Read, George Sutton (1878-1971)

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Christian Messenger 1923

Obituary

GEORGE SUTTON READ: born at Little Downham in 1878: son of a Fensman farmer he was nurtured in the lore of the countryside and the ways of the country folk he was later to serve in widely scattered circuits. To study meant late hours by candle and lamplight when the work on the farm was done. He became a Local Preacher in the St. Neots Primitive Methodist Circuit at the beginning of the century and candidated in 1905, training at Hartley College, Manchester. His circuits included Faringdon, Kingston-on-Thames, Maidstone, Gravesend, Glastonbury, Lydney, Blackpool, Hemsworth, Clayton West, Worksop (Zion) and Bedford (Hassett Street) where he retired from the active ministry in 1944. But he continued to serve as a Supernumerary in St. Neots and as a Chaplain to Bromham Hospital for the mentally handicapped. To his work he brought a natural business acumen which enabled him to leave every circuit he served in a healthier financial position than when he came to it. Tireless in visitation of the sick, elderly and the housebound during his active ministry he subconsciously continued to serve others, in the hospital where he spent his last years, as long as his physical strength lasted. He died in Clapham Hospital on 21st November, 1971 in the ninety-fourth year of his age and the sixty-fourth year of his ministry.

Family

George was born on 14 January 1878 at Little Downham, Cambridgeshire, to parents Joseph Sutton Read, a farmer, and Mary Ann.

George married Annie Alder (1878-1971) in the summer of 1911 at Faringdon, Berkshire. Birth records identify one child.

• Josephine M (b1912)

George died on 21 November 1971 at Bedford, Bedfordshire.

Circuits

• Hartley
• 1907 Faringdon
• 1909 Kingston on Thames
• 1911 Maidstone
• 1914 Gravesend
• 1921 Lydney
• 1925 Blackpool
• 1928 Hemsworth
• 1932 Clayton West
• 1936 Worksop Zion
• 1940 Bedford Hassett
• 1944 St Neots (Sup)

References

Methodist Minutes 1972/195

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

Census Returns and Births, Marriages & Deaths Registers