Norton, John (1880-1967)

Transcription of obituary published in the Minutes of Conference

JOHN NORTON: born in 1880 at Mattishall, Norfolk, and was educated at East Dereham. After training at Hartley College, Manchester, he entered the Primitive Methodist Ministry in 1904. The circuits in which he served were Leicester, Balham, Wells, Sheringham, Derby, Martham, Wangford, Barton-on-Humber, Brigg, Bury St Edmunds, Petersfield, Frome, and Llanymynech. He retired in 1945 to Felixstowe, but later moved to Barton-on-Humber where he spent his last thirteen years.

Throughout his life he faithfully served his Lord, and many are in the Kingdom of God through his ministry. He preached until he was eighty and still attracted young people. His interest in and knowledge of the countryside provided him with a vast fund of illustrations, and his pleasant personality helped to win the devotion of his congregations. 

He died on 24 November 1967, in the eighty-eighth year of his age and the sixty-fourth of his ministry.

Family

John was born on 25 March 1880 at Mattishall, Norfolk, to parents Clements, a baker (1881), and Rachel.

Before entering the ministry John worked as a school teacher (1901).

He married Alice Mabel Crispe (1880-1948) in the summer of 1908 at East Dereham, Norfolk. Census returns and birth records identify two children.

• Ethel Enid (1909-1994) – married Reginald J Edwards in 1950              
• John Oliver (1913-1987)

John died on 24 November 1967, at Barton on Humber, Lincolnshire.

Circuits

• Hartley
• 1904 Leicester IV
• 1907 Balham
• 1908 Wells
• 1910 Sherringham &c
• 1914 Derby III
• 1918 Martham
• 1920 Wangford
• 1923 Barton on Humber
• 1925 Brigg
• 1929 Bury St Edmunds
• 1934 Petersfield
• 1937 Frome &c
• 1940 Llanymynech
• 1945 Felixstowe (S)

References

Methodist Minutes 1968/183

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

Census Returns and Births, Marriages & Deaths Registers