Jones, William (1834-1914)
Early years
William was born on 6 July 1834 at Halesowen, Worcestershire to parents Thomas and Mary. The 1851 census records the William and his parents were nailors.
William was a scholar at Birmingham St PM Sunday School and in his youth declared himself for Christ after a sermon delivered by a local preacher called Richards. He was called into the ministry by his own circuit when aged 19. He immediately went from number 52 to 3 on his own circuit plan!
Ministry
William was in great demand as a preacher for special occasions, and both as a preacher and lecturer his fame spread to every district in the Connexion, and extended beyond the boundaries of the PM Church. His obituary records that he was a great personality and a great preacher.
For the details of administration he had no taste. The profounder problems of philosophy had not for him much attraction. The newer views of the Bible he was content to ignore. Preaching was to him a passion, and to it he gave his thought, his life, his all.
William was President of Conference in 1896.
Family
William married Mary Clare (b abt1840) in early 1860 in the Madeley Registration Distrct, Staffordshire. Census returns identify three children.
- Thomas Clare (1860-1918) – a Congregational Minister, after spending a short time in PM ministry
- William I (b abt 1865)
- Luther Peter (b1879) – a farmer; emigrated to Australia in 1910
William died on 30 August 1914 at Halesowen, Worcestershire.
Circuits
- 1855 Ludlow
- 1856 Newcastle under Lyme
- 1858 Tunstall
- 1859 Darlaston
- 1861 Church Stretton
- 1862 Cwm
- 1865 Ludlow
- 1867 Birmingham
- 1872 Tunstall
- 1876 Surrey Chapel
- 1878 London ll
- 1879 Derby ll
- 1881 Derby lll
- 1883 Stepney Green
- 1887 Grays & Romford
- 1890 Blaenavon
- 1891 Lincoln l
- 1893 Sunderland l
- 1896 Manchester
- 1897 Tunstall
- 1901 Halesowen
- 1903 Halesowen (S)
References
Primitive Methodist Magazine 1882 (portrait); 1897/3; 1915/320
PM Minutes 1915/28
The Primitive Methodist, 1896, p393
H B Kendall, Origin and History of the PM Church, vol 2, p454
B A Barber, A Methodist Pageant, 1932, p161
R Newman Wycherley, The Pageantry of Methodist Union, 1932, p175
W Leary , Directory of Primitive Methodist Ministers and their Circuits , 1990
Census Returns and Births, Marriages & Deaths Registers
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This page was modified on 12 April 2016 to add an article published in the 1923 Christian Messenger.
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