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Something to Sing About

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Something to Sing About SOMETHING TO SING ABOUT THE STORY OF METHODISM IN PAIGNTON IN THE WESLEYAN TRADITION Paignton is a seaside resort lying in the heart of Torbay, Devon. Palace Avenue Methodist Church lies in the heart of Paignton Copyright © Sylvia Tancock 1990 All rights reserved. Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Anglicisation copyright © 1979, 1984, 1989. Used by permission of Hodder and Stoughton Limited. The author would like to thank all those, both within and outside the Church community who have assisted in piecing together this story; for those who answered her questions with patience and forbearance; for the interest they have shown; and for the generous loan of photographs by Mesdames Edith Couldrey, Marion Ham, Lily Hurrell, Prue Pearse, Amy Southgate and Barbara Sutton, Dr. Nan Kennie, Misses Mollie Brooks and Olive Stidworthy, Messrs John Jeffery, Maurice Phillips and Peter Tully. 1 She is also indebted to those who recorded the life of the Church and Circuit. Their Minute Books and other records have been used extensively to ensure the authenticity of the story. There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heaven. • time to be born and a time to die, • time to plant and a time to uproot, • time to kill and a time to heal, • time to tear down and a time to build, • time to weep and a time to laugh, • time to mourn and a time to dance, • time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, • time to embrace and a time to refrain, • time to search and a time to give up, • time to keep and a time to throw away, • time to tear and a time to mend, • time to be silent and a time to speak, • time to love and a time to hate, • time for war and a time for peace. Ecclesiastes chapter 3 verses 1-8 2 FOREWORD ................................................ 4 INTRODUCTION .......................................... 6 IN THE BEGINNING ..................................... 8 ON THE MOVE .......................................... 12 A HOME OF THEIR OWN ............................. 15 TO GROW IN GRACE .................................. 18 MEN OF VISION ........................................ 20 SANDSTONE AND STAINED GLASS .............. 24 THE RELIEF OF MONEYMAKING ................... 34 WAR AND PEACE ....................................... 39 MEN OF VISION ........................................ 42 SPREAD THE WORD ................................... 50 MARCHING AS TO WAR .............................. 58 ANOTHER KIND OF UNIFORM ..................... 67 UNTYING THE APRON STRINGS .................. 71 A FACELIFT .............................................. 76 FLING WIDE THE GATES ............................ 86 QUO VADIS? ............................................ 95 SOMETHING TO SING ABOUT .................................... 96 3 There is a time for everything FOREWORD In one of his hymns, Charles Wesley wrote 'My talents, gifts and graces, Lord, into Thy blessed hands receive;' Hymns and Psalms 767, verse 3. 'Something to Sing About' is the story of a people of God who made that commitment of their talents and abilities in faith. They had been blessed with a vision of a work to be done, and set about doing it with devotion and loyalty. As you will read, the work and witness was not without difficult moments - but the determination of God's people to ensure the witness to His love in the centre of Paignton, was unwavering. Many who read this history will recall the 'Saints' who are in glory - we pay a lasting tribute to their steadfast loyalty. Many too, will go back in their minds eye and will be serving teas, enjoying Sunday School Outings, listening to the great orators as they proclaimed the message of God's redeeming love. Enjoy the moments of reflection and praise God for all that is past. Indeed, this we can do through Sylvia's history of her Church. Yes, friends of Palace Avenue, we are indebted to Sylvia Tancock for her painstaking research. She has approached the book in her usual methodical and meticulous way - as a true Methodist would! We thank her for giving us the picture of a people of faith - serving their Lord. However, the history of Palace Avenue does not end on the last page of the book. We who worship and work there now know we are writing tomorrow's 4 history. As we rejoice in all that has been done to God's glory through his people called Methodists in the Palace Avenue Society, so we pledge ourselves to continuously give of our talents, gifts and graces -with the earnest prayer that the love of God will continue to be known through His people as they worship and work in the Church by the gardens. I commend 'Something to Sing About' to you as a tribute to the 100 years of Methodist Witness in the centre of Paignton. May this book warm your heart and encourage your faith. George A Courtenay Palace Avenue Minister January 1990 5 INTRODUCTION This is the story of generations of Paignton people whose spiritual journeys led them eventually to Palace Avenue. The Methodist Church there is a landmark among many. To members and visitors alike, the warm red sandstone walls predict the welcome which awaits them inside. One hundred and eighty years have passed since a little band of Wesleyans are known to have formed a housegroup. Several temporary and three purpose built places of worship followed. What men of vision were they, who laid the foundations. What a testimony of faith they gave. Their legacy still inspires "the people called Methodists" to promote spiritual growth and practical Christian service today. The church buildings were erected to the glory of God. Yet in the end, the sandstone and stained glass do not matter. They are but vehicles used by generations of committed Christians to further His work. Each decade has produced an endless roll of people who put service before self, who carry out tasks great or small, who may receive public acclaim or pass unheralded. They are the cornerstones of His Church. Some of them are named within, the majority are not, therefore THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO ALL THOSE DEVOTED MEN AND WOMEN 6 WHOSE NAMES DO NOT APPEAR IN PRINT. THIS IS THEIR STORY TOO. 7 1800 a time to be born IN THE BEGINNING Slavery had been abolished; the Duke of Wellington was fighting the Peninsular War; Napoleon invaded Austria; Spencer Percival was Prime Minister and Thomas Jefferson was President of the US; Isambard Kingdom Brunel was 3 years old; Joseph Sanders and William Wood lived in Paignton. Who were Sanders and Wood? They were Wesleyans. Sanders applied for a meeting house certificate for the house of William Wood. The year was 1809. There was a strong Wesleyan presence at Barton, where a chapel had been built in 1802. The Word had spread across the bay to Brixham, and open air meetings were held on the quay. Either of these sources may have influenced Joseph Sanders to make his application. The next certificate, issued on behalf of the Bishop of Exeter, was dated 8th May 1824, for the house of John Footman. He was a naval man, serving on 'HMS Royal George' at the time of his marriage to Paignton born Elizabeth Dalton in March, 1809. They lived in Fisher Street with their two sons, William and John. John senior was born in Middlesex in 1777. Since he became a Greenwich pensioner, it is likely that he had served during the Napoleonic War sea battles. It may have been injuries which qualified him for a pension. Perhaps he was one of those put ashore at Goodrington for treatment in the naval hospital, and there met Elizabeth. He eventually moved to Winner Street and lived to a ripe old age. 8 Matthew Henry Churchward received the Sacrament of Infant Baptism on the 4th of May 1845. The son of Thomas and Maria, he was born on the 18th of March in that year. The family lived in Winner Street where Thomas was in business as a cider merchant. Matthew's is the first entry in the Paignton Wesleyan- Methodist Baptismal Register. It is possible that earlier baptisms were recorded in a general register which was usually carried from town to town by the Minister. It would be more than twenty years before the Torquay Wesleyan Circuit came into being. Meanwhile, the Teignmouth and Newton Abbot circuit would continue to provide preachers'. It was quite common for the laymen to walk the twenty-odd mile round trip oil a Sunday, preaching at three services en route. Stone steps behind a house in Winner Street led to one room used. This is where Howard Terrace, or numbers 57-67 stand today. In the true Wesley tradition, a few were gathered for mutual comfort and to encourage one another to grow in grace. Their fellowship included the Lovefeast, which continued to be a feature of the Circuit Plan for a further 50 years. A simple meal of plain cake and water, the sharing of the two-handled Loving Cup and personal testimony were elements of the celebration that John Wesley recommended "In order to increase .... a grateful sense of all God's mercies .... that we might eat bread as the early Christians did with gladness and singleness of heart". 9 Recollections of those early meetings were recorded about fifty years later (in 1896) when some of those present were still worshipping with the Society. Just a few doors away from the Meeting house, lived 25 year old Mr Deller, the Paignton born son of a labourer. Already as a plumber, painter and glazier, he now opened a store. He could not have known what part that action would play in the future of Methodism in Paignton. Winner Street was one of the most densely populated areas of the little town.
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