Hewitt, Joanna Kerr (nee Middlemiss) (1875-1916)

zoom

Transcription of obituary published in the Primitive Methodist Magazine by J.J.

Prince Consort Road, Gateshead II Circuit has suffered a great loss in the passing of Mrs. John Hewitt (née Middlemiss), the beloved wife of our esteemed junior circuit steward. By nature she was retiring, and shrank from public work; yet this was corrected by an exceptional conscientiousness and integrity. 

The leadership of the adult female class in the Sunday school was probably the crowning achievement of her Christian service. The numbers of the class grew into three figures, and her influence upon its young womanhood can never be told. 

For over a year her days have known much pain, but also much prayerfulness, thankfulness and joy. Her two-fold ambition was to be a worthy disciple of Jesus Christ in her home, and to be a witness for truth in the world; and she realised both. Her death on January 31st was a grand victory of faith. The burial service in Prince Consort Road Church, February 2nd, was conducted by Revs. J. Jopling, J. Fitzpatrick, J.S. Nightingale, and J.G. Soulsby.

Family

Joanna was born in early 1875 at Gateshead, Co. Durham, to parents William Middlemiss, a railway passenger guard (1881), and Barbara Dunn.

The 1891 census return records Joanna as a pupil teacher at a board school.

She married John Hewitt (1871-1956), a picture dealer and picture frame maker (1911), in late 1899 at Gateshead, Co. Durham. Census returns identify two of three children.

• Eleanor Isobel Hewitt (1901-1992) – an education student (1921); secondary school teacher (1939)
• George William Henry (1908-1990)

Joanna died on 31 January 1916 at Gateshead, Co. Durham.

References

Primitive Methodist Magazine 1916/412

Census Returns and Births, Marriages & Deaths Registers

Note: Early records for Joanna spell her surname as Middlemass.