Transcription of obituary published in the Minutes of Conference
STANLEY WHITFIELD BROWN: born in Sunderland in 1884, into a Methodist family which has given distinguished and loyal service in the Methodist ministry. He was educated at the Bede School, Sunderland. At the time he offered for the Primitive Methodist ministry he was a shipping clerk and after training at Hartley College he was appointed to the Dover and Deal Circuit. Afterwards he travelled in the Scotter, Filey, Hereford, Biddulph (two terms), Clun, Sandbach, Houghton-le-Spring, Congleton, Burton-on-Trent, Stoke-on-Trent and Talke circuits. On his retirement from the active work he continued to live in Stoke-on-Trent and was appointed chaplain to the Bucknall Hospital.
In latter years he was much handicapped by illness but he maintained a lively interest in the work of the Church. He was a man who had an exceptional understanding of ordinary people and their problems and his strongest characteristic was his direct and forthright approach. He was loved for his pastoral work and care for people, expending himself in the service of others. He, too, was a man of strong convictions and was never afraid of speaking out on what he believed to be right and was ever ready to fight for the under-privileged. He had quite a keen sense of humour and was of a cheery disposition and consequently had a strong personal appeal. All who had contact with him testify to his love for his people and the grace and charm of his personality. He died on 20 February 1964, in his eightieth year and in the fifty-eighth year of his ministry.
Family
Stanley was born on 22 January 1884 at Sunderland, Co. Durham, to parents, William Brown, a shipwright, and Caroline Bell.
He married Ada Elizabeth Rhodes (1883-1972) in the summer of 1911 in the Bridlington Registration District, Yorkshire.
Records identify three children.
- Everard Whitfield (1912-1984) – a printer compositor (1939)
- Freda (b1914) – a school teacher (1939)
- William E (b1918) – a coal miner (1939)
Stanley died on 20 February 1964 at Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire.
Circuits
- Hartley
- 1906 Dover & Deal
- 1908 Scotter
- 1910 Filey
- 1911 Hereford
- 1913 Biddulph
- 1916 Clun
- 1919 Sandbach
- 1923 Houghton le Spring
- 1926 Congleton
- 1930 Biddulph
- 1934 Burton on Trent
- 1936 Stoke on Trent
- 1941 Talke
- 1946 Longton (Sup)
References
Methodist Minutes 1964/209
W Leary, Directory of Primitive Methodist Ministers and their Circuits, 1990
Census Returns and Births, Marriages & Deaths Registers
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