Homer’s Iliad 1686

Click above to watch the video

The oldest book in our Library at Dunmurry is this volume, the Third Edition of Thomas Hobbes’ translation of Homer’s Iliad published in London in 1686. The video tells the story of the book and its recent restoration in Belfast.

The book before restoration

The book following its recent restoration

Falkner Square, Liverpool

A walk around Falkner Square in Liverpool is always interesting. The buildings are quite impressive although not quite as grand as the houses in the nearby Georgian Quarter, now much utilised for film locations, although Falkner Square itself made a film appearance in the 1971 film Gumshoe with Albert Finney.

What’s attractive about it is that it has its own central park and resembles the sort of square you would find in Bloomsbury. I was always told, that in days gone by, only the people who lived in the Square had a key to the park, although the City Council now claims it as ‘one of the earliest public open spaces in the city’. I suspect it wasn’t open to the public in its earliest days.

Falkner Square is said to be named after Edward Falkner, an ex-soldier and former High Sheriff of Lancashire, who mustered a force of 1,000 men to defend Liverpool in 1797 when fears of a French invasion were at their highest. He was a successful merchant, involved inevitably in the slave trade, but who died in 1825, so he can’t have been directly involved in the development of the Square.

Joseph Sharples’ Pevsner Architectural Guides Liverpool says ‘The central garden is shown planted on a map of 1831, but the stuccoed houses did not begin to appear until the mid 1840s.’ The only architect he mentions is William Culshaw who designed number 29 in 1845 along with many Liverpool buildings.

One relatively new feature is the Memorial to Black Merchant Seamen who served in the Second World War. This was unveiled in 1993 on the 50th anniversary of the Battle of the Atlantic and contains the words “They Held Their Course” Respect Due. The bronze plaque, which, shockingly, has endured some vandalism but is now restored, is attached to a large decorated piece of sandstone. This came from the old Liverpool Sailors’ Home, which was once a very prominent landmark in Canning Place near the city centre. Now only the ornate gates survive and can still be seen at the entrance to Liverpool 1.

Memorial to Black Merchant Seamen who served in the Second World War

Balloo, Killinchy, A Hidden History

I was delighted to attend the launch of Balloo, Killinchy, A Hidden History by Lesley Simpson, Moira Concannon and Leanna Russell on Saturday, 15th August at Florida Manor, Killinchy. It was a wonderful occasion and a great start for a fascinating and beautifully produced book.

With Rev Dr Stanley Gamble, Rev Dr John Nelson, Lesley Simpson and Moira Concannon

The authors tell the story of the locality through maps, family history, newspaper reports, churches, mills and stores and, most of all, the local houses. Of particular interest to me is the house known as Templebrook Valley which was the home of the Rev Samuel Watson minister in Killinchy from 1797 up to his death in 1856. He was at the centre of one of the major disputes between the Synod of Ulster and the Non-Subscribers in the 1830s and the new Remonstrant meeting house was built for him in Killinchy in 1846.

When the Non-Subscribers were ejected from their original meeting-house, for three years they held services in the grounds of his house. The book tells the story of the Rev Samuel Watson and his ‘long and interesting life from his suspected involvement with the United Irishmen to his move towards Unitarianism’. One of 13 children, three of them becoming Non-Subscribing Presbyterian ministers, Samuel Watson was also a significant farmer in the locality. Sadly his house was left to fall into dereliction in the twentieth century although a new house has now been restored on the site.

There is a great deal in the book about Samuel Watson. At the stone-laying ceremony for his new meeting-house it was reported that:

…seventy clergymen and strangers joined the congregation for a celebration which culminated in a substantial dinner, in a commodious wooden house that had been erected for the occasion with the Rev. Samuel Watson presiding.

I was particularly amused by one quotation taken from James Gourley in 1874, a perhaps not entirely unbiased commentator, who asked an old man who had sat under Samuel Watson’s feet:

What sort of doctrines did he preach? ‘Ohm’ said he ‘at that time there was no word about doctrine.’ ‘And what then did he preach about?’ ’Mainly about far away countries and wild beasts’.

Samuel Watson’s obituary in the Northern Whig described him as ‘…one of the oldest and ablest Ministers of the Church.’

The book is full of detail and uncovers such fascinating stories as the 1893 excavation of Templebrook Valley by the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society with the co-operation of Samuel Watson’s two youngest daughters – Anna and Sarah who were photographed at the excavation which uncovered Bronze Age vessels now in the Ulster Museum.

The view from the back of Florida Manor

The book is richly illustrated throughout and is full of fascinating information. It is a credit to its authors and will be enjoyed by all with an interest in local history, the history of county Down and Irish Presbyterian history. The launch was a splendid occasion at Florida Manor, as the following photographs show.

Postcards by A.D. Coon

In this post we are looking at some more examples of the work of Allen Daniel Coon. The total output of postcards he produced between 1902 and his death in 1938 must have been enormous and they covered a very wide geographical area. I hadn’t noticed that one card I picked up a few years ago was by him:

Old Cemetery, Ballycarry, 1929

This was produced for John McKee News Agent and Confectioner, Ballycarry, and is interesting because he has labelled different features of the graveyard, although you can only see the tip of the spire of St John’s Parish Church and can’t see the ruins of the old church at all as they are obscured by trees.

This is what the ruins look like today:

Ruins of Templecorran Church, Ballycarry

You can read about our recent visit to this graveyard here.

Allen Coon produced a lot of postcards for this part of County Antrim in the later 1920s, in this case giving his location as Moira, NI. Five years earlier his postcards produced for Mrs Johnston, Draper & Boot Merchant, Hillsborough still give his location as Letterkenny:

Town Hall and Court House, Hillsborough, 1924

Interior of Parish Church, Hillsborough, 1924

The cards produced in Antrim in 1927 stand out from the others having a large border and a glossy finish. This time they are published for Mrs Simpson, Newsagent and Stationer, Antrim, who must have wanted something different in terms of design. By this time he is well settled in Moira:

First Antrim Presbyterian Church, 1927

Motor Boats on Lough Neagh at Antrim, 1927

Presumably the motor boats were used as pleasure craft taking people on tours of the Lough.

In Whiteabbey in 1929 he produced about 18 postcards for H. Quiery, Newsagent & Tobacconist. He must have exhausted all the possible views of the surroundings.

Whiteabbey Dam and Mill, 1929
Whiteabbey Memorial Hall, 1929

A lot of Allen Coon’s pictures are straightforward architectural treatments of churches or halls. But this one is slightly different in that a passer-by boldly walks into shot in front of the Whiteabbey Memorial Hall (opened just two years earlier in 1927). Was this pre-arranged to add a bit of extra detail? Or did the lady accidently cross into the frame while he was standing there with his camera? If this was an unforeseen intrusion into his picture he must have liked the look of the finished article since he could easily have taken another one. But there she remains for posterity, out on her messages, captured on film.

Postcards from Finaghy – and the Moore family of Finaghy and Dunmurry

Following our postcard views of Dunmurry in the 1930s I thought I would post some postcards from a place a short distance away; pictures of Finaghy, which probably date from a few years before, and which we know were taken by Allen Daniel Coon of Letterkenny and Moira.

The numbering system on the four cards is believed to point to a date in 1927 for their production. According to the excellent catalogue of Allen Coon’s cards produced by Brian Hamilton in 2016 there were five cards published in this series for W.J. Ross of Finaghy Stores but I only have four of them. These four images are quite common but I have to admit that I have never seen an example of the fifth card which is named as ‘Finaghy Road South looking North’.

Finaghy Stores, Finaghy

The ‘Finaghy Stores’ postcard shows a solitary shop, that of W.J. Ross’s Cash Stores and Refreshment Rooms. It stands out very prominently in those days, but later had another shop joined to it and was surrounded by a number of other shops, including a couple of banks. The shop was well known to me in more recent times when it belonged to John Frazer, an active member of All Souls’ Church when I was minister there.

Finaghy Road, North, Finaghy

The postcard ‘Finaghy Road, North, Finaghy’ looks across the crossroads to Finaghy Road North and dates from a time when there was so little traffic that a bus could stop in the middle of the road to pick up passengers to be taken into town. This view has essentially not changed except for the addition of shops on one side and what was a bank on the other side of the road.

The other two postcards are a little more curious. Named as ‘Finaghy House’ and ‘Finaghy House and Grounds’, they could more accurately be titled ‘Finaghy House gateposts’ and ‘Finaghy House Grounds’ since neither card features any more than the merest suggestion of Finaghy House.

Finaghy House and Grounds

This is a pity really because Finaghy House will have been a major landmark at the time. Lord Belmont in Northern Ireland tells us all about Finaghy House in his excellent blog which you can read here. He tells us that the original house was built by Richard Woods at the end of the seventeenth century but was sold to the Charley family, a prominent linen family in 1727. Lord Belmont quotes the 1830 Ordnance Survey Memoirs as saying ‘the walls are nearly four feet thick and run together by grouted lime, similar to other ancient buildings.’ A descendant of the family said it was ‘an imposing mansion in a large park, with extensive outhouses and stables … a remarkable feature [of the interior] being a revolving fireplace between the drawing-room and the dining-room.’ The Charley family sold the house to a family named Brewis who, it is said, bred corgis, one of which had the distinction of being the first corgi owned by Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother.

In about 1890 Finaghy House was sold to James Moore and this is where a connection can be found with the Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland. James Moore was a direct descendant of Rev Henry Montgomery and the family were all members of our church at Dunmurry. In the 1901 Census he is listed as a Manufacturing Stationer living with his wife, Maria Lydia, who had been born in New Orleans. They and their three children (Harold Montgomery, Kenneth Montgomery and Sybil) all give their religion as Unitarian. As well as the five family members there are three servants listed as resident in the house. Harold and Kenneth are respectively stationer’s assistant and stationer’s apprentice to their father in 1901, Sybil is still at school. By the 1911 Census the three children are no longer living at home although there are still three (different) servants; a parlour maid, a cook and a housemaid.

Finaghy House by A.D. Coon

By 1911 James Moore was a JP in County Antrim. In the First World War Kenneth Montgomery Moore was commissioned into the 11th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles and was awarded the Military Cross. He returned home safely at the end of the war and his name is listed in the First World War Roll of Honour of the Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland  (published 2018).

The Moore family burial ground can be found in their church, the First Presbyterian (NS) Church, Dunmurry. Marked simply as ‘Moore, The Finaghy’ it can be seen at the top of this page.

Commonwealth War Graves at Botley Cemetery, Oxford

Visiting Botley Cemetery for the first time, despite seeing the signs for the Commonwealth War Graves, I didn’t expect to find such a large military cemetery of a size and with such features as you would expect to find in France or Flanders. Like all Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries it is immaculately maintained, and a very moving place to visit.

I was surprised to find such a large graveyard of this sort in Oxfordshire, although it is inevitably true that many service men and women did die at home, either on home service, or were brought back because of wounds or found themselves in hospital because of accident or illness. Oxford provided a major regional hospital during the First World War, and again during the Second World War. Oxfordshire was also a major centre of RAF activity in the Second World War and Botley was then designated as a Royal Air Force Regional Cemetery. In the First World War the University Examination Schools housed the 3rd Southern General Hospital with room for 1,500 patients. The Schools weren’t the only venue for the war-time hospital, also put to use were Somerville College (for officers only), the Workhouse on Cowley Road, the Town Hall, University and New Colleges, and the Oxford Masonic Buildings on High Street. In the Second World War the Examination Schools were again used as a hospital.

Botley Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery has all the features that can be found in major cemeteries of this type. At the centre of the grave yard there is a Cross of Sacrifice, a large cross containing a bronze longsword, with its blade pointing down, it is said to be present in all graveyards containing 40 or more war graves. These were designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield and are a familiar symbol of sacrifice in so many places. By 1937 there were already over 1,000 of these crosses in Europe alone, more were to follow after the Second World War.

Cross of Sacrifice

The Cemetery also has a Stone of Remembrance designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens for use in CWGC Cemeteries containing more than 1,000 graves. There are now hundreds of these all around the world but only 12 in the UK. With around 743 graves Botley was regarded as a special case, perhaps indicating that it is one of the dozen largest Commonwealth War Grave Cemeteries in the UK. Although not designed as such the Stone resembles an altar and carries a quotation from the book of Ecclesiasticus: Their Name Liveth for Evermore. Sir Edwin Lutyens was one of three principal architects of the Imperial War Graves Commission (as it was then called) and as well as his work in New Delhi and elsewhere is perhaps best remembered for his contribution to memorial architecture for the First World War, designing the Cenotaph in London and the Thiepval Memorial to the missing of the Somme.

Stone of Remembrance

The third building found in the graveyard is the Shelter, designed by Sir Edward Maufe, the Principal architect of the Commonwealth War Grave Commission after the Second World War.

Domed Shelter

One of the first graves I noticed must be among the most poignant. It is that of Air Mechanic 3rd Class Osmund R.T. Fleeton of the Royal Flying Corps who was just 16 when he died. He came from Cork where his parents Robert and Jeanie Eloise Fleeton, lived at 1 Brookfield Villas, College Road. The official record says he ‘died of sickness 26th April, 1917’. ‘Ossie Always Beloved, Never Forgotten,’ his family inscribed on his grave.

Grave of Osmund Fleeton

Another Irish grave is that of Private James Byrne from county Kilkenny of the 1st Battalion the Leinster Regiment who died on 13th May 1915.

Private James Byrne

In one corner of the grave yard there is a solitary grave of a nurse – Staff Nurse Mabel Murray, of the Territorial Force Nursing Service, who worked at the 3rd Southern General Hospital and who died of influenza on 2nd November 1918 at the age of 35. She was one of the victims of the so-called ‘Spanish flu’ which swept over the nation at the end of the First World War, and it may be that the reason her grave is situated in a lonely corner is that they expected more of her colleagues to fall victim to influenza, but thankfully this did not transpire. She is not the only woman buried in the cemetery, however. Nineteen years old Aircraftwoman Glenys Doreen Harris is buried in the RAF section having been killed when an RAF Mosquito crashed in training at Upper Heyford on 24th September 1945.

Staff Nurse Mabel Murray

The graveyard contains the graves of many nationalities from both world wars including those who came from the then dominions of the British Empire (Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and South Africa) as well as other countries including Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Italy, The Netherlands, and Poland. Botley also contains the only grave of a Greek soldier in Britain – Private T. Lagos, who died in Oxford on 18th October 1944. His headstone is inscribed with a quotation from Pericles’ funeral oration as recorded by Thucydides: The whole earth is the tomb of famous men’. There are also a number of German graves from the First World War as well as a large section of 33 graves of German soldiers all dated 1944 who presumably were prisoners of war. It was strange to see the German war graves although their presence is perhaps slightly reminiscent of the memorial in New College Chapel to former German students who had been killed in the Great War.

German war graves

The precise number of graves in the CWGC cemetery at Botley varies according to which source you consult but I did notice a number of other military graves from the world wars located outside the Commonwealth War Graves area which might account for the variations. But it is certainly a very peaceful place, a well-cared-for corner of a municipal cemetery, a silent memorial to those who gave their lives.

Four churches, a graveyard and a peacock

On 5th June 2025 a party of about 20 of us set off on a journey to visit four Non-Subscribing Presbyterian churches in county Antrim plus an historic graveyard (including the ruins of a very historic church) and met a Non-Subscribing Presbyterian peacock along the way. We had as our expert guide the Rev Dr John Nelson whose extensive knowledge kept us informed and entertained all day.

We left Dunmurry and headed for Ballycarry where we visited first Templecorran graveyard.

The ruins of Templecorran church

The original parish church used by Edward Brice, the first Presbyterian minister in Ireland in 1613, is now in ruins but it contains many interesting items, including Edward Brice’s grave, the grave of the Rev John Bankhead and a memorial to James Orr, the Bard of Ballycarry.

Grave of Edward Brice
James Orr memorial

The church was renovated in 1622, during the ministry of Edward Brice, and being built in dangerous times was constructed to be defendable; musket loopholes can still be seen which would have covered all angles of the church should it ever have come under attack.

One of the musket loopholes

The church at Templecorran was slated (unlike the first Ballycarry meeting house which was thatched) and was occupied by Edward Brice and his congregation until he was ejected in 1637.

Inside Templecorran church

From the old church it is a short walk to Ballycarry where Dr Nelson told us the story of the meeting house, itself dating from the early 18th century.

Ballycarry plaque
Inside Ballycarry meeting house

It’s not far from Ballycarry to Raloo but some of us still managed to get lost! But we got there in the end to enjoy the Remonstrant meeting house of 1838 and adjoining modern church hall.

Raloo
Raloo interior

From Raloo we went to Templepatrick where we were able to enjoy our lunch thanks to the kindness of the congregation. Templepatrick is an attractive church which has often faced upheaval. In 1798 the brass canon used by the United Irishmen at the battle of Antrim were stored under the pews. One of these was dragged to the battle on a carriage which was fired once and blew the carriage to pieces.

Templepatrick

Later when the congregation became Remonstrant the landlord Lord Templeton evicted the minister from the manse farm.

Templepatrick interior

While we were in Templepatrick a peacock was spending some time in the car park:

Finally we went off to Crumlin, a congregation founded in 1715, which built a new church in 1835 which was a miniature version of First Church, Belfast.

Looking through some wild flowers towards the church
Outside Crumlin

It is such an elegant building that deserves to be better known.

Crumlin gallery
Crumlin pew number

The church was particularly associated with the Rev Nathaniel Alexander who was 6 feet three inches tall. The pulpit consequently has a trap door that was open when he preached so he could stand at a slightly lower lever.

It was a great day out, many thanks go to Rev Dr John Nelson.

Our group in Crumlin

Alexander Gordon (1841 – 1931)

Historian, Biographer, Minister of First Church, Belfast. ‘An Englishman by birth, a Scotsman by education and an Irishman by inclination’.

On Thursday, 22nd May, 2025, we had an illustrated talk in First Dunmurry (NS) Presbyterian Church about the great historian Alexander Gordon.

Talk at Dunmurry by Rev Dr David Steers

A distinguished minister in England and Ireland, he served at Aberdeen; Hope Street, Liverpool; Norwich and at First Church, Belfast, before becoming Principal of the Unitarian Home Missionary College, Manchester and a lecturer in Ecclesiastical History in the first Free Faculty of Theology in the British Isles.

The earliest known photograph of Alexander Gordon, taken in Liverpool c.1872 at the time of his marriage to Clara Maria Boult

His scholarship was widely acknowledged all over the world, contributing 778 entries to the Dictionary of National Biography, 39 articles to the eleventh edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica and much more. A superb linguist and experienced traveller his researches took him all over Europe. Among other things he was closely involved in the creation of the Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland in 1910.

Gordon’s distinctive signature in a personal copy of his Bible (Revised Version)

The talk looks at his education, his work as a biographer and historian, and his commitment to the churches in Ireland which he served as secretary to the Association of Irish Non-Subscribing Presbyterians and later being closely involved in the setting up of the Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland itself.

He was a distinguished minister at First Church but even after leaving for Manchester kept a very close connection with the Irish churches, particularly through Dunmurry where he was regarded as the unpaid curate of his friend the Rev J.A. Kelly, despite the incredible heavy work load of his high profile work. From 1895 until the year of his death in 1931 he only missed one communion service at Dunmurry – and that was because of an unexpected train timetable change that left him stranded in Dublin one weekend during the First World War. For a very experienced traveller, particularly rail traveller, this must have been especially galling for Gordon. The lecture also looks at Alexander Gordon as a travel writer.

The last photograph of Alexander Gordon taken at Dunmurry on 18th January 1931

It examines too his family background, which was frequently touched by tragedy. But he inspired great loyalty and affection in the generations of students he trained for the ministry.

Principal of the Unitarian Home Missionary College, Manchester

He was buried in Dunmurry, just a short time after he conducted his final service there on 18th January 1931.

‘Let divine worship be observed, by all who would aspire after the happiness of heaven’. 19th-century Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Hymnbooks

The title of this post comes from the Preface to A Collection of Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs written by the Rev A.G. Malcolm for his hymnbook published in Newry in 1811.

Click on the video to explore Irish Non-Subscribing Presbyterian hymnbooks

Prior to about 1800 Non-Subscribing or New Light Presbyterian churches, in common with other Presbyterians, would have worshipped with a Psalter or Psalm book. The first distinctly Non-Subscribing hymnbook appeared in First Church in 1801. What is surprising about this publication is that in the same year Edward Bunting offered to supply an organ to the church. This offer wasn’t taken up although in just a few years the Second Congregation were to become the first church with an organ, First Church not acquiring one until 1853. The Rev William Bruce edited this collection and 1,200 copies were published. A choir seems to have led the singing which initially contained boys but was later expanded to include adults.

First Church’s Collection of 1801

William Bruce’s book contained 246 hymns, with an index of first lines and a brief one page table of subjects. The next hymnbook, the Newry edition of A.G. Malcolm, contained 405 hymns with a more substantial table of subjects running over eight pages. Plus it had an index of first lines with the names of authors (for example Barbauld, Watts, Doddridge, Kippis, Merrick, Wesley, Addison, Enfield) which showed the eclectic sources the book drew on from within Dissenting circles and beyond.

An interesting preface also explained their intentions:

…care has been taken, to select psalms and hymns, which treat of of the leading points both of faith and practice; and it is hoped, that the compilation will be found to contain a sufficient variety of the best compositions, in sacred poetry, adapted to all the principal subjects of Christian devotion.

A.G. Malcolm went on:

Correctness, both in sentiment and style, has also been made an object of considerable attention. Hence, many verses have been altered; and such psalms and hymns as seemed, in any degree, unsuitable to the simplicity and solemnity of divine worship have been omitted.

As the work is intended for general use, and must be expected to fall into the hands of persons, who unavaoidably differ from one another, in their opinions, on religious subjects, all expressions, which appeared likely to give offence to any sincere Christian, have been studiously avoided.

Interestingly the next hymnbook, dated Belfast, July 1818 and edited by Rev W.D.H. McEwen, made a similar point in a slightly more forceful way in its Preface:

Some doctrines are so offensive to the societies, for whose use this compilation is principally intended, that they are carefully avoided. As to others, the same scrupulosity is not observed; for, with respect to them, there may exist a diversity of sentiment. This selection may, therefore, be thought defective, but it will not disgust by a pertinacious obtrusion of doctrine.

So certain doctrines weren’t allowed to get in the way! Some were left out all together – the Trinity, the theory of the atonement based on penal substitution – and on some doctrines Non-Subscribers were able to agree to differ.

W.D.H. McEwen,s hymnbook

The book was published for the Presbytery of Antrim and the congregation of Strand Street, Dublin but it came from the minister of the Second Congregation. Curiously they had installed an organ in 1806 and had Edward Bunting as their organist from then until 1817. So they don’t appear to have had a hymnbook of their own for the first dozen years after installing the organ.

Following the establishment of the Remonstrant Synod of Ulster in 1830 Non-Subscribers moved towards the development of a hymnbook for all churches. This is Psalms, Paraphrases, and Hymns, for Christian Worship published in Belfast in 1841:

Psalms, Paraphrases, and Hymns, for Christian Worship 1841

This is the first edition of what became Hymns for Christian Worship, a book which went into at least four further editions before the end of the century and was followed by a supplement in 1899. Throughout this time this was the main series of hymnbooks in use in the churches in Ireland. More detail can be seen in the video above.

Transactions of the Unitarian Historical Society April 2025

The latest issue – Volume 28 Number 4 – is on its way to members of the Society, new members are always welcome and details of how to join can be found below.

As ever there is a great wealth of material in the journal, including:

Essex Street Chapel in the later eighteenth century: members, adherents and sympathisers

G. M. Ditchfield

Centenary Service at Essex Church 1874

In this article Professor Grayson Ditchfield provides an analysis of the ‘associates, friends, visitors and even some critics of a congregation which has been, and remains, widely and deservedly regarded as a foundational pillar of the Unitarian movement in this country’.  In his paper Professor Ditchfield goes a long way to uncover the stories of the people who sat in the pews at Essex Street Chapel and looks especially at the role of women there. The Chapel was situated in a very impoverished area and Hannah Lindsey, the wife of the minister, organised poor relief for the local inhabitants. The congregation could not have survived without its female supporters in the early years in particular, and one member, Elizabeth Rayner, made an annual donation of £2,000. Essex Street Chapel included a number of MPs, including one described as `my fidgeting pew neighbour’ by another member. Some of the MPs made the free franking of letters in the House of Commons available to members! Was it a Dissenting Chapel or a reformed Church of England? Was it a congregation or an audience? All this and much more is examined in this fascinating article which breaks so much new ground.

After 1825 – celebrating the foundation of organised Unitarianism in Britain and America

Alan Ruston

AUA 75th anniversary brochure cover

This year marks the 200th anniversary of the foundation of both the British and Foreign Unitarian Association (B&FUA) and the American Unitarian Association (AUA), both founded within a day of each other in May 1825. Alan Ruston investigates the way each anniversary has been celebrated in Britain and the USA. Both the B&FUA and the AUA have evolved over this time, the B&FUA really being superseded by the General Assembly in 1928 and the AUA being absorbed into the Unitarian Universalist Association in 1961 but the development of both bodies over two centuries tells us a lot about the development of Unitarianism in both countries and the interaction between British and American Unitarianism.

Notes

Alexander Gordon on James Martineau: An Evaluation

Alan Ruston

Very Rev William McMillan Library

David Steers

Very Rev William McMillan Library, Dunmurry

Dr Williams’s Trust.Announcing a New Partnership 

The University of Manchester Library and The Dr Williams’s Library 

REVIEWS

Daisy Hay,Dinner with Joseph Johnson: Books and Friendship in a Revolutionary Age, (Chatto & Windus, London, 2023) ISBN 9781784740184. 528 pages. Price £20.

Reviewed by Derek McAuley

Ben Stables, From Pigeon Flying to Intellectual Liberty. The History of Pepper Hill Unitarian Chapel in Shelf, West Yorkshire. With an Introduction by Rev John Midgley. Published by Pepper Hill Unitarian Chapel, 2024. 100 pages. Price £6. Copies are available directly from the author (benstables@hotmail.co.uk).

Reviewed by David Steers

Kazimierz Bem and Bruce Gordon (eds), Antitrinitarianism and Unitarianism in the Early Modern World, Palgrave Macmillan, 2024, 397 pages. ISBN 9783031696572, price £119.99; eBook ISBN 9783031696589, price £99.99.

Reviewed by Alan Ruston

Back to Life, The People on the Plaques in Brighton Unitarian Church, 2023, 95 pages. Price £8 including postage; copies can be obtained from Christine Clark-Lowes (cjclarklowes@yahoo.co.uk).

Reviewed by Alan Ruston

OBITUARY

John Jeremy Goring, MA, PhD (1930-2023)

by David L. Wykes

An individual annual subscription costs just £10.

Visit the Unitarian Historical Society website to join: https://unitarianhistory.org.uk/