Hunt, William (b1844)

Primitive Methodist Magazine 1895

Early years

William was born on 22 February 1844 at Corsham, Wiltshire to parents Solomon and Mary. Solomon was a glass and china dealer. Both parents were Primitive Methodists. Mary was a class leader and Solomon a local preacher for nearly 60 years.

William recorded his conversion date as 6 January 1856. He was on the plan aged 16 and entered the ministry aged 18.

Immediately prior to joining the ministry William worked as a student teacher.

Ministry

William set sail for Australia on Glendower landing at Melbourne on 13 December 1867 with his wife and child.

William was well-educated, a good preacher; devout and deeply imbued with the Sprit of Christ; in sympathetic touch with every movement the tendency of which is to elevate and bless his brother man; a capital man of business, upright, conscientious, tenacious and persistent in what he believed to be right.

The 1895 biography in the Primitive Methodist Magazine records that to that time 10 churches and one parsonage had been built under his superintendency.

Kendall records that William attended the British PM Conference in 1899 as the representative of the Australian Districts in the settlement of the financial questions connected with the proposed Union of Methodist Churches in Australia, which took place in 1902. The ability and courtesy shown by William in the conduct of those delicate negotiations were recognised by a special resolution of the conference.

Circuits

  • 1862 Aberdare
  • 1863 Penzance
  • 1864 Seend Cove
  • 1867 to Australia
  • 1867 Ballarat
  • 1868 Creswick
  • 1871 Melbourne I
  • 1874 Sandhurst
  • 1877 Ballarat
  • 1879 Geelong
  • 1882 Melbourne I
  • 1886 Ballarat
  • 1892 Talbot
  • 1895 Melbourne IV
  • 1899 Book Steward
  • 1902 disappears

Note: The Australian Methodist Churches came together in 1902. Thereafter the stations and obituaries of previously Primitive Methodist Ministers were not recorded in Conference Minutes.

References

Primitive Methodist Magazine 1895/723

PM World 1899/493

H B Kendall, Origin and History of the PM Church, vol 2, p439

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

Census Returns and Births, Marriages & Deaths Registers

 

Comments about this page

  • William Hunt’s wife was Elizabeth Best, the child of PM Minister, Joseph Best. They married in 1866 in a service conducted by Joseph Best. Their baby, who came to Australia with them in 1867, was Maria Ann Hunt who later married Brian Wibberley, another Primitive Methodist Missionary who came to Australia.

    By Sally Anne O'Wheel (25/07/2022)

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