Humphreys, Edward (1842-1905)

Primitive Methodist Magazine 1906

Transcription of Obituary in the Primitive Methodist Magazine by E.J. Humphreys

Edward Humphreys was born in the year 1842; and died 23rd December, 1905. From tender years he was religiously inclined, but it was not until he reached the critical age of eighteen that he fully realised the experience of knowing personally Jesus Christ as his Saviour.

He began to work in the Sunday School as a teacher and from that time to his death he was devoted to the Sunday School. During his forty-five years as a teacher, many hundreds of scholars have passed the various classes of which he was in charge. He has sown the seed of God’s Word, which has germinated in scores of hearts, and has sprung up and brought fruit to the glory of God.

There was an attraction about his lessons, which seemed to rivet them in the minds of his scholars, some of whom after the lapse of many years still tell that they remember quite vividly the lessons of thirty-five years ago.

For a number of years he was superintendent and secretary of the school. He was always present at the various sessions of the school, except when engaged in the work of preaching. A few years of teaching in the school attracted the attention of the leaders and he was recommended for the plan. He was a local preacher for nearly forty-two years, and at the time of his death he was the oldest on the Minsterley plan. He stood next to the travelling minister. The circuit will miss a worker, a Christian, a man.

The pulpits of the circuit will miss an accustomed thoughtful and regular preacher. The business meetings of the circuit will miss a man of clear insight, a man of broad ideas, a man of reason, a man whose heart God had often touched, a man of experience.

His married life was a happy one, he was devoted to his wife and the children that God had given him. His life, to a great number of us, has been nearly a perfect life. Those who have known him best have loved him most. To have known him personally has been a joy to a large number.

Great is now his joy because great has been his work.

Family

Edward was born in 1842 at Hinwood, Westbury, Shropshire, to parents Edward, a coal miner, and Ann.

Census returns identify the following occupations for Edward.

  • 1861 coal miner
  • 1871 coal miner
  • 1881 coal miner
  • 1891 coal agent
  • 1901 coal salesman

He married Ann Edwards (b abt1841) in early 1869 in the Atcham Registration District, Shropshire. Census returns identify five children.

  • Mary Ann (b1870) – married William Connor, a postman (1911), in 1894
  • Jonah (abt1873-1934) – a wheelwright (1911)
  • John Edward (1875-1957) – a hauliers clerk (1911)
  • Sarah Jane (b1878)
  • Maria (1881-1912) – married Thomas Bishop Sheen, a police officer, in 1906

References

Primitive Methodist Magazine1906/995

Census Returns and Births, Marriages & Deaths Registers

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