Leach, Wilfred Samuel Chapman (1882-1953)

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Primitive Methodist Magazine 1931

Transcription of obituary published in the Minutes of Conference

WILFRID SAMUEL CHAPMAN LEACH: born in 1882. He was a son of the manse, entered the ministry in 1905, and was trained in Hartley College. Afterwards he served in the following circuits: Bloxwich and Cannock, Coalville, Clay Cross, Tarporley, Burton-on-Trent, Leicester II, Derby I, Hull (Holderness Road), Sileby, Wembley, and Worksop. He retired in 1951 and went to live at Manor Court, Barrow-on-Trent. 

He was a man of fine presence and with a personality that combined both strength and gentleness. He was a powerful preacher and original thinker, and his sermons sprang from passionate conviction, hard reading, and careful preparation. He was a true democrat and the champion of all good causes. He was an excellent business man and showed much tact, patience, and wisdom in all his management of Church affairs. 

For some years before Union he was on the General Sunday School Committee and served for five years as Teacher Training Secretary. 

The call came suddenly on 13th December 1953, in the seventy-first year of his age and the forty-ninth of his ministry. He leaves behind him the memory of a courteous, friendly, devoted, and efficient servant of God.

Family

Wilfred was born on 16 January 1882 at Dunstable, Bedfordshire, to parents John Leach, a PM minister, and Annie Eliza Chapman.

Before entering the ministry, Wilfred worked as a commercial clerk (1901).

He married Emily Watson (b1881) in late 1909 Cannock Chase, Staffordshire. Birth records identify two children.

• John Watson (1912-1999) – an engineer (1939)
• Geoffrey (b1916) – a farmer’s assistant (1939)

Wilfred died on 13 December 1953 at Barrow upon Trent, Derbyshire.

Circuits

• Hartley
• 1905 Bloxwich
• 1909 Coalville
• 1912 Clay Cross
• 1917 Tarporley
• 1919 Burton on Trent
• 1923 Leicester
• 1930 Derby I
• 1933 Hull Holderness Rd
• 1935 Selby
• 1941 London Wembley
• 1945 Worksop
• 1951 Barrow on Trent (S)

References

Primitive Methodist Magazine 1931/270

Methodist Minutes 1954/127

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

Census Returns and Births, Marriages & Deaths Registers