A History

Written by Laurel Horton and Rev Tom Halls

OUT OF PRINT

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.
Hebrews 12: 2

Studying History is always a risky business. You may not like what you find. There have been those among the hundreds, who make History enquiries every year at St. Peters, who have tasted that bitter experience.

In one hundred and fifty years of parish records we have encountered the sacred and the secular; the humour and the heartache that are the normal experience of sinful man, waiting in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed Romans 8:19. We have shared the overflowing of joy and the outpouring of sorrow, which leap and lurk, among the musty pages.

Much has been omitted; some things too personal to publicise; others too painful, but mostly mundane things. Not that they are too ordinary to matter, but rather so tightly welded into the progress of a century and a half of Christian witness, that taken out of that context into a brief selection like this, they could not be fully appreciated, and might constitute an injustice towards those who can no longer speak for themselves.

Concluding the preface to his 'English Dictionary' in 1755, Samuel Johnson said:

"it was written with little assistance of the learned, and without any patronage of the great; not in the soft obscurities of retirement, or under the shelter of academick bowers, but amidst inconvenience and distraction".

Laurel Horton and I, echo those sentiments, We are indebted to our researchers, Mr. Wally Malas, and Mr. Robert Horton; proof-readers; and to our computing adviser, Dr. Malcolm Hooper. Without their help and the understanding and support of our families, friends and congregation this publication would never have seen the light of day.

Parish records have been quoted extensively throughout, and only summarised to save space and to avoid unnecessary repetition. Partial quotations are usually in plain print and complete quotations in italics. Original grammar, punctuation and spelling have been preserved, except where meaning may have been left in doubt.

For example, the 1931 reference to the "Ladies Flour Guild" needs no explanation, but the item in the 1936 accounts which reads: "Bad coins...51-" was discovered to be a reference to counterfeit money placed in the collections! The 1963 Ladies Guild "Egg Drive" remains a mystery.

Written history is a mirror of social change, and this volume is no exception. We discovered that the first time women were listed among those present at an annual meeting was in 1886. Evening Communion Services were not introduced until 1892. It was 60 years before a ballot became necessary, when electing People's Wardens: and so on.

"Time does not permit me to tell" of Ruth Calvert; Nana Tuck; Pru Waters; Ted Walker; Sam Trimmer; Doris Wedderburn; Hazel Smith; May Dawson and so many others, "who through faith conquered... that they might gain a better resurrection. These were all commended for their faith. Surrounded by such... witnesses... let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us". (Hebrews 11: 32-33, 35, 39; 12:1)

T. J. Halls.
(February, 1988)