Transcription of obituary published in the Minutes of Conference
HARRY PERCIVAL FELL: born at Beverley, Yorkshire, in 1880, and educated at Stockport Technical School and Hyde Grammar School, he later qualified as a Member of the Pharmaceutical Society; son of the Rev. Benjamin Fell, Secretary of the Primitive Methodist Conference in 1908. The influence of a Christian home counted greatly in the moulding of his character. The imperative call to the Ministry could not be denied and, following training in Hartley College, he entered the Primitive Methodist Ministry in 1902, and served extended terms in many of his circuits.
His pulpit work was marked by thorough preparation. A preacher of conviction and of power, it is not surprising that conversions followed his preaching. As a pastor he was held in high regard by his people. He made friends and kept them. A man of unswerving principle and high integrity, he yet had the saving grace of humour. Circuits reaped the benefit of his alert mind and bold planning in sound administration, in heavy trust liabilities reduced or removed, and in increased missionary income. He faced difficulties with commendable courage.
His interests went beyond his own circuit. In Hull he served as Secretary of the League of Nations Committee; in the Sheffield (P.M.) District as General Committee Delegate; in Chester as President of the C.E. Union; and in Goole as President of the S.S. Union. Thrice he served as Mayor’s Chaplain. At Horden, his last charge, he had a serious illness from which, unfortunately, he never regained fullness of health. Nevertheless, on his retirement in 1945, his wife and he settled very happily in Harrogate.
His last illness came upon him with distressing suddenness, and within a fortnight he entered the higher service on 10th May 1948, in his sixty-ninth year and in the forty-sixth year of his ministry.
Family
Harry was born on 8 January 1880 at Beverley, Yorkshire, to parents Benjamin Fell, a PM minister, and Mary Ann Cooper.
He married Mabel Emily Parr (1877-1926) in the summer of 1906 at West Bromwich, Staffordshire. Census returns and birth records identify three children.
- Harry Percival (1907-1908)
- Mabel Perceval (1909-1979) – married Jack Eliston Hill in 1946
- Ronald (1913-1975) – an assurance agent (1939)
He married Doris May Johnson (1895-1978) in the summer of 1930 at Chesterfield, Derbyshire.
Harry died on 10 May 1948 at Harrogate, Yorkshire.
Circuits
- Hartley
- 1902 Plumstead
- 1904 W Bromwich II
- 1906 Bromsgrove
- 1909 Pillawell
- 1912 Pocklington
- 1915 Chester II
- 1920 Goole
- 1923 Chesterfield II
- 1930 Morley
- 1934 Bilston High Str
- 1938 Brigg
- 1940 Colne, Skip Rd
- 1942 Horden
- 1945 Harrogate (S)
References
Methodist Minutes 1948/142
W Leary, Directory of Primitive Methodist Ministers and their Circuits, 1990
Census Returns and Births, Marriages & Deaths Registers
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