Primitive Methodist Women N – S
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NEWTON, M
Nothing further is known of her, except that she was pledged by the Birmingham East circuit (1841), and resigned (January 1844) [reason unknown].
Stations
1841 Birmingham East
1843 Bishop’s Castle
1842 Prees
NOBLE, Ann (1814/1816-1848)
Born at Darley-abbey, near Derby, Ann was converted at 18 and persisted in spite of the ridicule of her friends. She joined the PM society at Darley, quickly becoming an exhorter and then a travelling preacher (1834). She was pledged by Bradwell circuit in 1835. Having retired, because her strength was not equal to the demands of the itinerancy, she reverted to local preacher status. Ann married a certain Mr. Williamson; no details are given, but her life was evidently a hard one. Latterly she lived at Measham, in the Ashby-de-la-Zouch circuit. Becoming ill in the spring of 1848, she died on 13th October of that year, leaving “an infant and other little ones”. From her obituary it appears likely that she was about 32 or 34 at the time of her death, and, therefore, was probably born around 1814 or 1816 and married sometime between 1836 and 1845.
Stations
1834 Bradwell
1836 Bradwell
1835 Bolton (half)
Bradwell (half)
Obituary
PM Mag. (1849) pp. 137-38
PERRY, S
[S. Perry may be the maiden name of Suzannah Barber (q.v.)]
She was imprisoned with William Taylor in Huddersfield, 16th July 1820, where they sang hymns. About midnight the constable sent in “two blankets and took Sister Perry out.” They were taken before the magistrates the next morning, but refused to stop preaching.
Stations
1821 Sheffield
PHELPS, Jane
Nothing is known of her, except that she was pledged by Hull Circuit (1839), and came originally from Shadwell, and was prominent in London PM.
Stations
1839 Hull (3 years)
1842 Brigg
PORTEUS (PORTEOUS), Mary, Mrs (1783-1861)
Born at Newcastle-on-Tyne in 1783, Mary was the youngest child of John Thompson, a joiner and cabinet-maker. He was a strict Presbyterian, but died when Mary was very young, leaving the family impoverished. Having to leave school at seven, Mary taught herself to read and write. She worked in a factory from the age of eleven, but becoming ill worked at home, spinning yarn, often reading as she worked. In spite of her mother’s opposition she went to the Presbyterian chapel. When her mother died (31st December 1801) a Presbyterian neighbour took her in. Mary married Thomas Porteous, a seaman, at All Saints Church, Newcastle-on-Tyne on 7th or 8th March 1803. She continued to attend the Presbyterian chapel, but in August 1807 became a member of the WM society. She started a prayer meeting, became a class Leader (1814), a visitor for the Benevolent Society and a Sunday school teacher (1816). She went to hear the PMs and, although feeling a call to preach, she resisted it for two years, being prejudiced against women preachers, but eventually became a local preacher (January 1824). She was called to be a travelling preacher (January 1825), but family commitments delayed her start until January 1826, when she went to the Whitby circuit. Mary fell foul of the 1827 Conference resolution that ‘no married female shall be allowed to labour as a travelling preacher in any circuit except that in which her husband resides’, however, being considered an ‘extraordinary case’ she was allowed to continue. She worked chiefly in the North of England. After being forced to retire from the itinerancy through ill health (1840), she served as a local preacher for 21 years. She suffered strokes in 1857 and 1859, but a third one proved fatal and she died on 18th April 1861. Mary was buried in Hallgarth churchyard, Durham and a memorial service was held in Gilesgate Moor chapel on 19th May 1861.
Stations
1828 Ripon (2 years)
1836 North Shields (2 years)
1830 Carlisle (3 years)
1838 Sunderland
1833 Hexham (2 years)
1839 Durham
1835 not stationed
Obituary
PM Mag. (1861) pp. 520-23
PRICE, Jane
Nothing is known of her, except that she was pledged by Darlaston Circuit (1837).
Stations
1837 Darlaston
1838 Congleton
PRICE, Sarah (1807-18?)
She was taken out by the Hull Circuit and pledged by the Redruth Circuit (1829). Local records highlight several points of interest about PM in Cornwall at that time – the circuits were “financially embarrassed”, so Sarah did not receive her full connexional stipend; several of the travelling preachers were fined for “neglect of opportunities”, and evidently both preachers and circuits could request a change.
Stations
1829 St. Austell
1839 Banbury
1830 Motcombe (2 years)
1840 Farringdon [sic] *
1832 Frome (3 years)
1841 Mitcheldever *
1835 Salisbury (2 years)
1842 Banbury
1837 Andover (2 years)
* Although the Stations list Sarah as appointed to Farringdon (sic) it is possible that she did not go there, but spent two years at Mitcheldever, according to that circuit’s accounts.
PRIESTMAN, Sarah
Nothing is known of her, except that she was taken on the Annual List in 1827. The PM Circuit Plan for the Home Branch of the Hull Circuit 1827 (April-July) lists Sarah under ‘Stations of the Preachers’ at Keyingham.
Stations
1827 Hull
1828 Hull (half) Pocklington (half)
QUARTON, Emma
She was pledged by Preston Brook Circuit (1841). Apparently Emma did not conform to the rigid connexional regulations about the plainness of dress. Whether this is why she retired from the itinerancy is not known, but she continued to take services, presumably as a local preacher in the Nottingham District.
Stations
1841 Prees
REDGATE, Mary
Nothing further is known of her.
Stations
1823 Nottingham
ROBOTHAM (ROWBOTHAM), Elizabeth
Nothing further is known of her.
Stations
1831 Presteign
1835 Bradwell (half)
Bolton (half)
1832 Preston Brook
1836 Bolton
1833 Pocklington
1837 Witney
1834 Louth (half) Scotter (half)
SCOLTOCK, Ann
Nothing further is known of her.
Stations
1828 Whitby
1830 Ripon
1829 Sunderland
SCRIBBANES (SCRIBBAENES), Mrs Mary (1781-1852)
The PM Magazine (1853) has an obituary of a Mrs Mary Scribbans, but there is nothing in it to suggest that she was a travelling preacher. In an obituary of Lucy Hambleton of the Reading Circuit W. Scribbans refers to her conversion while hearing his sister Mary speak on justification by faith. It is difficult to determine whether the two obituaries refer to the woman listed on the stations.
Stations
1839 Reading
Obituary
PM Mag. (1853) p. 441(?)
SELLARS, Mary
Nothing further is known of her.
Stations
1823 Barnsley
SIMPSON, H
She worked pre-stations, particularly in the Leicester area. Nothing further is known of her, except that she continued to take services, presumably as a local preacher, in the Nottingham District.
Stations
1821 Loughborough
SMITH, Elizabeth (1805-1836)
Born in Ludlow on 10th January 1805, Elizabeth was the youngest of six children. Her father, a wholesale glover, being financially inept, left home, ‘enlisted on board a ship as a marine’ and died soon afterwards. As her mother struggled to look after the family, Elizabeth was brought up by her grandmother, Mrs Powell, who sent her to the National school on weekdays. She was apprenticed in a dress making business and worked as dresser to an actress. At the age of 16 she went into service in a Colonel’s family in London and then with a vicar’s family in Buckinghamshire. After a visit home she was converted (Christmas 1825), but the family she was living with at the time (probably the Colonel’s family) did not approve of “Methodists” and, using the excuse that Elizabeth’s health was deteriorating, she had to leave. Elizabeth returned to Ludlow and established a good dressmaking business. She joined the PMs and, after praying in public, was asked to become a local preacher (June 1825). The September Quarterly Meeting sent her to open a new mission in Presteign, Radnorshire, possibly as a hired local preacher, as she is not listed on the Stations until 1828. ELizabeth was particularly good at “opening” new areas, but faced much opposition from clergymen, rowdy youths and noisy musicians, especially while in the Brinkworth District, where a female preacher was a great novelty. Stationed in Darlaston in 1832 she worked tirelessly during the cholera epidemic. Elizabeth married Thomas Russell (1806-89), a fellow travelling preacher on Easter Monday, 8th April 1833 at the Parish Church, Tipton, Staffordshire. Julia, their 16-month old daughter died of small pox (19th October 1835). Elizabeth was taken ill on Saturday, 21st November 1835 and died on Sunday, 21st February 1836 at Ludlow. Her funeral and burial took place in Ludlow on Monday, 1st March, with a memorial service, conducted by John Graham, the PM itinerant, being held on Sunday, 10th April. Thomas married twice more and is buried in the cemetery at Englesea Brook.
Stations
1828 Brinkworth (4 years)
1832 Darlaston
Obituary
PM Mag. (1837) pp. 95-99, 139-143, 176-181, 216-222, 258-260, 336-338
SPEEDY, Jane
Nothing is known of her, except that she was taken on the Annual List in 1839.
Stations
1836 Preston
1842 Wakefield
1837 Hull (5 years)
SPITTLE (SPITTLEAL), Sarah
One of the earliest female itinerants Sarah came from Bronington-in-Flint. Her Journal gives an account of the work in the Shrewsbury area.
Stations
1822 Tunstall
1826 Burton-on-Trent
1823 Darlaston (half) Ramsor (half)
1827 Frome
1824 Liverpool
1828 Wrockwardine Wood
1825 Oldham (half) Blackburn (half)
STANNA, Ann
One of the earliest female itinerants, Ann came from Bronington-in-Flint. Her Journal gives an account of the work in the North Midlands.
Stations
1821 Darlaston
1823 Darlaston (half) Ramsor (half)
1822 Tunstall
1824 Shrewsbury (half) Oakengates (half)
STARR, Elizabeth (1821-?)
Elizabeth was taken out by the Reading Circuit. She married Thomas Green (1809-1858), a fellow travelling preacher, on 18th April 1846. He died on 25th February 1858 at New Swindon, Wiltshire, leaving her with two children. His first wife had been Jane Walter, whom he had married on 10th July 1830, and who had died on 27th March 1832.
Stations
1842 Watford
1844 Essex Mission
1843 Brentford
1845 Pickering
SUDDARD (SUDDARDS), Jane
[Jane Suddards was the married name of Jane Ansdale (q.v.)]
Stations
1823 Hull
SYMONDS, Susan
Nothing further is known of her.
Stations
1836 Snittisham
1837 Mattishall