March 1901 Magazine - St Peter's Church, Nottingham, England on-line magazine

St Peter's Magazine, March 1901

St Peter's Square, Nottingham in 1901 This month, as well as giving a flavour of the Parish Magazine for March 1901, we are going to begin to focus on particular aspects of the work and community of the church as it appeared in the Parish magazines for 1901-1902. If this brings back any memories of relatives, events or pictures, texts and artefacts, please contact Keith Charter. We shall be delighted to hear from you. Interestingly, the grandson of Arthur Salsbury, Parish Clerk in 1901, is in touch about his grandfather and was delighted to learn of the information about his family now emerging from the magazines. Perhaps more of this on a future occasion.

March 1901 was the season of Lent and the Rector, Rev. George Edgcome, ran a series of additional short dinner-hour services that were "particularly intended for businessmen and working men and women". These were held every Wednesday and Friday at 1.05pm for about 20 minutes. "The service consisted of a Collect, a short address (ten minutes), a hymn, and special prayers." The Magazine claimed that in the previous year, "these services proved a great success".

Not surprisingly the death of Queen Victoria and the accession of her son (Edward VII) to the throne were still subjects of major interest. So the motto and meditation for March focused on the late Queen and on how her son, "has started well on his kingly tasks and bids fair to walk in his mother's footsteps." This view was some distance from the reputation he had gained during his long apprenticeship - he was in his 50s in 1902 - as a womaniser and playboy. Rev. Geo. Edgcome continued: "Our motto ('Hope though in God', Ps 42.11) teaches us what to do and how to act amid the changes of a new century and the government of a new ruler." And he turned to the season of Lent. "According to our church's teaching, we dwell upon the need of especially self-denial and watchfulness, need of confession of sin before Good Friday's teaching... and April's first Sabbath will tell us that He died on the cross to save and has risen to heal."

The main article considered the sufficiency of Holy Scripture as it was proclaimed in the 39 Articles of the Church of England. It is not clear what had provoked this, but Geo. Edgcome used the article to point out the differences between the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England, as well as emphasising the importance of the New Testament: "What our Lord Jesus Christ has stamped with His authority needs no further tradition to be added to complete its sufficiency." In doing so he pointed out that the Jewish books of the Old Testament and the Apostolic books in the New may be held in high respect but they were not canonical.

Work for the poor presumably continued as usual, but only the work of the Band of Hope temperance movement was mentioned. A splendid gathering of 61 scholars (presumably from the St Peter's schools) was reported at the meeting on 13 February. Although "there was no Shrove Tuesday treat for the children, the Committee decided to let [them] walk in the Band of Hope Union Demonstration on Whit-Monday, May 27." Given the size of the St Peter's cohort in it, this was likely to have been a large-scale affair in Nottingham.

Offertories over the month for the Sick Poor (£3-3s-8d) were still considerably less than the congregation was prepared to give for church expenses (£8-15s-5d), and the increase in giving for church expenses compared with February was four times greater than the increase in giving for the Sick Poor.

The Bell ringers

Not much appears in the Parish Magazine during 1901/1902 about the Bell Ringers except on the two occasions reported below: These were during the mourning for Queen Victoria (February 1901) and when one of the newly repaired bells was found to have cracked (early in 1902).

In 1901 on Sunday 3 February after the special memorial service for Queen Victoria on 2 February, The Midland Counties Association of Change ringers, conducted by H.R.Cobbin, ran a special quarter peal of Grandsire Triples with 1260 changes which took 50 minutes. The Bell Ringers were Treble: W. Flinders; Second: J. Hickman; Third: F. Johnson; Fourth: E. Hughes; Fifth: G. Middleton; Sixth: G.H. Johnson; Seventh H.R. Cobbin; Tenor: V. Colton. None of these men seem to have held any other office in St Peter's Church although our current accounts still show income appearing from the Cobbin & Henson Bell Fund.

It was the conductor's Seventh that brought the Bell Ringers back into the Parish Magazine of April 1902. In the Easter Vestry meeting of 1902, the parish (people's) churchwarden, Mr J.W. Curtin (who, incidentally, was Headmaster of Bluecoat School from 1861 until his death in 1908 and also responsible for allocating Sittings (pews) at St Peter's), noted that restoring the bells in 1897 had cost £150, and that that had been expected to last for 25 years. However the Seventh had become cracked and consequently the parish was trying to raise £60-£70 to have it recast "to put the bells in order for [the] coronation day" (of Edward VII). From an appeal in the local newspapers they seem to have raised £3 and from the City Corporation they had received a donation of £30. Interleaved with this item is a statement in the Annual Accounts that the Bell Ringers had been paid £16-0-0 during the year.

Hugh Busher

In April 1901, attention was drawn towards Easter, and the next article will turn to this and also to the work of the Sunday schools during the years 1901/02, and to the births, baptisms, marriages and deaths at this time.

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