Note: The following chart is in a letter to the editor of The Baptist Magazine, 1823 and gives a list of the number of Baptist churches in the various counties of England at that time. The author of the chart compares the number of churches in 1822 to the number there had been in 1789.The second chart lists known churches with pastors; some without. The author of this work gives only his initials. [J.P.A.]
The Baptist Magazine, 1823
Observations on the List of Baptist Churches.Mr. Editor,
I confess myself greatly interested in the History of our Churches, and highly value those papers which have appeared in your Magazine, tending to illustrate their rise, progress, and present state. Being desirous of more information on these subjects, and perceiving that you had admitted this month a paper of "Observations on the List of Churches, &c." I have amused myself by comparing that list with a printed list, in my possession, of Churches and Ministers, 1789. Without repeating any of the Observations already made in the paper alluded to above, and with which I am well pleased, will you give me leave to make one or two very short remarks, and add a few inquiries respecting the names and state of some churches which appear in the former list, but not in the latter? If any of your correspondents will take the trouble of replying to them, it will greatly oblige many who wish to see a collected view of the state of our Churches, and have not time to search through the records of your Magazine, whence probably the chief part of the information desired might be collected. I will first give you a comparative, view of the two lists, and the increase of each county.List of Counties. 1789 1822 IncreaseBedfordshire . . . 15 21 6
Berkshire . . . 5 9 4
Buckinghamshire . . . 11 15 26
Cambridgeshire . . . 8 20 12
Cheshire . . . 3 6 3
Cornwall . . . 2 10 8
Cumberland . . . 3 2 decrease
Derbyshire . . . 2 4 2
Devonshire . . . 11 30 19
Dorsetshire . . . 2 5 3
Durham . . . 2 6 4
Essex . . . 9 21 12
Gloucestershire . . . 16 24 8
Hampshire . . . 11 24 13
Herefordshire . . . 3 6 3
Hertfordshire . . . 9 14 5
Huntingdonshire . . . 2 13 11
Kent . . . 14 35 21
Lancashire . . . 15 30 15
Leicestershire . . . 6 9 3
Lincolnshire . . . 4 11 7
Middlesex . . . 3, London 16, & Southwark 8 27 17+32=49 22
Monmouthshire . . . omitted 24 -
Norfolk . . . 10 31 21
Northamptonshire . . . 17 28 11
Northumberland . . . 2 3 1
Nottinghamshire . . . 3 - 3
Oxfordshire . . . 5 9 4
Ruthland . . . 1 1 -
Shropshire . . . 4 14 10
Somersetshire . . . 15 32 17
Staffordshire . . . omitted 13 -
Suffolk . . . 2 32 30
Surry . . . 1 15 14
Sansex . . . 9 14 5
Warwickshire . . . 7 17 10
Wiltshire . . . 13 27 14
Worcestershire . . . 10 18 8
Yorkshire . . . 28 49 21
Westmoreland . . .
Not inserted in either list. ___ ___ ___ Total numbers 307 708 365
Add Monmouth and Stafford 37
TOTAL 402
Cumberland decrease -1
___ ___ ___
TOTAL WILL STAND THUS . . . 307 708 401_______________ Thus the Baptist Churches in England have, in the course of 33 years, considerably more than doubled their number; and the Ministers are still more considerably increased.
In one county (Westmoreland) no Baptist church is recorded! The next county (Cumberland) has suffered a decrease of one church out of three. How has this happened? and what is the state of active religion and piety in those that remain?
You will observe a difference of ten churches in counting the general number of your list between me and your correspondent, J. B. He may have better means of information than I: but the principle on which this difference of number occurs is my calculating the places under one minister as separate churches. This I know to be the case in several instances, and have taken several others for granted. I hope the concluding suggestions of your correspondent will meet the serious discussion they deserve, and which every additional article of information tends to enforce.
I conclude, Sir, with a request of information respecting the following Churches in the list of 1789, but not in that of 1822. Doubtless many of them, like the Church at Woodrow united to that at Amersham in 1792, have sunk into other churches, or removed their place of meeting, and thus assume other names. This might be ascertained, and would be very satisfactory. Can any of your correspondents state the number of Churches in Monmouthshire and Staffordshire in the year 1789, to complete the list of that year? I have observed the following, with their Ministers not in your list.
Beside these there are ten Churches in London, and four in Southwark, of different names from those they now bear, but which seem to be in existence; some with the same Pastors, and others whose changes are explained in Ivimey's 3rd Volume of History of Baptists.Bedfordshire. - Evershall, ____
Little Staughton. - Emery.
Thorn. - R. Faulkner.
Cambridge. - Fenstanton. - T. Cirwen.
Gransdon. - J. Hewson.
Cheshire. - Brassey Green. ____
Nantwich. ____
Cumberland. Wootton Ridge. ____
Derbyshire. Codnor. - W. Fletcher.
Essex. Ridgewell. - H. Larwill.
Hampshire. Christchurch. ____
Dagon, - J. Buddeu.
Huntingdonshire. - Winwick. ____
Kent. Folkstone, - 2nd Church. - Read.
Lancashire. - Warrington. ____
Leicestershire. - Lutterworth. ____
Lincolnshire. - Horncastle. ____
Middlesex. - Bow. - J. Knott, Sen.
Northumberland. - Hexham. - D. Fnrnee.
Oxfordshire. - Witney. - Wills.
Somersetshire. - Bicknell. - J. Adams.
Sussex. - Buxstead. - R. Butcher.
Slougham. - T. Humphrys.
Warwickshire. - Ryton. ____
Yorkshire. - Gisburn. - S. Hall.
Keldwick. - B. Cowgill.
Rodwell End. ____
Slaithwaite. ____
Yours, &c.
J. P. A. April 12, 1823.========== [From The Baptist Magazine, August, 1823, pp. 331-332. Document from Google Books. Transcribed and formatted by Jim Duvall.]
More on British Baptists
Baptist History Homepage