Primitive Methodist Property Schedules 1859-64
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This document was supplied by the depositor and has been modified by AHDS History SN 5647 - Colchester Primitive Methodist Property Schedules, 1859-1864 Study Documentation This bundle of documents is catalogued D/NM 2/2/1 by Essex Record Office. It consists of printed forms of 4 pages, each 26.3 by 21.0 cm. Each form consists of a series of questions, which varied slightly in wording and order over the years. All the forms for one year are of identical design. The forms have been completed by hand and are clearly written [despite that fact that some of the treasurers made a mark rather than signing their names, indicating limited literacy]. There was a separate form for each chapel for each year. However, not all the forms have been deposited at the Essex Record Office.1 The surviving forms for each year were sewn together and ‘bound’ in sheets of contemporary newspaper [The Daily News] cut to the same size as the forms. In this transcript, the ERO bundle is represented by the Excel file ‘Property Schedules 1859-64.xls’. The annual bound sheets are represented by the worksheets, which are dated for each year. On each worksheet column A lists the questions in the wording and order for that year. The subsequent columns [B-I] are headed for the chapels, so that each column represents the returns from a different chapel. They are listed in the order in which they are bound and are not necessarily in the same order each year. A total of ten different chapels are represented over the period, but in no one year are all present. It will be seen that the number of chapels in this part of the circuit gradually increased over the time period, new chapels being opened most years. Only one of the chapels [that in Artillery Street, Colchester] predates the 1851 Census of Religious Worship.2 Many of the answers repeat the same information from previous years. The first group of questions concerned the original construction of the chapel;3 the second group were concerned with the current structural and financial situation;4 the third group with population, membership, capacity and attendance;5 the fourth group with potential for development in terms of land, rents, registration, insurance and enrolment.6 It will be noted that in most cases the attendance approached capacity, but that membership was very much lower. The Census of Religious Worship only asked for seating and standing capacity, attendance on 31 March 1851 and average attendance. Clearly there were many people who attended Sunday worship, presumably enjoying the hymn singing, the preaching, the physical warmth and the fellowship, but who never 1 Others may subsequently be found in the Suffolk Record Office. 2 Census of Great Britain, 1851, Religious worship. England and Wales. Report and tables BPP 1852- 53 LXXXIX (1690) 38. 3 For the years 1859 and 1860 these were questions 1-5, and for 1861 to 1864 these were questions 1-7. 4 For the years 1859 and 1860 these were questions 14-16, and for 1861 to 1864 these were questions 8-14. 5 For the years 1859 and 1860 these were questions 6-13, and for 1861 to 1864 these were questions 15-23. 6 For the year 1859 these were questions 17-24, for the year 1860 these were questions 17-25, and for 1861 to 1864 these were questions 24-37. made a commitment to membership, involving belief and the discipline of regular attendance at the weekly Class Meetings for prayer and Bible study. The final part of the form was a balance sheet of annual income and expenditure. Many of the categories of both income and expenditure were left blank. In almost every case the addition is correct and the columns balance, though sometimes only by the treasurer making up the shortfall of income. All amounts are expressed as pounds shillings and pence in the form £1/19/11 or £-/15/-. Half pence and farthings are expressed as decimal parts of an old penny [e.g. 1.25, 2.5, 3.75]. These accounts would not have represented the total income of the congregation, but only that passing through the property [Trust] account. There would have been a separate ‘Society’ account into which the weekly class money and other offerings were collected and from which the quarterly assessment towards the salaries of the full time ministers [Travelling Preachers] was paid. It will be noted that for most chapels for most years a substantial part of the income of their property account was from Pew Rents. Tea Meetings frequently raised more than the collection at the Chapel Anniversary. The General Chapel Fund and Stationary Chapel Fund were national [Connexional] accounts that could be applied to for capital sums to build or extend chapels. On the expenditure side, all the chapels were still in debt from their original construction or subsequent extension, but most succeeded in paying off part of the Principal each year. Some items of expenditure did not fit into the printed categories and have been interpolated into spare lines by the person completing the form. These have been rendered as closely as possible to the original. Notes for data files 1862.tab (or 1862 worksheet if Excel version is being used) The x symbol found in the ‘Balance due to Treasurer Jan 1st’ data row for the ‘Kirby’ column, denotes that this is the balance due to the Treasurer for 1861 which was overlooked by us 1863.tab (or 1863 worksheet if Excel version is being used) The * symbol found in the ‘Interest of dept for premises’ data row for the ‘Little Bromley’ column, denotes that £1/5/0 is the half years interest on £50. The interest on the other money is paid yearly which is not yet due. At the end of each form were spaces for three signatures, that of the Church Treasurer, of the President, i.e. the Travelling Preacher for that part of the Circuit, and of the Circuit Secretary. Thus the same signature appears for the President and Secretary on all forms in a given year, but the signature of the Treasurer would be different for each form. The Treasurers, President and Secretary might serve for several years. It will be noted that when a new church was built the treasurer for the first year was often the President or Secretary. In this area and over this period these records show the Primitive Methodist congregations changing from a series of house fellowships to a property owning denomination.7 This series of documents provides details of the accommodation 7 See also the file ‘Provenance.doc’. available, the attendances and the finances a decade later than the Census of Religious Worship. The location of the chapels can be traced using ‘Chapels in Essex’ by Rosalind Kaye (Chellow Dean Press, 1999). The table below shows their grid references and status as of 2007. Chapel Location Present use Colchester TM008246 Spurgeon Memorial, Evangelical church Mile End TL989279 demolished Kirby TM214209 converted to residential Weeley TM154207 converted to residential Crockleford TM039262 converted to residential Lexden TL963249 Methodist church, much altered Great Bromley TM067276 converted to residential Little Bromley TM099289 converted to residential Great Clacton TM173157 demolished Dedham TM067314 Methodist church, little altered Using nominal record linkage between this data set and the Baptismal Register for this period [SN5619] it is possible to construct partial biographies of some of the men listed in the schedules: John Bloomfield – born about 1815, lived in Greenstead, married to Sarah, fathered John, George James and Ellen, was variously described as a labourer, coal merchant and cow keeper; it is also known that he was Circuit Steward from about 1851 to at least 1861, having previously been a Class Leader and Local [lay] Preacher; died in November 1884. Benjamin Brailey – born about 1817, a mariner, married to Charlotte, does not appear in the Baptismal Register. Obadiah Oldham Britain – born about 1829 in Lancashire, a Travelling Preacher, lived at the chapel at Artillery Street, Colchester; married to Martha, their child Obadiah was baptised in 1863; he seems to have served in the circuit from July 1863 and was still there when the register ended in May 1864. From other sources it is known that he had previously served in the Swaffham, Great Yarmouth and Fakenham circuits, and went on to serve in the Chelmsford circuit. Robert Church – born about 1808 in Suffolk, a Travelling Preacher, lived at the chapel at Artillery Street, Colchester; married to Eliza Maria; seems to have been stationed in the circuit from February 1844 to April 1845, and again from July 1856 to June 1859; two sons baptised during the second period. Joshua Elsden – born about 1830, lived in the parish of St Leonard, Colchester, latterly at 2 Park Place, off Hythe Street; married to Lavinia; had 6 children baptised between 1855 and 1864; was a bricklayer and builder; despite living in the parish of St Leonard he was treasurer for the congregation in Mile End; from another source it is known that in 1849 he was a prayer leader and a member of the branch committee; in1850 he became secretary of the branch committee and an exhorter, subsequently becoming a local preacher; in 1855 he became joint Superintendent of the Colchester Sabbath School with John Bloomfield; after 1864 he moved to Deptford. Oliver Jackson – born about 1817 in Yorkshire, a Travelling Preacher; seems to have been stationed in the circuit from July 1849 to July 1851; he was married to Mary but no children were born to the couple during their stay.