Salisbury Street Methodist Church
This is a somewhat edited version of the Centenary Brochure of 1985 - the chuch has now been closed for some years and lately demolished but I thought the brochure shone a good light onto both the history and also what turned out to be its final few years.
Salisbury Street Methodist Church
Rev. John Peters and family
Dear Friends,
IT IS a great pleasure to be asked to write this letter for inclusion in the
Centenary booklet of Salisbury Street Methodist Church. Since becoming minister
of this church in September 1981 I have admired greatly the warmth of fellowship
and the simple, yet fervent and sincere worship found here. . One hundred years
is a significant milestone to pass. A centenary, of necessity, is a time for
looking back. Reading again the old documents, getting out the old photographs
and reminiscing on bygone days. This is good, for we have a wonderful heritage,
a precious treasure handed down to us by our fathers in the faith. It gives
us cause for thankfulness to God and, like Jacob of old, we can raise the stone
and on it inscribe the word ''Ebenezer'' - "hitherto has the Lord helped
us''. There is nothing like looking back for encouraging us as we see the faithfulness
of our God, His fulfilled promises and His mercy and grace towards us. ''His
love in time past forbids me to think He'Il leave me at last in trouble to sink;
Whilst each Ebenezer I have in review confirms His good pleasure to help me
quite through''. At this time we are thankful to God. for all He has done in
the past. For His people who have laboured tirelessly here, for those who have
gone before, whose lives have influenced ours for good and who pointed us to
Christ and taught us of Him. A centenary though, is just the beginning of the
next century! There is work for us to do and a future and a hope. A centenary
is a time for looking forward, a time for planning but most of all a time for
prayer. We live in a very different age to the one which saw the beginning of
the work at Salisbury Street. An age of massive national and international crisis.
An age of materialism and godlessness. An age when men and women have largely
forgotten or put aside as unimportant the worship of the Living God. From this
one fact stems many of our problems. But we know God is the same, He does not
change, 'His arm is not shortened that it cannot save!' He can alter the course
of nations and send revival to lands which have grown spiritually and morally
barren and bankrupt. As we look to the future, let us look to the mighty power
of God, be much in prayer for our Church and our nation and may we proclaim
that Gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord which is still today the Power of God unto
Salvation. With sincere good wishes, Yours, in the service of Christ Jesus,
John & Janice Peters and Family.
...
I AM very pleased to have been asked to contribute a message for the booklet to commemorate the Centenary of Salisbury Street (Wesleyan Methodist) Chapel. Since being formed in August 1885, the Society has made a great contribution to the community and it was a courageous decision to demolish the iron building which was previously on the site and erect the present building which was further extended in 1904. The building itself has been of great benefit over the years, providing additional accommodation for children attending Murrays Road School, facilities for the Home Guard in the Second World War and has been a useful and welcome venue for many sports clubs. The Corporation has also made use of the facilities on many occasions for Council. Elections. It is sad that the Society's membership has fallen to only 39 but it shows the great determination and resolution of these members that the Society continues to function after all these years. The comparatively low attendance at Sunday School is greatly regretted and is an unfortunate sign of the times we live in when material gain seems to some to be more important than spiritual gain. Nevertheless, the Sunday School still exists and it is to be hoped that many more parents will realise the advantages to the upbringing of their children for them to attend Sunday School and thereby broaden their outlook on life and learn to be good citizens. On behalf of the people of Douglas, may I congratulate and thank all those people who over the years have worked hard and loyally for the Chapel and express the sincere hope that the Society will go from strength to strength.
...
by E. V. CHAPMAN
Mrs. Eve Chapman
Mrs. Eve Chapman taught at the College of Further Education, and at the suggestion of Mr. Ramsey Moore began to collect notes for a history of Methodism on the Island. She later taught at the Buchan School. With the encouragement of one or two members of Victoria Street (as it was then), she helped to start the Manx Methodist History Society, and still hopes to publish a complete history from the rough notes made then. She always enjoyed preaching at Salisbury Street, where she found a very receptive, warm-hearted congregation. She is now convenor for the West Riding District of the L.P.M.A.A. Mrs. Eve Chapman.
(Abridged from an interim report published in 1971)
THE first mention of Methodism in the Island is in the attendance of a Manx clergyman, John Meriton, at the 1744 Methodist Conference at the Foundery, London. While he very obviously had Methodist sympathies he either lacked the energy or the courage to work it out on the Island. The Bishop of Norwich writing to the Bishop of the Island gives him a poor character. His contact with the Wesleys apparently came when he was on a visit to London, and shared a service 'on Church of England' pattern with John 'Wesley in a church in Wapping. Wesley preached and Meriton took the service. He was inspired to further evangelistic zeal, and his 'irregular preaching' disturbed the good Bishop. When circumstances were strong against him, Meriton desisted.
Eventually, it was by accident that Methodism came to the Island. In 1758, John Merlin the Weeping Prophet, left Whitehaven by boat for Liverpool. The sea was rough, and he wrote in his journal:
'We were carried to the Isle of Man where we stayed for a week. The second evening I preached in a barn but on Sunday it could not contain all the people who would hear, and I was obliged to preach abroad . . . the people behaved well . . .. Many who heard him wanted more, but it was 1775 before John Crook arrived. This second man saw little prospect of doing good, for his journal for Ist March 1775 says 'Not a happy time. They think I turn preacher for what I can get'. He said the Island was a nest of smugglers, but still has some success.
At the 1776 Conference he was accepted as a Travelling Preacher (minister) and sent to Whitehaven so that he had oversight of the isiand, and could 'easily' come to the island one month in three. During 1776 he met with strong opposition. His meetings were broken up, and Bishop Richmond send a pastoral letter to his clergy warning them against 'unqualified and unordained persons who presume to preach and set up conventicles'. In 1777 Thomas Rutherford was forbidden to preach in Douglas on pain of imprisonment, but his country preaching seems to have escaped notice. He wrote is his diary 'I think they would have driven us out, but for the Governor, a mild, humane man'.
Membership grew rapidly. In 1775 there were 600 members. In 1779 1,051 members. In 1834 3,566 members.
In Dr. Coke's LIFE OF JOHN WESLEY he calls John Crook 'The Apostle to the Isle of Man', a well-deserved title. He preached all over the Island, but his first success at Peel continued. The first recorded society was in the home of John Gawne, who became a local preacher. Together with a man named Morrison, Gawne took over the preaching in Douglas, walking barefoot all the way, and washing their feet in the Ballaquayle Stream before preaching in their 'respectable' boots. After Gawne's kitchen, the first meeting place was in the summer-house at Mount Morrison, presumably Morrison's home.
Crook instituted the Manx Conference, based on Peel, and when the 1798 Conference divided the circuit into Peel and Douglas, an equal division of property was arranged. The Preachers' Conference - fore-runner of the District Meeting - was still for the whole Island, and a close watch was kept on every preacher. They were not to sell spirits or playing cards, and in 1834 Thomas Cowley was censured for marrying a female who was not a member of any religious society.
Wesley paid two visits to the Island. In 1777 he writes of being charmed with its beauty, resembling Newquay in Cornwall. At Castletown he preached 'in our room' at the rear of the Union Hotel in Arbory Street. When he preached in Peel, The Vicar, the Rev. H. Corlett was friendly, but told Wesley that the Bishop had forbidden him to allow Wesley to preach in the church, and he was also to refuse the Sacrament to any who attended the Methodist preaching. So Wesley preached 'in our own room' and on the beach.
On his way to visit the island a second time in 1781, Wesley spent two days becalmed after leaving Whitehaven. At 6 am. he preached in the Market Square, then rode to Castletown. He preached at Fisher's Hill, and present on that occasion was the mother of one Wm. FEneen of Cross-e-Caley, a name and home still highly respected in Manx Methodism. A Prayer Meeting and Preaching Service was held on Barrule, and then Wesley went again to Peel, to Barregarrow and Ballaugh, where the vicar, Mr. Gelling, was most hospitable. Wesley had a good opinion of Manx singing and Manx preaching. 'I never heard such singing, either at Bristol or in London.', and when he met 22 preachers on June 7th, 'I never saw such stout well looking preachers together: if their spirit is answerable to their looks I know not what.can stand against them'. He had a great crowd at Dalby, and wrote 'After visiting the Island round I am convinced we have no circuit such as this in England, Scotland or Ireland - it is shut up from the world. There is no opposition to it either from the Governor or the Bishop: the people are unpolished and therefore unpolluted'. Towards the end of his visit a woman said to Wesley 'Send us men who can endure hardship and privation', to which he replied 'I will send you men, who, if you give them anything to eat will thank you, and if you give them nothing they will still thank you'.
These hardy souls arrived in 1781. Daniel Jackson and Jonathon Brown. Both stayed several years and wrote much about the work and its growth. Then came John Ogilvie, constantly encouraged in his poor health by letter from John Wesley. In 1787 John Crook returned to the island, to be followed a year later by the arrival of George Holder. Chapels were rapidly being erected: Peel in 1777, and the first Douglas Chapel was situated on land bought for £30 in Corris Gardens facing Thomas Street. In the basement, the first Sunday School on the Island was formed. This was in 1786, and it was to be another 99 years before Salisbury Street society opened in 1885.
The Salisbury Street Society quickly established itself as the favourite preaching place of one Henry Cubbin, an itinerant evangelist. Of Salisbury Street he said 'I could have laboured there for ever, among so many earnest young men'.
AT A public meeting held at Salisbury Street on Thursday, October 20th, 1904, the Chairman, Mr. T. P. Ellison gave the opening address, wherein he, in a masterly and interesting manner, told what he called the story of Salisbury Street; how it all started 19 years ago in a stable, and how that being found too small and unsuitable, a wood and iron structure was placed on the ground in Salisbury Street, and then the permanent building which that day was enlarged. So the Manx Wesleyan Methodist Church Record recorded the opening of the Chapel Extension, just three years after the permanent structure had been opened, and 19 years after the society was formed.
It had started in Thomas Bridson's parlour in Grafton Street, and then in a loft above 27 Falcon Street, and then at last the Minute Book could record the following momentous event.
'Salisbury Street Wesleyan Methodist Temporary Iron Mission Chapel capable of holding 100 people was opened on Friday, August 14th, 1885, by the Rev. Thos. Waugh, connectional evangelist, and on Sunday, 16th August, 1885, by the Rev. Wm. T. Radcliffe, Chairman of the District. Mr. Wm. Clarke was appointed Treasurer, with Mr. J. J. Davidson as Secretary.
The plans for the permanent structure were immediately' referred back to the architects, Messrs. Clarke and Davidson, to ascertain if amount of rough estimate £800 can be reduced'. Those plans included twelve moveable classrooms. The difficulties faced in deciding on a new building and a suitable plot of land led the Trustees to pass the whole question over to the Quarterly Meeting in March 1890, and that meeting appointed a large committee to look at the question of a site for a future chapel at Salisbury Street and report to the June Quarterly Meeting. This was done, and the June Quarterly Meeting promptly referred the whole business back to its own Committee. This sub-committee proposed at the September Q.M. that a plot should be purchased in Broadway for £3,600, but the motion was lost, and after further meetings and enquiries, at the December sub-committee meeting in 1890 it was agreed to recommend to the Quarterly Meeting that an inexpensive building be placed on the Salisbury Street site. The Salisbury Street Trustees, Rev. G. Latham, Messrs. Archer, Metcalf, J. Clague, Hy. Clague, R. Curphey and J. J. Davidson.
They also decided that the building should hold 250 people, at a cost not exceeding £500, and that the consent of the Quarterly Meeting should be asked for the same. Consent was forthcoming, with the money to be raised in conjunction with the building of Rose Mount School and the re-seating of Victoria Street Chapel, the whole forming an extension scheme at a cost of about £3,300. In March 1891 tenders were opened for the building of the new chapel, from Messrs. Kelly and Preston £580, Mr. W. Kelly, The Bridge £680, and Mr. R. F. Douglas £598. The tender of £580 was accepted, and Messrs. Kelly and Preston were asked to start at once.
Rooms belonging to Mr. Crellin in Murrays Road were taken temporarily at 5/6 per week during the process of the building, with the school being requested to pay half the cost. At their next meeting the Trustees added a damp course to the specifications at an additional cost of £9.8.6. King William's College offered £10 for the iron structure, but this bid was refused, as was a similar offer of £5 from J. Brown.
The Foundation Stone Laying Ceremony was held on Tuesday, May 26th at 3 p.m. Stones were laid by Mrs. T. Kelly, Clypston, Miss Kewley, Mayland, Miss Curphey, Verona, and Miss Clarke, Brynwood (in memory of her late father). Previous to the stone-laying the Secretary had placed a bottle in the cavity of the first stone, and read a paper containing the following statement: 'This building is being erected as a Wesleyan Methodist Mission Chapel, Salisbury Street, Douglas, with the following signatures 9 apparently being appended, namely, President of the Conference, Chairman of the District, Ministers of the Circuit, Trustees of the Building, Architect, Contractors, Hon. Clerk of Works, Governor of the Island, High Bailiff of Douglas. There was also placed a plan of the Douglas Circuit, a printed circular of the Douglas Wesleyan Extension Scheme, a printed circular of the Stones Laying, and coins of Her Majesty's Reign'.
The Rev. G. Latham conducted the proceedings, the weather was fine, and 'the Divine Smile appeared to rest on the undertaking'. The accounts included 18/- for stones, and £18.0.0 for trowels!, but nett proceeds of £51.18.2 were most acceptable, and placed in the furnishing account.
Three firms had been invited to tender for the provision of 36 non-reversible and 12 reversible seats, each 6½ feet long. The tender from Messrs. Pearson and Brown of £32.11.0 including carriage was accepted, with delivery within six weeks!
Seven months after tenders for the new building were opened, the building was ready, and the Trustees proudly recorded the following: 'Salisbury Street New Mission Chapel was opened on Thursday, October 8th, 1891, by the Rev. W. T. Radcliffe, and on Sunday, October 11th, Rev. J. Waterhouse of Castletown preached in the morning and evening, with a children's service in the afternoon led by Mr. Ridge of Peel. Then on Tuesday, 13th October, Mr. J. Q. Cowley gave a lecture entitled 'The Methodist Farm'. Various items were removed from the accounts presented for payment, where the charge was more than that agreed, or where the work had not been done. The school had to pay half the cost of the bookcase which was provided, and half the cost of removing the iron chapel.
The best thanks of the Trustees were offered to Mr. Bell for his valuable services as Honorary Clerk of Works. By December 1892 the financial affairs of the Trust were considerably in arrears, and the Leaders Meeting later suggested sittings should be charged for at 6d per quarter, and that the name 'Mission' should be changed to 'Church'. It was agreed by the Trustees that the 'charge for seats be granted, and that they be allowed to let 100 sittings'. There was obviously some disagreement over this proposal, and the Secretary resigned, but agreed to hold office till the next meeting.
In 1894 the debt was £250, and special efforts were called for. Repairs were in hand, and then in February 1895 a communication was received from Mr. Kerruish enquiring whether the Trustees would be willing to let the chapel to the Douglas School Committee for a temporary Board School. A letter followed in March asking for the exact dimensions of the main room and class rooms. The following is the reply the Trustees sent: 'The Trustees of the Wesleyan Room Salisbury Street agree to let the room to the School Committee of Douglas each day of the week exclusive of Saturday and Sunday from 8 o'clock in the morning to 5 o'clock in the afternoon for the sum of £45 per annum'. Various other points were made regarding fixtures and fittings, and the employment by the Board of the Chapel's own caretaker. Nothing was agreed however, although the premises were offered a year later for £30 a year, with the Board paying all rates, etc. Then in December 1896 a combined meeting of Trustees and workers at the mission considered the financial position of the Trust. Receipts from recent Sales of Work were £210.1.0, leaving a debt of £39.10.0. This entire amount was promised immediately by the Trustees, and so for the first time, the Trust was clear from debt.
No agreement had yet been signed with the Board for the use of the premises as a school when the Trustees Meeting on December 3rd, 1897, instructed the Secretary to call a meeting of the Trustees, at the earlies convenient date, to consider enlarging the chapel. A whole new chapter was about to begin. Although no agreement had yet been signed with the board, they were obviously using the premises by this date, as they were asked to pay half the cost of repairs to the 'heating apparatus'.
Because the premises were too small for chapel and school purposes, Mr. W. H. Kneale was authorised to obtain plans and specifications and estimates for the enlarging of the building, and for the improvement of the ventilation, and it was eventually agreed that the chapel should be enlarged at a cost of about £300. This was in January 1899. The Salisbury Street Trustees recommended to the United Building Committee that the long contemplated alterations and reconstruction at Thomas Street, Salisbury Street, Rose Mount and Well Road (roof) be carried out, and that they consider ways and means of meeting the cost, approximately £6,500.0.0. The Salisbury Street chapel-keeper chose this moment to request an increase of salary, but the Trustees were not able to comply with the request.
With new trustees appointed, and with the agreement of both the Leaders and Workers of the Chapel, the Trustees approved the extension plan in March 1903 at the proposed cost of £485 - not much more than the original cost of the chapel itself - and the work was put in hand on April 11th, 1904. Mr. R. F. Douglas was asked to do the work at once, and to have it completed by September 1904. The stone laying was arranged for June 30th.
The Isle of Man Times records the stone laying ceremony in satisfying detail. 'On Thursday the memorial stone laying in connection with the extension of Salisbury Street Wesleyan Methodist Chapel took place in brilliant weather. The extension has been principally made necessary owing to the success and consequent growth of the Sunday School, which now numbers 472. It was, of course, impossible to conduct the classes with any degree of comfort in one room, and the extension has been so arranged that by a simple contrivance it can be shut off and classrooms provided.
The alteration . . . an additional depth of 20 feet and a width of 60 feet. The new portion will be divided by folding partitions similar to those in use in Thomas Street School, so that the Sunday School can be divided into three classrooms, and removed so that the whole of the building can be used for the evening service in the winter when the chapel is usually crowded'. Five stones were laid altogether.
It was agreed that the New Hymn Book be used at Salisbury Street as from the opening of the extension, and that members of the congregation be respectfully requested to provide themselves with copies. Copies were to be provided for the harmonium and the pulpit. 150 chairs were purchased at 2/8 each, and the opening of the extension was arranged for Friday, October 20th, 1904.
It was a busy day, with the afternoon service at 3 p.m., tea at 4.30 followed by another tea at 6.30 for the evening congregation, and then the evening meeting at 8 p.m. Rev. A. Whetnall preached on the Rich Man and Lazarus, and T. P. Ellison paid a fitting and just tribute to the grand and noble work which had been accomplished by the late Mr. W. M. Clarke, whose name would be handed down as the man who, by his self-sacrifice and noble devotion to the Master's cause, was the means of establishing this flourishing chapel and school on a lasting basis. Rev. Sydney Pitt was very happy and homely in his address, while the Rev. J. Elph Clarke delivered a striking and vigorous address. Mr. J. J. Davidson went minutely into the start of the work, being one of the first workers, and ever since taking an active interest in everything respecting Salisbury Street, and was in a position to bring the whole history before the people, which he did in a very able manner. J. H. Clarke presented the financial statement which showed a debt on the scheme of £262, the total cost being £552.
With extended premises to care for, the chapel-keeper at last received an increase in salary, from £10 to £12 per year.
The debt on the extension was finally cleared on May 29th, 1911, and the premises at Salisbury Street became invaluable for the work of the Church, Sunday School, Band of Hope, Wesley Guild, Youth Clubs, Scouts, Guides, Women's Fellowship, Autumn Fair, not forgetting the Day Schools, Home Guard, Badminton, Elections, etc., all of which have found a home at Salisbury Street during the last hundred years.
THE following were suggested at a Meeting held in a room in Falcon Street on 17th June, 1885, attended by a few friends interested in the new Sunday School, to be submitted to the Hanover Street Committee. That the Sunday School be called The Salisbury Street Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School, and that the said School be conducted under Conference Rules for Sunday Schools, that Wm. Clarke be Superintendent; Thos. Bridson be Treasurer; J. H. Clarke be Secretary.
That the following be teachers: Sarah Clarke, Ann Jane Bridson, Eliza C. Bridson,
Robert Watterson and T. C. Kennaugh.
That Mr. Kennaugh Jun. and Mr. Dalaney be seen respecting their taking part
in the work.
That the following be procured: 1 Methodist Sunday School Hymn Book for desk,
2 dozen small ditto, 1 Tune Book ditto.
That the Superintendent procure what Elementary Books and Catechisms as may
be required' .
So the work of the Methodist Sunday School at Salisbury Street had begun. By August 26th that year there were eight teachers, and by June 1886 the meeting was asking permission of Mrs. Cannell, Woodside Terrace, to use her field for the Anniversary Services. She agreed. Other schools were to be invited, and 1000 hymn papers were purchased from Mr. S. K. Broadbent.
New teachers were being appointed, and on Thursday, 9th September, 1886, the children were taken to Laxey for their treat. Adults and Teachers had to pay 2/6 each. In 1887 the trustees of Rosemount Chapel were 'applied to' for permission to hold the afternoon and Monday evening Anniversary Services there. The morning and evening services would be in the open air as in 1886.
Even then the stage had to be put into place. It was already a headache because on July 28th, 1887 a teachers' meeting resolved that Messrs. Bridson and Cain see Mr. Callister to get a definite answer as to whether he can complete the contract for the stage.
The treat was again at Laxey, and the Secretary was asked to 'write to Mr. Williamson of Laxey to know if the terms of the treat will be the same as last year'. They warned the Laxey Glen Garden to expect 110 children and 30 adults. Even those numbers did not suffice the energetic workers at Salisbury Street in these early years. In 1888, at the Annual Teacher's Meeting in April, it was resolved 'that the teachers and friends of the Sunday School put forth fresh efforts for the further development and spread of the work'.
The stage was still in the forefront of teachers' minds. In 1888 it was resolved 'that the planks be got from the timber yard'. We don't know whether they were paid for or not, because it was later agreed that the 'Bills owing be paid as far as the money will go'. However, £2 was found for rewards and prizes, and by 1889 the advisability of obtaining a stove for the schoolroom was being discussed.
The Anniversary in 1890 was held in Mr. K. Archers' grounds (by kind permission). Two sermons were preached by Mr. Taylor from Preston in the open air. He also addressed the three Sunday Schools in Rosemount in the afternoon, and lectured there on the Monday evening on 'Isaac Marsden'. The collections for a busy weekend realised £12.13s. The timber for the staging was got from the Steam Saw Mill Yard and included 12x20 foot planks 1''x3'', 30x20 foot planks 8''x2½", 36x20 foot planks 8''x2½'', and 4 lbs. 3" cut nails. (Some of those nails are probably still in use today!). The stages were put up by Mr. Robert Roberts gratis helped by the bigger lads. Two men were paid to take them down!
On Friday, October 3rd, 1890, at 'Brynwood', Mr. William Clarke, founder of the Salisbury Street Sunday School and Superintendent, died. Wm. H. Kneale took his place. The work was well established, and in 1893 the Star Card system of recording attendances was introduced, and lasted over 80 years. The minimum attendance to qualify for a prize was put at 70 in 1897, by which time the Superintendent, Treasurer and Mr. Goldsmith had been formed into a Committee to consider ways and means of 'obtaining and maintaining better order in the school'. In contrast, by 1923 the number of attendances required for a picnic ticket had dropped to ten, and a year later attendance were higher than for any of the previous years. Ten years after the work of Salisbury Street Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School started, over 1500 people attended the evening Anniversary Service conducted by Rev. John Barlow from Manchester, in the grounds of Woodbourne kindly lent by Mr. Todhunter. The report read to the Monday evening meeting showed the number of scholars to be 322 and teachers 21, a large increase on the previous years. The foundations of the work were well and truly laid.
Reverend Frank CallisterRev. Frank Callister was educated at Murray's Road (1921-7) and Douglas High School (1927-35). Then he went to Didsbury Theological College, taking his B.D. as an external student of London University. His probation years were spent in Glasgow, then he had charge of a small church in the Wishaw Circuit near Glasgow from 1942-46. During this time he took his M.A. at Glasgow with honours in Philosophy. After service in Dewsbury and Sheffield, he spent nearly 20 years in Education, fourteen of which were at the Manchester College of Education, part of the University of Manchester School of Education. During this time he received the Dip.Ed., and the Ph.D., from London University. After two years on the President's List, his last circuit was St. Just, near Land's End. He retired in 1981, and returned to the Island. He has written several books related to religious education, namely Bible Plays for Morning Assembly, The Vacant Throne, Living in the Kingdom, and One World Not Two.
I WAS born in Douglas in 1916 and, apart from the prayers I learnt at my mother's knee, received my earliest religious eduction at Salisbury Street. I preached my first sermon at the age of 16 and became a probationer minister when I was 22. Although it may not interest anybody else it pleases me that, 100 years earlier, a boy was born in Douglas in 1816 who became a local preacher at the age of 16 and a minister when he was 22. His name was William Thomas Radcliffe and he was in the chair at the Isle of Man District Meeting of the Wesleyan Methodist Church which was held at Ramsey on Wednesday, June 10th, 1885. At that Synod it was agreed that permission should be given 'to erect a temporary iron chapel in Salisbury Street, Douglas'.
However, it was not to this original iron chapel that I was sent, for it had a short life although a very successful one. Under the leadership of Mr. William Clarke, one of the oldest members in the circuit, a leader, a trustee, and an experienced Methodist who had served both as Society Steward and Circuit Steward, the old iron chapel was the source of great evangelical activity and spiritual advance. So great was its success that it was soon necessary to replace it with a permanent structure, the present Salisbury Street Church which, by the time I became associated with it, was flourishing as is clear from the account given in the Isle of Man Times on September 18th, 1926, in a series on the Douglas places of worship: 'Sailsbury Street Church is in the nature of a mission cause, full of life and enthusiasm. Originally carried on in a tin hut, the present building combines both School and Church, and it is a tribute to the workers that it boasts the largest Wesleyan School in Douglas. There is a freshness and freedom in the services of Salisbury Street that appeal to many residents in the neighbourhood. Pews and Pew Rents are unknown, and the services may vary from the most cut and dried pattern to a lantern or musical service. It has been a great hindrance to the weekday work of the church that the premises are used as an adjunct to the Secondary School. The dual use causes difficulties for both parties. These will be removed on the completion of the new Secondary School'.
The present Salisbury Street buildings would be about 30 years old when I was first taken there by my sister, Gertrude. To a new boy of five the room seemed very large, the benches very high, and the crowds of children very menacing. I refused to let Gertrude out of my sight and resisted all blandishments to entice me into Miss Bridson's class for beginners, although I would have been more comfortable there with the infant furniture than I was on the big bench where I was afraid of falling backwards between the seat and the back-rest.
My first visit was to an afternoon session, at which the Superintendent was Mr. J. E. Teare whose sister was one of the teachers, and which was much better attended than the morning session.
The morning session was led by Mr. Harrison, and although there were fewer
children present, I grew to prefer it. All the children stayed in one large
group. The principal part of the session was a Bible talk from Mr. Harrison,
accompanied by prayers, readings and hymns. The hymns being graded from extreme
simplicity to remarkable reflectiveness, thus:
'I've two litle hands to work for Jesus,
One little tongue his praise to tell,
Two little ears to hear his counsel,
One little voice a song to swell:
Lord, we come: Lord, we come,
In our childhood's early morning.
Lord, we come: Lord, we come,
Come to learn of thee'. . And
'A little ship was on the sea,
It was a pretty sight:
It sailed along so pleasantly,
And all was calm and bright'. . And
'By cool Siloam's shady rill
How sweet the lily grows!
How sweet the breath, beneath the hill,
Of Sharon's dewy rose!'
After the morning school my sister Agnes and brother Tom and I would go for a walk before we went home for dinner. We had two favourite walks, one to Tromode to gather celandines or primroses or bluebells, and the other to (of all places) the Borough Cemetery, where we used to peregrinate solemnly round the graves, read an epitaph here and there, and admire the floral tributes where there had been a recent burial. We were endlessly fascinated by the curtained windows of the little morgue, and endlessly charmed by the hymns which always seemed to emanate from the harmonium in the cemetery-keeper's cottage into the fragrant sunny air. It was always sunny when we went to the cemetery because, of course, if it were a wet morning we went straight home.
We set out on these walks despite the earnest invitation repeated by Mr. Harrison Sunday by Sunday to stay to the morning service. We had been there an hour and to expect us to stay another hour voluntarily was to expect too much, especially on a fresh and sunny morning. Only once do I remember staying. On that occasion the Superintendant told us that our father, Mr. Joseph Callister, was to be the preacher as it was Armistice Sunday and he had been in the 'Great War' as it was called. I don't remember much of the service but I do remember my father using a phrase which I had never heard before and which I thought was very impressive, when he said that the war came to an end 'at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month'.
Mr. W. H. Chapman, the founder of the well-known tourist agency, was the organist all the time I attended Salisbury Street, and, of course, for many years before and many years after. Although he had several deputies in the Sunday School I only remember one of them - Miss Bertha Craine - and every time she was called on to play we could be sure of 'What a Friend we have in Jesus'.
The movable bench backs made it very easy to have private enclosures for each class. If we had a keen teacher, towards the end of the lesson she would give us a text card inscribed with a Bible verse and an attractive picture, always a rural one - I never remember a single urban or industrial one. We also had a star card marked by the young men who helped in the school as stewards. This was most important as, without the requisite number of stars, we should not be admitted to the Christmas Party or taken on the picnic.
Some of us collected for the missionaries. Miss Vera Cain looked after this work for many years. The children who collected the most money got prizes, and even those who did not do too well were encouraged by being given the children's missionary magazine At Home and Abroad free for a year.
The year was punctuated with pleasures. In the festive season we had a party
with tea and games. The tea was served in the classrooms at the end of the main
hall - jellies and blancmange, bread and butter, buns and cakes - and when we
had finished and sung 'We thank Thee Lord for this our food', we were allowed
to go out into the big hall to play until the teachers were ready to supervise
us in the games. These included Spin-the-Plate, Postman's Knock, and others
of the kiss-in-the-ring variety, especially one which seemed to me very sad
about
'Little Alexandra sitting on the sand,
Crying, weeping for a young man'.
Before we were dismissed we were given a bag containing buns and fruit to take with us and, apart from the regret we felt that the treat was over for another year, we went blissfully home. In January we had the prize distribution when those who at the end of the year had the most stars in their star cards received the best prizes which were always bibles, hymn books, and religious novels. And then in March or April there was the Sunday School Anniversary. This was at Rose Mount because our own premises were not nearly large enough to accommodate all the people who wanted to join the anniversary congregations. Indeed Rose Mount Church was often not big enough itself and there had to be chairs in the aisles. As a rule we had a visiting minister on Sunday morning and evening and he was also expected to give a lecture on the Monday evening, while one of the Douglas ministers - preferably the one whose pastoral care included Salisbury Street - took the children's service on Sunday afternoon to which all the other Douglas Wesleyan Sunday Schools were invited. I only remember one of our visiting preachers - Rev. Philip Romeril, of Peel. Today's children who only know the contemporary anniversary can hardly imagine the excitement engendered at ours. We gathered at the side entrance to Rose Mount with growing curiosity and impatience which increased when we were admitted to the Sunday School and had to cool our heels for a quarter of an hour or so until the service started. The place was so vast compared with Salisbury Street that it seemed quite a long walk from the Sunday School past the vestries and into the church to the stages which had been erected around the pulpit and over the choir stalls, more than half hiding the organ. As the Superintendent ushered us to our places on the stages we never ceased to be awed by the beautiful church and impressed by the great crowds of people gathered in it throughout not . only the nave but also the gallery. The stages, so far as I can remember, were always decorated with arum lilies, and only with arum lilies. The collection for the four services was sixty to seventy pounds.
And, finally, in May we had the picnic. All the years I attended Salisbury
Street except the last it was to Silverdale, and the last was to Laxey Glen
Gardens. We travelled by charabancs. The horse-drawn roundabouts were just before
my time. At half-past ten or eleven on a sunny morning in May with our pockets
full of money we set off for the beautiful drive through scenes golden with
gorse. Once we got to Silverdale our pockets were soon empty because they were
only little pockets, and although we had been saving for the picnic since Christmas,
we never managed more than tenpence or a shilling, which seemed like a fortune
to us. We were always glad when it was time in the early evening to have the
races, for then we had the chance to win a few more coppers, and even if we
failed to win anything we might be lucky in the scramble after the races when
Mr. Chapman threw a handful of ha'pennies, pennies, three-penny pieces and tanners
into the air for us to try to catch or pick up.
'And when you look back it's all like a puff,
Happy and over and short enough'.
Reverend Kenneth BroadhurstReverend Kenneth Broadhurst. List of appointments: 1938-41 - Trained for the Ministry at Wesley College, Headingley, Leeds; 1941-45 - Douglas Victoria Circuit, I.0.M.; 1945-49 - Swansea, Brunswick Circuit; 1949-52 - Blackpool, South Circuit; 1952-55 - Bridgewater Hall, Manchester and Salford Mission; 1955-62 - Darlington, South Circuit; 1962-69 - Salisbury Circuit; 1969-76 - Bedford; 1976-1983 - Norwich. Notes: During his term at Swansea he was the Free Church Chaplain at Swansea Prison for three years. In three of his circuits he was the Free Church Chaplain at hospitals. In his last two circuits, where he was the Superintendent, he was involved in amalgamation schemes. He retired in 1983 and lives in Warwick.
I BEGAN my ministry in 1941 in what was then the Douglas Victoria Circuit. I lived in Onchan and had pastoral charge of Onchan, Salisbury Street, Abbeylands Onchan and Hillberry.
I married my wife Margaret in April 1945 and she shared with me my ministry in the Circuit until we left in August 1945. Thus, for my wife and me the Centenary of Salisbury Street Methodist Church is a threefold Anniversary. It is our Ruby Wedding year, 40 years since we left the Island and 40 years since the Second World War ended.
My ministry was, of course, during the war years and brings back memories of barbed wire internment camps in Douglas and Onchan and the influx of soldiers, sailors and airmen to the Isle of Man.
I particularly remember the Sunday School Anniversaries at Salisbury Street. We always held them the Sunday after Rose Mount Anniversary and used their platform and church for the occasion. What a wonderful sight it was to see a packed church and hear such enthusiastic and delightful singing. In those days Mr. W. Chapman was the organist. The Sunday School outings were one of the highlights of the year and I still remember one year when we went to Ramsey by the Electric Railway. Many of the people I knew will no longer be with you, 40 years is a long span, but my wife and I look forward to renewing friendships with some of our own age group and, who knows, there may be some who were in the Sunday School during 1941-1945 who will remember us. My years on the Isle of Man, despite the war, were happy years in that I was the recipient of so much generosity of Friendship and hospitality.
One of my recreational activities was badminton and I remember with joy the friendship of the members of the Badminton Club and the task we shared of returning the school desks, after our games, to their proper places in readiness for day school the following morning. At that time the Church was also in use as extra classrooms for one of the day schools.
I STARTED attending Salisbury Street Sunday School as a lad about 64 years ago, around the time Frank Callister started. I have many memories of early anniversaries, picnics, and various teachers, including Miss Katy Bridson, Miss Hetty Stevens, who was strict but kind, 'Da' Moore with his walrus moustache. Others I remember well were Tom Harrison, the father of John and Bill, W. H. Kneale, W. J. Dawson, who married another of our members, Joe Teare, who was Sunday School Superintendent and an architect, and, of course, W. H. Chapman.
As I grew older, I was appointed a Star Marker, and then a helper, and eventually in 1935 I was elected as a Sunday School teacher.
During the war I served in Burma in Wingate's Chindits. He was a fascinating character, who never asked his men to do things he could not do himself. He was not big, but his eyes were piercing, and unforgettable.
During one of my leaves I was able to meet our guest preacher, Rev. Kenneth Broadhurst, and after hostilities ceased, I returned home to settle in once again; before that, however, I sailed for India on V.E. Day after a spell at home. I was pleased to receive gifts from the church while I was away.
After Sunday School, it was our custom to walk along the prom to Onchan, up through Summerhill Glen, and back through Noble's Park. Eventually, however, I was asked to stay in to Morning Service, and became a Steward. W. H. Chapman was organist, a position held for over 40 years, until he died in 1958.
Having served as Assistant Superintendent to Miss Bridson, I eventually became Sunday School Superintendant and served in this capacity until 1983.
The use of the church premises by the Board of Education as a day school caused extra work, as desks had to be moved as well as the other furniture. Since those days after the war I have had the honour and privilege of serving the church in a number of posts, as Trust Treasurer, Society Steward, Secretary of the Leader's Meeting and Church Council, and as Treasurer of the Autumn Fair for 21 years. The Fair started about 1959, and has provided much needed revenue for the church every year since.
Nowadays the Sunday School is very small, and the only other regular meeting associated with Salisbury Street is the Women's Fellowship, which still meets on Tuesday afternoons.
However, the alterations and improvements we are carrying out, some in memory of dear friends who have died recently, are an obvious indication that the society at Salisbury Street has every intention of continuing God's work in this area for a long time to come.
Mr. and Mrs. Fred Watterson cutting the cake, with Reverend T. I. Musgrave in the background, Wednesday, November 23, 1960.
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Any comments, errors or omissions
gratefully received The
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