Episode 6 of our explorations of the Very Rev William McMillan Library at Dunmurry looks at the writings of the Rev John Abernethy (1680-1740). Without doubt the most prominent Presbyterian minister in Ireland in the early eighteenth century and the foremost exponent of Non-Subscription, he was minister at Antrim (see picture above) and later Wood Street, Dublin.
Click on the video to see John Abernethy’s books
Some of his books were the best sellers of their day and some of his publications were seen as either controversial theological statements or the key to opening up a new way to understand faith, depending on your point of view. Ironically at the time of the first subscription controversy the minister of Dunmurry, the Rev John Malcome, was a vocal opponent of the Non-Subscribers and was the first to use the term ‘New-Light’ about them. But Dunmurry Library has a good selection of his published works, most of them published after Abernethy’s death.
The founder of the Belfast Society in 1705, an outspoken advocate of the rights of the dissenting minority in Ireland and an established philosopher of some importance, John Abernethy’s books had considerable influence and this video looks at his publications held by our Library in Dunmurry.
The next issue (Volume 77 Part 2, Number 199, Autumn and Winter 2024) is due out very soon, so this is a chance to preview our brilliant new Logo:
Faith and Freedom was founded in Oxford at the instance of the Ministerial Old Students’ Association of Manchester College, Oxford in 1947 and has been published continuously since. For the first time we have our own logo. Bold and attractive it expresses our identity and our long tradition of freedom of thought in matters of religion.
On Sunday, 10th November we held a well-attended Remembrance Service at Dunmurry and the video can be seen below. Special thanks go to John Neill for delivering Binyon’s Lines, to Jack Steers for playing the Last Post and Reveille, and to Allen Yarr for playing the organ.
Click above to see the Remembrance Service from First Dunmurry 10 November 2024
In the service I make full use of the booklet For Remembrance mentioned in the previous post. Indeed this little book, particularly the contribution by the Rev R. Nicol Cross, as it is mentioned in the previous video, has already sparked a lot of responses. Along with some of the other pieces it is a poignant and very honest reflection on the situation in 1919 for those returning from the front after the Armistice.
At the time he wrote his contribution Nicol Cross was minister of Mill Hill Chapel, Leeds, later he was minister of First Church, Belfast and later still Principal of Manchester College, Oxford. But from 1915 to 1919 he served as a private with the Royal Army Medical Corps. His perspective on the war was quite different from what you might otherwise have guessed.
Title page of the booklet
It is a very rare book, very few copies have survived. In the 2019 issue of the Transactions of the Unitarian Historical Society Alan Ruston contributed an article entitled ‘1919 – a re-evaluation of the part played by Unitarians in the First World War’. In his article he reveals that he had not previously come across the book, the copy he was sent while writing the article was the only one known to him. It certainly has not made its way into library collections. So this copy, in the Very Rev William McMIllan Library, is one of only two known copies.
One feature of For Remembrance that I didn’t mention in the first video or in the service above is that there is also a short note from the American Unitarian Association (AUA) included in the booklet. It seems to have come from a message sent out by the AUA to reurning troops and reads:
OUR GREETING AND PLEDGE
You have successfully met the challenge of the most powerful armies the world ever saw. You have shared in the most significant victory in all history. By a devotion that has won the affectionate admiration of the civilized world, you have helped to make possible a new and nobler life for humanity, and a truer brotherhood of man.
We welcome you again to our homes and our homeland. We pledge ourselves anew to the ideals for which you went forth to suffer; and because of your example we will rise to meet the duties of the new day with unwavering faith. Through our church we will unite our powers with yours in defence of the principles for which so great a price has been paid.
Your courage, cheerfulness, and fortitude will strengthen the church of your fathers.
From the Message of the American Unitarian Association
It would be interesting to know if this was the whole message of the AUA or whether they produced a book similar to For Remembrance.
From The Very Rev William McMillan Library of First Dunmurry (Non-Subscribing) Presbyterian Church.
Exploring the Library: Episode 5 For Remembrance. A booklet given to returning servicemen after the First World War.
A short talk by the Rev Dr David Steers. With thanks to Jack Steers for playing the Last Post and Reveille on the trumpet.
This is rather a scruffy looking booklet but it is a very rare survival of which the editors said: ‘If it attains to anything like its aim it will be a real “keepsake,” an abiding record of the owner’s place and part in our nation’s mightiest struggle…’ A copy was given to every Unitarian and Non-Subscribing serviceman who returned from the First World War. It contains some poignant quotes and six short reflections by ministers who had served alongside the troops.
Possibly as many as 9,000 copies were issued but very few survive, at least in libraries, so we are fortunate to have a copy in the Very Rev William McMIllan Library. Click on the video to find out more about ‘For Remembrance’.
We had a wonderful Harvest Thanksgiving Service on Sunday, 20th October 2024. The service was conducted by Rev Dr David Steers, the organist was Allen Yarr and the readers were Lochlan Black and Erin Black. The Church was beautifully decorated throughout including the frieze depicting We Plough the Fields and Scatter made by the Sunday School and Youth Group. The service was live streamed and you can view it here on YouTube:
Here are some images from the day, beginning with We Plough the Fields and Scatter frieze created by the children and young people:
We were very pleased to welcome the Moderator, Rt Rev Alister Bell, who spoke warmly of the service and the work done by the children.
We also gathered a considerable amount of produce, both fresh vegteables and fruit, as well as tinned and dried foods, biscuits, pasta, sauces, tea, coffee etc. All of this has now been distributed to L’Arche Belfast.
What Is L’Arche?
“L’Arche (French for ‘The Ark’) is an international federation of 140 communities worldwide founded on faith and inspired by the gifts of people who have learning disabilities. By ‘community’ we mean a group of people of different ages, creeds, capacities and social and ethnic backgrounds connected to one another through a belief that everyone, irrespective of their circumstances, can have a positive impact on the lives of others. In our communities people with and without learning disabilities choose to live together in a spirit of friendship. We recognise the unique value of every person, the gifts we have to offer and our need for one another.” (From L’Arche website).
The newly created garden at the centre of the L’Arche community Belfast
You can find out more about L’Arche Belfast by clicking here.
In the latest of our videos exploring the Very Rev William McMillan Library at Dunmurry we take a (brief) look at the eight volumes of the Journal of John Wesley. In particular we look at his visits to Belfast and his relationship with the Non-Subscribing Presbyterian churches in Belfast.
Exploring the Library at Dunmurry, episode 4. Click on the video above
John Wesley visited Belfast 11 times in the course of his career, always preaching in the town, sometimes in the market-house, sometimes in the open air. Often it seems he visited at times of cold, windy or wet weather. Only once did he preach in a church and the only church to ever be open to him was First Presbyterian Church, Rosemary Street. But this visit was mired in controversy and was not repeated. I am grateful to Des McKeown of First Church who recently gave me a copy of a letter to The Northern Whig dated 3 December 1873 written by the minister of First Church, the Rev John Scott Porter. This features in the video and it is interesting to see his opinion of Wesley’s visit almost one hundred years previously.
A youthful John Scott Porter
But another feature of Wesley’s Journal is his identification of followers of Dr John Taylor in the crowds that came to hear him in Belfast. John Taylor was minister of the Octagon Chapel in Norwich and the author of the The Scripture Doctrine of Original Sin. What are the implications of this in Belfast in the 1760s? We try to unpack the meaning of this for John Wesley’s reception in Belfast in the video.
Ephemera is the term given for items that weren’t usually expected to last. Usually printed items, they had only a limited shelf-life and were generally expected to be thrown away when they had been used. Inevitably such things tend to become interesting to collectors because they often illuminate some aspect of social history that might otherwise be lost. Our new Very Rev William McMillan Library is rich in ephemera and this latest video explores two items held by the Library:
Click above to see Episode 3 of the explorations of Dunmurry NSP Library
In 1924 and 1925 the congregation of York Street Church, Belfast, under the leadership of Rev Dr A.L. Agnew, produced a calendar to sell to the denomination. Over the two years they included a picture of all the churches in the denomination in Ireland and they make for interesting documents. Many of the pictures date from a bit before the mid-1920s but it makes for an interesting collection of early twentieth-century photographs. Some images are quite well-known and have often been published. Some are quite rare like this picture of Ballymoney:
There’s also a reminder of an attempt at outreach in Bangor which lasted for a few years, and seemed to be successful for these years at least:
But altogether they are interesting documents. They must have captured a lot of interest at the time but at the end of the year what do you do with an old calendar but throw it away? Which is why so few have survived. You can find out all about it by watching the video.
Thank you to everyone who came along for our service of dedication and formal opening of the Very Rev William McMillan Library on Sunday, 22nd September. The service was livestreamed on Facebook and this video now on YouTube includes not just the service but also the Act of Dedication outside the Library, Sheila McMillan’s speech and cutting of the ribbon, the presentation to Sue Steers, and Colin Flinn’s speech after the tea as well as some scenes from the McCleery Hall, the Library and the Session Room.
Click above to see the service and the other events of the day
A big thank you goes to everyone who helped on the day, especially the ladies who prepared the wonderful refreshments. In his speech Colin Flinn commended them for their smart turn out and expressed a hope that on future occasions some men might join them in their ranks!
Dunmurry NSPCI Ladies Group
A big thank you goes to Elma McDowell for her floral arrangements and to Allen Yarr for playing the organ. All these things and more can be seen on the video.
Flowers in the Hall
The congregation of Dunmurry is grateful to the Bright Fund for their financial support for the project and to everyone who has made donations to the Library over the last few years. We gratefully acknowledge the receipt of books and other items donated to the Library. Special thanks also goes to Sue, Kathy and the members of the Library Group for all their hard work in cataloguing the Library over the last four years.
Everyone who has an interest in the study of Non-Subscribing Presbyterian/Unitarian history in the British Isles will know George Eyre Evans’s book the Vestiges of Protestant Dissent. Published in 1897 it was just one publication that came out of the extensive researches of G.E. Evans. His book is the subject of our latest video which is the second to explore the contents of the Very Rev William McMillan Library here at Dunmurry which will be opened and dedicated on Sunday, 22nd September 2024 at 3.00 pm:
Click on the video above for Vestiges of Protestant Dissent
The Library copy once belonged to a prominent lay member of the congregation who gave it to his minister before the end of the nineteenth century, but the full story can be seen on the video.
One of the things I try to draw attention to in the video is the occasional unusual detail G.E. Evans adds to the book, such as this picture, which exists in every copy as a real photograph pasted in to the book:
The picture from opposite page 123 of ‘Vestiges of Protestant Dissent’
The meaning of the photograph is explained in the video.
George Eyre Evans (photo: Dictionary of Welsh BiographY)
G.E. Evans was born in Colyton, Devon, the son of Welsh parents. His father was Rev David Lewis Evans, Unitarian minister at a number of places in Wales and England, including Colyton where his son was born, and ultimately being tutor in Hebrew, mathematics, and natural philosophy at the Presbyterian College, Carmarthen. He was also one of the founders of Yr Ymofynydd, although he wrote little in Welsh himself.
George E. Evans followed his father into the ministry and served at the Church of the Saviour at Whitchurch (1889-1897) as well as unpaid minister at Aberystwyth later in life. Primarily though he was an historian and antiquarian. Many of his publications relate to his interest in the history Unitarianism. Vestiges of Protestant Dissent is probably his best known work of this type although he also produced Record of the Provincial Assembly of Lancashire and Cheshire, a very useful detailed study of churches and their ministers in the north west of England, and Midland Churches: A History Of The Congregations On The Roll Of The Midland Christian Union. This all displays his wide geographical interests, also seen in publishing works about places such as Whitchurch, Colyton and Lampeter. He also wrote the first history of Renshaw Street Chapel in Liverpool, a city where he studied after being at the school of Gwilym Marles, the noted Unitarian minister and social reformer.
His main research interests increasingly centred on Wales, however. He was a founder member, secretary and editor of the journal of the Carmarthenshire Antiquarian Society. A member of the Cambrian Archaeological Society, he sat on its general committee and became a member of its editorial board, contributing to its journal Archaeologia Cambrensis. He was active in helping to establish two local museums in Wales and served on the Court of Governors of the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, the Council of the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff, and the Council of the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth. But this is by no means the full extent of his labours. He was made an Inspecting Officer of the Royal Commission on Ancient Monuments in Wales and Monmouthshire and in that capacity visited almost every monument or historic site in Wales. He joined the Boy Scouts in his 60s and became a County Scout Commissioner for Carmarthenshire and in 1928 became deputy Scout Commissioner for Wales. In 1937, two years before he died at the age of 82, he was made a Freeman of the Borough of Carmarthen where the Carmarthenshire Antiquarian Society has placed a blue plaque on one of the museums he founded and worked in.
He was a member of the Council of the Unitarian Historical Society and a frequent contributor to the Transactions, particularly writing about ‘Our communion plate and other treasures’. He visited Ireland in preparation for producing the Vestiges, mainly to inspect the communion plate, and from notes in his book we can follow his progress through Ireland in August 1892 when he went from Dublin (16th August), to Newry and Warrenpoint (17th), Clough, Downpatrick, and Rademon (19th), Moneyrea and Newtownards (20th), Ballycarry, Carrickfergus, and Larne, (22nd), and finishing up at Antrim, Templepatrick and Belfast (23rd). The only visit outside this sequence came on 14th October 1896, just a year before publication, when he visited Dunmurry and where he will have met the Rev J.A. Kelly who had been installed as minister on 23rd July of that year.
At Dunmurry we are particularly looking forward to the formal opening and dedication of the Very Rev William McMillan Library on Sunday, 22nd September at 3.00 pm. The Rev Mac bequethed his Library to the Church and over the last four years we have been working on creating a catalogue and getting everything ready to house the Library. We have had furniture made for the Library, we have also repurposed other furniture for use in the Library and restored some items to house the books.
It is an exciting project and a very fitting memorial for the Rev Mac who was an historian of some ability and renown. He assembled this collection as he worked on the history of Non-Subscription and the Library contains over 2,500 books, as many pamphlets and journals again, and many more manuscripts and other items. After the dedication the Library will be open for visitors (although we will not be able to lend items) but we want the Library to be known and appreciated by as wide a group as possible.
To help in this process I will be uploading short videos talking about the Collection, in which I will highlight different books which have an interesting story to tell. The first of these is this video;
Dunmurry NSP Library Episode 1. Click on the video to view.
This video looks at the Library’s copy of W.D. Killen’s History of Congregations of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland and Biographical Notices of Eminent Presbyterian Ministers and Laymen published in 1886 which was rebound and interleaved by Alexander Gordon in 1892. It’s a fascinating tale, the first in a series of short films about the unusual, interesting and informative books on the shelves.
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