Jefferson, William (1806-1870)
William was born on 17 April 1806 in Blyth, Northumberland to parents John Jefferson and Barbara Hunter. He was baptised on 28 September at Horton by Blyth.
Ministry
Patterson writes; ‘ But there was another of the earlier travelling preachers who was born at Blyth, the able, judicious, affectionate and successful William Jefferson. To him the Connexion owes the song, “The Lion of Judah shall break every chain.” The cultured Nadin Jefferson is his second son.’
Ritson explains that William, while in bed one morning, conceived the idea of borrowing the tune from the well-known Chartist hymn “the Lion of Freedom” and reworked the words.
Family
William married Ann Nadin (abt 1816-1850) at Nottingham in 1841. Census returns identify five children.
- William Ellis (1842-1891) – an insurance agent and later a commercial traveller
- Eliza (b1843)
- Sarah Ann (b1845)
- Nadin (1848-1918) – a PM Minister
- John Hunter (1849-1910) – a clerk
William married Jane Burrows (1820-1896) in 1851 in Sheffield. Census returns identify a further two children.
- Joseph Burrow (1852-1915) – a railway clerk
- Mary Jane (1857-1928) – married Lewis Twigge, a railway traffic superintendent
William died on14 April 1870 at Belper, Derbyshire.
Circuits
- 1835 Leicester
- 1836 Ilkeston
- 1837 Chesterfield
- 1839 Burton on Trent
- 1840 Nottingham
- 1842 Melton Mowbray
- 1843 Mansfield
- 1845 Barnsley
- 1847 Loughborough
- 1849 Sheffield
- 1851 Lincoln
- 1853 Burton on Trent
- 1856 Chesterfield
- 1859 Leicester l
- 1864 Loughborough
- 1867 Derby
- 1869 Ripley
References
Primitive Methodist Magazine 1860/fr; 1871/42; 1899/128
PM Minutes 1870/15
W M Patterson, Northern Primitive Methodism, 1909
B A Barber, A Methodist Pageant, 1932, p74
Joseph Ritson, The Romance of Primitive Methodism , 1909, p271
W Leary, Directory of Primitive Methodist Ministers and their Circuits, 1990
Census Returns and Births, Marriages & Deaths Registers
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