By Simon Hancock
Ambition and Schism: The Reverend Benjamin Chubb Evans at Neyland (1894-1919)
The third chapel built by the Baptists at Neyland was a very large affair. Situated on the junction of Frederick Street and High Street, the huge edifice was opened in 1903 and was described as a ‘neat and attractive structure in the Gothic style of red brick with coigns over the doors and windows and two projecting stair towers.’[1] These had steep pyramidal roofs, almost like spires, before an errant barrage balloon became entangled with one of them in the early 1940s and the resulting change saw them with dramatically lower pitches. The 500-seat chapel was an empire of varnished pitch pine and there was also an ornate three- sided gallery with pierced metal bowed front of attractive fern leaf design by Macfarlane of Glasgow.[2]
Bethesda Chapel in 1904
The building was a far cry from the modest chapel which the Baptists had as their first place of worship in the pre-railway days of the old village of Neyland.
Their chapel opened in the ‘populoss (sic) and hitherto destitute village on 22 December 1850.[3] Hebron Baptist Chapel as the denomination originally called it had a general congregation of 76 with 70 scholars attending the Sunday school.[4] The year of the religious census revealed the Baptists to have 2,789 places of worship in England and Wales.[5] The arrival of the South Wales Railway at Neyland in April 1856 necessitated the purchase of the chapel given its close proximity to the railway lines and the £300 compensation which they received in 1858 was entrusted to Mr William Rees a prominent Haverfordwest solicitor and Baptist.[6] A piece of land was identified and on 8 October 1862 a lease was obtained from the Lawrenny Castle estate at a ground rent of £1 per annum.[7] A second Baptist chapel was then built at a cost of £367 6s. 2d. and opened in 1863 with the Rev Ebenezer Edwards as the first pastor.[8]His pastorate officially commenced on 15 May 1864 at an annual salary of £52. Membership of the cause had risen considerably as a reflection of the growing population of the locality.[9] The small urban community had a steam packet service to Waterford and Cork, a busy railway terminus and GWR marine factory which provided ample opportunities for employment. In 1876 the membership of Bethesda Baptist Church stood at 92 and 104 by 1893; very slow growth, certainly nothing spectacular.[10]
It was into this community during fin de siècle Neyland that came forth the Rev Benjamin Chubb Evans (1858-1935). His pastorate lasted 25 years and encompassed extremes of fortune, the opening of the third and grandest chapel, the heady days of the 1904-5 revival but then a disastrous schism in the church which clouded the last eight years of his ministry at Neyland. The Rev Evans was born at Woolacombe, Devon on 6 July 1858, the son of John Evans, a blacksmith and Jane his wife. By 1871 the family were living at Kilkhampton in the north-east of Cornwall, four miles from Bude where thirteen-year-old Benjamin was a scholar. He must have been a precocious child since he began preaching at the early age of fourteen. At the age of eighteen, in 1876, he married Thomazin (or Thomasine) Box Stidwill, a native of Kilkhampton and the couple went on to have nine children at least three of whom predeceased them.
By 1881 Benjamin Chubb Evans was described as a cordwainer, a shoemaker who made new shoes from new leather. Brown alludes to the low social origins of many Baptist ministers, the majority of whom, before 1850 were described as ‘very obscure men’.[11] The couple had three children, Mary, William and Norah, the latter a babe-in-arms aged seven months. Shortly afterwards Benjamin must have undertaken some sort of theological instruction since by 1891 he was described as a minister of the Gospel. There is no mention of a training college in his obituary so it is highly likely that he did not attend a college.[12] In 1871 only 58 per cent of Baptist ministers had received training at an academy or college although this figure rose to 84.5 per cent by 1911.[13] The family were living at 9, Phillips Terrace, Swansea and had removed to the major Welsh port by 1887 since their son Benjamin was born there. The Rev B. C. Evans was the pastor of the St James’ Baptist Church where he successfully ran a mission centre for thirteen years. Here he undertook an ambitious building project which was alluded to during a presentation evening for him at the Welcome Coffee Tavern. He received a purse of gold coupled with the recognition of how ‘whenever he took some good work in hand he entered into it with true earnestness, and by dint of perseverance and self-sacrifice achieved successfully the end for which he had laboured.’[14] The church was a substantial undertaking with Sunday school, choir and a healthy income of £1,345 6s. 4 ½ d.[15] His building project was a success although there was an unpleasant postscript at Swansea County Court. In 1895 recovery was sought from him in the sum of £27 1s. 6d. due on a promissory note although later His Honour Judge Gwilym Williams ruled him absolved from any liability.[16]
The Rev B. C. Evans accepted a call from Bethesda Baptist Church, Neyland which he accepted and recognition services were held in the chapel on 20 August 1894. Tribute was paid to his capacity for work and in organising workers while the Rev William Powell the town’s Congregational minister congratulated the church on their choice of shepherd and hoped his tenure would be a happy and prosperous one.[17] The Rev Evans and his family originally resided at 7, Lawrenny Terrace but later removed to 1, John Street one of the newest streets in Neyland, then barely three years old.
The small urban community into which the Rev Evans had settled contained a population of 2,827 (1901) and was overwhelmingly working-class in character with railway employees, shipwrights, mariners, labourers, shopkeepers and a smattering of professional ships captains and engineers. The community reflected in microcosm the dichotomies evident in Victorian society, the juxtaposition of church and chapel and temperance and public houses. Nonconformity was well represented in its various branches with Presbyterians, Congregationalists and Wesleyan Methodists all having chapels in High Street, the principal thoroughfare, while the Baptists had their place of worship in Frederick Street before their temple of red brick was erected early in the twentieth century. Local nonconformists demonstrated considerable involvement in political and social issues and Valentine notes the importance of nonconformity as the midwife of the trades unions and the Labour movement both of which grew to be strong in Neyland.[18]
With their panoply of associated organisations Victorian nonconformist chapels offered Sunday school, Band of Hope, choirs, mutual improvement societies and lots of opportunities for socialising within their fellowship. Bebbington describes Victorian nonconformity as an attempt to create a Christian counter culture in society.[19] In this endeavour he notes how the Baptists maintained their dynamism more than any other denomination up to the end of the nineteenth century and beyond.[20] They had their own distinctive administrative and theological organisations.[21] Sellers notes the formalisation of structures and growth of denominational agencies like the foundation of the Baptist Union Corporation in 1890, a sign of increasing bureaucracy.[22]
The early years of the Rev B. C. Evans’ ministry at Bethesda seemed harmonious enough. The anniversary of his settlement was always marked with special worship services. His second anniversary saw two days of services including one of song entitled ‘Prayer.’ It was remarked how he had added 70 members to the church during the first two years of his ministry at Neyland.[23] Although their existing chapel in Frederick Street was probably about adequate for their purposes it became clear early on in his ministry how the Rev Evans envisaged the building of an altogether much larger and commodious chapel for the growing cause. Membership had reached 157 by 1900. Special fund -raising efforts were undertaken early on, including a sale of work held in 1895 which netted £70.[24]
The following year a tea and concert were held in aid of the building fund and attended by around 200 people.[25] There was also the novelty of a Good Friday meal enjoyed in 1898 during which many men donned white aprons and acted as hosts which they did successfully, a sign it was jocularly remarked of ‘new men’ emerging.[26] Builders were invited to submit tenders for the erection of the proposed new chapel by 11 December 1897 with plans lodged at the home of the pastor at 7, Lawrenny Terrace or the chapel secretary Mr John Thomson (he was elected a deacon on 5 December 1893) of Front Street.[27] For a number of years fund raising occurred through concerts, coffee suppers and through offertory giving. The youthful demographic of chapel congregations is easily overlooked. Bethesda Baptist Church had 198 scholars on their books and 14 Sunday school teachers. One coffee supper attracted nearly 100 young people.[28]
The architect commissioned in the construction of the third chapel was Samuel Wilson Edwards who was residing at Beach Mount Villas, Mumbles, in 1897 and later Richmond Villas, Mumbles in 1901.[29] In 1890 he had worked on the radical rebuilding and extension of Salem Baptist Chapel, Landore, to provide accommodation for an additional 250 worshippers.[30] Funds were forthcoming so that the foundation stone of the new chapel was laid during a ceremony held on 28 April 1902 and performed by Owen Cosby Philipps (1863-1937). This luminary was a future High Sheriff of Pembrokeshire, Member of Parliament for the Pembroke Boroughs (1906-10) and in 1923 was created Baron Kylsant. The sum of £500 was in hand but another £700 was required to complete the ambitious building project. In addressing the crowd, the Rev Evans said how they did not lack workers or love for the cause but they did lack confidence in themselves. He went on to say ‘they did not know how much power they possessed or how much good work they could accomplish.’[31] The new chapel would clearly be an expression of that ambition.
The opening of the third Baptist chapel took place on 14 October 1903 and represented a significant personal success for the Rev B. C. Evans. He did not hesitate to throw off his coat and wield pick or spade as the male members of the congregation, mainly railway workers of dockyard employees provided the bulk of the labour free of charge. Had all the work been chargeable the cost of the new building would have doubled.[32] The old chapel was retained for the purposes of accommodating the Sunday school.
The chapel was barely twelve months old when it was the venue for extraordinary and unprecedented services (at least for the locality) during the great Welsh religious revival of 1904-5. It was a very significant phenomenon, the greatest since 1859 and was closely associated with Loughor-born evangelist Evan Roberts (1878-1951). It is estimated around 100,000 people were converted across Wales and viewed in context the revival can be seen as the climax of Welsh nonconformity. The revival in Neyland has been addressed by the present writer in an earlier study.[33] Some extraordinarily large congregations attended Bethesda Baptist Chapel which had received 40 new members into the fellowship by 20 January 1905.[34] Within a week over 200 converts could be counted across the town and doubtless to the delight of a nonconformist minister it was remarked on how the public houses were deserted.[35] It would be hard to provide a real insight into the religious fervour, emotional and psychological experiences of those early weeks of 1905. They must have been especially profound for ministers of the Gospel whose earnest prayers for revival and spiritual renewal had become manifest. All the churches witnessed hundreds of conversions and applications for membership.
By the end of April 1905 Bethesda had received 141 new members.[36] More than 30 years later it was later remembered how the Rev B. C. Evans had extended the right hand of fellowship to no fewer than 99 men and women at one communion service.[37] Membership peaked at an all-time high of 292 in 1907 although this fell dramatically back down to 171 by 1911 as the ardour of some of the converts waxed and waned and there was a serious population decline due to an economic downturn from September 1906.[38]
Ministering to a large congregation with the attendant duties of delivering sermons, holding prayer meetings, external preaching appointments, pastoral visiting and administration might have left little time for other public affairs and yet in this respect the Rev B. C. Evans was fully involved in other spheres of public life. He was elected as a member of the Pembroke Rural District Council, a body created by the Local Government Act of 1894, which dealt with public health, sanitation and planning. By virtue of that office the Rev Evans was also a guardian of the Pembroke Poor Law Union. The first council meeting which he attended occurred on 27 April 1896 when he was appointed on to a committee to discuss the sewering of Neyland.[39] At the subsequent election he was returned with 306 votes, behind John Henry Coram (1847-1907), county and district councillor who topped the poll.[40] The Rev Evans appears to have attended his first meeting of the Board of Guardians on 9 April 1896.[41] He later served as vice chairman of the board. His efforts to become a member of the Neyland School Board were however conspicuously unsuccessful. In 1901 he polled just 208 votes and came last in a field of ten candidates whose denominational allegiances were listed next to their names.[42] He was later successful in securing appointment as a manager of the Neyland School and he eventually became chairman.[43]
Like the overwhelming majority of his nonconformist ministerial colleagues, the Rev B. C. Evans supported the Liberal party and there is considerable evidence of the overwhelming Liberal allegiance of nonconformists in the later nineteenth century where politics was still deeply rooted in religion.[44] The two indeed seemed to mesh together so that to be ‘a nonconformist meant participation in a discrete social world where political expression was Liberalism.’[45] The Rev B. C. Evans addressed a meeting at Waterston schoolroom on 4 July 1908 to support the candidature of Mr Lloyd Morgan KC MP (1861-1944), a barrister who was the Liberal member for West Carmarthenshire (1889-1910). The Rev Evans proposed a vote of confidence in Mr Asquith’s government believing the country had never had a better or more representative government than at the present time.’[46]
The Rev B. C. Evans received recognition from the ministers and members of his denomination when he was elected the president of the Pembrokeshire Baptist Association in June 1909.[47] This was perhaps the pinnacle of his career already distinguished by new building projects at Swansea and Neyland and increasing church membership. And yet the fortunes of his ministry had already decisively changed. On 30 August 1906 the steam communication between Neyland and Ireland (initiated in 1856) was transferred to a new route linking Fishguard and Rosslare. This was a grievous economic blow to the small urban community which shattered local confidence. One special train conveyed between 100 and 150 people to their new place of work as staff members and their families relocated.[48] There were doom-laden prophecies that Neyland would soon be a place of only around 150 inhabitants.[49] Although this was a massive overstatement there was significant population decline from 2,827 to 2,423 over the decade 1901-11, or 14.29 %. Coupled with reductions in Pembroke dockyard and the removal of the GWR marine engineering factory, local trade was at a standstill as unemployment rose and there was an increase in the number of unoccupied houses. There were very dark clouds which were only partly dissipated by the creation of a fishing industry at Neyland in November 1908 complete with ice factory and fish market. The overall population decline was reflected in the strength of local nonconformist congregations. That year was also personally grim for the Rev B. C. Evans when he sustained serious injuries in a cycling accident near Neyland cemetery in which he broke his collar bone.[50]
In the years leading up to the First World War the routine of church life appeared to continue as normal with active choir, temperance and Sunday school activities. In August 1908 the Bethesda Band of Hope journeyed to Angle and 150 people attended, taking tea near the Point House.[51] Occasionally the reverend gentleman would lecture to his congregation on subjects other than religion. He gave lantern lectures including one on ‘Peary and the North Pole,’ a presentation consisting of more than 50 slides.[52] A large membership provided the ability to undertake large-scale events. In July 1911 an eisteddfod was held including recitations, songs and craft competitions.[53] That year 54-year old Benjamin Chubb Evans and his wife lived at 25, John Street with three of their children, Norah, Frederick and Sarah.
All was not peaceful and harmonious during that summer of 1911 as tension and animosity within Bethesda built up to breaking point. In November that year a press article suddenly appeared announcing an unfortunate split among the Neyland Baptists. There was considerable reticence as to the reasons for the schism while the loss of all church documents including deacons meeting books and correspondence makes an interpretation of events extremely difficult. It was said to have been caused by a disagreement over church finances rather than anything theological or doctrinal, although the personality of the Rev B. C. Evans himself must have been a contributing factor. Whether the dispute related to the salary he received or perhaps an increase which some members thought unconscionable is not known. There was no centrally determined salary scales to act as a benchmark for Baptist ministerial stipends.[54] The faction from Bethesda and apparently other dissidents from Little Honeyborough Baptist Church whose own pastor, the Rev F. C. Tucker was leaving after three years ministry, decided to form their own church which they optimistically named ‘Hope Baptist Church.’[55] The first services of the new church began on 5 November 1911 at the Oddfellows Hall, Charles Street, Neyland. The leaders of the Little Honeyborough church denied such a split had occurred in their ranks and wrote to the press to that effect.[56]
Despite the denial, further press investigation revealed the split to be real enough with 50-60 worshippers attending the new church, including former deacons of Bethesda. One of these, Mr John Thomson wrote to the Baptist Association asking for recognition and also for a deed to constitute the new church.[57] From annual handbooks of the Baptist church such official recognition was not forthcoming. There was talk of erecting an iron building for the holding of their worship services although this was never put into action. Instead the congregation contented themselves to meet at 67, High Street a premises which they called ‘Hope Hall’ and they had a stable membership base of around 70. This did indeed represent a disastrous schism which was fully reflected in the membership of Bethesda. In 1913 membership stood at 103 and in 1917 the figure had dropped further to 100.
Life continued at Bethesda as though nothing had changed but there must have been resentment, anger and bitterness between members of both Baptist churches, feelings which were exacerbated by the religious context of such a falling out. As though to re-emphasise his ‘hands on’ approach to ministry, the Rev Evans took the lead in repainting and renovating the chapel in ‘a most creditable manner’ as he was aided by one or two male members of his congregation.[58] For a small town with barely 2,500 inhabitants, it must have been strange to see two Baptist churches whose religious and associational life mirrored that of each other. The members of Hope Baptist Church went on a pleasure outing to Angle, they too had an organ fund, Sunday school outings and harvest thanksgiving services.[59]
There was no sign of the breach being healed and perhaps in this respect the Rev Evans did not help matters. On the occasion of his twentieth anniversary, services were held on 7 July 1914 during which he stated how Bethesda had a record they could be proud of. He then went on to provocatively state how the church did not have a good reputation when he arrived in 1894 but events had shown how their character proved better than their reputation. He added ‘I have enjoyed a period of unbroken peace within the church not equalled by many and surpassed by few.’ He then went on to make the extraordinary claim how there had been no dispute or internal strife although he did acknowledge the heavy blow dealt by the removal of the GWR links with Ireland and the consequential loss of half of the membership.[60]
These incendiary comments earned a swift and predictable rebuke from Mr John Thomson, former deacon of Bethesda who lived at 11, John Street, half a dozen doors down from his former pastor. He rigorously denied the church had ever had a bad reputation but rather pointed to the prayerful nature of the church. He also took issue with Rev Evans’ claims of unbroken peace asking if that was so why had so many Neyland Baptists left to form Hope Church? He added wryly, ministers would do well to remember ‘that as they sow, so shall they reap.’[61]
The breach would never be healed, not while the Rev B. C. Evans remained as the pastor of Bethesda, as compromise seemed out of the question to the two entrenched sides. On 28 August 1919 farewell services were held at Hope Baptist Church and a few days later the sale of their furniture at Hope Hall was announced to take place.[62] The former shop, then chapel, was to become the town’s post office. The end of Hope Church occurred two weeks after the closing of the ministry of the Rev B. C. Evans, an event which took place on 10 August 1919. The timing is very compelling as to the centrality of the personality of the minister in the schism of the church. Even after the dissidents returned to Bethesda, tensions must have been considerable with a rawness which ran very deep. Even during the ministry of the Rev Thomas Lewis Parry (1929-45) the divisions had not entirely healed. The useful ministry of the Rev Parry has been the subject of a study by the present writer.[63] The son of the Rev Parry, Baron Parry of Neyland (1925-2004) prepared notes for the present writer on 30 September 1990 in which he wrote:
‘Bethesda had, earlier, split itself into two angry and almost physically warring factions. An upset, powerful minority had then sent itself off down High Street and set up its own cause- wistfully named Hope Chapel- in a large, modified house that subsequently became the Neyland Post Office and then an ironmonger’s shop. For a while it was the spiritual home of the dissident Baptists. The Rev Parry privately referred to the breach as ‘not so much Hope as Hopeless because it is our unity in the faith that is our strength.’[64]
The reason given for the end of the Rev Evans’ ministry in August 1919 was on account of the health of his eldest daughter. Before he bade farewell a tea was arranged during which gifts were presented to the Rev Evans and his family. He received a purse containing £55 in Treasury notes with his wife and children receiving a breakfast set, dressing case, silver jam dish and Bibles. Not a word about the schism was mentioned as senior members and local nonconformist ministers paid tribute to his endeavours which had lasted exactly a quarter of a century.[65] The Evans family went to reside at Blaenau, Monmouthshire and he served the twilight years of his career at Howey, Llandrindod Wells (1922-24).
Monument to Rev and Mrs B.C.Evans, unveiled in Bethesda 1936
During his retirement the Rev B. C. Evans was associated with Tabor Baptist Church at Brynmawr and latterly Ebenezer Baptist Church at Senghenydd. Mrs Thomasine Evans died in the early months of 1935 and the Rev Benjamin Chubb Evans of 177, Commercial Street, Senghenydd, did not long outlive her. He died on 24 December 1935 and was buried at Brynmawr cemetery. According to his obituary he led ‘many to a knowledge of the truth and was highly respected by all who knew him and those who knew him best respected him most.’[66] His estate was valued at £365 16s. 11d. with probate granted to Mr Idris Luke, schoolmaster.[67] This was undoubtedly the same Mr Luke who was his loyal adherent from his days at Bethesda. In fact he served the church as secretary during the period 15 July 1912 to 17August 1919, his tenure ending a mere week after the Rev B. C. Evans closed his ministry at Neyland.
That the large chapel building was a tribute to the ambition and work of the Rev Evans was in little doubt and was acknowledged as such in a ceremony at Bethesda held on 27 September 1936. The occasion was the unveiling of a memorial tablet to the Rev and Mrs B. C. Evans during a ceremony conducted by the Rev T.L. Parry. The black and white marble tablet was unveiled by one of the sons, Mr W. J. Evans of Pembroke Dock who was visibly moved by the occasion. Strangely, the inscription contained an error, stating how the pastor and his wife laboured for 27 years rather than the actual 25. A significant meaning was contained in the last sentence ‘this tablet was erected by their children.’ This made it explicitly clear how the monument was the work of the family and not the church. Resentment and ill feeling must have still been lingering even after the passage of seventeen years. In his address the Rev Parry referred to the heady days when the new chapel was opened and the days of the revival, but on the schism and Hope Baptist Church he was tactfully silent.[68]
The Rev B. C. Evans displayed great ambition and determination to accomplish much when he arrived at Neyland and the third chapel was a testament to his confidence and leadership. Nevertheless his legacy was a mixed one as the unity of the church was shattered and the process of restoration only initiated upon his departure.
Ambition and Schism: The Reverend Benjamin Chubb Evans at Neyland (1894-1919)
By Dr Simon Hancock. Originally published in the Journal of the Pembrokeshire Historical Society, 2020.
This article is reproduced on the Neyland & Llanstadwell Local History Website with the kind permission of Dr Simon Hancock.
Notes
1 Haverfordwest & Milford Haven Telegraph (hereinafter H&MHT), 21 October
1903.
2 Thomas Lloyd, Julian Orbach and Robert Scourfield, The Buildings of Wales.
Pembrokeshire (London, 2004), 325. The wrought ironwork probably came from the Saracen Foundry founded in Glasgow by Walter Macfarlane (1817-85)
3 Pembrokeshire Herald (hereinafter PH), 3 January 1851.
4 Ieuan Gwynedd Jonas and David Williams (eds), The Religious Census of 1851
A Calendar of the Returns Relating to Wales. Volume I. South Wales. (Cardiff, 1976), 409.
5 Edward Royle, Modern Britain. A Social History 1750-2011 (London, 2012),
367.
6 Rev Rowland Charles Roberts, Baptist Historical Sketches in Pembrokeshire
(Pembroke Dock, 1908), 101.
7 Pembrokeshire Archives (hereinafter PA), D/LLL/1, Register of Leases of the
Lawrenny Castle Estate 1858-1925).
8 Roberts, Baptist Historical Sketches, 101.
9 ‘Notes on Bethesda Baptist Church,’ in Neyland W.I. Historical Scrapbook
(1953).
10 Pers. comm. Gabriel Ferugean, Collections Assistant, Regent’s Park College.
11 Kenneth D. Brown, A Social History of the Nonconformist Ministry in England
and Wales 1800-1930 (Oxford, 1988), 29.
12 Pers. comm. The Rev Samuel Copson, Central Baptist Association.
13 Brown, Social History of the Nonconformist Ministry, 33.
14 Cambrian, 2 March 1894.
15 Ibid.
16 Cardiff Times, 2 March 1895.
17 H&MHT, 22 August 1894
18 Simon Ross Valentine, ‘The Role of Nonconformity in Late Victorian Politics,’
Modern History Review, 9:2 (1997), 9.
19 David W. Bebbington, Victorian Nonconformity (Cambridge, 2011), 2.
20 Ibid., 69.
21 Russell Davies, Hope and Heartbreak: A Social History of Wales, 1776-1871
(Cardiff, 2005), 326.
22 Ian Sellers, Nineteenth-Century Nonconformity (London, 1977), 11.
23 H&MHT, 29 July 1896.
24 Pembroke County Guardian (hereinafter PCG), 25 May 1895.
25 H&MHT, 8 April 1896.
26 PCG, 16 April 1896.
27 H&MHT, 17 November 1897.
28 Ibid., 25 January 1899.
29 Kelly’s Directory, 1901.
30 South Wales Daily News, 26 November 1890.
31 PH, 2 May 1902.
32 H&MHT, 21 October 1903.
33 Simon Hancock, ‘The 1904-5 Religious Revival at Neyland,’ Pembrokeshire
Historical Journal, IX (2000) 56-59
34 PH, 20 January 1905.
35 Ibid., 27 January 1905.
36 H&MHT, 26 April 1905.
37 Western Telegraph (hereinafter WT), 1 October 1936.
38 Baptist Annual Yearbook, 1911.
39 PA PER/SE/1/4. Minutes of the Pembroke Rural District Council 28 November
1891-26 March 1900.
40 H&MHT, 13 April 1898.
41 PA SPU/PE/1/12. Minutes of the Pembroke Union Board of Guardians 18
January 1894-18 June 1896.
42 PH, 12 April 1901.
43 H&MHT, 28 August 1907.
44 D. W. Bebbington, ‘Nonconformity and Electoral Sociology, 1867-1918,’ The
Historical Journal, 27:1 (1984), 634.
45 Ibid., 637.
46 PCG, 10 July 1908.
47 H&MHT, 9 June 1909.
48 PCG, 31 August 1906.
49 County Echo, 11 October 1906.
50 PCG, 16 November 1906.
51 Ibid., 14 August 1908.
52 Ibid., 10 March 1911.
53 Ibid., 28 July 1911.
54 Brown, Social History of the Nonconformist Ministry, 155.
55 H&MHT, 8 November 1911.
56 PCG, 17 November 1911.
57 Ibid., 24 November 1911.
58 Cambrian Daily Leader, 28 September 1916.
59 H&MHT, 7 August 1912; 7 May 1913; 28 August 1918; 2 October 1918.
60 Ibid., 15 July 1914.
61 Ibid., 29 July 1914.
62 Ibid., 3 September 1919.
63 Simon Hancock, Chronicle of a Ministry. The Rev Thomas Lewis Parry at
Neyland 1929-1945 (Haverfordwest, 2002).
64 Pers. comm. Baron Parry of Neyland (1925-2004).
65 H&MHT, 20 August 1919.
66 Baptist Annual Yearbook 1937.
67 http://probateresearch.service.gov.uk (accessed on 10 August 2019).
68 WT, 1 October 1936.