Transcription of obituary published in the Minutes of Conference
WILLIAM HARRISON: born at Newfield near Chester-le-Street on 27th October 1905, he heard the call to preach at sixteen years of age, and came on to Full Plan in 1923. He offered for the ministry in 1926 and after three years in Hartley College, spent the whole of his ministry in the north of England and Scotland, serving in the following circuits: Mexborough, Tamworth and Lichfield, Wishaw, Brandon and Deerness Valley, Durham, Bradford (Woodhouse Grove), Bradford (Greenhill), Barnoldswick, Stockport (South), and Preston (Lune Street and Orchard), eventually retiring in 1970.
He was well-informed on the constitutional discipline and practice of our Church, putting it into practice with love, understanding and firmness. He was a decisive man, who, if you sought his advice, left you in no doubt as to his own mind. He was a caring man, who loved his people and although he never drove a car, he always managed to visit those in need. As a Superintendent minister for twenty-one years, he cared for his colleagues and their families, being interested in their welfare, their progress and their future. He always shared his faith both in word and deed. His preaching was relevant and forthright with a touch of humour, which made for compelling listening.
In 1933 he married Margaret Evelyn Punton and together they shared in the life and work of the Church. The death of his wife in 1976 left a gap in his life, which caused much heartache and sorrow. The greatest tribute which can be paid to him and which would have pleased him more than anything else is to say “He was a Methodist minister”. He died on the 11th June 1983 in the seventy-eighth year of his life and the fifty-fourth year of his ministry.
Family
William was born on 27 October 1905 at Newfield, nr Chester-le-Street, Co. Durham, to parents George, a coal mine weigh man (1911), and Sarah Ellen.
He married Margaret Evelyn Punton (1902-1976) in the summer of 1933 in the Chester le Street Registration District, Co. Durham. Birth records identify one child.
- James N (b1937)
William died on 11 June 1983.
Circuits
- Hartley
- 1929 Mexborough
- 1933 Tamworth & Lichfield
- 1935 Wishaw
- 1936 Brandon & DV
- 1940 Durham
- 1945 Bradford Woodhouse Grove
- 1949 Bradford Greenhill
- 1954 Barnoldswick
- 1958 Stockport S
- 1964 Preston Lune &c
- 1971 Preston Lune (Sup)
References
Methodist Minutes 1983/65
W Leary, Directory of Primitive Methodist Ministers and their Circuits, 1990
Census Returns and Births, Marriages & Deaths Registers
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