Transcription of obituary published in the Minutes of Conference
ALBERT COLE: born in 1887, at Blackheath (Birmingham), of Methodist parents, he became a preacher at the age of twenty, and a few years later following in his brother’s footsteps, he entered Hartley College to be trained for the ministry. Thereafter he served most faithfully in the following circuits: Kidderminster, Dawley, Whitchurch (Salop), Chester, Shrewsbury, West Bromwich, Birmingham, Oldbury, and Peterborough.
During his ministry in the Kidderminster and Chester circuits, new churches were built. He retired in 1952 to the Portsmouth and Southsea circuit, where for several years he continued his pulpit ministry and encouraged and sustained the people.
He was a quiet, modest, and thoughtful man, a sympathetic and wise counsellor, and a ministerial colleague who invariably became a valued friend. His gracious disposition secured for him a spontaneous welcome in the homes of his people. His preaching was of a high order. Sermons were carefully prepared, and were manifestly the result of prayer and thought. His knowledge of God in Christ was reflected in his character, his home, and his concern for others. His constant hope was that he might be used to bring others into the same knowledge. He died on 10th February 1957, aged seventy years, in the forty-fourth year of his ministry.
Family
Albert was born on 23 January 1887 at Blackheath, Birmingham, to parents William, a gas fitter, and Ann.
The 1911 census records Albert as an assistant PM minister at Skellow, Doncaster.
He married Laura Annie Hobbs (1889-1959) on 14 July 1917 at High Street Primitive Methodist Church, Blackheath, Staffordshire. Birth records identify three children.
- Geoffrey Albert H (1919-2006) – a pharmacy student (1939)
- Laura M (b1923)
- Clarence Stuart (1925-2005)
Albert died on 10 February 1957 at Portsmouth, Hampshire.
Circuits
- Hartley
- 1913 Kidderminster
- 1917 Dawley
- 1920 Whitchurch
- 1925 Chester I
- 1930 Shrewsbury
- 1935 W Bromwich Queen St
- 1940 Birmingham Small Heath
- 1944 Oldbury
- 1949 Peterborough
- 1952 Portsmouth (S)
References
Methodist Minutes 1957/204
W Leary, Directory of Primitive Methodist Ministers and their Circuits, 1990
Census Returns and Births, Marriages & Deaths Registers
Comments about this page
Glenys,
Thank you for that additional information. I have amended the text accordingly.
I am currently transcribing Marriage Registers for the High Street Primitive Methodist Church, Blackheath and have just transcribed this marriage to Laura Annie Hobbs where Albert’s occupation is given as a Primitive Methodist Minister. Since you do not appear to have a date for the marriage I can inform you that it took place on the 14th July 1917, witnessed by Frederick Hobbs and John Smith. This record will be uploaded to the FreeREG database shortly.
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