Manx Methodist Historical Society - Newsletter 4

Editorial

At our Annual General Meeting last October it was agreed that to mark Manx Heritage Year, the Society should hold extra meetings, so there is much to report in this edition of the Newsletter, and more to come.

At that meeting, Rev. Fred Costain was elected our Chairman, but because of ill-health he was only able to chair one Committee Meeting, and then had to retire. We are sorry that he has not been able to continue, but it is our earnest hope that he will be able to share future meetings with us, even though not as Chairman.

Also at that meeting it was agreed that arrangements should be made for a Sunday School Competition during 1988, on the theme "The Story of Our Church", and all Sunday Schools were circulated and invited to encourage the children to submit scrapbooks on that theme. Perhaps you could encourage your local Sunday School to take part - entries are to be submitted by 1st October, to be displayed at the next A.G.M.

We were also hoping to produce a booklet of walks round Methodist Chapels (past and present) on the Island, and we did ask for information about chapels to be sent in for this, but so far very little has been received, so if you can do anything to help here, we would be grateful.

Please note that the next meeting of the Society is the Summer Rally round chapels in the south, on 23rd August, and the A.G.M. will be on 25th October. More details will be sent later, but BOOK THE DATES NOW !

Thelma Wilson Editor

"A PROLOGOMENA TO MANX METHODIST HISTORY" was the title of Rev. Rex Kissack's lecture at the Annual General Meeting in October,1985, and Rev. F. Costain when introducing Rev. Kissack, commented on this word which had caused many preachers to stumble over pulpit notices in the previous weeks.
Mr. Kissack, at the start of his talk, explained that "prologemena" is really "What has to be talked about", and that the place of Methodism in the history of the Isle of Man was one of considerable influence, worthy indeed of accurate recording. In 1799 the Island Circuit was the biggest (numerically) in the Connexion - bigger even than London. It had then been divided into two Circuits - Peel/Ramsey and Douglas/Castletown .

In 1822 the appearance of the Ranters brought a character to Methodism with more emphasis on the lay folk, than that given by the Wesleyans. So, Mr. Kissack said, he wanted to encourage the Society to be bold in Heritage year for there was a valuable contribution to be made. Mr. Kissack brought with him an interesting selection of books and papers illustrating the type of sources from which history could be extracted. These included items ranging from Rosser's History of Methodism in the Isle of Man 1849, a valuable source book for the early years, to the work done by Mrs. Chapman, Mr.W.Teare and Mr. McFee more recently.

Now that many chapels are celebrating centenary years, local histories were particularly valuable records. Very often the deeds of chapels would tell who had started it all. The importance of Circuit records, many now in the Manx Museum, was mentioned, and reference was made to the 1901 winter number of the Methodist Recorder, in which Christian Collister wrote of "Wesley's impressions of Manx land", with references to "Mrs. Greer's house", "Cooil Cam" and "one William Teare, one of the ancients at Michael".

Local legends about John Wesley's visits to the Island abound - where he had lunch, and the chair(s) he sat on - one now in the possession of Mrs. Colvin, and an account of his visit in 1781 when at Glen Tramman labourers were looking at him as he passed by and he stopped and preached to them.

There is also evidence of the effects of John Wesley's visits - for instance, church wardens at Lezayre forced one John Kneale "who had attended the sect called Methodist to give up his licence to be schoolmaster, and another Mary Casement, who accused the clergy of being blind, and was called to make public penance, but who because of her "wild enthusiastic effusions" eventually was sent to Peel dungeon.

Rev. Kissack urged members to continue to enquire about the past -to remain alert when documents or papers are found, for the sources from which history could be extracted are as varied as those who searched for it.

[The Apostle of the Isle of Man, Mr. John Crook]

At the Spring Meeting held in Castletown in March, Mrs. Margaret Kelly presented an abbreviated version of a lecture given about 100 years ago, by Mr. Thomas Kelly, one of her husband's forbears. The title of the original lecture was "The Apostle of the Isle of Man, Mr. John Crook "The first Methodist Preacher in Mona " and had been delivered in Castletown .

John Crook had to contend with adversity, difficulty and persecution, but his labours contributed much to the establishing and spread of pure and undefiled religion upon the Isle of Man, holding a distinguished place in our memories as Manx Methodists and Manx people generally.

He was the first appointed preacher of Methodism in the Isle of Man, although John Merlin had preceded him by nearly 20 years, "Sermonising for one week".
John Crook was the son of parents who were extravagant in their economy of life, his mother "devoted herself to the sinful pleasure and amusements of the age". John was born in 1742 and notwithstanding the extravagances of his parents, they did not neglect his education, although because of the hardships he later endured he abandoned his learning. After his mother's second marriage he was apprenticed to a heavy trade, where he was harshly treated, and eventually his spirit of independence led him into the army. He was stationed in Limerick, where he was converted in the Methodist Chapel there.

He married in Cork "a woman of good sense and piety", and later was released from the army through the good offices of his uncle, and returned to Liverpool, where he became a Class Leader and Local Preacher. It was at this time that John Crook heard "a native of the Isle of Man express his feelings strongly for the spiritual welfare of his brethren", and this person urged that the Island should be visited by a Methodist preacher. John Crook felt these words were a Divine call so he came to the Isle of Man and preached Christ unto other people. "There were no enquiries as to what kind of Residence he was to occupy, what was to be his stipend, what were the walking journeys or what was the amount of children's allowances.

The inhabitants of the Isle of Man at that time are described as "in a most barbarous state, "so vile that they were feared and looked upon as a Nest of Smugglers ". John Crook arrived in 1775, and the duty of preaching far outweighed any concerns for his own food and clothing. His first sermon was preached in Douglas on 1st March, 1775,and was 1½ hours long. Although he was well received on this occasion, it was not long before he declared that if he had understood the work of the Isle of Man to be so arduous, he would likely have shrunk from the undertaking.
As he walked the streets, "he was pelted with bricks, stones, dirt, potatoes and such things", and when he and the congregation assembled for worship they were attacked by a large rabble. " They had to shut a door which was opened for light, for these men threw large pieces of limestone right into the room and had the people and himself not taken the greatest care, some of them would probably have had their brains dashed out".

Mrs. Kelly recounted many of Mr. Thomas Kelly's accounts of John Crook's discouragements and later successes, including his appeal to Governor Dawson for "liberty of Conscience as subjects of His Majesty "and it was most interesting to have Thomas Kelly's description of John Crook - "in his person, inclined to be corpulent, of fair complexion with a most friendly countenance though his look was penetrating. He stood erect as well as firm and was about 5ft 10ins in height. His dress was neat as to be universally admired without even a speck of that which tended even to approach the look of foolishness... Naturally he had a temper of rather warm inclination yet all such was thoroughly subdued by Divine Grace... Much of his reading was done on Horseback travelling his Circuits "

John Crook was certainly a remarkable man, who had seen Methodism firmly established on the Isle of Man. The great debt we owe to him -and to Mrs. Kelly, who presented today's lecture - were evident in the conversation that followed, as members reminisced about their own and their chapels' link with the past.

Mr. Thomas Kelly had been prolific writer and speaker, and members hoped that at some future date, Mrs. Kelly might be able to present more of his writings.

The SPRING OUTING took place on Wesley Day, May 24th, when about 40 people gathered at Sulby Claddaghs for a tour of chapels in the north of the Island. Our guide for the afternoon, Mr. John Harris, led the convoy of cars first to Kerrowmooar Chapel which was closed in 1979, and is now privately owned. This was probably one of the first Primitive Methodist Chapels to be built on the Island after the visit of John Butcher in 1824. About 50 years later it is recorded that the Sunday School had nine teachers for 27 children.

Our next visit was to Sulby, where we were met by Miss Quayle, who at ninety years of age has a long memory of Methodist activity in the area. She reminded us that the present building is the third chapel on the site - the first being erected in 1794, on a parcel of land which cost 24/-. Fifty years later, with the members contributing much of the labour, the chapel was rebuilt and enlarged to accommodate 200 people. Miss Quayle said there would regularly be a congregation of 160 present, well known for their hearty singing, led by a good choir. At the back of the chapel is a small room that was used for prayer meetings, and it is reputed that Hall Caine once hid there during an evangelistic service - an experience on which he drew when describing Revival meetings in one of his novels. The present chapel was built during 1912 - 1914, at a cost of £2,120, with 400 people present for the opening service. Miss Quayle had on display a preaching plan for the Island dated 1813, with 79 preachers listed.

At Sandygate, we listened enthralled to the memories of Mr. Percy Simpson - who recalled being carried out of this chapel as a child in 1906, because he wouldn't behave himself! How important was the life of the chapel became evident as Mr. Simpson recalled picnics, anniversaries, harvest services, tea parties that started at 6 pm and ended at midnight.

At Kerrowgarrow we were met by Mr. Caley, who recounted the history of the Methodist people here - a different design of building - but a similar type of fellowship. The present chapel was opened in 1860, at a cost of £230. At one time the Sunday School had five superintendents, 36 teachers and 50 scholars. The staff operated on a five week rota. At present there are 23 children in the Sunday School, so considering the drift of the population away, there is still obviously much to attract them each Sunday.

By now we were running late on our timetable, but Mr. Radcliffe was waiting patiently at Ballakaneen to give us a brief history of Methodism in Andreas. The chapel there was built in 1863 but succumbed to rot and was demolished in 1982. Services are now held in the hall, and are well supported on family service days. It is interesting to note that the Methodists in Andreas extended their influence far beyond the village, because all the trustees of the first Methodist chapel to be built in Ramsey came from Andreas.

Clouds were threatening as we arrived at Bride for tea, but nothing over-shadowed the warmth of the welcome we received there as we sat down to a marvelous tea. After tea we adjourned to the chapel where the Superintendent Minister, Rev. R. Jowett, led an act of worship to commemorate Wesley Day. The lesson was read by Mrs. T. Wilson, Rev. Arthur Harris, Chairman of the District led the prayers, and Rev. R. Kissack preached the sermon. Although rain was falling steadily when we left Bride, all agreed it had been a memorable day, in which the variety and great richness of the Manx Methodist Heritage had been truly displayed.