Reverend Thomas THOMPSON (1830-1901)
| Name: | Thomas THOMPSON 1 |
| Sex: | Male |
| Name Prefix: | Reverend |
| Father: | Isaac THOMPSON (1807-bef1834) |
| Mother: | Elizabeth VICKERS (1807-1849) |
Individual Events and Attributes
| Birth | 3 Apr 1830 | St Johns Chapel, Stanhope, Durham 2 |
| Residence (1) | 1841 (age 10-11) | Chapel House, Forest Quarter, Stanhope Parish. 3 |
| Residence (2) | 1848 (age 17-18) | Bridport 4 |
| Residence (3) | 1851 (age 20-21) | Wearhead, Forest Quarter, Stanhope parish 5 |
| Residence (4) | 1861 (age 30-31) | Swan Yard, Market Street, Atherstone, Warwickshire (Lodger) 6 |
| Residence (5) | 1865 (age 34-35) | 4 Edwards, Salisbury, wiltshire 7 |
| Residence (6) | 1871 (age 40-41) | 14 Lambrook Street, Glastonbury, Somerset 8 |
| Residence (7) | 1881 (age 50-51) | 32 High Street, Alton, Hampshire 9 |
| Residence (8) | 1891 (age 60-61) | 33 Park Street, Newcastle Lower, Bridgend 10 |
| Retirement | Aug 1900 (age 70) | Ashburton, Devon |
| Death | 5 May 1901 (age 71) | Manor Park Road, Willesden, London - Rupture of right Auricle of Heart 11 |
| Occupation (1) | 1851 (age 20-21) | -; Stanhope - Leadminer 5 |
| Occupation (2) | 1865 (age 34-35) | -; Wesleyan Minister 7 |
| Residence (9) | 1901 (age 70-71) | 38 St Johns Avenue,Willesden, Hendon 12 |
| Burial | 9 May 1901 | The quiet God's acre of Kingsbury cum Neasden Churchyard 13 |
Marriage
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| Spouse: Jane FULLER, Jane Thompson (nee Fuller) | Child: John Vickers THOMPSON, John Vickers Thompson | Child: Edgar Wesley THOMPSON, Edgar Wesley Thompson 1962 aged | Child: Arthur Wilfrid THOMPSON, 1900, age 22, Arthur Wilfrid Thompson | ||||
Individual Note 1 (shared)
The report of thomas at Bridport as an AM may not be our Thomas.... Age is right if AM means Apprentice/Assistant Minister. He may have gone back home for a couple of years and then returned. Note that he was later seen in atherstone as a Minister then mainly on the south Coast apart from the one trip back to Helmsley.
Definitely entered ministry in 1856 as this is in the "An index of Mnisters and Probationers who have died in the work (from commencement of Ministry to year of death)" Interestingly thee is also a John S Vickers who entered the ministry in 1849-1887 who perhaps inspired TT????
The road up through Weardale to Alston is the highest road in England - over two thousand feet high
Individual Note 2
« The Coming of Methodism to Weardale »
By H.K. (1898)
[original liberally illustrated with black-and-white photographs -- see below]
[visual emphasis added e.g. Watson]
The first Methodist preacher who visited Weardale was Christopher Hopper. Wesley says that in 1749 Mr. Hopper and John Brown came and preached among them. He adds that Mr. Hopper, though meeting with no encouragement at his first appearance in the dale, made several visits in the ensuing spring and summer. It was not, however, until the autumn of that same year that the great work of conversion began. Four then found peace with God and agreed to meet together. At the Christmas following there was another incursion of Methodist preachers. Hopper had crossed over the mountains from Allendale, and it was from the same quarter that the two exhorters set out. Their coming was quite dramatic, and the tradition of it has perhaps for that reason been cherished. Before entering the dale they knelt down in the snow and earnestly besought the Lord that He would incline some person, who was worthy, to receive them into his house. At the first house where they called they were bidden welcome, and they stayed there four days. Wesley adds, "Their word was with power, so that many were convinced, and some converted to God. One of these exhorters was Jacob Rowell. They continued their visits, at intervals, all winter. In the beginning of summer about twenty lively, steady people were joined together. From that time they gradually increased to thirty-five, and continued about that number for ten years. There was then a remarkable revival among them, by means of Samuel Meggot, so that they increased to eighty; but, four years since (this was written in 1772) they were reduced to sixty-three. From that time they increased again, and were, in August, 1772, an hundred and twenty."
It was rough work travelling up and down the dales and across the mountains in those days. Mr. George Story, who was Samuel Meggot's colleague in the circuit, says, "I exerted myself much above my strength both in preaching and travelling, often venturing in tempestuous weather over those dreary fells when even the mountaineers themselves durst not. I was frequently in danger of being swallowed up in the bogs, or carried away by the torrents. Sometimes I have rode over valleys where the snow was eight or ten feet deep, for two or three furlongs together." And then he adds, "When the danger was most imminent, I not only found a calm resignation, but a solid rejoicing in the God of my salvation."
These early Methodist preachers had a great many discouragements, as we may gather from the old records. There were dull times then, as now, and long periods when the people did not get converted, and sometimes disaster in the societies, and quarrelling and the outbreak of wild fanaticism that would not be controlled, and dry-rot in the classes. But then, ever and anon, there came a time of refreshing, when the Divine power descended on the assembly, and people dropped down one after the other, crying for mercy, and the work revived, and spread through the dale, and the society was doubled, and God made His servants to understand that they were not forsaken and that their work was not a failure.
Mr. Christopher Hopper's account differs in certain material respects from Wesley's. It seems certain that there was a still earlier visit in 1748, and that this was really the beginning of Methodism in Weardale. Mr. Thompson, who, judging from the notes he has given me, has tested everything by most careful inquiry up and down the dale, where traditions are consistent and likely to be reliable,, because the people have intermarried and the facts of local history have come down from father to son - Mr. Thompson says that Christopher Hopper was the first Methodist preacher who visited the dale, that he came in 1748, and that he crossed over from Allendale.
This Christopher Hopper was the apostle of Methodism through a large section of the North country. We meet the abiding fruits of his work far and near around Newcastle, in co. Durham, and in Lancashire, Cheshire, and elsewhere, as far as Bristol. He was a Durham man, born at Low Coalburne, in the parish of Ryton, in 1722. A farmer's son, through the years of his early youth he lived a wild, rollicking life. It was through the coming of John Wesley to Newcastle-upon-Tyne that he became converted. He was one of the earliest of the Methodist preachers, making his own "round," without stipend or steward, going forth at his own charges, enduring hardness, passing not infrequently through tornadoes of persecution, and not strange to fightings within. Here is a glimpse - and it refers to the very year (1748) with which we are concerned - of the sorrows through which these heroic pioneers of Methodism passed. "My little substance," he writes, "soon failed, and I saw nothing before me but beggary and great afflictions. Sometimes I was carried above all earthly objects, and had a comfortable view of the heavenly country. At other times I was much depressed, and I could see nothing but poverty and distress." It must be remembered that he was a married man, and that in the interests of the preaching, at a time when there was no income for any preacher, he had given up his school and come to the dales - led by the good hand of God as surely as was St. Paul when he went forth into the mountains of Asia Minor.
"I well remember," he adds, "once, on the top of a cold mountain, in a violent storm of snow, when the congealed flakes covered me with a white mantle, Satan assaulted me, and pushed me hard to return to my school, or some other business to secure bread. I staggered through unbelief, and almost yielded to the tempter. But as the attack was sudden, so the battle was soon over. The Lord sent these words to my heart, like lightning. 'When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye anything ? And they said, Nothing, Lord.' I answered with a loud voice, 'Nothing, Lord ! Nothing, Lord !' All my doubts and fears vanished in a moment, and I went on my way rejoicing !
" 'Constrain'd to cry by love Divine,
My God, Thou art for ever mine.' "
As I have followed in the footsteps of Christopher Hopper, and stood on the very spot where he opened the Methodist commission in Weardale, I have wondered at the story of the heroic life work of these pioneer preachers - literally without purse or scrip, absolutely cast on the fidelity of their God. If any village Methodist should be harassed by an empty-headed Ritualistic curate with the taunt that Methodism is a schism and no part of the true Church of Jesus Christ, let him take a dose of Christopher Hopper's Journal. He will find it in the "Lives of the Early Methodist Preachers." And then let him ask himself, and the devil, and the curate, and anybody and everybody who tries to stand between him and his God, "Was not this Methodist preaching of God ?" If ever a Church could trace up the history of its founding to the right hand of the Most High, to the Spirit of God who shapes all human ends to Divine purposes, it is the Church of the Wesleys and Christopher Hopper and the heroes of the great Dales in the North Country. The young Methodists of to-day in all the Dales, from Wharfedale to Weardale, have reason to be proud of their ancestry.
In 1748 Christopher Hopper pitched his preaching tent in Allendale, forming, straight out of hand, four societies. "In the latter end of this year," he says, "I visited Weardale. Some of the brethren attended me from Allendale.
"It was in a storm of snow that we crossed the quagmires and enormous mountains. When we came into the dale we met with a very cold reception. The enemy had barricaded the place, and made his bulwarks strong. But the Lord made way for His troops. He opened the heart of a poor Scotch shepherd to receive us into his little thatched cabin, where we lodged all night.
"The next day I preached under the walls of an old castle. A few children and two or three old women attended, who looked hard at us. When I had done we followed them into their houses, and talked freely to them in their own language, about the kingdom of God. They heard and obeyed the Gospel. The next evening I had a large congregation, who heard with much attention, and received the Word gladly. Some time after I preached in private houses, alehouses, cockpits, or wherever I could find a door open. The fire then spread from heart to heart, and God was glorified.
On this account I may make two remarks. The latter portion refers, as it seems to us, to the work done by Christopher Hopper, which Wesley describes in his Journals and which all lay within the year 1749. For he says distinctly it was at "the latter end of the year 1749 I left the Dales and the dear children God had given me." Secondly, we can identify the place at which the preaching first began. It was "under the walls of an old castle." This locates it at Westgate - the village on the railway before you reach "St. John's Chapel." The old castle has vanished, leaving only mounds behind. But, by diligent inquiry on the spot, Mr. Hunter (the superintendent minister) and Mr. Thompson enabled me to discover the very spot on which Christopher Hopper must have stood - the spot that fulfils all the conditions, and the only one that does so. A fragment of the wall remains, overgrown now by a hedgerow, and immediately opposite there is an alley of very old cottage houses, at the end of which I set up the camera, and whilst my friends stood where they could command the houses - looking, by a curious coincidence, into the faces of "a few children and two or three old women," I took an excellent photograph, which was developed quite successfully one night in our Conference home at Hull. And then, alas, two accidents befell the negative, and it was smashed beyond recovery. However, we now know the very place where Weardale Methodism was born, and fortunately, in the landscape photograph of Westgate, taken by the side of the mill stream that rushes down to the Wear, the old houses in front of which Christopher Hopper preached are included.
The story of Methodism in Westgate would itself make a chapter in WINTER NUMBER, a chapter which my friend, the Rev. J. Conder Nattrass, who is proud to think of Westgate as his ancestral home, ought some day to write. There is a tradition in Weardale, so Mr. Thompson informs me, that Mr. Hopper was so pleased with the kind reception he met with from the people of the dale on his first visits, that subsequently when coming over from Cumberland, as soon as he reached the boundary between the counties, he commenced singing: -
"The promised land from Killhope top,
I now exult to see;
My hope is full ! (O Glorious Hope),
Of good spice cake and tea."
Wesley, who always had an eye for the beautiful, thus described the view from Pike Law when he came over from Teesdale: "From the top of the next enormous mountain we had a view of Weardale. It is a lovely prospect. The green gently rising meadows and fields, on both sides of the little river clear as crystal, were sprinkled over with innumerable little houses, three in four of which (if not nine in ten) are sprung up since the Methodists came hither. Since that time the beasts are turned into men, and the wilderness into a fruitful field."
And this is what the good man says about the people, especially the young people. He had been preaching at High House, and there was so great a multitude that they could not get into the chapel. So he preached again the next day, and then adds, "On Thursday at five o'clock I took my leave of this blessed people. I was a little surprised, in looking attentively upon them, to observe so many beautiful faces as I never saw before in one congregation, many of the children in particular, twelve or fourteen of whom (chiefly boys) sat full in my view. But I allow, much more might be owing to grace than nature, to the heaven within, that shone outwards."
At Eastgate, which is the next station beyond Westgate travelling from St. John's Chapel, there is a remarkably fine specimen of an old Weardale farmhouse. It is rich in Methodist associations. The late Mr. Emerson Bainbridge, father of Mr. T. H. Bainbridge, of Newcastle, was born there. I was told by the circuit steward, who now lives in the house, that the room in which Mr. Bainbridge, sen., was born is the little bedroom on the ground floor behind the black oak panelling in the great house-place, a photograph of which I was kindly permitted to take. The camera stood by the door of the little bedroom. That house-place is one of the sacred spots in the history of Methodism. It was one of the farm kitchens of the olden time to which the neighbours used to come for the Methodist preaching, precisely as the early Christians of Colosse used to come to the house-place of Philemon, in which Luke the evangelist and most of the famous preachers of that day proclaimed the evangel of Jesus Christ. When you stand inside that glorious farm kitchen you feel as though you would like to make it your home to the end of your days. As I took the photograph the place was filled with the delicious aroma of the bread-baking. The young daughter of the house, as I was told by her mother, had just distinguished herself by taking the first prize offered by the County Council for butter-making. You may see father and mother and daughter standing on the little islet above the waterfall, which is close to the farmhouse. The Bainbridge Memorial Chapel, in the same village, was erected by the generosity of the Bainbridge family, in memory of their grand-father, Mr. Cuthbert Bainbridge, whose name is fragrant in the Methodism of all this country side.
The number of ministers and laymen of note who have been raised in the dales is simply bewildering. I stood one day close to the manse of St. John's Chapel. Behind me at Hilltop, nestling among the sheltering fir trees, was the farmhouse in which the late Rev. William Gibson's father was born, who, like his son, was also a Wesleyan minister. In Pryse House, now the manse, died Joshua Dawson, the father-in-law of the Rev. Thomas Cook. Across the valley on the hillside of High House I could see the birthplace of the Rev. Joseph Race, who died in China. At the Hermitage across the river the Philipsons lived, and below, at the foot of the hill, the brother of the Rev. Thomas Nattrass was harvesting the hay. At Middle-Rigg, below Ling Riggs, not far away, the Rev. Featherstone Kellett was born; at Burnhope, the Rev. Thomas Thompson; at Ling Riggs, the Revs. Joseph and George Watson and Dr. John Watson; at Westhall, beyond Wear Head, the Rev. Jonathan Hewitson; at Stanhope, the Rev. William Wallace; and in the neighbourhood at Eastgate, the Rev. George Golightly. I do not suppose that this by any means exhausts the list. The dale literally teems with Methodist associations.
I have a few notes with reference to two of the names mentioned above.
John Kellett was born a year before the death of Wesley. He was a prominent member of the High House Society for upwards of seventy years, for nearly sixty years a local preacher, and for fifty years a class-leader. Left an orphan at twelve years of age, his advantages in early life must have been meagre. He married early, and not long after was led to think upon his ways. Under deep conviction he sought out a little band of Methodists who met in a class at Lowburn. They heartily welcomed him to their meetings and led him to Christ. He united himself to the people, and for seventy years continued a firmly attached member of the Methodist Society. The dalesmen remember with pride to this day that John Kellett was a zealous servant of the Divine Master, never whiling away time, never triflingly employed. He was a reader, and according to his opportunity, I am told, a great reader. The little cottage in which he lived, now in ruins, I looked upon with reverence, and thought of the good man living sparely, and, in the leisure hours of a busy life, studying Wesley, Fletcher, Benson, and Clarke - his great authorities on Christian doctrine - the men who taught him how to teach the people on all that country side, and how to teach the boy who was destined to go forth into a wider sphere preaching the Gospel in the greatest chapels of Methodism, and, in his turn, training sons who were destined to teach in one of the greatest schools of English learning and, one of them, the sons of Brahmins in the University of Madras. No wonder that Featherstone Kellett and his sons love Weardale and are proud of the memory of brave old John Kellett.
I may add that the Hill House [1] minister's house of the olden time still survives. It adjoins the chapel at the back. In this tiny house lived the Rev. W. Hirst, and, later, the Rev. W. Rodwell Jones. The little daughter of the latter, at that time one of two, is still remembered in the Dale. She has since become famous in literature as "Dora M. Jones." In those days there was a little shop under the minister's house. The shop window - a very tiny window - may be seen in the photograph.
John Kellett was a practical preacher, and always more anxious to lead his hearers to repentance and rectitude of life than to please their fancy. He preached in the dialect of his native valley. As he was wont to say, his aim was to be understood in speaking for his Lord rather to employ fine words, or to round his periods. He was a sturdy Methodist of the olden type, a firm believer in Methodist doctrine and polity - a Methodist by intelligent choice. Upon Christ he based all his hope of everlasting life with God in heaven. He was not always what could have been desired in word and temper, and sometimes unfortunate expressions would occasion feelings not of the pleasantest among his brethren. But when the breeze subsided no one was more ready to accept, or to give, the reconciling word. He was conscious of weakness, and therefore, though a thorough believer in the higher life, he never felt that he could venture to profess it. He was a diligent attendant at prayer-meetings and week-night services in his own locality, and often walked miles from home to preach in cottages. Throughout a large circle he visited the sick and dying and anyone who might be under conviction of sin. His manner was to impress people by relating striking instances which had come under his own observation. He had a quaint way of introducing incidents met with during his visits. He once caused a smile in a great public meeting at High House by commencing his speech thus: "I sometimes think that in some respects Satan and I are not unlike each other. Satan went to and fro and up and down the earth, and so do I - but to undo what Satan has done." And then he narrated remarkable facts he had met with in his travels. John Kellett has an honoured place amongst the planters of Methodism in Weardale and the adjacent dales. He rests from his labours and his works do follow him.
Joshua Dawson belonged to a later generation of Weardale Methodists. He was born in 1821. His parents were connected with High House, and gave their children training according to the manner of the Methodists. Nevertheless, Joshua, in his youth, fell among evil companions and drank and fought. In a quarrel his leg was broken. Obliged to stay at home he began to improve himself in the rudiments of knowledge. His brother, who was a fair scholar, helped him. By the time he had recovered from his accident he thought himself competent to take charge of a school at Ireshopeburn. He married Miss Frances Tinniswood. She disliked his habits, but had boundless faith in his father's example and prayer. In 1844, just after their marriage, Scotch missionaries visited Weardale, and one night, under a sermon by Mr. Robertson, a Morrisonian Presbyterian, in High House Chapel, on the word "Eternity," the two young people gave their hearts to God. In this revival Featherstone Kellett, Thomas Nattrass (both of whom afterwards entered the ministry), with Mr. Thomas Hodgson, who became a useful local preacher and leader, and many others were converted. Joshua Dawson passed through terrible spiritual experiences at this time. "As he was coming the devil threw him down." But he was desperately in earnest for salvation, so earnest that he afterwards said to a friend, "I loved my wife as much as any man could love his wife, yet I could have left her, and home and friends, and could have gone to the uttermost parts of the earth and there dragged out a miserable existence alone, if only I might have been satisfied that God would save my soul." It occurred to him one day that some time before he had said to an employer of labour that which was not true about a man who had tried to injure him. It was only a trivial matter, yet he set off at once to Nent Head, a village about seven and a-half miles away over the mountains, that he might confess his sin and make restitution of character. "Now all this time," says Bunyan, and so also Joshua Dawson through these days and weeks of distress never ceased saying, "If I perish it will be crying out for God."
His life, of course, became entirely changed. But while reading the Word of God, Wesley's Sermons, and Christian Perfection, the Lives of John Smith, William Bramwell, Carvosso, and other Methodist biographies, he saw there was a higher state of grace, and rested not till he had obtained full redemption. Then he gave himself to the Word of God, and, along with Thomas Hodgson, Thomas Watson, and others, commenced prayer-meetings and cottage services. The result was a revival in which many were brought to God. He obtained permission from the minister to commence a new class-meeting, which became so large that it had to be held in the chapel. He spent much time in prayer, praying regularly with his scholars and even on the highway as he went to and from the school. On one occasion he had been home to dinner at Pryse. Starting for the school, which was about a mile distant, he began to pray aloud. When he reached Pryse Hill a tramp, sitting under the hedge, heard him, and had the wit to explain, "That's right, brother, I'm fasting and you're praying, so we'll both get to heaven."
Joshua Dawson's father was a local preacher, useful in his day, but by this time old and infirm. He asked Joshua to take an appointment for him at Burnhope. The son obeyed, and had a fairly good time. His first was his father's last appointment. Until his seventieth year, as a preacher he was in labours more abundant. From the first he was very successful in winning souls, both in his own and in adjoining circuits. After several years he extended the circle of his labours. For a while with Mr. John Clarke, of Saltburn-by-the-Sea, and afterwards for several years with Mr. Jabez Woolley, of Leeds, he laboured in towns and villages in various parts of the country. Few men have been more useful in bringing souls to Christ.
From the time of his conversion Joshua Dawson acknowledged God in all his ways, making every matter a subject of prayer. Soon after his marriage he was obliged to give up teaching at Ireshopeburn, a large school being built in the locality. He determined to commence business as a grocer. But he had no money. It occurred to him that if he only had five pounds he would be satisfied. One day he went into a room adjoining the post office and laid the matter before the Lord. While on his knees he received an impression that a letter had come for him. He rose, went into the post office, and found it was so. The letter contained a five-pound note from an unknown friend. Another friend called shortly after and offered to lend him £5 more. From that time God prospered him in all his undertakings, so that he was in a position to go forth preaching Christ at his own charges.
He was a generous man, and systematic in his generosity, giving a tenth of his income. He bought the house in which he lived, and carried on his business, adding a third storey, so that in the event of objection being taken to their preaching in the chapel, women might preach there. His house was the home of the preachers.
When sixty years of age he told his friends that he had an impression that he would live ten years more to go on with his beloved work. In 1883, however, he was suddenly seized with severe illness. He suffered much, and it seemed as though his end was near. One of his most intimate friends, after praying earnestly for his recovery, opened the Bible, as some of the early Methodist preachers used to do, and his eye fell upon the passage, "I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord." The message was fulfilled. Mr. Dawson's last mission was at Ormskirk. While there he attained his seventieth year. On the last Sunday he had a glorious time. Writing to his daughter, the widow of the late Rev. Joseph Race, he said, "Yesterday was the crowning day of my life." The next day there came a paralytic seizure, which ended his labours as an evangelist. Once he said to Mrs. Race, "If I had not had this extreme suffering it could hardly have been said I had gone up through much tribulation." Just before his death his daughter-in-law, Mrs. Tinniswood Dawson, asked "Is Jesus precious?" He answered "Yes." It was his last word. He passed peacefully away December 31, 1892, in the seventy-second year of his age.
Accompanying illustrations
~ Wapping Cottage, Westgate
~ Westgate Chapel
~ Mr. Emerson Bainbridge's Birthplace
~ The Linns, Eastgate
~ Kitchen of the Bainbridge Ancestral Home
~ The Cuthbert Bainbridge Memorial Chapel
~ The Minister's House behind High House Chapel
~ The Parish Church, St. John's Chapel
~ Mr. Joshua Dawson's Shop at St. John's Chapel
~ Hilltop, the Home of the Gibsons
~ Pryse House
Source: The Methodist Recorder, No. 2044, 1898
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Footnote
(1) This may be a mistake: the author probably meant "High House". 15
Individual Note 3
Welcome to Gravesend Methodist Church
History of our church
The Early Days
There have been Methodists in Gravesend since the early days of Methodism, indeed, as far back as I77I a room was rented by the twenty or so members of the Society and John Wesley himself preached at the opening service to a crowded congregation.
This first enthusiasm was short-lived however and, although one or two members still met as often as possible, it was considered by the authorities at Rochester, that “Gravesend was too wicked a town for much good to be done” and an application for a regular preacher was refused.
In 1807 a further application was made, this time it was approved and regular services began to be held.
These were so successful that the need was soon felt for a permanent building.
The First Wesleyan Chapel in Gravesend
Early in I8I2 a meeting was held to consider the matter. From then on events moved swiftly; in spite of the uncertainties brought about by the Napoleonic War.
The new church was completed and the opening services held just six months after the decision to build had been taken.
The first Wesleyan Chapel
Photo courtesy of Douglas Grierson
In the years that followed the church went from strength to strength. So much so, in fact, that by the end of the century the premises had become quite inadequate for its needs.
After much thought it was decided to rebuild the church and to include Sunday School Class Rooms and all other necessary accommodation on one site.
The cost of this was estimated to be £9000, but there was no hesitation, and by I906 the Church and adjoining premises, as we know them today, had been built.
At the time of the opening some £5000 had already been collected - a wonderful effort in three years - but the debt was not finally extinguished until I920.
In 2006 we celebrated the centenary of our present building.
The final preparations before opening - 1906
All ready for opening - 1906
Photos courtesy of Douglas Grierson
History of Wesleyan Methodism in Gravesend :
Its Rise and Progress. By Mr. F.A.Mansfield
It has been thought appropriate to relate, as far as possible, the circumstances in which Methodism originated in Gravesend . Recorded facts date back as far as 1771, when there was a society of 16 or 20 members and the probability is that the first Methodist minister to visit the town was either Rev. Alex Mather or Rev. Joseph Benson, the commentator. In that year the little Society engaged a room capable of accommodating 200 people. On Monday, December 2nd 1771, John Wesley himself attended to open the room, and the interesting event is thus alluded to in his journal: ‘Monday, Dec. 2nd, I went down with several of our friends to Gravesend , when a building, designed for an assembly room, was used for a better purpose. It was quite crowded, yet abundance could not get in. After reading prayers, I preached on part of the second lesson, Hebrews 8 v.9-11. The room was pretty well filled at five in the morning. Fair blossoms! But what fruit will there be?’
The following year witnessed a second visit from John Wesley, who further says in his journal:- ‘I read prayers and preached to a crowded congregation at Gravesend . The stream here spreads wide, but it is not deep. Many are drawn, but none converted, or even awakened. Such is the general method of God’s providence! Where all approve few profit.’
Our venerable founder’s estimate of this beginning proved to be correct, for the room was held only a little more than three years, when it had to be abandoned for want of support. Among the members of Society, however, was a Mr Jessup, whose steadfastness and faith more than once saved the little flock from becoming scattered. Ever on the alert, his attention was directed to another room, which, although he was by no means in affluent circumstances, he forthwith engaged, becoming personally responsible for the rent. Preaching was then resumed and the regular means of grace observed. But this was not for long. Serious difficulties arose, which culminated in the temporary overthrow of the Methodist cause in the town, and some 35 years elapsed before it was heard of again. During this period of darkness it was commonly said; ‘The Sabbath never enters Gravesend ; it comes no further than the turnpike gate at Chalk.’ Still Mr Jessup remained true to God and eventually he came to learn that there were others of his own persuasion resident in Gravesend . These were two females from the West of England; Thomas Lockwood, a river pilot from Deptford; and Mr J Nash from Sittingbourne. They met for prayer and devised liberal things. A room in West Street was hired and application made to Rochester for a preacher. The reply was certainly not encouraging; it intimated that ‘ Gravesend was too wicked a place for much good to be done.’ In 1807 however, the town was Methodistically recognised and placed on the Rochester plan. Much good resulted from the services; but a further trial came when the little room was taken from the members. Once again the small Society was without a home. A meeting place was then found in Princes Street , this also being secured by Mr Jessup who himself paid a year’s rent in advance. Thenceforward the Society would seem to have grown steadily. In 1812 it was felt to be a great importance to the settlement and perpetuation of the work that a Chapel should be erected. But how to accomplish this was the question. The number of members was small and their financial resources limited. ‘Man’s extremity is God’s opportunity’ and so it proved in this as in many another case. Friends were raised up in Gravesend and Rochester ; a substantial sum was subscribed and the balance needed for building was borrowed by the trustees.
From an old minute book we gather some most interesting particulars concerning this period. The original trustees of the ‘Methodist Chapel to be built at Gravesend’ were appointed at a meeting held in the Vestry of the Chapel at Rochester , on February 6th, 1812, the travelling preachers present being Revs. Robert Johnson, Robert Martin and William Palmer. The fifteen trustees were for the most part residents of Rochester , Chatham and Brompton, Mr John Nash, coachmaker of Chalk, being also one of the number. Tenders for building the Chapel were then opened and were as follows:-
Mr Wm. Curd of Gravesend for the bricklayers, £ s. d
masons, plasterers, and slaters work 622. 8. 7
Messrs Lot & Carley, bricklayers of Gravesend 572. 0. 0
Mr Anthony Peck of Gravesend , carpenters and
joiners work, the painters, plumbers, glaziers
and smiths ironwork 1,350. 0. 0
Messrs Pemble & Whitehead, carpenters of
Chatham 1,260. 0. 0
Mr Wm. Ashenden, carpenter of Chatham 1,110. 0. 0
It was unanimously agreed to accept the tender of Mr Wm. Ashenden for carpenters work, and that of Messrs Lot & Carley for bricklayers work. It was also agreed that the front of the Chapel should be set back 22 feet from the boundary of the site. Mr Morson, attorney was directed to prepare the contracts and also to get the Trust Deeds ready for signing. Mr John Nash was authorised to give Mr Curd of Gravesend , the sum of ten guineas for surveying the bricklayers work, and that Mr Flashman be asked for his account for drawing plans, the sum being afterwards stated as £14. At a meeting of the Trustees held on May 22nd, 1812, Mr Ashenden was requested to furnish an estimate for an oak fence for the front enclosure and it was also decided that the seats in front of the gallery be let at 4s. in the second row 3s, and the rest at 2s.6d. per quarter, and that those in the body of the Chapel be let at 2s.6d. and 2s. per quarter; and that the chandeliers of Rochester Old Chapel be purchased for use in the Gravesend Chapel. In April 1835 the Trustees agreed to the introduction of gas-light to supersede candles. Many interesting extracts might be made from these early minutes if space would permit.
The appended obituary notice, however, shows the names of some of those on whom the burden of establishing our beloved Church in Gravesend chiefly rested:- Mr Robert Starbuck, died 1st February, 1831; Mr John Nash, Senior, died 23rd February 1833; Mr John Starbuck, died 27th August, 1834; Mr. Wm. Bouniwell, died August 1835; Mr George Osborn, Senior, died 5th May 1835; Mr John Bumstead, died 22nd January, 1837; Mr Robert Jessup, died 24th April, 1838; Mr. James Hulett LL.D. died 24th April, 1838.
A present member of the Church, Mrs. Ford (to whom we are indebted for much information) dates her membership back to 1845, and she well recollects a former member rejoicing in the fact of his rowing John Wesley from Gravesend to Tilbury.
Mention might also be made of Dr. Armstrong, Mr John Emery, Mr J.R.May, Dr. Hawkins, Messrs. Hadler, Taylor , Knee, Emery, Moore , Shorter, C.Hooper Smith, Hammond , Broom, W.Carpenter, James Dean, John Rose and others, who helped to carry on the work so well begun, and who have gone to their reward.
The Chapel has several times been altered and improved. The pulpit formerly stood against the wall at the northern end of the Chapel, but it was brought forward to allow for the erection of the gallery for the organ. The instrument previously in use was located in the southern gallery. Referring to the organ it is fitting to remember Miss Broom, Mrs Nicholson and Mr. C.Hooper Smith, who in turn for many years led the psalmody of the services.
The Gravesend Circuit was formed in 1819, the first superintendent appointed being the Rev. Thomas Rowland. At one time a large slice of Essex was included in this Circuit, but that arrangement ceased in 1895, when the Rev. G.H. Pickering then on the Gravesend plan, became superintendent of Grays.
The record would be incomplete were it not stated that when the Chapel was first opened the Sunday School was conducted in a room in Manor Road , the superintendent being Mr. Richardson, a grocer of High Street. The School was subsequently removed to Peacock Street .
It may well be expected that the knowledge of past achievements, so manifestly guided and controlled by the hand of God, will stimulate the Church of the present day to increased activity in order that our glorious heritage may be passed on for the spiritual good of those who are yet to follow in the train of our forefathers.
WESLEYAN/METHODIST PRIESTS OR PREACHERS
OF MILTON NEXT GRAVESEND AND GRAVESEND , KENT
1771 Rev. Alexander Mather and Rev. Joseph Benson
1771/72/73 Rev. John Wesley – Founder of Methodism.
Opening of the Ebenezer Chapel, Milton Road , Gravesend .
This after the town was Methodistically recognised (1807)
Chapel 1812
Travelling Preachers Revs. Robert Johnson, Robert Martin and William Palmer
1819 Gravesend Circuit formed, with a large part of Essex included.
First Superintendent was to be Rev. Thomas Rowland.
Unable to find records until 1837/1838
Found list of services:- Sunday 7 a.m. 10.30 a.m. 2 p.m. 5 p.m. & 6 p.m.
Sunday School, Manor Road , Milton next, Gravesend
Tuesday Lectures 7 p.m.
Prayer Meeting Friday 7 p.m.
1841 Chapel enlarged to hold 700 persons.
1842-1845 Rev. George Scott.
Sunday School, Manor Road .
Mr John Richardson – Treasurer
1845-1847 Rev. Robert Maxwell ( 7 Milton Road )
1846 School erected Peacock Street , with wings to School to house
Priest and School Master.
1847-1851 Rev. John Hobkirk
1851-1854 Rev. M.Jubb No.2 Peacock Street “ Milton British Day School ”
1854-1857 Rev. J.Hearnshaw
1857-1860 Rev. T.A.Rayner
1860-1863 Rev. Richard Ray
1863-1866 Rev. Thomas Thompson
1867-1868 Rev. Stephen P.Harvard
1868-1870 Rev. George Turner Not to live in Church House
Resident 38 Windmill Street , Milton next Gravesend
1870-1873 Rev. Joseph Little Home 38 Windmill Street
1873-1876 Rev. Samuel Wesley “ “
1876-1879 Rev. George Butcher “ “
1879-1882 Rev. G.S.Hutton “ “
1882-1885 Rev. Thomas Wenn “ “ 1883
“ 42 Windmill Street 1884
1885-1888 Rev. W.H.Milward “ “
1888-1891 Rev. S.R.Williams “ “
1891-1894 Rev. John Jefferys “ “
1894-1897 Rev. S.J.Silcox “ 14 The Grove
1897-1900 Rev. John Pratt Elton “ “
(1895 Essex ceased to be on Gravesend Circuit)
Wesleyan/Methodist Ministers, Milton Road
1900-1904 Rev. E.R.Eslick Home 14 The Grove
1904 Contemplating Building New Church with School
1904-1907 Rev. W.H.Jackson Picken Home 14 The Grove
1905 Made Chaplain of local Barracks
1907-1910 Rev. George Neal Willis Home 14 The Grove
1910-1913 Rev. J. Edward Harlow Home “Madeley”, 39 The Avenue
1913-1916 Rev. George Lunn
1916-1920 Rev. G.Lang
1920-1926/27 Rev. William Looken
1926/29 Rev. Thomas Hamilton Groves
1929-1931 Rev. G.H.McCormick M.A. B.D.
1931 Named Methodist Chapel/Church
1931-1935 Rev. A.G.Lloyd
1935-1944 Rev. Horace Colley Died 1944
1944-1949 Rev. George Gregory (Mrs Colley was to remain with Rev. Gregory Family to 1949)
1949-1956 Rev. Dennis Robson
1956-1963 Rev. John Leonard Waddy
1963-1969 Rev. Albert Parkin
1969-1974 Rev. Leslie Lazenby
1974-1977 Rev. Roy Freeman
1977-1989 Rev. Roger Cresswell
1989-1997 Rev. Brian Snellgrove
1997- 2010 Rev. K.Andrew Lindley
2010 - Vacant -No Minister 16
Sources
| 1 | "1881 England Census". |
| 2 | Geoff Nicholson, "Geoff Nicholson". Text From Source: St John's Chapel
register. 1830 Apr 10 - Thomas Son of Isaac & elizabeth Thompson, Middle
Black Dean, Miner, Born 3rd April
Geoff Nicholson, St John's Chapel register. 1830 Apr 10 - Thomas Son of Isaac & elizabeth Thompson, Middle Black Dean, Miner, Born 3rd April. |
| 3 | "1841 Census". |
| 4 | "My Documents/my family tree/Thompson/thompson bridport 1848 batten". Text From
Source: The Stations of the Wesleyan- Methodist Ministers, and Preachers on
Trial, for 1848-49 Great Britian.
142) BRIDPORT, Thomas Thompson, A.M., Henry Hayman. N.B. Brother Hayman shall reside at Lyme Regis |
| 5 | "1851 Census". |
| 6 | "1861 census". |
| 7 | "Marriage Certificate". Thomas Thompson - Jane Fuller. |
| 8 | "1871 census". |
| 9 | "1881 England Census". RG11 Folio 1245 / 64 Page 7.
Text From Source: Household: Name Relation Marital Status Gender Age Birthplace Occupation Disability Thomas THOMPSON Head M Male 51 Weardale, Durham, England Wesleyan Minister Jane THOMPSON Wife M Female 36 East Illsey, Berkshire, England Emily M. THOMPSON Daur U Female 11 Keinton, Somerset, England Scholar Edgar W. THOMPSON Son Male 9 Glastonbury, Somerset, England Scholar Ellen E. THOMPSON Daur Female 8 Helmsley, York, England Scholar Thomas P. THOMPSON Son U Male 5 Callington, Cornwall, England Scholar Authur W. THOMPSON Son Male 2 Staplecross, Sussex, England Ellen FULLER Visitor U Female 51 Blewbury, Berkshire, England -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Source Information: Dwelling High Street Census Place Alton, Hampshire, England Family History Library Film 1341304 Public Records Office Reference RG11 Folio 1245 / 64 Page 7 |
| 10 | "1891 Wales Census". RG12/4455 District 8 page 9. |
| 11 | "Death Certificate". |
| 12 | "1901 England Census". |
| 13 | "The Observer". Friday May the 17th, 1901. |
| 14 | "Marriage Certificate". Thomas Thompson - Jane Fuller.
Text From Source: Marriage witnessed by Henry Shackler and Lucy Fuller. Rector Thomas Child |
| 15 | "http://afinitas.org/Watson/WearMeth/MR1898c.html". Cit. Date: 16 October 2010. |
| 16 | "http://www.gravesendmethodistchurch.org.uk/history.htm". Cit. Date: 16 October 2010. |