Dixon, William Henry (1900-1977)

Transcription of obituary published in the Minutes of Conference

WILLIAM HENRY DIXON: born in Farnham, Surrey, on 18th September 1900, He saw active service with the Royal Flying Corps in the First World War, and later on the North West Frontier in the Afghanistan campaign as a member of the Secret Service. He entered Hartley College following a pre-collegiate term in the Cheltenham and Gloucester Circuit and completed his probation in the Wilton and Plumstead and Belvedere Circuits. 

In the latter he met his future wife, Eva, who was to prove his constant companion and helpmate. He subsequently travelled in the following circuits: Welshpool, Eston, South Bank and Eston, Redcar, Saltburn and Guisborough, Stockton (Paradise Row), Wigan (Station Road) (where he established the new church at Gidlow), Blackpool (North), Huddersfield (North-East) and Wakefield.

He had to contend with ill health during the second half of his ministry but with fortitude he transformed his pain into a ministry of peace. His life and ministry bore the stamp of personal courage, self-discipline, wise administration and a deep love of people and preaching. To these must be added his complete confidence in the sufficiency of the grace of God. His courage and leadership stood the test in every difficult situation. 

Retiring to Cleethorpes in 1970 he quickly endeared himself to congregations within and far beyond the circuit. Out of his wide study and love of people he continued a service of pastoral care and effective preaching. His vision of the Church’s mission was proclaimed with urgency and clarity. To his joy he served until only a few weeks before his death. These were weeks of intense suffering but he died peacefully on 2nd December 1977 in the seventy-eighth year of his age and the fifty-second  year of his ministry.

Family

William was born 18 September 1900 at Farnham, Surrey, to parents William Dixon, a blacksmith (1911), and Lucy Bertha Arnold.

Before entering the ministry, William was a lay agent in Gloucester and Cheltenham. He served in the R.F.C. as a wireless operator in WW1.

He married Eveline Annie Giles (1903-1998) in the summer of 1930 in the Woolwich Registration District, Kent.

William died on 2 December 1977 at Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire.

Circuits

• 1924 Wilton
• 1926 Hartley
• 1928 Plumstead
• 1930 Welshpool
• 1932 Eston
• 1936 Redcar
• 1941 Stockton Park Rd
• 1945 Wigan Station Rd
• 1951 Blackpool N
• 1962 Wakefield
• 1970 Cleethorpes (S)

References

Methodist Minutes 1978/76

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

Census Returns and Births, Marriages & Deaths Registers