Button, Frank Samuel (1884-1951)

Transcription of Obituary in Minutes of Methodist Conference

Born at Burnley in 1884. After a short time in business he heard the call of Christ to become a minister of the Gospel.

He followed in the tradition of his father who himself was a minister of the Primitive Methodist Church. Trained at Hartley College, he commenced his ministry in the year 1907.

The greater part of his ministry was spent in the North of England, although he served also in the South and for a period in South Wales.

A great reader, his particular study was Hymnology, and his love of hymns revealed itself in his sermons and addresses so that one was not surprised to learn that his preaching was expository. One soon discovered when in his presence that he possessed a very dry humour.

He was a devoted minister of the Church, a faithful pastor, wise in administration and a most loyal colleague.

He was not well during his last year in the ministry but seemed to be making progress towards recovery. Following a collapse he was called home on the 16th August 1951 at the age of sixty-seven and in the forty-fourth year of his ministry.

©Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes 1952

Family

Frank was born on 24 January 1884 at Burnley, Lancashire, to parents Henry George Button, a PM Minister, and Martha Shoesmith.

Frank married Bertha Blanche Plucknett (1882-1958) in the summer of 1912 on the Isle of White, Hampshire. Birth records identify three children.

  • Henry George (1913-2008) – a civil servant (1939)
  • Frank William (1917-1998) – a schoolmaster (1939)
  • Frederick Albert (1922-1941) – member of Home Guard, died in WW2

Frank died on 16 August 1951 at Halifax, Yorkshire.

Circuits

  • Hartley
  • 1907 Manchester IV
  • 1908 Bournemouth I
  • 1911 Kingston
  • 1913 Stoke on Trent
  • 1915 Hull VI
  • 1918 Tetney
  • 1921 Rochdale
  • 1925 Manchester IX
  • 1929 Preston II
  • 1933 Leigh
  • 1935 Chester Tarvin Rd
  • 1941 Neath &c
  • 1944 Selby Gowthorpe

References

Methodist Minutes1952/120

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

Census Returns and Births, Marriages & Deaths Registers

No Comments

Start the ball rolling by posting a comment on this page!

Add a comment about this page

Your email address will not be published.