The life of a Methodist minister in the early days must have been a tough one, moving between the towns in his circuit, preaching at each in turn, sometimes dealing with hostile crowds, often working in the open air, and always with the hostility of the Established Church at his back.

The Church of England was not well equipped to deal with the great changes in society that were taking place in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, and as the industrial revolution gathered pace and more and more people crammed into the growing industrial towns, there was little provision for their spiritual needs.

The Methodists and the non-conformist sects saw it as their duty to minister to those whom the Established Church seemed to be neglecting and there were many brave men and women who spent their lives reaching out to the lower classes of society with support for both body and soul.

I was interested to discover that not one but two Watmoughs from Rochdale in Lancashire became Methodist Ministers. One of these was Abraham Watmough who was born in 1787. The other was Edwin Whatmough born on 15 September 1809 at Rochdale, the son of a Joseph and Sarah. Since Joseph Whatmough was born about 1777 it seems probable that he and Abraham were closely related.

Abraham Watmough

Born in 1787 in Rochdale, Lancashire and baptised on 3 February 1788, probably at St Chad’s church, Abraham was the son of Abraham and Betty Whatmough. He was the second of their five known children, the others being Elizabeth 1784, James 1790, Ann 1793 and Sarah 1795.

Abraham Senior is probably the Abraham who was baptised at St Chad’s Rochdale on 20 September 1755, the son of a James and Mary.  Their other known children were Grace 1742, Mary 1743, Betty 1747, Mally 1750 and Sally 1753.

  Click to enlarge

St Chad’s, Rochdale   Photograph copyright: Alexander P Capp     Source: Geograph website and reproduced here in accordance with the terms of the site licence which can be viewed at this link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Abraham born 1787 was converted to the Methodist cause by the Weslyan Minister Alexander Suter when he was 17 in 1804.  Abraham entered the Methodist itinerancy in 1811 when he was 24 and pursued an active ministry in England and in the Isle of Man.

This engraving is from the Engravings of British Methodist Clergy Collection of Pitts Theology Library, Emory University, Atlanta and is made available through the generosity of the E Rhodes and Leona B Carpenter foundation

In 1816 an Abraham Watmough, Wesleyan Minister, registered a house for Wesleyan Methodist worship at Oxenhall, Gloucestershire.

Abraham married an Ellen but it is not known whether they had any children.

In  1824, Abraham joined the Great Yarmouth circuit and in addition to his ministry he began to research the history of Methodism in Great Yarmouth and the places round about. The result was his ‘History of Methodism in the Town and Neighbourhood of Great Yarmouth including  Biographical Sketches of some of leading characters who have been among the Methodists at that place’. This was published in 1826. They didn’t go in for snappy titles at that time!

This work shows considerable scholarship and a professional writer’s comment of English, so Abraham had clearly received a good education. This book can be downloaded at this link:

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=fRUHAAAAQAAJ&dq=abraham+watmough&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=Ch9Wzk7MY7&sig=NjmDMg2rs2M7_BEP2bSEJKJTx1g&hl=en&ei=sf3mSdrZKIaGtgf6-JXSBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1

In 1851 Abraham and Ellen were living at Edensor, Longdon, Stoke on Trent. Abraham was 63 and Ellen 66. They had one female servant.

In 1852 and 1853, Abraham and his wife were in the Isle of Man where Abraham was a Minister on the Ramsey – Peel Circuit.

In 1856, Abraham was forced to retired due to failing health and he and Ellen went to live at St Helens in Lancashire. They were there in 1861 at 45 Rigby Street, with one female  servant.

Abraham died in 1863 at St Helens and Ellen in 1868, after many many years of unfailing service.

Edwin Whatmough

Edwin   was born on 15 September 1809 and baptised on 11 November 1809  at Blackwater Street Presbyterian Church, Rochdale. His father Joseph married Betty Fletcher on 29 July 1798 at Rochdale. They had five known children: Sally 1800, Hannah 1802, Daniel 1804, Jane 1807 and Edwin 1809.

Edwin married Sarah Riley on 29 June 1829 at St Chad’s, Rochdale. They had a large family of children: Elizabeth 1830 Rochdale, Mary 1832 Rochdale, James Riley 1835 Rochdale, Alice 1838 Clitheroe who married a Richard Clark, Sarah A 1840 Prescot, Jane M  1843 New Mill, Derbyshire, Edwin 1848 Nantwich, Hannah 1850 Lanteglos by Camelford, Cornwall.

The Rev Edwin Whatmough was living with his family  at the Malthouse at Lantelos by Camelford in 1851 and is decribed as a Wesleyan Methodist preacher. In 1861 he was at Highfield Terrace, Barnsley and is described as United Methodist Free Church Minister. His wife in 1861 was on a visit to her married daughter Alice, at West Derby Liverpool.

In 1871 Edwin and Sarah were at Back Lane, Badsworth, Yorkshire. In 1881  they were at Queens Place, Allerton,  Leeds. Edwin, who was now 72, had retired.

Edwin’s wife Sarah died at Allerton in 1882 aged 72.

In 1891 Edwin aged 82 was living with his daughter Jane at Everton, Liverpool. He died in 1896 aged 88 in the West Derby Registration District.

The Rev Edwin Watmough’s son Edwin, born 1848 married Mary Anne Williams  in 1873 at Knighton, Radnorshire. Their children were Percy William Whatmough 1874 Knighton, Edwin Humphreys Whatmough 1876 Knighton and Dora Mildred Whatmough 1879 Knighton.  Edwin’s wife died in 1880 aged 41 and in the 1881 census Edwin is shown as a widower at High Street, Knighton, Linen Draper and Milliner employing 3 female assistants and one boy.

Edwin Whatmough remarried to a Martha – probably the Martha Williams who married an Edwin in 1883 in the West Derby Registration District.

Edwin cannot be traced in 1891 but in 1901 he was with Martha at Northwick Cottage, Burford in Shropshire and was working as a Rent Collector. By 1911, the family had moved a couple of miles to Tenbury Wells on the other side of the river Teme. Edwin aged 64 is described as a Rates Collector. He died in 1912 aged 64 in the Tenbury  Registration District.

Of Edwin’s children –

Percy William Whatmough married either Cecilia Annie Chisholm or Mary Elizabeth Hurn in 1904 in the Birkenhead Registration District, but there is no trace of them in the 1911 census

Edwin Humphreys Whatmough married Caroline Mary Corfe in 1900 in the Liverpool Registration District. In 1911 they were living at 163 Seaview Road, Liscard, Birkenhead, Cheshire and Edwin was working as a Cotton Salesman. With them were their two children - Mabel Irene born 1904 at Egremont, Cheshire and Edwin Charles born 1908 at Liscard, Cheshire.

Dora Mildred Whatmough married Thomas Charles Oldbury in 1904 in the Tenbury Registration District. In 1911 they were living in the West Derby Registration District.