Kemp, Gordon Edward (1903-1956)

Transcription of obituary published in the Minutes of Conference

GORRDON EDWARD KEMP: born at Great Missenden in 1903, his early associations were with the Northwood Methodist Church, where Mr. Sydney Walton, Revs. Harvey Roe and Harry Aldridge were among those who had great influence upon him in the formative years. He entered the Primitive Methodist Ministry in 1928. Those who knew him at Hartley College have the happiest memories of his warm friendship and ready wit as well as respect for his undoubted ability. He gave serious attention to the great work to which he had been called, and faithfully served the circuits to which he was appointed. Chatham and Sheerness, Hexham, Clay Cross, Pontefract, Stewkley, and Sittingbourne, all have had the benefit of his ministrations ; not least of which were the brotherly understanding and generosity which often prompted him to go far beyond what might reasonably be expected of any minister when a friend has been in trouble or in need. 

Love of books, a quick mind, a keen perception of the relevances and irrelevances of a situation, an ability to appreciate accurately new trends of thought, and gifts in general above the average, together with the fact that he was a good mixer, would have brought him to prominence had they been used to that end. It was, however, his joy to be a circuit minister, and as such he has been loved, and his memory will be held dear by those who knew him best. With painstaking thoroughness and attention to the most minute details on the administrative side of the work, he went patiently on, leaving solid achievement behind in every instance. As a pastor he was ever welcome in the homes of the people, and his preaching was characterized by clarity and choice phrasing. 

He died suddenly on 6th June 1956, in the fifty-second year of his age and the twenty-eighth of his ministry.

Family

Gordon was born in 1903 at Great Missendon, Buckinghamshire, to parents William, a retired cab proprietor (1911) and Elizabeth Alice.

He married Hilda Grace Beal (1907-1984) in the summer of 1932 in the Sheppey Registration District, Kent. Birth records identify three children.

• Sheila (1935-1935)
• Christopher W (b1936)
• David J (b1938)  

Gordon died on 6 June 1956 at Sittingbourne, Kent.

Circuits

• Hartley
• 1928 Chatham
• 1932 Hexham
• 1937 Clay Cross
• 1942 Pontefract Horsefair
• 1947 Stewkley
• 1854 Sittingbourne

References

Methodist Minutes 1956/202

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

Census Returns and Births, Marriages & Deaths Registers