Earis, Thomas William (1913-1975)

Transcription of obituary published in the Minutes of Conference

Thomas William Earis: born in High Wycombe on 22nd January 1913 and brought up in a Primitive Methodist home. At the age of eighteen he began his ministerial training at Hartley Victora College. He served in the following circuits: Wem, Wellington (Salop), Brynmawr, Liverpool (South), Preston (Wesley), Preston (Trinity), Lincoln (South), Hitchin, and Morpeth. 

He brought to his ministry particular gifts of preaching, pastoral care and administration. While at Lincoln he was appointed national president of the Christian Endeavour Union and was a part-time chaplain to the Royal Air Force at Swinderby. It was under his influence there that one of the airmen entered the Methodist ministry. Later, at Hitchin, he was called on to create a new circuit—the Hitchin and Letchworth Circuit. He also revealed his ecumenical interests at Hitchin, particularly in the uniting of two Methodist churches and a Congregational church in a new building—Christchurch. The last three years of his ministry, at Morpeth, included a chaplaincy to a large mental hospital, where his friendship and concern for the patients and staff were widely appreciated. 

He was a quietly-spoken man who had a lively sense of humour and a strong, unassuming faith. He was a musician who loved singing and organ-playing especially. He was a friendly man with a strong affection for his family and his fellow ministers found in him a loyal colleague. He died suddenly, while still Superintendent minister of the Morpeth Circuit, on 7th June 1975 in the sixty-third year of his age and the forty-second year of his ministry.

Family

Thomas was born on 22 January 1913 at High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, to parents William Edward Earis, a hairdresser (1911), and Dorothy May Marks.

He married Cicely Edith Chesworth (1911-2005) in the summer of 1939 at Walsall, Staffordshire. Birth records identify four children.

• Margaret E (b 1940)
• Thomas R (b abt1943)
• John E (b abt1945)
• Stanley D (b 1950)

Thomas died on 7 June 1975 at Morpeth, Northumberland.

Circuits

• Hartley
• 1935 Wem
• 1939 Wellington Salop
• 1942 Brynmawr
• 1946 Liverpool S
• 1952 Preston Wesley
• 1953 Preston Ty
• 1957 Lincoln S
• 1964 Hitchin
• 1972 Morpeth

References

Methodist Minutes 1976/67

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

Census Returns and Births, Marriages & Deaths Registers