George Edwards was the Minister of what we now call Christ Church in Quoiting Square between 1806 - 25. (The current building dates from after his time).
The year he took over, his congregation raised over £11 to support the work of missionaries abroad. Seems like he was off to a good start with them but things didn't always go so well.
In 1823 George got into quite some bother after he criticised one of his Sunday School teachers during a service. When I first heard about this case I thought that when it was said he had "impugned her virtue" that he was referring to some romantic entanglement. But actually his criticism centred upon her allegedly giving her pupils leave not to attend the Sunday School. Margaret was a disgrace to the school he said and if another child was given her permission to be absent she should be banned permanently from the school premises.
You might wonder why George didn't just dispense with her services straight away if he was so unhappy. The court case details reveal however that this was not in his power to do. The school was run by a committee of ladies. This committee was voted for by the church members as a whole. George had one vote like everyone else but no more than that and certainly no power of veto or dismissal.
If George felt this difficult situation would be solved by a public admonishment he was wrong. Some of his congregation were up in arms. Margaret of course was upset. She said that only once had children been given leave not to attend and that was because their mother needed them to watch younger siblings so that she could attend her own church which was the Wesleyan Chapel.
Margaret appealed to Joseph Wright, deacon of the church. He called a meeting of members. How would you feel if a "defenceless female" perhaps your own daughter (Margaret was 24) had been publicly humiliated this way, he asked. Margaret's brother in law Samuel Washbourn asked for a formal and public apology to be made but George refused. Joseph and George exchanged "warm words" but Joseph's motion of censure against George was not seconded. Joseph would later allege that following the meeting he heard George call Margaret a "lying hussey", language which startled him.
Someone tipped off the local papers who presented events as George having lost the goodwill of the entirety of his flock by his actions. The Times newspaper took up the story so it received nationwide attention. Their report said that he had abused his position by using the pulpit for personal invective. That was too much for George and he sued the Times (but not it seems the local papers) for slander on the grounds that he had not lost the goodwill of his congregation or been unprofessional. The sum of 40 shillings damages came his way but the ruling acknowledged that the newspaper version of events was not entirely inaccurate.
The lawsuit had the unfortunate effect of renewed coverage of the original events, and in fact wider coverage than before as local papers from around the country picked it up as an interesting case. In the 1800s these papers routinely filled out their pages with non - local but interesting stories.
Whether Margaret Fair remained as a Sunday school teacher or not I cannot say but George was two more years Minister of the church before he resigned.
Members of the congregation that gave witness to what George said about Margaret were a Miss Smith, Eliza Holding, Mary Anne Stone, Samuel Washbourn, Sarah Puddifant and "John Ceilings" (perhaps John Snelling?).
All kinds of personal factors were probably at play in this case. Samuel Washbourn admitted he had gone bankrupt previously and that the Minister was one his creditors. Their relationship was no longer good. Margaret said that George had never been one of her favourite preachers. Perhaps he had discerned that fact and felt upset. Perhaps the fact she was aiding a Wesleyan worshipper rankled with him, or his falling out with her brother in law Washbourn meant he had less patience than otherwise with that family.
It's a pity as the school was a pet project of George's and Margaret had been willing to be an unpaid regular teacher there since she was only 17. Everyone but George thought she was a lady of "spotless virtue". He and she could have been a great Sunday School team!
George died in Stonehouse near Plymouth Devon in 1833. His obituary said he had been ill for a number of years but still sometimes preached sermons in the Plymouth area. It is possible that this ill health contributed to him leaving Marlow. At the time of the 1823 court case he was said to be a married man with 5 children. The Manse he lived in at Marlow was in Chapel Street and was acquired during his tenure as was an additional small meeting place in the village of Bisham near Marlow.
Something about the other people in the case:
John Ceiling (Snelling? Selling?) said in his evidence that he was 80. When George Edwards was new in town it was John whose house he first visited. John obviously considered this a sign of distinction.
Samuel Washbourn was a children's clothing manufacturer and embroiderer who lived in Chapel Street next to the Manse at first. Later he moved to Quoiting Square right by the church, probably taking over the home of his deceased brother. A kind and charitable man, as was his brother John. Both suffered bankruptcy in their life.
Joseph Wright was of Marlow Mills. See my post on the Wane family published in April 2021 for a Joseph Wright's further involvement in church troubles.
Sarah Puddifant- there's a post all about her and her husband James on the blog here
To find other people of interest to you that are mentioned in the blog use the Person Index option on the drop down menu. As of December 2021 there is 3,000 individuals from or connected to Marlow listed there.
Researched by Charlotte Day. Most of the Salem Chapel/Congregational Church ministers have biographies here on the blog - see the menu here to find them all.
Sources:
Evening Mail, 7th July 1823. Copy held at the British Library Archives. Accessed by me March 2021 via the BNA.
The Statesman (London). 7th July 1823. As above.
Reports Of Cases Argued And Determined In The English Courts Of Common Law, Volume 8 by H.C Carey and Lee, 1824. Digitized by Google. Accessed March 2021.
The Evangelical Magazine And Missionary Chronicle, 1833. As above.
History of the Congregational Churches in the Berks, South Oxon and Bucks Association. 1905. WJ Blackett, Newbury.
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