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CHAPTER III. Ministers of Hamsterley, &c. - Mr. H Atkinson - Mr. Braithwaite - Bridlington - Broughton - Bridlington - Broughton - Messrs. Palmer and Garner - J. and C. Wesley - George Whitfield - Lady Huntingdon - John Glass - Ebenezer Erskine - Moravians - Dr. Stoddart - Jonathan Edwards - Associations - Hamsterley - Mr. Garner - Mr. G. Fell's death - Broaghton. - Mr. H. Palmer - His family, note - Mr. Machin - Bridlington - Rebellion in Scotland - Colonel Gardiner - Culloden - Mr. M. Wharton's death - Anecdote, Lord Ravensworth. - Associations - Death of Mr. Carr - Character - Family - Mr. Mitchel - Bridiington.
THE united church of Rowley and Hamsterley, in the interval elapsing between 1727 and 1740, had still the same ministers ; but Mr. Carr was advancing in years and Mr. Samuel Nicholls died in the year 1731. The last entry of the addition of members to the church, in the hand of Mr. Carr, is dated that and the following year. The baptisms of Joseph Hall and William Goodburn are dated 17th March, 1731-32. The oldest letter of this period, preserved from the wreck of time, bears no annual date, but it mentions that the association took place on the 8th and 9th of June. In this epistle, which was sent from the church at Hamsterley to the association, we have the following note: - "Brethren, we recommend to your assistance, our beloved brethren and ministers, William Carr, Michael Wharton, and Samuel Nicholls."* As Mr. Nicholls died in 1731, this letter must have been written in one
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* The names appended to this letter are the following: Henry Angas, Henry Atkinson, Cuth. Ward, John Welford, Ralph Gibson, Joseph March, Michael Ward, John Hall, Joseph Oxlah,
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of the years intervening between 1727 and that year.1733. - Mr. Braithwaite had continued pastor of the church at Bridlington, since 1713, when he left Hawksheadhill; but, in 1733, he was called to take the oversight of the church in Devonshire-square, London. While Mr. B. was at Bridlington, he was eminently laborious and successful. He extended his labours to North-Burton, and a considerable part of the church resided at Bainton, a village six miles from Driffield, and about eighteen from Bridlington. In a variety of old documents, the church is repeatedly termed, the church of Bridlington and Bainton. The meeting-house was enlarged to its present dimensions, during the pastorate of Mr. B.; and the foundation of a church, in Hull, was laid, by his baptizing several individuals from that town. Sixty-two persons are said to have been added to the church, during his ministry.
The reason of Mr. Braithwaite's leaving Bridlington is worthy of notice, and discovers the operation of those causes which have been at work since the death of Abel by his brother Cain; and "wherefore slew he him?" says the Apostle, "Because his own works were evil and his brother's righteous."
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and Joseph Teasdale. The above Henry Atkinson, with his wife, Anne, sister to Mr. Michael Garthorn, New Row, were baptized 5th December, 1716. Their descendants still occupy useful places in several of the churches in the North of England. They had two sons and two daughters. John, the eldest son, was father of Mr. Michael Atkinson, Smelt House. Their youngest, Michael, father of Mr. Michael Atkinson, of Newcastle, and Mrs. Dodds, of Bedburn. Their daughter Jane, was married to Ingram Chapman; and Alice, the second, to Wm. Stobbs, of Billy Row. John Welford was the son of William Welford, the first of that name in the church. His nephew William, of Cayslee, died in 1825. Jos. Teasdale was probably brother to Jacob Teasdale, who married Alice, sister of Mr. M. Garthorn, of New Row: and they were both sons, probably, of Nicholas Teasdale, already alluded to.
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In 1733, Mr. B. published a pamphlet, bear- ing the following title: "The Nation's Reproach and the Church's Grief; or, a serious needful word of advice to those who needlessly frequent Taverns and Public Houses, and often spend their evenings there." As this interfered with the inclination, and touched the consciences, of some of his hearers, and perhaps members, they viewing him as making himself busy with them, thenceforth seem to have manifested towards him the bitterest rancour, and keenest opposition. Mr. B. finding himself uncomfortable, after labouring assiduously among them for twenty years, left them and went to London, where he finished his benevolent and useful course in 1748. His memory is still dear to Hawksheadhill, to Bridlington, and to history, while, that of his bacchanalian opponents has long since perished. "The memory of the just is blessed; but the name of the wicked shall rot."1734. - Mr. Samuel Blenkinsop who went from Ham- sterley to Broughton, according to request, in 1719, died in 1734. From an old manuscript, it appears he had laboured among the people at Broughton more or less from 1715 to 1734. He had, therefore, been a diligent labourer in Broughton and Oulton for twenty-nine years. He was buried in the chapel-yard, 3rd May, 1734, aged 63 years. He was probably the son of Mr. Robert Blenkinsop, who was assistant to Mr. Ward, and is also said, in the account of the church at Hawksheadhill, to be "the minister of Great Broughton, in Cumberland." Mr. Blenkinsop was succeeded by Mr. Ralph Ruston from Bridlington.
1735-1737. - The church at Bridlington, after, the. departure of Mr. Braithwaite, was two years without a pastor. It is probable Mr. R. Ruston had ministered to that church till his removal to Broughton, and, that in 1735, Mr. Machin, a member of the church at
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Limehouse, London, then under the care of Mr. D. Bees, came to Bridlington, on probation. His ministry appears to have been very acceptable; for he was unanimously chosen to the pastorate, and ordained by Mr. Braithwaite, the former pastor, and Messrs. John Sedgefield, of Tottlebank, and Alvery Jackson, of Barnoldswick.1738-1739. We have no notice of Mr. Huston's ordination at Broughton, but it probably took place about this time. "We are certain, however, that he was now assisted by two young brethren in the church, if not more. These were Mr. Henry Palmer and Mr. Isaac Garner. The former was connected with a respectable family in the neighbourhood of Broughton, and he is said to have studied at one of the Scotch Universities. The other was connected with a family, who seem to have been located, for some generations at least, in the western district of Cumberland. His grandfather, John Garner, was a minister, as appears from his epitaph, found near "Whitehaven ; but to what denomination he belonged, we are not informed. As, however, he is said to have preached without charge to the church, over which he was placed; and, as many of the Bap- tists, at that time, from the smallness of the churches, were necessitated to do this; so, it is probable, that he was a Baptist minister; perhaps of Egremont, near Whitehaven, where his remains lie. As Oulton and Broughton were, at this period, united, so Mr. Garner appears to have assisted Mr. Huston in preaching at the former more distant station. In some letters, at present extant, he is, indeed, called the minister of Oulton; probly either from having his residence there, or preaching there frequently.*
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* Several very important incidents with regard to religion, were, about this time, transpiring in Britain, Germany, and America. In England, Messrs. John and Charles Wesley, with Mr. George
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1740. - The annual meeting was held at Hamsterley in the year 1740. In the letter of this year, there is much complaint of the decrease of piety and of numbers. Differences between the ministers and the people prevailed, and, as a result of this, there were some that abstained from the ordinances of religion. We have had frequent complaints of this kind, in the association letters of by-gone years, and too frequently in later times, have we observed, passing before us, the causes of the same kind of complaint. Times of decay are much more frequent than times of revival, and, generally speaking, much longer in continuance. As, in the kingdom of nature, the fertile season produces, not only abundance of precious grain, but also a superfluity of noxious weeds; so, in the kingdom of grace, a number of false professors often obtrude into the society, of the truly godly. The sympathy, caused by the excitation of a revival, in combination with some other, perhaps more hidden causes, not unfrequently leads to this, and
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Whitfield and Lady Huntington, had laid the foundation of the Methodist Societies. The Arminian, or Wesleyan, from the two former; and the Calvinistic, from the two latter. The first Methodist Society was formed in 1739, and the division between Mr. Whitfield and the Wesleys took place in 1741. In Scotland, Mr. Glass, the father of the Glassites, or Scotch independents, called Sandemanians in England, was ejected from his charge at Tealing, in Forfarshire, in 1728, In 1732, Mr. Ebenezer Erskine, and three other ministers, commenced the Secession Church, in Scotland. In Germany, that ancient body, the Moravians, became much revived under Christian David, in 1720. Through him they obtained a settlement at Hernhutt, under Count Zinzendorff. Mr. Wesley was, in 1735, much benefited by their missionaries, on his voyage to Georgia. Since that time, the Moravians have sent missionaries into almost all parts of the world. In America a number of remarkable revivals had taken place under Dr. Stoddart, of Northampton, and in 1733, and afterwards, under President Edwards, George Whitfield, and others, in different parts of the same continent.
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the result is, when the heat of the movement is evaporated, the feelings of many of the excited will fall to their former level, and even, perhaps, beneath it. "The dog returns to his vomit again, and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire." The consequence is, the peace of the church is broken, the usefulness of ministers is suspended, and the world is stumbled; The remains of evil, in the truly pious - usually greatly exaggerated as a plausible; excuse for the indolent or the fallen - in too many instances, tend, so far at least, to augment this; and thus the church, instead of being "a well spring of living water - a field that the Lord hath blessed," will, at least for a time, prove like a stagnant and corrupting marsh, sending out a deathful pestilence over all the surrounding region.1741. - It again fell to the lot of Hamsterley to have the association, in the year 1741. The general letter to the churches is not preserved; but the letter from the church at Broughton is so; and, as it refers to one, who, for nearly twenty years, became one of the leading ministers among the Baptists, in the four northern counties, we shall give an extract from it. It is said to be from, "The poor church of Christ meeting at Broughton and Oulton," and its concluding paragraph runs, thus: - "We recommend to you our beloved brother Isaac Garner, whom we appoint as our messenger to you, at this time, and who will give to you, such further account of the present state of our church as may be proper and expedient; and shall, we hope; to his power, assist you, in anything that may tend to God's, glory, and the present and future well-being of the churches. So committing you all to God, and the word of His grace, we rest, subscribing ourselves, your unworthy brethren in the faith and fellowship of the gospel."
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This was probably the first time that Mr. Garner had seen Hamsterley - his future habitation. He was then in his 24th year, in all the bloom and vigour of early manhood. He was low in stature, but of a ruddy complexion, and of an interesting and intelligent appearance. Whether or no he had come by the special invitation of the church at Hamsterley, we are not told; but it is not unlikely, as their ministers were then getting very old and infirm, and one of them, the resident in Hamsterley, or neighbourhood, Mr. Gabriel Fell, was either lately dead, or in a dying condition, as he finished his course that same year. Be this, however, as it might, the fact is certain, that Mr. Garner very soon after this event, became assistant minister of the united church of Rowley and Hamsterley, and took up his stated residence in the latter place. His labours, henceforward, included not only the place of his abode, but were extended to Rowley, Hindley, Cotherstone, Newbiggin, Middleton, and Teesdale, in Durham; also to Juniper-Dye-House, Styford, Prudhoe, Horsley, Stamfordham, &c., in Northumberland: at some of these places, statedly, at others only occasionally.Respecting the death of Mr. Fell, Mr. Garner gives us the following brief account: - "By information, I understand, that Gabriel Fell grew much, both in gifts and grace, as he advanced near the end of his journey; bearing all his afflictions with patience and courage, willing to spend and be spent in the wort of the gospel; enduring much opposition and trouble from his family: yet, when death drew near, he said to one standing by, 'Jesus Christ hath done all in love,' and, to all appearance, then rejoiced in hope of the glory of God. Blessed Jesus!" adds, Mr. Garner, "may none of thy ministers, who have preached thee in their life, be without thee at their death; but in all things, let all thine, be more
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than conquerors through thy most precious blood; that we who remain, and are yet alive, may follow those who sleep in thee, and be for ever with the Lord."1742. - On the 16th February, 1742, Mr. Henry Palmer preached a funeral sermon, from 2 Samuel xii. 23, for an infant son of Joseph and Mary Robinson, of Oulton. In his introduction he mentions, the child was nearly allied to us, whose heads are members of this church.*
1743. - Mr. Machin, of Bridliugton, terminated his brief career in the following year, 1743, 27th October. He was not so successful as some of his predecessors, as during the seven or eight years he had been at Bridlington, he added six only to the church there. He was probably a person of delicate constitution and reserved manners. He is said to have published two sermons: "The Hope of the Tempted", from Hebrews iv. 14, 15; and "David's Choice", or, the Sense of the Godly in every age, from 2 Samuel xxiv. 14.
1744-1745. - We have no account of the annual meeting for these two years, and nothing remarkable connected with our narrative; except that the civil and religious liberties of the country were endangered by the Rebellion begun in Scotland, and carried into the heart of England, by Charles Edward, the son of the
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* The Robinsons were a highly respectable family at Oulton, &c., in Cumberland. They, together with the Fletchers, Palmers, &c., were the principal supporters of the Baptist cause at Broughton and Oulton, at this period, and long afterwards. Mr. Henry Palmer was the son of Henry and Dorothy Palmer. Mrs. Palmer was of the Normans, of Crossdale, in Ennerdale, a family very noted in those parts in their day; their family mansion being built in a very superior style. They were both very pious - their remaining letters breathing a very fervent and exalted piety. As intimated in the text, the above families were, for many years, closely connected by marriage, as also with some other Baptist families in the north.
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Pretender. In the battle of Preston-Pans, good Colonel Gardiner lost his life, 21st September, 1745.1746. - On the 16th of April, 1746, was fought the memorable battle of Culloden, by which the fate of the Stuarts and Popery became, we hope, for ever decided; and the family of Brunswick firmly seated on the throne of Britain, to the high satisfaction of all the Dissenters.
Mr. Michael Wharton, of the united church of Rowley and Hamsterley, died this year. He was converted to God, and became connected with the church at Bitchburn, before 1710. He had, by some means, become alarmed on account of his sins, and being educated in the National Church, he eagerly sought the knowledge of salvation through its ministry. In the pursuit, he went to different places of worship,, but could not find it, till a volume of John Bunyan's was put into his hand, which he perused with intense interest. On returning it, he inquired if there were any that preached the same doctrines taught in that book. He was told there were; and being conducted to Bitchburn, he there heard that which led him to solid peace. He afterwards joined the church, and, was called to preach, in 1710.
Mr. Wharton was a man in lowly circumstances, but an assiduous labourer in the vineyard of his Heavenly Master. There is a pleasing anecdote related of him, evincing both his honesty to his employer, and his desire to be useful to his fellow-creatures. He was employed as a gardener, we are told, traditionally, by Lord Ravensworth, the descendant of Sir Thomas Liddell, already mentioned. While in this situation, his Lordship had heard, by some means, that he left his work sooner on a Saturday afternoon than was common with persons in the same line of employment. Michael was, in consequence, called before his Lordship, to give
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an account of the matter. He acknowledged, most frankly, that what was alleged against him was, in the main, correct; but, at the same time, assured his Lordship, that he acted towards him on the principle of the most rigid integrity; for the amount of time, apparently abstracted from his Lordship's service on the Saturday, was amply repaid by hours added, on other days, in the course of the week. His Lordship enquired how he employed himself on the Saturdays. Michael modestly replied, that there were some plain people, who were Dissenters, living at a considerable distance, and who, at present, having no minister of their own, had solicited his poor services for some time, till they could get better. He accordingly went, and instructed them in the best way he could. His Lordship was so pleased with this unassuming and artless apology, that he desired him to continue to do as he had done, on the Saturdays, during the time he should continue in his employment.O! how superior is this play of kindly feeling between a noble and a peasant, to a cold, compulsory uniformity in religious worship. Had Lord Ravensworth had the power to compel Michael Wharton to listen to prayers in the place where he himself professed to worship, there might have been the appearance of union, but none of the reality. How could there be so? In the one case, we should have had, either the ignorant devotee, or the constrained hypocrite; and, in the other, we should have had the cold-hearted and ruthless tyrant. But in the above instance of calm, dispassionate enquiry, and straight forward, yet unassuming reply, whilst wanting uniformity, we have the presence of the best description of union, the union of the heart. Lord Ravensworth respected Michael Wharton, and Michael Wharton loved Lord Ravensworth. O! when will men of every class learn to bow their hearts to
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their Maker's law - the law of love - in order to promote their best interests, both in this world and that which is to come?Mr. Wharton, though filling a humble secular station only in society, had considerable mental endowments, ready utterance, and a kindly disposition. This appears from the following remarks of Mr. Garner's: - "After he was added to the church, he was supposed to have a gift to profit others, and the first time he exercised it, on trial, he appeared so well qualified for the work of the ministry, that the church concluded, that even then, he might officiate publicly." Mr. Garner adds, "that he was a man of grave countenance, quick natural parts, strong retaining memory, deep judgment, and clear in the doctrines of grace. He was a Barnabas in exhorting and comforting, watering, feeding, and building up, the church of Christ."
Such was the capacity of Mr. Wharton; and most devotedly and perseveringly did he use that capacity for thirty-six years, in his beloved Master's service. As his life was Christ's, so doubtless, his death was gain. "They that turn many to righteousness, shall shine as the brightness of the sun, in the kingdom of their Father, and as the stars for ever and ever." "He is gone," concludes Mr. Garner, "may those entered into his labours, meet him before the Lord of the vineyard, with everlasting joy!"
1747. - The annual meeting for 1747 took place, probably, at Hamsterley, on the 24th and 25th days of June. The yearly letter from the association is lost, but there are letters from the churches at Hamsterley, Whitehill near Walton, north of Brampton, Cumberland, and from Hawksheadhill. The one from Hamsterley intimates, that, after a long time of barrenness, they were now favoured with a gracious revival. They allude, in grateful terms, to the issue of the late rebellion,
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1n 1745, and on account of being delivered from the fear of being placed under a popish and tyrannical government, The messengers they seat were their elders and pastors, Messrs. Carr and Garner, together with Messrs. Michael Garthorn, and Jonathan Angus. From this we see that, notwithstanding the very advanced age of Mr. Carr, he was still ahle to attend the association, the year before he died.1748. - The mext annual meeting was held at Hawksheadhill, in 1748. The association letter is preserved. There is, however, nothing striking in it. It chiefly calls on the churches to attend strictly to the duties of self-examination and prayer, in order to ascertain the cause pf their present low condition.
This year Mr. Carr finished his long and useful career. At what time of the year he did so, we are not informed. It seems, however, prohable it was in the middle or latter part of it.
Tradition tells us that his remains were deposited under the table-pew of the old meeting-house, Cold Bowley. His remains certainly could not have been, laid in a more appropriate situation than in that place of worship, which he himself had been the principal means of erecting. It is a pity that there is no tablet to commemorate the circumstance.*
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* Mr. Carr had one son named Joseph, the father of the learned Dr. John Carr, the translator of Lucian. The Dr. had two brothers; one named William, whose descendants resided at Gateshead: the other was a half brother, and curate of Alston, to whose son, a mercer in London, the Dr. left his property, having no issue of his own. This property had belonged to his ancestors, but had been either sold or mortgaged, and the Dr. had recovered it. He was strongly attached to his native place, and spent the latter part of his life between it and Hertford, where he had been master of the grammar school. So far as we know, he never became a Baptist, but retained so much of dissenting principle as preventing him from becoming a minister in the
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Mr. Carr had laboured for the benefit of the church, for at least half a century. His precise age, the writer has never, as yet, been able to ascertain; but, it is probable, that he was near, if not beyond, his eightieth year. He appears, however, to have possessed a green old age, from the circumstance already mentioned, of his being present at the association the year before he died, having to travel to it all the way from Muggleswick, his usual residence, where he had a small estate, called Low Muggleswick.Mr. Garner, his immediate successor, gives us his character, and an account of his closing scene, in the following terms: "He had travelled, and preached much abroad, in his youthful days. He was of an affable and free disposition; kind to the poor; a lover of souls; an affected (impressed) and an affecting (impressive) preacher, and an instrument in the conversion of many sinners. He was also zealous for the glory of God, and the church's welfare. Near his dissolution his memory failed much, and all his natural powers gradually weakened; yet I have heard him express his faith, love, and joy in God, and his earnest desire, were it his Lord's will, that he might be dissolved, and go to the dear Lord Jesus. His last word
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Establishment. His Latin epitaph for his wife, breathes the spirit of piety. Mr. Joseph Carr, besides these three sons, had a daughter who married Mr. John Angus, who, on his father in law's death, succeeded to the Farm of Horselehope. Mr. John Angus was the second son of Mr. William Angus, of Summerfield, the eldest son of Joseph Angus, of Dotland, whose paternal and maternal grandsires were Henry Angus, of Raw [?] House, and Henry Blacket, of Bitchbarn; so that in the descendants of Mr. John Angus, of Horselehope, we have the union of descent from three of the most ancient families of the Baptists, in the North of England; these descendants are Mr. Joseph Angus, of Horselehope; Mrs. Errington, of Cold Rowley; Mrs. Gray; Mrs. John Angus, of Wolsingham; Mrs. Tamar Surtees, of Horselehope Row, and Mrs. Jane Gibson.
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to me, were words which I earnestly pray the great God to accomplish in his own due time: 'The Lord make thee faithful unto death, and give thee a crown of life.' Even so, Lord Jesus, grant this, for thy name sake, to me, thy unworthy servant! Isaac Garner."Mr. Mitchel, of Bridlington, died also this year. He had supplied the pulpit from the death of Mr. Richard Machin, in 1743. He was ordained in 1746; but being of a weakly constitution, he retired to Rawden, near Bradford, his native village, of the Baptist church in which place he had heen originally a member. He had baptized eleven persons.
=================== [From David Douglas, History of the Baptist Churches in the North of England, from 1733 to 1748, London, 1846. Scanned and formatted by Jim Duvall.]
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