Batterham , Ernest William (1907-1994)

Transcription of obituary published in the Minutes of Conference

ERNEST BATTERHAM: born in Killamarsh, Derbyshire on 30th October 1907. His early years were spent in a mining community and on leaving school he worked as a colliery clerk where he gained a habit of being meticulous in his keeping of records. He was brought up as a Methodist and the church was always an important part of his life. He was trained at Hartley Victoria College and served in the following circuits during his ministry: Wensleydale Mission, Swindon (Regent Street), Newcastle Upon Tyne (Central), Ipswich (Rope Walk), Grantham, Melton Mowbray, Devon and Dorset Mission, Newcastle Upon Tyne (West), Salisbury, and West Wight. During the Second World War he served as a chaplain in the Royal Air Force in the present Ghana and continued the link with HM Royal Air Force during his service in the Grantham circuit. 

He retired to the Devon and Dorset Mission circuit and lived in Bridport. Ernest was a shy man who never sought distinction or high office in the church, but he excelled in his pastoral work and became a much loved friend to those who knew him. He was a gifted preacher enhanced by a sound knowledge of Greek, which informed his biblical scholarship. Ermest came from the Primitive Methodist tradition whilst his wife Margaret, whom he had known from school days, came from a Congregational family. Together they found great joy within the fellowship of the Methodist Church. The family life of the church in some way compensated them for the lack of a child. His wife, Margaret, devoted her life to supporting Ernest in his ministry and died one month to the day before him. Ernest died peacefully on 29th September 1994 at Port Bredy hospital Bridport in the eighty-seventh year of his age and in the sixty-second year of his ministry.

Family

Ernest was born on 30 October 1907 at Killamarsh, Derbyshire, to parents John Percy Batterham, a colliery deputy (1911), and Julia Alice. he was baptised on 27 November 1907 at Killamarsh.

He married Margaret Taylor (1912-1994) in late 1937 in the Chesterfield Registration District, Derbyshire.

Ernest died in September 1994 at Bridport, Dorset.

Circuits

• Hartley
• 1933 Wensleydale Mission
• 1934 Swindon Regent St
• 1937 Newcastle Central
• 1939 Ipswich Rope Walk
• 1941 Chaplain H.M. Forces
• 1946 Grantham
• 1949 Melton Mowbray
• 1954 Devon & Dorset Mission
• 1859 Newcastle West
• 1964 Salisbury
• 1969 East Wight
• 1972 Devon & Dorset M (S)

References

Methodist Minutes 1995/26

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

Census Returns and Births, Marriages & Deaths Registers