Ministry
A transcription of his obituary by James Marshall is attached. It contains the following tribute.
His colleague at Glasgow, the Rev. B. Kenny, writes, “I am quite at a loss to describe his mental and moral excellence; his attachment to Primitive Methodism was manifested by his zealous and self-denying labours to extend its borders. His heart was a fountain of pure benevolence, and ever sent forth gushing streams of love and kindness. As a preacher he excelled; his pulpit orations teemed with floods of eloquence, which chained the hearts of his hearers. His sermons were searching and pointed, and will never be forgotten in Glasgow. He lived the gospel which he preached, and sacrificed his all on that altar; hence his great success. During his affliction his thoughts were fixed on things above, and he rejoiced in the prospect of death. He is greatly lamented on this station; but our loss is his eternal gain.”
Family
James was born on 10 March 1835 at Frome, Somerset, to parents George, a tailor, and Mary. He was baptised on 8 June 1835 at Frome.
The 1851 census return describes James as apprenticed to a tailor.
He married Emily Mary Smith (abt1838-1897)) on 7 July 1859 at Stepney, London. Census returns identify two children.
- James Smith (b1860) – a music hall artist (1911)
- Emily Florence (abt1863-1950) – married Robert Mellett, a house decorator (1911), in 1894
James died on 20 December 1862 at Glasgow, Scotland.
Emily married Edward Thomas Pearce, a whitesmith, in late 1867 at Brighton, Sussex.
Circuits
- 1855 Goudhurst & Tunbridge Wells
- 1856 Brighton
- 1857 Deal & Dover
- 1858 Chelmsford
- 1859 Ramsgate
- 1861 Goudhusrt & Tonbridge Wells
- 1862 Glasgow
References
Primitive Methodist Magazine 1863/321
PM Minutes 1863/10
W Leary, Directory of Primitive Methodist Ministers and their Circuits, 1990
Census Returns and Births, Marriages & Deaths Registers
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