Whether these Nonconformist ministers went so far as to form a Church here on Congregational principles, we are not informed; but their example and their services appear to have been the means of a regular congregation being gathered in these early days of Nonconformity; and probably the spirit of persecution might not now discover itself so much here as in some other parts of the country, which might be one reason why several of those who were cast out of the Church resorted to this place.
That there was a stated congregation, and probably a Church formed, appears to be manifest by the next fact in relation to these things that we find recorded; which is, that Mr. Shepherd, who had been minister at Tillbrook, in Bedfordshire, on quitting his living a few years after the passing of the Act of Uniformity, became pastor to a Dissenting congregation at Oundle. This is the minister of whom it is stated, in our account of the Church at Kettering, "that he had the true spirit of his office, his preaching being very awful and affecting, and his life very holy." About 1697 he removed to Kettering, where, a few months after, he died.
There is a tradition generally credited in Oundle, that the Meeting House was built immediately after the passing of "the Toleration Act," in 1790 or 1791. The founder was Joseph Hewson, a draper in the town, who erected the building on his own freehold, for the use of himself and other Nonconformists in the neighbourhood, who, as in other places, were but too happy to emerge from the state of depression into which they had been cast, to a state of comparative liberty: but in 1724, David Hewson, of Market Harborough, also a draper, son and heir of the founder, sold the property to the society for the nominal sum of £40; and in the month of August, the same year, the first trust deed was made, settling the building for ever as a place of religious worship, and conveying the fee of the freehold to twelve trustees. It was in the deed denominated a place for a Presbyterian congregation, but now the Church is formed on the principles of the Independents. After Mr. Shepherd's removal from Oundle, there appears to have been a Mr. Atkinson pastor of the Church, for on the sacramental cups is this inscription: "The Rev. Mr. Atkinson being our present pastor, 1713."
The next pastor was Mr. Joseph King, who probably might be first assistant and afterwards successor to Mr. Atkinson, as there were three of Mr. King's children buried in Oundle Churchyard, the first in 1712, the other two in 1714. Mr. King died in 1720. A tombstone was erected to his memory in the Churchyard, on which is a Latin inscription. The following is a translation:—
Joseph King died 29th Jany.,
a.d. 1719/20, aged 46.
Thy spirit upright, and thy heart sincere;
True piety engaged thy fervent love;
Instructed from above
To feed the flock committed to thy care;
And with the eloquent they will thy name revere.
Happy to have fulfilled thy sacred toil, the end arrives,
And here thou liest.
Blest man! thy name for ages shall survive.
The monument that marks thy dust shall fall,
Decays the marble tomb,
The sepulchre comes down:
The fame which goodness gives shall long survive them all.
Mr. King was the father of Mr. Samuel King, who was minister at Welford for forty years. This son was born in 1815, and was little more than four years of age when his father died. He was regarded as given in answer to maternal prayer; for his mother, Mrs. Hannah King, a woman of a devoted spirit, earnestly desired to have a son that might become a minister of the Gospel. She long survived her husband; lived to realize her highest desire on this behalf; and had the happiness of closing her days, in a good old age, in the house of her son, when he was minister of the Independent Church at Welford. On an upright stone in the Churchyard of that village there is the following inscription, probably expressive of the affectionate remembrance of her son:—
In memory of Mrs. Hannah King, relict of the
Rev. Joseph King, of Oundle, who departed this
life the 25th day of April, 1763, aged 81 years.
Farewell, bright soul, a long farewell,
Till we shall meet again above,
In the sweet groves where pleasures dwell,
And trees of life bear fruits of love.
Sweet soul, we leave thee to thy rest;
Enjoy thy Jesus and thy God,
Till we, from bonds of clay released,
Spring out, and climb th' heav'nly road.
The next pastor of the Church at Oundle was Mr. Daniel Goodrich; his name was inserted in the first trust deed of the Meeting House, in 1724. In the account which Doddridge gives of his ordination at Northampton, in 1730, he mentions Mr. Goodrich, of Oundle, as commencing the service by prayer and reading the Scriptures. In the memoirs of Mr. Sanderson, one of the pastors of the Church at Rowell, we find a short letter from Mr. Goodrich, dated December 26th, 1740, which pleasingly indicates the spirit of piety, and the attachment of the writer to evangelical principles.
I thank you for your long expected favour, and am glad to find that you hang upon the covenant; it is the great prop and support of our souls. Pleasant frames, and to live by sense, are what we are fond of; but faith and patience must have their perfect work here—these shall have nothing to do above. Then the redeemed of the Lord shall live by sight, in full fruition—see face to face, and know as they are known; no clouds shall come between their beloved and them; no corruptions from within, no thorns and briars from without; and a brother shall not then be as a thorn hedge; but as God is love, we shall be like him, swallowed up in love to God and to one another. A little while, and thus it shall be. The wilderness is but a short passage, though difficult and troublesome. Our lights are but to burn here for a little while. The Lord grant, that we may so shine that our heavenly Father may be glorified.
I beg the Lord may fit you for your work, and crown your labours with success, &c., &c.
D. Goodrich.
At the ordination of Mr. Boyce over the Church at Kettering, Mr. Goodrich was engaged in asking the questions and offering the ordination prayer. He died February 25th, 1765, aged 66 years.