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One of the two known sons of Thomas Hunt and Mary Jacobson was
Thomas Hunt, who was to become a Baptist minister. Although he was
not our direct ancestor, we have spent much time researching this man,
and have collected a considerable amount of material about him. I would like to share
some of this with you on this page.
Although I have
not traced a record of Thomas's baptism or birth , his obituary
stated that he was born c1762(1). This date of birth is substantiated
by information on Thomas's Death Certificate, which also indicates
that he was born in 1762(2).
I assume that
Thomas lived with his parents through his childhood years. His obituary
relates how, as a young man, he attended the Baptist Church at Prescot
Street, Goodman's Fields, which was near to the Tower of London.
Apparently he was taken under the wing of the Minister there - Abraham
Booth - who encouraged him to join the ministry. This he did, in
1791.
Thomas began
his first ministry, at Watford, Hertfordshire, in September 1793,
and whilst there, was married to Maria Edwards at St Peter's, St
Albans, on 22 October 1795(3). Maria was a member of the Baptist
Church at St.Albans, and was aged twenty one at the time of her
marriage.
In March 1799
Thomas Hunt was appointed Pastor to the Baptist ministry at Ridgmont,
Bedfordshire, and I am fortunate to have had access to a photocopy
of the Ridgmont Church Book, 1701-1816(4). This source contains
a wealth of information about church meetings, which were generally
held monthly. Other events, such as baptisms and entries into communion,
were also recorded. In the interests of brevity, I shall only deal
with the most pertinent aspects of this in this text.
It is apparent
that Thomas Hunt was not the first man offered the post at Ridgmont.
A certain Mr Kilpin had preached '6 sabbaths' there during 1797-8
but had not taken up the permanent post. The committee offered the
post to Thomas following a series of sermons that he had preached
there between April and October 1798, and his appointment was completed
by 27 March 1799.
On 24 April
1799 a church meeting was held, at which two decisions were taken.
Firstly, it was decided to 'make reading of the scriptures a part
of Publick worship on Lords Day mornings and afternoons'. Secondly,
it was decided to join the United Baptists in their half-yearly
social meetings. This indicates that Thomas Hunt's church was not
Particular Baptist or New Connection, and may point towards a less than evangelical faith.
It is recorded
that Thomas Hunt did not only preach at his chapel. On 3 June 1801
a meeting agreed that he should preach at nearby Husborne Crawley
'on a Sabbath evening in connection with the Woburn ministers about
once in two months'. On those evenings, there would be no public
worship at Ridgmont.
Disciplinary
matters were covered in these minutes. Non-attendance at church
was an offence, and when this occurred, the offender was visited
by two of members of the church, and called to account. The outcome
of this visit was reported to the next church meeting. One such
case concerned Brother Burr of Kempston. A meeting of 1 July 1801
sent two members to see Burr about his non-attendance. His response
was that he had not attended church due to the long distance he
had to travel. He asked to be allowed to join the church at Bedford.
He asked for his Dismission to allow him to transfer to the Bedford
church, but the Ridgmont church decided, as an expression of their
disapproval of Burr's conduct, not to grant this. Instead they gave
him a 'Testimonial only' - stating that they 'wish'd He had acted
more orderly in filling up his place with us .'. They seem to imply
that the Bedford Church had a lower set of values than they did,
insofar as they did not mind Burr's irregular attendance at Ridgmont.
They also referred to their 'small number'. It seems that Thomas
Hunt's church considered itself superior to the church at Bedford.
They may also have been extremely concerned at the prospect of losing
a member; presumably recruitment was difficult in such small place
as Ridgmont.
The church enforced
its own code of discipline on its members, as can be seen by the
following extracts:
On Jan 29 1805
the church meeting appointed two members to visit 'Sister Burgoyne
respecting some unpleasant reports...to enquire into the Truth of
them.'. They reported that they could not prove the charges against
her, and that they would try to prevent her accuser from repeating
the allegations, which were unspecified.
On Jan 25 1806
a dispute broke out. 'Brother Sybthorpe alledged a charge against
Sister Ashwood of Slander & Railing, which he considered as a justifiable
reason for his absence from the Lord's Table.' He was asked to attend
church to make his accusations, but he refused to do so. Members
of the church prevailed upon Sybthorpe to comply, but still he refused.
He was therefore excluded in May 1806.
Augt. 18 1807.
An accusation was 'brought against our Brother Ayres by Sarah Allen
….. that she saw him, at different times taking an unbecoming and
indecent familiarity with a Female, who resided under his roof.'
After an investigation Ayres was excluded from the church.
Regrettably,
in 1807 there came about a situation in which Thomas Hunt found
himself in conflict with the church elders over certain disciplinary
matters, and this led to a difficult situation for the pastor:
On November
17 1807. Thomas Hunt proposed that 'Sister Duit' should be disciplined
for her non-attendance at Church; at the request of 'Brother Gilbert'
consideration of the matter was deferred. Thomas Hunt also requested
'Brother Geary.. to withdraw. This request was made in consequence
of him & his wife having frequently left their places at the time
of public worship. He refused to withdraw; and justified their absence
accompanied with many unbecoming expressions'. Thomas Hunt was not
supported by other members of the meeting, and wrote a letter to
the church on the subject:
'.. If no notice
is to be taken of Bro Geary's behaviour at our last Church meeting;
and of his and his wife's not filling up their respective places
among us as becomes members of a Gospel Church, I cannot think it
my duty to administer the ordinance of the Lord's Supper to you
while you as a Church connive at such disorderly conduct '.
The letter was
signed 'Your afflicted Pastor, Thomas Hunt'.
Later, a messenger
was appointed by the church to visit Bro Geary and his wife. They
expressed regret at their behaviour and after discussion the Pastor
decided not to leave.
On 31 December
1807 Thomas Hunt again raised the complaint about Sister Duit. In
addition to her absences from church she was accused of theft. Two
members of the church were sent to interview her. Hunt also made
serious charges against a Deacon named Brother Ashwood. He was accused
of three offences:
-
Neglect
of prayer meetings.
-
Withdrawal
of half his subscription.
-
Failure
to lead the church in prayer for the recovery of Hunt when he
had been ill and unable to work for two Sabbaths.
Two
church members were appointed to visit Ashwood about these matters.
On Jan 29 1808 the report of the deputation to Sister Duit was heard.
The messengers believed her innocent of theft. She explained her
absences from church, and said that she felt that the Pastor had
not treated her properly, insofar as he had not asked 'how she did'
when he called on her one morning. She complained that 'several
Members looked coal upon her', and that the church had not contributed
towards the support of two parish children who were in her care.
After discussion
of these issues Thomas Hunt was resolved to exclude Sister Duit
from the church. There was dissent from this view. There was a suspicion
that Sister Duit had not mentioned all the reasons for her conduct,
and that she should be allowed to appear in front of her peers before
judgement of her case was passed. Somebody thought that she really
wanted to transfer to Woburn church. Hunt dismissed this suggestion.
He stated that the church at Woburn was not 'of the same faith and
order with us' and that as she had 'walked disorderly' the church
could not give her satisfactory references.
On the same
day a report of the deputation's visit to Mr Ashwood was heard.
He had explained his reason for not praying for Hunt when the pastor
was sick. He also explained that his reason for not attending Wednesday
prayers was that he could not leave his shop. Ashwood sent word
that he resented Hunt's suggestion that he did not attend church
unless it was his turn to pray. He had withdrawn half of his subscription
to the church because he had less money than had been the case previously.
After hearing this evidence, the record shows that 'Our Pastor said
he could not think that Brother Ashwood was fit to be a Deacon.'
There followed
a discussion of the above disciplinary matters. There being dissent
from Hunt's view, he said that 'he would not administer the Lord's
Supper to disaffected members.'
On 31 January
1808 a report was given of a meeting with Sister Duit. She had admitted
that she had 'walked disorderly', and acknowledged her non-attendance
at church. She expected to be excluded, and a vote was taken to
bring this punishment to bear. On the same date Hunt again raised
the matter of Mr Ashwood. The church met without their Pastor to
consider this matter, and proposed 'that those members who were
dissatisfied with our Pastor's Ministry should be allowed the liberty
of going to hear elsewhere occasionally where they thought proper
for a Twelve Month'. During this period they would not be able to
attend the church.
Thomas Hunt
could not accept this proposal. He maintained that such action was
against the principles of the church, and added that if Ashwood
had admitted his wrong-doing when the matter had first been raised,
he would not have brought any charges.
It is apparent
that relations between Thomas Hunt and the senior members of his
church had now broken down irrevocably. After attempts to resolve
these disputes had failed, on February 28 1808 Thomas wrote a letter
of resignation to the church, in which he catalogued the people
and events that he disapproved of. In response, the church Members
wrote to Hunt on 27 March 1808, requesting him to withdraw his resignation,
having voted by 10 to 3 in favour of him staying. They said that
'those things you have considered as impediment shall be removed.'
In spite of several attempts to persuade him to stay, Thomas Hunt
left the church at Ridgmont at Michelmas 1808.
The image of
Thomas that comes across to me from these minutes is that he was
a worthy man, with strong principles. It appears that the members
of the church attempted to resolve the dispute by showing some flexibility,
but Thomas found it impossible to reciprocate. Maybe other Baptist
ministers of his era would have also found it impossible to compromise
their principles; I do not know. All I can state is that the view
of Thomas that I gain from this superb record is one of a somewhat
inflexible man. This impression is confirmed by the description
of him in the obituary published by the Baptist Tract Society on
his death, according to which he had a:
'happy expression
of countenance (and) snowy, silken locks'(5). He is generally described
as a worthy man, but not inspirational, having an 'inflexible adherence
to the doctrines and ordinances of the Gospel'.
After Thomas
Hunt left Ridgmont he is known to have served as Pastor at the following
churches:
-
Dunstable,
Bedfordshire (6)
-
Tring, Hertfordshire
(7)
-
Wingrove,
Buckinghamshire (8)
On
his retirement, Thomas lived at Upper Clapton, Middlesex. He preached
occasionally at the Baptist chapel at Bow, in East London, where
the minister was a friend of his. He died on Wednesday 16 October
1844, due to 'Natural Decay', which I take to mean old age. He was
buried a few days later in the St Thomas's Square Independent Burial
Ground at Hackney (9).
Thomas Hunt's
will was proved in the PCC on 6 December
1844 (10) . He left his house, furniture plate, linen, books, glass,
pictures and household effects to his wife, who acted as his executrix.
Any other property held by the testator at the time of his death
was to be shared equally between his three children. An entry in
the Death Duty Registers of the Inland Revenue shows that his bequest
to his three children was valued at £833. 14s. 8d.(11)
Thomas's wife,
Maria, lived on a few more years before being buried in the same
grave as her spouse on Saturday 18 March 1848 (12).
As far as we
know, the union of Rev Thomas Hunt and Maria Edwards produced four
children:
Martha
Hunt (1796 (13) - 1875 (14)). She married George Box Drayton,
a London Surgeon (15).
Thomas Hunt (1798 (16) - 1879 (17). He was a London Surgeon,
who married twice and enjoyed a long and prosperous life. You
can find out about him by clicking here
Maria Hunt (1803 (18) - 1884 (19)). She never married,
and after living with her parents in their old age she lived out
her life in London (20).
John Hunt (1805 - 1832 (21)). We know nothing about John,
except that he was apprenticed as an Upholsterer c1820 (22), and
set up a business c1826 (23).
If you would like to see an abbreviated family tree for Thomas Hunt, Baptist Minister (c1723-1789), his wife - Maria Edwards - and children you can do so by clicking here.
Thomas
and his family have enriched our research no end, and we look forward
to finding out more about them in the future.
G M Culshaw December 2005
Last updated December 2008
You can see references for the material displayed on this page by
clicking here.
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