THE PASTORATE OF UPPER MEETING

[John]

Being an account of the Pastors of High Street Baptist Church and some material about the activity of the church during the period of each pastor.

PASTORS OF UPPER MEETING
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INTRODUCTION
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UPPER MEETING is the early 19th century name of the Church now known as SAFFRON WALDEN BAPTIST CHURCH . which in the first half of the 19th century was a Particular Baptist Church accepting anyone into it’s congregation, but organised and managed under God by a Fellowship of Church Members led by a Pastor and two Deacons in the manner of a lst century New Testament Church.

Members were Christians who had been baptised as believers by total immersion. No one could be a Member unless they had been baptised in water by total immersion. In doctrine it was Calvinistic believing that God had predestined certain human beings to dwell with him in Heaven for all eternity where as all the rest would perish in Hell.

These predestined people were known as the Elect.
Only Church Members could participate in Communion receiving the bread and wine that represented the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

They accepted that they were sinners who had failed God, but had been forgiven and reconciled to God the Father, by God the Son who had been born of a young woman who was a virgin by a rare method of conception induced by the God the Holy Spirit without the need of male sperm, who then had grown through child hood, teen years and young manhood, who had not married, who had been baptised by total immersion, plunged in the river Jordan at the hand of John the Baptist.

Who had thereafter lived an exemplary life, preaching the good news of the Kingdom of God, healing people who were physically ill, casting out demon spirits from those who were, as we would say, mentally ill, doing miracles, doing good. Who had personally chosen those who would be his disciples.

Who had proclaimed salvation, that is release from the power and consequences of sin, through exercising faith in God and repentance of their sin, seeking to live with God’s help a better life by receiving his grace, mercy and forgiveness, and the presence with them of God the Holy Spirit to teach and help them, who had descended upon Jesus Christ at his Baptism.

This same Jesus Christ whose very title meant Saviour King, had been arrested on trumped up charges by the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem, put through a mock show trial against their own laws, and then been sentenced to death.

He was stripped naked, brutally flogged, and then humiliated, marched through the streets to the place of execution outside the city walls, and there crucified on a Roman cross, a form of gibbet, involving being nailed to a cross by the hands and feet , and left in excruciating pain to die of exposure, thrombosis and affixation.

As he had prophesied, he rose victorious from death, in a transformed body that could be touched, that could walk about, that cold consume food, but could also pass through matter into locked rooms, and appear and disappear at will.

He had thus sacrificed his life as a ransom for theirs, as a substitute for them. He had been punished for their sins, by his stripes they had been healed, by his shed blood they had been cleansed and made perfect before God the Father, to be received by him as adopted children, citizens of Heaven, to live with God for ever. Though their earthly bodies would age and die their souls would survive and experience eternal life in new resurrected bodies, as Christ’s resurrected body.

He had so made himself known over a period of six weeks to his chosen followers who formed his first church in Jerusalem and were commissioned by him to take his message everywhere. He had then left them to return into Heaven, from where to them would be sent to live within them God the Holy Spirit as their teacher, companion and to empower them.

This then was their belief and practice based on the Word of God.
That is they were governed by the teaching of the Bible applied to their daily lives by God the Holy Spirit.

Their Bible was the translation from the original languages of Hebrew and Greek by William Tyndale and Myles Coverdale in the 16th century and then published in revised form in 1769 by the leaders of the Church of England and accepted generally by most Protestant Christians, and known as the Authorised Version Bible and popularised by the British and Foreign Bible Society founded in 1804.

[ Roman Catholics had their own translation in English for the use of scholars but otherwise the Bible remained in Latin as did their service liturgy. The Eastern Orthodox Churches which had split from the Roman Catholics in the 13th century, had their Bible in Greek. Methodists also had a simplified English Bible produced by their leader John Wesley to help the poorly educated to read and understand. ]

In Saffron Walden at the time of this Particular Baptist Church there was also a Strict Baptist Church following the teaching of another Protestant Reformer , the Dutch theologian Jacob Arminius.

There was also a corrupted General Baptist Church that had been founded on the teaching of Jacob Arminius in 1711, begun in a room in a house in Gold Street in 1704 from dissenters from Abbey Lane Independent Church [ Congregationalist] .

However they in 1790 adopted the beliefs of Arias an Egyptian presbyter in Alexandria in the 4th century whose teaching widely vexed the Church of the 4th century, and polluted the Scriptures copied there.
Known as the heresy of Arianism.

This General Baptist Church from 1790 - 1912 was a Unitarian Church, which returned to being a General Baptist Church in 1914 and whose property was entrusted by a Court of Inquiry in 1920 to the Baptist Union who sold it in 1950 by auction to a local family business. The congregation had then dwindled away and it’s last pastor died in 1957. It’s communion table and vessels were given to Upper Meeting where the wood from the table was used to repair the pulpit. Sale of the property paid for two of the three bungalows for retired ministers in Rowntree Way.

Upper Meeting Baptist Church had begun in 1761 at Abbey Lane Independent Church and transferred in 1774 to a purpose built Meeting House in Bailey’s Lane [ now Audley Road ] . In 1812 it was involved in the creation of the Union of Particular Baptist Churches that later in the century united with the few remaining General Baptist Churches and is now known as the Baptist Union of Great Britain. ( BUGB for short)

[John]

The Story of it’s pastors begins thus.
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Andrew Gifford was uniquely a Baptist Minister in London educated at Bristol University and a personal friend of the then Archbishop of Canterbury, and also of the Speaker of the House of Commons, the Lord Chancellor and of King George the Second , who he advised on antiques as he was an assistant librarian of the British Library and sub curator of the newly created British Museum.

Andrew was also the uncle of a young Cornishman Joseph Gwennap whose father Richard was a sailor and away from home much of the time. Joseph’s mother Ursula Gwennap [ nee Painter ] died when he was about 15 and Andrew conducted the funeral on August 17th 1745. at Falmouth, She was also mother of John. who with his wife and 2 daughters , became founder members of Emmanuel Baptist Church Falmouth. Ursula was sister of Grace Painter, wife of Baptist minister Andrew Gifford. Grace died in 1760.

Joseph was married to his first wife Esther Blaw whom he called Hettie, in 1754 at the Savoy Chapel in London by a Revd J Wilkinson an ex member of the Church of England, and after living with his uncle for about a year they moved to Falmouth.

In 1756 Joseph, deeply depressed and suffering so we now believe from Schizophrenia had a conversion experience in a cave on the cliff, about a mile from his home, where he had sought solitude. He had shared his doubts, fears and misgivings with the Methodists, fearing he was oppressed of the Devil, but they had been unable to help or understand.

On one visit to the cave he had had a deep experience but had not really committed himself. On his next visit the entrance had caved in and he regarded this as a bad sign that because of his hesitancy in making a decison God had rejected him, and he wrote to his uncle about this and Andrew Gifford convinced him that this was not the case.

His wife did not share his beliefs. They moved back to London where he became a member and lay preacher of his Uncle Andrew’s Church , at Wild Street, which later became Eagle Street Baptist Church which met in what became the Council Chamber of the Baptist Union Council in Holborn before the BU moved to Didcot in Oxfordshire.

As a lay preacher Gifford introduced Joseph to Miss Elizabeth Fuller of Myddlyton House Saffron Walden, which had belonged to her parents Thomas and Mary Fuller. Thomas having made his fortune from the sale of wool and had large estates which at his death passed to his son Thomas. Gifford and Elizabeth were also friends of Ebenezer Hollick the Lord of the Manor of Whittlesford, an oil merchant, who was a member of Stone Yard Baptist Church St Andrews Street Cambridge and of which his sons became Deacons..

Joseph Gwennap was commissioned as a preacher in 1759 when the Eagle Street Baptist Church gave Joseph “liberty to exercise his gift as providence shall call him to it” In other words they gave him permission to preach, to serve as a lay preacher and so he preached to a small group at Abbey Lane from 1760. In Jan 1761 a Deacon Lewis Andrews began keeping minutes of meetings of a Church or group at Abbey Lane in an old account book, which was our first Minute Book 1761-1775. This Lewis Andrews was registered in Saffron Walden as an elector in 1763 for the election at a time so he was probably a property owner. He died after an illness of some months in 1771.

The First Pastorate
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In May 1760 Joseph preached 2 sermons on one Sunday at Abbey Lane and they particularly liked the second. He returned to London but was invited back for 2 months which was begun sometime around June or July, After this he was invited to come and minister for a year from late autumn 1760 to same time 1761. Whether he then returned to live in London we are uncertain of as at one point he suggested he remained at Walden.
In 1763 in April he was invited to become Pastor but he hesitated and sought advice of friends and was encouraged to accept when a further invitation came. Joseph was asked to become the Minister of Abbey Lane Independent Church, by meetings of the Chapel Trustees, the Subscribers and the Church congregation. In June 1764 he was inducted and Andrew Gifford took part in the service

In 1767 some 40 persons were baptised in the River Granta, tributary to the Cam, at Whittlesford Mill, home of Ebenezer Hollick ,the Oil Merchant before a crowd of over 1,500 at which Joe Gwennap preached and baptised candidates, some from Walden along with Rev Robert Robinson Minister of St Andrews’ Street

In 1771 disputes occurred at Abbey Lane over Baptism and the Baptists out numbering the non-Baptists, and trying to change the Trust Deed. Some people where expelled from Church Membership and pastors from around were called in to sort the problem. It was sorted. After several Days of Prayer and setting up a committee of local ministers to help. In 1771 Joseph was in dispute with his wife and put her out of the home on the street, as a result of which she may have returned to London with their children, which may be the reason why a young man Buck was suspended from Church membership for writing a letter to Andrew Gifford about Joseph’s misconduct. Buck was later reinstated.

In April 1774 Joseph and Hettie were involved in divorce proceedings in London the outcome of which is still be researched though they were separated although there appears ground for believing that they were not legally married as “Rev” J Wilkinson does not appear to have been legally licensed and during the period of 1754 through 1755 , over 1500 marriages took place at Savoy Chapel that were in fact illegal.

Out of the blue as it may have seemed locally then, and to us down the years on the evening of Friday June 10th 1774 the Chapel Trustees met and voted Gwennap out of using the pulpit or building by 5 votes to 2 thereby expelling him, for some reason regarded as unfitting a gentleman leave alone a minister.

This may well have been the court proceedings. [ This only came to light again from research in 2008]

That news must have travelled fast, for 2 days later the Church members met in Elizabeth Fullers’ parlour at Myddlyton House some 60 of them to decide their next move and worshipping for the first of 21 Lord’s Days in her Barn next to the house.

So Joseph Gwennap 1730 - 1813 became the first Pastor of Upper Meeting.
1757-1760 Lay preacher
1760 -1764 Pastor of a Baptist group at Abbey Lane Independent Church
1764 -1774 Pastor Abbey Lane Independent Church, Saffron Walden
1774 -1782 Pastor Upper Meeting Baptist Church, Saffron Walden
1782 -1790 Pastor of Eagle Street Baptist Church Holborn while his uncle was ill & dying. Andrew Gifford died in 1790
1790 -1798 Pastor Piccadilly Particular Baptist Church, London. Joseph retired in 1798 his congregation having left him accusing him of putting into practice the theories of Mr Martin Madan a minister who died in 1790, who advocated the practice of polygamy as a cure for prostitution.
1813 Joseph Died Feb 13th aged 83 a Walworth, London his remains buried at Bunhill Fields Cemetery. Survived by his son Thomas, and his “first wife” Hettie who died at Clerkenwell in 1821 as “Esther Gwennap or Blaw” and by his 2nd wife
Elizabeth Gwennap who had been Elizabeth Fuller, widow of John Fuller, woolstapler of Audley End Saffron Walden, who lived at Dunmow.

Widow Fuller had originally been born as Elizabeth Johns at Dunmow in 1739. In 1763 at Great Dunmow she married Baptist Minister, Samuel Beldam, who died at Dunmow in 1769 and Elizabeth then married John Fuller at St Giles Cripplegate, London in 1772. When John Fuller died he left her a wealthy woman, Elizabeth Gwennap had 3 children by her previous marriages.


Joseph Gwennap’s brother John married Grace Bunster from Truro on Jan 17th 1763 John & Grace settled at Falmouth.
Emmanual Baptist Church had been founded there in 1662 but had then scattered and reformed in 1769 when Andrew Gifford came down on June 25th and baptised Grace. And also a James Painter (spelt Paynter) . John & Grace became members there and Brother Joseph came down from Saffron Walden to conduct another baptism on July 21st. gem. John & Grace had 3 daughters, Catherine, Elizabeth and Midge.

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UPPER MEETING was without a pastor- from 1782-1786 a period we know nothing about. Then in 1786 they called Matthew Walker to the pastorate upon the recommendation of John Howard the Philanthropist who from 1774 had been High Sheriff of Bedfordshire and a notable prisons reformer

[John]

The Second Pastorate
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Revd Matthew Walker was inducted on July 25th 1787 by the Rev Dr John Rippon of Souhwark assisted by a Rev Pedley.

All went well until 1790 when by a majority of 18 the Church suspended 4 original members including Trustee John Campion and Deacon EdwardPrior. Disgruntled members forced a Board of Enquiry composed of Dr Rippon Rev John Martinn from
Westminster, & Rev John Geard from Hitchin who met on April 30th 1793.
They counselled reconciliation by both parties. Walker and his supporters agreed. The 4 having by now been suspended for 3 years naturally declined and were finally removed from the Church Roll in 1800 and were worshipping at Abbey Lane.

Matthew Walker lived in Bridge Street opposite Horn lane

He kept a school where on Sunday Evenings he taught amongst other matters John Bunyan’s “Pilgrim’s Progress” to boys including John Player who was a visitor who in 1836 became Mayor of Walden after a career in the Naval Civil service and years of Christian service. Player was a member of Abbey Lane Independent
Church.

Matthew Walker led our church to found a Sunday school in 1806, a year after Abbey Lane and led us to join the Baptist Missionary Society in 1807

Matthew Walker was leading open air meetings from the 1780’s on the Common, or Green at Ashdon and he left Walden Feb 1809 and became Pastor when Ashdon Dec 17th 1809. He remained Pastor there until 1834. His wife Sarah also died there. The Church began with 11 members in Jane Cro’s house but later met in a barn which was later replaced by the Church Hall behind their present chapel

[John]

The Third Pastorate. Josiah Wilkinson 1809 - 1848.
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William Nichols and his wife Ann joined Upper Meeting Baptist Church as one of the 65 people who did so during the pastorate of Matthew Walker. William was Senior deacon acting as Church secretary when Matthew left and he called the Church to prayer to set up a regular prayer meeting which went on for many years at in 1851 over 140 attended it.

They had four sons, William, Joseph, James, and Henry, and the latter two became Chapel Trustees, and a daughter Sarah.
The eldest son William Andrew Nichols was a cordwainer and a partner in his Dad’s currier business.

He was sent by his Dad to London on business. While there he was introduced to another young man of about his own age, 23 yearold Josiah Wilkinson, a Baptist preacher from Tooley Street Baptist Church in Southwark near to London Bridge who’s mother had been a member of that Church for over 60 years (that is from 1749)

Coincidentally there was an alleged C of E clergyman Revd J Wilkinson in London l who married Joseph and Hettie Gwennap at the Savoy chapel, as it so happens illegally, not having a proper licence to do so, in 1756. One wonders if there is any relationship. Another man who did this there was transported to the West Indies for doing so and research continues to try to identify this . Revd J Wilkinson.

Josiah was invited to preach at Upper Meeting and was accepted, and on Oct 15th 1809 hewas ordained and inducted and taking part were ministers from Melbourne, Haverhill, Hitchin, Potter Street then a village, now part of Harlow and Abbey Lane Saffron Walden.

The Church drew then, and still does, from a wide rural area
from Whittlesford, Wicken, Linton and Dunmow and many villages within that circle.

Folk walked in, or came by horse with wives riding pillion, or in carts and carriages for a 10.30am Sunday service of worship.
Horses were fed and watered, people brought packed lunches or met with friends in town. Lunches could be eaten at the meeting place. There was then an afternoon worship service which as occasioned would be followed by Communion. In 1809 Church meetings were transferred from Wednesdays to Sunday afternoons, so that the countryside members did not have to walk in mid-week.

The Church became a Particular Baptist Church , with only baptised members, exercising Believers Baptism, and closed communion, on Dec 10th 1809 nd continued so until May 30th 1847, when it reverted to “mixt-membership” and open communion.

Josiah Wilkinson drew up a register of 80 people in 1810 who were members to which by 1824 were added 266 more. On June 10th 1810 the church joined the old original Essex Baptist Association and in 1811 the annual EBA Assembly was held here with the guests entertained at the Rose and Crown inn, in the Market Place , where today is Boots the Chemists.

During 1809-1810 Josiah presented a series of Public lectures which together with his sermons were published both here and in London.

He was present at Dr John Rippons’s church at tooley street in1812 when the foundations were discussed for setting up the Baptist Union. He long supported the Union and the Baptist Missionary Society Upper Meeting gave £25 in September 1812 to help rebuild William Carey’s Mission Printing Press at Serampore in Bengal in India after a disastrous fire and in 1843 they sent over £60 resulting from the BMS Jubilee Celebration when William Carey’s nephew Eustace preached at Upper Meeting.
Several Upper Meeting and Quaker Meeting Members supported BMS Education and Translation projects.
For many years Josiah was secretary of the local Bible Society Auxillary which not only raised hundreds of pounds for overseas but distributed thousands of copies of the Scriptures in the towns of Walden, Thaxted and Stansted and many of the villages.
In March 1813 the men of the congregation met to decide to build a Manse for their minister and £150 was subscribed oin the spot, for about then Josiah Wilkinson married Elizabeth Bridge Eachus of a Cheshire family, a Congregationalist woman, who was the daughter of a Church of England local doctor who served so here over 50 years , Dr George Eachus, who lived in Church Street. Later it was too this house that Josiah was moved when he became ill in 1848.
George was a wealthy man with another house in the town and a fine carriage. Josiah rejoiced when in 1821 he was able to baptise Elizabeth as a believer and receive her into Church membership. They had 3 children, Frederick, Hannah and Elizabeth, The latter died aged 14 and was buried in the grave of her grandmother, Josiah’s mother, who had moved to Walden.

In 1813 Josiah had baptised William Andrew Nichols who had gone to London to find him in 1809, but in 1818 William Andrew Nichols left Upper Meeting, as did 2 other young men over a 2 year period, to join John Dane Player’s Strict Baptist Church begun as a prayer meeting in Park Place in 1818 and built a chapel in London Road in 1822.
Josiah was always keen on education. He maintained a Non-Conformist school at the church. He prepared young men to enter training for the Baptist ministry, he trained itinerant lay preachers for the Essex Baptist Association, encouraged our Sunday School, established the Juvenile Society, and was a manager of East Street Boys British Elementary School established in 1838, of which one of our later members was Headmaster and where several of our members across the years were teachers, That school later merged with South Road British Girls and Infants schools to become RA Butler Schools lower down that road. Both British schools were so called because they were founded by a charity the British & Foreign Schools Society. Josiah had other social interests in the town and was a great supporter of Stepney Academy, now Regents Park Baptist College at Oxford for training men for the ministry.

He encouraged the establishment in 1825 of Langley Baptist Church some of whose founder members used to come in the 9 miles to Upper Meeting . They began meeting in a carpenter-builders workshop and later built the Chapel at Upper Green where a small congregation still meet today.

He encouraged the Baptist Church at Thaxted to move from their small meeting house in Gelph Lane to a site in the middle of a potato field, now Park Street Baptist Church, now small but thriving and growing. He strengthened ties with Abbey Lane Meeting, and other Congregationalist Churches in the district. Several of our members of the Wakefield family helped to establish on Wakefield farm land at Great Chesterford a Congregationalist Church chapel with has been revived in recent years and is still thriving today.

Josiah led the Church in support of the Town Mission launched in 1822 to reach the 60% of the people of the parish who were poor and seldom went to the churches. The missioner Peter Johnson joined our church in 1842. We engaged in joint care with the Congregationalists of chapels at Wimbish and Debden which are now private homes.
amongst those he prepared for ministerial careers was Dr Samuel Gosnell Green, later President of Rawdon College, author, educationalist, President of the Baptist Union. Editorial Secretary of the Religious Tract Society . SGG came to Upper Meeting from Walworth where his father was pastor and both a teacher and printer. SGG preached his first sermon at Upper Meeting. He commended to us our new pastor in 1874 returned and preached in 1879 for the opening of the new Chapel.
Another Josiah helped was Benjamin Hodgkin, son of a Soham pastor though born in the Potteries in Staffs. Benjamin went on to serve Bishop’s Stortford Baptist Church from 1836-1886.

Three young men of the Church entered the ministry assisted by Josiah, These included Clement Nott born in Walden in 1794 Baptised in 1816. He studied at Stepney college, and for 30 years was Pastor of Zion Particular Baptist church Sutton in Ashville Notts, and much involved in education. He retired back to Walden and served as a deacon. Another was James Webb from Ipswich whose father served as pastor at Langley. James transferred here at the age of 24, and in 1827 he entered Horton Academy and was later President of the Baptist Union, and a College tutor. The third one was David Payn, born in Birmingham, baptised at Walden in 1827, entered Stepney College, in 1828 and went and served as Pastor in 1831 at Yarmouth, Isle of Wight.

As Wilkinson’s health began to fail in 1844, the Church here called Nathaniel Haycroft , a Stepney college student, as Co-Pastor. He stayed until 1848. He had successful pastorates at Bristol and Nottingham . He became an author, politician, educationalist, editor and historian

Josiah Wilkinson resigned and retired in 1848 and died in 1849. A stone tablet to his memory was set up in the Meeting House This was removed when it became a Sunday School Hall in 1882 and is believed currently to reside in the cupboard under the North stairs and has been exhibited during the late 20th century.

[John]

The Fourth Pastorate
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In 1848 Upper Meeting chose as his successor Thomas Burditt
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who ministered here from 1848-1855. He had been former editor of “THE BAPTIST RECORD” and had held pastorates at Long Sutton and Cambridge.
He had quite a job to follow Josiah Wilkinson, and no doubt those who remembered the “good old days” and did not like change got restive.

The first 3 years of his ministry here were singularly blessed. This was a time of Christian revival in Britain. As part of the National census of 1851 on a particular Sunday a count was made of all those attending worship throughout the land

To our understanding the figures here appeared remarkable. Remember they were using the old meeting house, now the church hall, It was broader than the later building and there were side galleries. Seating capacity was recorded as 1007
We can only assume they were all rather slim. It must have been quite a squash so no wonder people complained of the stuffiness of the building due to poor ventilation.
Morning worship was at 10.30am and 591 attended, and in the afternoon 699 attended, in both case including 157 children
The actual membership of the Sunday School begun in 1806, was 189, of whom 102 were girls and 87 were boys.
Of the girls, 58 and of the boys 61 attended day schools. This leaves 70 who didn’t but they could have been between the ages of 12 and 21, apprentices, and farm labourers,
The Sunday school had a staff of 27. 12 men and 15 ladies.
That week the mid-week prayer meeting was attended by 147 people,
Church Membership that December stood at 216 with 14 baptisms during the year
Unfortunately few records come down to us from this period.
Thomas’s pastorate was marred by dissension and false accusations against him by 3 gossiping Church members against whom he finally engaged in court action for slander.

Before it reached court the matter was settled privately between solicitors and we have the original bill of costs. The members concerned were suspended and then expelled but Thomas had to submit himself to a ballot of the membership as to whether he remained minister. They responded with a massive “Yes”, but the church was divided over it and some were glad to see him leave Walden.

He went on to be a Tutor at Haverfordwest College, and two useful pastorates at Tenby and Rawdon

[John]

The Fifth Pastorate
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William Audley Gillson ( 1855-74)
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Born at Wareham in Dorset in 1815, the son of an Independent Minister, William studied at Lewisham Congregational School, and completed his qualifications with 10 years of private studies. Baptised in 1837 he entered Stepney college in 1839 and held pastorates at Kingsbridge and Devonport and at York Street at Bath.

He served 19 years at Walden and while we don’t have much detail about him
we know that he was a much loved and respected pastor known over a wide area for his support for social, educational and moral reform, and supporting many local societies for improvement.

For a long time he was one of the Bible Society Auxillary Secretaries, and a founder member of the Burial Board. Throughout this period church records are very scanty. Church Meetings although held more frequently than today were summed up at the rate of one sentence at a time, sometimes with “ no business tonight, we sang a hymn”

Early in William’s ministry at Walden, the great “prince of preachers”, himself still quite young, Charles Haddon Spurgeon preached here for the 50th anniversary of the Sunday School.
In 1874 the role of deacons was changed. Since the beginning of this congregation as in the Independent Church before it from 1665 and the Presbyterian Church at Walden before that, the Minister had been supported by two men probably originally called Wardens, and later Deacons.
They were appointed periodically for life and remained in office until they died or were unable to continue in the office.
In 1845 three new younger men were elected and worked together as a committee but we are not sure how long this idea lasted. We think that one replaced an older one who died or could not continue, and the other two were added to share the increased work.
One looked after the writings, that would be the Minutes, the deeds, and any important letters. This one in 1874 became the Church Secretary annually elected.
The other one looked after the “monies” so he in 1874 became the Church Treasurer, also annually elected. They continued to be assisted by two other deacons.

In 1859 William became a founder member of the Trustees Management Committee of Debden Mission Chapel which in 1874 founded the Wimbish Mission Chapel. The last Trustee was Farmer Paul Wiseman father of Robert Wiseman one of our deacons in the late 20th century, In 1949 out of the demise of the Debden congregation grew the new Debden Penteocostal Church.

William suffered latterly from a nervous illness and on the centenary anniversary of the purchase of the Upper Meeting site he resigned the pastorate. He was present the following year at the Centenary Celebrations a silent witness, unable to speak.

He died on June 14th 1881 after a long severe illness aged 68. The Church allowed him to remain in the Manse all that time and paid him an annuity. That he was a widely popular man is borne out by his funeral. Ministers and pastors of many churches for miles around attended the funeral as did large crowd of people of all classes including Leading Quakers who often preached at Upper Meeting and one of them a leading local businessman Walter Robson led the Prayer.

He owned two large ships in King Street on both sides of the road where today (2007) Holland and Barrett are about 3 shops down from there and the L shaped group of shops opposite. In all comprising grocery, ironmongery, clothing, furniture and shoes. Revd F Edwards from Harlow Baptist Church preached at the service His coffin bore the simple message of one so active in Christ’s Service “ Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to thy cross I cling”

Perhaps part of his great ministry was his example through years of great personal suffering

[John]

The Sixth Pastorate
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REV ALFRED ROLLASON (1874-1897)

As the new minister, at a public meeting to celebrate the Centenary of the Church, Alfred Rollason referred to a proposal to build a new Schoolroom across the Manse lawn. Some sceptics felt that the congregation was incapable of even improving the ventilation of the old meeting house.

Nevertheless our present sanctuary was built in 1878-79. The memorial stone in the west wall was set up on June 3rd 1879 when tea was served in the body of the chapel while a choir of over 200 children sang from the gallery. Around the gallery rail was a banner of white linen with red lettering from Haggai 2 v 4 “BE STRONG ALL YE PEOPLE AND WORK, FOR I AM WITH YOU”,SAITH THE LORD.

The building was opened for worship on Oct 15th 1879 and in 1884 the old meeting house opened as an upgraded Sunday school building with a library. The completed project cost over £4000 and in 1897 they added a pipe organ.

The Rev Rollason led the church in expanding the Christian Endeavour Movement and developed the Choir. He was also involved in championing local education, the Temperance movement and local government.

Twice married, one son Harold entered the Baptist ministry and died in Canada, and another became a Congregationalist minister in the USA. and one daughter a local teacher helped pioneer Walden’s first Youth Centre and the Youth hostel. In 1897 after 40 years in the Ministry,

John Sage the retired minister of Ashdon was appointed Deputy Minister and later served 1898-1914 as a Deacon. He prepared our first unpublished history in 1911.

[John]

The Seventh Pastorate
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REV JOHN YOUNG (1898 - 1917)

After Alfred Rollason died John Young came He arrived for the 124th Anniversary. Membership stood at 172,.

He formed the first Diaconate or Deacons Court formed with 6 Deacons including Church Secretary and Church Treasurer offices introduced in 1871 although in 1845 when the 3 young deacons were appointed to help the 2 aged deacons they had formed a committee.

While today we reckon to have 12 elected Deacons and a Life Deacon, then there were 6 and for many years there had been only 2 who were elected for life . One looked after the money and the other the minutes and membership record.

In 1874 they were recognised as The Church Officers, they were no longer deacons and were elected annually at an AGM

. Dec 3rd & 4th 1903 the ladies organised a Bazaar at the Town Hall to clear the remaining debt on the building project In 1908 the choir pews were altered and changes made to the platform seating . John moved away in 1917 during the Great War

[John]

The Eighth Pastorate
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REV EDGAR JACKSON ( 1917 - 34)

Edgar Jackson arrived to reorganise a congregation and town devastated by world war led them through the post World War One trauma in which hardly a family in town was unaffected by the appalling casualties, with the death or wounding of husbands and fathers and sons.

Britain was close to bankruptcy and had been within 2 weeks of running out of food.

In 1920 after the First World War the sanctuary was redecorated and the Hall restored having been used for billeting troops, and we think the pulpit was changed. Through the 20’s and 30’s Edgar organised The Baptist Youth Institute and then Christian Endeavour flourished, which trained a new generation of young people as leaders of Church and Community, organised a Sportsmen Service,

In 1929 the Golden Jubilee of the new Sanctuary was celebrated During the late ‘20’s-early 30’s a monthly leaflet was distributed to every home in town, 1200 of them. A Church Council was formed to review the work of the Church and it’s work completed was disbanded.

Out of this the Women’s Own was founded and lasted until April 12th 2000 when it disbanded, In 1934 the Deacons were increased to 9, all married men according to 1 Timothy 3 v 1-13 and in 1938 the 3 Lady Deacons were elected .

[John]

The Ninth Pastorate
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REV SIDNEY GRAY (1934 -1945)

served as Chairman of the Free Church Council all through the War and helped greatly to draw all the churches together. He organised Open Air Services on the Common on summer Sunday afternoons attended by great crowds of people.

He presided over the building with the help of Frank and Don Purkiss of the new Hall at Sewards End in 1938 where a Sunday school was held, and A Women’s Meeting, a Scout’s Own meeting and a Girl’s Life Brigade Company. Over the platform painted on the wall, was the text “JESUS CHRIST, the same yesterday, today and forever” The Hall was a great training ground for new Church leaders and preachers.

He being himself a bricklayer, with the help of Frank and don Purkiss built a garage next to the Manse for his car.

We celebrated our 170th Church Anniversary in 1944 by uprooting old trees and planting new ones in the grounds in memory of Petty officer Dennis Raymond Andrews RN Lost at sea 24th Nov 1941, when his ship the light cruiser HMS Dunedin was sunk by U-boat U-124 , and all the other members of the congregation who served in the 2nd World War, and previous ministers.

The old iron gates that with the railings along the outer brick walls of the church grounds taken as salvage to make aircraft parts, were replaced with new oak gates. All this was done as a memorial to the young people of the Church who were in the Armed forces and at war as an act of hope for the future.

[John]

The Tenth Pastorate
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REV ARTHUR BLOWER ( 1946 - 1952)

rallied a congregation depleted by the War. He established the Men’s Fellowship which many of the men of the town joined. We played our part in the New Christian Council that brought together representatives from the mains stream churches:- St Mary’s, the Society of Friends, the Baptist, and Methodist churches.

The Good Friday Procession of Witness began during this period, He began the Sales of Work and the annual Toy service at Christmas The church hall became the headquarters of the Local Club for the Blind.

The Girl’s Life Brigade Company was formed. One of their officers, Mary, sister of Mr Jack Turnbull our senior deacon now became one of the first Baptist women Minister’s then called Deaconesses. Two other officers are now respected senior citizens of our congregation Joyce Oxley and Joy Waterman,

[John]

The Eleventh Pastorate
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REV LEN ADDICOTT ( 1953 1956)

built on the work of Arthur Blower. And led a lot of young people to Christ including me. He began outreach to students at the local Teachers Training College, his wife formed the Girl’s Auxillary of the Baptist Missionary Society .

The Church reorganised the Sunday School with a Senior Department led by Miss Kathleen Berry Headmistress of Dame Bradbury Prep School and Deacon Eric Len led a team of volunteers redecorating the Church Hall. The Youth Fellowship was formed. Our Youth Witness Team led them out into the villages leading services and coach loads of people were organised to Youth for Christ rallies at Stortford, Cambridge, & Haverhill.

Ministry of Christian Communication was born which has since sent out Christian literature, cassettes, videos, etc to over 43,200 people world wide across 192 countries and through it's SAMMF Fund made hundreds of grants around the world particularly for literature and media projects, community projects, students, educational projects, Scriptures supply and assistance to prisoners in several countries., . It is now called Lighthouse Ministry


Mrs Addicott formed the Young Wives Club and we hosted the Billy Graham Crusade Relay rally and began visiting homes on new housing estates..

[John]

The Twelfth Pastorate
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REV HORACE WEBB (1956 - 1968)

led the Church in far reaching improvements to the buildings
He led celebration the 1767 baptism at Whittlesford, Launched LIFE magazine which circulated locally for the next 37 years. Sunday school moved from afternoons to mornings and became Junior Church, Free Church Scouts were formed here. The Missionary Committee which we finally closed after over 30 years was founded and revolutionised the Church’s attitude to mission support around the world. He organised a week long “School of Prayer” his son baptised here Philip Cresswell Webb became a Baptist minister and currently is Ecumenical Officer for Derbyshire and his wife is a minister of a church.

Attendances at the Sewards End Mission declined in the 1950-60 period. Richard Coote and John Maddams delivered “CHALLENGE” Newspaper and London City Mission MESSENGER magazines to every home but no new interest developed. Arrangements were made to bring the few remaining people into Walden by car on Sundays and for the Women’s Own. For a time a young woman from there helped by running a Sunday School at Great Chesterford Congregationalist Church.

The Church was assured by one of it’s Deacons, the Borough Rating Officers that no more homes would be built there. Some years later the land around the home known as THE TOWERS was developed with new houses. More ribbon development took place. Closed down in 1963, we sold the site in 1968 to help buy the new Manse at 31 Linton Close which cost us £6300 at a time when the annual stipend was £850.

In the late 1990’s the home built on the site which took in the original building became the home of one of our church families the wife became the Boys Brigade Treasurer, a town councillor for a time, a Deacons and an organiser of community activities. The home for a tie was a venue for BB and Sunday School staff social evenings


The annual Summer Car Outing for Senior Citizens was launched as was the annual Christmas Charity Appeal. A mixed Youth Club was run, of which Arthur Coote, a later BB Officer and Deacon, then a teenager was a member .and was kicked out for bad behaviour. He later became a great friend of the leader who had felt compelled to do this.

[John]

The Thirteenth Pastorate
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REV DENNIS HORWOOD (1969-1981)

saw the introduction of Church weekend Conference, the formation the PLUS 16 Youth Group, Scout/Guide Gang Shows organised by David Halden one of our younger Deacons. run by the creation of the town’s first Day Centre for the Elderly in our Hall and the hill House project by which the Church helped the Baptist Men’s Movement rebuild Hill House from a post office sorting centre to 15 flats. In 1978 we began the Toddlers and Parents group and Andrew Turner, later a BB Officer, was a toddler then.

During this pastorate the Church replaced the Authorised Version of the Bible with the Today’s English Version, commonly called the Good News Bible, not knowing it to be a counterfeit translation. The old lectern Bibles donated to the Church and Sewards End Mission ended up in the Church Archives.

In Bicentenary Year , 1974 - 1975 marking our 200th Anniversary, a Church Archivist was appointed who carried through a thousand hour project to completely research the Church’s history, put on an exhibition and start the Archives Collection housing thousands of photos, now over 50 Albums, Hundreds of slides. Tape recordings, Videos. Etc.

We had a Flower Festival, a Cricket Match with Abbey lane. They won. The music group Intersection was formed. We had a united Civic service of Thanksgiving with Abbey Lane’s congregation. With present the Mayor, our Methodist friend, Labour Councillor Peter Preece,

The building of the new Church Hall including a second floor. We have not finished yet. We hoped to install a lift for wheelchairs and a sliding screen for the lower hall to divide the lounge from the rest. We installed a new kitchen as we got a fungus attack to the woodwork. New toilets were built.

This enabled us to form the Guide Company for girls and 1st SW Boys Brigade Company. . Andrew Turner a later Officer in Charge Company Section and Band Master was an Anchor Boy and Simon Pickhaver and Lee Kitchener later officers were in Juniors.

We also took in the Girls Brigade for a year while they had no Captain, We also helped reorganise the local Bible Society Committee with all the churches members of it. Out of that too began the VOLUNTEERS MUSIC GROUP, Geoff & Rosemary Timms with Ged and Sue Pearce

We also during this period started Church Conferences and Camps.

Our Church Membership reached it’s highest level since the 1870’s at 195 plus a near full congregation. We changed to new Hymn Books..

Our first photocopier was introduced and we got the first Overhead Projector. Resources Room was created and we got a video player.

In 1982 we launched the Marching Band. We had the services of a Student Pastor STEPHEN HEAP he has since had pastorates at Wrexham and Oxford, served as Chaplain to London University, and as a Community chaplain to the heart of the city of Milton Keynes.

Dennis retired in 1982, and £1000 was raise by an appeal, much more coming from the wider community than from the congregation to provide him with an annuity. Dennis died in 1982 after having become with his wife caring tenant of Hill house. Joan continued living there until her death in 2007; and held University of the Third Age history classes in her large sunny bed sit on the west side of the building.

The Church appointed as Moderator the Revd Edward Smalley from Colchester, and retired minister Rev Ralph Maythingy became Chairman of the pastoral committee

[John]

The Fourteenth Pastorate
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REV BRIAN TUCKER 1983 - 1992
The Fourteenth Pastorate
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REV BRIAN TUCKER. MA. MEd. BSc. 1982 - 1992
Born in Cheltenham in 1934 started school in Peterborough, was baptised at Sheffield and completed his schooling at Calabar Jamaica. Here the SCM group introduced him to public Christian witness and preaching.

He was a science student at the University College of the West Indies where he met his wide Helen, then he returned to England where he did his National service in the RAMC . He then prepared for the Ministry at Regent’s Park College Oxford . He and Helen married in 1959 and in 1969 he was ordained and inducted to his first the pastorate of the Lancashire cotton and mining town of Leigh, where their his daughters Isabel and Rosemary were born.

The family moved to Manchester in 1965 for 9 years in Moss Side a community under the stress of a slum clearance programme The varied experience involved team ministry, an ecumenical housing association, work through the LEA with alienated young people part time teaching and further study. Helen undertook teacher training.

While in Manchester their son Jeremy was born. There followed a further 9 years in Wolverhampton again with a multi racial congregation and involvement in inter -faith and community development projects. There were also 2 periods of leave, one for short term service with the BMS in Zaire, and one for a research studentship at Manchester University. Through this time Helen was a full time primary school teacher.

The Deacons here considered the names of 19 ministers and interviewed 3 and the Church invited Brian and Helen.

Christmas Tokens were introduced that year for a lot of the elderly connected with the congregation upon the suggestion of the Treasurer’s mother. The Church helped finance the start of the Girls Brigade Company at the Methodist Church and some of our congregation help staff it. Later when it had to disband we took in their Junior girls into our BB Junior section until they could resume under a new Captain, who saw an article written by our Press Secretary mentioning the need, sent to her by her mother when she was living at Epping but planning to move to Walden..

Some of our members helped to distribute 5000 localised covered TEV Gospels of Luke to homes in the town. Our Boy’s Brigade Company celebrated the National Centenary in 1983 by giving from the funds of BB and MCCPF [ now called Lighthouse Ministry ] TEV Commemorative New Testaments to all boys then in the Company. , At Christmas Junior Section boys were also given AV Gospels by their leaders.

The Church’s eldest member, Jane Drane, a founder member of the Women’s Own, reached 100 years of age. She died at 103, after 64 years of membership.

We installed a metal safety gate from the South side exit of the Hall in memory of our late life Deacon, Arthur Coote.

A decision previously take by the Deacons, led to the Junior Church commencing their session in the Church Hall and then joining the main service at 11.40 instead of as previously starting in the Church and leaving to classes at 11.20. Years later the system was again reversed.

At Brian’s suggestion a percentage proportion of Church’s General income was given to the BMS and Baptist Home Mission in addition to any other money raise, this later led to our support for both being paid by an agreed percentage equal to what they asked for annually per member of the church, apart from the extras of the Harvest appeal and gifts under the Birthday Scheme for Medical work.

The Church allowed time off to Brian for his duties as an officer of the BMS General Committee

The R.O.O.M appeal was launched , standing for Roof Over Our Minister, to add another bedroom to the Manse, and the house was eventually provided with Central Heating.

Up to 1990 further fabric improvements were added including new Male toilets, repair and over glazing of the Hall’s rose window and the leaded side windows, new cookers in the kitchen, provioion of a Loop system in the chapel; to assist deaf people. A new amplification system in the lower hall, a relay system of the service to the crèche was installed. In 1989 the entire church was rewired. Slates on the church west end were nailed on to resist storm damage.

The lower hall floor was replaced , the old pitch pine brick system was replaced. Two trees whose roots were threatening the Church Path were removed. New heating was installed in the Church Office [ now the Prayer Room ] to provide a constant temperature for the paper stocks used for the new Photocopier. A heater was also placed in the piano to ensure piano strings remained at a constant temperature.

About 1987 we added another hymnal to our stocks “Songs and Hymns of Fellowship” We had been using them at BB Camp and in Bible Class for about 3 years. They included a lot of Graham Kendrick songs, which The Volunteers had introduced us too after they had been given a cassette of his music in thanks to their services to the local Bible Society.

We also began paying for a licence to the Musical Rights society which enabled us to reproduce more new hymns and songs, and we removed a front side pew to create a Music Centre area for small choirs and music ensembles Member Kenneth Hall, Headmaster of Newport Free Grammar School, was appointed Church director of music [ his late brother, as a student, had represented our church at the EBA Youth Parliament in 1954 along with the present church archivist ].

Some people found Brian’s preaching difficult to understand, too highbrow, while others found it thought provoking and stimulating.
He appointed a day when his critics were invited to come and talk to him, but no one dared to do so.
His children’s talks were much appreciated illustrated from time to time by his “dolls” Harry, Harriet and “Big Henry”.

Worship became more liberated with children and young people making their own distinctive contribution. Drama, mime, dance routines, clapping, livelier music, humour, action songs, and processions became normal.. One year with our harvest offerings we queued up to place them in a wheelbarrow.

In 1983 £400 was raised at harvest for a freshwater supply for Tondo Zaire, and the Christmas appeal of £400 was divided between St John Hospital Jerusalem, and the side wards Project Radwinter road Community Hospital.

In 1984 6 congregations gathered in our Hall for an Agape Meal. Our Supporters Register indicated that we were in contact with 175 church member. Another 170 adherents, 200 children aged under 14, 20 young people 14 - 18., and through them all 370 parents, Young people went on a Canal Boat Holiday Andrew Mathieson and Beverley Wilson represented us at the European Baptist Federation Camp at Hamburg, and Penny Lockwood visited the Baptist world Alliance Congress in Argentina.

The Fifth Free Church Scouts raised money for our Harvest appeal to send tools to Zaire by sponsored roller skating. Our £300 Christmas appal was divided between he Peter Kirk school for disabled children and Moss side Baptist Church Manchester.

Some members of our congregation left to join the Saffron Walden Christian Fellowship meeting in the Town Hall. That later become the Wellspring Evangelical Church , which has since dissolved, it’s members diffused amongst the other evangelical congregations in the town.

Mr Gerry Elsom of the Audley End Estate completed 30 years service as church groundsman. Some members assisted children in the mining areas effected by the long bitter miners strike.

The Church gave Brian and Helen a patio set and 4 chairs for their 25th wedding anniversary We ran several buses to Mission England rallies addressed by Dr Billy Graham and at Lakenheath to a relay from the Sheffield Crusade.

New offering bags were provided. Our Brownies helped make Christmas decorations and trim up the wards at Addenbrookes. Lee Kitchener was lowered from the gallery on a stretcher on ropes slung over the beams to represent the paralysed man lowered through the roof.

The Church made protests to the Conservative Government about Sunday Trading, Videos, Broadcasting, San Salvador,. Closing Peter Kirk School, and cutting overseas aid, and starving the inner cities of social investment. No one got arrested, and the Dictator, Thatcher, got replaced.

Ged Pearce attended Kirchentag at Dusseldorf . To the horror of some members and the pleasure of others Roman Catholic Archbishop Kalilombe of Malawi preached from our pulpit, and on another occasion Raymond Anglin BU General Secretary of Jamaica. Two Christmases running we helped fund two students from Kenya

training at Bristol Baptist College. Jeremy Tucker did a sponsored walk to raise money to help orphans in Botswana. Harvest 1985 we raised £600 to send an incubator to Ntondo in Zaire.

Our young people helped to organise a local collection which became an annual event in support of the Salvation Army.
A Beaver Colony was formed on our premises. [ Little boys in the Scouting movement, not the sort that dam rivers. ]

We observed out 211th Church Anniversary with a Frieze around the gallery from one end to the other of 30 three feet square panels on the theme “The People of God” hand drawn and hand painted by various church based organisations and individuals, from early Biblical events through the major points of Christian history including our own church history to the ecumenical councils of the late 20th century. There were also 6 banners hanging from the top of the gallery pillars depicting famous Christians including William Carey and Charles Haddon Spurgeon. These master pieces were all later destroyed instead of being sold to the Tate, but they were photographed for the Church Archives.
Mabel Marking our longest serving Church member died after 67 years of service from 1918.

In 1986 Jack Turnbull retired as Divisional superintendent of the St John Ambulance Brigade after 46 years of service and his wife, Joy Turnbull retired after 30 years responsibility for our Beginners Department. Melanie Mathieson organised the first of a long series of “Songs of Praise” services. Ian Millard with a friend raised £200 for Live Aid to help Ethiopians.

On June 7th Brian with other local Christians, participated in a Bible Readathon on the Common . The Mothers and Toddlers Club observed it’s 10th Anniversary. We provided the year’s salary for Nimi Nath, Farm Supervisor Chandraghona Hospital, Bangladesh.

We participated in a BBC “Songs of Praise” at St Mary’s, the Parish Church. Melanie Mathieson organised “Baboushka” at Christmas. Ethel Savill died bequeathing her home in Gibson Gardens to the Retired Baptist Ministers Housing Society, and Rev John Webb and his wife Elaine moved in and both were great supporters of all aspects of the ministry of our church. Elaine at one time was Chairman of the Saffron Walden Council of Churches.

n 1988 the Wildungen Musikwerkstatt sng at our church at Easter. Dr Hall was much involved in Saffron Walden twinning with Wildungen as his wife Dorothea was German. At Christmas 1988 Dorothea, and John Maddams, who wrote the script, presented THE KEY TO CHRISTMAS involving all the junior church ad te Boy’s brigade. at less than 2 weeks notice.

That year we entertained with hospitality a party from St John’s Church Recklinghausen Germany. We funded a Mexican delegate to the Baptist World Alliance Youth Congress. Our church participated in the EBA Scene’ 88 at Bury St Edmunds bearing in procession the Essex Banner made by needle women of the county. We hosted the EBA Assembly at th County High School . we held a Junior Church picnic at the Friends School. We had a “shower” to provide office equipment for Martin Claxton training at Cliff College.

Our Baptist Youth groups held a successful Variety Show at the Friends School to raise £80 for MEDICS who provided emergency care for the section of the M11 motorway nearest to us.
Janet Claxton returned to Zaire again as a teacher. As a Church we adopted as our Link missionary, Fred Swindell of Nepal.

Brian in 1989 became Chairman of the BMS and with Helen, for them toured Sir Lanka, India, and Nepal. Dawn and Ged Pearce visited Israel. We adopted through Junior Church for 9 years a girl at the Gandaki Boarding School in Nepal. Some of us visited Recklinghausen. A successful Far eastern evening was held, and a Junior Church Sports Evening at the Leisure Centre. Our young people took part in a “ Cracker Project” to run a cafe to aid India.

Brian then led the Church into widening our Missionary work, One of our younger members of the 1970’s went with his wife and family to serve in El Salvador. Brian for the BMS visited Zaire and India and Brazil. The Church Library was begun. For a time our hall was a drop-in centre for unemployed people. and we decked out the chapel with flags for European Sunday.
In 1990 we celebrated Brian’s 30 years in the Ministry and a “This is Your Life “ evening was organised and a book of congratulations was organised and presented.

We took part in the “March for Jesus” In 1992 Brian and Tricia his new Co-Minister helped in the celebration of the Diamond Jubilee of our Women’s Own, at which the cake was cut by their then longest serving member Mrs Alice Maddams then 88, who died 10 years later. We also celebrated the 10th anniversary of Hill House. We celebrated the BMS Bicentenary.
His Farewell Evening included a wall display “The Tucker Years” and the presentation to them of a Quilt, ”

Brian and Helen moved in 1993 to Girlington in Yorkshire for some years. Their son Jeremy died in the West Indies. They retired to Hitchin where, following the passing of Helen, Brian now lives.
He served as a moderator for churches between pastors, and continued supply preaching and writing .
Brian served Hitchin Baptist Church as Deacon, and has furthered his studies through the open university,
In their mid 70’s they had their share of ill health and ageing but soldier on still in the LORD’s service. and caring for their daughters and grandchildren