Congregationalism in Edwardian Hampshire 1901-1914

FAITH AND GOOD WORKS: CONGREGATIONALISM IN EDWARDIAN HAMPSHIRE 1901-1914 by ROGER MARTIN OTTEWILL A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of History School of History and Cultures College of Arts and Law University of Birmingham May 2015 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. Abstract Congregationalists were a major presence in the ecclesiastical landscape of Edwardian Hampshire. With a number of churches in the major urban centres of Southampton, Portsmouth and Bournemouth, and places of worship in most market towns and many villages they were much in evidence and their activities received extensive coverage in the local press. Their leaders, both clerical and lay, were often prominent figures in the local community as they sought to give expression to their Evangelical convictions tempered with a strong social conscience. From what they had to say about Congregational leadership, identity, doctrine and relations with the wider world and indeed their relative silence on the issue of gender relations, something of the essence of Edwardian Congregationalism emerges. In their discourses various tensions were to the fore, including those between faith and good works; the spiritual and secular impulses at the heart of the institutional principle; and the conflicting priorities of churches and society at large. These reflect the restlessness of the period and point to a possible ‘turning of the tide’. They also call into question the suitability of constructs such as ‘faith in crisis’ or ‘faith society’ to characterise the church history of the Edwardian era. Dedication This thesis is dedicated to the memory of those Edwardian Congregationalists who faithfully served Hampshire churches between 1901 and 1914. Without them the history of this period would have been all the poorer. Acknowledgements In carrying out the research on which this thesis is based, I have received a great deal of help from many different quarters. First, I wish to thank my supervisor, Hugh McLeod, for all the perceptive guidance he has provided during my journey towards the completion and submission of my thesis. His kindly advice and questioning at every stage has been much appreciated. Second, I am very grateful for the assistance provided by staff and/or volunteers at: • the Hampshire, Southampton and Portsmouth Record Offices and Dorset History Centre; • the Dr Williams’s Library, Mansfield College Library, the British Library Newspapers at Colindale and the Bodleian Library; • the public libraries at Alton, Andover, Basingstoke, Bournemouth, Gosport, Lymington, Petersfield, Portsmouth, Romsey and Southampton; and • the museums at Alton, Basingstoke, Christchurch, Lymington, Petersfield and Ringwood. The archives of individual churches also proved to be a particularly valuable source of information and in accessing these I owe much to: • Jean Holton, honorary archivist of London Street URC in Basingstoke; • Linda Pain, the leader of East Cliff URC in Bournemouth; • Maureen Paine and the team of volunteers at Avenue St Andrew’s URC in Southampton; and • John Pile, who enabled me to access records of Havant URC. Third, a considerable debt of gratitude is due to members of various local history societies, namely: • Mike Andrews, Ian Messer and colleagues of Christchurch History Society; • David Borrett of Andover History and Archaeology Society; • Jane Hearst of Alton and Villages Local History Forum; • David Hollingworth of Southampton Local History Forum; • David Jeffery of Petersfield Area Historical Society and Peter Jolly of Petersfield URC; • Phoebe Merrick and Barbara Burbage of Romsey Local History Society (also known as the Lower Test Valley Archaeological Study Group); • Mark Page of the Local History Section of the Hampshire Field Club; • Phyl Ralton of Fleet and Crookham Local History Group; and • Pam Wenden of Fareham Local History Group. Many of the above are editors of journals sponsored by their societies and in this capacity they facilitated the publication of case studies of Edwardian Congregationalism - an important part of my research strategy and mode of community engagement. Fourth, I received greatly valued academic support and encouragement from: • Alan Argent, editor of the Congregational History Society Magazine ; • Clyde Binfield, past editor of the Journal of the United Reformed Church History Society ; • Alan Crosby, editor of the Local Historian ; • Rosalind Johnson, who has now successfully completed her PhD on dissent in late seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century Hampshire; and • Peter Yalden, who shares my interest in the history of Nonconformity and has been a great motivator in his perceptive observations on my work. In addition, various members of the Ecclesiastical History Society , through their comments on my papers at colloquia and conferences, spurred me on. I am particularly grateful for the editorial help my co-author and I received from Tim Grass in respect of our paper which was published in Studies in Church History 49 . I also wish to acknowledge the help I received from a group of students on an MSc course in Statistics with Applications in Medicine at the University of Southampton (Stephen Gerry, Swaranali Gupta, Mercy Ofuya, Milensu Shanyinde, Sarah Stowell and Aregenis Vieira) with the processing of some of my quantitative data. The thesis was copy-edited by David Beattie for conventions of language, spelling and grammar and I am extremely grateful for his contribution. Last, but by no means least, I am indebted to my wife, Val, for allowing me the space to undertake what has involved a major commitment of time and energy in the years following my retirement in 2008. Needless to say, responsibility for the final version of this thesis is mine alone. Table of contents 1. Preparing the Ground 1 Defining discourses Primary source material The historical context The unfolding narrative 2. Strands of Historiography 25 Surveying the field Taking the religious pulse Evaluating Nonconformity and Evangelicalism Appraising Congregationalism Assessing religion at the grass roots Constructing micro-histories of Congregationalism Refining the narratives 3. The Congregational Presence in Edwardian Hampshire 63 Statistics and Hampshire Socio-economic and religious setting Distribution and size of Hampshire’s Congregational churches Comparative measures Dynamics and demographics of church membership Sensitive to statistics A mixed picture 4. Ministers and Deacons: Discourses of Leadership 121 Leadership ‘God’s good men’: ministers and pastorates The lay contribution: deacons and diaconates A marriage made in heaven? Leaders and led A daunting task 5. Congregationalism Re-envisioned: Discourses of Identity 169 A time for reflection 1662 and all that followed: Congregational history Democracy v theocracy: Congregational governance Beauty in simplicity: Congregational worship Fellowship and outreach: Congregational enterprise New wine in old bottles? 6. Evangelical and Ethical: Discourses of Doctrine 209 Belief and behaviour Justification by faith alone: Evangelical The allure of good works: Ethical Blending faith with political action Engagement with the wider world 7. Fighting the Good Fight: Discourses of Combat 245 A belligerent spirit? Fighting talk The enemy Tactical considerations A resilient faith? 8. Gender Relations within Congregationalism: A Dormant Discourse 281 Feminism and Congregationalism The presence and standing of Congregational women Women’s realms Ministers’ wives A glass ceiling? 9. The Turning of the Tide? 319 Expressions of optimism and pessimism A propitious outlook A daunting future Historiography revised Appendices 349 A. Hampshire Congregational Union B. Size of Places of Worship in Hampshire Relative to Populations c1903 C. Results of Surveys of Church Going D. Memberships of Hampshire’s Congregational Churches 1901 and 1911 E. Sunday School Statistics for Hampshire’s Congregational Churches 1901 and 1911 F. Membership Densities G. Demographic Data for Avenue, London Street and Victoria Road Congregational Churches H. Ministers and Pastors Serving Hampshire Congregational churches 1901-1914 I. Avenue Congregational Church Lecture Programme J. Portswood Mission Guild of Help Bibliography 383 List of figures in Appendix B B.1/2 Distribution of larger Congregational churches in Edwardian Hampshire B.3 Distribution of a selection of smaller Congregational churches in Edwardian Hampshire List of tables 3.1 Church attendance in Portsmouth 1902 3.2 Church attendance in Basingstoke 1903 3.3 Church attendance in Whitchurch 1903 3.4 Membership and membership density of Congregational churches in England for 1901 and 1911 3.5 Membership and membership density of Congregational churches in Hampshire and England for 1901 and 1911 3.6 Changes in the membership and membership density of Congregational churches in England and Hampshire between 1901 and 1911 3.7 Changes in the membership and

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