Browne, John, B.A., Congregational Minister at Wrentham.

History of Congregationalism and Memorials of the Churches in Norfolk and Suffolk.
[London, Jarrold and Sons, 1877]

[Transcription copyright © Pat Newby]

WATTON. page 358

The Rev. R. Fairbrother, of Dereham, opened a cottage for public worship in 1818, and a chapel was opened at Neaton, a hamlet of Watton, September 3rd, 1819. A church was formed in February, 1822, in which year, on the 22nd of October, the REV. HENRY ELEAZAR ROBINSON was ordained its first pastor. He removed in 1826, when MR. RADCLIFFE came and ministered to the congregation; he was succeeded in 1829 by MR. BARNES.

Hitherto the work met with little encouragement. In the following year, Watton and Hingham were united under the REV. M.B. DIFFEY as a Home Missionary¹, and the church was reorganized. Mr. Diffey retired in 1840, and was succeeded by the REV. JOHN MORFITT²; but in 1844 Mr. Diffey returned, church order was restored, and Carbrooke was taken into connexion with Watton.

In 1847 the REV. JAMES READING supplied for a short time, and in 1848 the REV. ALFRED GRIFFIN came, who removed to Southminster in 1855; he was immediately succeeded by the REV. JOSEPH HORSLEY, during whose ministry a new chapel was opened, August 10th, 1856, accommodating 300 persons, in which galleries for the school were erected in 1871³.

The REV. W. HICKMAN SMITH came in 1857, and removed to Sheerness in 1858. The REV. HENRY COPE, from Tetsworth, came in 1859, and removed to Youghall in 1867. In the January following, the REV. WM. THOS. BLENKARN came from Nottingham; he left in 1871, in which year the REV. JOHN FARQUHAR came from Seaham Harbour; and in 1874 the REV. EDWARD CRESSELL came from Houghton. He is the present pastor.

Notes:

• 1. Congl. Mag., 1830, p.705.
• 2. See Obituary, Year Book, 1855, p.229.
• 3. The school-room was erected in 1862 as a memorial of 1662.

See also the Watton parish page.

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Copyright © Pat Newby.
May 2016

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• The Victoria History of the Counties of England is a series of books giving good information about county history.

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• If you are able to find a copy, this book is an excellent resource for fathoming old weights and measures.
  A Dictionary of English Weights and Measures from Anglo-Saxon Times to the Nineteenth Century. Ronald Edward Zupko University of Wisconsin Press 1968.

KINGS, QUEENS, ARCHBISHOPS & BISHOPS
OF THE UNITED KINGDOM

Notes

• Brass* - from 1992 "bronze" 1p and 2p coins were made from copper-plated steel.
• Silver* - from 1920 "silver" coins contained only 50% silver, and from 1947 "silver" coins were made entirely of cupro-nickel.
• Cupro-Nickel* - the alloy used for 20p coins contains more copper than the other cupro-nickel coins.

UK and Ireland: History

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