Allcock, William

Extract from Petty p113

“Sunday, May 27th, 1821,” says Mr. W. Allcock, “I commenced my missionary labours in the Peak of Derbyshire. I preached at Winster in the morning, at Bonsall in the afternoon, and at Bolehill in the evening, to large congregations in the open-air. On the following day I spoke at Winster to about 800 people, and on Tuesday, 29th, at Bonsall to about 700. Here Satan raged; after I had preached on the cross the rabble shouted and stoned me out of the place; but this was the means of awakening one vile sinner to a sense of his danger. On the 30th, I preached at Matlock Bank; on the 31st, at Crich. On Friday, June 1st, I preached at Bonsall and Winster, and in the evening at Matlock Bank to, I believe, a thousand people. The constable ordered me down, but the Lord was with me. Saturday, 2nd, I preached at Matlock again. The people were very attentive, but when I had nearly finished the sermon the constable came with his staff and a watering-can, and beat the can so loudly that I could not be heard. We therefore sang a hymn, and while we were thus engaged, a few men pushed the constable away, and he could not get nigh us again.” The work of the Lord prospered encouragingly at these and other places, and Winster soon became the head of a new circuit.

Extract from Petty page 229

Leicester circuit sent two missionaries into Oxfordshire in July, 1824. Writing from Witney, under date of December 27, 1824, to the editor of the magazine, they say: “In the month of July last Leicester circuit sent William Allcock on a mission, leaving Divine Providence to guide him to the most eligible locality. After reconnoitring the country he fixed his standard at Witney, in Oxfordshire. In many of the adjoining villages he found great numbers of the inhabitants living in darkness, sin, and misery. Many of them had not heard a sermon for twenty, and some for thirty years. To these outcasts he began to preach the gospel of Christ but had to endure many hardships and privations, such as hunger and thirst, and sometimes he was not able to get a bed to rest upon after the toils of the day were over. The desert, however, begins to blossom as the rose. We have now large congregations who hear the gospel with great attention, and many of the vilest characters have been turned from the error of their ways. But the work appears as if but just beginning. Last Tuesday night, while we were speaking in a house at Witney, two wicked men cried aloud for mercy; and on Christmas Day we had a very powerful lovefeast, when many were earnestly seeking salvation. At present we have two travelling preachers labouring here, and we have 135 members, among whom are ten local preachers and exhorters. Many places are crying, ‘Come over and help us.’”

The writers of the foregoing letter appear to have been Messrs. W. Allcock and B. Shimwell, the two missionaries labouring in the district, the initials of whose names are appended to the letter.

Family

I have not been able to identify any information about William’s family from internet records. Can anyone point me in the right direction.

Circuits

  • 1822 Loughborough
  • 1824 Leicester
  • 1826 Manchester
  • 1827 Blaenavon
  • 1828 Isle of Man
  • 1831 disappears

References

J Petty, The History of the Primitive Methodist Connexion, 1880, p113, 229

H B Kendall, Origin and History of the PM Church,vol 1, p131

W Leary, Directory of Primitive Methodist Ministers and their Circuits, 1990

Census Returns and Births, Marriages & Deaths Registers

Comments about this page

  • The comment above is that he was one of the 1812 names on the first printed plan. However, it is unlikely that these are the same man. The planned 1812 man was William (Billy, according to Bourne’s diaries) who had been associated with the movement before 1810 (when he appeared also on the claimed CMM plan of that year) and who ceased itinerancy to return to his farm at Ladderedge. He was the brother of another self-funding preacher who was later a farmer and businessman in Audley, Staffs. It is very likely that Bourne would not have recorded the return of a pioneer to the movement!

    By Sandy Calder (25/02/2019)

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