Saville, Frederick George (1880-1975)

Transcription of obituary published in the Minutes of Conference

Frederick George Saville: born in Bristol on 16th October 1880, the son of a tailor. He offered for the Primitive Methodist ministry and was accepted for training at Hartley College. He served in the following circuits: Worthing, Canterbury, Lynn, Soham, Burnley, High Wycombe, Tunbridge Wells, Thanet, London (Balham), London Mission (Tooting), Rugby and Salisbury (Dews Road). He retired in 1946 to Worthing, the town in which he first met his wife, Florence.

A faithful and diligent Methodist circuit minister, he did great good to countless people. In his prime he was a man of great vigour and energy; in his later years he grew old gracefully with gentleness, patience and understanding. He was a delight to be with. A man of fun and good humour, he loved a joke and played a few in his time to dispel anger or to deflate arrogance. His ready smile and warm handshake were part of his nature; he had a merry heart. His preaching was simple but effective; he prepared thoroughly and spoke powerfully. His children’s addresses will long be remembered. He was a conscientious visitor and true pastor to his people. Such talents as he possessed he devoted entirely to the service of the Methodist Church. 

He loved sport and was a keen cricketer in his younger days and fine bowls player until he was 88. The peak of his ministry was probably at Westbourne Street Church, High Wycombe, where for six years the church was filled to overflowing. A man of goodness and faith, respected and loved by all whose lives he touched, he died peacefully on 25th October 1975 in the ninety-sixth year of his age and the seventy-third year of his ministry.

Family

Frederick was born on 16 October 1880 at Bristol, Gloucestershire, to parents John Saville and Mary Wawman.

He married Florence Alice Parsons (1882-1956) in the summer of 1907 at Worthing, Sussex. Census returns and birth records identify three children.

• Frederick Aubrey (1910-1990) – an actuarial assessor (1939)
• Kathleen Mary (1912-1994) – a child’s nurse (1939)
• Marjorie Alice (1915-1972) – a child’s nurse, incapacitated (1939)

Frederick died on 25 October 1975 at High Salvington, nr. Worthing, Sussex.

Circuits

• Hartley
• 1903 Worthing
• 1905 Canterbury
• 1907 Lynn
• 1911 Soham
• 1914 Burnley
• 1918 High Wycombe
• 1924 Tunbridge Wells
• 1926 Thanet
• 1930 Balham
• 1935 Tooting
• 1937 Rugby
• 1940 Salisbury Dews
• 1946 Worthing (S)

References

Methodist Minutes 1976/89

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

Census Returns and Births, Marriages & Deaths Registers