LIVERPOOL CITY MISSION PREFACE Over Twelve Months Ago Mr
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One Hundred Years - and more CENTENARY OF WELLINGTON ROAD MISSION CHURCH - WAVERTREE LIVERPOOL CITY MISSION PREFACE Over twelve months ago Mr. Dimmock, our Pastor, suggested to the Deacons that if possible a history of Wellington Road Mission Church should be prepared for the Centenary Thanksgiving Services, to be held, God willing, from 23rd to 30th April 1978. Out of interest for the subject and ignorance of the demands of such a task, I offered to attempt to compile sufficient for at least a leaflet, or for printing on to the Orders of Service. It seemed to me then that there was not a great deal of information available on such a lowly, albeit spiritually vital place of worship. How wrong I was! All credit is due to those Deacons of Hunters Lane Church who in bygone years meticulously set down in writing the essential details of the conduct of their Church affairs, and to the Deacons who in recent years preserved these invaluable minute books, and unwittingly contributed to making my research more arduous but infinitely more interesting and rewarding. The outcome of my prayers, delving, meditation, erasions and substitutions is here; much larger than one would ever have expected. My prayer throughout this preparation has been:- "Heavenly Father, prepare me each day for this important task. Take away from me anything that would hinder or spoil this account of Thy work and boundless provision throughout these 'one hundred years, and more'. Make the words factual, interesting and a source of inspiration and encouragement to us all, so that during the time Thou hast ordained for our service for Thee in this district of Wellington Road, we shall, by Thy grace and Holy Spirit, be empowered to spread the Gospel of Thy salvation. " First, I must record with sincere gratitude my appreciation of the assistance given to me by many friends and co-workers at Wellington Road Mission Church. I am indebted to the Rev. F. O. Brown, M. A., Minister of Hunters Lane Church, Mr. H. Shanks their Secretary, and the Deacons for the generous facility afforded me to study their minute books. I am most grateful to the Rev. David V. Jebson, Superintendent of the Liverpool City Mission, and to Pastor J. B. Nixon who have kindly read the manuscript and given me many helpful suggestions. I must express my appreciation of the facilities provided at the Reference Library in William Brown Street where I perused Ordnance Survey maps of Wavertree, Gore's Directories for the 1860's and 1870's and "The Victoria History of the Counties of England Lancashire", volume 3. I am also indebted to Carl Fox, Commercial Photographers, of The Temple, Dale Street, and A & J. McLaine, Jewellers, Richmond Street, who assisted me beyond the normal courtesies of business. Last, but by no means least, to my wife who has so willingly undertaken all the typing of the script and helped so much with suggestions and corrections, my warmest appreciation and gratitude. The story of these "One Hundred y ears - and more," impresses upon us the reality of God's boundless provision as demonstrated in the experiences of hope, opportunity, expectation, frustration, failure, excitement, concern, success, and above all, the abundant blessings of fulfillment in His Service. I pray that God will make this account of the past a source of inspiration to us all for' the present and the future, particularly to the leaders of our children's and young people's activities. James W. Tighe, on behalf of the pastor and Deacons of Wellington Road Mission Church. CENTENARY OF WELLINGTON ROAD MISSION CHURCH WAVERTREE Sunday School formed – 1869 This Building erected – 1878 John Blyth, founder of the Sunday School in 1869 Mr. A. E. Proffitt, Rev. David V. Jebson Mr. Keith Dimmock President of the Liverpool City Superintendent of the Liverpool Pastor of Wellington Road Mission City Mission Mission Church Chapter 1 THE BEGINNING "Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22 verse 6 These God-given words are inscribed on the memorial stone of the Mission, laid by John Blyth on the 24th Apri11878. The small stone is set near the ground, to the left of the front door of the Church, and its relative insignificance is out of all proportion to the inspired vision of the founder of this Christian work and the gigantic task John Blyth and his co-workers were ready to accept and fulfil for their Master. This however was not the true beginning of the Sunday School and Mission Activity in Wellington Road in the old Township of Wavertree. Mr. Blyth in 1869 opened his home, 'Mill House' Wellington Road, to the children of this country district and formed the first Sunday School. It is not easy to realise that in those days this was an area of farms, nurseries, imposing residences occupied by wealthy merchantmen and notable personalities, humble cottages, and possibly, in 1869 a windmill. I have not yet been able to ascertain whether this windmill existed at that time, but the Ordnance Survey Map for 1840/1845 records the 'Wellington Windmill', the Mill House and the cottages known as Mill Row. All these were sited on what is now the Bisley Street Area and nestled close to a new railway embankment carrying the first railway from Edge Hill to Garston. The embankment at the time of this early survey did not carry the number of railway tracks that there are today and the Wavertree Station had not then been built. I cannot say exactly when Mr. Blyth took over the Mill in Wellington Road, or whether the windmill still existed. It would, however, be fair to presume that the building of the railway embankment affected or reduced the windpower to the Mill and thus rendered it somewhat useless. Gore's Directory of 1860, although not including the streets of Wavertree in its record, refers to one, "John Blyth, foreman miller, of 5 Sandown Lane. " Then in 1862 there is "John Blyth" Confectioner of Wavertree Road". This part of Wavertree Road was in the Township of Wavertree and extended from what is now the Botanic Road area and park, to Wavertree Green (near the present Clock Tower), and was later renamed Picton Road after Sir James Picton. More about Sir James later. The Directory of 1864 records - "John Blyth, Provender dealer, Wellington Road, Wavertree", and in 1865 "John Blyth, miller, Wavertree Mills, Wellington Road, Wavertree". Mr. Blyth's business evidently prospered and in 1871, in addition to his mills in Wavertree, he is recorded also as a corn merchant with an office in 27 Back Goree, down near Liverpool's waterfront and in the heart of the commercial centre of the town; Sometime before the Ordnance Survey of the I 880's, the windmill had ceased to exist and the map of 1893 shows that substantial mill buildings had been constructed. Mr. Blyth's home, Mill House, adjoined the mill and had quite a large garden, which bounded on to Wellington Road. Opposite the front of Mill House was a terrace of some twelve or thirteen cottages, at a right angle to. Wellington Road, (somewhere near the line of Bisley Street), extending to the flourmill which nestled against the railway embankment. Mr. Blyth apparently owned one or more of these cottages. Unfortunately, I have not been able, so far, to discover anything about the size or style of these mill cottages. Sufficient for us is that having opened his home to the local children, Mr. Blyth found the need for a Sunday School greater than he had foreseen and soon his accommodation was inadequate to meet the increasing attendance. He transferred the school to one of the cottages that, ere long, proved too small, so a further cottage was added to the accommodation in order to continue this successful work. God was indeed using and blessing this endeavour to the extent that in 1874 the attendance for the year totalled 6342 with a weekly average of 132, and the following year the corresponding figures were 7649 and 159. There was a slight drop in attendance in 1876 but the figures surged to 8336, with a weekly average of 170 in 1877. This was to be the year of decision concerning this great and growing work. Chapter 2 THE FOUNDER "My sons, be not now negligent; for the Lord hath chosen you to stand before Him, to serve Him” 2 Chronicles. 29 verse 11 The size and scope of the work demonstrated by this early Sunday School is commensurate with the vision and selfless zeal of a dedicated Christian man. Mr. John Blyth was, I believe, a life-long and highly respected member of Hunters Lane Congregational Church, Wavertree, and for a great many years an active and devoted Deacon of that Church. The commencement of the work in Hunters Lane was remarkably similar to the founding of the work in Wellington Road. The Rev. Thomas Sleigh came to spend his years of retirement from the Congregational Ministry in the pleasant village of Wavertree. That was in 1836. A few months after his "Retirement" we read of this energetic and spiritually minded man, "he opened one of his own rooms for Sunday Worship, himself conducting services there. " As was the experience of John Blyth of Wellington Road in the 1870's, so Mr. Sleigh found his room inadequate, and was soon seeking larger premises and in a short time the congregation moved to accommodation in High Street. This work was also blessed by the Lord and in only three years the present Church in Hunters Lane was built and opened on 1st October 1839, and formally constituted a Congregational Church in 1841.