Grant, James (1884-1955)

Transcription of obituary published in the Minutes of Conference

JAMES GRANT: born at Cleethorpes in 1884, and educated at Old Clee Grammar School. After training at Hartley College, he commenced in 1907 an active ministry which included terms at Biggleswade, Lincoln, Nottingham, Staithes, Darwen, Morecambe, Preston, Burnley and Brierfield, Leicester, Bury, Leigh, and Oldham. 

In all these places, he neither neglected any duty nor yet shirked any of the difficulties that came his way, but everywhere his eager and kindly spirit won an answering loyalty from those who came to know him. Since he was always ready to acknowledge the ability and competence of others, and found it so natural to avoid calling attention to himself, he was not so well known as he might otherwise have been. Even though he never competed for the attention of synods, he was richly equipped for the work of the Ministry, and was always an earnest student, a faithful pastor, and a true friend. He was never merely rhetorical in speech, but he was a truly eloquent preacher, and his expositions of Christian truth were always a rare blend of penetrating insight, lucid expression, and passionate conviction. 

A richly stored mind, a sympathetic personality, and a conscientious devotion to the essential work of the Christian Ministry made him a fine example and companion to younger colleagues, and a pastor and teacher respected and loved by the people to whom he ministered. One who found ever-recurring refreshment of spirit in his wanderings through the countryside, who was accustomed to assimilate the most profound philosophical and theological writings of his time, and who continued to preach the eternal Gospel with freshness and fervour, he filled the years of his retirement as full of rich experiences as the more laborious years of his active ministry. Death came suddenly on the 18th November 1955, in the seventy-third year of his life and the forty-eighth of his ministry.

Family

James was born on 6 January 1884 at Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, to parents Benjamin, a fisherman, and Jane.

The 1901 census return records James as a fish packer.

He married Harriet Wood (1886-1974) in the spring of 1915 at Nottingham, Nottinghamshire. Birth records identify three children.

• Donald Wood (1916-1979)
• Winifred May (1919-1999) – a shorthand typist (1939)
• Olive Mary (b1919-2003) – a shorthand typist (1939)

James died on 18 November 1955 at Morecambe, Lancashire.

Circuits

• Hartley
• 1907 Biggleswade
• 1909 Lincoln I
• 1911 Nottingham IV
• 1915 Staithes
• 1918 Darwen
• 1922 Morecambe
• 1925 Preston I
• 1931 Burnley II
• 1935 Leicester Belgrave
• 1937 Bury &c
• 1942 Leigh
• 1945 Oldham Hollin
• 1949 Morecambe (S)

References

Methodist Minutes 1956/185

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

Census Returns and Births, Marriages & Deaths Registers