  desire  of  the  Church  has  been  gratified  by  the  erection,  during  the 
suporintendency  of    Rev.  A.  Beavan,  of    Sunday-school  buildings  admirably  adapted 

for  their  purpose.     The  cost  of  this  under- 
taking was  about  £4,000,  more  than  half  of 

which  has  been  raised. 

About    the  same  time   that   Moss  Lane 

Chapel  was  built   the  Manchester   Second 

Circuit  was  formed  with  Charles  Jackson  as 

its  first  Superintendent,  and  the  late  Joseph 

Graham    as    his    colleague.       Mr.    Jackson 

has  long   since  passed   to   his  eternal  rest, 

but  his  name  is  still  cherished  by  many  who 

knew  him,  and  very  highly  esteemed  him  as 

a  faithful  and  able  minister  of  Jesus  Christ. 

When  John  Wainwright  died  in   1903,  at  the  patriarchal  aged  of    96,  there  passed 

away  a  Primitive  Methodist  of  probably  the  longest  standing  in  the  country.      He  had 

been  a  member  of  our  Church  in  Manchester  for  about  seventy-five  years.     At  the 

G  G 


REV.   C.   JACKSON. 


MR.  JOHN  WAINWRIGHT. 


466 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 


time  of  his  death  he  was  the  oldest  trustee  of  Moss  Lane,  had  held  the  offices  of 
class-leader  and  society-steward  for  more  than  half  a  century,  and  had  been  a  member 
of  the  order  of  Rechabites  for  more  than  sixty  years.  His  life  affords  another 
example  of  self-help.  Left  an  orphan  at  three  years  of  age,  and  having  to  make  his 
way  in  the  world  by  his  steady  industry  and  thrift,  he  rose  to  a  good  social  position. 
Primitive  Methodism  in  Manchester  owes  much  to  John  Wainwright.     He  was  given 


CMPEU5? 


to  hospitality,  and  his  home  was  ever  open  to  the'  ministers  of  our  Church ;  the 
venerable  Hugh  Bourne  himself  had  several  times  been  his  guest.  He  was  a  loyal 
and  devoted  Primitive  Methodist,  and  laboured  hard  and  contributed  generously  to 
promote  its  interests. 

More  than  one  reference  has  been  made  to  Higher  Ardwick   Church,  the  head  of 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND    CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT.  467 

Manchester  Fourth  Circuit,  one  of  the  most  costly,  imposing  and  beautiful  structures 
possessed  by  the  Connexion.  Two  out  of  the  five  Manchester  Conferences  have  held 
their  sittings  within  this  commodious  building.  Mr.  W.  E.  Parker,  Vice-President  of  the 
Conference  of  1895,  is  associated  with  the  Higher  Ardwick  Society  and  Circuit.  His 
attachment  to  our  Church  is  hereditary,  and  he  is  widely  known  as  a  veteran  official 
and  a  local  preacher  of  proved  efficiency  and  great  acceptability. 

Four  years  after  Mr.  William  Windsor  of  the  Manchester  Third  (Broughton)  Circuit 
was  by  the  suffrages  of  his  brethren  elected  Vice-President  of  the  Conference 
held  at  Grimsby.  The  honour  was  amply  deserved,  and  the  mark  of  confidence  well 
bestowed ;  for,  notwithstanding  the  exacting  claims  of  professional  life,  Mr.  Windsor 
has  for  years  devoted  much  of  his  time  and  his  business  ability  and  gifts  as  a  speaker 
to  the  internal  and  administrative  work  of  the  Church  of  his  youth. 

A  view  of  Great  Western  Street  will  likewise  be  found  on  our  full-page  group  of 
Manchester  Chapels.  It  was  built  in  1878,  the  school  in  '81,  and  the  Lecture  Hall  in 
'97 — the  entire  cost  of  these  erections  being  £8,000,  notwithstanding  which,  the  church 
is  now  out  of  debt.  That  Great  Western  Street  is  a  commodious  and  well-equipped 
building,  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  the  important  Conference  of  1906  is  to  hold 
its  sittings  within  its  walls. 

Nottingham  and  Sheffield. 

The  later  history  of  Primitive  Methodism  in  such  towns  as  Derby,  Nottingham, 
Leicester,  Sheffield,  Leeds,  Sunderland,  and  Newcastle,  brings  out  in  bold  relief  the 
same  truth  which  is  illustrated  by  our  denominational  history  in  Hull  and  Manchester, 
viz.,  that  the  obtaining  at  an  early  period  of  a  Connexional  freehold  in  a  growing  town 
is  an  unspeakable  advantage.  Given  also  a  number  of  families  and  officials  of  proved 
loyalty  such  a  material  centre  serves  as  a  rallying  point,  and  tends  to  give  continuity  to 
the  Church's  history  and  solidity  and  effectiveness  to  its  operations. 

In  the  case  of  Nottingham  and  Sheffield  the  lesson  stands  out  with  special 
prominence,  for,  in  both'  these  towns,  the  mother-chapel  is  not  only  still  in  being  but, 
by  reason  of  modern  improvements  and  adaptation  to  present-day  requirements,  both 
Canaan  Street  in  Nottingham  and  Bethel  in  Sheffield  are  entering  upon  a  new  lease  of 
life,  and  a  new  chapter  of  their  history  is  opening.  We  have  already  told  of  the  origin  of 
Canaan  Street  and  the  acquisition  of  Hockley  Chapels.  Now,  even  as  we  write,  pleasing 
intelligence  comes  to  hand  from  Eev.  J.  T.  Gooderidge,  the  indefatigable  superintendent  of 
Nottingham  First  Circuit,  which  we  cannot  do  better  than  give  in  his  own  words  : 
"You  know  that  our  work  began  in  the  old  Factory  in  1816  (within  twenty  yards 
of  the  present  building),  and  from  that  very  year,  continuing  through  '23  and  '28  when 
old  Canaan  Chapel  was  built  and  enlarged,  down  to  the  present,  we  have  been  nearly 
hidden  by  old  dilapidated  houses  and  other  unsightly  property.  I  know  of  no  other 
Church  that  has  been  so  exceedingly  fruitful  in  best  work,  yet  so  buried  out  of 
sight.  Well,  all  this  is  now  being  altered,  and  for  the  first  time  in  our  history  our 
beautiful  church  and  schools  will  have  a  frontage  to,  and  be  entered  from,  Broad 
Marsh,  thus  bringing  us  right  out  of  a  hidden  corner  into  one  of  the  busiest 
thoroughfares  of  the  city."     The  good  work  thus  outlined,  of  which  Mr.  Gooderidge 


468 


PEIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHUECH. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND   CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT.  469 

writes  with  an  enthusiasm  so  justifiable  is  a  matter  of  more  than  local  interest,  and 
will  be  accomplished  at  a  cost  of  £600,  the  greater  part  of  which  is  already  assured. 
We  cannot  pass  from  Canaan  Street  without  mention  of  Mr.  J.  W.  Allcock,  who  by- 
long  service,  tried  loyalty  and  liberality,  has  proved  himself  the  worthy  successor  of  the 
officials  of  the  past,  such  as  Messrs.  Barker  and  Spencer. 

Sheffield  has  been  conspicuously  enterprising  and  successful  in  chapel  enterprise 
and,  largely  no  doubt  in  consequence  of  this,  it  stands  next  to  Hull  among  the  large 
towns  of  the  land  for  the  number  of  its  members.  Bethel  Chapel  has  been  the  root 
of  this  material  extension  and  vital  growth.  From  -it  the  ten  existing  Sheffield  Circuits 
have  directly  or  indirectly  been  made,  and  now  in  its  old  age,  like  Canaan  Street,  it 
is  renewing  its  youth  by  becoming  a  Central  Mission,  which  is  now  being  vigorously 
prosecuted  by  Eev.  Sydney  A.  Barron  and  his  staff  of  workers. 

The  first  Circuits  to  be  formed  from  Bethel  were  Stanley  Street  (1857),  whose  present 
chapel  was  built  in  1855.  From  this  vigorous  Circuit  Sheffield  Third  (Petre  Street) 
and  Sixth  (Attercliffe)  were  formed  in  1872  and  1887  respectively.  From  the  ranks 
of  the  local  preachers  of  this  offshoot  of  Bethel  the  Revs.  N.  Haigh,  G.  Cooke,  R.  Bryant, 
I.  Hadfield,  and  B.  Senior  have  entered  the  ministry. 

The  story  of  the  building  of  Petre  Street,  the  largest  chapel  owned  by  the 
denomination  in  Sheffield,  is  one  of  peculiar  interest  owing  to  the  mingled  disaster 
and  success  which  attended  it : — ■ 

"  When  the  building  was  approaching  completion  the  roof  was  blown  down  during 
a  winter  storm,  causing  some  hundreds  of  pounds  damage,  the  cost  of  which, 
however,  the  contractor  bore.  Scarcely  had  the  injury  been  repaired,  when,  on  the 
31st  January,  '68,  a  terrific  storm  broke  and  raged  for  two  days  and  nights,  to  the 
full  violence  of  which  the  chapel  was  exposed  by  its  lofty,  and  at  that  time,  isolated 
position.  For  forty-eight  hours  the  building  stood,  but  the  hurricane  so  increased 
in  fury  that  at  last  it  gave  way,  and  the  roof  fell  in,  bringing  the  walls  down  to 
the  floor.  It  is  impossible  to  describe  the  anguish  and  despair  which  fell  upon 
the  little  band  of  members  and  trustees,  who  had  spent  hours  in  anxious  watching, 
when  the  building  collapsed,  and  their  holy  and  beautiful  house,  in  one  tremendous 
crash,  became  a  heap  of  ruins.  This  disaster  involved  the  trustees  in  financial 
difficulty,  as  the  second  loss,  about  £1,200,  fell  on  them.  However,  they  bravely  faced 
the  situation,  and  six  brethren  from  Stanley  Street,  whose  names  are  worthy  of 
honourable  record— R.  W.  Holden,  J.  B.  Brailsford,  H.  Morten,  T.  Crookes,  G.  Smith, 
and  C.  Easby— voluntarily  offered  to  become  trustees  and  share  the  burden.  This 
practical  sympathy  infused  new  life  into  the  dispirited  church.  The  public  generously 
responded  to  the.  appeal  for  help.  Mr.  Holden  alone  collected  £200.  The  members 
contributed  weekly  to  the  restoration  fund,  and  the  difficulty  was  overcome* 

"  Mr.  Robert  Moss,  who  since  1863  has  been  General  School  Secretary  of  Bethel,  has 
interested  himself  in  writing  in  MS.  a -History  of  Bethel,  which  we  trust  will  one 
day  see  the  light.  Mr.  Moss  tells  us  that  the  formation  of  Sheffield  Fifth  (John  Street) 
told  rather  heavily  upon  the  mother-church.  The  circumstances  which  ultimately 
led  to  the  creation  of  this  new  Circuit  are  of  sufficient  interest  to  be  summarised 
here. 

*  See  a  clear  and  informing  article  on  "Primitive  Methodism  in  Sheffield,"  by  Eev.  T.  Campey. 
AUersgate  Magazine,  1901,  pp.  413-24. 


470 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


"In  the  year  1863  two  zealous  Scripture-readers,  belonging  to  St.  Mary's  Church 
wen'  wishful  to  establish  an  open-air  mission  in  a  populous  district  belonging  to 
the  parish.  It  was  finally  arranged  that  the  services  should  be  held  in  front  of 
the  house  of  a  Mrs.  Wright,  who  was  an  attendant  upon  the  Church  services  ;  but 
on  beginning  their  work,  these  good  men  discovered  that  the  service  was  likely 
to  prove  a  failure  from  their  inability  to  sing.  Mrs.  Wright,  noticing  they  were 
at  a  loss,  suggested  that  Mr.  John  Nuttori,  a  member  at  Bethel,  should  be  brought 
in  to  assist.  He  readily  complied,  and  also  sent  a  messenger  to  the  house  of 
Mr.  Henry  Adams,  then  living  in  FitzMaurice  Street,  asking  him  to  lend  his  aid. 
The  two,'  says  Mr.  Moss,  'did  their  utmost  to  assist  these  gentlemen  of  the  Established 
Church,  but  a  strong  opposition  to  the  mission  sprang  up  from  the  landlord  of  the 
"Sportsman  Inn,''  close  by.  While  the  service  was  proceeding,  drink  was  handed 
round,  then  followed  fiddling  and  dancing  as  an  accompaniment.  This  systematic 
opposition  raged  so  strongly  that  after  two  attempts  the  Scripture-readers  were 
driven  off  the  field.  But  Messrs.  Adams  and  Nutton  continued  the  work  with  such 
vigour  and  persistence,  in  defiance  of  persecution,  that  the  habitues  of  the  tavern 
were  won  over,  and  refused  any  longer  to  do  the  landlord's  bidding — threatening 
indeed  to  drop  their  custom  if  he  did  not  cease  his  opposition. 

"'The  end  was  accomplished.  The  devil  had  overshot  his  mark,  and  the  mission 
got  a  footing.  Mr.  Xutton  then  opened  his  house  for  services,  and  the  mission 
was  placed  upon  the  plan.  In  a  short  time  its  success  necessitated  the  procuring 
of  larger  premises.  An  old  paint-shop  in  Mary  Lane  was  rented,  known  on  the 
plan  as  New  Hereford  Street.'  The  cause  continued  to  grow  until,  during  the 
ministry  of  Kev.  J.  Dickenson  and  his  colleagues,  the  site  in  John  Street  was 
procured,  and  in  '63  the  chapel  was  erected,  and  in  '77  became  the  head  of  Sheffield 
Fifth,  which  for  rapid  and  vigorous  development  has  had  few  equals  in  the  Connexion. 
From  this  station  were  formed,  in  '90,  Sheffield  Eighth  (Heeley)  and  Ninth  (South 
View  Road,  Abbeydale)." 

With  Sheffield  are  linked  the  names  of  the  foremost  ministers  of  the  old  Nottingham 
District;  for  Sheffield  was  not  constituted  a  separate  District  until  1885.  Besides 
those  previously  mentioned,  such  outstanding  figures  as  John  Dickenson,  J.  T.  Neale, 
Charles  Lace  (the  blind  preacher),  W.  Cutts,  C.  H.  Boden 
(author  of  "  Lowly  Heroes  and  Heroines  of  Primitive 
Methodism "),  J.  Hirst,  J.  Gair,  and  Robert  Robinson. 
The  last-named,  who  died  in  1899  in  the  eighty-sixth  year 
of  his  age,  spent  no  less  than  fourteen  years  in  Sheffield. 
For  eight  years  he  was  employed  as  Town  missionary  and 
was  eminently  successful.  It  was  whilst  he  was  labouring 
in  this  capacity,  and  during  the  superintendency  of  R.  Parks, 
that  James  Caughey  visited  Sheffield.  From  November 
25th,  '57  to  January  26th,  '58,  Mr.  Caughey  conducted 
services  in  Bethel  Chapel,  when  1380  persons  professed  to 
have  received  the  assurance  of  pardon  or  of  sanctification. 
Mr.  Henry  Adams  of  Sheffield  is  a  pronounced  progressive 
in  regard  to  chapel  extension,  and  his  influence  and  liberality  have  been  a  very  con- 
siderable factor  in  the  development  of  Primitive  Methodism  in  Sheffield  and  the  district. 
Mr.  Adams  was  born  at  Hollinsend  in  '36,  and  went  to  Sheffield  in  '63,  some  two  years 


CHAS.    H.    BODEN. 


THE  PERIOD  OF  CONSOLIDATION  AND  CHURCH  DEVELOPMENT.       471 


■il'2  PEIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 

after  his  conversion.  In  this  same  year  he  became  an  agent  for  the  Eefuge  Assurance 
Cornpanj',  and  began  what  was  destined  to  be  one  of  the  most  successful  careers 
known  to  the  Assurance  world.  In  this  work  he  discovered  and  developed  his 
genius  for  business.  For  many  years  now  he  has  been  a  Director  of  the  Company, 
for  which  he  was  once  only  an  agent.  Mr.  Adams  has  been  the  Steward  of  Sheffield 
Fifth  since  its  formation,  and  for  many  years  he  has  been  recognised  as  one  of  the 
leaders  of  our  Church,  in  both  its  District  and  Connexional  Courts,  and  he  was 
elected  Vice-President  of  the  Conference  of  1883.  Mr.  Adams  has  taken  a  remarkable 
interest  in  chapel-building  affairs.  In  Sheffield  Fifth,  Eighth  and  Ninth  Circuits, 
and  in  Hoyland  Circuit  particularly,  our  places  of  worship  are  memorials  of  his 
enterprise  and  liberality.  Mr.  Adams'  private  beneficence  is  well  known,  his 
beneficence  is  not  confined  to  his  own  Communion,  nor  does  Mr.  Adams'  Christian 
life  exhaust  itself  in  officialism.  He  is  exemplary  in  his  attendance  at  the  means 
of  grace — even  on  the  week-night — and  he  loves  an  old-fashioned  Methodist  prayer- 
meeting.  In  all  his  life-work  Mr.  Adams  has  had  a  willing  helper  in  his  devoted 
wife. 

Birmingham. 

Since  this  section  deals  with  the  subject  of  Connexionally-owned  property  in  large 
towns,  it  would  seem  that  Birmingham  has  no  part  or  lot  in  this  section  before  the  year 
1851,  when  the  first  small  Connexional  Chapel  was  built.  This  was  New  John  Street, 
built  in  the  last  year  of  Henry  Leech's  useful  term  in  the  Birmingham  Circuit.  This 
rather  singular  fact  sets  us  on  the  inquiry  for  an  explanation  ■  for  Birmingham  had 
been  missioned  under  hopeful  conditions  as  far  back  as  1824  by  James  Moss.  But  the 
roseate  prospect  he  saw  around  and  before  him  was  soon  beclouded ;  and  though 
diligent  and  capable  ministers  like  Thomas  Nelson,  Thomas  Bussell,  and  many  others 
laboured  in  the  Circuit  there  was,  even  after  many  years,  little  to  show  as  the  net 
result  :  in  IK -10  the  total  membership  was  only  340. 

The  history  of  Primitive  Methodism  in  Birmingham  then,  begins  after  the  turn  of 
the  half-century,  and  the  history  of  the  material  extension  of  our  denomination  in 
this  big  city— the  capital  of  the  Midlands— is  a  much  later  story  still.  Prior  to  1853 
there  were  happenings  in  plenty — a  succession  of  events:  but  these  do  not  make 
history.  For  that  there  must  be  continuity  and  progress.  "What  happens  must  not 
be  fortuitous,  but  foreseen,  prepared  for,  and  related  both  to  what  goes  before  and 
follows  after.  The  lack  of  a  true  Connexional  centre  in  Birmingham  was  an  evidence, 
and  largely  the  cause  of  that  lack  of  continuity  and  progress  which  marked  the 
earlier  history  of  our  denomination  there.  Its  experience  emphasises  and  underscores 
the  lesson .  that  a  good  chapel  in  a  large  town  tells  heavily  in  favour  of  the 
denomination  to  which  it  belongs  and  that  knows  how  to  use  it.  It  is  like  an 
investment  which,  prudently  handled,  will  yield  a  good  return.  Birmingham  had  no 
Canaan  Street  or  Bethel  or  Mill  Street  as  Nottingham  and  Sheffield  and  Hull  had, 
and  hence  its  early  history  compares  unfavourably  with  theirs.  Its  societies  flitted 
here  and  there  from  rented  room  to  rented  room,  until  we  get  bewildered  with  the 
very  names  of  the  various  localities.  But  this  after  all  is  only  half  the  truth. 
Chapels  may  be  one  cause  contributing  to  success,  but  they  themselves  are  an  effect. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND    CHURCH    DEVELOPMENT. 


473 


Birmingham  lacked  chapels  because  it  sorely  lacked  in  the  eaily  days  capable  and 
reliable  officials.  So  much  was  this  the  case,  and  so  well  was  the  fact  known,  that 
when  in  1834  Richard  Ward  was  stationed  by  the  District  Meeting  to  that  town, 
John  Hallam  said  to  him:  "You  will  have  need  to  say  your  prayers  very  much"; 
and  when  he  began  his  labours  in  the  station  he  found  it  was  even  so.  There  had 
recently  been  in  the  Church  dissension- so  violent  that  it  had  resulted  in  a  split,  and 
those  who  still  remained  were  at  variance  among  themselves.  In  his  own  quaint  and 
vigorous  way  Richard  Ward  notes  in  his  Journal,  "  I  think  it  would  have  taken  the 
twelve  apostles  with  spectacles  on  to  have  found  Bible  religion  amongst  the  officials.'' 
But  there  must  have  been  Bible  religion  somewhere  or  the  Church  would  have  died 
out  1  There  was  ;  but  it  was  found  in  the  private  membership.  So  he  goes  on  to  add  : 
"  But  some  of  the  members  were  of  another  spirit,  and  evinced  by  their  works  that 
they  loved  the  Lord,  His  house,  His  people,  and  His  cause.'' 

But  we  must  make  a  distinction  between  Birmingham — the  town,  and  Birmingham 
— the  Circuit.     The  former  may  have  little  history  before  1853  worth  the  telling,  but 


HOME  OF  MK.    JOSEPH  AKOH. 


the  latter  has  more  history  than  can  well  be  told.  The  Birmingham  Circuit  was  an 
immense  field,  and  into  its  wide  area  men  went  forth  from  Birmingham  as  a  centre, 
diligently  to  break  up  the  ground  and  scatter  the  seed,  which  was  to  bear  fruit  in  the 
after  days.  We  cannot  forbear  taking  a  brief  backward  glance,  to  remind  ourselves 
that  it  was  so.  When,  then,  Richard  Ward  was  stationed  for  Birmingham  Circuit  in 
1834,  he  not  only  preached  in  some  of  those  many  rooms — now  forgotten — we  have 
referred  to,  but  he  went  out  for  three  months  to  the  Worcester  Branch  and  visited 
Malvern  and  Pershore.  Then  he  proceeded  to  Stratford-on-Avon  and  Warwick  Branch, 
and  he  puts  down  in  his  Journal  the  observation  that  "  In  these  places  the  work  is 
low.  There  is  too  much  talk  and  stir  about  Shakespeare,  that  bad  man  !  for  them  to 
make  much  out  in  religion.''  Then  he  moves  on  to  Coventry  Branch,  and  anon  we 
find  him  on  the  Redditch  and  Bromsgrove  side  of  the  Circuit,  where  "  there  are  some 
very  powerful,  active,  lively  and  zealous  workers,  and  large  congregations  amongst  the 
nailers  and  needle-makers."     Lastly,  he  is  sent  as  Birmingham's  leading  missionary  to 


474  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 

the  city  of  Lichfield,  where  we  have  already  seen  him  toiling  and  suffering,  and 
succeeding  (vol.  i.  p.  523). 

Such  was  the  Birmingham  Circuit  of  old  time.  "Within  that  wide  area  of  the 
Midlands,  there  is  much  biography  that  might  even  yet  be  profitably  gleaned.  We 
do  not  forget  that  Joseph  Arch,  the  agricultural  labourer  of  Barford,  in  Warwick,  was 
converted  through  the  agency  of  our  Church,  became  a  local  preacher,  and  a  rustic 
Moses,  to  lead  his  down-trodden  class  from  serfdom  to  something  that,  in  comparison, 
was  liberty.  At  King's  Norton,  in  old  Moundsley  Hall,  lived  the  family  of  the 
Wheildons,  one  of  the  daughters  of  which  amiable  and  hospitable  family  became  the 
devoted  wife  of  Samuel  Turner,  who  had  received  his  first  call  from  Birmingham. 
There  is  another  name  we  would  mention  with  pardonable  pride — that  of  George 
Russell  of  Warwick,  one  .of  the  most  eloquent  local  preachers  and  temperance 
advocates  Primitive  Methodism  has  produced.  We  meet  with  his  name  continually 
on  the  plans  of  this  wide  district,  beginning  in  the  'forties,  and  it  is  clear  that  his  services 
were  in  very  great  and  constant  request,  and  were  ungrudgingly  rendered. 

One  who  knew  him  well  says  :  — 

"  Men  who  had  heard  John  Bright  often  said  that  George  Russell  was  the  most 
eloquent  and  rousing  speaker  they  had  ever  listened  to,  John  Bright  only  excepted. 
He  could  hold  large  audiences  in  the  open-air  spell-bound  for  an  hour  at  a  time, 
and  in  Warwickshire,  Northamptonshire,  and  Leicestershire  no  preacher  was  more 
acceptable  in  the  'fifties  and  "sixties  at  the  chapels  of  the  Free  Churches  than 
George  Russell.  His  social  and  political  sympathies  with  the  masses  were  very 
strong.  As  a  Chartist,  a  Radical,  a  Temperance  man,  and  preacher,  he  -voiced 
their  aspirations,  and  fearlessly  championed  their  cause.  He  had  a  considerable 
gift  of  rhyming,  and  wrote  hymns  which  were  sometimes  printed  on  the  Circuit 
plans." 

To  this  testimony  it  may  further  be  added  that  George  Russell  had  signed  the  pledge 
as  early  as  IjS/ST,  and  was  associated  with  man)'  of  the  early  advocates  of  the  cause. 
He  addressed  meetings  with  John  Hockings,  W.  Beam,  and  several  of  the  "  men  of 
Preston.''  He  had  the  honour  of  being  chairman  of  the  meeting  at  which  Thomas 
Cooper,  the  Chartist,  signed  the  pledge,  Mr.  Russell  himself  handing  him  the  pen. 

But  to  return,  after  this  seeming  digression,  to  the  city  of  Birmingham.  The  view 
we  give  of  the  Chapels  built  or  acquired  for  the  Connexion  in  quite  recent  years, 
shows  that  a  forward  movement  on  the  material  side  has  begun,  and  that  already 
very  encouraging  advance  has  been  made. .  The  Conference  Hall  Birmingham  Fourth 
Circuit,  an  entirely  new  interest,  was  built  in  1895.  Sparkhill  Church  (Stratford 
Road),  in  the  Fifth  Circuit,  a  very  fine  block  of  property,  was  built  in  1895,  under 
the  superintendency  of  George  Edwards,  at  a  cost  of  £6,500.  This  enterprise  was 
materially  assisted  by  Mr.  William  Adams,  son  of  Mr.  Henry  Adams  of  Sheffield. 
Bristol  Hall,  in  Birmingham  First  Circuit,  built  in  1900,  at  a  cost  of  £7,000,  took  the 
place  of  Old  Gooch  Street  built  in  1852.  Lastly,  the  Church  of  the  Saviour,  where 
the  once  popular  George  Dawson  carried  on  his  ministry,  was  purchased  in  18 J6  by  the 
General  Missionary  Committee,  and  here  after  initial  discouragements  William  Sawyer 
is  bravely  and  vigorously  working. 


THE  PERIOD  OF  CONSOLIDATION  AND  CHURCH  DEVELOPMENT.       475 


HIlKHNli 


-4HBRVILLE  5TI- 


-IBRI5TOL  HALB- 


476  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 

More  extended  reference  must  be  made  to  the  Conference  Hall.  That  a  new 
Circuit  should  be  created,  and  such  a  building  as  this  be  erected,  without  assistance 
from  any  Connexional  Fund,  was  so  remarkable  an  achievement  that  the  Conference  of 
1899  passed  a  resolution  of  recognition  and  appreciation  of  Mr.  Odell's  work.  With 
this  high  endorsement  we  will  let  Mr.  Odell  outline  the  course  of  his  long  and 
strenuous  ministry  in  Birmingham,  of  which  the  Conference  Hall  may  be  regarded  as 
the  crown. 

"In  view  of  the  advances  in  other  parts  of  England,  Birmingham  Primitive 
Methodism  has  a  poor  record.  At  Inge  Street,  near  the  Bristol  Boad,  the  Society 
established  itself  and  continued  until  Gooch  Street  Chapel  was  erected  in  1852. 
There  was  toil  and  disaster  in  the  building  of  that  place  :  but  it  became  a  centre 
of  service  and  extension.  It  is  evident,  however,  that  the  drifting  kind  of  life  which 
formed  its  official  personnel,  constant  additions  and  then  withdrawals  of  those  coming 
from  the  'Jilack  Country,'  or  the  Potteries,  affected  the  work  injuriously.  It  is 
a  long  story  of  re-missioning  and  retiring  from  places.  There  is  little  of  settled 
character  or  sustained  continuity  in  these  records.  At  the  time  of  the  Beading 
Conference  of  LH85  there  were  three  stations,  and  two  of  them  were  subsidized  by 
the  General  Missionary  Committee.  At  this  date,  and  forward  to  the  present,  Joseph 
Odell's  name  appears  on  the  stations.  It  marks  the  new  period  of  substantial 
extension.  The  site  of  Sparkhill  Church,  now  the  head  of  the  Fifth  Circuit,  was 
secured  during  Mr.  Odell's  earliest  superintendence',  and,  characteristic  of  the  old 
spirit  of  evangelism,  the  first  service  on  the  site  was  held  by  the  pioneer  staff 
of  '  The  Kvangelist's  Home.'  Greet  was  missioned  and  held  against  continual 
difficulties.  King's  Norton  was  restored  to  the  Plan,  and  a  bright  opening,  followed 
by  fruitful  service,  appears.  At  King's  Heath  Mr.  Odell  placed  a  tent,  and  a  staff 
of  young  men,  frequently  joined  by  Mrs.  Odell,  sustained  the  work  until  a  permanent 
provision  was  made  for  the  little  Church. 

"But  the  chief  mission  of  this  eventful  period,  covering  twenty  years,  was  the 
establishment  and  progress  of  the  cause  at  Small  Heath.  The  Conference  Hall  is 
the  present  material  expression  of  the  work  of  those  years.  The  enrolment  of  thirteen 
members  in  the  house  of  Mr.  Thomas  Strange  is  the  concrete  fact  from  which  have 
grown  the  varied  agencies  of  a  permanent  and  self-sustained  work.  Neither  the 
buildings,  nor  the  minister's  stipend,  nor  the  multiplied  forms  of  effort— including 
most  of  the  social  agencies  of  other  somewhat  imposing  'Central  Missions '—having 
ever  received  financial  aid  from  Connexional  Funds.  This  evidence  of  entirely  self- 
sustained  work  is  the  more  remarkable  because  it  relates  to,  and  is  supplied  by,  an 
artisan  and  poor  neighbourhood.  During  nineteen  years,  approximately,  more  than 
£30,000  must  have  been  raised  and  expended  on  buildings,  school  rents,  furnishing, 
salary  of  minister,  while  the  voluntary  labours  of  a  most  heroic  and  noble  staff  of 
helpers  (whose  names  are  in  the  Book  of  Life)  represent  a  sum  in  value  inestimable. 
With  hosts  of  children,  and  frequently  immense  congregations,  and  a  new  and 
permanent  average  membership  of  nearly  300  members,  the  Conference  Hall  became 
the  active,  and  live  centre  of  Mr.  Odell's  riper  ministry  in  Birmingham,  and  continued 
so  until  the  exhaustive  labours  of  these  strenuous  years  rendered  it  imperative  that 
he  and  his  wife  should  be  released  for  both  change  and  rest.  But  this  release  did  not 
come  until  further  properties  had  been  secured,  and  the  Conference  Hall  work  made 
the  base  of  other  valuable  centres.  Yardley  Boad  property,  with  a  corner  site,  large 
iron   church,   and   manse,   together   with   considerable  furniture   being   given   as  an 


THE   PERIOD   OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND    CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT. 


477 


478  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST    CHURCH. 

absolute  freehold  to  the  Connexion,  and  held  properly  in  trust  for  circuit  work — 
the  donors  being  excellent  ladies  whose  father  had  felt  the  joy  of  simple  and  sustained 
evangelism.  The  '  Eomance  of  Evangelism,'  and  the  conflicts  inevitable,  where  work 
is  promptly  done  and  property  wisely  and  legally  secured,  form  chapters  that  may 
yet  appear  in  the  enlarged  notes  of  Mr.  Odell's  very  busy  life.  Later  still,  Olton 
property — freehold  site  and  chapel  valued  at  £1,000,  on  account  of  unique  position, 
was  obtained  by  Mr.  Odell.  And  here  the  heroic  comrade  of  Mr.  Odell,  and  the 
undaunted  chieftain  of  Temperance  Keform,  Joshua  Mosley,  was  class-leader  and 
local  preacher,  and  in  this  'snug  little  chapel  by  the  wayside,'  as  he  called  it,  he 
spent  his  last  Sabbath  on  earth,  and  shortly  went  in  triumph  to  God.  While  on 
this,  the  south  side  of  Birmingham,  extension  everywhere  marked  the  possibilities 
of  Mr.  Odell,  another  side  of  the  Worcestershire  border  was  reached  by  the  judicious 
and  enterprising  labours  of  Rev.  Jas.  M.  Brown,  who  knew  Birmingham  life  more 
intimately  by  an  earlier  residence  in  the  Evangelist's  Home,  and  new  buildings  were 
erected  at  points  for  larger  and  more  permanent  structures.  And  at  length  the  old 
Oooch  Street  Chapel  was  disposed  of,  and  the  Bristol  Hall  erected — an  achievement 
due  to  the  remarkable  patience  and  industry  of  Rev.  W.  S.  Spencer,  who  has  laid 
the  Connexion  under  obligation  by  an  enterprise  carried  through  amidst  apparently 
insuperable  difficulties.'' 

Xew  Towns  and  thbir  Demands  : — Middlesbrough. 

There  are  some  towns  which  have  sprung  into  existence  during  the  very  period  we 
are  now  dealing  with.  They  have  been  created  by  the  Industrial  Revolution.  Though 
as  yet  not  populous  enough  to  warrant  their  inclusion  amongst  the  big  cities  of  the 
Empire,  they  are  on  the  way  soon  to  become  such.  Crewe,  Barrow-in-Furness,  and 
Middlesbrough  are  towns  of  this  type.  Of  these  we  may  take  Middlesbrough  as  the 
representative.  It  has  no  long  past  history  to  look  back  upon  but  it  makes  ample 
amends  by  taking  a  far  look  ahead,  and  its  proud  motto  is  "  Erimus.''  As  a  town  it 
is  not  so  old  as  Primitive  Methodism,  for  it  celebrated  its  Jubilee  only  in  1881. 
In  1S29  the  site  was  occupied  by  a  solitary  farmhouse  surrounded  by  marshy  land; 
to-day  it  is  a  busy,  well-equipped  town  of  near  100,000  inhabitants. 

Towns  of  phenomenal  growth  like  these  lay  a  heavy  burden  of  responsibility  on  the 
Free  Churches.  It  is  so.  easy  to  refuse  the  burden ;  and  yet  not  to  take  the  burden  up 
would  prove  a  disaster.  We  have  almost  the  colonial  problem  of  the  'fifties  meeting 
us  here  on  our  own  English  soil.  To  make  religious  provision  for  the  people  at  all 
commensurate  with  the  demand  created  by  a  population  ever  increasing  at  an 
abnormal  rate,  leaves  to  the  Churches  planted  in  such  a  town,  no  time  or  room  for 
indulgence  in  a  "  rest  and  be  thankful "  spirit.  No  sooner  is  one  new  chapel  fairly 
opened  than  lo  !  as  if  by  a  magician's  wand,  the  fields  are  covered  with  houses,  and  the 
Church  must  bestir  itself  if  it  would  not  be  beaten  in  the  unsanctified  rivalry  of  the 
gin-palace  and  the  music-hall. 

Both  Crewe  and  Middlesbrough  have  shown  a  praiseworthy  degree  of  enterprise  in 
facing  their  responsibilities.  They  are  both  amongst  the  best  Circuits  in  their 
respective  Districts,  and  their  faces  are  still  set  towards  the  future,  and  their  hearts  are 
full  of    hope.     As  to  Middlesbrough,   the  writer  of  these  lines  may  for  once  indulge 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND    CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT. 


479 


in  a  personal  reference.  Five  years  of  hard  work  and  happiness  were  spent  by  him  in 
"  Ironopolis,''  along  with  W.  A.  French  and  Frederick  Ash,  who  were  successively  his 
trusty  colleagues ;  and  sweet  are  the  memories  of  toil  sweetened  by  sympathy  and 
success.  Since  then,  under  the  ministry  of  the  late  R.  G.  Graham,  R.  Hind,  and 
W.  G.  Bowran, — whom  we  all  know  and  are  proud  of  as  "Ramsay  Guthrie'' — under 


these  able  men  and  their  colleagues  in  labour,  Middlesbrough  Circuit  has  greatly 
progressed.  Eston,  once  a  part  of  it,  has  become  a  circuit,  and  the  beautiful  Church  on 
Linthorpe  Road,  shown  in  our  illustration,  has  taken  the  place  of  old  Richmond  Street 
Chapel  with  its  memories.  Middlesbrough  Primitive  Methodism  is  doing,  and  will  do 
its  best  to  make  the  town  motto  true  of  itself. 


480 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


iJ.BELLh 


THE  PERIOD  OF  CONSOLIDATION  AND  CHURCH  DEVELOPMENT.       481 


CHAPTER  VII. 

FOREIGN    MISSIONS:    THEIR   ESTABLISHMENT  AND   PROGRESS. 

E  now  begin  what  might  veiy  properly  be  called  the  second  part  of  Book  III. 
of  this  History,  which  will  briefly  have  to  follow  the  most  striking  develop- 
ments of  our  Church-life  in  recent  years.  These  we  take  to  be  the 
establishment  of  Foreign  Missions;  the  provision  for  Education — ministerial, 
secondary,  Sunday  school,  and  local  preachers' ;  improved  methods  of  Finance ;  and 
Philanthropic  and  Social  Agencies.  Two  of  these — Education  and  Finance — manifestly 
relate  to  methods ;  they  have  to  do  with  efficiency  rather  than  with  what  are  ends 
in  themselves.  But  a  Christian  community  which  at  last  establishes  Foreign  Missions, 
and  takes  its  part  in  the  work  of  social  amelioration,  has  attained  to  a  worthier  and 
more  adequate  conception  of  the  privilege  and  duty  belonging  to  those  who  "are  being 
saved.'  The  universal  aspects  of  Christianity  in  their  relation  both  to  the  race  and  the 
individual  are  recognised,  and  the  challenge  they  present  accepted.  It  is  seen  that 
the  Church's  concern  is  equally  with  all  men  and  with  the  whole  man ;  that  it  is  no 
mere  family,  sectional  or  even  national  affair,  but  "  Catholic "  in  the  truest  sense  of 
that  much-abused  term,  and  that  it  is  as  Catholic  for  the  individual  as  it  is  for  the 
race.  "All  men"  means  Foreign  Missions;  the  "whole  man"  means  the  obligation 
to  do  good  to  and  redeem  from  evil  the  body,  mind,  and  soul  of  the  man.  If,  then, 
our  reading  of  the  later  history  of  our  Church  be  the  right  one,  Foreign  Missions 
and  Institutional  Churches  mark  the  latest  advance,  while  Education  and  Finance,  as 
indispensable  to  efficiency,  are  helpful  auxiliaries. 

Home  Missions,  Home  and  Colonial  Missions ;  Home,  Colonial  and  Foreign 
Missions — these  are  the  three  stages  of  our  history  regarded  in  one  aspect ;  and  these 
three  stages  very  fairly  coincide  with  the  periods  when,  from  another  point  of  view — 
that  of  form — the  denomination  was  successively  a  group  of  missionary  circuits,  a  group 
of  associated  Districts,  and  lastly  a  homogeneous  Body— a  true  Connexion— or  as  we 
prefer  to  call  it — a  Church. 

We  have  to  show  in  the  next  section  how  strikingly  the  history  of  the  growing 
sentiment  in  favour  of  Foreign  Missions  illustrates  the  advantages  for  the  general 
good  finally  accruing  from  the  working  of  Districtism.  If  Hull  District  was  mainly 
responsible  for  the  important  changes  effected  in  1842-3  and  if  it  inaugurated  the 
Chapel-building  era,  it  is  quite  as  true  that  Norwich  District's  contribution  to  our 
Connexional  life  has  been  that  it  kept  to  the  fore,  canvassed  and  urged  in  season  and 
out  of  season,  the  desirability  and  necessity  of  entering  upon  the  Foreign  Mission 
field.     In  the  end  its  persistency  was  rewarded.     It  got  its  [way,  and  its  way  was 


482 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


right,  and  the  denomination  was  the  better  for  it. 
to  Africa  1 "  the  answer  is — via  Norwich  District. 


So,  if  it  be  asked — "  How  got  you 


The  Time  of  Preparation  :  Norwich  District's  Successful  Efforts. 

At  the  Sheffield  Conference  of  1837  one  of  the  Norwich  District's  representatives 
was  a  local  preacher  from  Yarmouth.  Joseph  Diboll  was  a  shoemaker  by  trade,  but 
he  had  thoughts  far  beyond  his  last.  His  strong  and  cherished 
desire  was  that  the  denomination  to  which  he  belonged  should 
send  its  missionaries  to  Africa,  and  he  was  ready  with  his 
"  Here  am  I,  send  me.''  As  the  result  of  his  pleadings  this 
early  Conference  passed  the  following  resolution  : — 

"(7)  The  Brethren  of  Yarmouth  Circuit  being  of  opinion 
that  the  Primitive  Methodist  Connexion  ought  to  prepare 
to  mission  in  Africa,  what  is  the  opinion  of  the  Conference 
on  this  subject? 

'  A. — The    opinion    of    Conference    is,    that    so    soon    as 

Yarmouth  Circuit  by  itself,  or  jointly  with  any  other  circuit 

rev.  j.  diboll.  or  circui(;g  sna]i  have  a  clear  providential  opening  to  mission  in 

Africa,  that  the  other  circuits  will  yield  them  what  assistance  they  providentially 

can. 

-  ***  It  will  be  well  to  make  this  a  constant  subject  of  earnest  prayer  throughout 
the  Connexion.     And  who  knows  what  the  Lord  may  do  ! " 

There  was  not  much  encouragement  to  be  got  from  such  a  resolution  as  this  with  its 
final  fatalistic  note — its  kismet.  We  are  still  in  the  circuit-dispensation ;  the  time  for 
combined  Connexional  action  was  not  yet.  Whether  Yarmouth  Circuit  had  received 
any  other  damper  between  '37  and  '40  we  cannot  tell,  but  in  the  latter  year  the  Circuit 
book  shows  this  churchyard  record  : — 

"(3)  Kesolved  :  That  Africa  be  buried  ;  no  more  to  be  raised  from  the  dead  by 
us  alone  ;  but  should  there  be  a  combination  of  effort,  we  pledge  ourselves  to  be 
foremost  to  effect  its  resurrection  from  the  dead. 

"  O  Lord,  hasten  the  day  when  100,000,000  of  human  beings  who  have  only 
111  ministers  besides  teachers  shall  be  converted  to  the  Gospel.  Amen." 
Finding  no  door  of  aceess  to  Africa  through  his  own  Church, 
Joseph  Diboll  sought  another  door  elsewhere.  By  a  singular 
coincidence  he  was  destined  not  only  to  see  Fernando  Po,  but  to 
have  the  door  of  its  evangelisation  shut  against  him.  He  offered 
himself  to  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society,  and  after  a  short  term 
of  service  at  Hemsby  in  Norfolk  was  appointed  to  Sierra  Leone. 
He  was  at  Clarence  (afterwards  called  by  the  Spaniards  Santa 
Isabel)  when  the  man-of-war  arrived  bringing  the  Jesuits  with 
their  intolerant  edict  which  proved  fatal  to  the  Baptist  Mission 
on  the  Island  of  Fernando  Po. 

Joseph  Diboll's  dropped  mantle  was  soon  taken  up.  Without 
prejudice  to  others  it  may  be  affirmed  that  Thomas  Lowe  and 
Mr.  James  Fuller  of  S  waff  ham  parted  it  between  them.     Thomas  Lowe  in  several 


UEV.  THOMAS  LOWE. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND    CHURCH  DEVELOPMENT. 


483 


regards  deserves  a  word  or  two  of  recognition  and  remembrance  here.  His  active 
ministry  extended  to  the  unprecedented  length  of  fifty-eight  years.  He  had  a  fervent, 
optimistic  temperament  and  a  highly  rhetorical  style.  He  was  something  of  a  poet 
too,  and  an  occasional  author,  "The  Pilot  of  the  Galilean  Lake"  being  perhaps  his 
best  known  and  most  useful  book.  His  enthusiastic,  untiring  advocacy  of  the  African 
mission,  however,  is  that  feature  in  his  character  and  ministry  with  which  we  are 
now  most  concerned.  "He  was,"  says  Mr.  A.  Patterson,  "  'gone'  on  Africa.  A  large 
map  of  the  continent  hung  on  the  walls  of  his  study.  The  shelves  of  his  library 
bristled  with   books  on  Africa.     In  whatever  company  he  found   himself   the  con- 


J05EPH.ODELL.  


trl.MUNT 


PRESIDENTS  OF   CONFERENCE  FROM   1898  TO  1903. 

versation  was  sure  to  turn  on  Africa."  It  is  claimed  for  Thomas  Lowe,  in  the 
official  memoir,  that  no  man  had  done  more  than  he  to  rouse  the  missionary  spirit 
lying  dormant  in  the  Connexion  ;  that  his  speech  on  Africa  at  the  Metropolitan 
Tabernacle  produced  a  powerful  effect ;  that  it  was  through  reading  his  poem  on 
"Africa's  Wrongs"  W.  B.  Luddington  first  became  possessed  with  the  desire  to 
carry  the  evangel  to  Africa ;  and  that  Eev.  Thomas  Stones,  our  present  trusted  African 
missionary,  was  one  of  the  fruits  of  his  Wolverhampton  ministry.  Mr.  James  Fuller 
was,  in  his  own  way,  quite  as  great  an   enthusiast  for  missions  in  general,  and  for 

h  h  2 


484  PKIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 

African  missions  in  particular,  as  the  more  eloquent  minister.     He  had  the  liheral 
hand,  and  gave  much  and  systematically  to  the  cause  so  near  his  heart. 

Under  the  influence  of  these  and  such  as  these  it  was  soon  seen  that,  so  far  from 
being  dead  and  buried,  the  proposed  mission  to  Africa  was  very  much  alive  in 
East  Anglia.  Evidence  of  this  was  unexpectedly  supplied  at  the  District  Meeting  of 
1852,  held  at  Swaffham  when,  without  pre-arrangement,  the  missionary  meeting  was 
turned  into  an  African  one,  and  no  less  a  sum  than  £40  was  then  and  there  assured. 
Rev.  John  Smith,  our  great  authority  on  missions, — himself  a  Norfolk  man  and  veteran 
African  missionary — believes  that  this  was  the  first  African  missionary  meeting  in 
Primitive  Methodism,  and  that  as  such  it  claims  the  notice  of  the  historian.  We 
agree  with  him,  and  hence  make  no  excuse  for  placing  on  record  the  few  words  which 
introduce  the  Report  : — 

"At  a  Missionary  Meeting  which  was  held  at  Swaffham,  Norfolk,  May  3rd,  1852, 
in  connection  with  the  twenty-seventh  annual  meeting  of  the  Norwich  District, 
'  the  place  was  shaken  where  they  assembled,' — the  Holy  Ghost  fell  upon  them, 
and  without  premeditation  or  design  on  the  part  of  the  assembled  brethren,  the 
claims  of  Africa,  with  its  vast  population  of  seventy  millions,  were  so  forcibly 
impressed  upon  the  hearts  of  the  people  that,  immediately,  the  munificent  sum 
of  £40  5s.  was  subscribed  in  furtherance  of  the  above  object. 

"At.  the  same  time,  the  following  ministers,  Thomas  Lowe,  William  Wood,  and 
John  G.  Wright  presented  themselves  as  'the  messengers  of  the  Churches'  to  the 
dark-browed  tribes  of  Africa.  Hallelujah!  'Ethiopia  shall  soon  stretch  out  her 
hands  unto  God.'  "* 

ROBEliT  KEY,  Treasurer,  pro.  tern. 
GEO.  T.  GOODRICH,  .Secretary,  pro.  tern. 

But  the  atmosphere  of  the  quickly  ensuing  Conference  at  York  was  very  different 
from  that  of  the  District  Meeting  at  Swaffham.  It  was  as  the  difference  between  a 
refrigerating  chamber  and  a  greenhouse.  "  That  the  opening  of  a  mission  at  Port  Natal, 
Africa,  is  considered  premature.''  Such  is  the  brief  curt  record  that  alone  remains  to 
tell  that  the  subject  of  the  African  mission  came  under  discussion.  Five  years  later 
the  Conference  thermometer  registered  a  few  degrees  higher — only  a  few.  "That 
while  the  Conference  wishes  to  cherish  a  spirit  of  missionary  enterprise,  yet,  on  account 
of  the  embarrassed  state  of  the  Mission  Funds,  the  Conference  cannot  at  present 
commence  a  mission  at  Port  Natal."  The  late  Dr.  S.  Antliff  was  present  as  a  hearer  at 
this  Cambridge  Conference,  and  sat  in  the  gallery  by  the  side  of  Mr.  Fuller.  He  tells 
how  Thomas  Lowe  came  in  laden  with  books  and  papers,  and  how  he  waxed  warm  in 
his  pleadings.  So  did  Mr.  Fuller.  "I  have  no  doubt  there  are  persons  who  would 
give  £10,"  said  the  pleader.  Mr.  Fuller  leaning  over  the  gallery  responded  heartily, 
"  I  will."  But  as  we  have  said  the  vote  recorded  was  adverse,  and  Mr.  Fuller  had  an 
explanation  to  offer.  "It  was,"  said  he,  "because  the  proposition  came  from  the  little 
Norfolk  District  that  it  was  not  carried.  Had  it  come  from  Nottingham  or  Manchester 
or  some  large  District  it  would  have  been  adopted." 

*  The  whole  of  tbis  interesting  document,  with  the  names  and  contributions  of  the  donors,  is 
given  as  an  appendix  to  Rev.  J.  Smith's  Hartley  Lecture  on  "  Christ  and  Missions."  J.  G.  Wright 
afterwards  went  to  Australia.     See  ante,  p.  432. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND   CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT.  485 


fcMiDlssr 


486 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHUKCH. 


Some  advance  was  made  at  the  Conference  of  1858  held  at  Doncaster,  at  which 
Robert  Key  and  Messrs.  G.  T.  Goodrick  and  W.  Lift  were  the  representatives  of  the 
Norwich  District.  This  Conference  decided  that  as  soon  as  the  friends  of  the  Norwich 
District  should  raise    £500    over    and    above    their   ordinary  missionary  revenue   one 


missionary  should  be  sent  to  Port  Natal :  if  they  succeeded  in  raising  £1000  then  two 
missionaries  should  be  sent.  Upon  this,  Thomas  Lowe  issued  a  circular  in  which  he 
not  only  made  a  strong  appeal  for  subscriptions,  but  gave  information— geographical, 
statistical,  etc.,  about  Africa.  The  circular,  it  should  be  said,  bears  the  names  of  many 
of  the  leading  preachers  and  laymen  of  the  District. 


THE  PERIOD  OF  CONSOLIDATION  AND  CHURCH  DEVELOPMENT.       487 

We  hasten  to  chronicle  what  was  done  at  the  Jubilee  Conference  of  1860 — one  of 
the  greatest  Conferences  in  our  history.  At  this  memorable  Conference  the  definitive 
step  was  taken.  No  longer  was  it  to  be  a  question  of  Norwich  District,  or  of  what 
Norwich  District  might  or  might  not  do.  The  Connexion  as  a  whole  became  committed 
to  the  African  mission.  The  General  Committee  was  authorised  "  to  send  two  men  to 
this  interesting  part  of  the  field  of  missionary  labour  as  soon  as  suitable  men  could  be 
found."  After  this,  postponement  there  might  be  and  was,  but  there  could  be  no  going 
back.  As  soon  as  the  decision  was  announced,  "  such  a  manifestation  of  divine 
influence  was  felt  as  led  to  a  loud  burst  of  praise  to  God."  No  fault  can  be  found 
with  the  temperature  of  this  Conference.  Even  the  scanty  records  yet  remaining  of  its 
doings  glow  with  feeling.  Amongst  the  delegates  sat  Thomas  Lowe,  W.  Lift,  and 
James  Fuller.  It  was  a  proud  high  moment  for  them  and  the  District  they 
represented.  After  the  vote  was  taken,  Mr.  Fuller  rose  and  with  full  heart  and  faltering 
voice  said,  "  Here's  my  £20  to  begin  with."  As  for  Thomas  Lowe  he  was  exultant : 
the  letter  he  wrote  home  that  day  (which  we  have  read)  is  punctuated  with  Hallelujahs  ! 

Fernando  Po. 

E.  W.  Burnett  and  Henry  Roe,  our  pioneer  missionaries  to  Africa,  set  sail  on 
January  25th,  1870,  and  landed  at  Santa  Isabel,  Fernando  Po,  on  February  21st. 

The  date  of  this  event  and  its  locale  alike  challenge  a  word  of  explanation.  Between 
the  authorisation  of  the  African  mission  and  its  establishment  there  was  an  interval  of 
nine  years  and  eight  months.  Like  the  abeyant  period  o'f  camp-meetings  it  was  one 
of  those  times  of  retardment  and  tarrying  which  lead  men  to  say  regretfully  with  Paul, 
"I  purposed  but  was  let   hitherto."     The  only  explanation  forthcoming  of  the 

delay  is  the  difficulty  experienced  in  securing  suitable  men.  But  surely  the  explanation 
itself  needs  explaining ;  and  the  explanation  if  sought  for  would  probably  be  found  to 
run  down  deep  into  the  particular  condition  of  the  Churches  at  the  time.  Those  who 
remember  the  period  in  question,  or  who  have  made  a  study  of  its  characteristics,  will 
know  that  it  was  not  a  period  marked  by  fervency  of  zeal  or  hopeful  aggressiveness, 
nor  will  they  be  in  any  danger  of  regarding  those  days  as  better  than  these  we  are 
living  in.  Speaking  generally,  the  Free  Churches  of  the  land,  ours  amongst  the 
number,  have  a  much  firmer  grip  of  the  essential  truths  of  the  evangelical  faith  now 
than  was  the  case  in  the  'sixties— those  days  of  blatant  agnosticism  and  negative 
theology.  There  is  evidence— and  the  evidence  may  be  taken  for  a  symptom — that 
men  otherwise  qualified  than  by  mere  enthusiasm  were  backward  in  offering  themselves 
for  the  mission-field.  Here,  probably,  we  have  our  hand  on  the  indicator.  The 
unwillingness  or  readiness  of  men  to  offer  themselves  for  service  in  the  parts  beyond 
is  a  sure  gauge  of  the  amount  of  virile  force  and  motive  power  possessed  by  a  Church. 
The  missionary  spirit  which  constrains  men  to  offer  themselves,  and  makes  willing 
hands  hold  the  ropes,  is  but  the  outworking  of  the  "  vivid  evangelic  feeling,"  and  this 
spirit,  thank  God  !  is  much  more  in  evidence  in  these  latter  days  than  it  was  forty 
years  ago.  All  this,  of  course,  is  written  without  prejudice  to  those  who  did  offer 
themselves.  Because  we  cannot  help  thinking  of  the  number  who  hung  back  and 
declined  the  call,  we  honour  all  the  more  the  small  band  of  volunteers  who  stepped  to 
the  front. 


488  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 

Then  again  the  locale  of  the  African  mission  was  quite  other  than  it  was  expected 
to  be.  Port  Natal  had  been  ear-marked  as  the  Connexion's  intended  sphere  of 
missionary  operations.  The  platform  and  printing-press  had  familiarised  our  people 
with  the  name,  the  physical  features,  and  many  advantages  of  the  Colony.  Yet,  by 
one  of  those  strange  turns  of  events  which  sometimes  occur,  the  unexpected  happened. 
The  first  foreign  mission  was  not  planted  on  the  Continent  of  Africa,  but  on  a  small 
island  off  its  West  coast — an  island  whose  very  name  probably,  not  even  Thomas  Lowe 
had  mentioned  in  his  many  African  speeches  and  writings.  More  than  this  :  when 
the  next  mission  in  the  order  of  time  was  begun  in  Africa,  it  was  not  established  in 
Port  Natal  but  in  Cape  Colony  and  the  borders  of  the  Orange  Free  State. 

It  ought  to  be  unnecessary  at  this  time  of  day  to  locate  and  describe  Fernando  Po ; 
but  it  is  safer  not  to  assume  too  much  exact  knowledge  on  such  subjects.  Let  us 
therefore  put  down — encyclopaedia  fashion — a  few  particulars  respecting  the  island 
which  for  more  than  thirty  years  has  seen  the  coming  and  going  of  our  missionaries. 

Fernando  Po  is  an  island  in  the  Bight  of  Biafra  (itself  a  part  of  the  Gulf  of 
Guinea),  with  an  area  of  (J71  square  miles.  It  is  forty-five  miles  in  length 
and  twenty-five  in  breadth,  but  the  nature  of  its  surface — heaved  up  in 
mountainous  masses  and  scored  with  deep  ravines,  and  its  dense  vegetation  make 
these  figures  misleading  ;  to  traverse  or  even  to  explore  it  throughout  its  whole 
extent  is  difficult  if  not  impossible.  The  island,  oblong  in  shape,  with  steep 
rocky  coasts,  and  disposed  in  a  NNE.  direction,  is  bisected  by  2°  39"  N.  latitude. 
Its  northern  half  is  almost  entirely  occupied  by  the  volcanic  peak  (10,000  feet), 
known  to  the  English  as  Mount  Clarence,  to  the  Spaniards  as  Pico  Santa  Isabel ; 
and  its  southern  half  contains  a  short  range  lying  East  and  West.  The  island  is 
covered  with  luxuriant  vegetation.  The  average  annual  temperature  at  Santa 
Isabel,  the  capital  (population  1500),  is  78°  Fahrenheit.  The  island  is  inhabited 
by  the  Bubis,  a  Bantu  tribe,  who  number  20,000  to  25,000,  and  by  some  negroes 
from  the  mainland  who  are  found  chiefly  at  the  capital.  Maize  and  yams,  cocoa, 
coffee,  palm  oil,  and  palm  wine  are  the  principal  products.  Discovered  by  the 
Portuguese  Fernao  de  Pao  in  1472,  the  island  has  belonged  successively  to 
Spain  (1777 — 1827),  England,  and  Spam  (since  1841).  Here  ships  call  to  replenish 
their  wood,  water,  and  provisions. 

This  last  reference  to  Fernando  Po  as  a  convenient  port  of  call  explains  why  on 
a  certain  day  in  August,  1869,  the  ship  "  Elgiva  dropped  her  anchor  and  re- 
mained some  days  off  Santa  Isabel.  The  master  of  this  ship,  Capt.  "vV.  Robinson,  and 
ship-carpenter  James  Hands  were  both  members  in  the  Liverpool  Second  Circuit,  the 
latter  being  society-steward,  assistant  class-leader,  and  a  zealous  labourer.*  Being  good 
Primitives  they  carried  their  religion  with  them  on  ship-board  and  on  the  outward 
voyage,  nor  did  they  throw  it  off  when  they  landed  amongst  the  Fernandians  and 
Krumen.  Finding  that  though  the  Baptist  missionaries  had  quitted  the  island  the 
year  before,  the  little  flock  left  behind  had  not  lost  its  relish  for  divine  things,  they 
tried  to  break  to  it  the  word  of  life.  They  sang  and  prayed,  and  ship-carpenter  Hands 
preached  to   the  people  and  won  their  hearts.     They   would  have   made   him  their 

Ship-carpenter  Hants  died  at  Bonny  soon  after— October  1st,  1869,  and  Captain   Robinson 
died  August  10th,  1872. 


THE   PERIOD   OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND   CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT.  489 

minuter  then  and  there  ;  but,  of  course,  that  could  not  be.  Yet  the  outcome  of  this 
unofficial  evangelising— which  reminds  us  how  many  such  incidents  must  have  occurred 
amongst  the  isles  of  the  Aegean  Sea  and  along  the  Mediterranean  sea-board  in  Apostolic 
times-was  that  a  requisition  was  dispatched  to  Mr.  Crooks  of  Liverpool,  James  Hands' 
leader,  askmg  that  a  Primitive  Methodist  missionary  might  be  sent.  This  requisition 
was  handed  to  Mr.  Wilkinson,  the  superintendent,  and  by  him  forthwith  forwarded 
to  the  General  Missionary  Committee. 

As  the  petition  bore  the  date  August  28th,  '69,  the  answer  to  its  prayer  was  not 
long  delayed,  for,  as  we  have  said,  it  was  on  February  21st,  '70,  our  first  missionaries 
arrived.  When  the  "  Handing.-,  "  cast  anchor  in  the  bay,  two  men  with  dusky  faces 
habited  as  Englishmen  sprang  lightly  on  deck  to  welcome  the  missionaries.  They 
announced  themselves  as  T.  R.  Prince  and  J.  B.  Davies,  two  of  those  who  had  attached 
their  names  to  the  requisition.      Of  these  signatories  Mr.  Prince  is  the  only  one  who 

survives.  For  this  reason,  and  because  he  has 
ever  been  a  good  friend  to  the  mission  and  is 
a  good  specimen  of  the  Fernandians  of  Santa 
Isabel,  we  give  his  portrait  and  an  authentic 
note  or  two  respecting  his  life,  supplied  by 
Eev.  G.  E.  Wiles,  returned  missionary. 

Born  at  Sierra  Leone  about  1834  of  heathen 
parents,  T.  E.  Prince  was  when  quite  a  child 
taken  to  Lagos,  and  there  educated  in  the 
Church  Missionary  Society's  Institute.  On 
leaving  the  Institute  he  became  for  a  time 
Government  clerk  at  Cape  Coast,  but  soon  left 
the  service  and  returned  to  Lagos.  In  '54  his 
uncle  sent  him  to  Fernando  Po,  where  he  became 
clerk  to  the  English  Consul.  Finding  his  duties 
uncongenial  he  would  have  returned  to  Lagos 
had  not  the  Consul — Mr.  Beecroft — urged  him 
to  join  the  staff  of  the  Baptist  Mission.  He 
did  so,  and  as  schoolmaster  he  had  among  his 
earliest  pupils  Eev.  W.  N".  Barleycorn,  his  brother  and  sister,  and  many  of  those  who 
are  now  the  oldest  members  of  our  Church.  The  Baptist  missionary  urged  him  to 
give  himself  to  the  ministry,  and  suggested  his  going  to  England  to  the  Baptist  College, 
of  which  Dr.  Angus  was  then  the  Principal.  But  Mr.  Prince  resolutely  refused 
baptism,  having  been  baptised  in  infancy ;  consequently  he  left  the  mission  staff  and 
re-entered  business.  As  a  trader  and  cocoa  farmer  he  was  industrious  and  prosperous. 
All  through  the  years  he  has  been  loyal  to  our  Church,  has  stood  by  it  through  all  its 
chequered  experiences,  and  freely  given  to  it  his  presence,  prayers,  labour,  and 
substance.  He  is  with  us  still,  and  at  seventy-one  years  of  age  is  present  at  the 
services,  twice  every  Sunday,  often  facing  elementary  conditions  which  keep  away 
younger  and  stronger  but  less  earnest  men.  He  is  a  fine  specimen  of  a  simple-hearted, 
humble,  but  really  intelligent  Christian  African. 


ME.    T.    H.    PRINCE. 


490 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


The  21st  February,  1870,  was,  then,  a  memorable  day  for  Fernando  Po.  On  the 
early  morning  of  that  day  as  the  "  Mandingo  "  drew  near  the  island,  it  was  observed — 
"  Midnight  is  passed ;  the  [Southern]  Cross  begins  to  bend."  The  familiar  stellar 
phenomenon  may  be  construed  as  a  symbol  of  good  omen.  For  Fernando  Po  the 
longing  for  the  breaking  of  the  day  was  at  last  to  be  gratified,  and  the  religion  of  the 
cross,  as  contrasted  with  that  of  the  crucifix,  was  bending  benignly  over  the  island.  On 
the  evening  of  this  same  day,  which  began  so  auspiciously,  the  first  Primitive  Methodist 
service  was  held  in  the  house  of  "  Mamma  "  Job.  At  this  significant  service  the  cross 
was  pre-eminent.  The  first  hymn  sung  was  "  There  is  a  fountain  filled  with  blood," 
the  text  of  the  sermon  and  the  key-note  of  all  that  followed  was,  "  God  so  loved  the 
world,  that  He  gave  His  only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  Him  should 
not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life.''  "  Tank  God  !  tank  de  Missionaries  !  and  tank 
de  good  people  of  England  ! "  expressed  the  gladsome  feelings  of  the  people  when,  as 
the  service  ended  and  lantern-in-hand  and  carrying  their  seats  on  their  heads,  they 
made  their  way  home  along  varied  paths.  One  can  readily  understand  why  the  late  Rev. 
T.  Guttery,  in  speaking  of  this  service  at  the  Metropolitan  Tabernacle,  should  say  : — 


REV.  HENRY  ROE. 


PETER  BULL. 


BLACKBURN. 


"  Xext  to  that  undying  camp-meeting  on  Mow  Hill,  we  will  tell  our  children  of  that 
first  service  at  Mamma  Job's  house.  The  facts  of  1870  begin  a  new  chapter  in  the 
Connexion's  life.'' 

On  the  28th  February,  the  first  class  was  formed  consisting  of  eleven  persons,  all 
of  whom,  though  they  bore  English  names,  were  Africans,  representing  various  and 
distant  tribes.  Some  of  them,  like  Mamma  Job,  were  redeemed  slaves,  while  others 
were  the  free  children  of  such.  One  of  the  eleven  was  Peter  Bull,  a  native  of  the 
Island,  who  afterwards  did  good  service  as  an  interpreter  for  the  missionaries  when 
preaching  to  the  Pubis.  Some  of  the  first  members  were  the  fruit  of  the  Baptist 
Mission,  while  others  gave  their  names  as  anxious  "  to  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come." 
Eev.  Henry  Roe  had  the  joy  of  witnessing  the  first  conversion  on  March  6th,  when 
a  young  Fernandian  woman  named  Jane  Scholar  yielded  to  the  Saviour.  She 
afterwards  died  in  the  faith.  The  pioneers  met  with  much  success.  At  the  first 
Quarter  Day,  held  on  April  21st,  there  were  reported  forty-five  African  members  and  an 
income  of  £i  5s.  4d.     Several  visits  were  paid  to  the  natives  of  the  interior  ;  a  Sunday 


THE   PERIOD   OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND   CHUKCH   DEVELOPMENT. 


491 


and  Day  School  were  commenced,  and  W.  N.  Barleycorn  joined  the  Church,  and,  under 
the  guidance  of  the  missionaries,  began  to  acquire  knowledge,  and  already  gave  proof 
of  that  capacity,  steadiness,  and  usefulness  so  conspicuous  in  his  subsequent  career, 
amply  justifying  the  statement  of  the  Rev.  D.  T.  Maylott  that  "if  the  Fernando  Po 
Mission  had  done  nothing  more  than  effect  the  conversion  and  training  of  W.  N. 
Barleycorn,  it  would  still  be  a  glorious  success."* 

The  story  of  those  early  days  of  the  mission  as  told  by  the  Rev.  Henry  Roe  in  his 
little  booksf — to  which  the  reader  is  referred  for  details — has  in  it  many  idyllic  touches. 
You  cannot  fail  to  catch  the  notes  of  gladness  and  hope.  But  still,  even  in  those  first 
days,  the  influences  which  have  made  the  Fernando  Po  mission  a  difficult  one  and 
costly,  in  another  than  a  monetary  sense,  were  not  absent  or  irrecognizable.  There 
might  be  sunlight  in  plenty  and  luxuriant  vegetation,  but,  occasionally,  the  tornado 
wrought  fearful  havoc,  and  always  the  climate  was  treacherous  and  secretly  sapped  the 
strength  of  the  willing  workers.  Both  missionaries  lost  an  infant  child,  and  they  and 
their  noble  wives  were   prostrated   by  sickness,  and   it   soon   became   clear   that   no 


KEY.  M.  H.  BARRON. 


REV.  W.  B.  LUDDINGTON. 


REV.  W.  HOLLAND. 


lengthened  term  of  continuous  service  was  possible  in  such  a  land,  even  for  those  who 
in  England  were  strong  to  labour  ;  that  only  by  frequent  reliefs  and  relays  of  workers 
could  the  mission  be  sustained.  One  of  the  panels  in  our  combination  picture  shows 
the  sacred  corner  in  Santa  Isabel,  where  lies  the  dust  of  some  of  those  who  have 
sacrificed  their  lives  at  the  post  of  duty.  R.  S.  Blackburn  after  eight  months  of 
devoted  service  died  April  22nd,  1^92.  In  the  obituary  notice  of  him  it  is  said  that 
"his  career  furnishes  a  specimen  of  consecration  to  God  worthy  to  rank  with  that 
of  Henry  Martyn  and  others  of  kindred  reputation.  Thus  has  fallen  oui\first  standard- 
bearer,  whose  remains  await,  on  a  heathen  soil,  the  resurrection  of  the  just.''  By  his 
side  lies  M.  H.  Barron  who  was  inspired  to  give  himself  to  the  African  work  by 
listening  to  missionary  addresses  by  Messrs.  R.  W.  Burnett  and  R.  Fairley.     He  threw 

*  The  statement  was  made  at  the  Conference  of  1872.  So  also  the  Rev.  N.  Boocock  says  -. 
"The  best  thing  the  Fernandians  ever  did  was  to  give  the  Rev.  "W.  N.  Barleycorn  to  the  work  of  the 
ministry.  Mr.  Barleycorn  is  a  fine  Christian  gentleman,  and  a  faithful  minister  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ." — Aldersgate  Magazine,  May,  1905. 

t  "  Mission  to  Africa,"  "  West  African  Scenes,"  and  "  Fernando  Po  Mission." 


492  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 

himself  with  much  zeal  into  every  department  of  the  work,  but  was  suddenly  called 
home  on  January  22nd,  1901.  Here,  too,  in  the  cemetery  at  Santa  Isabel  lie  the 
remains  of  Mrs.  Maylott  and  Mrs.  Boocock.  To  this  roll  of  the  honoured  dead  must 
be  added  the  names  of  ~W.  B.  Luddington  and  his  wife,  who  after  three  terms  of 
service  in  the  Island  died  soon  after  their  return  to  England,  and  of  Mrs.  Buckenham 
who  in  1886  succumbed  to  a  last  attack  of  fever  while  on  board  a  steamer  for  a  few 
hours'  voyage.  "  Within  twenty  hours  Mr.  Buckenham  returned  to  the  island  sad  and 
lonely,  his  wife  in  her  grave  on  the  mainland." 

From  the  very  beginning  the  work  of  evangelisation  in  Fernando  Po  has  been 
retarded  by  maleficent  influences  other  than  those  due  to  climate.  It  is  significant — 
and  one  may  even  say  portentous — that  the  "  Mandingo "  which  brought  our  first 
missionaries  to  the  Island  also  brought  nine  hundred  gallons  of  rum.  Time  has 
wrought  no  mitigation  of  the  evil.  Now,  thirty-five  years  after  the  landing  of  our 
first  missionaries,  Mr.  Boocock  has  to  write  : — "  I  am  extremely  sorry  to  learn  that 
there,  is  a  growing  tendency  among  the  Fernandians  to  trade  with  these  solutions  (rum 
and  gin)  on  the  assumption  that  they  are  a  necessit}r,  being  as  much  a  common  currency 
as  pounds,  shillings,  and  pence  are  to  us  in  England.  Personally,  I  look  upon  trade- 
rum  and  gin  as  unmitigated  curses.''  So  serious  is  the  evil  that  the  Missionary  Report 
for  1904  is  constrained  to  say: — "The  white  man's  drink  is  working  deadly  and 
increasing  havoc  and  making  our  labour  doubly  difficult,  and  in  some  instances  terribly 
threatening  it.  Our  representatives,  however,  are  bravely  battling  against  its 
destructive  operations.'' 

Fernando  Po  belongs  to  Spain  :  the  Jesuits  have  a  mission  on  the  Island  ;  and  it  is 
a  far  cry  from  Fernando  Po  to  Madrid.  The  inference  is  obvious  ;  for  the  Society  of 
Jesus  is  in  its  essence  always  the  same,  however  much  it  may  choose  to  vary  its 
methods.  That  we  have  still  a  footing  on  the  Island  is  not  due  to  the  goodwill  of  the 
Jesuit  Padres.  But  for  the  courage  and  tact  of  our  representatives,  and  the  might  of 
England  in  the  background,  we  must  have  been  driven  from  the  Island  years  ago. 
Still,  the  opposition  of  the  Jesuits  has  shown  itself  fitfully.  It  has  not  been  a  constant 
steady  pressure,  but  has  been  felt  more  or  less  acutely  according  to  the  character  and 
personal  qualities  of  the  Governor  for  the  time  being.  If  he  has  been  a  man  of  liberal 
mind  and  independent  spirit  our  work — evangelistic  and  educational — has  been  allowed 
to  proceed  in  quietness.  But  if,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Governor  has  been  a  bigoted 
Spaniard,  or,  worse  still,  a  bigoted  Boman  Catholic,  and  as  such  subservient  to 
the  Padres,  then  all  kinds  of  vexatious  restrictions  have  been  placed  on  that  work 
Some  of  the  Governors  have  been  not  only  models  of  courtesy,  but  personal  friends  of 
our  missionaries  and  in  sympathy  with  their  work,  while  others  have  been  the  reverse. 

As  early  as  1872  the  educational  work  was  interfered  with.  Messrs.  Burnett,  Roe, 
and  Maylott  were  each  threatened  with  a  fine  of  £20  16s.  8d.  for  having,  as 
was  alleged,  objected  to  a  list  of  their  scholars  being  taken.  Refusing  to  pay  the  fine, 
Messrs.  Roe  and  Maylott  were  threatened  with  summary  banishment ;  but  on  an 
appeal  to  the  Consul  the  matter  was  not  pressed.  Thus  the  storm  blew  over;  but 
twice  in  the  history  of  the  mission  the  storm  has  not  blown  over,  but  has  burst  with 
full  fury.     The  Rev.  W.  Holland  thus  tells  the  story  of  his  banishment. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND    CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT.  493 

"When  we  went  out  in  1877,  Captain  Salgado  had  already  begun  his  repressive 
measures  by  closing  the  Sunday  School.  Then,  in  succession,  there  followed  the 
closing  of  the  Day  School,  the  two  weekly  (from  house  to  house)  cottage  prayer- 
meetings,  Mrs.  Holland's  girls'  sewing  class,  our  weekly  singing  practice,  all  services 
after  sunset.  The  bell— a  large  one  I  got  out  from  England,  and  by  tremendous 
human  labour  had  fixed  some  twenty  feet  high  in  the  yard  behind  the  Church— had  to 
'hold  its  tongue.'  The  name  'Zion  Primitive  Methodist  Church'  was  an  'outward 
manifestation'  and  must  be  effaced.  Singing  at  funeral  processions,  and  then  the 
processions  themselves,  were  disallowed.  I  think  the  last  of  the  repressive  measures 
was,  the  sound  of  singing  must  not  be  heard  outside  the  Church.  For  some  twelve 
months  or  so,  almost  each  day  found  me  wondering  what  new  trouble  the  next  day 
would  bring  What  a  number  of  letters  passed  between  us,  and  what  hours  and  hours 
were  wasted  either  at  the  Government  House  or  the  Mission  House— he  at  times 
violently  excited,  quite  menacing  in  words  and  tone  and  manner,  and  I,  to  a  Spaniard 
I  dare  say,  provokingly  cool.  The  end  of  the  matter  was  he  sent  me  a  '  writ  of 
banishment '  in  forty-eight  hours,  with,  I  think,  some  thirty  shillings  to  pay  my  fare  to 
the  nearest  port.  I  returned  the  money,  endorsing  the  envelope  'Declined  with 
thanks '  and,  on  the  advice  of  H.  B.  M.  Consul — Captain  Hopkins — a  true  friend  of 
the  mission,  who  once  took  the  Sunday  services  for  me  when  I  was  ill — I  hurried  home. 
A  deputation,  introduced  by  the  late  Mr.  S.  Morley,  waited  on  the  Under  Secretary  for 
Foreign  Affairs.  I  read  and  then  handed  to  him  a  complete  statement  of  my  case.  In 
a  few  months  information  came  from  the  Foreign  Office  that  the  Spanish  Government 
'  disavowed '  the  Governor's  action  in  reference  to  my  banishment;  and  a  few  weeks 
later  came  another  dispatch  saying  they  '  disapproved '  of  his  action,  and  I  was  at 
liberty  to  return  to  the  Island,  which  I  did  at  once,  bearing,  I  think,  letters  of  authority 
from  both  the  Spanish  and  British  Governments.  On  reaching  the  Island,  I  found 
Captain  Salgado  had  gone  back  to  Spain,  whether  recalled  or  not  I  never  knew. 
Consul  Hopkins  said,  'Now  we'll  go  in  for  compensation,"  but  his  sudden  death  soon 
after  cut  short  his  good  purpose,  or  probably  something  would  have  been  done  for 
me  and  the  Society. 

"My  banishment,  with  that  which  led  up  to  and  followed  it— all  the  worry  and 
strain— told  upon  me  so  much  that,  after  being  out  there  again  for  some  eighteen 
months,  I  had  a  most  dangerous  illness.  My  life  was  almost  despaired  of,  and  I  was 
carried  on  board  in  an  utterly  helpless  condition,  but,  thanks  to  my  good  wife  and  the 
Divine  Helper,  I  recovered." 

The  Report  of  the  General  Missionary  Committee  to  the  Conference  of  18t'6  has  an 
extended  reference  to  the  scandalous  treatment  of  Rev.  W.  Welford.  This  reference, 
because  of  its  intimate  hearing  on  the  conditions  under  which  our  work  in  Fernando  Po 
has  been  carried  on,  must  be  given  here.  Needless  to  say  such  incidents  as  these,  with 
all  that  they  involve,  must  have  been  detrimental  to  the  mission,  exceedingly  trying  to 
the  missionaries  and  their  families,  and  a  source  of  anxiety  to  the  Executive  at  home. 
These  incidents  have  been  costly  ones  too,  such  as,  one  thinks,  would  justify  the  suing 
of  some  one  for  "material  damages.''  Two  of  our  Missionary  Secretaries — Revs.  J. 
Atkinson  and  J.  Travis— have  been  necessitated  to  journey  all  the  way  to  Madrid  in 
order  to  straighten  out  matters  and  secure  more  satisfactory  relations  between  the 
Spanish  Authorities  and  the  Mission.     The  reference  in  the  Eeport  runs : — 

"The  work  in  Fernando  Po  has  been  seriously  interrupted  during  the  year  by  the 


494 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


action  of  the  Spanish  Authorities.  The  schools  have  been  closed,  and  every  indication 
that  the  mission  premises  are  used  as  a  place  of  worship  has  been  removed  by  order  of 
the  Governor.  Singing  in  the  chapel  has  been  prohibited,  and  all  service  in  the 
cemetery  at  the  burial  of  the  dead.  The  missionary  was  subject  to  interference  and 
annoyance  of  the  most  vexatious  kind,  and  was  at  last  imprisoned  on  board  the 
pontoon,  where  he  was  kept  for  a  month  subject  to  insult  and  indignity  from  day  to 
day,  and  was  only  released  on  the  interference  of  the  Commanders  of  Her  Majesty's 
gun-boats  who  fortunately  visited  Santa  Isabel.  The  people  were  watched  as  they 
went  to  and  from  the  meetings,  they  were  insulted  by  the  Romish  priests  in  the 
streets,  summarily  fined,  dragged  to  prison,  and  persecuted  in  a  great  variety  of  ways  ; 
still  they  remained  steadfast  in  the  faith.  The  missionary  and  his  wife  were  ultimately 
banished.  The  case  has  been  placed  in  the  hands  of  Her  Majesty's  Government,  and 
the  Governor  of  the  island,  having  been  recalled  to  Spain,  the  whole  matter  is  under- 
going investigation.  The  Committee  desire  to  place  upon  record  their  unqualified 
approval  of  the  course  pursued  by  the  missionary,  the  Rev.  W.  Welford,  and  his 
devoted  wife,  in  the  remarkably  trying  circumstances  in  which  they  were  placed  during 
their  stay  in  Fernando  Po  ;  and  they  desire  also  to  express  their  admiration  of  the 
manner  in  which  the  llev.  W.  X.  Barleycorn,  the  native  minister  at  George's  Bay, 
and  the  members  of  the  church  generally,  acted  during  the  painful  ordeal  they  have 
been  called  to  endure.  Since  Mr.  Welford  left  the  island  there  has  been  no  further 
molestation  of  the  Church,  though  the  restrictions  as  to  work  and  worship  have  not 
been  removed.  The  Rev.  R.  W.  Burnett,  his  wife,  and  son  have  been  sent  out  to  take 
charge  of  the  mission  till  the  case  is  settled." 

At  this  point  we  set  out  in  tabular  form  the  names  of  the  band  of  deserving  men 
who  have  gone  as  our  missionaries  to  Fernando  Po.  Let  the  reader  scan  it  closely  and 
take  notice  of  the  figures  which  follow  the  names ;  for  these  will  show  that  some 
whose  names  are  on  the  list  have  had  two,  three,  four,  and  in  the  case  of  Rev.  R. 
Fairley,  no  less  than  five  terms  of  service  on  the  Island,  while  others  have  done  good 
service  in  other  parts  of  the  Foreign  field. 


1X70. 

It.  W.  Burnett 

..      4 

18HS. 

8.  Blenkiu 

1 

„ 

Henry  Roe 

..      1 

lHilU. 

J.  Burkitt 

1 

1H71. 

1).  T.'jlaylott     . 

2 

1892. 

R.  Pickering     ... 

1 

LS72. 

W.Holland      ... 

..     4 

1894. 

N.  Boocock 

1 

1873. 

W.  B.  Luddm^ton 

..      3 

18<J.j. 

T.  C.  Sliowell   .. 

2 

1874. 

8.  Griffith 

..      1 

1898. 

R.  W.  Burnett  (2) 

1 

1S7.5. 

Theo.  Parr 

..      1 

189!). 

M.  H.  Barron  ... 

1 

187s. 

It.  S.  Blackburn 

..      1 

„ 

G-.  E.  "Wiles 

2 

1  s,s:-( 

It    Bnrkenham 

..      1 

1900. 

T.  Stones 

1 

It.  Eairley 

..      5 

1901. 

J.  Nichols 

1 

1 885. 

\V.  "Welford     ... 

..      1 

}) 

Moses  Holmes  .. 

1 

Harvey  Roe 

.. 

1904. 

H.M.Cook      

1 

1888. 

Jabez  Bell 

..      3 

List   or   Missionaries   to   Fernando   Po  :  the   Yeae  of  theie  fiest  Appointment,  and 
the  av'umbeb  of  Terms  they  have  seeved. 


During  his  term  of  office  as  General  Missionary  Secretary,  Dr.  S.  Antliff  publicly 
stated  that  Dr.  Underhill  had  recently  written  to  inquire  if  the  Primitive  Methodists 
intended  to  carry  their  mission  to  the  Bubis,  or  to  confine  it  to  the  English-speaking 


THE   PERIOD   OF   CONSOLIDATION    AND   CHURCH  DEVELOPMENT.  495 

people  of  Santa  Isabel.  The  reply  was,  "  We  have  bought  property,  intend  to  remain, 
and  cover  the  whole  Island  with  Primitive  Methodism.'-  On  the  strength  of  this 
assurance  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society  has  honourably  refrained  from  attempting  to 
re-establish  its  mission  on  the  Island,  and  other  Missionary  Societies  have  in  like 
manner  respected  our  declaration  of  policy,  and  have  come  to  look  upon  Fernando  Po 
as  lying  entirely  within  the  sphere  of  our  influence.  Such  an  understanding  and 
virtual  compact  creates  responsibility.  It  can  hold  good  and  be  respected  only  so  long 
as  we  seek  to  honour  its  engagement  by  endeavouring  to  evangelise  the  Island.  As  the 
sole  representative  of  Protestantism  on  the  Island,  we  are  bound  to  spread  its  principles 
amongst  the  people,  or  else  allow  other  Churches  to  lend  a  hand  in  doing  a  work  for 
which  we  are  unwilling  or  unequal. 

How  far  then  has  the  promise  held  out  by  Dr.  S.  Antliff  been  made  good  ?  The 
island  has  not  been  covered ;  but,  in  addition  to  Santa  Isabel,  three  other  mission- 
stations  have  been  planted  in  the  most  accessible  and  best-known  part  of  the  Island,  at 
points  strategically  situated  for  keeping  in  touch  with  our  base  at  Santa  Isabel,  and  for 
getting  into  touch  with  the  native  Bubis,  and  carrying  on  amongst  them  evangelistic, 
educational,  and  industrial  work.  These  stations  are  at  the  rising  towns  of  San  Carlos 
on  the  South-west,  Bottle  Nose  on  the  North-west,  and  Banni  on  the  North-east,  while 
Santa  Isabel  is  on  the  North  of  the  Island.  As  early  as  1871  the  Rev.  D.  T.  Maylott 
was  appointed  to  begin  a  mission  in  St.  George's  Bay,  as  it  was  then  called — a  beautiful 
bay  nine  miles  across  from  point  to  point.  His  serious  break-down  in  health  retarded 
the  opening  of  the  mission,  but  W  N.  Barleycorn  as  native  teacher  did  useful  pioneer 
work,  and  in  1873  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Luddington  began  to  build  on  the  foundation  already 
in  some  measure  laid.  Messrs.  Luddington  and  Barleycorn  laboured  zealously,  and 
their  zeal  had  its  reward.  During  the  first  six  months  Mr.  Luddington  made  no  less 
than  twenty-five  visits  to  the  bush  in  the  interior  in  order  to  induce  the  native  boys 
and  girls  and  adults  to  attend  the  Sunday  School  and  services.  A  house  and  church 
were  built  on  the  beach,  and,  though  a  comparatively  rude  structure,  Mr.  Luddington 
was  rightly  proud  of  it ;  and  it  may  be  added,  this  first  piece  of  Connexional  property 
on  the  Island  was  paid  for  by  the  islanders  themselves.  Mr.  Parr  removed  the  mission 
some  four  or  five  miles  up  the  mountain-side  to  Rajah,  in  order  to  be  nearer  the  Bubi 
town,  and,  when,  some  years  later,  it  was  deemed  desirable  to  add  the  industrial  to  the 
educational  and  spiritual  work  of  the  mission,  its  location  was  again  changed.  Rajah 
being  situated  too  high  for  cocoa  to  do  well,  the  mission  was  placed  half-way  down  to 
the  beach.  There  it  is  to-day — a  cocoa-farm  covering  some  thirty  acres  or  more  in  the 
midst  of  dense  primeval  forest. 

We  ought  to  chronicle  here  an  early  and  interesting  attempt  to  transliterate  the 
language  of  the  Bubis — to  analyse  its  grammatical  forms  and  give  its  vocabulary — 
a  task  admittedly  difficult  of  accomplishment.  Through  the  courtesy  of  the  Rev. 
T.  Parr,  M.A.,  we  have  had  the  opportunity  of  inspecting  a  small,  thin,  quarto  volume, 
which  should  have  its  place  in  the  bibliography  of  Primitive  Methodism  whenever  that 
very  desirable  work  shall  be  executed.  The  volume  in  question  bears  the  title  : — 
"Parr's  Bubi  na  English  Dictionary,  with  Notes  on  Grammar,  George's  Bay  District, 
Primitive  Methodist  Mission  Press,  George's  Bay,  Fernando  Po,  1881. '      The  preface 


41j6  PRIMITIVE  METHODIST  church. 

to  this  little  volume  gives  a  sufficiently  full  account  of  its  genesis  and  of  the  difficulties 
surmounted  in  its  preparation. 

"  When  appointed  to  George's  Bay  in  the  early  part  of  1873,"  says  Rev.  W.  B. 
Luddington,  "  we  found  the  mission  in  its  infancy,  and  the  language  entirely 
unwritten.  Steps  were  immediately  taken  for  securing  a  vocabulary  ;  but,  for 
various  reasons,  the  work  proceeded  slowly.  In  March,  1873,  about  a  fourth  of 
what  constitutes  the  present  dictionary  was  put  into  the  hands  of  the  Rev.  T.  Parr, 
prior  to  his  taking  charge.  Being  well-adapted  to  the  task,  he  already  having 
made  some  proficiency  in  philological  studies,  his  acquisition  of  the  language  was 
surprisingly  rapid,  and  ere  the  completion  of  his  term  of  service,  he  preached  (of 
course  imperfectly)  in  the  native  tongue.  Notes  on  Grammar  and  an  extended 
vocabulary  were  prepared  by  Mr.  Parr,  and  these  were  kindly  passed  over  to  me 
when  leaving  England  two  years  ago.  .  The  typographical  part  of  the  work  is 
only  that  of  an  amateur,  with  »  small  press  and  limited  materials,  which  must 
account  for  its  defectiveness.  To  Mr.  \Y.  N.  Barleycorn,  Peter  Bull,  and  several  of 
our  young  native  converts,  both  Mr.  Parr  and  myself  are  greatly  indebted." 

For  some  little  time  longing  eyes  had  been  turned  to  the  South-east  of  the  Island — 
forty  miles  from  .Santa  Isabel,  to  a  place  called  Biappa.  Mr.  Holland  devoted  a  week 
to  prospecting  in  that  part  of  the  Island  and  drew  up  a  lengthy  Report,  which  was 
adverse  to  any  attempt  at  settlement  there.  Moreover,  it  was  suggested  that  Banni  on 
the  North-east  coast,  twelve  miles  from  Santa  Isabel,  would  form  a  much  more 
eligible  location.  Both  Messrs.  Holland  and  Luddington  satisfied  themselves  by 
a  personal  visit  as  to  the  eligibility  of  the  proposed  mission,  and,  during  Mr. 
Buckenham's  term,  the  mission  was  tentatively  begun.  But  to  Rev.  Jabez  Bell 
belong  the  honours  of  Banni.  "  Bell  of  Banni "  might  well  be  his  honorific  title. 
He  bore  with  wonderful  patience  the  early  hostility  of  the  natives,  and  the  fiustration 
of  cherished  hopes,  and  at  last,  by  the  sheer  force  of  his  example  and  personal 
influence,  he  won  over  the  natives.  His  long  and  efficient  service  amid  most  trying 
conditions,  and  the  signal  success  of  this  Industrial  Mission  are  highly  appreciated  by 
our  Church.  It  is  pleasing  to  be  able  to  give  the  unsolicited  private  endorsement  of 
this  judgment  by  one  of  our  veteran  missionaries  who  says  : — "  Mr.  Bell's  self-denial  in 
the  initial  stages  of  the  Mission  no  one  has  any  idea  of.  I  said  when' out  there 
spending  some  time  on  the  Mission — '  Not  one  in  a  thousand  would  practise  such  noble 
self-abandonment  in  the  interest  of  missions  as  he  did.'  " 

Bottle  Nose  made  its  first  appearance  on  the  stations  in  the  Conference  Minutes  of 
1896.  This  place  of  strange  name  is  a  kind  of  half-way  house  between  Santa  Isabel 
and  San  Carlos.  Our  early  missionaries  knew  its  sheltered  cove  well ;  for  often,  in 
boating  between  the  two  places  mentioned,  they  would  land  on  its  little  beach,  so 
that  their  Krumen  might  prepare  their  "  chop,''  while  they  themselves  welcomed 
a  short  respite  from  sea-sickness,  and  drank  their  refreshing  cup  of  tea. 

Two  outstanding  features  of  our  Fernando  Po  Mission  have  been  and  still  are — the 
spirit  of  self-help  and  liberality  shown  by  our  adherents,  and  the  remarkable  success  of 
our  Industrial  Missions.  In  regard  to  the  former  that  acute  observer,  the  Rev.  N. 
Boocock,  points  out  that  during  the  last  twelve  years  the  Church  at  Santa  Isabel  has 
raised  more  money  for  the  African  Fund  than  any  Church   in   Primitive    Methodism, 


THE    PERIOD    OF    CONSOLIDATION    AND    CHURCH    DEVELOPMENT.  497 

averaging  as  it  has  done  more  than  £150  per  year,  and  with  a  membership  numbering 
less  than  130.  Nor,  as  he  also  points  out,  has  this  been  done  without  an  immense 
struggle  and  many  instances  of  real  self-sacrifice. 

Aliwal  North. 

Where  is  Aliwal  North,  and  how  came  we  to  plant  ourselves  there?  As  to  the 
latter,  largely,  it  would  seem,  as  the  result  of  unforeseen  events  and  circumstances. 
A  Mr.  Lindsay,  we  are  told,  a  gentleman  formerly  in  communion  with  the  Primitive 
Wesleyans,  had  settled  in  what  was  then  the  Orange  Free  State.  Mr.  Lindsay  was 
anxious  to  secure  the  appointment  of  a  Primitive  Methodist  missionary,  and  with  that 
end  in  view,  entered  into  communication  with  our  General  Missionary  Committee, 
guaranteeing  the  salary  of  a  young  man  for  the  first  year.  The  appeal  was  considered 
and  responded  to,  and  Rev.  Henry  Buckenham,  formerly  a  devoted  local  preacher  in 
the  East  Dereham  Circuit,  and  at  that  time  on  the  Burton-on-Trent  Circuit,  consented 
to  become  the  Connexion's  pioneer  missionary  in  South  Africa.  He  sailed  in  the 
"Marsden,"  October  5th,  1870,  and  after  touching  at  Cape  Town,  landed  at  Port 
Elizabeth  on  November  20th.  Thence  he  travelled  up  the  country,  300  miles,  arriving, 
en  route,  at  Aliwal  North,  on  the  Orange  River,  which  divides  Cape  Colony  from  the 
Orange  River  Colony.  Here  he  found  Mr.  Lindsay,  who  had  settled  in  the  town,  and 
here,  accordingly,  Mr.  Buckenham  elected  to  pitch  his  tent.  Meanwhile,  it  is  said, 
instructions  came  to  hand  from  the  General  Missionary  Committee,  to  the  effect  that 
their  missionary  should  make  his  way  to  the  newly-discovered  Diamond  Fields.  But 
this  was  not  done ;  and  the  situation  as  it  then  presented  itself  was  accepted,  with  all 
that  has  followed.  This  explains  why,  without  pre-announcement,  or  even  prevision, 
"Aliwal  North,  Henry  Buckenham''  unobtrusively  appears  on  the  stations  in  the 
Conference  Minutes  of  1871. 

For  a  Sunday  or  two,  while  a  room  was  being  fitted  up,  services  were  held  in 
a  Dutch  Church.  A  Sunday  School  was  opened  January  15th  ;  an  evening  school  for 
coloured  people  on  July  18th;  and  in  the  following  month  Mr.  Buckenham,  in 
conjunction  with  Mr.  Lindsay,  opened  a  day  school.  Ten  pounds  was  all  Mr.  Lindsay 
had  to  lay  down  to  make  up  the  deficiency  on  the  year's  working,  so  liberally  did  the 
congregation  that  had  been  gathered  contribute  to  the  support  of  the  missionary. 
During  Mr.  Buckenham's  term,  a  church,  vestry,  and  house  were  built  at  Aliwal,  and 
land  secured  at  Jamestown,  on  which  our  second  chapel  in  South  Africa  was  afterwards 
erected.  Mr.  Buckenham  returned  to  England  in  August,  1875,  his  place  having 
previously  been  taken  by  Rev.  John  Smith,  another  Norfolk  District  man.  As  showing 
that  Yarmouth  Circuit  still  retained  its  practical  interest  in  African  missions,  let  it  be 
noted  that  that  Circuit  contributed  £H00  towards  defraying  the  cost  of  conveying 
Mr.  Smith  and  family  to  their  destination.  At  this  time  the  membership  at  Aliwal 
was  reported  at  15  ;  in  1879  when  Mr.  Smith  was  relieved  by  Rev.  J.  Watson  it  stood 
at  130.  In  1881  the  ministerial  staff  was  strengthened  by  the  addition  of  J.  Bradley 
and  J.  Msikinya.  W.  N.  Barleycorn  in  Fernando  Po  and  J.  Msikinya  were  our  Jirxt 
coloured  miniders  :  they  began  their  honourable  ministry  together,  their  names 
appearing  on  the  same  Conference  Minutes  of  1881.     In  1883  Dr.  Watson  removed  to 


498  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 

Adelaide,  South  Australia,  and  Kev.  J.  Smith  returned  to  the  scene  of  his  former 
labours.  After  a  second  term  of  five  years,  in  which  the  mission  underwent  develop- 
ment and  made  gratifying  progress,  Mr.  Smith  was  succeeded  by  Eev.  G.  E.  Butt. 
The  General  Missionary  Committee  had  looked  out  wilh  some  considerable  degree  of 
anxiety  for  a  successor  to  Mr.  Smith;  the  more  so,  as  it  was  in  contemplation  to 
establish  a  Technical  School.  The  Committee  were  wisely  guided  in  their  selection  of 
a  man,  since  Mr.  Butt  not  only  possessed  the  necessary 
ministerial  qualifications,  but  the  secular  training  he  had 
received  eminently  fitted  him  to  take  charge  of  the  proposed 
institution.  In  1888,  therefore,  Mr.  Butt  entered  upon 
what  proved  to  be  his  seventeen  years'  superintendency 
of  the  mission.  His  son,  Rev.  G.  H.  Butt,  was  already 
on  the  staff  as  minister  and  schoolmaster. 

By  common  consent  Aliwal  North  is  regarded  as  our  widest 
and  most  prosperous  mission   station.     We  should,  however, 
think  of   Aliwal   as   the   centre   of  a   diocese   rather    than  as 
a  circuit  of  the  normal   type ;   since  the   so-called  circuit  is 
eev.  (i.  e.  butt.  some    150  miles  long  by  50  miles  wide,  contains  eight  sub- 

(President  of  Conference,  1905  )  centres,  each  in  charge  of  a  trained  agent,  and  each  having 
grouped  around  it  several  preaching-stations.  The  superintendent  of  such  a  wide, 
polyglot  station  as  this — for  the  Gospel  is  preached  in  three  languages— who  has  to  keep 
his  hands  on  the  various  strands  of  the  work — spiritual,  educational,  technical — must 
needs  be  a  man  of  affairs,  with  a  wide  outlook,  and  possessing  considerable  organising 
power,  and  such  the  successive  superintendents  of  Aliwal  have  been.  Despite  the  periods 
of  unsettledness  which  have  recurred,  the  shifting  of  the  population  both  native  and 
European,  and  the  temporary  upsettal  and  ravages  of  the  late  war,  the  progress  of  the 
mission  has  been  remarkably  steady  and  gratifying.  Thirty-four  years  ago  we  began 
with  one  member — the  missionary  himself;  in  190"),  the  total  membership  is  reported 
as  1608.  Commensurate  with  the  numerical  advance  recorded  by  these  figures  there  has 
also  been  an  augmentation  of  the  teaching  staff,  and  an  increase  in  the  number  of 
buildings  belonging  to  the  Mission.  As  completing  the  outline  of  the  Aliwal  North 
Mission's  history,  it  must  be  added  that  on  Mr.  Butt's  return  to  this  country,  where  the 
deserved  honour  of  being  elected  President  of  the  Conference  of  1905  awaited  him, 
the  Rev.  V.  Pickering  took  charge  of  the  Aliwal  Mission. 

The  educational  work  carried  on  at  Aliwal  North  has  long  been  an  outstanding 
feature  of  the  mission ;  and,  in  its  hearing  on  the  future  of  the  natives  themselves 
receiving  instruction,  as  well  as  in  its  bearing  on  the  future  development  of  our 
missions  in  South  Central  Africa,  it  is  a  feature  deserving  all  the  prominence  given  to  it. 
It  was  in  1889  Mr.  Butt  started  the  Training  School.  Before  starting  it  he  visited  all 
the  kindred  schools  of  other  Churches  that  were  within  his  reach.  He  was  especially 
attracted  towards  the  French  Mission  in  Basutoland.  Here  he  found  three  schools  at 
work  for  the  higher  education  of  the  natives;  the  normal  school,  to  train  teachers; 
the  Bible  school,  to  train  evangelists ;  and  the  industrial  school,  to  teach  trades.  It 
occurred  to  Mr.   Butt  that  it  would  be  well  to  unite  these  three  sections  of  the  same 


THE    PERIOD    OF    CONSOLIDATION    AND    CHUTiCH    DEVELOPMENT. 


499 


sa  mm* 


500  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 

work  in  one  school.  The  Aliwal  School,  therefore,  is  founded  on  that  broad  basis. 
It  was  an  experiment,  but  it  is  proving  a  successful  experiment.  The  school  was 
started  sixteen  years  ago  with  four  pupils.  Writing  in  1903  Mr.  Butt  says  :  "Before 
the  war  we  had  twenty-seven  pupils  ;  but  the  school  was  broken  up  by  the  Boers. 
Many  of  the  students  joined  the  British  forces,  and  we  had  virtually  to  begin  our  work 
again.     We  have  now  fifteen." 

The  Training  College,  then,  has  the  threefold  aim  before  it  of  making  Scholars  so  far 
proficient  in  the  elements  of  ordinary  education  as  to  pass  the  standards ;  to  make 
evangelists,  and  to  qualify  "the  boys"  for  industrial  life.  A  gratifying  measure  of 
success  has  been  realised  in  each  of  these  departments  of  endeavour.  "  All  our  male 
teachers  on  the  station,  excepting  one,''  says  Mr.  Butt,  "have  been  trained  in  our  own 
schools,  and  we  have  sent  five  to  the  Zambesi."  In  regard  to  the  industrial  department 
he  further  says  : — 

"The  first  care  is  to  teach  them  self-help.  They  prepare  their  own  food,  mend  and 
wash  their  clothes,  clean  their  rooms,  and  do  all  that  is  necessary  to  enable  them  to 
live  as  good  Christians.  All  this,  as  a  source  of  education,  is  more  important  than  it 
seems.  In  their  heathen  state  the  women  have  to  do  all  the  work,  excepting  look 
after  the  cattle,  and  it  is  only  as  they  are  brought  to  understand  the  dignity  of  all 
useful  labour  that  they  are  prepared  to  treat  their  women  with  proper  respect.  They 
are  also  taught  gardening,  including  grafting,  planting  and  pruning  of  fruit-trees,  the 
cultivation  of  ail  the  various  kinds  of  vegetables  which  can  be  grown  in  the  country, 
and  in  a  small  way  they  are  taught  to  grow  corn  also. 

"The  chief  feature,  however,  of  the  Industrial  section  is  the  Carpenters' Shop.  Here 
the  first  thing  the  boys  learn  is  to  break,  or  spoil  the  tools.  But  while  there  is  a  great 
difference  in  the  degree  of  aptitude  shown  by  the  boys,  many  of  them  take  quickly  to 
the  mechanical  part  of  the  work.  The  great  difficulty  is  to  get  them  to  understand  the 
principles  of  design.  To  see  a  piece  of  work  set  out  on  a  board,  and  then  see  the 
various  parts  at  which  they  have  been  working,  when  put  together,  answer  to  the 
design,  is  a  source  of  great  wonder  to  them,  and  they  often  express  their  surprise  by 
saying,  'The  English  are  very  clever  people.'" 

If  the  reader  will  turn  to  the  illustrations  of  our  Aliwal  Xorth  Mission,  which  have 
been  taken  expressly  for  this  History,  they  will  find  further  light  cast  on  the  Training 
School  as  a  useful  and  money-saving  institution,  deferring  to  the  view  of  the  Head 
Master's  House  (p.  501),  Mr.  Butt  says:  — 

"  I  am  very  proud  of  this  house.  It  is  my  own  design,  and  the  whole  of  the  work  vox 
(/one  lii/  the  x/w/ents  uiuler  m;/  direction.  They  quarried  the  stones  and  put  in  the 
foundations  ;  made  the  bricks  and  burnt  them  ;  put  the  roof  on  ;  did  all  the  carpentry 
and  painting  ;  and  also  made  much  of  the  furniture.  For  the  house  and  furniture  the 
General  Missionary  Committee  made  us  a  grant  of  £3~>0.  The  dining-room  has  a 
panelled  ceiling,  and  also  a  dado.  The  best  bed-room  is  fitted  with  wardrobes  ;  and,  as 
you  can  see  in  the  picture,  it  has  a  beautiful  verandah  on  two  sides.  Had  it  been  huilt 
by  contract  it  would  have  cost  from  £1,000  to  £1,200.  The  difference  between  that 
amount  and  £350  is  what  was  saved  by  our  labour.  We  had  to  pay  for  nothing  but  the 
timber,  iron,  paint,  and  paper.  It  is  an  object-lesson  in  what  the  natives  can  be  got  to 
do  when  carefully  instructed  and  directed.  All  this  industrial  work  is  done  out  of 
school-hours. 


THE    PERIOD    OF    CONSOLIDATION    AND    CHURCH    DEVELOPMENT. 


501 


502  PKIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 

"The  students  also  built  the  workshop,  and  they  did  the  carpentry  of  the  Training 
School,  making  even  the  scats  and  the  desks.  They  did  the  carpentry  of  the  Half-caste 
Church  and  of  the  Location  Church  [since  successfully  opened] ;  with  the  result  that 
the  door  and  window-frames  you  see  in  the  walls  have  been  made  ;  the  windows,  doors, 
and  pews  are  ready,  and  we  are  now  preparing  for  the  roof.  We  have  also  done  all  the 
carpentry  work  for  six  new  churches  in  the  Orange  River  Colony  ;  and  we  have  just 
made  many  doors  and  windows  to  replace  those  destroyed  by  the  Boers  in  the  war. 
I  have  dwelt  at  large  on  this  part  of  our  work,  because  it  supplies  the  secret  of  much 
of  our  extension.  Six  of  our  churches  have  been  built  without  any  cost  to  the  General 
Missionary  Committee,  and  this  could  not  have  been  done  but  for  the  Training  School. 
As  far  as  their  scholastic  work  is  concerned,  we  put  them  through  the  teacher's  course 
under  Government — the  same  course  that  is  taken  by  the  Europeans.  This  of  course  is 
the  work  of  my  son.  But  I  train  them  as  evangelists,  giving  them  a  Bible-lesson 
every  evening,  and  they  visit  the  out-stations  to  preach." 

We  are  not  now  writing  a  full  history  of  our  African  Missions.  That,  we  trust,  will 
before  long  be  done  by  some  one  qualified  for  the  task  by  intimate  knowledge  and  long 
experience.  But  sufficient  has  been  written  to  fit  Aliwal  Xorth  into  its  place  in 
this  general  History,  and  sufficient  to  convince  our  readers  that  the  Connexion  has 
abundant  reason  to  be  satisfied  with  the  founders  and  developers  of  that  mission,  and 
with  the  visible  fruitage  of  their  conscientious  labour. 

South-Central  Africa. 

There  can  be  no  question  that  the  policy  which  resulted  in  the  planting  of  our 
mission  in  Central  Africa  was  largely  shaped  by  the  Rev.  John  Smith.  Mr.  Smith  is 
a  man  of  ideas,  enlarged  by  study  and  practical  experience  on  the  mission-field.  His 
study  of  the  missionary  problem  as  it  presented  itself  to  him, — not  merely  in  books, 
but  on  the  banks  of  the  ( >range  River,  made  him  dissatisfied  with  the  position  and 
prospects  of  our  Church  in  Africa.  He  saw  no  hope  of  any  great  enlargement  of  the 
sphere  of  operations  in  South  Africa.  His  reflections  crystallised  in  the  conviction  that 
"if  we  mean  to  do  any  real  lasting  work  we  must  go  out  into  the  clear  open  field  of 
untouched  heathenism. ''  He  soon  reached  another  conclusion  :  that  the  evangelisation 
of  Africa  could  best  and  most  quickly  be  accomplished  by  the  Africans  themselves, 
who  must  therefore  be  trained  and  qualified  for  the  purpose."'  What  Mr.  Smith 
believes  he  believes  firmly,  and  defends  and  presses  strongly ;  and  so  the  ideas  he 
explained  and  advocated  so  persistently  and  strenuously,  gained  acceptance,  and  are 
already  bearing  fruit. 

At  the  Conference  of  1886  the  question  of  opening  a  Mission  in  Central  Africa  was 
introduced  by  a  letter  from  Rev.  J.  Smith,  and  was  referred  to  the  Missionary 
Committee.  That  Committee  sought  further  information  regarding  climate,  oca,  from 
Mr.  Smith,  who  pressed  the  Conference  of  1887  to  attempt  the  Mission ;  and  the  whole 
question  was  relegated  to  a  large  Conferential  Committee,  which  met  in  Leicester, 
in  October  of  that  year,  and  decided  to  send  a  missionary  expedition  to  seek  a  sphere 
of  labour  North  of  the  Zambesi.     Mr.  Smith  urged  the  Conference  at  Liverpool  in  the 

Sen   Rev.   J.   Smith's   printed   Report  on   Missionary  Policy    and  Extension  considered  at 
Leicester,  October,  l*S7. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CONSOLIDATION    AND    CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT. 

UPS 


503 


504  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 

following  June  to  carry  out  the  decision  of  the  Leicester  Committee.  The  General 
Missionary  Committee  communicated  with  certain  brethren,  whose  names  were 
submitted  to  the  Quarterly  Meeting  of  the  Missionary  Committee,  held  at  Peterborough 
in  October,  188S,  and  the  issue  was  that  two  ministers — Rev.  Henry  Buckenham  and 
Arthur  Baldwin — and  F.  Ward  as  artisan  missionary  were  appointed  to  the  work,  who 
sailed  from  Dartmouth  on  April  26th,  1889. 

The  step  thus  taken  by  the  Connexion  marked  an  important  advance.  It  was  indeed 
a  new  departure.  Quite  truly  the  General  Missionary  Committee,  in  its  Report  to  the 
( 'onference  of  1890,  affirms: — "This  is  the  greatest  and  most  important  enterprise 
which  our  Church  has  ever  undertaken.  We  are  entering  upon  pioneer  missionary 
work,  and,  at  the  command  of  the  Master,  going  to  convert  people  who  know  nothing  of 
His  love  and  power.''  Hitherto,  even  in  Africa,  we  had  gone  where  we  had  been 
desired  and  invited  ;  now  we  were  going  where  our  presence  was  not  asked  for,  but 
where,  for  that  very  reason,  our  presence  was  the  more  urgently  needed.  Let  this  fact 
with  its  implications  be  duly  pondered. 

The  Zambesi  Mission  Party  reached  Mashukulumbweland  in  December  [1893]  and 
are  now  engaged  in  erecting  Mission  premises  and  in  ministering  to  the  people." 
(( J.  M.  C.  Report,  1894.)  The  words  are  soon  written  and  read  ;  but  though  the  words 
are  true  enough,  yet  to  leave  them  just  as  they  stand,  would  be  to  offend  against  the 
truth  and  to  do  a  wrong  to  the  living  and  the  dead.  In  fact,  those  years  of  wandering, 
of  weary  waiting  and  frequent  mischance,  of  heroic  endeavour  often  frustrated,  make  a 
story  which  "  when  written  will  not  only  tend  to  popularise  our  African  missions,  but 
cannot  fail  to  be  an  inspiration  to  us  all "  (Conference  Address,  1897).  But  who  can 
write  this  story  except  one — Rev.  A.  Baldwin — the  sole  ministerial  survivor  of  the 
pioneer  mission  party,  and  the  brave  and  trusty  colleague  of  Mr.  Buckenham,  until  the 
lamented  death  of  the  latter,  July  11th,  1896?  This  so  obvious  consideration 
determines  us  to  let  Mr.  Baldwin  speak  for  himself  of  those  trying  initial  days,  so  that 
the  reader  may  gain  something  like  an  adequate  impression  of  what  was  then  done  and 
suffered.  Did  we  write,  "speak  for  himself"?  That  is  what  Mr.  Baldwin  does  not 
do.  He  speaks  of  Mr.  Buckenham,  but  says  little  of  his  own  share  in  the  experiences, 
and  nothing  of  his  chivalrous  conduct  to  Mr.  Buckenham  and  his  sorely  stricken 
widow. 

Our  delays  are  well  known  to  the  friends  at  home.  I  mean  the  fact  that  we  were 
nearly  five  years  from  leaving  England  to  reaching  Mashukulumbweland  :  but  all  the 
trials,  disappointments,  persecutions,  anxieties,  and  worries  of  those  years  can  never  be 
known,  nor  yet  fully  imagined.  We  have  helplessly  watched  our  oxen  die  until  not  one 
has  remained.  We  have  been  again  and  again  ordered  to  leave  the  country  ;  have  had 
our  boys  taken  from  us,  and  all  our  food-supplies  stopped  so  that  we  should  be  starved 
out,  in  fact,  have  had  all  the  vial  of  King  Lewanika's  wrath,  brewed  by  the  machinations 
of  a  wicked  trader,  envious  of  t lie  Chartered  Company  and  the  influence  the  missionaries 
had  over  the  king,  poured  on  our  heads  ;  still,  Mr.  Buekenharn  never  lost  heart.  Others, 
whilst  sorry  for  our  position,  were  sure  that  the  king  would  never  relent,  and  that  we 
should  have  either  to  return  home  or  go  and  seek  a  field  elsewhere  :  but  his  faith  never 
■wavered,  his  hope  never  died.  He  always  seemed  to  see  the  silver  lining  to  the  cloud 
to  ] r  through  the  darkness  to  the  morning  that   would  assuredly  break  :  and  that 


THE   PERIOD   OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND   CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT.  505 

faith,  after  being  severely  tried,  God  honoured  by  giving  us  an  open  dour  and  every 
facility  for  entering  it. 

"No  man  could  have  worked  harder  or  thrown  more  heartiness  into  his  work  than  our 
brother  did.  In  training  oxen  and  driving  wagons,  in  performing  long  tedious  journeys, 
both  in  the  height  of  the  rainy  season,  and  when  the  summer's  sun  was  blazing,  in 
executing  the  many  repairs  needed  to  the  wagons,  gear,  and  other  utensils,  and  in 
building- work  on  our  new  stations,  he  was  always  engaged.  From  "  dawn  to  dewy  e\  e  " 
Mr.  Buckenham  toiled  incessantly  through  all  these  years  without  ever  taking  a  rest. 
He  never  spared  himself,  but  even  when  suffering  great  pain,  has,  in  his  desire  to  push 
'on  the  mission,  continued  at  his  post.  Many,  many  times  he  has  been  compelled  to 
put  down  his  tools  and  go  to  his  bed,  but  the  moment  he  was  a  little  better  he  would 
be  back  again. 

The  magnanimity  of  his  nature  was  shown  in  his  conduct  re  the  question  of  his 
return.  His  engagement  with  the  General  Missionary  Committee  was  simply  to  locate 
the  Mission,  and  having  successfully  done  this  he  might  have  returned  home  in  1894 ; 
but,  so  much  as  he  longed  to  return  for  his  daughters'  sakes,  he  forewent  his  privilege, 
and  in  the  spirit  of  Mackay  of  Uganda  declared  that  it  was  no  time  to  thin  the  ranks, 
but  rather  to  reinforce  them.  Again  last  year,  after  being  so  ill,  and  the  Committee 
invited  him  to  return  home,  he  gave  his  personal  interests  but  secondary  consideration. 
He  longed  to  see  a  network  of  stations  speedily  established  across  the  country,  and  so 
decided  to  stay  two  or  three  years  longer.  He  had  already  formed  a  plan  which  was  to 
first  see  me  housed  at  Nkala,  and  then  go  further  inland,  pitch  afresh  his  tent,  and 
there  break  up  the  ground  for  founding  a  third  station.     But  his  work  was  finished. 

In  November  he  was  stricken  down  again,  and  although  occasionally  he  seemed  better, 
and  we  grew  at  these  times  hopeful  of  his  recovery,  it  became  evident  that  only  a  return 
home,  and  the  best  medical  treatment,  would  suffice  to  restore  him  :  so,  reluctantly,  he 
decided  to  leave  his  much  beloved  work.  It  was  then  at  the  height  of  our  rainy  season, 
when  travelling,  in  his  condition,  was  impossible,  and  they  had  to  wait,  wait,  wait  until 
the  roads  became  passable.  Meanwhile  their  dear  little  girl,  Elsie,  the  child  of  the 
Mission,  the  sunshine  of  our  life,  the  beloved  of  everybody,  of  even  the  poor,  naked, 
savage  Mashukulumbwe — she  was  taken  by  the  angels  on  February  3rd,  1896,  adding 
a  load  of  sorrow  to  the  already  heavy  burden  of  sufferings  being  borne  by  our  brother. 
These  were  dark  days  in  the  history  of  our  Mission.  At  length  the  rains  passed,  and 
on  April  iOth,  after  much  worry  and  delay  through  the  conduct  of  the  porters,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Buckenham  turned  their  faces  homeward.  There  were  no  oxen  to  draw  a  wagon, 
and  they  had  to  be  carried  in  hammocks.  It  was  a  cruel  journey,  for  the 
carriers,  seeing  Mr.  Buckenham's  helplessness,  took  base  advantage  to  travel  only 
when  and  as  far  as  they  liked.  Some  days  they  would  not  stir,  but  spent  the  time 
in  trying  to  extort  promises  of  exorbitant  pay  on  reaching  Kazungula.  Consequently 
the  journey  was  greatly  prolonged,  and  his  sufferings  intensified.  On  reaching 
Kazungula,  he  had  to  take  to  his  bed,  and  for  seven  weeks  bravely  bore  acute  affliction  ; 
then,  on  the  morning  of  July  11th,  at  8.30,  without  a  struggle,  he  quietly  fell  asleep, 
and  was  borne  to  his  eternal  home  and  rest.  A  mound,  under  a  great  mosinzela  tree, 
enclosed  with  a  stout  fence  of  mopani  poles  to  preserve  it  from  the  wild  beasts,  marks 
his  resting-place.  A  rustic  cross  has  been  erected  at  the  head,  with  a  board  affixed,  on 
which  is  painted  "Bev.  H.  Buckenham,  Born  May  7th,  1844.     Died  July  11th,  1896." 

Our  mission  in  North  Western  Bhodesia,  as  this  region  of  South  Central  Africa  is 
termed   is  still  in  its  formative  stage.     The  country  is  being  prospected,  and  central 


;r>06  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 

mission-stations  with  their  outposts  planted  at  the  most  promising  points.  There  have 
been  losses  and  disappointments.  We  have  regretfully  to  record  the  death  of 
Mr.  Walter  Hogg,  artisan  missionary  at  Sagolas,  and  Mrs.  Pickering  and  Baldwin  have 
been  removed  by  death,  but  still  the  work  goes  on,  and  the  future  is  full  of  promise. 

The  Report  presented  to  the  Conference  of  1905  states  : — 

"At  Xkala,  the  congregations  are  good,  and  83  children  have  their  names  on  the 
school  register.  At  Nanzela,  at  the  best  season  of  the  year,  the  congregations  sometimes 
number  200,  while  there  are  73  children  in  the  school.  Rev.  E.  YV.  Smith  has  given  much 
attention  to  the  arrangement  of  the  language,  the  compilation  of  a  grammar,  and  of 
a  book  of  Scripture  stories  and  other  linguistic  work,  all  of  which  must  be  of  great 
value  in  the  years  to  come.  At  Sajobas,  the  work  is  exceedingly  full  of  promise. 
A  good  native  teacher  has  been  secured  during  the  year,  and  most  gratifying  reports 
reach  us  of  the  labour  amongst  young  people.  Opportunities  for  extension  appeal  to  us 
on  every  side.  As  to  Livingstone,  our  establishment  is  too  recent  to  afford  much  data 
for  report.     Undoubtedly  in  that  region  great  possibilities  are  opening  to  us." 

Southern  Nigeria. 

For  some  years  the  tieneral  Missionary  Committee  desired  to  establish  a  Mission  on 
the  river  Opobo  in  the  Oil  River  Protectorate.  Acting  on  instructions,  Rev.  W.  Holland 
crossed  over  from  Fernando  Po  and  spent  three  weeks  prospecting  in  this  district,  and 
reported  favourably  upon  it.  But,  doubtless  for  sufficient  reasons,  the  Committee 
turned  its  attention  to  another  district  on  the  mainland  of  the  West  Coast  of  Africa ; 
and  in  1894  "James  M.  Brown,  Acqua  River,''  appears  on  the  stations.  The  mission 
then  begun,  and  subsequently  carried  on  by  Messrs.  T.  Stones,  W.  J.  Ward,  C.  F.  Gill, 
N.  Boocock,  R.  Banham,  G.  H.  Hanney,  W.  Glover,  and  W.  Christie,  is  now  known 
as  our  mission  in  Southern  Nigeria  and  is  one  of  our  most  promising  fields  of  labour. 
It  is  in  British  territory ;  conveniently  situated  with  regard  to  Fernando  Po,  and 
contains  a  large  population  eager  to  have  missionaries  labouring  amongst  them.  We 
have  now  three  centres  in  this  district — Oron,  Jamestown,  and  Urea  Eye,  and  almost 
any  number  of  possible  sub-stations.  A  new  Training  Institute  has  been  opened  at 
Oron  particularly  for  the  equipment  of  native  teachers,  and  the  societies  of  Christian 
Endeavour  throughout  the  Connexion  have  nobly  responded  to  the  appeal  made  and 
have  raised  £1000  to  defray  the  cost  of  the  Institute. 

Lastly,  we  must  note  that  Rev.  J.  Pickett  (General  Missionary  Secretary),  and 
Alderman  F.  C.  Linfield,  as  a  Conferentially  appointed  deputation,  have  just  set  sail 
(December,  1905)  to  visit  the  West  African  mission  stations.  They  will  closely  scan 
our  work — old  and  new — and  form  their  judgment  on  the  evidence.  Important 
developments  and,  possibly,  some  modification  of  policy  and  changes  in  method,  may 
be  looked  for.  Africa  looms  large  before  the  Connexion,  but  there  is  a  growing  con- 
viction that,  while  our  mission  on  this  vast  continent  must  be  vigorously  pursued,  it  is 
high  time  we  turned  our  attention  to  India  or  China. 


THE   PEEIOD    OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND    CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT.  507 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

DEVELOPMENTS   IN   SOCIAL   SERVICE. 

Pioneer  Efforts. 

|HAT  is  the  estimate  we  would  place  on  the  social  agencies  of  the  Church 
will  be  clear  from  what  has  been  said:  they  are  the  legitimate  fruit  of 
the  Church's  activity.  Holding  such  views,  we  have  always  regarded 
January  18th,  1895,  as  an  important  date  in  the  history  of  our  Church, 
for,  on  that  date,  Social  Work  received  formal  and  official  recognition.  The  long- 
standing, the  magnitude  and  success  of  Rev.  Thomas  Jackson's  efforts  in  this  direction, 
had  led  to  the  appointment  of  a  strong  sub-committee  to  consider  the  whole  question 
of  the  relation  of  Social  Work  to  the  missionary  labour  of  the  Church.  The  findings 
and  recommendations  of  this  sub-committee  were  adopted  by  the  Quarterly  Missionary 
Committee  held  at  Nottingham.  The  first  and  most  important  recommendation  that 
received  the  confirmation  of  the  Committee  was  that :  "  We  recognise  Social  Work  as 
a  part  of  Christian  endeavour  and  service.''  Then  were  specified  certain  conditions 
needing  to  be  fulfilled  in  order  that  Social  Work  should  secure  official  recognition  and 
assistance,  and  it  was  affirmed  "  that  in  our  opinion  the  Social  Work  done  by  the 
Rev.  Thomas  Jackson  of  the  Clapham  Mission  fulfils  the  conditions  laid  down  in 
the  foregoing  resolutions  and  deserves  distinct  recognition  " ;  and,  in  a  final  resolution, 
the  Committee  declared  "  that  in  our  judgment  the  work  carried  on  by  Mr.  Jackson  is 
worthy  of  the  support  of  our  people,  and  we  authorise  the  adoption  of  such  means 
for  its  support  as  Mr.  Jackson  and  the  General  Missionary  Committee  may  deem 
desirable.'' 

How  Mr.  Jackson  was  led  to  devote  himself  so  largely  to  this  form  of  Christian 
service  is  a  story  which  links  on  to  and  continues  that  of  London  extension,  and  takes 
us  back  to  the  year  1876,  when  Mr.  Jackson  was  just  beginning  his  ministry.  As 
a  successful  town-missionary  he  had  been  recommended  by  the  Sheffield  Third  Circuit 
as  a  suitable  candidate  for  the  ministry  and,  after  passing  a  creditable  examination,  his 
name  had  been  placed  on  the  reserve  list.  The  call  came  in  September,  1876,  when 
Mr.  Jackson  was  selected  by  the  General  Missionary  Committee  to  open  a  new 
mission  at  Walthamstow.  Eiom  this  point  the  story  may  be  told  in  Mr.  Jackson's 
own  words : — 

"My  instructions  were  to  open  »  new  mission  at  Walthamstow  and  superintend, 
pro  tern.,  the  Bethnal  Green  Mission,  which  at  that  time  was  without  a  minister.  The 
enterprise  of  Rev.  R.  S.  Blair  had  secured  at  »  nominal  rent  for  three  years  a  disused 
Independent  Chapel  (with  sitting  accommodation  for  600  persons)  in  Marsh  Street 
(now  Hi°-h  Street),  Walthamstow,  and  services  had  been  held  in  it  for  nine  months  by 
the  Poplar  Circuit  and  good  work  done  in  the  open  air.     But  the  conditions  were 


508  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH 

unfavourable  to  progress,  and  Mr.  Blair,  with  the  circuit's  approval  offered  the  chapel 
to  the  General  Missionary  Committee.  The  two  small  mission-rooms  that  comprised 
the  Bethnal  Green  station — West  Street  and  Squirries  Street — were  in  squalid  neigh- 
bourhoods. One  was  a  rented  room,  and  in  an  unfit  condition  for  services ;  the 
other  was  Connexional  property  and  seated  sixty  persons.  It  had  cost  £250,  and 
had  that  amount  of  debt  upon  it.  The  former  was  given  up  at  once,  and  the  other 
subsequently  sold  to  the  London  City  Mission. 

"I  entered  upon  my  new  duties  on  October  12th.  The  first  Sunday  I  preached  in 
London  I  preached  at  West  Street  in  the  morning,  and  had  three  persons  as  congre- 
gation. In  the  evening  I  preached  at  Squirries  Street  when,  during  the  earlier  portion 
of  the  service,  I  had  only  the  chapel-keeper  as  my  congregation.  In  the  afternoon 
I  visited  the  notorious  Mile  End  Waste,  and  was  shocked  by  the  profanity  and 
Sabbath  desecration  that  I  witnessed.  I  took  my  stand  amidst  the  hubbub  and  alone 
commenced  to  sing  a  hymn,  and  then  exhorted  the  unsaved  to  turn  from  their  sins 
and  serve  God.  The  experience  of  that  first  Sunday  greatly  distressed  me  ;  but  it  so 
profoundly  stirred  my  soul  that  I  resolved  with  the  help  of  God,  I  would  devote 
myself  unreservedly  to  the  work  of  serving  and  saving  the  poor  in  the  East  End. 
A  mission  in  notorious,  defiled  and  squalid  Whitechapel  from  that  day  was  the  goal 
of  my  missionary  ambition  ;  but  for  twenty  years  the  way  did  not  open.  It  did  come 
at  last  with  the  acquisition  of  the  Working  Lads'  Institute. 

"The  second  Sunday  in  London  was  spent  at  Walthamstow,  where  my  congregation 
numbered  three  persons  in  the  morning  and  five  in  the  evening.  For  a  time  my  wife 
and  I  had  to  act  as  chapel-keepers.  I  resolved  to  devote  my  attention  to  the  poorest 
districts,  and  systematically  visited  from  room  to  room  and  house  to  house.  The  sights 
of  suffering  and  privation  I  met  with  powerfully  affected  me.  My  rule  was  to  pray 
with  every  person  or  family  I  visited  whenever  possible.  But  to  pray  with  starving 
persons  and  not  do  something  to  relieve  their  suffering  I  felt  to  be  impossible.  As  we 
had  no  funds,  and  my  salary  was  only  one  pound  per  week,  my  wife  and  I  resolved 
to  consecrate  to  our  mission-work  the  few  hundred  pounds  we  had  saved  and  the 
proceeds  of  the  sale  of  our  Sheffield  house  and  furniture.  On  Lord  Mayor's  Day, 
November  9th,  1876,  we  held  our  first  gathering  of  destitute  men  and  women  from  the 
slums.  A  meat-tea  was  provided,  followed  by  an  evangelistic  service.  During  the 
subsequent  winter  months  when  distress  was  acute,  fifty  families  were  provided  with  a 
breakfast  each  Sunday  morning  in  our  schoolroom,  the  proceedings  being  closed  with 
a  short  gospel  address  and  prayer.  The  late  Marquis  Townshend,  hearing  of  my  efforts 
for  the  destitute  poor  of  Bethnal  Green  and  Walthamstow,  sent  me  several  liberal 
donations.  The  idea  of  appealing  to  the  public  for  funds  to  carry  on  this  benevolent 
ministry  did  not  <ecur  to  me  until  all  our  private  means  had  been  expended  and  we 
had  experienced  considerable  domestic  impoverishment.  The  effect  of  this  personal 
contact  with  the  poor  in  their  homes  and  of  the  manifestation  of  interest  in  their 
struggles,  was  to  induce  many  to  attend  the  services,  and  scores  were  converted. 
Being  pitchforked  into  the  superintendency,  the  arduous  duties  of  a  new  station,  the 
demands  of  probationary  studies,  the  erection  of  two  new  school  chapels  during 
probation,  and  details  associated  with  the  social  ministries  to  the  needy,  rendered  the 
demands  upon  health  and  strength  at  times  very  exacting. 

The  Claptox-Paek  Mission. 

"  Early  in  the  year  1884  the  late  Mr.  J.  S.  Parkman,  one  of  the  most  generous  of  our 
London  laymen,  offered  to  contribute  £V)U  per  annum  for  the  purpose  of  opening  a 


THE   PERIOD   OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND   CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT. 


509 


new  mission  in  a  crowded  and  poor  district  of  London.  The  General  Missionary 
Committee  accepted  the  offer,  appointed  a  sub-committee  to  select  the  locality  for  the 
new  enterprise,  and  appointed  me  to  take  charge  of  the  new  mission.  A  disused  and 
dilapidated  building,  previously  used  as  it  theatre,  was  taken  on  rent  for  twelve 
months.  The  building  situate  in  Clapton  Park  was  known  as  '  The  Dust  Hole,'  and 
had  had  a  most  disreputable  record.  The  late  Kev.  J.  Atkinson,  then  General 
Missionary  Secretary,  and  the  late  C.  C.  McKeehnie,  then  Editor,  invited  me  to  spend 
an  evening  with  them  at  the  house  of  the  latter  to  talk  over  the  project,  and  both 
assured  me  that  the  plans  I  had  sketched  for  future  work  along  evangelistic  and  social 
lines,  not  only  commended  themselves  to  their  judgment  and  sympathy,  but  excited 

their  admiration.  The  General 
Missionary  Committee  voted 
£40  to  furnish  an  eight-roomed 
house  for  me,  and  on  July 
::  27th,    1884,    the    first    services 

were  held.  The  theatre  had 
seatage  for  one  thousand  persons, 
and  about  twenty  attended  the 
first  service.  The  Connexion 
had  previously  no  congregation 
or  property  in  that  neighbour 
hood,  and  my  wife  and  I  were 
the  only  members.  I  directed 
my  chief  attention  to  the  poorest 
and  non- Church-going  section 
of  the  population,  and  so  came 
in  contact  with  many  needy  and 
destitute  families  and  persons. 
During  the  first  winter  I  was 
at  Clapton,  I  had  occasion  to 
call  at  a  School-board  School 
in  the  poorest  district,  and  was 
informed  by  the  head  teacher 
that  a  considerable  number  of 
the  children  attending  his  school 
were  totally  unfitted  for  their 
school  duties  through  lack  of 
food,  and  he  deplored  having 
to  teach  children  who  had  not 
broken  their  fast.  I  engaged 
there  and  then  to  supply  «.  breakfast  the  next  morning  to  300  of  these  starving 
children  ;  and  so  the  next  morning  saw  our  first  children's  free  breakfast  at  <  'lapton. 
The  same  winter,  in  order  to  relieve  the  great  distress  among  the  families  of  men  out 
of  work,  we  started  a  soup-kitchen,  and  supplied  10,000  soup-dinners  to  the  poor 
of  the  district.  A  Labour  Bureau  was  opened,  and  the  names  of  the  unemployed 
registered  with  a  view  to  assist  them  to  procure  employment. 

"After  twelve  months'  work  at  the  Theatre,  a  Church  of  ninety  members,  and 
a  Sunday  School  of  150  scholars,  and  twelve  teachers  were  reported.  In  the  autumn 
of  1885  a  site   was  purchased   on  Blurton  Road,  and   the   Clapton   Park   Tabernacle 


miMITIVE    METHODIST    HOME   OP    HKS 


SOUTH  END. 


510  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 

erected  and  opened  with  a  debt  of  £2,260  upon  it.  The  total  cost  was  £3,200; 
and  the  property  is  now  debtless.  The  neighbourhood  of  Southwold  Eoad  was 
missioned,  a  site  secured,  and  a  temporary  mission-room  erected  at  a  cost  of  £700 , 
this,  too,  is  now  debtless. 

"  The  wish  to  help  the  respectable  poor  who  had  been  ordered  rest  and  change 
of  air  at  the  sea-side  with  a  view  to  their  regaining  health  and  resuming  employ- 
ment, led  me  to  open  a  temporary  Home  of  Rest  at  Southend-on-Sea  in  1894.  There 
being  no  Primitive  Methodist  cause  there  I  also  opened  a  mission.  In  due  course  the 
present  church  and  school-rooms  costing  £2,900  were  erected,  Shoeburyness  and 
Southchurch  were  missioned  and  societies  formed,  and.  a  splendid  freehold  site  was 
purchased  by  a  personal  friend,  and  conveyed  to  the  Connexion.  There  have  since 
been  school-chapels  erected  at  Shoeburyness,  Southchurch,  and  Leigh,  and  at  the 
Conference  of  1904  Southend  was  made  into  an  independent  circuit.  The  present 
Home  of  Rest  is  connexional  and  freehold,  and  was  opened  in  1902.  It  cost  £3,800, 
and  is  now  debtless. 

"  The  sight  of  poor  persons  suffering  through  not  being  able  to  pay  for  a  doctor,  yet 
shrinking  from  the  idea  of  having  the  parish  doctor,  led  me  to  commence  a  Medical 
Mission  to  assist  such  cases — twopence  to  be  paid  for  medicine  and  advice  whenever 
possible.  Finally,  in  each  instance  when  the  urgent  need  for  some  additional  agency 
was  made  clear  to  me,  I  took  the  responsibility  for  commencing  such  agency  and  for 
raising  the  necessary  funds.  I  have  never  asked  sanction  from  either  the  General 
Missionary  Committee  or  any  local  committee  for  the  social  ministries  I  have  engaged 
in  ;  and  as  I  have  not  involved  others  in  any  financial  obligation,  I  have  not  been 
interfered  with  or  censured." 

The    Working    Lads'    Institute. 

A  statement  casually  read  in  the  columns  of  the  Christian  for  October  16th,  1896, 
had  important  consequences.  The  statement  was  to  the  effect  that  the  Working  Lads' 
Institute  situate  in  the  Whitecbapel  Road  had  been  entirely  closed  for  want  of  funds, 
and  would  shortly  be  sold,  and  probably  used  as  a  Music  Hall  or  Theatre,  if  some 
person  or  Institution  did  not  come  forward  to  the  rescue.     As  Mr.  Jackson  read  the 

statement  and  pondered  all  it  meant,  the  resolve  was  formed  to  step  into  the  breach 

to  prevent  such  a  gross  prostitution  of  a  noble  building  with  all  the  loss  and  discredit 
it  would  involve.  Accordingly,  he  made  an  earnest  appeal  to  the  General  Missionary 
Committee  that  it  should  purchase  the  property  and  let  it  become  part  of  his  mission. 
A  sub-committee  was  appointed  to  inspect  the  property  and  report.  A  special  meeting  of 
the  General  Missionary  Quarterly  Committee  was  held  at  Nottingham,  November  18th, 
1896,  to  consider  the  proposal  to  purchase  the  Institute,  and  to  hear  Mr.  Jackson's 
prospective  plans  for  work  in  Whitechapel  should  the  property  be  acquired.  After 
prolonged  and  full  discussion  the  vote  was  taken,  when  it  was  found  that  thirteen 
members  had  voted  for,  and  ten  against  the  proposal,  others  remaining  neutral.  The 
project  was  the  boldest  and  weightiest  that  hitherto  had  engaged  the  attention  of  the 
General  Missionary  Committee.  What  wonder  that  to  some  members  the  step  proposed 
should  appear  a  reckless  one,  likely  to  result  in  disaster,  or  at  the  least  to  gift  the 
General  Missionary  Committee  with  a  white  elephant  of  enormous  size.  Others, 
however,  while  they  felt  the  seriousness  of  the  undertaking,  yet  had  such  confidence  in 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND   CHURCH    DEVELOPMENT.  511 


.[THE  RC.A[TN6-RQitl}- 


WOKKING   LADS     INSTITUTE. 


512  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST   CHURCH. 

Mr.  Jackson's  judgment,  and  his  capability  to  meet  the  demands  of  the  situation,  as  to 
induce  them  to  vote  in  favour  of  purchase.  A  deposit  was  paid,  and  on  December  7th 
Mr  Jackson  took  possession.  The  price  paid  for  the  freehold  premises  was  £8,000 ; 
a  further  sum  of  £1,200  was  spent  on  repairs,  renovation,  furnishing,  etc.,  and  on 
April  22ncl,  1897,  the  Institute  was  formally  re-opened  during  the  sittings  of  the 
General  Missionary  Committee  at  the  Institute.  With  a  debt  of  £9,200  and  no  society 
or  congregation,  operations  began.  The  General  Missionary  Committee  paid  the  interest 
on  the  debt,  but  all  other  working  expenses  had  to  be  raised.  As  head  of  the 
re-constituted  Working  Lads'  Institute,  Mr.  Jackson  re-furnished  and  re-opened  the 
Home  for  orphan  and  friendless  lads,  re-commenced  the  meetings  and  clubs  for  such,  set 
on  foot  the  usual  order  of  services  held  by  Primitive  Methodists,  also  a  Sunday 
School,  Band  of  Hope,  and  Christian  Endeavour  Society,  inaugurated  a  service  for  poor 
women  on  Monday  afternoons,  which  has  grown  to  be  one  of  the  largest  of  its  kind  in 
East  London,  besides  other  social  agencies. 

After  the  work  had  been  in  progress  some  three  years  and  had  attained  considerable 
success,  the  rear  portion  of  the  premises  was  required  for  a  new  Railway,  and  the  sum 
of  £20,500  in  cash  had  to  be  paid  by  the  said  Railway  Company  ;  valuable  fittings 
also  in  addition  had  to  be  allowed,  and  all  damage  made  good  to  that  portion  of  the 
building  affected  by  the  demolition.  The  debt  of  £9,200  was  paid  off,  and  all  money 
advanced  by  the  General  Missionary  Committee  returned,  so  that  instead  of  the  possible 
burden  and  disaster  which  some  had  foreshadowed  there  was  presented  a  record-achieve- 
ment in  the  history  of  Primitive  Methodism.  We  have  now  freehold  premises  second 
to  none  the  Connexion  possesses  in  London  which,  with  the  Home  of  Rest  at  Southend, 
represents  in  value  upwards  of  £30,000,  and  debtless. 

The  Mission  has  now — 1905 — 165  members,  250  Sunday  School  scholars,  and 
18  teachers.  The  Women's  Meeting  has  400  members  ;  the  Home  has  admitted, 
sheltered,  fed,  clothed  and  found  employment  for  upwards  of  500  orphan  and  destitute 
lads;  the  Medical  Mission  has  assisted  60,000  needy  cases;  50,000  free  breakfasts  have 
been  supplied  to  necessitous  children ;  10,000  homeless  men  have  attended  a  weekly 
service  and  been  provided  with  a  supper ;  5000  needy  persons  have  been  assisted  to 
a  holiday  in  the  country;  60,000  articles  of  clothing  have  been  distributed  to  the 
poor,  and  in  various  other  ways  the  spiritual  ministrations  of  the  Mission  have  been 
accompanied  with  such  temporal  assistance  to  the  indigent  and  suffering  as  to  render 
the  influence  for  good  of  the  Whitechapel  Mission  an  extensive  and  uplifting  force 
in  the  East  End. 

Successive  Lord  Mayors  and  Sheriffs  of  the  City  of  London  have  testified  to  their 
appreciation  of  the  work  of  the  Institute  by  their  presence  at  its  annual  meetings. 
Apart  from  the  cash  received  from  the  Railway  Company,  Mr.  Jackson  has  raised  for 
all  purposes  since  the  Whitechapel  Mission  was  opened  upwards  of  £10,000. 

Such  is  a  plain,  unvarnished  story  of  the  developments  from  small  beginnings  of 
a  work  whose  magnitude  and  meaning  will,  we  are  persuaded,  be  more  fully  understood 
and  appreciated  years  hence  than  it  is  to-day.  That  work  is  the  outcome  of  the 
devotion,  persistency,  and  organizing  power  of  Mr.  Jackson  supported  by  his  noble 
wife,  whose  name  must  ever  be  linked  with  his. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CONSOLIDATION    AND   CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT. 


513 


South-East  London  Mission. 
It  was  early  in  the  year  1872  when  the  South-east  London  Mission,  or,  as  it  was 
originally  designated,  Southwark  Mission,  had  its  birth.  Like  many  another  enterprise 
which  is  transforming  human  lives  and  homes  and  localities,  it  was  humble  and 
unpretentious  in  its  origin.  A  small  band  of  sincere  and  enthusiastic  Christian  men 
held  open-air  services  in  the  Old  Kent  Street  in  the  morning,  and  in  "The  Mint"  in 
the  evening,  and  sang  and  prayed  and  preached  until  they  gathered  around  them  a  few 
saved  souls  who  formed  the  nucleus  of  a  church.  For  a  time  the  newly-formed  society 
rented  a  room  in  Cole  Street,  Borough,  and  eventually  removed  to  a  building  in 
Trinity  Street,  which  had  previously  been  occupied  by  the  Catholic  Apostolic  Church, 
and  the  lease  of  which  for  the  remaining  thirty  years  was  acquired  on  behalf  of  the 
Connexion. 

For  nearly  twenty  years  the  Southwark  Mission  struggled  bravely  and,  in  spite  of  its 
crushing  debt  and  the  surroundings  of  poverty  and  squalor,  did  heroic  and  self- 
sacrificing  work  for  the  social  and  spiritual  redemption  of 
the  neighbourhood.  Among  the  ministers  of  marked  ability 
who  superintended  and  co-operated  in  the  development  of  this 
mission  may  be  mentioned  such  honoured  men  as  Dr.  Samuel 
Antliff,  William  Wardle,  James  Pickett,  Joseph  Aston,  George 
Bell,  and  George  Doe.  These  brethren  with  great  devotion 
sought  to  develop  the  work  of  this  mission,  and  not  without 
some  success. 

But  the  surrounding  neighbourhood  was  so  poor  and 
degenerating  every  year,  and  Trinity  Street  Chapel  was 
so  gloomy  and  depressing  in  appearance,  that  the  mission 
never  achieved  the  success  that  was  expected  and  desired 
by  the  authorities  of   the  Connexion. 

At  the  Conference  of  1891  an  unusual  event  occurred. 
The  attention  of  the  Missionary  Secretary,  Eev.  James 
Travis,  had  been  called  to  Mr.  James  Flanagan,  who  was 
engaged  as  Mission  Preacher  at  the  Albert  Hall,  Notting- 
ham, and  who  was  considered  a  most  fitting  man  to  secure 
for  the  Primitive  Methodist  ministry,  and  having  in  mind  the  desirability  of  a  forward 
movement  for  South-east  London,  with  Trinity  Street  Chapel  as  the  centre,  he  inter- 
viewed Mr.  Flanagan,  and,  impressed  with  his  pre-eminent  fitness,  urged  him  to  make 
formal  application  to  enter  the  ministry.  His  case  was  considered  at  the  suggestion 
of  Mr.  Travis,  on  the  motion  of  Dr.  Antliff,  who  characteristically  said— "  The 
course  I  propose  is  without  precedent.  We  have  all  had  to  apply  for  admission ;  but 
if  God  o-oes  out  of  His  way  to  make  an  extraordinary  man,  ought  not  the  Connexion 
to  go  out  of  its  way  to  find  a  place  for  him  1 "  The  Conference  enthusiastically  and 
unanimously  received  him  and  gave  him  the  full  status  of  an  approved  minister,  and 
appointed  him  to  lead  the  forward  movement  in  connection  with  the  Southwark  Mission. 
Immediately  after  his  arrival  in  London  and  his  taking  up  the  work  at  Trinity  Street 
Chapel  Mr.  Flanagan  explored  the  locality  in  which  God  had  called  him  to  labour,  and 

K  K 


EEV.    JAMES   FLANAGAN. 


514  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 

he  was  amazed  at  the  poverty  and  degradation  that  met  him  on  every  hand ;  while  the 
sense  of  his  own  helplessness,  with  meagre  resources  at  command  and  an  uninviting 
building,  nearly  overwhelmed  him. 

For  several  years  he  laboured  by  night  and  by  day  in  conjunction  with  his  small 
band  of  workers,  and  was  often  ready  to  abandon  the  work  in  despair  because  he  felt 
so  powerless  to  grapple  with  the  problems  that  faced  him  on  every  side.  One  urgent 
need  was,  what  Mr.  Flanagan  suggestively  designated — "  a  better  workshop,''  and  one 
of  two  courses  only  seemed  possible.  One  was  structurally  to  alter  and  adapt  Trinity 
Street  Chapel  to  its  new  requirements,  and  the  other  was  to  seek  a  new  site  and  build 
a  large  Mission  Hall  with  a  suite  of  rooms  elsewhere.  After  lengthy  and  repeated 
consideration  and  efforts,  the  former  was  found  to  be  not  only  impracticable  but 
impossible. 

In  1897  an  admirable  site  in  Old  Kent  Road — on  which  stood  a  disreputable  drink- 
shop  known  as  "The  Old  Kent  Tap ''—  offered  itself.  With  a  frontage  of  63  feet 
and  a  depth  of  175  feet,  it  appeared  to  all  concerned  a  suitable  spot  on  which  to  erect 
the  new  quarters  of  the  South-east  London  Mission. 

Negotiations  were  therefore  entered  into  with  the  Corporation  of  London,  and  it  was 
ultimately  agreed  to  acquire  it  on  an  eighty  years'  lease  at  an  annual  rental  of  £122  10s., 
with  the  option  of  purchase  for  the  sum  of  £3,500  at  any  time  within  seven  years. 
Plans  of  St.  George's  Hall  were  then  prepared  by  Messrs.  Banister,  Fletcher  and  Sons, 
and  after  various  alterations  and  additions  were  approved,  the  whole  structure  involving 
an  outlay  of  upwards  of  £12,000,  toward  which  the  Missionary  Committee  contributed 
£3,000  providing  the  whole  was  raised. 

During  the  next  three  years  Mr.  Flanagan  was  engaged  mainly  itinerating  the 
country  in  search  of  funds,  and  with  marvellous  success — unparalleled  in  the  annals  of 
Primitive  Methodism — raised  upwards  of  £8,000,  so  that  when  the  late  Rev.  Hugh  Price 
Hughes  preached  the  Dedicatory  Sermon  of  the  new  premises  on  January  4th,  1900, 
only  £1000  remained  to  be  obtained  to  defray  the  cost  of  the  structure,  and  this  was 
forthcoming  within  a  month,  leaving  only  the  organ  and  furniture  to  be  paid  for,  to 
provide  which  a  loan  of  £'1000  was  secured,  which  sum  is  being  liquidated  by  annual 
repayments. 

During  the  nine  years  which  had  preceded  the  opening  of  St.  George's  Hall — years  of 
keen  struggle  and  exacting  toil — Mr.  Flanagan  had  not  overlooked  the  social  require- 
ments of  the  neighbourhood,  and  had  established  a  variety  of  institutions  which  met 
a  real  need,  many  of  which  have  been  continued  with  increasing  success  up  to  the 
present.  One  of  the  first  of  these  to  be  mentioned  is  the  "Waifs'  Festival,  to  which 
were  gathered  the  poorest  children — many  of  them  ragged,  barefooted,  and  pinchfaced. 
At  first,  only  a  few  hundreds  could  possibly  be  invited  to  share  this  festivity,  but  year 
by  year  the  number  increased,  until  now,  as  many  thousands  of  poor  children  as 
hundreds  in  the  early  days  of  Mr.  Flanagan's  ministry  participate  in  this  annual 
festival. 

The  ministry  of  old  clothes  was  instituted  by  Mr.  Flanagan  at  an  early  period  of  his 
London  experience  of  missionary  life,  and  this,  too,  as  a  social  agency  has  been  greatly 
owned  of  God  in  influencing  the  poor  of  London's  slums  to  believe  that  some  one  cared 


THE   PERIOD   OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND   CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT.  515 

for  them.  The  Brass  Band,  the  members  of  which  are  all  converted,  total  abstainers, 
and  in  active  fellowship  with  the  Mission ;  the  Gymnasium,  Girls'  Institute,  Young 
Women's  Parlour,  Lodging-house  Services,  and  other  institutions  of  a  more  or  less 
kindred  nature,  were  each  a  potent  force  in  developing  the  strength  and  expansion 
of  this  Mission  ;  but  after  the  headquarters  were  transferred  from  Trinity  Street  Chapel 
to  St.  George's  Hall,  these  institutions  not  only  developed,  but  others  were  added,  some 
of  which  have  become  very  far-reaching  in  their  work  and  influence. 

The  Women's  Settlement — another  outcome  of  Mr.  Flanagan's  brain  and  heart — 
was  established  by  him  soon  after  the  erection  of  St.  George's  Hall,  and  though  the  idea 
was  unfavourably  received  in  some  quarters  of  the  Connexion,  it  nevertheless  caught 
on,  and  early  in  1901  became  an  established  fact,  and  each  year  the  roots  of  this 
institution  have  struck  deeper.  Without  a  penny  grant  from  any  Connexional  fund, 
the  Women's  Settlement  has  not  only  met  a  conscious  need  in  providing  training 
for  good  and  intelligent  young  women  who  desire  to  devote  their  lives  to  the  work  of 

Sisters  of  the  People  in  one  of  the  best  spheres  that 
could  be  found  for  such  training,  but  it  has  inspired 
and  maintained  the  confidence  of  sympathetic  friends 
all  over  the  land,  and  its  revenue  increases  year  by 
year.  After  nine  months'  training,  including  instruction 
in  anatomy,  medicine,  and  nursing,  the  Sisters,  unless 
permanently  retained  for  the  work  of  the  Mission,  take 
appointments  in  churches  or  circuits  as  Sisters  of  the 
People,  and  in  this  way  are  supplying  a  felt  need  through- 
out the  Connexion. 

In  1902  a  serious  question  arose  concerning  the  purchase 

of  the  freehold  upon  which  St.  George's  Hall  stands.     It 

had   to   be   bought   before   March    25th,    1905,    or    the 

opportunity  would  be  for  ever  lost.     The   work  of  the 

Mission  having  grown  it  was  obvious  that  Mr.  Flanagan 

eev.  j.  johnson.  could   not   itinerate    the    country  and   collect   money  as 

before,   and  at  the  same  time  efficiently  supervise  and  properly  administer  the  affairs 

of  the  Mission. 

In  order  to  relieve  Mr.  Flanagan  of  responsibility  as  superintendent,  and  to  liberate 
him  for  another  tour  in  search  of  funds,  the  Conference  of  1902  was  asked  to  appoint 
a  new  Superintendent  to  the  Mission,  and  to  give  Mr.  Flanagan  the  commission  he 
desired. 

After  lengthily  deliberating  on  the  situation  the  Conference  by  a  decisive  vote 
requested  the  Rev.  Joseph  Johnson,  who  for  fourteen  years  had  been  the  superintendent 
of  Stoke  Newington  Circuit,  and  who  by  his  special  gifts  under  God's  blessing  had  more 
than  quadrupled  the  membership  of  Stoke  Newington  Society,  and  for  one  purpose  and 
another  had  raised  upwards  of  £18,000,  to  undertake  the  superintendency  of  this 
Mission.  Though  reluctant  at  first  to  remove  from  Stoke  Newington,  where  he  had  so 
many  happy  and  tender  associations,  and  where  he  had  endeared  himself  to  thousands 
outside  his   church  by  his  services  to  the  people  as  a  Guardian  of  the  Hackney  Union, 

k  k  2 


516  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 

also  where  he  had  engaged  to  remain  for  a  further  term,  he  eventually  acquiesced  in  the 
will  of  the  Conference,  whereupon  he  was  appointed  to  be  superintendent  of  the 
Mission.  Subsequent  events  have  shown  the  wisdom  of  the  Conference  in  making  this 
appointment,  for  during  the  three  years  and  upwards  which  have  since  elapsed,  the 
Mission  has  grown  immensely,  and  now  has  a  position  among  the  social  and  regenerating 
agencies  of  London  it  never  enjoyed  before. 

One  of  the  first  movements  of  Mr.  Johnson  was  to  get  the  name  of  the  Mission 
altered  from  "  South wark "  to  that  of  the  South-east  London  Mission.  Additional 
institutions  were  established  for  dealing  with  some  of  the  social  problems  of  the 
neighbourhood  in  a  more  definite  manner,  and  these,  together  with  the  Home  for 
Cripples  and  Poor  Children  established  at  Walton-on-the-Naze  in  the  spring  of  1905, 
all  of  which  are  supported  by  voluntary  subscriptions,  have  created  a  network  of 
Primitive  Methodist  Agencies  on  an  extensive  scale,  for  reaching  the  poor  and  afflicted. 
Last  Street  Chapel,  Walworth,  the  deed  of  which  is  the  model  chapel  deed  of  the 
Connexion,  was  affiliated  with  this  Mission,  and  under  the  labours  of  the  Mission 
staff,  and  especially  those  of  Mr.  John  Moseley,  has  entered  on  a  new  lease  of  life, 
anil  is  now  a  flourishing  Mission  centre. 

In  June,  190-3,  Re\7.  James  Flanagan  completed  his  task  of  raising  £3,500  for 
the  purchase  of  the  freehold  of  St.  George's  Hall,  and  this  was  paid  to  the  City 
Corporation,  and  the  land  on  which  these  famous  premises  stand  became  the  property 
of  the  Connexion.  On  the  completion  of  this,  a  determined  effort  was  made  to  retain 
the  services  of  Mr.  Flanagan  as  yoke-fellow  with  Mr.  Johnson  in  the  work  of  the  mission, 
but  the  Conference,  meeting  at  Scarborough  that  month,  felt  that  the  time  had  come 
when  Mr.  Flanagan  should  be  appropriated  for  other  work,  and  accordingly  he  was 
appointed  Home  Missionary  Advocate  and  Connexional  Evangelist,  and  Rev.  John 
Clennell  was  appointed  colleague  to  Mr.  Johnson  in  place  of  Rev.  W.  T.  Hosier,  who 
had  ably  served  the  whole  of  his  probation  on  this  mission,  and  who  was  removing  to 
Chorley  Circuit. 

Whitechapel  and  South  wark  are  our  two  most  conspicuous  centres  of  Social  Work 
in  London,  but  they  do  not  exhaust  the  list.  We  do  not  forget — nor  does  the 
Connexion  forget — the  good  work  of  this  character  that  has  long  been  carried  on  at  Surrey 
Chapel,  and  that  is  now  being  carried  on  by  Rev.  James  Watkin — one  of  the  busiest  men 
in  London.  Nor  must  we  forget  that  at  Clapton  the  Rev.  W.  Watson  is  energetically 
pursuing  the  social  ministries  established  by  Rev.  Thomas  Jackson. 

Livingstone  Hall,  Edinburgh. 
In  consequence  of  the  continual  decline  in  our  Church  at  Edinburgh  the  North 
British  District  appealed  to  the  Conference  held  at  Grimsby  in  1899  to  take  special 
measures  in  order  to  save  it  from  utter  extinction.  The  Conference  requested  the 
Rev.  S.  Horton,  then  stationed  at  Hull,  to  undertake  this  difficult  task,  and  he  consented 
to  go.  After  two  years'  uphill  work  in  the  Church  in  Victoria  Terrace,  the  Edinburgh 
Literary  Institute — a  magnificent  pile  of  buildings  in  South  Clerk  Street — came  into 
the  market.  A  Committee  was  appointed  to  inspect,  and  if  convinced  that  the 
buildings  were  suitable,  to  purchase.     This  splendid  block  was  bought  for  £10,500,  and 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND    CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT. 


517 


about  £2000  were  spent  on  alterations  and  furnishing. .  By  the  consent  of  the  family 
of  David  Livingstone,  it  was  named  the  Livingstone  Hall.  A  very  fine  statue  of  the 
great  missionary,  by  Mrs.  D.  0.  Hills  (the  only  one  for  which  he  ever  sat)  stands  in 
the  lobby.  The  work  was  transferred  from  Victoria  Terrace — the  old  Church  passing 
into  the  possession  of  the  managers  of  St.  Giles'  Cathedral — to  be  used  as  a  Mission 
Hall — the  opening  ceremony  being  attended  by  nearly  all  the  leading  ministers  and  City 
Council.      Here   a  vigorous  policy   on   Forward  Movement   lines  has  been  pursued. 


jpi*ieiM 


Considerable  success  attended  the  services,  and  in  four  years  the  membership  increased 
from  65  to  150.  Social  Agencies  were  set  in  operation  especially  amongst  slum 
children  and  young  girls.  A  Police  Court  Mission  was  commenced,  and  the 
magistrates  have  repeatedly  called  public  attention  to  the  splendid  work  done  amongst 
young  women  who  for  one  reason  or  another  find  their  way  to  the  police  cell. 
In  October,  1903,  a  Home  for  Friendless  Girls  was  opened  by  the  wife  of  General 
Wauchope— the  whole  of  the  furnishing  having  been  paid  for  by  W.  P.  Hartley,  Esq.,  J.P., 


518 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 


MK.  GEORGE  GEEEN,  J. P. 

Vii-e-l'ivsident  of  Urnif.,  1H04. 


and  George  Green,  Esq.,  J.P.,  Vice-President  of  the  Conference  of  1904.  During  the 
year  1903-4  no  less  than  380  girls  were  dealt  with  by  the  matron  and  sisters, 
and  seventy-eight  were  provided  for  in  the  Home.  A  small  Hall  has  been  rented  in 
the  Canongate  for  work  amongst  the  mothers  and  children  of  that  slum  district,  and 
a  vigorous  Sunday  School  established.  The  other  agencies 
include  popular  concerts,  men's  meetings,  temperance  work> 
mothers'  meetings,  etc.  After  six  strenuous  years  the  Rev. 
S.  Horton  resigned  the  Superin  tendency,  and  the  Rev.  S. 
Palmer  took  his  place. 

The  Connexioxal  Orphanage. 
The  work  carried  on  at  Alresford  (Hants)  under  the 
Master  and  Matron — Mr.  and  Mrs.  Turner — is  too  well 
known  to  need  description  here.  The  Orphanage  has  a  sure 
hold  on  the  sympathies  of  Primitive  Methodists,  and  though 
its  proposed  extension  at  Harrogate  will  mean  an  increased 
call  on  the  liberality  of  our  people,  its  future  is  none  the 
less  assured. 

All  honour  to  the  unpretentious  but  devoted  man  whose  memory  is  preserved  by  the 
inscribed  plate  shown  in  our  illustration.  Joseph  Peck  was  the  real  founder  of  the 
Orphanage.  A  Connexional  Orphanage  was  his  dream  by  night  and  the  burden  of 
his  prayers  by  day.  He  talked  of  it  with  all  and  sundry,  and  one  such  talk  with 
a  benevolent  lady — Miss  Onslow — opened  the  door  for  the  accomplishment  of  his 
desires.  Sympathising  with  his  purpose,  she  offered  him  a  suitable  building  on 
advantageous  terms — £500,  with  all  the  furniture,  etc.  He  closed  with  the  offer, 
and  liberally  seconded  by  Mr.  B.  AValmsley  of  Leeds,  a  small  trust  was  formed  and 

the  project  brought  before  the 
Connexion.  The  six  Circuits 
of  Leeds  united  to  give  the 
enterprise  a  good  send-off — just 
on  the  eve  of  Conference. 
Mr.  W.  Beckwoith  presided  at 
this  meeting,  and  Rev.  R. 
Harrison  and  Mr.  T.  Lawrence 
moved  the  committal  resolutions, 
with  the  result  that  the 
"  Orphanage  received  the  im- 
primatur of  the  Conference.'' 
It  is  matter  for  regret  that  Mr. 
Peck  did  not  remain  in  closest 
association  with  the  Orphanage, 
though  he  never  lost  his  interest 
in  it ;  and  his  death  took  place 
with    extreme    suddenness    when     returning     from    the     Orphanage    Committee     of 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND    CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT. 


519 


the  Bristol  Conference  of  1900.  Rev.  W.  R.  Crombie,  the  second  Secretary,  and 
Alderman  Smith,  the  Treasurer,  have  both  passed  away,  but  their  places  are  worthily 
filled  by  Rev.  J.  F.  Porter  and  Mr.  J.  Hewitson. 


MRS.    HIRST. 


REV.    ...    HIRST. 
(Aged  93.) 


REV.    J.    F  PORTER. 
Secretary  of  Orphanage. 

Brief  mention  must  be  made  of  another  praiseworthy  organisation  for  social  service — 
the  Local  Preachers'  Aid  Fund,  Rev.  T.  J.  Gladwin,  Secretary,  which  in  December,  1904, 
had  115  local  preachers  on  its  books,  all  of  whom  were  over  seventy-five  years  of  age. 
These  had  been  assisted  monthly  from  the  Fund,  while  manj'  others  not  so  far  advanced 
in  years  received  help  in  time  of  their  acute  distress. 

Nor  should  we  forget  that  other  Fund,  rightly  termed  the  Beneficent  Fund,  which  was 

established  to  supplement  the  inadequate  sums  due 
to  the  annuitants  of  the  Preachers'  Friendly  Society. 
And  who  shall  estimate  the  help  and  added  comfort 
this  Fund,  sustained  by  the  free-will  offerings  of  our 
people,  has  brought  to  "aged  and  worn-out  preachers"? 
Some  of  these  have  had  a  unique  record  and  retrospect. 
Of  one  such  we  must  make  mention.'  The  Rev.  John 
Hirst  stood  on  our  ministerial  roll  for  the  long  space 
of  72  years — 1826  to  1898.  His  career  spanned  very 
.  much  of  the  history  we  have  been  writing.  He  knew 
the  founders,  and  was  the  friend  and  helper  of 
Dr.  S.  Antliff,  W.  R.  Widdowson,  and  many  others. 
He  did  hard  pioneer  work  for  many  years,  and  on  his 
retirement  in  1861,  he  settled  in  'Sheffield,  and  con- 
tinued to  preach  and  lead  two  classes  until  84  years  of 
age.  His  noble  wife  belonged  to  the  Society  of  Friends; 
was  delicately  nurtured  and  educated  at  Adworth  School 
with  the  Brights,  but  was  expelled  from  the  Society 
because  she  had  married  outside  its  pale.  She  too  was  on  the  plan  and  preached  from 
1835  to  1891  ;  so  that  their  united  service  for  the  Connexion  extended  to  128  years  ! 
Surely  a  notable  if  not  a  unique  record.  All  of  their  many  children  followed  in  their 
steps  and,  with  one  exception,  all  were  connected  with  our  Church,  and  some  of 
their  children's  children  are  to-day  in  our  ministerial  ranks. 


MR.    J.    HEWITSON. 
Treasurer  of  Orphanage. 


520  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

EDUCATIONAL    INSTITUTIONS. 

I  HE  roots  of  our  Educational  Institutions  go  farther  back  in  .time  than 
might  be  thought.  "When  it  was  proposed,  to  appropriate  a  part  of  the 
proceeds  of  the  Jubilee  Fund  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  Middle-Class 
School,  and  making  some  provision  for  the  education  of  candidates  for 
the  ministry  and  preachers  on  probation,  there  were  many  who  regarded  the  proposal 
as  new  as  it  was  objectionable.  Writing — November,  1859 — on  the  Jubilee  Fund, 
Robert  Key  says  : — 

"The  objects  for  which  the  money  is  to  be  applied  are  not  exactly  to  my  taste. 
I  wish  the  Conference  could  have  seen  its  way  to  have  applied  at  least  a  part  of  it 
to  some  foreign  field — say  Port  Natal — or  any  other  part  of  the  world  where  we 
have  no  mission  station.  Most  of  the  Connexional  chapels  are,  or  ought  to  be> 
getting  into  better  circumstances,  so  as  to  need  but  little  aid,  and  that  aid  could 
be  provided  by  the  present  income  of  the  funds.  'The  School  for  Preachers' 
Children'  will,  I  think,  not  meet  with  much  sympathy  in  this  part  of  the  Connexion, 
and  as  for  the  last  object  named  [ministerial  education],  it  is  so  vague  that  I  do  not 
understand  it.'' 

This  time-faded  script  is  suggestive.  Once  more  it  shows  that  we  must  allow  for  the 
play  and  clash  of  District  sentiment  and  ideals.  Norwich  District  had  long  been 
ardent  in  its  advocacy  of  Foreign  Missions,  but  lukewarm  as  to  the  necessity  for  making 
educational  provision ;  while  some  other  Districts  were  ardent  where  Norwich  District 
was  cool.  No  :  the  proposals  of  the  Jubilee  Fund  referred  to  were  not  new,  whatever 
else  they  might  be.  Far  back  in  the  Connexion's  past  there  had  been  an  educational 
question.  In  the  remarkable  "Consolidated  Minutes"  of  1849,  codified  by  John 
Flesher,  under  the  heading  of  "Schools"  he  says: — "We  have  three  kinds  of 
Connexional  Schools,  and  one  land  in  prospect:  namely,  Sabbath,  day,  and  night 
schools  :  the  one  in  prospect  is  designed  for  the  education  of  preachers'  children,"  and 
then  he  calmly  proceeds  to  give  nine  rules  as  to  the  maintenance  and  conducting  of  the 
school  which  was  still  some  fifteen  years  from  its  birth  !  And  as  to  the  cognate 
question  of  ministerial  education :  Dr.  S.  Antliff  tells  us  that,  as  far  back  as  the  Lynn 
Conference  of  1844,  John  Gordon  Black  brought  forward  a  proposal  for  a  Ministerial 
Training  College,  but  it  met  with  an  overwhelming  defeat. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND    CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT.  521 

An  educated  ministry  was  the  ideal  which  T.  Southron  and  many  of  the  leading  men 
of  the  Sunderland  District — both  ministers  and  laymen — set  before  them  and  steadily 
worked  for.  This  ideal  called  into  existence  the  Preachers'  Association  with  the  "Christian 
Ambassador  "  as  its  organ.  The  same  ideal  was  cherished  in  the  old  Manchester  District 
and  there  took  a  still  more  practical  shape.  Under  the  direction  of  James  Macpherson, 
assisted  by  James  Garner  and  Thomas  Hindley,  the  probationers  of  the  District  who 
cared  for  it  received  stated  instruction.  At  first  Mr.  Macpherson  met  them  monthly, 
then  fortnightly,  and  at  last  weekly,  at  different  parts  of  the  District  to  suit  their 
convenience,  and  raised  by  subscriptions  what  sufficed  to  pay  their  travelling  expenses 
and  their  meals  for  the  day.  This  mode  of  tuition  obtained  from  1860  to  1870,  when 
Mr.  Macpherson  removed  to  London,  so  that  some  of  the  Manchester  probationers  who 
afterwards  attained  eminence,  though  they  never  went  to  College,  still  had  enjoyed  all  the 
advantage  of  qualified  tutors.  Xot  a  few  convinced  educationalists — amongst  whom 
was  Mr.  Petty  himself — were  disposed  to  see  in  the  system  of  ministerial  training 
pursued  in  Manchester  District  the  model  to  be  followed  throughout  the  Connexion. 
As  yet  the  establishment  of  one  central  Institution  did  not  commend  itself  to  them ; 
and  when,  in  the  early  'sixties,  the  examination  of  probationers  was  instituted,  the 
young  men  had  tutors  assigned  them — in  the  Minutes  of  Conference.  But  the  office 
was  in  most  cases  a  sinecure,  and  the  young  men  made  no  complaint.  Opinion,  as 
represented  by  the  two  strong  Districts  of  Sunderland  and  Manchester,  shared  by  the 
enlightened  men  of  other  Districts,  gradually  grew  in  strength  until,  at  last,  it  became 
powerful  enough  to  triumph  over  the  defenders  of  a  more  timid  or  obscurantist  policy. 
Yet  the  prejudice  against  a  college-trained  ministry  was  still  strong  enough  to  render  it 
expedient  to  move  cautiously.  This  fact  should  be  borne  in  mind  when  we  institute 
comparisons  between  the  advanced  college-course  of  to-day  and  the  very  modest 
curriculum  of  thirty  years  ago  ;  or  as  we  note  the  evident  anxiety  of  the  College 
authorities  to  allay  all  suspicion  that  the  training  given  will  make  the  students  less 
fitted  for  the  plain  duties  of  the  Primitive  Methodist  ministry.  Without  in  the 
least  calling  these  declarations  in  question,  one  can  see  now  that  these  declarations 
were  partly  called  forth  by  the  knowledge  of  the  prejudice  still  existing  in  certain 
quarters  against  Colleges  and  all  their  works. 


Elmfield  College,  York. 

The  Conference  of  1863  held  at  York,  authorised  the  establishment  of  a  Connexional 
School  to  be  called  the  Primitive  Methodist  Jubilee  School  on  premises  to  be  engaged 
on  rent  or  lease,  situate  on  the  Malton  Koad,  in  the  city  of  York.  The  Eev.  J. 
Macpherson  notes,  with  evident  regret,  the  narrowing  of  the  foundation  settlement  : 
in  1859  the  contemplated  school  was  to  be  "  for  preachers' children  and  the  children 
of  members,"  whereas  in  1863  the  third  regulation  ran  :  "  boys  only  shall  be  admitted 
into  the  school  at  [.resent." 

Evidently  these  arrangements  met  with  complete  success.  A  larger  number  of  boys 
than  the  rented  house  could  accommodate  were   immediately  available;  and  as  the 


522 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


Minutes  of  Conference  of  the  following  year  show,  steps  were  forthwith  taken  to 
purchase  the  property  which  had  been  rented  for  a  sum  not  exceeding  £1350,  vest  it  in 
Trustees  on  behalf  of  the  Connexion,  arrange  for  its  enlargement  so  as  to  adapt  it  for 


Wf 

ifm 

fib? 

5*  ;«*  Jm 

■'    *M 

£<    1 

WjM 

J.PETTY 


(.  m 


dkWkn 

^fe. 

i-J*r" 

V' 

bl-i> 

dti 

Ifct           Jg 

\w 

R  SMITH. 


V',j  '"roe  VF^rFSV'   ^■~'w*'//~~^'5, 


G,  SEAMAN. 


J.®  AIR. 


the  purpose  of  a  great  middle- 
class  school,  and  appoint  a 
representative  Committee  of 
Management."" 

The  trustees  appointed  were 
twenty-seven  in  number — 
eighteen  laymen  and  nine 
ministers.  As  an  abiding 
interest  attaches  to  the  list 
of  trustees,  it  will  be  well 
to    record    here    the    names 


of  these  representative  men 
who  cheerfully  undertook 
responsibilities  for  an  under- 
taking which  they  rightly 
believed  would  strengthen 
and  conserve  the  best  interests 
of  the  Connexion  : — James 
Meek,  Henry  J.  McCulloch, 
Thomas  Bateman,  Thomas 
Gibson,  William  Hopper, 
William      Stewart,      James 


G.  r.  FAWCETT. 
GOVERNORS  OF    ELJIFIELD    COLLEGE. 


AVhittaker,   Henry  Hodge,  ~\\ 
Briggs,    William    Newton,    J( 


"illiam   Hodge,    Ralph    Cook,   Joseph   Fawcett,  William 
mathan   Gaukrodger,   Thomas    Large,    Joseph    Wrigley, 


*  Sec  an  interesting  series  of  Articles  on  Elmfield  (. 'olle^ 
Magazine,  1S0N,  pp.  64,  141',  613. 


by   Bev.   T.   Mitchell,   Aldersgate 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND   CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT. 


523 


and    Henry     Phillips. 


James  Nott,  Thomas  Warburton,  William  Antlifi,  Samuel  Antliff,  John  Petty, 
James  Garner,  Moses  Lupton,  George  Lamb,  Richard  Davies,  William  Lister, 
Alderman,  afterwards  Sir  James  Meek,  was  appointed 
the  Treasurer,  and  Eev.  S.  Antliff,  the  Secretary  of  the 
Managing  Committee,  while  to  the  important  office  of 
first  Governor  of  the  College,  the  Rev.  John  Petty  had 
already  been  appointed,  and  took  up  his  residence  at  Elmfield 
House  in  the  first  month  of  1864.  This  was  an  eminently 
judicious  appointment,  in  itself  going  far  to  ensure  the 
success  of  the  school;  for  Mr.  Petty  had  the  entire  con- 
fidence of  the  Connexion.  Nor  was  the  appointment  of 
Dr.  S.  Antliff  as  Secretary  less  happy.  As  a  leading  figure 
in  the  Nottingham  District,  and  of  constantly  enlarging 
influence  in  the  Connexion,  he  was  from  the  inception  of  the 
enterprise  to  his  death  the  fast  friend  of  the  College,  and 
laboured  assiduously  to  promote  its  interests.  This  must 
be  reckoned  to  him  as  not  the  least  of  the  services  he 
rendered  to  our  Church.  So  Elmfield  began  its  long  career  of  usefulness  which  would 
take  a  book  fully  to  set  forth.  All  we  may  do  is  to  give  the  portraits  of  its  successive 
Governors  who,  with  their  wives  as  the  Matrons,  have  had  the  direction  of  the 
Institution  ;  also  to  record  the  names  of  the  men,  eminent  in  the  scholastic  world,  who 
have  succeeded  in  placing  Elmfield  in  a  high  position  amongst  the  middle-class  Schools 
of  the  country. 


EEV.    R.    HAKEISON. 
President  of  the  Coiif .  of  1904- 


GoVEKNOES. 

Head-Masters. 

1864. 

John  Petty,  obit.  April  22nd,  '68. 

1864. 

J.  K.  Dall,  Esq.,  B  A. 

1868. 

Thomas  Smith,  obit.  November,  '79. 

1871. 

W.  J.  Russell,  Esq.,  B.A. 

1880. 

Robert  Smith. 

1878. 

Dr.  J.  M.  Raby,  B.A.,  B.Sc. 

1889. 

Robert  Harrison.* 

1880. 

T.  Gough,  Esq.,  B.A.,  B.Sc,  PC  S. 

1891. 

George  Seamau. 

1886. 

W".  Johnson,  Esq.,  B.A. 

1896. 

John  Gair. 

1892. 

R.  G.  Heys,  Esq.,  B.A. 

1901. 

W.  R.  Crombie,  obit.  April  20th,  '04. 

(Present  Master). 

1904. 

George  F.  Fawcett. 

(Present  Governor.) 

Table  showing  the  Succession  of  Governors  and  Head-masters  or  Elmfield 

TO   THE   PRESENT. 

Of  the  past  Governors  of  Elmfield  only  two  survive — Revs.  R.  Harrison,  President  of 
the  Conference  of  1904;  and  G.  Seaman.  No  less  than  three  have  fallen  at  their 
post — the  last  to  fall  being  our  cheery,  indefatigable  and  much-lamented  brother, 
W.  R.  Crombie. 

Of  the  past  Head-masters — of  their  scholastic  attainments,  the  efficiency  to  which 
they  raised  the  school,  the  high  positions  which  some  of  them  at  present  fill — much 
might  be  written.  We  must,  however,  confine  ourselves  to  the  present  respected 
occupant  of  the  post.     He  is  not  only  an  efficient  head-master  but  is  linked  by  many  ties 

*  To  the  great  regret  of  the  Committee,  Mr.  Harrison  retired  at  the  close  of  1890  on  account  of  the 
serious  illness  of  Mrs.  Harrison,  the  matron. 


524 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


i».    u.    HEYS,    ESC)  ,    B.A., 
Present  Head-master  of  Elmfield. 


of  memory  and  association  with  the  denomination  he  so  ably  serves.  He  is  a  child  of  the 
manse,  being  the  son  of  Rev.  Henry  Heys,  who  did  good  work  in  the  pioneer  days 
and  died  at  the  patriarchal  age  of  eighty-five.  The  present  Head-master  was  one  of 
the  first  boys  entered  at  Elmfield;  in  due  time  he  married  a  daughter  of  its  first 

(Tovernor,  and  he  was  secured  by  the  governing  body 
of  Bourne  College  as  the  first  Head-master  of  that 
Institution.  Here  he  remained  six  years,  and  then 
became  proprietor  and  principal  of  a  private  school, 
which  prospered  greatly  under  his  care.  In  Hull,  where 
he  was  then  located,  Mr.  Heys  was  widely  known  and 
respected.  For  six  years  he  was  a  member  of  the  Hull 
School  Board,  and  no  doubt  he  looked  forward  to  striking 
his  roots  yet  more  deeply  in  this  progressive  city.  But, 
jing  a  Primitive  Methodist  of  approved  fidelity,  he 
yielded  to  the  solicitation  of  the  Elmfield  Committee  of 
Management  that  he  would  fill  the  vacancy  created  in 
1892   by  the  resignation  of  Mr.  Johnson. 

Possibly  there  may  have  been  a  time  in  the  history 
of  Elmfield  when  quite  enough  attention  was  devoted 
to  the  scoring  of  scholastic  successes ;  when  effort  was 
concentrated  on  the  clever  boy.  That  is  all  very  well ; 
but  all  boys  are  not  clever,  and  there  is  something 
quite  as  difficult  to  get,  and  more  valuable  when  it  is  got,  than  the  honours 
of  the  schools.  Whatever  may  have  been  the  case  formerly,  we  are  persuaded  that 
parents  may  now  send  their  sons  to  Elmfield — be  those  sons  clever  or  ordinary — with 
the  assurance  that  they  will  not  only  receive  as  good  an  education  there  as  is 
provided  at  any  institution  of  a  similar  kind  but  that,  in  addition,  influences  will  be 
brought  to  bear  on  them  that  will  help  them  to  become  healthy,  manly,  self-reliant 
young  fellows,  braced  for  life's  tussle,  and  who  will  never  be  ashamed  of  the  form 
of  religion  professed  by  their  parents.  The  Rev.  A.  T.  Glittery  has  very  rightly  spoken 
of  the  "Elmfield  type.''  There  is  such  a  type.  We  know  it  well,  and  like  it.  We 
ourselves  have  invested  in  the  type,  and  know  the  truth  of  what  we  aver.  It  is 
pleasing  to  recall  how  many  who  are  doing  good  service  in  the  ministry  and  amongst 
our  Churches  owe  much  of  what  they  have  become  to  the  "  fortifying  curriculum  "  and 
discipline  of  Elmfield  and  Bourne  Colleges. 

Bourne   College,    (Jcin-ton. 

Elmfield  and  Bourne  Colleges  are  sister  Institutions,  and  closely  "  feature "  each 
other.  They  had  a  similar  origin,  their  objects  are  identical,  and  the  course  of  both 
has  been  marked  by  progress  and  success.  Bourne  is  a  younger  Elmfield  planted  in  the 
busy  Midlands.  The  desire  for  such  an  Institution,  centrally  and  conveniently  situated, 
was  long  felt  by  some  of  the  leading  ministers  and  laymen  in  this,  the  oldest  part  of 
the  Connexion.  The  desire  at  last  took  shape  in  the  purchase  of  a  building  in 
Birmingham,  originally  called  St.  Chad's  Grammar  School.      Originally  it  belonged  to 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND    CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT. 


325 


the  Koman  Catholics,  but  it  had  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Birmingham  Corporation, 
from  whom  it  was  bought  for  £525  on  a  lease  of  seventy-eight  years,  and  subject 
to  an  annual  ground-rent  of  £60.  Soon  the  premises  were  felt  to  be  inadequate, 
and,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  Conference,  the  Trustees  agreed  to  the  formation  of  a 
Limited  Liability  Company  with  a  view  to  securing  a  more  eligible  situation  for 
the  College  and  buildings  better  adapted  for  its  growing  needs.  A  site,  consisting 
of  some  nineteen  acres,  was  purchased  at  Quinton,  five  miles  to  the  south-west 
of  Birmingham,  and  the  new  building — which  has  since  been  very  considerably 
enlarged  and  improved — was  opened  in  1882.  The  Company  is  not  run  with 
a  view  to  large  dividends,  but  in  the  interests  of  Primitive  Methodism.  The  College 
has  won  for  itself  a  high  position  amongst  the  secondary  schools  of  the  country, 
while,  in  a  denominational  point  of  view,  it  enjoys  the  confidence  of  the 
Connexion.     The  Reports  presented '  to  the  Conference  year  by  year  have  recorded 


REV.    G.    MIDDLETON,    F.G.S. 
Governor  of  Bourne  College. 


J.    S.    HOOSON,    ESQ.,    E.A. 


a  gratifying  number  of  scholastic  successes,  and  the  "  old  boys  "  of  Bourne  are  giving 
a  good  account  of  themselves.  The  Rev.  George  Middleton,  F.G.S.,  the  present 
Governor  and  Secretary,  has  been  associated  with  the  Institution  from  the  beginning. 
As  already  stated,  the  first  Head-master  was  R.  G.  Heys,  B.A.,  who  was  succeeded  by 
J.  S.  Hooson,  B.A.,  the  present  occupant  of  the  post.  Mr.  Hooson,  too,  is  a  "child  of 
the  Manse,"  and  that  the  head-masters  of  both  our  Collegiate  Schools,  and  Professor 
Peake  of  Manchester  College,  are  alike  the  sons  of  ministers  who  toiled  hard  on 
a  meagre  allowance  in  the  early  days  of  the  Connexion,  is  a  fact  to  be  dwelt  on  with 
satisfaction. 

Ministerial  Training  Institution. 
For  a  time   Elmfield  House  did  double  duty.     It  was  both  a  superior  school  and  a 
seminary  for  the  training  of  a  limited  number  of  young  men  for  the  ministry.     The 
Connexion  approached  the  question  of  a  separate  college  warily.      This  will  be  evident 


526 


PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


REV.    TIIOS.    GREENFIELD. 


from  the  following  retolution  passed  by  the  Conference  of  1865  :—"  Arrangements  shall 
be  made  by  the  Jubilee  School  Committee  to  provide  accommodation  in  Elmfield  House 
for  twenty  students  intended  for  the  ministry,  and  John  Petty  shall  be  their  tutor.'- 
A  committee  was  appointed  to  provide  means  to  sustain  the  Institution  and  to  arrange 
with  the  General  Committee  to  have  one  student  at  least  sent  from  each  District  to  the 
Institute,  which,  if  practicable,  was  to  be  opened  on  July  25th,  1865.     The  Committee 

appointed  consisted  of  nearly  one  hundred  persons — 
which  looks  as  though  it  were  deemed  desirable  to  stir 
and  quicken  interest,  as  well  as  to  enlist  it  in  the  service 
of  the  new  movement. 

To  Mr.  Petty,  therefore,  was  assigned  the  work  of 
directing  the  studies  of  twenty  young  men  and  of 
superintending  a  large  school  of  120  scholars.  The 
conscientious  discharge  of  this  double  duty  was  enough 
to  break  down  the  strongest  man  though  he  were  in  the 
prime  of  his  strength,  and  Mr.  Petty  iras  conscientious, 
but  he  was  neither  young  nor  strong.  On  April  22nd, 
1868,  to  the  universal  regret  of  the  Connexion,  he  "  ceased 
at  once  to  work  and  live.''  But,  before  this  sad  event 
occurred,  the  Conference  had  decided  that  a  new  Institute 
should  be  opened  at  Sunderland,  and  that  Dr.  W.  Antliff 
should  be  its  Principal.  Meanwhile,  until  the  old  Sunderland  Infirmary  should 
be  adapted  for  the  purpose  of  a  Primitive  Methodist  Theological  Institute,  the 
Rev.  Thomas  Smith,  in  addition  to  taking  over  the  Governorship  of  Elmfield,  also  took 
charge  of  the  students  for  the  remainder  of  the  college-year.  In  18G8  Dr.  Antliff 
entered  on  his  thirteen  years'  tenure  of  the  office  of  Principal,  retiring  in  1881, 
mellowed  in  character  and  rich  in  experience.  His  place  was  taken  by  Thomas 
Greenfield,  who,  since  1877,  had  acted  as  Assistant  Theological  Tutor.  Mr.  Greenfield 
was  a  unique  personality — a  man  whose  diction  was  steeped  in  Scripture,  of  which  he 
was  an  unrivalled  expositor.  Humble-minded  as  a  child,  he  was  also  shrewd,  and 
a  sayer  of  quaint  and  unexpected  things.  Of  him  it  could  truly  be  said,  "Gladly 
would  he  learn  and  gladly  teach,''  for  he  was  a  born  teacher,  and  would  rather  sit  at  the 
feet  of  a  child  and  learn  something  than  go  to  Conference.  Mr.  Greenfield  was  within 
his  own  range  one  of  the  most  considerable  Biblical  scholars  our  Church  has  produced 
— whose  character  and  works  we  should  not  willingly  let  die.  Many  are  the  fine 
expositions  of  Scripture  lying  half-forgotten  in  old  volumes  of  the  Magazines,  etc., 
which  ought  to  be  reprinted  in  a  volume  that  should  stand  on  a  handy  shelf  by  the  side 
of  his  "Expository  Discourses.''  Mr.  Greenfield  remained  at  the  Institute  until  it  was 
finally  closed  ;  and  the  building  was  afterwards  sold  and  the  proceeds  given  to  the  new 
College  which  had  been  opened  at  Manchester. 

We  shall  not  dwell  on  the  discussions  and  troubles  of  those  times,  when,  for  a  brief 
while,  the  Connexion  had  two  Colleges,  and  neither  of  them  full.  It  was  a  passing 
period  of  depression ;  the  times  were  hard,  and  few  additional  men  were  wanted  for 
the  circuits.     It  passed ;  and  then  the  decision  was  arrived  at  that  Manchester  College 


THE   PERIOD   OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND   CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT. 


527 


would  best  serve  the  interests  of  the  Connexion,  and  must  he  re-opened  under  its 
Principal,  James  Macpherson. 

To  confine  ourselves  at  present  to  the  building :  the  College  as  it  now  stands  is  a 
composite  structure,  having  been  erected  sectionally  at  three  separate  periods.  It  is 
situate  on  the  south  side  of  Manchester,  with  Lancashire  Independent  College  a  half- 
mile  to  the  north-west,  and  Didsbury  Wesleyan  College  three  miles  to  the  south-east. 

The  foundation  stones  of  the  original  erection  were  laid  on  June  24th,  1878,  by 
James  Smith  Sutcliffe,  Esq.,  of  Bacup,  Henry  Lee,  Esq.,  J.P.,  of  Sedgeley  Park,  and 
W.  Beckworth,  Esq.,  of  Leeds.  The  last  of  these  survives,  and  to  the  present  his 
interest  in  the  College  remains  undiminished.  The  building  was  opened  for  use  on 
August  22nd,  1881,  at  a  cost,  including  furnishing,  of  about  £8,20.0.  It  provided 
accommodation  for  the  Principal  and  thirty  students.  It  consisted  of  sixty  students' 
rooms,— a  study  and   bedroom    for   each  ;    library,  lecture  and   dining   rooms,    with 


MANCHESTER   COLLEGE  BEFORE   ENLARGEMENT. 


Principal's  house.     The  original  Theological  Institute  now  makes  up  one  wing  of  the 
present  premises,  and  is  well  represented  in  the  accompanying  illustration. 

Merely  one  year's  training  in  the  Theological  Institute  was  never  satisfactory.  Its 
greatest  advantage  was  its  revelation  to  everybody  of  the  necessity  for  a  longer  period. 
Fifteen  years  after  the  opening  of  the  College  the  Committee  asked  the  Conference  of 
1895  to  sanction  the  enlargement  of  the  Institution,  that  students  might  have  a  longer 
training.  Through  the  genuine  interest  and  generosity  of  Mr.  W.  P.  Hartley,  J.P., 
of  Aintree,  the  College  underwent  an  important  extension  between  the  Conferences  of 
1895  and  1897,  when  a  new  wing  was  built  parallel  with  the  original,  comprising  sixty 
new  studies  ;  while  the  front  was  extended  by  the  addition  of  entrance-hall,  new  dining 
hall  library  and  lecture-hall.  This  extension  was  made  at  a  cost  of  £12,000,  the  whole 
of  which  Mr.  Hartley  generously  defrayed. 


•j28  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 

In  order  to  accommodate  students  for  a  three  years'  course  of  training,  Mr.  Hartley 
again  offered  the  Conference  at  Xewcastle-on-Tyne,  1903,  further  to  enlarge  the 
College  so  as  to  provide  for  the  residence  at  once  of  105  students.  This  was  on  the 
basis  of  estimating  an  average  requirement  by  the  Connexion  of  thirty-five  students 
as  probationers  annually.  These  extensions  have  been  carried  out  in  a  most  munificent 
and  complete  manner.  Mr.  Hartley  desired  and  readily  accepted  any  suggestion  which 
meant  efficiency  and  usefulness  in  this  large  and  final  extension.  This  last  enlargement 
comprises  105  new  studies  built  in  the  form  of  a  quadrangle;  new  lecture-hall,  library, 
dining-hall,  tutors'  rooms,  sick-rooms  with  baths,  etc. ;  also  a  handsome  College-chapel. 
The  previous  dining-hall  and  library  are  used  as  class-rooms  or  for  other  purposes.     The 


PRINCIPALS  OF   THE    MANCHESTER  COLLEGE   FROM   THE  BEGINNING    TO  THE  PRESENT. 

electric  light  is  installed  in  the  whole  of  the  new  premises,  and  also  in  part  of  the  old. 
The  College-chapel  occupies  the  north  corner  of  the  wide  frontage ;  a  short  corner 
connecting  it  with  the  main  buildings.  It  contains  160  sittings,  with  organ.  The 
whole  of  the  cost  of  this  last  enlargement  is  borne  by  Mr.  Hartley.  It  is  his  gift — 
one  of  his  gifts — to  his  ( 'hurch. 

The  site  of  the  College,  of  course,  has  had  to  be  extended,  till  what  was  under 
two  acres  now  comprises  an  area  of  over  six  acres.  The  grounds  form  nearly  a  square, 
and  the  chief-rents  of  the  last  two  extensions  have  been  bought  out  according  to  the 
requirement  of  the  vendors. 


THE    PERIOD    OF    CONSOLIDATION    AND    CHURCH    DEVELOPMENT.  529 

In  1886  Mr.  Henry  Hodge  gave  £1000  to  found  a  scholarship  in  memory  of  his 
departed  friend— Rev.  George  Lamb.  The  following  year— the  Queen's  Jubilee  year— 
the  College  was  declared  free  from  debt.  Still,  the  question  of  the  maintenance  of  the 
College  pressed  heavily,  and  the  term  of  residence  was  felt  to  be  almost  ludicrously 
inadequate.  Dr.  Joseph  Wood,  who  succeeded  to  the  Principalship  in  1889  on  the 
retirement  of  Rev.  James  Macpherson  after  thirteen  years  of  service,  claimed  that  the 
maintenance  of  the  College  should  be  considered  a  first  charge  upon  the  Church.  In 
his  frank  and  fearless  way  he  wrote  in  the  Report  to  the  Conference  of  1890:  "We 
hope  the  Conference  will  make  better  provision  for  the  maintenance  of  the  Institution 
or  else  relieve  us.''  The  two  defects  referred  to  were  remedied.  In  1891  Mr.  W.  P. 
Hartley  offered  the  Conference  £200  per  annum  for  five  years  on  condition  that  the 
students'  term  of  residence  should  be  lengthened  to  two  years,  and  the  services  of 
a  University  Graduate  secured.  The  Conference  of  the  following  year  gave  effect  to 
these  suggestions  by   confirming  the   appointment   of   Mr.    Arthur    S.    Peake,    M.A., 


PROF.  a.  .>.  PEAKE,  M..t.,  B.D.  KEV.    A.    L.    HUMPHRIES,    M.A.  HEV.  VV.  j>.  WARDLE,  It. A.,  B.D. 

Fellow  of  Merton  College,  Oxford,  and  Lecturer  at  Mansfield  College,  to  be  the  tutor 
in  Biblical  Introduction,  Exegesis,  Theology,  and  the  History  of  Doctrine.  It  was 
a  notable  departure  which  must  have  gladdened  the  heart  of  Dr.  "Wood,  who  at  that 
Conference  felt  compelled  to  retire  after  occupying  the  post  of  Principal  four  years. 

"  The  raising  up  of  Professor  Peake  among  us  is  nothing  else  than  providential." 
The  words  which  were  true  in  1892  have  acquired  an  added  truth  by  the  passing  of 
th«  years.  It  is  indeed  a  matter  for  justifiable  pride  that  one  of  our  own  "  bairns,"  in 
whom  scholarship,  aptitude  to  teach,  the  power  to  inspire  affection,  deep  religiousness 
of  spirit,  and  modesty  are  found  in  happy  combination,  and  who  is  admittedly  one  of 
the  foremost  Biblical  scholars  of  the  day— should  have  so  much  to  do  with  the  shaping 
of  our  future  ministry. 

We  give  portraits  of  those  who  have  filled  the  important  office  of  Principal  ot  the 
Manchester  College,  also  of  Professor  Peake  and  Revs.  A.  L.  Humphries,  M.A.,  and 
W.  L.  Wardle,  B.D.,  the  present  tutors. 


5:;o 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 

The  Sunday  School  Union. 


Though  for  the  sake  of  convenience  and  chronological  sequence  the  establishment  of 
the  Sunday  School  Union  is  noted  here,  and  its  work  since  1874  briefly  outlined,  it 
must  be  affirmed  with  emphasis  that  the  objects  aimed  at  by  the  Union  are  much  more 
than  Educational.  Conservation  rather  than  Education  is  the  proper  word  here.  In 
harmony  witli  the  new  and  truer  conception  of  the  relation  of  child-life  to  the  Church, 


SUND.U    SCHOOL   UNION  SECRETARIES. 

which  so  strikingly  marked  the  advance  of  the  nineteenth  century,  the  Church  and  the 
School  are  regarded  as  essentially  one,  and  Sunday  Schools  are  no  longer  looked  upon 
as  "  Merely  Seminaries  for  teaching,  but  saving  agencies''  (Sunday  School  Report, 
1 8931 

Leeds  District  had  much  to   do  with  the  inauguration  of  the   new  movement.     In 
1S69,  we  are  told  by  Rev.  J.  Macpherson,  the  Schools  in  the  four  Manchester  Circuits 


THE    PERIOD    OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND    CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT.  531 

were  formed  into  a  Union  which  gradually  assumed  considerable  importance;  but  even 
before  this  a  Circuit  Sunday  School  Union  had  been  formed  in  Leeds  with  which  it  is 
interesting  to  notice,  Mr.  W.  Beckworth,  the  first  treasurer  of  the  Connexional  Union 
was  associated.  After  long  and  mature  deliberation  the  proposed  scheme,  the  principle 
of  which  had  been  approved  in  1871,  was  adopted  by  the  Conference  of  1874.  The 
Rev.  Joseph  Wood  was  appointed  the  first  Secretary  of  the  Union,  and  in  1875  set  apart 
to  the  work.  The  objects  of  the  new  department  were  stated  to  be :— To  benefit  the 
schools  in  every  possible  way  in  their  equipment  and  management,  and  their  work  and 
productiveness;  to  incorporate  them  more  fully  with  our  various  Connexional 
institutions,  and  weld  them  into  vital  union  with  the  Church,  sharing  in  her  life,  and 
affording  a  principal  field  for  her  activity." 

The  first  Secretaries  had  uphill  work  to  do  in  the  early  stages  of  the  Union,  and  right 
along  the  duties  devolving  upon  them  have  been  arduous  ;  but  no  department  of  our 
Church-life  has  yielded  better  results,  and  its  history  has  been  one  of  steady  expansion 
and  ever-growing  usefulness.  The  organisation  of  the  Union  has  been  gradually 
perfected.  In  1877  Catechumen  classes  were  established,  and  in  1879  District 
Sunday  School  Committees.  Still  later  Examinations  for  Teachers  and  Scholars  were 
originated,  and  a  Triennial  Teachers'  Conference.  In  process  of  time  differentiation 
took  place.  In  1S96  The  Young  People's  Society  of  Ch vidian  Endeavour  was  formed, 
and  the  following  year  the  Rev.  G.  Bennett  was  appointed  its  Secretary.  The  Society 
has  now  3030  branches  with  a  membership  of  106,130.  It  has  its  organ  in  "Spring 
Time,"  its  Reading  Union  conducted  by  Rev.  P.  McPhail,  and  its  Holiday  Tour 
Department.  What  it  has  just  done  for  our  African  Missions  has  already  been  noted. 
The  Temperance  Society  and  Bawl  of  Hope  was  also,  in  1897,  made  a  separate 
department  of  the  Union  with  the  Rev.  T-  H.  Hunt  as  its  Secretary.  The  valuable 
annual  Reports  furnished  by  him  show  that  he  is  fully  conversant  with  all  the 
phases  of  the  Temperance  movement,  and  that  he  is  zealously  striving  to  deepen 
Temperance  sentiment  amongst  us,  and  organise  it  for  more  effective  service.  Lastly, 
the  Bible  Reading  and  Prayer  Union,  of  which  we  believe  the  Rev.  Luke  Stafford  was 
the  originator,  had,  in  1889,  371  branches  and  15,826  members.  ]STow  the  Report  of  its 
Secretarj',  Rev.  J.  Johnson,  shows  that  in  1905  it  has  2,061  branches,  and  a  membership 
of  92,000. 

Let  the  pleasing  facts  be  noted  that  on  the  Home  stations  we  have  4,127  schools, 
60,073  teachers,  and  466,154  scholars,  76,427  of  whom  are  members  of  the  Church. 
A  recent  interesting  announcement  is  to  the  effect  that  Mr.  L.  L.  Morse,  J. P.,  has 
undertaken  to  found  a  Lectureship  in  connection  with  the  Sunday  School  Union. 
The  first  lecture  will  be  delivered  at  the  Triennial  Sunday  School  Conference  of  1907 
by  the  Rev.  T.  H.  Hunt. 

Full  of  hope  and  promise  is  the  legislation  (1904)  for  the  Training  and  Equipment 
of  Local  Preachers,  which  owes  so  much  to  the  initiative  and  energy  of  Rev.  H.  Yooll 
and  Mr.  H.  Jeffs. 


L  L 


532  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHURCH. 


CHAPTER   X. 

IMPROVED   METHOD*    OF   FINANCE. 

HIS  Church-era  of  our  History  is  marked  by  improved  methods  of  Finance. 
Let  any  one  take  up  an  attitude  of  detachment  both  to  the  past  and 
present,  and  seriously  set  himself  to  study  their  resemblances  and  their 
differences,  and  the  fact  named  must  strike  him  forcibly.  It  is  like  the 
difference  between  the  primitive  financial  methods  of  the  small  inexperienced  retail  dealer, 
and  the  extensive  operations  of  a  large  business-firm.  But  finance  is  not  everything  ! 
No  :  but  it  is  very  much.  And  there  is  this  peculiarity  about  it  that,  like  the 
atmosphere,  it  is  felt  everywhere,  though  itself  escapes  observation.  It  penetrates  to, 
and  pervades  each  department,  and  tends  to  increase  the  efficiency  and  extend  the 
range  of  each  department's  operations. 

It  is  but  just  to  say  that  this  improved  state  of  things  is  largely  due  to  the  zeal  and 

ability  of  a  few  men — bolh  ministers  and  laymen — who,  during  the  past  two  or  three 

decades,  have  largely  had  the  direction  of  affairs.     Notably  among  such  ministers  must 

be  named  John  Atkinson,  James  Travis,  and  Thomas  Mitchell.     We  may  not  always  be 

mentioning  their  names,  or  tracing  movements  back  to  them  as  their  originators,  but 

there  the  fact  remains,  that  the  improvements  effected,  and  the  new  methods  adopted, 

are  the  outcome  of  the  secret  cogitations  and  plannings  of  these  and  such  as  these. 

And  who  shall  estimate  the  influence  which  Mr.  "W.  P.  Hartley  has  exerted  during  the 

last  few  years?     It  is  not  simply  the  amount  of  money  he  has  given  to  the  various 

Institutions  and  movements  of  ihe  Connexion — great  though  that  amount  has  been. 

While  his  liberality  has  been  an  ensample  and  stimulus,  his  remarkable  business  ability, 

which  has  raised  him  to  a  conspicuous  position  in  the  world  of  commerce,  has  also  been 

freely    consecrated  to  the  service  of   the  Church.     His  resourceful  brain  has  teemed 

with  plans  for  its  advantage,  and  he  has  always  been  ready  to  adopt  and  materialise  the 

suggestions   of    others,  as   in    the    founding    of    "The    Hartley    Lectureship,'-   on  the 

suggestion  of  Dr.  J.  Ferguson,  the  distribution  of  standard  books  to  ministers,  local 

preachers,  etc.      In  short,   we  are  persuaded   that   when  the   future   historian  of    our 

Church  comes    to  write    once  more  of   the  period    beginning,  say,  with  1885,   when 

Mr.   Hartley  came  forward  with  his  offer  of  £1000  towards   the  extinction  of   the 

troublesome  missionary  debt,  he  will  distinctly  have  to  recognise  what  a  powerful 

factor  systematic  beneficence  guided  by  business  methods  increasingly  became  in  our 

denominational  life  ;  that  the  new  finance  and  new  liberality  somehow  transfused  a 

new  energising  spirit  into  almost  every  department  of  Church-work. 


THE    PERIOD    OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND   CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT. 


533 


Before  giving  one  or  two  specific  illustrations  of  successful  finance,  brief  reference 
must  be  made  to  the  Missionary  Jubilee  effort  of  1892  and  onwards,  which  itself  offers 
one  of  the  most  striking  illustrations  of  the  views  here  advanced.  The  Eev.  J.  Travis, 
Missionary  Secretary,  was  the  President  of  the  Norwich  Conference  of  1892,  and  he 

suggested  that  the  time  was  eminently  favour- 
able for  making  an  effort  to  raise  £5,000 
for  missionary  purposes  during  the  year. 
Subsequent  discussion  in  Committee  resulted 
in  a  much  more  ambitious  effort  being  made. 
Mr.  W.  P.  Hartley  promised  that  if  the 
Connexion  would  make  a  bold  attempt  to 
raise  £50,000  in  five  years,  he  would  give 
£1000  a  year.  It  was  also  suggested 
that  the  money  raised  should  be  equally 
divided  among  these  four  funds,  viz.,  the 
Missionary,  the  College,  the  Superannuated 
Ministers'  Widows  and  Orphans,  and  the 
Chapel  Loan  Funds.  When  these  proposals 
were  presented  to  the  Conference,  the  effect 
was  almost  electric.  The  proposals  were 
adopted  with  enthusiasm,  and  before  the 
Conference  closed  the  sum  of  £16,000  was 
mb.  w.  p.  hartley,  j.p.  guaranteed. 

The  President,  with  Mr.  W.  P.  Hartley  and  Rev.  T.  Mitchell,  who  was  the  Secretary 
of  the  movement,  as  he  is  now  the  Secretary  of  the  Church  Extension  Fund  begun  in 
1900,  were  deputed  to  visit  the  Churches.  They  travelled  far  and  wide,  and  with 
the  assistance  of  local  deputations  sought  to  impart  information  and  awaken  interest 
in  the  movement,  and  with  the  happiest  results.  The  three  colleagues  in  service  were 
doing  something  more  than  raise  money :  they  were  really  and  truly  Connexional 
Evangelists. 

The  Jubilee  effort  of  I860  realised  £4,728.  What  the  outcome  of  the  Missionary 
Jubilee  effort  of  1892  the  figures  following,  with  the  explanatory  remarks  of 
Mr.  Mitchell,  will  show.  The  three  ''Jubilee  Campxigners,''  as  they  had  been 
facetiously  exiled,  very  properly  received  the  thinks  of  the  Conference  of  1900 
for  their  services. 


£ 

o. 

d. 

By  cash  from  subscribers  ...          ...   38,4 17 

18 

11 

To  amount  distributed  to  the  vari- 

Sunday Schools       ...     1,3(55 

,     Interest       2,735 

By  special  gifts  ( W.  P.  Hartley,  Esq.)  7,500 

1 
7 
0 

8 
5 
0 

ous  funds  concerned 
„  College  Fund,  special  ... 
„  Working  Expanses 

„  Cash  with  C.  A  A 

„                     Treasurer 

Sunday  School  Union 

.£50,048 

8 

O 

i 

.   33,600 

O 

0 

7,009 

0 

0 

1,373 

8 

1 

2,374 

19 

11 

500 

0 

0 

l        2JJ 

0 

0 

£50,048 

8 

0 

534  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 

"  As  the  movement  extended  over  a  number  of  years,  the  payments  as  they  came 
to  hand  were  invested  with  the  Chapel  Aid  Association,  and  the  interest  accruing 
devoted  to  the  payment  of  the  working  expenses.  At  first  this  investment  was  com- 
paratively small,  but  as  additions  were  annually  made  it  soon  reached  considerable 
proportions  ;  and  at  the  close  it  was  found  that  the  interest  alone  reached  the  hand- 
some sum  of  £i,735  7s.  5d.,  and  as  the  total  working  expenses  of  the  whole  term 
were  only  £1,373  *s.  Id.,  not  only  was  eivri/  donation  applied,  without  deduction  for 
expenses,  to  the  fund,  but  the  considerable  sum  of  £1,361  l!Js.  4d.,  as  excess  of  interest 
over  working  expenses,  helped  to  swell  the  capital  account.  This  is  a  result  which 
ought  to  satisfy  the  must  rigorous  economist;  and  it  may  be  confidently  affirmed  that 
no  movement  in  the  history  <>f  Methodism  has  been  carried  through  with  .<,  more 
scrupulous  oversight  of  expenditure  than  the  Missionary  Jubilee  Thanksgiving  Fund 
of  the  Primitive  Methodist  Church. 

"Of  the  amount  which  was  appropriated  tu  the  Missionary  Fund  one-thiid  was 
given  to  the  African,  and  two  thuds  to  the  Home  section.  As  there  was  some  difference 
of  opinion  as  to  how  best  to  utilize  the  amount  available  for  Home-work,  it  was 
determined  that  each  district  should  ha\e  returned  to  it  its  proportion  of  that  i-ection 
(one-sixth)  to  be  devote  d  to  objects  within  its  own  area."* 

Mr.  Mitchell  is  the  energetic  Secretary  of  the  Clnirrh  ExUu>lt,>i  Fund,  established 
l!i(.io.  It  is  essentially  missionary  in  character  and  since  its  formation  has  assisted 
Trustees  in  the  payment  of  inten  st  to  the  extent  of  £-ls^3  (is.  6d. 

Primitive  Methomst  Insurance  Cojupany,  Limited. 

The  C'onnexional  Insurance  Company  [is  the  second  of  the  strictly  commercial 
houses  established  by  the  Primitive  Methodist  Church,  the  1  look-Room  alone  claiming 
precedence  over  it  in  point  of  time.  But  it  is  the  first  limited  liability  company  in  the 
Church.  It  is  rather  remarkable  that  in  a  denomination  almost  entirely  composed  of 
the  democracy,  this  institution  should  have  come  into  existence  at  so  early  a  period  in  its 
history.  Quite  a  number  of  the  Nonconformist  Churches  of  England  were  without 
any  arrangements  for  the  insuring  of  their  own  property  against  fire  at  the  close  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  some  are  without  any  such  arrangements  to  this  day,  and  even  the 
great  Baptist  community  did  not  succeed  in  forming  a  company  till  1904,  whereas,  as 
far  back  as  the  year  1859,  the  following  resolution  appeared  in  the  Minutes  of 
Conference  : — "  The  following  persons  shall  form  a  Committee  for  drawing  up  ceitain 
preliminaries  for  instituting  an  insurance  society,  to  he  laid  before  the  Conference  of 
I860—  AY.  Garner,  J.  Petty,  YV~.  Antliff,  G.  Lamb,  E.  Howchin,  T.  Bateman,  T.  Gibson, 
J.  Fawcett,  A.  McCree,  "W.  Hopper,  and  James  Garner,  secretary."  That  the 
Confeience  was  impressed  with  the  importance  of  the  work  it  was  putting  into  the 
hands  of  this  Committee  is  evident  from  the  names  of  the  persons  composing  it,  all  of 
these,  ministers  and  laymen,  being  at  the  time  men  of  influence.  Whether  it  proved 
difficult  to  obtain  the  needful  information,  or  succeeding  Conferences  were  diffident 
regaiding  the  proposal,  the  records  do  not  show.  "What  is  evident  is  that  no  reference 
to  ihe  matter  is  made  in  the  Conference  Minutes  of  1860,  and  it  was  not  till  1866 
that  the  Company  was  actually  foimed,  the  Board  of  Directors  being  Henry  Johnson 

*  See  an  interesting  article  in  the  Aldersgate  Magazine,  April,  1905,  on  the  .luldlee  Fund,  by 
Ke\    T.  Mitchell. 


THE    PERIOD    OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND   CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT. 


535 


McCulloch,  engineer,  York  ;  Thomas  Gibson,  merchant,  Sunderland  ;  William  Antliff, 
minister,  London;  William  Stewart,  merchant,  Newcastle-on-Tyne ;  John  Sissons' 
tailor  and  draper,  Hull  ;  Thomas  Dearlove,  Leeds ;  Thomas  Newell,  minister,  York' 
The  Rev.  Richard  Davies  was  the  secretary,  and  Captain  McCulloch,  whose  name  is  the 
first  in  the  list  of  directors,  was  the  treasurer.  The  articles  of  association  provided  for 
the  issue  of  one  hundred  shares  at  a  nominal  value  of  one  hundred  pounds  each,  with 
only  five  shillings  per  share  called  up,  but  with  powers  to  call  up  the  whole  amount 
should  it  be  needed.  At  a  later  period  the  share-capital  was  increased  to  two  hundred 
shares  of  one  hundred  pounds  each,  hut  the  amount  paid  up  remained  at  five  shillings 
per  share  as  before.  For  securing  the  full  advantage  to  the  Connexion  no  better 
arrangement  than  this  could  have  been  devised  because,  on  the  paid  up  capital,  the 
amount  belonging  to  each  shareholder  being  so  small,  no  interest  or  dividend  is  paid  by 
the  Company,  and  yet  it  would  have  enabled  the  Company,  had  an  emergency 
arisen,    to    command   twenty    thousand  pounds.     The  Company,    however,    has   been 

unusually  fortunate  in  the  matter  of  losses  by  fire,  hence 
no  such  emergency  has  arisen  and  now,  with  the  large 
Reserve  Fund  it  has  built  up,  such  an  emergency  is  not 
likely  to  arise.  The  Company  does  not  enter  into 
competition  with  other  Companies.  It  only  insures 
chapels,  schools,  manses,  colleges,  and  other  buildings 
belonging  to  the  denomination,  making  one  exception  to 
this  in  the  matter  of  private  property  by  insuring  the 
personal  belongings  of  Primitive  Methodist  ministers. 
From  the  first,  the  trust  boards  have  manifested  con- 
fidence in  the  Company,  and  gradually  the  amount  of 
property  insured  by  it  has  increased,  so  that  now 
practically  the  whole  of  the  property  is  insured  by  it. 
The  growth  of  the  business  has  been  both  rapid  and  steady. 
In  1876,  ten  years  after  the  formation  of  the  Company, 
the  premium  income  amounted  to  £857  ;  in  1886  it  was 
£1,564;  in  1896  it  had  reached  £2,171,  whilst  the  rate 
of  increase  was  still  more  rapid  in  the  nine  years  up  to  1905,  having  in  the  last  named 
year  reached  £3,033.  In  this  year  also  the  Reserve  Fund  had  reached  £31,960,  and 
comparing  this  with  the  reserves  of  other  Insurance  Companies  it  is  certain  that  in  the 
matter  of  a  reserve-fund  taken  in  proportion  to  the  risk,  this  is  the  strongest  Company 
in  the  kingdom.  Than  this  no  higher  compliment  could  be  paid  to  the  management- 
Hut  this  is  not  all.  In  1884  the  Reserve  Fund  had  reached  £10,000,  and  with  the 
eighteen  years'  experience  of  probable  loss,  the  directors  that  year  felt  justified  in 
beginning  to  make  grants  out  of  the  profits  to  help  chapels  in  needy  circumstances- 
That  year  the  grant  to  the  Chapel  Fund  was  £500,  and  since  then  it  has  never  in 
any  year  granted  a  smaller  sum,  though  recently  this  amount  has  been  divided 
between  the  two  institutions,  the  General  Chapel  Fund  and  the  Church  Extension 
Fund.  To  help  to  float  the  Church  Extension  Fund  also,  it  gave  to  that  fund 
in  the  first  four  years  of   its  existence  the   sum  of  £3,100.      In   addition  to  these 


HEV.    KOBEET  HIND. 


53(j  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 

grants  to  the  institutions  that  have  been  established  to  assist  chapels,  the  Company 
in  1889  began  to  render  assistance  directly.  In  some  instances,  owing  to  special 
rircumstances  of  various  kinds,  the  properties  have  been  placed  in  a  most  unfortunate 
position  and,  but  for  the  substantial  help  the  Insurance  Company  has  given, 
it  is  to  be  feared  that  they  would  have  been  lost  to  the  denomination  altogether. 
Thirteen  of  these  trusts  have  received  sums  varying  from  £250  to  £516,  and  a  much 
larger  number  have  been  assisted  with  smaller  grants.  The  largest  amount  given  in 
any  one  year  was  in  1903,  when  out  of  a  gross  premium  revenue  of  £2,809,  the 
directors  disbursed  to  needy  chapels  £2,070.  In  all,  the  Company  has  disbursed  in 
this  way  over  £22,000  up  to  1905.  The  present  management  consists  of  the  following 
as  the  Board  of  Directors: — Messrs.  John  Coward,  J. P.,  Durham  (Chairman); 
Richard  Fletcher,  Silsden  (Treasurer) ;  Henry  Adams,  Sheffield  ;  Joseph  Smith,  Hull ; 
Elijah  Jennings,  Leicester;  Revs.  Robert  Harrison  (Deputy-Chairman),  Thomas  Newell, 
George  Seaman,  F.dwin  Dalton,  and  Robert  Hind,  Secretary.  Preceding  secretaries 
have  been  Rev.  Richard  Davies  and  Charles  Smith,  both  of  them  superannuated 
ministers.  But  in  1891  the  secretaryships  of  the  Insurance  Company  and  of  the 
Chapel  Aid  Association  were  united  in  one  office  and  the  Rev.  John  Atkinson,  an 
active  minister  in  full  work,  was  appointed  to  fill  the  office.  At  his  death  in  1899, 
Mr.  Hind  was  made  his  successor  in  both  the  secretaryships.  Under  the  present 
management  the  Company's  affairs  are  as  well  conducted  as  they  have  always  been,  and 
the  small  expenditure  in  management,  and  larger  income  will  doubtless  enable  the 
directors  to  render  larger  financial  assistance  to  needy  Connexional  interests  than  at 
any  former  time.  The  chairman  is  an  old  servant  of  the  Church,  and  by  his  special 
knowledge  of  limited  liability  law,  is  singularly  well  fitted  to  guide  the  Company  in 
all  the  departments  of  its  business.  His  interest  in  all  that  concerns  Primitive 
Methodism,  is  well  known,  and  despite  his  years,  his  mind  remains  clear  and  acute. 
And  this  is  only  one  of  the  ways  in  which  he  is  serving  the  Church.  For  more  than 
a  quarter  of  a  century  he  has  been  a  member  of  well-nigh  all  the  higher  courts  and 
committees  of  the  denomination,  and  perhaps  no  layman  has  preached  as  many 
anniversary  sermons  as  he.  In  all  parts  of  the  country,  from  Paisley  in  Scotland  to 
Cornwall,  he  has  rendered  service  in  this  way.  The  other  directors  are  equally  assiduous 
in  attending  to  the  business  of  the  Company,  and  in  the  disbursement  of  grants  manifest 
an  impartiality  and  a  sense  of  responsibility  that  are  beyond  all  praise.  No  fees  are 
paid  to  the  directors,  who  give  their  services  for  their  travelling  expenses. 

Primitive  Methodist  Chapel  Aid  Association,  Limited. 

The  Primitive  Methodist  Chapel  Aid  Association,  Limited,  was  established  in  1889, 
the  original  directors  having  signed  the  Articles  of  Association  on  October  29th  of 
that  year.  But  the  whole  scheme  had  been  worked  out  in  detail  by  Mr.  AY".  P. 
Hartley,  the  originator  of  the  Company,  fully  ten  years  before  that  time,  and  it  is 
remarkable,  that  when  eventually  the  Company  was  launched,  the  rates  of  interest 
and  other  details  were  all  those  Mr.  Hartley  had  originally  proposed.  In  those  days, 
however,  Mr.  Hartley's  financial  genius  had  not  become  recognised  in  the  denomination. 


THE    PERIOD    OF    CONSOLIDATION    AND    CHURCH    DEVELOPMENT.  537 

He   was   known  to  be   a  successful  industrial  prince  ;  but  the  financial   statesmanship 
which  combines   in   an   almost   equal   degree   originality,  boldness,   and    safety  had  not 
then  had  the  chance  of  being  known  beyond  a  limited  circle.      As  a  consequence  when 
he  first  made  his  proposal  it  was  regarded  as  impracticable  by  all  the  leading  men  in 
our  Church  with  one  exception.     The  exception  was  the  Rev.  Hugh  Gilmore,  who  was 
in  favour  of  the  scheme  from  the  day  he  heard  it  expounded  by  Mr.  Hartley.      On  the 
whole  it  was  not  remarkable  that  there  should  have  been  hesitation  and  doubt.     Since 
it  has  proved  so  great  a  success  in  our  Church,  the  statesmen  of  other  denominations 
have  sought  for  information  about  it,   but  when   the   bolder  spirits  among  them  have 
proposed  the  establishment  of  a  similar    association,   they  have  been  met  by  exactly 
the  same  objections  as  were  offered  to  Mr.  Hartley.     One  of  these  objections  was  that 
the  margin  of  profit  allowed  for  the  payment  of  expenses  was  too   small ;  another  that 
the  people  of  our  Church  had  no   money  to  invest,  and  if  they  had  they  would  not 
invest  it  in  this  company ;  another   that  trustees   who    borrowed  would   not  feel   the 
same  obligations  to  pay  promptly  as  though  they  had  borrowed  in  the  ordinary  way — 
through  a  solicitor.     All  these  objections  have  proved  to  be  groundless,  and  even  the 
expectations  of    Mr.   Hartley,  exaggerated  as  they  seemed   to  be,  have  been  greatly 
exceeded.     The  Chapel  Aid  Association  is  a  kind  of  Banking  Company.     It  accepts 
deposits,  and  pays  thereon  three  and  a  half  per  cent.     It  also  loans  money  to  trustees 
of  chapels  under  certain  conditions  at  the  rate  of  three  and  three-quarters  per  cent., 
having  thus  five  shillings  per  one  hundred  pounds  with  which  to  pay  working  expenses. 
Mr.  Hartley  paid  the  whole  of  the  expenses  necessary  for  starting  the  Company,  and, 
the  facts  of  its  history  have  more  than  justified   Mr.    Hartley's   anticipations  in  every 
particular.     After   transacting  business  for  sixteen  years  it   has  been  found  that  the 
quarter  per  cent,  has  paid  the  working  expenses,  and  left  enough  to  build  up  a  Eeserve 
Fund  of  well  over  four  thousand  pounds,   besides  making  grants  to  help  to  float  the 
Church   Extension   Fund   to   the  amount  of  twelve   hundred   and  fifty   pounds.     The 
business-like  manner  in  which  deposits  have  been  dealt  with,  and  the  promptitude  with 
which  the  interest  has  been  paid,   together  with  other  circumstances  have   created 
absolute   confidence   in   the   soundness  of    the   Company  as    a    mode   of    investment. 
And   instead   of    the    £250,000   which    Mr.    Hartley   thought   might   ultimately    be 
invested  in   it,   already  the  deposits  are  considerably  over  £400,000,  and  the  amount 
increases  every   year.      The    Company     was    fortunate    when    it    started    in    having 
Mr.  Hartley  to  assist  it  in  this  as  well  as  in  other  respects,  he  placing  a  very  large  sum 
at  the  disposal  of  the  directors  as  the  first  depositor.     In  1905  there  were  about  three 
thousand  depositors.     In   this   respect   the   Association  has  been  of  great  advantage  to 
many  of  the  thrifty  people  in    humble  circumstances  in  our  Church,  who   have  not 
known  of  good  and   safe   investments   in   which   to   put   their   small  savings.     On  the 
other   side    loans   are   out    to   about    eleven   hundred   boards   of    trustees   of    chapels, 
schools    and   manses;   as   proof  of  the   groundlessness  of  the   fears   entertained  when 
Mr   Hartley  made  his   proposals,    it   may   be   pointed   out  that  in  the  sixteen  years  no 
bad   debt  has  been  made,   and   there  are   no  arrears  of  interest  due.     The  directors, 
however    exercise  the  greatest   care  in  making   loans.     They  require  that  one-half  of 
the  cost'  of  the  estate    shall    have    been    raised,   or  in  some  exceptional  cases  where 


r>;!8  PRIMITIVE   METHODIST   CHUKCH. 

the  chapels  are  new,  two-fifths.  They  also  require  that  in  addition  to  the  interest 
a  small  proportion  shall  be  paid  off  the  loan  each  year.  And  before  making  the  loan 
the  directors  ascertain  whether  the  trust  board,  the  membership  of  the  church,  and  the 
congregation  warrant  the  expectation  that  the  payments  will  be  made  regularly.  This 
care  accounts  for  the  satisfactory  results  in  this  section  of  the  Company's  business. 
The  advantages  to  trustees  are  very  great.  It  enables  them  to  pay  a  small  amount  off 
their  debt,  whereas  in  the  case  of  a  mortgage  they  can  only  pay  off  in  large  sums.  The 
total  amount  repaid  during  the  sixteen  years  is  about  ,£240,000,  and  if  a  small  part 
of  this  be  taken  off  to  account  for  cases  where  payments  have  been  made  for  other 
purposes,  it  is  certain  that  through  the  operations  of  the  Chapel  Aid  Association, 
chapel  debts  have  been  reduced  in  that  time  by  well  over  £200,000.  It  has  come  to 
be  recognised,  indeed,  that  this  is  by  far  the  best  scheme  in  the  denomination  for 
dealing  with  its  temporalities  effectively.  The  trustees  get  their  loans  at  an  easy  rate 
of  inteie.-t.  And,  one  of  the  advantages  obtained  through  this  company,  not 
originally  contemplated,  is  the  great  saving  in  legal  expenses.  The  total  cost  for 
effecting  a  loan,  is  at  the  rate  of  three  shillings  and  sixpence  per  one  hundred  pounds, 
this  being  the  amount  paid  to  the  inland  revenue  as  stamp  duty.  The  Secretary  of 
the  Company  prepares  all  the  legal  documents  gratis,  and  it  is  calculated  that  the 
saving  to  the  Connexion  in  the  matter  of  these  particular  legal  expenses  will  be  about 
two  thousand  pounds  per  year.  Judging  by  communications  that  come  to  the  office 
the  Chape]  Aid  Association  is  the  wonder  and  the  envy  of  many  leading  men  of  other 
Churches.  Its  first  directors  were  :  Dr.  Samuel  Antliff,  Mr.  John  Coward,  J. P., 
Rev.  James  Travis,  Rev.  R.  >S.  Blair,  Mr.  John  Jones,  Mr.  John  Caton,  and  Mr.  AV.  P. 
Hartley.  Xext  to  Mr.  Hartley  the  Association  owes  most  to  its  first  secretary,  the 
Pie  v.  John  Atkinson.  He  was  unceasing  in  his  toil  in  its  behalf  in  the  first  year 
of  its  history  ;  for  some  time,  when  the  business  was  comparatively  small,  doing  the 
work  without  remuneration.  The  present  directors,  who  give  their  services  without 
fee  or  reward,  are:  Mr.  \V.  P.  Hartley,  J. P.,  Liverpool  (Chairman);  Mr.  John 
Coward,  J  P.,  Durham  (Deputy  Chairman) ;  Mr.  TV.  Beckworth,  J. P.  (Treasurer), 
Leeds;  Mr.  J.  Jones,  Chester;  Re\.  J.  Travis,  Chester;  Rev.  T.  Whitehead,  London; 
Rev.  R.  K.  Blair,  Romford ;  Rev.  J.  Hallam,  Leicester ;  Rev.  T.  Mitchell,  London  ; 
Mr.  I!,  llaswell,  Gateshead;  Mr.  T.  Robinson,  Grimsbv;  Rev.  J.  T.  Barkby, 
Harrogate;  and  Rev.  Robert  Hind,  who  has  been  the  Secretary  since  the  death  of 
the  Rev.  John  Atkinson.  The  uninterrupted  success  of  the  Company  points  to  the 
conclusion,  that  the  time  will  come  when  the  whole  of  the  chapel  debts  will  be  dealt 
with  through  this  agency. 


THE   PERIOD    OF   CONSOLIDATION   AND    CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT. 


539 


EPILOGUE. 
a  word   on  LONDON  EXTENSION. 


|E  cannot  close  without  alluding  to  the  remarkable  extension  of  our 
denomination  in  London  during  recent  years.  What  was  the  position  of 
our  Church  in  the  Metropolis  at  the  middle  of  the  last  century  we  have 
seen.  In  1904  we  had  47  Circuits,  9,827  Members,  and  115  Chapels, 
of  the  estimated  value  of  £284,308.*  But  for  the  inexorable  limitations  of  space,  we 
should  have  devoted  a  chapter  to  the  purpose  of  showing  how  and  to  whom  this 
remarkable  advancement  has  largely  been  due.  Such  a  chapter  indeed  we  had 
written,  but  it  cannot  without  a  departure  from  our  plan  be  printed  here.  The  history 
of  Primitive  Methodism  in  London  deserves  and  demands  a  book  to  itself,  and  by  the 
time  that  the  Centenary  celebrations  are  upon  us  such  a  book  should  see  the  light. 

All  we  can  here  do  is  to  give  the  names  and  in  some  cases  the  portraits  of  a  few  of 
the  men  who  by  their  long  and  efficient  service  have  contributed  to  this  remarkable 
extension.     Amongst  such  must  be  named  R.  S.  Blair  (on  whom  the  mantle  of  Hugh 


REV.    G.    KHAPCOTT. 

REV.  i>-    fl.    CONNELL. 
REV.    R.    o.    BLAIR. 

Campbell  seems  to  have  fallen),  R.  R.  Connell,  J.  F.  Porter,  G.  Shapcott  W.  Mincher, 
J.  Johnson,  B.  Senior,  and  his  successors  at  Surrey-J.  Tolefree  Parr  and  James  Watkm 
Of  younger  men,  still  thinking  of  extension,  T.  J.  Gladwin's  success  at  Harnngay  and 
W.  T.  Clark  Hallam's  chapel  enterprise  at  Leytonstone  have   been   most   creditable 

achievements.  .  ,   , 

The  work  of  some  of  our  London  ministers  has  from  the  beginning  commended 

itself  to  a  few  men  of  wealth  who  have  stood  by  them  and  helped  them  in  their  efforts. 

Thus  James  Duncan,   Esq.,  received  the  thanks  of  the  Conference  of  1886  for  his 

*  The  figures  are  given  on  the  authority  of  Rev.  W.  Mincher. 


540 


PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 


additional  gift  of  £1000  to  Mr.  Blair's  erection  at  Canning'  Town,  while  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Slater,  whose  portraits  we  give,  have  proved  his  friends  in  times  of  trial  and 
difficulty.  Many  of  our  London  adherents  will  be  glad  to  see  the  likeness  of 
Joseph  Peters,  Esq.,  who  has  for  years  been  a  most  liberal  supporter  of  our  ministers  in 

their  work,  especially  of  Revs.  G.  Shapcott, 

W.    Mincher,    and    R.    K.    Connell.    Mr. 

Edwin   Tildesley  has  also  nobly  stood  by 

Mr.  Shapcott. 
■L    ^jj_  igV  Of  our  London  laymen  probably  Mr.  E. 

C.    Rawlings    holds    the    foremost    place. 

He    was    elected    Vice-President    of    the 

Conference  of  1905,  has  been  President  of 

the  London  Primitive  Methodist  Council, 

and  he  and  his  partner,  Mr.  8.  Alfred  Butt, 

who  like  himself  is  the  son  of  a  minister, 

fill  the  position  of   Legal  Advisers   to  the 
Connexion,  to  which  office  they  were  elected  on  the  demise  of  W.  Lewis,  Esq.,  in  1896. 


,-■    !*i^ 

^F^«S 

| 

la-gORl 

ff^t- 

Hv  ^    '-'-'1 

'   T  y 

H9i 

MR.  MARTIN    SLATKR. 


MRS.    SLATER. 


E\ 'ANGELINA!  :     MODERN    PHASES. 

In  1874  the  Rev.  G.  "Warner  was  set  apart  by  the  Conference  as  a  Special  Evangelist, 
and  he  laboured  widely  and  unremittingly  until  1886.  He  laboured  assiduously  to 
promote   the  experience  of  Scriptural   Holiness,  and   as  the  annual   gatherings  of  the 

Holiness  Association  bear  witness  he  did  not 
labour  in  vain.  There  is  a  link  between  the 
Association  just  named  and  the  Evangelists' 
Home  which  we  will  let  Mr.  Odell  describe 
in  his  own  way. 

The  Evangelists'  Home  was  commenced  in 
September,  1888,  in  response  to  a  deep  con- 
viction felt  at  the  Holiness  Convention  held  at 
Hainton  Street,  Grimsby,  earlier  in  that  year. 
The  Institution  was  domestic,  the  Evangelists 
joining  the  home,  and  sharing  the  family-life 
of  the  founder.  Mrs.  Odell's  participation 
in  the  movement  was  equally  based  on  a 
Divine  conviction.  Her  reply  to  the  prospect 
held  out  of  young  men  joining  her  family- 
circle  and  sharing  her  table  was,  "  God  has 
done  so  much  for  my  boys  that  I  am  ready  to 
do' anything  for  any  other  boys  that  God  may 
send  to  me."  In  this  spirit  the  Home  and 
Institution  became  one.  It  was  felt  that  the  Churches  needed  evangelistic  labour. 
The  demand  was  most  imperative  where    the    means   of    supply   were   the   scantiest. 


JOSKrii    PETERS.    ESQ. 


THE   PERIOD    OF  CONSOLIDATION   AND   CHURCH   DEVELOPMENT.  541 

There  were  rural  circuits  each  with  many  chapels  and  only  one  minister — these  chapels 
being,  in  many  cases,  closed  on  week-nights,  even  in  winter,  for  weeks  in  succession. 
Then  the  Churches  needed  also  the  Prophet-ministry — pertinent  and  pressing;  and, 
above  all,  evangelism  was  the  national  demand  in  order  to  meet  the  indifference, 
militarism,  and  growing  materialism  everywhere  dominant. 

From  the  commencement,  the  Evangelists'  Home  justified  itself  by  its  fruits.  The 
principle  of  its  support  was  commendable.  There  was  no  debt :  there  was  to  be  none. 
Furniture  came ;  funds  also  and  friends.  In  six  months  the  staff  increased  from  two 
to  twenty.  The  visits  of  the  young  men  to  rural  districts  produced  favourable 
impressions,  and  imperishable  fruit  was  gathered.  In  September,  1889,  thirty  young 
men  were  sent  to  needy  fields.  Many  struggling  stations  were  strengthened,  decaying 
churches  revived  and  large  increases  of  members  secured.  The  "signs"  of  Jesus 
Christ  were  continued  during  succeeding  years.      There  is  before  us  a  volume  of  the 


£.    C.    RAWLINGS.  S.    ALFBED    BUTT. 

Vice-President  of  Conference  3  90">,  Lsgal  Adviser  to  the  Connexion, 

and  Legal  Adviser  to  the  Connexion. 

reports  of  the  young  men   and  the  records  of  struggle  and  success,  together  with  some 
samples  of  service  and  conversions  which  read  like  modern  "  Acts  of  the  Apostles.'' 

The  Conference  of  1889,  held  at  Bradford,  requested  Mr.  Odell  to  go  on  and 
strengthen  the  work.  It  further  recognised  in  his  work  the  basis  of  a  new  order  of 
workers  after  the  manner  of  the  New  Testament  Evangelists.  In  all  this  the  guiding 
hand  of  God  was  evident.  For  successive  years  the  young  men  kept  the  work 
advancing.      There    were    notable    instances    of    effective    evangelism    and    glorious 

ingatherings. 

The  Evangelists'  Home  thus  continued  until  June,  1904,  when  it  was  necessary  that 
Mrs.  Odell's  work  should  cease  and  complete  rest  be  secured.  It  was  with  reluctance 
that  it  was  decided  to  discontinue  the  work  as  a  Home.  It  was  finished,  as  it 
commenced,  without   debt    and    without    difficulty.     It  was,  however,  a  great  joy  to 


oVl  PRIMITIVE    METHODIST    CHURCH. 

recognise  the  absolute  change  in  the  trend  and  tone  of  the  Connexion  towards  both  the 
Home  and  the  work.  The  Home  did  not  close  until  the  principle  for  which  it  stood 
was  officially  recognised  by  the  Conference,  and  an  Evangelist's  order  under  the 
Missionary  Committee  fully  established.  Quite  a  considerable  number  of  Mr.  Odell's 
former  staff  are  the  evangelists  now  in  charge  of  missions ;  while  Mr.  J.  B.  Bayliffe, 
a  devoted  son  of  the  Evangelists'  Home,  stands  with  ministerial  evangelists,  and  on 
equal  terms  with  Mr.  Odell  in  the  new  form  of  the  work.  It  is  evident  the  leaven 
has  worked  throughout  the  Connexion,  and  also  beyond  into  other  Churches,  where 
evangelism  has  become  the  first  arm  of  service. 

More  than  160  young  men  joined  the  staff  of  "Home-labourers."  Of  these  130 
can  now  be  traced  to  honourable  spheres  of  toil,  either  missionary  or  in  the  pastorates 
of  Churches.  A  great  joy  came  to  the  founder  and  to  the  Mother  of  the  Home,  in  the 
visitation  of  thirteen  of  these  young  men  in  the  United  Status  of  America, — all  in  happy 
labour ;  some  in  influential  positions  and  high  command  in  the  Church  of  God. 
During  all  these  years  the  principle  prevailed  of — No  debt.  In  sixteen  years  nearly 
£15,000  was  received  and  expended,  and  to  the  end  there  was  no  debt.  The  young 
men  at  the  end  were  placed  in  the  work  they  loved  ;  the  books  of  the  study  were 
distributed  by  choice  and  selection  amongst  the  latest  members  of  the  staff;  the 
balance  of  funds  handed  to  the  last  young  man  who  assisted  in  the  closing  work ;  and 
the  furniture  placed  in  the  new  minister's  house  for  the  use  of  the  Circuit. 

We  began  with  Evangelism,  and  with.  Evangelism  we  finish.  "While  some  of  our 
most  gifted  ministers  are  going  to  and  fro  amongst  the  Churches,  our  Van  Missionaries 
are  carrying  the  Evangel  to  the  villages  which  were  too  much  in  danger  of  being 
overlooked.  We  are  getting  back  to  the  villages  our  fathers  loved,  while  we  are 
strengthening  our  hold  of  the  towns. 

Our  task  is  ended,  and  we  lay  down  our  pen  with  thanks  to  God  that  we  have  had 
such  a  history  to  write.  Also  we  breathe  the  prayer  that  whatever  future  developments 
may  await  our  Church,  they  may  be  such  as  shall  enlarge  Christ's  kingdom  and  bring 
greater  glory  to  His  name. 


INDEX. 


Africa,  Missions  in,  ii.  487 — 506. 

Allendale  missioned  by  Hexham  and  Barnard 
Castle,  ii.  147  ;  great  revival  in,  151. 

Aires  ford,  fierce  persecution  at,  "ii.  341.  Con- 
nexional  Orphanage  at,  518 — 19. 

Alston,  great  revival  at,  ii.  147—8 ;  made  a 
Circuit,  151. 

America  (United  States),  P.  Methodism  in, 
i.  436—7,  ii.  446—9. 

Antliff  W.,  D.D.,  his  parentage  and  early  life  ; 
enters  the  ministry  when  sixteen,  ii.  376 ; 
his  successful  labours  at  Nottingham,  i.  250, 
at  Ashby-de-la-Zouch,  322;  at  Oldham, 
ii.  41  ;  his  influence  in  Conference,  376  ;  an 
early  advocate  of  Temperance,  i.  472,  in 
the  Conference,  ii.  376  ;  Editor,  367,  395  ; 
twice  President  of  Conference,  '63  and'65. 
Principal  of  Theological  Institute,  526 
Probably  the  best  known  and  most  in- 
fluential figure  of  the  Middle  Period,  375. 
Portraits ;  ii.  292,  ii.  375. 

Antliff  S.,  D.D.,  his  home  at  Caunton.  ii.  375  ; 
begins  his  ministry  at  Chesterfield,  i.  498, 
in  Newark  Branch,  270  ;  is  late  in  getting 
to  Conference,  ii.  368,  early  advocate  of 
Temperance,  i.  472.  G.  M.  Sec,  ii.  373  ; 
Deputy  Treasurer,  etc.,  405 ;  Visits  the 
Colonial  Missions,  445.  President,  '73, 
292 ;  his  great  interest  in  Elmfield  College, 
York,  523. 

Ashwoeth  Jesse,  his  call  to  the  ministry  in 
'37,  portrait,  ii.  49  ;  his  success  in  Peter- 
borough and  death,  423. 

Atkinson  John,  his  early  life  and  usefulness  at 
Kendal;  Mr.  McKechnie  early  f.iscovers 
his  "  uncommon  force  of  mind,"  ii.  138 
G.  M.  Secretary,  373,  405.  President,  '86, 
392  ;  Sec.  of  the  Insurance  and  Chapel  Aid 
Cos.,  ii.  538. 

Auditors,  Connexional,  appointment  of,  '43 ; 
Table  showing  the  succession  of,  ii.  399 — 
400. 

Australian  Missions,  ii.  425 — 8,  431 — 440. 

Auxiliary  Fund,  name  given,  '65,  to  Charitable 
Fund  ;  A.  F.  abolished,  '76,  ii.  408—9. 

Aylesbury,  missioned  by  Shefford,  ii.  314,  made 
a  circuit ;  missions  Dunstable  and  Luton 
and  takes  over  Buckingham,  352. 

Barnard  Castle,  missioned  from  Darlington ; 
becomes  a  branch  of  Hull,  ii.  132 — 4; 
missions  Weardale  and  Alston  Moor, 
143—7,  Brough  and  Eden  Valley,  149—51. 
One  of  the  earliest  Protracted  Meetings 
held  at,  i.  455,  note  ;  made  a  circuit,  ii. 
151  ;  takes  charge  of  Kendal  Mission,  138. 

Barnsley.  Sheffield  sends  W.  Taylor  to  mission 
B.,  and  the  district ;  made  a  circuit ;  some 
early  befrienders  of  the  cause;  circuits 
made  from  it,  i.  486—7. 


Bateman  Thos.,  his  early  life  and  introduction 
to  P.  Methodism,  i.  511—13  ;  his  labours  at 
Chester,  551,  on  the  Shropshire  Station,  ii. 
284—5;  his  portraits  i.  511,  ii.  21,  and 
Memorial,  i.  557. 

Batty  Thos.,  portrait  and  sketch  of,  ii.  117—8 

Beckwobth,  W.  J.  P.,  ii.  405,  518,  527;  his 
connection  with  the  S.  S.  Union,  531. 

Bedford,  its  early  history  and  progress,  ii.  419 

Belfast,  first  Irish  mission ;  its  progress,  ii.  281 

Bellham  W.  G.,  his  early  life  and  ministry,  i 

414  ;  his  rough  usage  at  Daventry,  portrait, 

i.  34  '—4 ;  at  Witney  and  Oxford,  346—7  ; 

before  the  magistrate  in  Norfolk,  ii.  219 20. 

Belper,    missioned    by   J.    Benton,    i.    182 4 ; 

made  a  circuit,  183  ;  first  missionary  meet- 
ings at  B.  and  Turnditch,  184  :  in  a  double 
sense  our  Antioch,  187 — 8  ;  its  extensions, 
continuity  of  its  history,  525 — 37. 

Benton  John,  his  early  relations  with  H. 
Bourne  and  the  C.  M.  Methodists,  i.  96 — 8  ; 
his  Mission  in  London,  ii,  250  ;  is  dissatisfied 
with  the  non-mission  law  and  declines  his 
plan ;  gets  a  hymn-book  printed  ;  his 
labours  in  East  Stafford  and  Derbyshire, 
i.  190 — 2;  missions  Belper,  182 — 4;  effects 
of  Mercaston  C.  Meeting  on  him,  198;  one 
of  the  main  leaders  of  the  Great  Revival  of 
'17-18,  233—40;  at  Grantham,  260—1; 
opens  Leicester,  301 — 2  ;  finances  chapels, 
317;  his  romantic  marriage,  354 — 5;  loses 
his  voice  at  Round  Hill  C.  M.,  352—3 ; 
becomes  "  unattached  "  ;  his  death,  356. 

Berkshire  Mission  (Brinkworth's),  J.  Ride  and 
J.  Petty  earliest  pioneers  ;  social  and  moral 
condition  of  the  district,  ii.  316 — 19  ;  the 
Ashdown  wrestle — "  Lord  give  us  Berk- 
shire "  ;  320  ;  toils  and  persecutions  of  the 
pioneers,  317,  319,  330—5. 

Berwick,  missioned  by  North  Shields  ;  labours 
of  W  Clough  and  W.  Lister  at ;  some  not- 
able early  converts ;  some  peculiarities  of 
the  circuit — freedom  from  persecution,  a 
feeder  of  Churches,  number  of  preachers 
pledged  ;  portraits  of  Messrs.  J.  Brown  and 
E.  Jobson,  ii.  175 — 7. 

Beverley,  J.  Verity  and  W.  Clowes  at ;  W.  Drif- 
field arrested  ;  first  rooms  ;  early  cases  of 
persecution  ;  first  chapel  and  its  difficulties ; 
i.  392—7. 

Birmingham,  origin  and  progress  of  P.  Method- 
ism in,  ii.  472 — 8  ;  view  of  chapels,  477. 

Bishop's  Castle,  missioned  by  Shrewsbury ; 
R.  Ward  overcomes  hostility ;  useful 
workers  raised  up  ;  portraits  of  J.  Huff  and 
Mr.  R.  Jones  of  Clun,  ii.  '279—80. 

Blackburn,  T.  Batty's  first  sermon  on  dunghill, 
ii.  121  ;  made  a  circuit ;  circuits  derived 
from,  124. 


544 


INDEX. 


Blaenavon,  afterwards  Pontypool ;  Oakengates' 
pioneer  mission  in  South  Wales,  ii.  298  ; 
its  subsequent  extensions ;  portraits  of 
J.  Prosser  and  Aid.  Parfitt,  307—10. 

Bolton,  great  success  of  J.  Verity  and  W.  Carter 
at ;  made  a  circuit  along  with  its  daughter- 
circuit,  Isle  of  Man ;  its  chapels ;  some  of  its 
worthies,  ii.  35 — 7  ;  its  offshoots,  41. 

Bonseb  Jas.  his  conversion,  i.  242  ;  his  arrest 
at  Wolverhampton,  522 ;  his  labours  in 
Manchester,  ii.  17 — 18,  Liverpool,  267, 
Oakengates,  274,  imprisonment  at  Shrews- 
bury, 278  ;  head  of  Western  Mission,  arrest 
at  Bridgnorth  and  Tewkesbury,  295-6 ; 
reaches  Stroud,  296,  his  retirement,  296 — 7, 
and  death,  278. 

Book-Room  (1)  Bemersley  Period.  Description 
of  the  locality  and  buildings ;  staff,  ii.  5 — 7  ; 
interior  economy,  7 — 8  ;  personnel  of  the 
Book  Committee,  3 — 5  ;  functions,  4,  13, 
381  ;  the  "  Cross  Providence,"  13—14  ; 
close  connection  between  Book-Room  and 
Missions,  380.  (2)  London  Period.  Causes 
which  led  to  its  removal,  382 — 4  ;  Sutton 
St.,  its  acquisition,  tenure,  extensions, 
staff,  with  portraits  of  Mr.  P.  Brown  and 
T.  C.  Earner,  384 — 7.  Removal  to  Alders- 
gate  St.,  385  ;  Table  showing  succession 
of  Editors,  and  Book  Stewards,  390; 
■portraits  of  Editors,  367,  of  Book  Stewards, 
370,  388  ;  changes  in  the  constitution  of 
Book  Committee,  398 — 9 ;  T.  Bateman  on 
the  advantages  of  removal,  393 ;  gross 
amount  of  allocations,  395. 

Botjkne  H.,  Career,  chronological  sequence  of. 
His  birth,  parentage,  childhood,  i.  7 — 10  ; 
conversion,  12  ;  joins  the  Methodists,  15  ; 
is  much  about  Mow  on  business,  15—16; 
the  Christmas-day  conversation-sermon, 
22 — 7  ;  his  part  in  the  Harriseahead  revival 
and  characteristics  of  that  revival,  28 — 33  ; 
his  first  sermon  in  the  open-air,  33 — 0 ;  takes 
main  part  in  building  chapel,  37  ;  revival 
checked — modern  and  primitive  Methodism 
contrasted,  37 — 43  ;  organizes  and  takes 
part  in  Mow  Cop  and  Norton  C.  Meetings, 
61-82  ;  his  strange  experience  at  Lichfield, 
151  ;  he  is  unchurched  ;  the  real  and  the 
alleged  ground  of  this  discussed,  84 — Pi ; 
his  relations  with  the  Quaker  and  Indepen- 
dent Methodists,  '44 — 6  ;  he  and  his  brother 
employ  J.  Crawfoc  as  an  itinerant  evan- 
gelist, 147 — 9  ;  is  tl,^  head  of  the  Camp- 
meeting  Methodists,  il3 — 15;  meets  with 
John  Benton  at  Wyrley  Bank,  96 — 8  ; 
takes  part  in  weekly  services  in  Mr.  Smith's 
kitchen,  Tunstall,  103—4  ;  The  Clowesites 
and  C.  M.  Methodists  unite,  129—35 ; 
works  on  the  first  Tunstall  Chapel,  110  ;  is 
General  Superintendent  of  the  body  until 
'19,  281,  331.  Drafts  society  rules,  169— 
172  ;  establishes  Tract  Mission  at  Hulland, 
and  Sabbath  Schools,  and  employs  Mary 
Hawkesley,    174 — 7;    takes   over   Benton's 


circuit,  192,  and  Belper,  188  ;  follows  as 
overseer  the  tract  of  the  Great  Revival, 
228  ;  his  editorship  and  frequent  attendance 
at  District  Meetings,  ii.  359 — 60 ;  his  super- 
annuation by  Conference  of  '42  ;  the  action 
of  Conference  discussed,  360 ;  his  circular 
on  "  High  Popularity  and  Low  Popularity," 
361 — 2 ;  goes  out  to  U.  S.  A.  and  Canada, 
446 — 7  ;  his  enthusiastic  labours  on  behalf 
of  Temperance,  i.  472 — 3 ;  his  illness, 
death,  and  burial,  ii.  363 — 4;  Mr.  Petty's 
estimate  of  him  and  comparison  with  W. 
Clowes,  364 — 5.  Portraits,  i.  7,  8,  •  ii.  2  ; 
his  tomb,  363. 

Characteristics.     His  morbid   shyness,   i. 

7 — 8  ;  his  interest  in  the  young,  10,  177, 
ii.  44 — 5  ;  his  belief  in  the  power  of  the,  press, 
i.  12,  preaching  with  hand  before  face,  34 — 5; 
note  ;  no  high  views  of  ministerial  office, 
131  ;  his  scrupulosity  in  receiving  favours 
or  monty  from  others,  87,  131  ;  his  forcible 
way  of  putting  things,  and  his  aptness  at 
coining  phrases,  140 ;  his  mysticism  and 
complicity  in  "vision-work,  147 — 154; 
later  attitude,  ii.  288 — 9  ;  his  dislike  of 
"  speeching  Radicals,''  i.  338 — 9;  his 
incessant  journeyings  on  foot,  154,  ii.  153; 
his  abstemiousness,  i.  156 ;  his  practical 
idealism,  288  and  note,  292. 
-Jovrnals.     Psychological     and      historio 


value  of,  i.  136 — 7  ;  side-lights  on  the  period 
1800—12  from,  138—156. 
Bourne  James,  takes  part  in  first  C.  Meeting, 
i.  65  ;  momentarily  wavers,  but  in  the  end 
resolves  to  stand  by  his  brother,  80 ; 
specimens  of  his  evangelistic  labours,  154 — 
5  ;  first  Book  Steward,  ii.  3  ;  President,  '26, 
21  ;  Conference  reference  to  his  death,  379, 
portrait,  i.  155. 
Bourne    College,    Quinton,    establishment    and 

progress  of,  ii.  524 — 5. 
Bradwell,  missioned  by  Sheffield  ;    i.,  503 — 6. 

i  Beaithwaite  W.,  the  "Apostle  of  N.  W.  Lincoln- 
shire," his  character,  i.  413 — 18  ;  incidents 
of  his  mission,  419 — 21. 

I   Bridlington,   missioned  by  J.   Coulson  and   W. 

Clowes ;  its  early  chapels  ;  ii.  99 — 101. 

Brinkworth.     The    Wiltshire    Mission    becomes 

Brinkworth  Circuit,  ii.  313  ;  S.  Heath's  and 

R.    Davies'    experiences,    311 — 13;    begins 

1  the    Berkshire    Mission,    316 — 21  ;    some 

notable  families,  335 — 6 ;  resumption  of 
missionary  labours — Chippenham,  Bristol, 
Malmesbury  missioned,  315,  349 — 50. 

;  Bristol,  missioned  by  S.  West  and  S.  Turner ; 

I  view  of  first  and  present  chapels  ;  influence 

of  C.  T.  Harris ;  Conference  of  1900  at,  ii. 

;  349—51. 

Brough  missioned  by  Barnard  Castle ;  fruitless 
opposition  of  the  "  gentry  "  ;  the  revival  ; 
view  of  old  and  present  chapels,  ii.  149— 
150. 
Buckley,  made  a  circuit  from  Chester  ;  Gladstone 
gives  an  address  in  the  Tabernacle  (view  of); 


INDEX. 


545 


notices  of  worthies  with  portrait  of  E. 
Bellis,  ii.  271  and  273. 

Burland.  How  the  Cheshire  Mission  became 
Burland  Branch,  i.  510—16. 

Burnley  replaces  Clitheroe  as  head  of  circuit ;  its 
chapels;  division  and  sub-division  of  circuit. 
Conference  of  '96  at ;  notices  of  worthies 
with  portraits  of  J.  Lancaster,  Aid.  Smith, 
and  J.  Clarkson,  ii.  122 — 3. 

Burton-on-Trent,  S.  Turner's  labours  at  and 
neighbouring  places ;  transferred  to  Not- 
tingham district ;  its  early  chapels,  i. 
522—5. 

Cambridge,  notices  of  early  P.  Methodism  in, 
ii.  225—7. 

Camp-Meetings.  Why  there  were  none  till  '07, 
i.  56 — 8 ;  their  decline  and  revival  on  the 
new  model,  196 ;  tactical  value  of,  288  ; 
Wesleyan  Conference  recommends  the 
practice  of  holding,  310 ;  serious  proposal 
to  put  them  down,  311. 

-Some   famous.     The    first    described,    i. 

63 — 7  ;  the  second  in  its  relation  to  the 
Conventicle  Act,  69 — 77  ;  Norton  the  inter- 
dicted and  crucial  CM.,  77 — 82;  theWrekin, 
83—4;  Nottingham  Whit  Sunday  C.  M., 
210;  C.  M.  Love-feast  at  Priest's  Hill 
and  its  far-reaching  effects,  254 ;  Buck- 
minster  C.  M.  brings  Wedgwood  out  of 
prison,  259 — 60 ;  Woodhouse  Eaves  historic, 
283 — 5  ;  Hinckley,  the  first  lantern-lighted 
C.  M.,  289—90;  the  "noisy"  C.  M.  at 
Witney,  346 ;  the  "  panic  "  C.  M.  at  Round 
Hill,  352—3  ;  Wrine  Hill  begins  Cheshire 
Mission,  510  ;  Oldham  on  the  great  C.  M. 
Day,  ii.  41 ;  Pickering,  87  ;  Waterloo  the 
decisive  C.  M.  for  So.  Shropshire,  284 — 5  ; 
echoes  in  literature  of  some  East  Anglian 
C.  Meetings,  240—1. 

Canada.  Establishment  of  the  mission  in,  i. 
438.     Progress  of  until  '84,  ii.  449—53. 

Cardiff  missioned  by  Pontypool  and  made 
Circuit  by  G.  M.  C,  portrait  of  Aid.  Rams- 
dale,  J.  P.,  and  J.  P.  Bellingham,  ii.  309. 

Carlisle,  Clowes'  invited  mission  to,  ii.  137—9 ; 
missions  Glasgow,  Wigton,  and  White- 
haven, 139,  141. 

Channel  Isles,  Sunderland  and  So.  Shields'  mission 
to ;  regarded  as  the  stepping-stone  to 
France,  ii.  208—10. 

Chapel  Aid  Association,  its  establishment  and 
progress,  ii.  536 — 8. 

Building  Era,  Hull    leads   the    forward 

movement,  ii.  458—63  ;  facts  and  figures 
relating  thereto,  456. 
-Committee,    General,    its    establishment, 


of  George  St.  ;  P.  Methodism  hereditary 
in  families ;  has  the  Conferences  of  '66  and 
'94,  i.  549—557. 

Chesterfield  missioned  by  Sheffield ;  account  of 
its  early  chapels  and  view  of  present ; 
numerical  progress  and  stations  made  from 
it ;  portrait  and  sketch  of  Dr.  Geo.  Booth, 
i.  495—500. 

Clowes  William.  Career,  Chronological 
sequence  of.  His  family  and  lineage ; 
becomes  a  potter  ;  his  wild  doings  at  Leek  ; 
his  life  in  Hull ;  his  anguish  under  convic- 
tion ;  his  conversion  and  early  usefulness  at 
Tunstall,  i.  45 — 55 ;  exhorts  at  first  C 
Meeting,  66 ;  present  at  the  second,  but 
labours  little,  75  ;  explanation  of  his  holding 
aloof  from  C.  Meetings  for  fifteen  months, 
87 — 9  ;  is  present  at  all  the  Ramsor  C. 
Meetings,  89  ;  he  is  "  dealt  with,"  99—102  ; 
becomes  the  head  of  the  Clowesites  and  a 
travelling  evangelist,  102 — 6 ;  the  P. 
Methodist  denomination  formed,  111,  129 — 
135  ;  is  Tunstall  preacher  until  '19,  but 
makes  an  excursion  into  Notts.,  257 — 60, 
264—7,  and  Leicestershire,  305—7,  463 — 1 ; 
is  appointed  to  Hull,  363  ;  missions  York, 
ii.  53 — 5  ;  Leeds,  67 — 8  ;  Ripon  and  Hutton 
Rudby,  i.  405 — 9  ;  Scarboro',  Whitby,  etc., 
ii.  98,  104,  107—9;  Darlington,  130—2; 
the  Northern  Mission,  168—72,  199—201, 
164  ;  Carlisle,  138—9  ;  Whitehaven,  141  ; 
London,  253 — 5  ;  Cornish  Mission,  321 — 3, 
his  superannuation,  359  ;  last  years  in  Hull, 
and  death  ;  funeral  card  and  view  of  tomb, 
362 — 3 ;  Mr.  Petty's  estimate  of  him, 
364—5. 

Characteristics.     Character     simple     not 

complex,  i.  45 ;  his  magnetic  power,  87, 
102  ;  the  power  of  his  eye  and  his  thrilling 
voice,  258,  464 ;  had  a  soul  full  of  music, 
161  ;  his  superb  evangelizing  gifts,  259, 
409 ;  took  unkindly  to  the  pen,  136 ;  as 
much  inferior  to  H.  Bourne  in  legislative 
and  administrative  ability  as  he  was 
superior  to  him  as  a  speaker  and  evangelist, 
ii.  364—5. 
-Journals.    Defects  and  qualities  of,  i.  136. 


objects  and  constitution,  ii.  458. 
Charlton  Geo.,  sketch  of,  ii.  193 ;  portrait,  i.  472. 
Chartists,  The,  in  Leicester,  i.  334—6  ;  in  Lough- 

boro',  339. 
Cheltenham,  its  early  history,  n.  414— lb. 
Chester     account    of    its    first    missioning    by 

Burland ;  view  of  its  chapels,  and  history 


Committees,  origin  of  Circuit,  i.  281  ;  district, 
i.  323,  ii.  458 ;  General,  and  General  Mission- 
ary, i.  377,  ii.  401—3  ;  General  Chapel,  458. 

Ceawfoot  Jas.,  sketch  of ;  What,  connexion- 
ally,  do  we  owe  him  ?  i.  147—9 ;  his 
mystic  views — conflict  of  atmospheres, 
"  taking  the  burden,"  the  visionary  power, 
150 — 4;  other  references,  92,  110,  131. 

Crisis,  Connexional,  '24—8,  its  signs,  i.  434, 
438 — 9 ;  causes,  and  remedies  applied, 
435—6. 

Gwm,  the  farm-house  circuit — its  missioning  ; 
its  notable  families,  its  missions,  ii.  299 — 
302. 

Darlaston,  when  first  visited;  portraits  of  W. 
Carter,  D.  Bowen,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Belcher; 

II  M 


546 


INDEX. 


becomes  a  powerful  and  procreative  circuit, 
the  West  Midland  Dist.  in  embryo,  i.  519 — 
22. 

Darlington.  Clowes  visits  by  invitation ;  sub- 
sequent labours  of  S.  Laister,  W.  Evans, 
and  W.  Clowes  at ;  Queen  St.  Chapel 
opened ;  Stockton,  Wolsingham,  Bishop 
Auckland,  and  Barnard  Castle  reached  ; 
view  of  chapels,  ii.  129 — 134. 

Daventry,  G.  W.  Bellham's  rough  treatment  at, 
i.  343 — 4;  ether  references  to,  ii.  414,  417. 

Deed  Poll,  read  and  approved,  '31  ;  explanation 
of  the  delay  in  its  execution  ;  names  of  the 
original  members  of,  i.  438 — 40. 

Derby,  missioned  by  S.  Kirkland,  i.  195  ;  Clowes' 
visits  to  Derby  and  neighbourhood,  198 — 
200 ;  view  of  the  Armoury  (200)  and  of 
Albion  St.,  the  first  chapel  in  Derbyshire, 
201 ;  view  of  chapels,  ii.  471. 

Dewsbury,  visited  by  W.  Clowes,  ii.  67  ;  again 
made  a  circuit  from  Leeds,  '57,  72 — 4. 

Doncasler,  early  vicissitudes  of,  i.  500 — 1  ;  its 
after  prosperity ;  the  Conference  of  '58 
held  at ;  501 — 2 ;  views  of  Duke  St.,  and 
Spring  Gardens  Chapels,  and  portraits  and 
notices  of  Rev.  W.  Leaker,  Richd.  Wads- 
worth,  and  Geo.  Taylor,  501 — 3. 

Dover.  How  the  Mission  became  a,  Circuit ; 
view  of  new  church,  ii.  410 — 11  ;  G.  Stans- 
field  imprisoned  in  Dover  Jail,  portrait,  348. 

Dow  Loeenzo,  portrait,  his  strange  character 
and  movements  ;  his  visit  to  Staffordshire  in 
1807  ;  the  extent  of  the  Dow  factor  in 
P.  Methodism  discussed,  i.  58- — 61 ;  on  his 
last  visit  to  England  follows  on  the  track 
of  the  Great  Revival,  312—13. 

Downham  Market,  formerly  Upwell  Circuit ;  its 
history  outlined ;  its  missions ;  view  of 
chapel  and  portrait  of  J.  Kemish,  ii.  223 — 4. 

Driffield,  when  visited  ;  W.  Clowes  and  J.  Oxtoby 
at ;  its  chapels  past  and  present ;  usefulness 
of  Mr.  Byas ;  its  long  retention  by  Hull  as 
a,  branch  ;  made  a  circuit ;  its  width  and 
numerical  strength ;  notices  of  various 
circuit  worthies  with  portraits  of  Thomas 
Wood  and  Geo.  Bullock,  ii.  91—8. 

Edinburgh,  the  first  mission  to  Scotland  ;  Messrs. 
Oliver  and  Clewer  sent  by  Sunderland  open 
their  commission,  '26  ;  their  house-to-house 
visitation ;  N.  West  heads  a  serious  seces- 
sion ;  Hull  Circuit  takes  over  the  mission 
and  sends  J.  Flesher  ;  subsequent  changes  ; 
some  ministerial  labourers  at ;  missions 
Alloa  and  Dunfermline  ;  gives  J.  Macpher- 
son  to  ministry ;  Rev.  J.  Vaughan's  success 
at ;  view  of  Victoria  Terrace  Chapel,  ii. 
206 — 8 ;  the  recent  forward  movement  at 
E. ;  Livingstone  Hall,  ii.  516—18. 

Education,  Ministerial,  growth  of  the  sentiment 
in  favour  of ;  the  successive  institutions  at 
York,  Sunderland,  and  Manchester,  with 
portraits  of  the  Principals  and  Tutors, 
ii.  525—9. 


EUesmere   Port,    commanding   position   of   the 

Denomination  in  ;  outline  of  its  early  history 

with  portraits,  ii.  271 — 3. 
Elmfield  College,  York ;  its  establishment  and 

progress  ;  its  Governors  and  Head-masters, 

ii.  521—4. 
Equalization   Fund   established   by   permissive 

legislation,  ii.  409,  note.  ■ 

Fernando  Po,  the  establishment  and  progress  of 
the  mission  in,  ii.  487 — 97. 

change  wrought  by  the  Revival ;  John 
Oxtoby  and  other  workers  referred  to ;  the 
hazards  of  the  fisherman's  life  ;  portraits  of 
Jenkinson  and  M.  Haxby,  ii.  102 — 7. 

Flamborough  and  its  fishermen ;  portrait  of  V. 
Mainprize,  ii.  100—2. 

Flesher  John,  unites  with  the  Society,  and 
begins  his  ministry,  ii.  116 — 18;  at  Hull 
and  Beverley,  i.  395 — 6  ;  is  sent  to  save 
Edinburgh,  ii.  207  ;  and  London,  255 — 7  ; 
the  vindicator  of  the  Connexion,  i.  456, 
ii.  258;  appointed  Editor  and  gets  the  Book- 
Room  removed  to  London,  381 — 4;  pre- 
pares the  Hymn  Book,  371 — 2  ;  his  remark- 
able consolidation  of  the  Minutes,  259 ; 
his  immense  influence  in  the  transition 
period,  258 ;  his  eloquence — our  "  Chrysos- 
tom  "— i.  368,  396  ;  his  humility,  485—6  ; 
his  superannuation,  later  days  and  death, 
ii.  259 ;  portraits,  i.  396,  ii.  257 ;  memorial 
tablet,  259. 

Forest  of  Dean,  Oakengates'  mission  to,  ii.  298  ; 
labours  and  persecutions  in  ;  circuits  derived 
from  the  mission,  302 — 3. 

Frome,  reached  by  Tunstall's  Western  Mission  ; 
made  a  Circuit,  and  missions  Bath, 
Dorset,  and,  later,  Glastonbury,  ii.  297. 

Gainsborough,  missioned  by  W.  Braithwaite  and 
T.  Saxton  ;  i.  413—16. 

Gaener,  the  brothers,  their  early  conversion 
and  distinguished  services,  i.  242 — 5. 

Gateshead,  sketch  of  its  early  history  and  re- 
markable later  development ;  view  of 
Chapels  ;  portraits  of  Messrs.  J.  Thompson, 
E.  Gowland,  G.  E.  Almond,  ii.  1 97, 199—200. 

General  Committee,  Sees,  portraits  of,  ii.  404. 

Gilbert  Jee.,  chief  pioneer  of  the  Sheffield 
group  of  circuits ;  i.  478 — 84 ;  in  North 
Shields  Circuit,  ii.  172. 

Glasgow,  Carlisle  sends  J.  Johnson  on  a  mission 
to,  subsequent  progress  of,  ii.  139. 

Gloucester,  its  early  missioning  by  PillaweU  ; 
J.  Wenn's  labours  at ;  made  a  circuit  by  the 
G.  M.  Committee  ;  portraits  of  J.  Richards, 
J.  Wellington,  Levi  Norris,  ii.  414 — 16. 

Grantham,  J.  Wedgwood's  imprisonment  at,  i. 
255 — 6,  Mr.  Lockwood  arrested  for  preach- 
ing at  the  Cross,  256  ;  portrait  of  S.  Bayley, 
259 ;  J.  Benton  preaches  from  Sir  W. 
Manners'  pulpit,  260—1  ;  Bottesford  re- 
missions Grantham,  262;  chapelopened,263, 
made  a  circuit,  264. 


INDEX. 


547 


Grimsby,  visited  by  Thomas  King,  i.  444—6 ; 
Farmer  Holt  proves  himself  a  staunoh 
friend,  446—7  ;  early  preaching-places,  448  ; 
the  plan  of  1820  analysed  as  to  places  and 
preachers,  448—60  ;  view  of  present  chapels, 
461,  and  portraits  of  some  leading  offioials, 
460—3. 

Halifax  and  neighbourhood  missioned  by  Thos. 
Holliday ;  his  arrest  and  imprisonment  at 
Wakefield  ;  made  a  circuit ;  view  of  first 
chapel  and  of  Ebenezer ;  fifth  Conference 
described  ;  some  early  worthies,  portraits, 
i.  488—92. 

Hartley-  W.  P.,  J.P.,  Gen.  Miss.  Treasurer,  ii. 
405  ;  Vice-President  of  '92  Conference,  394  ; 
Founder  of  C.  A.  Association,  536-7  ;  his 
financial  genius ;  his  great  liberality  and 
immense  influence  in  the  later  development 
of  the  Connexion,  532 — 3. 

Haverfordwest,  a  sketch  of  its  history,  ii.  308 — 7. 

Hereford,  early  persecution  at ;  view  of  old 
Chapel  and  present  Church ;  portraits  of 
■Mr.  T.  Davies,  J.P.,  Mrs.  Davies,  and  Mr. 
T.  A.  King,  ii.  303—5. 

Hexham,  commencement  of  a  mission  at,  ii.  135  ; 
its  extensive  area  and  its  missions ;  J. 
Spoor's  labours  on  the  Rothbury  mission, 
136 ;  C.  C.  McKechnie's  reminiscences  of 
the  circuit,  157 — 62. 

Higginson  Henry,  his  call  to  the  ministry  and 
labours  at  Swansea,  ii.  308  ;  joint-missioner 
of  Luton  and  Dunstable,  352  ;  anecdote  and 
portrait  of,  32. 

High  Wycombe,  a  Society  at  in  1811,  ii.  250  ; 
visited  by  James  Pole  ;  taken  over  by  Read- 
ing ;  resumes  its  status  as  a  circuit,  352 — 4. 

Hodge,  the  family  of,  in  Holderness  and  Hull, 
i.  381—3. 

Holderness,  dark  moral  condition  of,  i.  388 — 9 ; 
Camp  Meeting  at  Preston  on  Maudlin 
Sunday,  389—90;  W.  Clowes  visits,  381, 
390—2, 

HucknaU  Torhard,  missioned  by  S.  Kirkland, 
i.  230  ;  the  "  Selstonite  "  split,  248—50  ; 
E.  Morton  re-missions  it ;  subsequent  pros- 
perity, 251,  232. 

Huddersftdd,  W.  Taylor  and  Miss  Perry  im- 
prisoned at ;  view  of  first  chapel ;  made  a 
circuit ;  portraits  of  John  North,  G.  C. 
Treas.,  J.  Rayner,  and  Samuel  and  Alex- 
ander Glendinning,  i.  492 — 5. 

Hull  entered  by  invitation,  i.  361 — 2  ;  W.  Clowes 
appointed  in  place  of  R.  Winfield,  363  ; 
Jane  Brown  his  precursor,  364 ;  his  first 
business  the  organizing  of  classes,  365 — 6  ; 
J.  and  S.  Harrison  appointed,  370  ;  made 
a' circuit,  370  ;  the  first  plan  of  the  circuit, 
371  •  the  building  and  opening  of  Mill 
Street  Chapel,  373—7 ;  some  early  Hull 
worthies,  377—385;  Church  Street  chapel 
built,  382 ;  Mason  St.  Chapel  acquired, 
386  •'  divided  into  seven  branches,  387  ; 
the  'circuit  reaches  from  Carlisle  to  Spurn 


Point,  ii.  139  ;  the  Stamp  troubles,  i.  456; 
Hull  leads  the  way  in  chapel  extension,  ii. 
458—63 ;  views  of  its  chapels,  459,  461. 

Hutton  Budby,  ba'se  of  W.  Clowes'  North  Riding 
Mission ;  made  a  circuit,  '21  ;  now  included 
in  Stokesley  Circuit,  i.  405 — 9 

Hymn  Boohs,  earliest,  ii.  2 ;  pirated  editions, 
2,  10 ;  the  "  Small  "  Hymn  Book ;  the 
"  Large,"  10 ;  Mr.  Flesher's  compilation, 
369—71  ;  the  Hymnal,  371  ;  On  the 
character  and  influence  of  the  early  Hymns 
— their  popularity  with  the  masses,  ii.  2, 
11,33—5,380. 

Isle  of  Man,  early  and  typical  example  of  a 
circuit  mission,  ii.  37  ;  Bolton  circuit  sends 
J.  Butcher  and  H.  Sharman,  37 — 8  ;  origin 
of  the  present  stations  on  the  Island ; 
fluctuations  in  the  membership  accounted 
for  ;  39  ;  portraits  and  references  to  early 
workers,  39 — 40. 

Jackson's  the  three  Thomas,  portraits,  i.  182 — 3. 

-Thos.    (1),    the   first   superintendent   of 

Belper,  i.  183  ;  holds  the  first  Missionary 
Meetings  at  Belper  and  Turnditch,  184  ; 
meets  with  opposition  at  Kinoulton,  242, 
is  put  into  the  stocks  at  Cropwell  Bishop, 
238—9  ;  and  used  with  violence  at  Oakham. 
240  ;  missions  Sandbach  and  Preston  Brook, 
543—6. 

— ■ — — Thos.  (3),  his  aggressive  and  social  work 
at  Walthamstow,  Clapton,  WhitechapeL 
and  Southend,  ii.  507-12 

Jersey  F.  N,  assists  W.  Clowes  at  Darlington, 
ii.  132  ;  his  labours  in  Craven,  120 ;  on  the 
Kendal  Mission,  137 — 8 ;  is  committed  to 
Lancaster  Castle  for  preaching  at  Dalton 
Cross,  137  ;  in  Weardale,  143  ;  troubles  of 
in  Nottingham,  i.  249. 

Jessopp  Canon,  quoted  on  the  former  condition 
of  Mid-Norfolk,  ii.  235—6  ;  on  the  influence 
of  P.  Methodism  in  East  Anglia,  242. 

Jubilee  Conference,  and  regulations  for  cele- 
brating the  Jubilee,  ii.  377 — 9. 

(Missionary),  '92,  533—4. 

Jukes  Richard,  portrait,  the  former  popularity 
of  his  hymns,  ii.  33  ;  his  early  life,  283. 

Keighley,  ii.  119. 

Kendal  missioned  by  F.  N.  Jersey,  ii.  137—8  ; 
its  course  till  it  became  a  circuit ;  its  associa- 
tions with  John  Atkinson  and  J.  Taylor,  138. 

Key  Robert,  his  conversion  at  Yarmouth,  ii. 
233;  Mr.  Goodrick's  estimate  of,  233—4;  his 
toils  and  sufferings  in  Mid-Norfolk,  235, 
237 — 9  ;  his  inner  conflicts,  239  ;  amongst 
the  rick-burners,  241 ;  his  mission  to 
Hadleigh,  245  ;  walks  to  London  District 
Meeting,  248  ;  portrait,  237  ;  his  letter  on 
Jubilee  proposals  quoted,  520. 

King  Thos.,  connects  himself  with  the  Notting- 
ham Society,  portrait,  i.  205—6  ;  a  member 

M  M    2 


54S 


INDEX. 


of  the  Preparatory  Meeting,  378 ;  visits 
Grimsby  and  other  places  in  Lincolnshire, 
443 — 8  ;  walks  to  from  the  Tunstall  Con- 
ference, 447  ;  President  of  the  '25  and  '48 
Conferences ;  Book  Steward,  ii.  390 ; 
preaches  the  Conference  Jubilee  Sermon, 
378. 

King's  Lynn,  early  success  followed  by  troubles 
at,  i.  322,  ii.  218;  refounded  by  W.  P. 
Beh'iam  ;  its  missionary  enterprise,  219 — 
221  ;  Conferences  of  '36  and  '44  at ;  view  of 
London  Road  Chapel,  221  ;  portrait  and 
notice  of  W.  Lift,  222. 

Kikkland  Sakah,  first  female  travelling 
preacher,  i.  92  ;  home  and  early  life,  portrait 
176 — 7  ;  pioneer  visits  to  Derby,  194 — 5  ; 
Nottingham,  201—4,  206—7  ;  enters  the 
ministry  and  labours  in  Staffordshire  and 
Cheshire,  afterwards  in  Notts.,  210,  226— 
34;  and  Hull  Circuit,  370,  398—9,  402, 
ii.  55  ;  her  grave  in  Mugginton  Churchyard, 
i.  175—6. 

Laister  S.,  a  pioneer  missionary  to  Driffield, 
ii.  93,  Leeds,  71—2,  in  Craven,  117,  Malton 
and  Darlington,  131 — 4;  see  also  i.  372. 

Lamb  Geo.,  joins  the  Society  at  Preston  and  is 
sent  out  to  travel  by  H.  Bourne  ;  outline  of 
his  subsequent  career,  ii.  125  ;  President  of 
the  Conferences  of  '66  and  '84 ;  Book 
Steward;  Conf.  Deputation  to  Canada,  452; 
Member  of  the  Deed  Poll,  125  ;  his  interest 
in  the  Temperance  movement,  portrait, 
i.  472.    The  "  Lamb  Scholarship,"  ii.  529. 

Leeds,  band  of  revivalists  invite  the  P. 
Jlethodists,  ii.  63—6;  W.  Clowes'  visits, 
67 — 8  ;  troubles  arise,  69 — 70  ;  administra- 
tive changes,  72 — 4  ;  Mr.  G.  Allen  {portrait) 
on  the  origin  of  Leeds  2nd  and  3rd,  74 ; 
view  of  Leeds  chapels,  73 ;  R.  Davies, 
T.  Batty,  and  Atkinson  Smith  at,  74 — 5  ; 
Conferences  of  '23  and  '48  at,  72  ;  portraits 
of  J.  Reynard,  Mrs.  Brogden,  and  J.  Parrott, 
70—1. 

Leicester,  John  Benton  enters,  i.  298 — 303  ;  first 
preaching-places,  304 — 5  ;  Clowes'  and 
Wedgwood's  visits  to,  305 — 7  ;  John 
Harrison's  ditto,  307—8 ;  Robert  Hall's 
and  Daniel  Isaac's  attitude  to  our  Church, 
309 — 11  ;  progress  of  the  cause,  311 — 12; 
some  early  preachers,  312  ;  the  building  of 
George  Street  Chapel — view  of  chapel  and 
group  of  "Old  officials,  324 — 8  ;  Alexander 
St.  Chapel  acquired,  332  ;  the  Denmanite 
split,  333  ;  building  of  York  St.  Chapel, 
333 — 4,  subsequent  developments,  335  ; 
Chartists  in  Leicester,  Thos.  Cooper's 
"  Lion  of  Freedom "  goes  down  before 
W.  Jefferson's  "  Lion  of  Judah,"  335—6  ; 
portraits  (with  references)  of  early  worthies, 
326—8,  332—5. 

Levellers"      the ;      the      levelling      System 
described  ;  i.  218—224. 


Lichfield,  H.  Bourne's  travail  of  soul  at,  i.  150 — 1 
S.  Turner  preaches  at,  523  ;  Darlaston  and 
Birmingham's  mission  to  ;  under  the  labor- 
ious R.  Ward  made  a  station,  523. 

Lincoln,  the  early  missioning  of  the  district,  i. 
463  ;  Clowes'  rough  reception  at,  463 — 4  ; 
early  preaching-places  and  ministers,  465 — 
7  ;  remarkable  results  of  the  City  Mission, 
468 ;  portraits  of  W.  R.  Widdowson  and 
W.  Price,  and  views  of  first  and  second 
Portland  Street  Chapels,  467—9. 

Liverpool,  W.  Clowes'  early  visit  to,  ii.  265 — 6  ; 
J.  Ride's  arrest  and  Jas.  Role's  rough 
reception,  266  ;  made  a  circuit  from  Preston 
Brook,  267  ;  Maguire  Street  Chapel  and 
its  memories,  267 — 8 ;  the  circuit's 
sympathy  with  missions,  268  ;  its  very 
recent  development,  270 ;  view  of  its 
chapels,  269  ;  glance  at  some  of  the  names 
on  '34  Plan,  270—2. 

London,  H.  Bourne  and  J.  Crawfoot's  excursion 
to,  ii.  249.  John  Benton's  labours  in  1811, 
250.  The  London  Primitives  of  1818,  250. 
Leeds  Circuit  sends  P.  Sugden  and  J.  Wat- 
son, 251.  Cooper's  Gardens  Chapel  acquired, 
252.  J.  Coulson  walks  from  Leeds  to  take 
the  place  of  Watson,  253.  Hull  Circuit 
takes  over  London  Mission,  and  Clowes 
labours  on  it  twenty  months,  253 — 5. 
Made  a  Circuit  of  Hull  District,  1826—7. 
255.  Transferred  to  Norwich  District, 
1828—1834,  255.     Again  a  Mission  of  Hull, 

255.  Blue  Gate  Fields  Chapel  difficulties, 

256.  Sutton  Street  Chapel  opened,  257. 
Importance  of  John  Flesher's  labours  in 
London,  255 — 8.  Elim  Chapel,  Fetter  Lane, 
acquired,  260.  Plan  of  the  London  Mission, 
1847,  described,  259 — 60.  London  becomes 
a  circuit,  1847,  260.  In  1S53  three  circuits, 
and  London  District  formed  ?64.  Portraits 
and  notices  of  early  London  officials,  260 — 4. 
Its  recent  remarkable  development,  539 — 40. 

Loughborough  missioned  by  J.  Benton  in  a  time 
of  industrial  agitation,  i.  216 — 17  ;  when 
made  a  circuit,  279 — 81  and  318,  note  ; 
Loughborough  section  of  the  Nottingham 
Circuit  Plan  for  1818,  ii79  ;  some  of  the 
places  therein  referred  to,  281 — 7  ;  plan  of 
circuit  for  '22 — '3,  out  of  which  eleven 
circuits  have  been  carved,  278  ;  history  of 
Dead  Lane  Chapel,  314—18. 

Louth,  second  place  on  the  Grimsby  plan  of  1820, 
i.  449  ;  made  a  circuit  of  wide  area,  450  ; 
its  advance  under  J.  Coulson  and  J.  Stamp, 
451 — 2  ;  J.  Stamp  leaves  a  legacy  of  chapel 
difficulties,  452 ;  Mr.  W.  Byron  lends 
valuable  assistance  ;  subsequent  progress  of 
the  circuit,  454  ;  view  of  chapel  and  portraits 
of  J.  Maltby,  W.  Byron,  Mrs.  Byron,  453, 
and  Joel  Hodgson  and  J.  F.  Parrish,  449. 

Luddites  and  Luddism  described,  i.  212 — 18. 

Ludlow,  see  Hopton  Bank. 

Luton,  its  missioning  by  S.  Turner  and  H. 
Higginson,  ii.  352 ;  view  of  its  chapels,  353. 


INDEX. 


549 


Macclesfield,  when  and  how  missioned,  i.  538—40 ; 
the  early  missionary  zeal  of  the  circuit,  540. 

McKechnie  C.  C,  early  life  at  Paisley,  "  sung 
into  the  Kingdom,"  and  his  entry  on  the 
ministry,  portrait,  ii.  140  ;  his  experiences 
at  Ripon,  82 — 3 ;  his  reminiscences  of 
Hexham  Circuit,  157 — 61  ;  witnesses  great 
Revivals  in  Weardale  and  Allendale,  151, 
and  North  Shields,  185 — 6  ;  his  references  to 
Dr.  W.  Antliff  and  the  Conference  of  '53, 376; 
his  great  interest  in  ministerial  education, 
397  ;  Editor  eleven  years,  390,  395. 

Magazines.  For  the  serial  literature  of  the 
Connexion,  see  i.  330—2,  ii.  11—12,  395; 
for  the  P.  M.  Quarterly  Review,  396—8. 

Malmesbury,  severe  persecution  at,  ii.  312 ; 
successfully  re-missioned  by  G.  Warner,  315. 

Malton,  a  branch  of  Hull — its  wide  extent  and 
former  religious  condition — Canon  Atkinson 
quoted,  ii.  84 — 6;  some  of  its  first  preachers, 
86 — 7  ;  circuit's  history  since  '23,  89. 

Manchester,  when  first  visited,  ii.  15 — 16 ; 
pioneer  labours  of  Ann  Brownsword,  Bonser, 
Verity,  and  W.  Carter,  17—19  ;  S.  Waller's 
imprisonment,  18- — 19 ;  view  of  Jersey 
Street  Chapel,  20 ;  the  Conferences  of  '27 
and  '40  held  at,  23  ;  made  the  head  of  a 
district,  1827,  22 — 3;  great  results  from  re- 
missionary  labours,  references  to  Jonathan 
Ireland,  and  other  early  workers,  23 — 6  ; 
view  of  present  chapels,  27  ;  Moss  Lane 
Chapel  and  the  origin  of  the  second  circuit, 
26  and  ii.  465 — 6 ;  Higher  Ardwick  Church, 
ii.  26,  407,  466—7 ;  Great  Western  Street, 
467 ;  the  College,  its  establishment  and 
successive  enlargements,  527 — 8. 

Market  Easen,  J.  Harrison's  strange  Sunday 
Service  in  the  Market-place,  i.  442  ;  sub- 
sequent history,  440,  444. 

Mellon  Mowbray,  early  history  of,  ii.  350 — 1. 

Middlesbrough,  its  phenomenal  growth,  ii.  85, 
478  ;  view  of  its  chapels,  479. 

Middleton-in-Teesdale,  J.  Grieves  establishes 
a  Society  at ;  extensions  to  Upper  Teesdale 
and  Eden  Valley,  ii.  148—9. 

Milson  Parkinson,  portrait  and  estimate  of,  i. 
426. 

Minsterley,  how  P.  Methodism  was  introduced 
into,  ii.  281  ;  made  a  circuit,  279. 

Mitcheldever,  made  a  mission  by  Shefford,  ii. 
"341  ;  Messrs,  Ride  and  Bishop  cited  before 
the  magistrates  for  open-air  preaching  at, 
342 ;  made  a  circuit,  341  ;  successfully 
re-missions  Winchester,  343. 

Motcombe,  missioned  by  Frome  and  made  a 
circuit  in  '28,  ii.  297  ;  carries  on  extensive 
missionary  operations  in  So.  Wilts,  and 
especially  in  Dorset,  297—8. 

Mow  Cop,  a  century  ago  and  now  i  15-22 ; 
the  first  and  second  Camp  Meetings  de- 
scribed, 62—9,  73—7;  Jubilee  Camp 
Meeting  on,  ii-  378. 


Nelson  Thomas,  his  extensive  labours  and  use- 
fulness in  the  North  of  England,  ii.  170 — 1, 
202. 

John,  portrait,  fellow-labourer  of  Clowes 

on  the  North  Mission,  ii.  170 — 1  ;  his 
experience  on  the  Dorset  Mission ;  retires 
under  discouragement,  210 — 11. 

Newark,  Clowes  and  Wedgwood  at,  i.  267  ;  fire- 
engine  plays  on  Mr.  Lockwood,  268 ;  instances 
of  retribution  on  persecutors,  269  ;  its  early 
vicissitudes  ;  made  a  circuit,  269 — 70. 

Newbury,  heir  and  representative  of  Shefford 
Circuit,  ii.  315 — 16, ;  view  of  manse  and 
Church,  340. 

Newcastle-on-Tyne,  visited  by  W.  Clowes  and 
J.  Branfoot,  ii.  163 — 5  ;  first  class  formed, 
189  ;  becomes  a  circuit,  1 89 — 90  ;  Silver 
Street  Chapel  the  centre  for  the  first  period, 
190 — 2  ;  Nelson  St. — the  chapel  for  the 
middle  period — opened,  192  ;  acquisition  of 
the  Central  Church,  189,  192 ;  glance  at  its 
later  development,  196 — 7  ;  references  to 
notable  adherents,  portraits,   190 — 6. 

New  Zealand,  establishment  and  progress  of 
the  mission  to,  ii.  440 — 6. 

Northampton,  on  Welton  plan  of  '24,  i.  345  ; 
a  mission  of  Burland;  taken  over  by  the 
G.  M.  Com.  ;  made  a  circuit,  its  subsequent 
progress,  ii.  416 — 19. 

North  Shields,  Clowes'  early  visits  to,  ii.  168 — 9; 
Clowes'  remarkable  escape  from  death,  171  ; 
Union  Street  and  Saville  Street  chapels,  172; 
Newcastle  separated  from  it,  173 ;  its 
missions  in  Northumberland — chequered 
history  of  Morpeth  and  Alnwick,  173 — 4; 
some  early  officials  with  portraits,  178 — 9  ; 
the  missioning  of  Berwick  its  most  notable 
achievement,  174;  Cullercoats  and  the 
fisher-folk,  180 — 2  ;  the  mining  villages — 
old  Cramlington  Missionary  Meeting — 
imprisonment  of  Seaton  Delaval  P.  M.'s 
— the  Hartley  Colliery  Disaster — the  Long 
Strike — the  great  revival,  184 — 6.  Some 
worthies  with  portraits ;  influence  of  P. 
Methodism  on  the  miners,  186 — 8. 

North  Walsham,  its  mission  to  Mid-Norfolk, 
ii.  235—40. 

Norwich,  view  of  the  Lollard's  Pit  where  first 
services  were  held,  ii.  213  ;  its  first  chapels, 
214 — 15  ;  its  missionary  labours,  214  ; 
reference  to  early  officials,  216;  view  of 
Scott  Memorial  Church,  216. 

Norwich  District  formed  in  '25,  ii.  212 — 13  ;  by 
'42  practically  covered  East  Anglia,  213. 

Nottingham,  when  and  by  whom  missioned, 
i.  201 — 2  ;  Factory  in  Broad  Marsh  opened, 
203 — 4  ;  Canaan  St.  chapel  opened — origin 
of  the  name,  204 — 5  ;  H.  Bourne's  visit  to, 
.209 ;  a  base  for  further  extension,  210  ; 
great  Whit-Sunday  Camp  Meeting,  226 ; 
troubles  arise  and  renewed  prosperity,  249  ; 
Hockley  chapel  obtained,  250 ;  portraits, 
and  references  to  Jas  Barker,  276,  D.  M. 
Jackson,  John  Spencer,  276,  ii.  377  ;  Circuit 
Committee  first  formed  at,  i.  280. 


550 


IXUEX. 


Oakengates,  afterwards  called  Wroekwardine 
Wood,  made  a  circuit  from  Tunstall,  ii.  274  ; 
the  story  of  Edgmond  and  Dark  Lane 
Chapels,  275 — 7;  offshoots  of  the  circuits, 
277—8. 

Odbll  Joseph,  President  of  the  Conference  of 
1900,  ii.  483  ;  takes  charge  of  the  church  at 
Brooklyn,  U.S.A.,  448 — 9 ;  his  work  in 
Birmingham — Conference  Hall  built  and 
a  new  circuit  created,  476 — 8 ;  establishes 
the  Evangelists'  Home,  541 — 2. 

Oldham,  when  visited,  some  famous  Camp  Meet- 
ings at,  ii.  41  ;  Peter  Macdonald  and  other 
early  officials,  43  ;  some  peculiar  features 
of  the  revival  of  '29  ;  H.  Bourne's  visit  to, 
44 — 5  ;  early  chapels  and  view  of  present, 
42—3. 

Osivestry,  J.  Doughty's  arrest  and  imprisonment, 
portrait,  ii.  284 — 5 ;  Elizabeth  Elliot,  the  girl 
preacher  and  her  tragic  fate,  286 — 7  ;  a 
missionary  circuit,  289  ;  a  secession  and 
chapel  embarrassments  and  the  great  service 
rendered  by  Messrs.  E.  Parry  and  S.  Ward, 
portraits,  289 — 91  ;  circuits  made  from  it, 
293. 

Oxford,  W.  G.  Bellham  has  a  rough  reception  at 
i.  346  ;  its  subsequent  re-missioning  and 
made  a  circuit,  ii.  352. 

Oxtoby  John.  Sketch  of  his  life  and  character, 
with  view  of  his  grave,  i.  365 — 70 ;  his 
prayer  on  Muston  Hill  for  Filey — -the  great 
Revival,  ii.  104 — 6  ;  is  active  in  the  Wear- 
dale  Revival,  146 — 7. 

Paisley,  C.  C.  McKechnie  and  early  P.  Method- 
ism in,  ii.  139—40. 

Pembrokeshire  Mission  begun,  J.  Petty's  labours 
in,  ii.  306—7. 

Penzance,  the  missioning  and  subsequent  pro- 
gress of  ii.  320 — 7. 

Peterborough,  the  history  of  the  circuit  outlined, 
portrait  of  Isaac  Edis,  ii.  421 — 3. 

Petty  John,  Editor,  ii.  367  ;  President  of  the 
Conference  of  '60,  292  ;  first  Governor  of 
Elmfleld  College,  523  ;  his  conversion  and 
early  entrance  on  the  ministry,  120 — 1,  123  ; 
his  arduous  labours  in  Pembrokeshire,  306 
—7,  i.  344  ;  at  Cwm,  ii,  300—1,  Northamp- 
ton, 416 — 17,  Sunderland,  and  Channel 
Isles,  208—9  ;  builds  Jubilee  Chapel,  Hull, 
462. 

Pickering,  made  a  circuit  from  llalton,  ii.  89  ; 
former  condition  of  the  North  Riding,  85 — 
6  ;  a  famous  Camp  Meeting  described,  87 ; 
reference  to  the  families  of  Lumley,  Frank, 
and  Allenby,  portraits,  90—1. 

Pittawett,  incidents  connected  with  its  mission- 
ing ;  persecution  at  Newnham  ;  offshoots 
and  partitions  of  the  circuit,  ii.  302 — 6. 

Pocklington,  missioned  by  S.  Harrison  and  W. 
Clowes,  i.  398. 

Frees  Green,  originally  Burland's  Shropshire 
Station,  made  a  circuit,  ii.  287  ;  some  early 
worthies — Archdeacon  Allen's  high  opinion 
of  them,  288  ;  offshoots  of  the  circuit,  289. 


Presidents  of  Conferences,  portraits  of,  until 
1859,  ii.  21  ;  from  1860  to  1874,  292  ffrom 
1875  to  1886,  392  ;'  from  1887  to  1897,  454; 
from  1898  to  1905,  483,  523,  498. 

Preston  (Lanes.),  T.  Batty  and  J.  Harrison  at, 
W.  Brinning  commences  to  travel  at, 
portrait,  ii.  121  ;  a  successful  missionary 
circuit,  124 — 7  ;  takes  a  foremost  place  in 
the  Temperance  cause,  portraits  of  and 
reference  to,  some  of  the  leaders  in  the 
movement ;  the  "  seven  men  of  Preston," 
128—9  ;  view  of  Saul  St.  Chapel,  128. 

Preston  Brook,  Thos.  Jackson  pioneer  missionary 
to,  i.  545  ;  jubilee  of  the  circuit  celebrated, 
'69,  545;  references  to  early  Camp  Meetings, 
545 — 6  ;  the  circuit  foster-mother  to  Liver- 
pool, 546 ;  in  '32  sends  F.  N.  Jersey  to 
Ireland,  546. 

Primitive  Methodist,  various  uses  of  the  word 
"  primitive  "  illustrated  by  examples,  i. 
38 — 9 ;  legitimately  used  as  the  antithesis  of 
"  Modern  Methodism,"  37 — 42  ;  the  name 
taken,  132. 

Ramsor,  early  centre  of  Camp  Meeting  Method- 
ists. First  five  Ramsor  Camp  Meetings 
referred  to,  i.  87 — -98 ;  names  and  portraits 
of  some  early  workers,  92 — 5. 
Banters,"  origin  of  the  nickname,  i.  185 — 6 
the  name  a  stigma  that  marked  the  first 
period,  160,  186 — 7  ;  yet  the  name  con- 
tributed to  extension,  187,  217,  221  ;  the 
"putting  down"  of  the  "Ranters" 
seriously  proposed  in  '20,  311. 

Rawlings  Ed.,  portrait,  ii.  349,  348. 

Heading  missioned  by  Shefford,  ii.  344  ;  its  early 
chapels ;  made  a  circuit ;  costly  case  of 
persecution,  345 ;  extensive  missionary 
labours  entered  upon,  345 ;  noteworthy 
Conference  of '41  held  at,  350 — 1;  hands  over 
its  missions  to  G.  M.  Committee,  354 ;  some 
Reading  worthies — portraits  of  Mr.  Jesse 
Herbert,  Mary  Bovaston,  and  Mr.  E.  Long, 
344. 

Redruth,  W.  Clowes'  labours  in  the  Cornwall 
Mission,  ii.  321 — 3  ;  great  revival  at,  323  ; 
view  of  chapel  and  portraits  of  Capts. 
Hosking  and  Bishop,  323 — 5  ;  extensions 
of  the  mission,  325 — 7. 

Rhosymedre,  made  a  circuit  from  Oswestry ; 
early  labours  of  Mary  Williams  in,  ii.  293. 

Ride  John,  his  conversion,  i.  178  ;  begins  to 
preach  at  Mercaston  Camp  Meeting,  198  ; 
his  return  from  America— flight  to  Burland, 
518,  535 ;  opens  Wrexham  and  visits 
Chester,  551  ;  what  T.  Bateman  says  of 
him,  portrait,  518  ;  arrested  at  Liverpool, 
ii.  265 — 6 ;  is  at  Frome,  297  ;  heads  the 
main  line  of  advance  via  Brinkworth, 
Shefford,  and  Reading,  314 ;  the  bout  of 
prayer  at  Ashdown— "  Lord,  give  us 
Berkshire  !  "  320 — I  ;  his  imprisonment  at 
Winchester,  342 — 3 ;  made  visitor  of 
Home  Missions,  403 ;  goes  to  Australia ; 
his  superannuation,  427- 


INDEX. 


551 


Ripley,  origin  and  progress  of  the  circuit; 
portraits  of  J.  Smith  of  Golden  Valley,  and 
E.  Cox,  i.  536—7. 

Mipon,  made  a  circuit — its  very  wide  area  and 
early  importance,  ii.  79  ;  Clowes'  visits  to, 
79—80  ;  incidents  in  J.  Spoor's  ministry  at, 
portrait,  81 — 3  ;  portraits  and  references  to 
T.  Dawson,  M.  Lupton,  and  Mrs.  Porteus, 
80—1. 

Socester,  facsimile  and  signatures  of  the  deed  of 
earliest  chapel  vested  in  trustees,  i.  173 — 4. 

Rochdale,  missioned  from  Manchester  and  made 
a  circuit ;  view  of  Packer  Street,  and 
reference  to  Drake  Street  Chapel ;  portraits 
and  notices  of  some  early  workers,  ii.  46 — 7. 

Roles  Jas  ,  early  missionary  to  Liverpool,  ii. 
266  ;  pioneer  to  Blaenavon,  299;  Cwm,  299, 
Pillawell,  302  ;  Pembrokeshire,  306. 

Rugby,  the  interesting  circumstances  connected 
with  its  missioning,  i.  347 — 8  ;  heir  and 
representative  of  Old  Welton  circuit,  346. 

Russell  Thos.,  enters  upon  the  Berkshire  Mis- 
sion— his  toils  and  privations,  ii.  319  ;  the 
pleading  on  Ashdown,  320  ;  his  imprison- 
ment at  Abingdon,  331 — 3  ;  his  inhuman 
treatment  at  Wantage  and  Faringdon, 
333 — 5  ;  his  experience  in  Hampshire,  338 — 
9 ;  at  Longton,  Stafford,  289 ;  on  Weymouth 
mission,  211. 

Saffron  Walden,  missioned  by  Upwell — made  a 
circuit,  ii.  223. 

St.    Austell,    visited   by   W.    Clowes,    ii.    322 ; 
great     revival     at ;     subsequent     history, 
325—6. 

St.  Day,  visited  by  W.  Clowes,  ghostly  experience 
alluded  to,  322. 

St.  Ives,  opened  by  Joseph  Grieves,  revival  and 
progress ;  made  a  station,  ii.  326 — 7  ; 
portrait  and  notice  of  A.  F.  Beckerlegge. 

St.  Ives  (Hunts.),  missioned  by  Cambridge,  early 
preaching  places  ;  made  a  circuit  by  G.  M. 
C,  ii.  227. 

Salisbury,  missioned  by  Motcombe ;  made  a 
circuit ;  its  offshoots,  ii.  297. 

Sanderson  W.,  his  conversion,  eminence  and 
success  as  a  minister — ministers  who  were 
his  spiritual  children  ;  portrait,  i.  400 — 2. 

Scarborough,  society  formed  by  W.  Clowes  and 
J.  Coulson,  ii.  107 — 8;  N.  West's  and 
R.  Abey's  labours  at,  109 — 10  ;  its  first 
home-made  chapel,  110  ;  portraits  of  early 
worthies,  113;  the  building  of  Jubilee  and 
present  Sepulchre  Street  Chapels,  112  and 
114;  view  of  chapels,    114. 

Scotter,  once  the  head  of  a  district  and  centre  of 
a  wide  evangelistic  movement,  i.  417  ;  W. 
Braithwaite  chief  pioneer — also  Miss  Par- 
rott  417 18  ;  incidents  of  village  evangeli- 
zation, 419—32;  only  rural  village  where 
a  Conference  has  been  held — significance  of 
the  fact  433  ;  Conference  Chapel  lost  to 
the  Connexion,  432—3  ;  doings  of  the  Conf. 
of  '29,  436—8;  a  strong  and  aggressive 
circuit,  432. 


Sheffield,  J.  Gilbert  as  Nottingham's™  mis- 
sionary begins  his  pioneer  labours,  i. 
479—84;  building  of  Bethel  Chapel,  the 
audacity  of  faith,  485 — 6 ;  portrait,  group 
of  early  Sheffield  worthies  with  personal 
references,  484—5  ;  the  Conference  of  '52 
with  a  glance  at  some  of  the  representatives; 
ii.  372 — 7  ;  the  recent  development  of 
P.  Methodism  in  Sheffield,  468—71. 

Shefjord,  made  a  circuit ;  its  extensive  missionary 
labours,  ii.  314,  345  ;  view  of  first  meeting 
house,  311  ;  See  Berkshire  Mission  and 
Newbury. 

Shrewsbury,  Sarah  Spittle  and  J.  Bonser  the 
pioneers  ;  arrest  of  the  latter  for  open-air 
preaching,  ii.  278  ;  made  a  circuit  from 
Oakengates  ;  conversion  of  Elizabeth  John- 
son, the  mother  of  the  Brownhills,  portraits, 
278 — 9 ;  circuits  deriving  from,  79  ; 
establishes  first  mission  to  Ireland,  28 1  ; 
its  Wiltshire  Mission,  310—13. 

Silsden,  missionaries  invited  to ;  T.  Batty's 
labours ;  references  to  early  life  of  J. 
Flesher  and  J.  Petty  ;  portraits  and  notices 
of  other  early  adherents,  ii.  116 — 18,  120. 

Smith  John  (1).  Scholar  in  T.  Bateman's  Bible 
Class,  i.  518.  First  superintendent  of 
Chester,  556.  Moves  off  to  East  Anglia, 
518.  His  death  and  character,  ii.  232 — 3. 
Portrait,  i.  517.     Anecdote  of,  556. 

Atkinson,  his  early  life,  conversion,  and 

ministry,  i.  423 — 6  ;  at  Leeds,  ii.  74 — 5. 

South-East  London  Mission  and  its  Social 
Ministries,  ii.  513 — 16. 

Southport,  beginnings  of  P.  Methodism  in,  ii.  126. 

South  Shields,  J.  Branfoot's  pioneer  visit  to,  ii. 
1 65  ;  first  preaching-rooms  and  the  building 
of  the  Glebe,  166 — 7  ;  reference  to  early 
worthies,  with  portraits,  167 — 8 ;  joint 
mission  to  Channel  Isles,  209. 

Spook  Jos.,  portrait,  incidents  of  his  ministry 
at  Ripon,  ii.  81 — 4 ;  on  the  Rothbury 
mission,  136. 

Stanhope,  great  revival  at,  ii.  151. 

Stanley,  the  question  of  the  class  at,  discussed, 
i.  115—18. 

Steele  Jas.,  claimed  by  W.  Clowes  as  one  of 
the  founders  of  the  Connexion,  i.  1,  ii.  22  ; 
becomes  a  "  Revivalist,"  portrait,  i.  45 ; 
his  expulsion  from  the  Methodist  Society, 
106 — 9  ;  made  the  first  Circuit  Steward, 
131  ;  his  death,  ii.  22. 

Stockport,  early  history  of,  portraits  of  S.  Smith, 
J.  Ashworth,  W.  Cheetham,  sen.,  and  view 
of  present  chapel,  ii.  48 — 50. 

Stockton-on-Tees,  missioned  by  S.  Laister,  ii. 
132;  made  a  circuit,  201 — 2. 

Sunday  School  Union  established;  portraits  of 
Secretaries,  ii.,  530 — 1. 

Sunderland,  when  first  visited,  ii.,  199 — 201  ; 
Sunderland  and  Stockton  Union  Circuit 
formed — its  wide  area  and  successive 
partitions — its  rapid  growth,  202 ;  the 
building  of  Flag  Lane,  203  ;  its  influential 
officials,  204 — 5 ;  the  secession  of,  '77,  205 ; 


552 


INDEX. 


its  missions  to  Edinburgh,  205 — 8,  Channel 

Isles,  208 — 10,  Dorset,  210  ;  view  of  chapels, 

466  ;  the  first  Theological  Institute,  526. 
Suatentation  Fund  established,  ii.  409. 
Swaffham  and  the  district  missioned  by  W.  P. 

Bellham  of  Lynn,  made  a  circuit,  ii.  219 — 

20. 
Swansea,  Blaenavon  sends  Henry  Higginson  to 

mission,  ii.  308  ;  Jos.  Hibbs  {portrait)  first 

superintendent,  308 — 9. 

Tadcaster  missioned  by  N.  West — its  after  his- 
tory, ii.  77—8. 

Temperance,  the  growth  of  sentiment  in  the 
Connexion  in  favour  of,  i.  469 — 76 ;  the 
early  efforts  of  Preston  circuit  in  favour  of, 
ii.  127 — 9  ;  the  appointment  of  Connexional 
Temperance  Secretary,  531. 

Tickets,  Society,  the  origin  of,  i,  111,  facsimiles 
of,  112. 

Tunstall,  revival  at,  i.  45  ;  "  Clowesites  "  preach 
in  Boden's  warehouse,  109  ;  the  first  chapel 
built — view  of,  1 10  ;  first  written  plan  of 
Tunstall  circuit,  559  ;  the  second  plan — its 
places  and  preachers,  114—29  ;  Non-mission 
law  prevails  until  '19,  187 — 9;  end  of  the 
law,  and  resumption  of  aggressive  policy, 
507—10  ;  Plan  of  the  circuit  for  1819,  508  ; 
Darlaston  becomes  a  circuit  and  the  rest 
divided  into  six  branches,  510.  Jubilee 
Conference  at,  ii.  378. 

Turner  Sampson,  his  conversion,  portrait,  i. 
169 ;  enters  the  ministry,  510,  519 ;  his 
labours  in  the  Black  Country,  519 — 20, 
Lichfield,  523,  Burton-on-Trent,  524;  T. 
Bateman's  estimate,  516  ;  missions  Huxley, 
549 ;  at  Macclesfield,  539 ;  Northwich,  546 ; 
York,  ii.  57—8. 

Samuel,  portraits,  ii.  332,  343. 

Vice-Presidents  of  Conference,  portraits  of, 
ii.,  394,  480,  518,  541. 

Wakefield,  made  a  circuit,  i.  477  ;  reference  to, 
486. 

Wangford,  made  a  circuit  from  Yarmouth,  early 
history  of,  ii.  245 — 6. 

Wantage,  Thos.  Russell's  severe  persecution  at, 
ii.  333—4. 

Ward,  Robert,  a  native  of  Swaffham  Circuit, 
ii.  220 ;  outline  of  his  labours  as  a  pioneer 
and  planter  of  Churches  in  New  Zealand, 
440 — 5  ;  portrait,  441. 

Warner  Geo.,  successfully  missions  Malmes- 
bury,  portrait,  ii.  315 ;  his  service  as 
Connexional  Evangelist,  540. 

Weardale,  labours  of  J.  Ansdale,  T.  Batty,  and 
others  in — incidents  in  the  great  Revival, 
ii.  143 — 6 ;  made  a  branch  of  Hull,  146 ; 
John  Oxtoby  in,  147  ;  the  revival  spreads  to 
Nenthead  and  Allendale,  147 — 8 ;  some 
notable  figures  of  the  Dale,  143,  154 — 6. 

Wedgwood  John,  his  early  life  and  conversion, 
i.  164 — 5.  Lost  with  Clowes  on  Morridge, 
166—8.     Travels  with  H.  Bourne  to  Can- 


nock Wood  Camp  Meeting,  169  Takes  part 
in  the  great  Revival  in  the  Midlands,  251 — 
4.  First  Primitive  Methodist  to  be  im- 
prisoned, 255 — 7.  Takes  part  in  opening 
Leicester,  304 — 6.  His  labours  on  the 
Cheshire  Mission,  510 — 13.  Beoomes  a 
travelling  preacher,  514.  His  funeral 
described,  514 — 15.     His  portraits,  163,  257. 

Western  Mission,  geographical  course  of  traced, 
ii.  295—8. 

Westgate,  story  of  the  building  of  the  Chapel  at, 
ii.  154,  see  also  under  Weardale. 

Weymouth,  J.  Nelson  and  G.  Cosens,  Sunderland's 
missionaries  to,  ii.  210  ;  after  history  of,  211. 

Whitby,  Clowes  and  N.  West  visit,  ii.  108—9  j 
made  a  circuit,  110. 

Whitehaven,  when  missioned,  ii.  141  ;  visited 
by  W.  Clowes  and  H.  Bourne,  141,  153 ; 
J.  Garner  and  J.  Oxtoby's  labours — Mount 
Pleasant  Church  secured — circuits  made 
from  it,  141. 

Winchester,  struggle  and  success  at,  ii.  343. 

Windsor,  persecution  on  the  mission,  ii.  345—7. 

Winster  made  a  circuit,  i.  525  ;  its  vigorous  re- 
missionary  efforts,  527 — 30. 

Wisbech,  early  P.  Methodism  at ;  some  circuit 
worthies,  ii.  224 — 5. 

Witney,  the  noisy  Camp  Meeting  at,  made  a, 
circuit  and  transferred  to  Tunstall  Dist., 
i.  346—7. 

Woodley,  its  early  history,  the  Stafford  family 
(portraits)  and  the  influence  of  J.  L.  Buckley, 
portrait  and  view  of  chapel,  ii.  50 — 1. 

Wolverhampton,  opposition  at  to  S.  Turner,  i. 
519 ;  J.  Bonser  imprisoned  at,  522. 

Wootton  Bassett,  persecution  and  success  at,  ii. 
311—12,  335. 

Worcester,  T.  Brownsword  imprisoned  at,  i. 
521—2. 

Wrockwardine  Wood,  chapel  built  at,  ii.  274 — 5  ; 
made  the  head  of  the  circuit,  274 ;  pros- 
perity of,  275. 

Yarmouth  missioned  by  Norwich,  ii.  228.  Made 
a  circuit,  228.  Hayloft  its  first  chapel,  228. 
First  and  second  Tabernacles  built  on  the 
same  site,  228 — 9.  Origin  of  the  word 
"  Temple "  given  to  the  present  chapel, 
229.  Fatal  accident  to  Mr.  T.  Kirk,  229. 
Yarmouth  Sunday  School,  230.  Queen 
Street  Chapel  erected,  230.  Five  circuits 
made  from  Yarmouth,  231.  Portraits  and 
notices  of  prominent  officials,  229,  232 — 3. 
Ministers  who  have  gone  out  from  the 
circuit,  232. 

York,  the  strategic  importance  of,  ii.  52 ;  visits 
of  Clowes  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Harrison  to, 
53 — 5  ;  Grape  Lane  Chapel,  56 — 8  ;  severe 
persecution  at,  57 — 8  ;  made  a  circuit,  58  ; 
the  building  of  Little  Stonegate,  60 — 1  j 
views  of  chapels  and  prominent  early 
officials,  58—60;  Elmfield  Collegeat,  521^1. 
Offices  of  Insurance  Co.  and  Chapel  Aid 
Association,  534 — 8. 

Young  People's  Society  of  Christian  En- 
deavour, ii.  531. 


FLETCHER   AND   SON,    LTD.,    PRINTERS,    NORWICH.