CHAPTER VI.
MEMORIALS OF THE INDEPENDENT CHURCH AT WELFORD.
In the extra-parochial district of Sulby, about a mile from the village of Welford, was founded in the twelfth century a monastery for a certain order of monks. It was handsomely endowed, and dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The site is now occupied by farm buildings. But as another illustration of the changes which occur in this mutable world, there resided, 180 years ago, in some part of that abbey, a man who would not conform to the dictates of his fellow men in the things of God—"a man of worth, a man of letters too;" one eminent for learning, talent, piety, usefulness; who laid the foundation of two Dissenting interests in the county of Northampton, and kept a Dissenting academy at Sulby, or a seminary for the education of young men, several of whom became eminent Dissenting ministers. This person was the Rev. John Shuttlewood, A.B. He was born at Wymeswold, in the county of Leicester, January 3rd, 1632, of respectable parents, who sent him to the Grammar-school at Leicester, and afterwards to Christ's College, Cambridge, where he obtained the degree of A.B. He was ordained to the ministry in 1654, not by episcopal ordination it would appear, but in the method more generally adopted in the days of the Commonwealth, in the congregation of Raunston, with an honourable testimonial from the classical presbytery of Wirksworth, in the province of Derby.
The deep humility, piety, and devotedness of his spirit were manifest by a solemn dedication of himself to God, drawn up about this time in Latin, of which the following is a translation:—
O my God, on account of my sins thou hast afflicted me with thy judgments! Thou art just, O Lord! in all thy dispensations towards me, because I have grievously offended against thee. I have followed the world; I have too much indulged the flesh; and I have been very often overcome by Satan. To thee I give up myself, to live to thee. And now, before God, the searcher of hearts, I promise and engage to leave my worldly concerns to the companion of my life; to renounce the flesh with its affections; and to study the good of the souls which thou art committing to my care. Now, O Lord! do thou so strengthen and fortify me by the Spirit of grace against all these my enemies, that I may obtain the victory over them. And that I may seriously perform these my good resolutions, let this paper, signed by my name, be a witness against me, if I lie before thee.
John Shuttlewood.
A man of such a spirit we should expect to find among those who refused to conform to the terms prescribed to the ministers of the Church, soon after the restoration of the second Charles. On this account he was ejected from the living of Raunston and Hoose, and afterward exposed to great suffering for his Nonconformity, and his attempts to conduct the worship of God and preach his word in a way his conscience approved. In the year 1668, when he was uniting with some others in singing a Psalm, one Mr. B., with thirty or forty horsemen, with swords drawn and pistols loaded, came and seized him with many that were worshipping with him. Several of both sexes were beaten and driven into the field, and there dismissed upon promising to appear the next day before a justice of the peace. Mr. Shuttlewood was conveyed to Leicester Gaol, where he was a prisoner for some months. After the "Conventicle Act" passed, he was again seized by one Charles Gibbons, a notorious persecutor and profane swearer—taken by him from one justice of the peace to another; and warrants were issued to distrain upon him for £20, upon the owner of the house where he preached for £20, and 5s. apiece on others.
In 1674 Mr. Shuttlewood was living at Lubenham, a village about two miles from Market Harborough. There his house was entered when he was conducting divine service; a warrant was obtained to distrain upon him for £40, when seven of his milch cows were taken and sold.
A short letter is preserved which was written to his wife from Leicester gaol, which shows the exemplary resignation, meekness, and faith with which he passed through his trials. It was written February 20th, 1668.
My dear Wife,—Myself and fellow prisoners are in good health. I bless God, I am very well satisfied with his dispensations towards me in reference to my landlady's proceedings; so that I am no longer disquieted with them, nor solicitous about them, but patiently wait God's gracious disposal of me. Perhaps infinite wisdom foresees some inconveniency which we are not aware of, and therefore is about to remove us. I am loath to leave the society of my dear brethren, Mr. Clarke and Mr. Southal; but I hope in the end God will so dispose of us, that we shall have cause to say, it is best for us to be where God shall carry us. I know not which way to look; but our "God is a very present help in a time of trouble," and will let us see that it is not our forecast, but his providence, which shall provide an habitation for us. Let us rather beg an improvement than a removal of his dispensations. Remember me to my father, children, &c. Thus, in haste, I remain, &c.
The Mr. Clarke, mentioned in this letter, we suppose to have been Matthew Clarke, the first pastor of the Independent Church at Harborough and Ashley, as he was cast three times into the same prison, and was connected with Mr. Shuttlewood in sufferings, and also in services and enjoyments.
He was obliged frequently to change his abode—sometimes in Leicestershire, sometimes in Northamptonshire, to escape from his foes; acting on the directions given by his Lord, "If they persecute you in one city, flee unto another." After a time he went to reside at Sulby, a place remarkable for its picturesque and secluded situation. The family of the Paynes, at Sulby Hall, then favoured the Nonconformists. Here he appears sometimes to have had a flourishing seminary. A memorandum of his in a pocket almanack states "that six students were added to his academy in one year." The following persons, amongst others, studied under him, and rose to eminence: Mr. Julius Saunders, afterwards minister at Bedworth; Mr. John Sheffield; Mr. Matthew Clarke, son, we suppose, of Mr. Clarke of Harborough, afterwards minister in London; Dr. Joseph Oldfield; Mr. Wilson, the father of Mr. Samuel Wilson, of London; and Mr. Thomas Emlyn. In the memoirs of the last of these it is said, "that his parents chose to bring up their son to the ministry among the Nonconformists; and that for this purpose he was sent, in the year 1678, for academical education to Mr. Shuttleworth (should have been Shuttlewood), at Sulby, near Welford, in Northamptonshire." Here he stayed four years. In the year 1679 he took a journey to Cambridge, and was admitted to Emanuel College, but returned again to Mr. Shuttlewood. These circumstances indicate that Mr. Shuttlewood resided at Sulby a considerable time. It was during this period that he gathered a congregation at Welford and at Creaton. But such was the spirit of the times, and such the dangers to which the Nonconformists were exposed, that at Welford, in the year 1674, they met in a secluded part of the town, on the premises of Mr. Edmund Miles, where they fitted up a place of worship, which was the first Dissenting Meeting House there; but such were the activity and zeal of their enemies, that they thought it prudent to vary their places of meeting, and to set a guard against the inroads of their foes. They might have adopted the language of Nehemiah as their own: "We made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch day and night because of them." There was a house occupied by Mr. Charles Hanscomb, secluded in a narrow yard from the main street, and open to a field in the direction of Mr. Shuttlewood's house. Here the persecuted minister and his people often met, one of the number being appointed to watch, while the rest were engaged in worship; so that when the informers were seen to approach notice might be given to Mr. Shuttlewood and his hearers, who escaped by the window into the fields. Sometimes they met in the pastures which surrounded the house at Sulby, amidst the darkness and the damps of night. These were days of trial, when the reality of religious principle was tested and its power appeared.
Mr. Shuttlewood was blest with a robust, vigorous constitution, yet was of a very tender spirit; and the death of one of his children so deeply pierced him as to bring on many bodily complaints, which he carried with him to his grave. His constitution was greatly injured by the sufferings he endured, and also by his preaching at unseasonable hours, and in unsuitable places; so that his health at length rapidly declined, and he died when on a visit to the Church at Creaton, March 17th, 1688, in the 58th year of his age. A humble stone was erected to his memory in the Churchyard, with this brief but honourable inscription:—"Multum dilectus, multum deflendus"—"Much beloved, much lamented".
Now the flock at Welford were as sheep without a shepherd. They had not been formed into a regular Christian Church under the ministry of Mr. Shuttlewood; and for about ten years they were destitute of a pastor, or any stated ministrations of divine truth amongst them. Some of them, during this period, travelled as far as Bedworth, in Warwickshire, upwards of twenty miles, to hear Mr. Julius Saunders. Such was the love these servants of Christ had for the Gospel, that in the dark mornings of the winter season they travelled by the light of a lantern as far as Lutterworth, where they left it till their return in the evening, when it was again lighted to conduct them home. It appears that there were many in those days that would travel as far as their feet would carry them, rather than be entirely deprived of the ministry of the Gospel.
Some extracts from the records of the Church at Bedworth, kindly sent to the writer by the present pastor of the Church, show that there were, in the year 1687, five persons from Welford added to that Church. This was the second year in the history of that Church; and at the close of it the pastor wrote, "thus has God increased us and doubled our numbers, and many of them stars of the first magnitude." William Powers, from Welford, who joined the Church at Bedworth, appears to have been a man of eminent piety. On one occasion Mr. Saunders writes, "It was while brother Powers was earnestly praying the Lord to thrust forth labourers into his harvest, that I was set at liberty from the bond that was on my spirit." In 1688, a female servant in one of the Welford families attending at Bedworth was added to the Church. In the fourth month of that year a Church-meeting is held at Welford, when several persons from Elkington and Cottesbrook are added to the Church. In the last month of this year we find two more from Welford joined to the Church at Bedworth; but the pastor records, that in the third month of the next year "there was great dissatisfaction expressed at a Church-meeting, on account of my going to Welford and preaching there the last Lord's-day, where there seems to be a mighty work of God upon the hearts of many carrying on."
Mr. Saunders wished to devote one Sabbath in the month to the people that met at Welford; but this was strongly opposed by some of the Church at Bedworth, who probably desired to have the pastor always with them on the Sabbath.
One Valentine Drake showed great opposition to the pastor going to preach at Welford; "but the Church," adds Mr. Saunders, "gave me liberty; they declared that it was meet that, as a ruling elder, I should appoint my own meetings to preach." "The trouble was great that I met with, all about going to Welford one Lord's-day in the month." The opponents ultimately prevailed, so that the minister was obliged to give up the services there. "In the 9th month, 1689, a solemn assembly of the Church. The Church refused to cast out Valentine Drake for all that he had done; and he had done much evil. He drew many after him; made a schism in the Church; manifested fiery passions in our Church-meetings; and so far prevailed, that I was necessitated to break off from going to Welford, whereby that great and blessed work that was going on was made to cease. Many that had a hand in breaking it never flourished in their souls after. In those days my hands were weak."
"In 1691, brother William Powers, from Welford, was chosen to be a ruling elder. On the twelfth day of the twelfth month, at Welford, the brethren being assembled together—Mr. Davis, brother Tebbirt, and brother Taylor, from Rowell—I gave brother Powers a charge to fulfil his office; he declared his willing mind to do so, and that he did accept of the office." "Elizabeth Ridgly, of Haslebeech, Northamptonshire, joined this Church, 1687. She was a diligent saint, who came to our Church-meetings seventeen long miles, twelve times in a year, and that on foot." It is supposed the distance was not far short of twenty-seven miles.
Some of the Welford hearers attended at Kettering and at Harborough until the year 1698, when the Rev. John Norris came to Welford. He had been educated to Sheriffhales, in Shropshire. When Mr. Norris came to Welford, the days of liberty and peace had so far dawned upon the Nonconformists that they could no longer be persecuted according to law; and his ministry proving very acceptable to the people, a new Meeting House was built capable of seating 500 hearers, which was opened in the year 1700; and in the same year Mr. Norris formed them into a Christian Church. The first time he administered the Lord's Supper, there were twenty-six members united in celebrating the Saviour's death; but after a few months the number increased to sixty members. The ground on which the Meeting House was built was given by the Paynes, of Sulby Hall; and five of the members of this family united with the twenty-six who first formed themselves into a Church under Mr. Norris.
Mr. Norris was very popular as a preacher, much beloved as a Christian minister, especially by his brethren in the ministry. He was engaged at the ordination of Doddridge, at Northampton, in asking the questions, and offering the ordination prayer. Doddridge regarded him with affection and veneration, as a father. He died very suddenly, February 8, 1738, in the sixty-third year of his age: he was buried in the Churchyard. The following lines on his tombstone were written by Doddridge:—
Decked with each manly and each Christian grace,
The friend of God, and all the human race—
While earth and heaven beheld him with delight,
From earth to heaven he winged a sudden flight.
Lo! angels pressed to bear their charge above,
To kindred realms of piety and love.
Doddridge preached his funeral sermon, from Genesis v. 24: "And Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him."
We present a few passages from this discourse, descriptive of the character and ministry of Mr. Norris.
I may be permitted publicly to acknowledge (says Doddridge) the sense I have of the favour of divine providence, in leading me so early into the acquaintance of this excellent person, and blessing me with so great a share of his friendship, with which I was honoured from my first entrance into the ministry, and which his singular humility and condescension, wisdom and piety, have rendered exceedingly delightful and improving to me in all the succeeding years of life.
And surely I should be greatly deficient in the duty of this day, if I did not solemnly charge it upon you frequently to recollect your obligations to the divine goodness in giving you so able and so tender a shepherd, and in continuing him amongst you for so long a time with such cordial love, that repeated, unanimous, and earnest solicitations from the most considerable congregations in the neighbouring counties could not prevail upon him to remove from you. So evident was it that "he took the oversight of you, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind."
It may eminently be said of you, my friends, in a spiritual sense, that you have been "fed with the finest of the wheat," as the pure and uncorrupted truths of the Gospel have been preached amongst you with plainness and seriousness, and in the spirit of love. Your minds have not been amused with useless subtilties and barren speculations; you have not been vexed with strifes of words, unprofitable and vain; nor grieved with passionate invectives against your brethren of any denomination—invectives, which are never more criminal than when delivered in the name of the Lord, and which too often turn the food of souls into poison, and that which should have been for their welfare, into a trap. This "good man brought out of the good treasure of his heart good things"; his generous and benevolent soul overflowed with sentiments of candour and love; and he was never more in his own element, than when he was telling you that "the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost": and I firmly believe, that in the thirty-eight years of his ministry among you he never delivered a sermon or a sentence inconsistent with that great principle.
I join with you in lamenting that none of those elaborate and judicious discourses which he delivered among you, from Sabbath to Sabbath, are, or can be, published to the world: for though it is certain that his graceful and venerable aspect, and his easy yet lively manner, gave a peculiar beauty to them as delivered by himself; yet, when I consider how judiciously his thoughts were selected, how methodically they were disposed, and with what propriety, elegance, and spirit they were expressed, I am well assured they would generally have been esteemed a rich addition to that great number of practical writings with which our age and country is already blest, and with which I hope it will still abound. * * * * * * * And, for what he was in the domestic relations of life, I had almost said, I wish it may not be too long, but I will rather say too tenderly, remembered. The loss of a husband so constantly obliging, so affectionately sympathizing, so well furnished as a prudent guide and a pleasant companion, and so well disposed for the offices of both, will, I fear, be too deeply felt. May the sense of it be tempered with those divine consolations which he was so eminently fit to administer, but which have not surely lost their value, and will not, I trust, lose their relish, though no longer administered by him. May the children which were dear to him as his own, never forget with how much diligence he instructed them; with how much importunity and constancy he prayed for them; and with what tenderness he watched over all their interests.
I may add, even in the decline of life this light was growing brighter and brighter; and though his removal, while his capacities of usefulness were to the last so great, must be very affecting to you, yet I cannot forbear saying that you have some peculiar reason to be thankful for the manner and circumstances of his death.
Nature was not racked with tormenting pains, nor worn out by a tedious, consuming illness; but the good man grew a little drowsy towards the evening of his long day, and, having "served his generation according to the will of God," gently "fell asleep" as he was going from one apartment of the house to another, and all the business and struggle of dying was over in less time than could have served him to get up the stairs, as he was attempting to do. It is a delightful thought, that God dismissed his servant in so peaceful a manner that his death so much resembled a translation, and "he was not, for God took him."
Mr. Norris preached the last Sabbath he lived, and concluded the public service with a copious, lively, and affectionate prayer for his people, which could not have been more suitable if he had known he was then taking his last farewell.
After the death of Mr. Norris, Job Orton preached his first sermon at Welford, and received an invitation from the people to become their pastor; but this he declined, as he did several other invitations, on account of his engagements as assistant to Dr. Doddridge in the academy.
Another of the Doctor's pupils, a Mr. Charles Bulkley, was settled over the Church at Welford; but early in the next year after his ordination he changed his sentiments on the doctrines of the Gospel, and on the ordinance of baptism; consequently, he was requested by the Church to resign his office as pastor over them, which he did, and retired to London, where he joined the General Baptists.
At this juncture, Mr. Bottrill, a gentleman of considerable property, connected with the Church at Welford, was at Weldon, a village about eight miles from Oundle; and there he happened to hear a young minister preach, who was a native of Oundle, and was on a visit to his widowed mother, who resided there. This apparently incidental circumstance was the means of bringing about a connexion that was long continued, and of a very happy and useful character. This young minister was Mr. King, son of a late pastor of the Independent Church at Oundle.
When Mr. Bottrill returned home, he induced the Church at Welford to invite Mr. King to preach to them, which he did for two Sabbaths, much to their satisfaction. After some further probation, he received a unanimous invitation to become their pastor, which he accepted, and was ordained in the spring of the year 1743; the Rev. Mr. Hill, of London, and Dr. Doddridge, preached on the occasion. When Mr. King became pastor, the number of members in the Church was 87.
There are some interesting circumstances connected with Mr. King's early history, worthy of notice. If he was, like Samuel, early devoted to God, it was in connexion with his mother having the spirit of Hannah in pleading for him, and giving him up to God. His father was the Rev. Joseph King, highly respected as the Independent minister at Oundle. His mother, Mrs. Hannah King, was a lady distinguished for her piety and intelligence; and she earnestly desired to have a son, that she might devote him to the service of the sanctuary.
Her desire being granted in the birth of a son, she, like Hannah, called his name Samuel, as a constant memorial of her prayers and her purpose. She fondly hoped to see him trained by paternal instruction for the Christian ministry, when, by a mysterious providence, with a sudden stroke she was bereft of her beloved partner, in the midst of his usefulness and in the vigour of his life, being but 46 years of age. Still, amidst the sorrows, the trials, and difficulties of widowhood, her boy not four years of age, and a family dependent upon slender means for support, this mother cherished her fond impression concerning this son. At an early age he was placed in the Grammar-school at Oundle, and made great proficiency; from thence he was removed to the classical School for Dissenters at Mount Sorrell, Leicestershire, then under the direction of Mr. Thomas Watson and Mr. Abel Ragg—the same Mr. Ragg who had been Doddridge's fellow pupil and intimate friend, and who died in the same year with his other beloved friend and fellow pupil, Mr. David Some, junior.
From his earliest days, Mrs. King endeavoured to impress her son's mind with the important truths of the Gospel; and the Lord blessed her efforts and heard and answered her prayers, in the conversion of her son. When he had left home his religious impressions were deepened by the epistolary admonitions of his mother, and by the religious instructions of his tutors. When he removed from this school he lived for a time with an uncle at Long Thorpe, who was an extensive farmer, and steward to Sir Francis St. John, who lived there. In this situation he improved the leisure afforded by agriculture in a diligent attention to mental and devout exercises. Thus occupied, he came to a settled determination to enter the ministry; which purpose, after due consideration, he disclosed to his mother. This was joyful intelligence to her; and she lost no time in communicating it to a friend and patron, Mrs. Cooke, of Newington, a lady greatly esteemed for her piety and liberality. With characteristic promptitude and kindness, she immediately engaged to support him while prosecuting his studies at the academy. He was placed under the tuition of Dr. Abraham Taylor, at Deptford, in 1735; he continued there till 1740, when the institution was removed to Stepney.
Mr. King attended the ministry of Mr. Thomas Bradbury, at New Court, with whose Church he became connected.
While he was at Deptford, a party of the students went one evening to bathe, when Mr., afterwards Dr. Thomas Gibbons, going beyond his depth, was in danger of drowning. No one present could swim except Mr. King, who at the moment was standing at the water side at a short distance. On hearing the cries of the other students he hurried to the spot, plunged into the water, caught Mr. Gibbons by the hair when in the act of sinking, and thus rescued him from a watery grave, as animation was suspended, and was with considerable difficulty restored. Dr. Gibbons ever after retained a most affectionate attachment to Mr. King, and after he was settled at Welford paid him several visits and preached for him, and always recurred to this providential deliverance with grateful recollections.
The congregation at Welford, when Mr. King became its pastor, was considered to be large and respectable, hearers attending on the Sabbath from fourteen villages around. In connexion with this circumstance it may be mentioned, that in some of those villages there are now stated congregations, either of the Independent or Baptist denomination, with pastors placed over them, while the congregation at Welford is as large as ever; which shows a considerable increase in the number of Dissenters in those parts in the course of the last century. Mr. King was very diligent and laborious in the work to which he had become devoted, preaching several nights in the week in the villages around, beside the constant services of the Sabbath. His ministry was rendered eminently useful, so that the Church doubled its numbers in the early years of his pastorate.
He married Miss Elizabeth Norris, the only child of his predecessor, by whom he had a family of ten children. It was a circumstance not honourable to his people, considering their numbers and the wealth of some individuals among them, that Mr. King had to struggle with pecuniary difficulties, which almost led to his removal from them. A pressing invitation was sent to him from the congregation at Castle Gate, Nottingham, to be co-pastor with the venerable James Ross, M.A., with an offer of more than double the salary that he was receiving at Welford. The difficulties attending him here, with his numerous family, inclined him to attend to this call; but when it became known to his people, they waited upon him, expressed their great regret that he should think of leaving them, their firm attachment to him, reminded him of the providential way in which he was brought amongst them, and referred to the happy effects of his labours; which, after some deliberation, prevailed, so that he determined to continue with them and to maintain the struggle with the difficulties that attended him. But the providence of God at length appeared for him. A Miss Cooke, an aged maiden lady, the only survivor of a wealthy family, bequeathed to him some property, which, with some other legacies he received, enabled him to give his children a liberal education, and to place his sons in respectable situations; and also, in some degree, to gratify his benevolent feelings in the exercise of liberality to those who were in distress.
During the ministry of Mr. King, Mr. John Wood, a native of Welford, became a member of the Church, and was called to the work of the ministry. He passed with great credit through his academical course at Daventry, and became first minister at Sudbury, in Suffolk, and afterwards at Creaton, in Northamptonshire, where, after twenty years' labour, he died. The young people of Mr. King's flock engaged a large portion of his solicitude; his public and private instructions were eminently blessed to many of them.
It was a great gratification to this excellent minister to be able to sustain his aged mother in the decline of her days—to promote her comfort by receiving her into his house, where she died, in 1763, at the advanced age of 81 years. With what delight would such a mother behold the answer to her prayers in the devoted labours and usefulness of this son, whom she had asked of the Lord, and consecrated to him; and with what peculiar interest must such a son look on that aged mother as she was ripening for heaven, to whom, under God, he owed all that he had attained!
He lost his beloved partner, who was of great value in such a sphere, after a lingering illness, in the 60th year of her age. When his own infirmities increased and strength failed, so as to render him incapable of fulfilling the duties of his office, after about 40 years' labour amongst them he resigned his charge in 1782, and went to reside at the house of the Rev. James Horsey, of Northampton, who had married one of his daughters. There, enjoying the affectionate attentions of his daughter, he peacefully ended his days, November 6th, 1788, in the 74th year of his age. His remains were conveyed to Welford for interment; a funeral sermon was preached by his son-in-law, Mr. Horsey, to a crowded audience, from words chosen by the deceased (Jude, verse 21): "Looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life." The sermon was printed at the request of the Church and congregation. Mr. Horsey observes—
About forty years ago God placed his servant in this part of his vineyard, and enabled him to labour, both in season and out of season, to defend his cause in this town and neighbourhood. That his talents were generally acceptable, most who hear me know. The plainness of his style (for he always aimed to be understood by the lowest of his hearers), the evangelical complexion of his doctrine, and the seriousness of his address, endeared him peculiarly to other congregations as well as his own; and numbers in this and in neighbouring counties ascribe to his instrumentality their first serious thoughts of God and eternity. With many present he has laboured even from your infancy, endeavouring, by an attention to catechising, suggesting the most simple and easy remarks, to bring you to an early acquaintance with the holy Scriptures. And no greater pleasure could he feel than to see the children of his charge "walking in the truth." As you have risen into life, he has regularly addressed you by his annual instructions to the youth of the assembly, cautioning against the paths of the destroyer, and directing your feet in the way of peace. Oh, how often have I seen him, with marks of inward reverence and undissembled piety, sit like good old Simeon "waiting for the consolation of Israel"! And when a word has been dropped, to bring his former charge to his remembrance, with the tenderest tokens of friendship, and the falling tears of affection, would he waft up a prayer to heaven for your prosperity.
Mr. King only published two sermons, one preached to his own people on the murrain among the cattle, and another delivered at the ordination of Mr. Joshua Symonds, at Bedford, 1767.
After Mr. King's resignation there were three pastors, each of whom continued for a very short time over the people at Welford. Mr. William Severn was ordained May 22nd, 1782. It is stated that he was a very popular preacher, possessed of uncommon talents; that his Sabbath evening and week-day lectures were anticipated with great pleasure by his hearers, who were strongly attached to him: but he resigned his charge in less than two years, went to Hinckley, in Leicestershire, and at length, we regret to state, departed from the faith he once preached, and died some years after in connexion with a Socinian congregation in Hull. A Mr. Northend was the next who was invited to Welford; but the invitation was far from unanimous, so that, though he accepted it, his services continued for a very short time. In the spring of 1789 Mr. Evan Johns was settled as their pastor; but this gentleman, we are informed, much injured his usefulness, and lessened the esteem of his friends for him, by practising the absurd theory of animal magnetism, which induced him to tender his resignation, and he left, in 1790, for Bury St. Edmund's.
In 1792, Mr. John Clement Bicknell, a student at Newport Pagnell, was invited on probation; and in February, 1793, he was ordained pastor. The following ministers were engaged on that occasion, viz.:— Messrs. Hillyard, of Bedford; Greathead, of Newport; Grundy, of Lutterworth; Carver, of Wellingborough; Summers, of Wellingborough; Gill, of Market Harborough; Davis, of Wigston; Gardner, of Kilsby.
Soon after this settlement, the old Meeting House being much out of repair, it was determined to erect a new one in a more eligible part of the town, near the residence of the pastor. This was opened for worship in 1793; and a few years after, in 1799, a more respectable house was built for the minister on the site of the old one, which together cost the people about £1500; and, to their honour, the whole was in a short time discharged.
The Church appears to have decreased in number during the changes that had taken place, as there are only 41 names given as members when Mr. Bicknell was settled. In the course of his ministry 56 members were added. He filled the pastoral office at Welford for about 18 years and 9 months, as he resigned his charge in 1811. In the latter years of his life Mr. Bicknell was minister at Crick, where he died at an advanced age, in the year 1849.
In October, 1812, Mr. Benjamin Hobson, of Driffield, Yorkshire, visited Welford as a probationer, on the recommendation of Mr. Gill, of Market Harborough. After supplying four Sabbaths, he received a unanimous invitation from the Church and congregation to the pastoral office, which he accepted, and entered on his stated labours February 21st, 1813. The number of members in the Church at this time is stated as 43.
Mr. Hobson was born at Sheffield, in the year 1780. In the account given of his early life, we have another case presented, amongst the thousands that have been known in the Church of God and in the ministry of the Gospel, of one who had to trace his early impressions of religion to the efforts of a pious mother. From early youth he was the "subject of pious emotions," which he always attributed with grateful and filial affection to the piety and prayers of his mother. "Her earnest importunity at family prayer for the salvation of her children," he said, "often affected me, and I believe was the means of leading me to see the value of my soul and the necessity of dependence on Jesus Christ." He derived benefit from some of the last sermons of the Rev. Jehoiada Brewer, and at length joined the Church under the care of Rev. James Boden. He commenced his studies for the ministry at Homerton; but during the first year his health was so affected that he was obliged to return home. This led to a change in the place where his studies were to be pursued. At the urgent request of his mother, that he might not be placed so far from home, in case sickness should return, he obtained admission into the college at Rotherham in 1802, having for his tutors Dr. Edward Williams and Mr. Maurice Phillips. He pursued his studies with commendable diligence, and obtained general esteem by his consistent piety. His first pastoral charge was at Driffield, in Yorkshire, where he was ordained on the 8th July, 1806. Here his labours were useful and his ministry prized; but in the year 1813, influenced in a great degree by the advice of his friend and relative, Mr. G. Collison, of Hackney, and Mr. G. Gill, of Market Harborough, he removed to Welford: and here he continued until within four months of the close of his life, serving this people as their faithful and affectionate pastor for about thirty-five years; and he did this with general acceptance and prevailing usefulness. During his ministry 115 members were added to the Church. His devoted piety was always manifest. With an earnest concern to promote the highest welfare of his charge, with an ardent attachment to the cause of God, with strong desire to advance the kingdom of the Redeemer, and to be a blessing to those around him, he steadfastly pursued his labours. He had much of the spirit of devotion—was a man of prayer, a man of God. His preaching was earnest and affectionate, plain and faithful. He was the attentive village pastor, that took some delight in visiting his flock. If his talents were not of a high order, they were of a useful character. If his mind was not powerful, his spirit was affectionate and fervent, and his views of evangelical truth clear and decided. If a sanguine temperament rendered him at times too susceptible, religious principle triumphed, and Christian prudence prevailed. He had a large share of domestic happiness, earnestly seeking the spiritual welfare of his children, their early acquaintance with God, and decision for the Saviour. He had the happiness of seeing all of them, in the morning of life, "choosing the good part which shall not be taken away from them."
He greatly loved the Missionary cause, and endeavoured to promote a missionary spirit amongst his people. He had one son. That son was engaged in the medical profession, but he was at length anxious to go as a medical missionary to China. The father's love to the Missionary cause was now put to the test; and its sincerity was fully proved. Though for a time conflicting feelings agitated his mind, and parental affection prompted him to say, "Anything but this," yet in the strength of the Lord God he was enabled to present this sacrifice with a willing mind, and could but rejoice that he was counted worthy to be so closely identified with the Missionary cause. He was Secretary for about ten years to the Northamptonshire Independent Association, and was generally held in high esteem by his brethren. The last meeting of this Association, before Mr. Hobson removed, was held at Welford, when he resigned his office, and the ministers present testified in a gratifying manner their esteem and affection.
In the year 1847 his declining health rendered it necessary that there should be some change in his ministerial duties. An attempt was made to obtain an assistant; but increasing indisposition, arising from chronic bronchitis, together with some things appearing which were painful to his feelings, decided him at length to relinquish the work, and try the effect of a change of air. He left Welford on the 18th of May, 1848, and numbers of his people felt and said that not their faithful minister only, but their father and their friend, they were about to lose.
He went to the island of Guernsey, with the hope that a milder climate might benefit his health and recruit his strength. But he continued to decline; and just four months after bidding farewell to his people at the sacramental table, he was called from the scenes of time to join the Church triumphant above.
In the closing scene, looking at life in the light of eternity, what he had been enabled to do in the service of God seemed to be nothing in comparison with what he had failed to accomplish. His feelings for some weeks were not only checkered, but very painful. The state of his mind was dark and distressing, arising, no doubt, from physical weakness, and the completely relaxed state of the nervous system. But the last week was one of great mercy. The enemy was not suffered to distress, nor fears to agitate: his mind was kept "in perfect peace, being stayed on God." He often spake of Christ as the rock. He died on the evening of the Sabbath, September 3rd. His remains are deposited in the new cemetery at Saint Peter's Port, Guernsey. The event of his death was suitably improved there by the Rev. W. Wild, from Phil. iii. 9; and at Welford by his successor, from Hebrews xi. 4: "He being dead, yet speaketh."
Mr. Hobson was succeeded in his labours at Welford almost immediately by Mr. Walter Gill, who had pursued his studies for the ministry at the seminary at Hackney. He entered on his probationary services in May, 1848, and was ordained in the month of April in the following year. Mr. Ransom, Mr. Gill's classical tutor, delivered the introductory discourse; Mr. Toller, of Kettering, offered the ordination prayer; Mr. Toller, of Harborough, asked the usual questions; Mr. Keynes, of Blandford, delivered the charge; and Mr. James, of Birmingham, preached to the people in the evening.
The present number of members in the Church is about 80. There are 130 children in the Sabbath-schools connected with the congregation, viz.—boys, 72; girls, 58: there are 23 teachers.
There are occasional services conducted on Sabbath evenings in the village of South Kibworth, where there is a small Chapel held in trust by some of the Welford friends.