Our Founding Mothers - and the spirited women of Bethel
by Val Woodhouse
The pictures on this page are of just some of the wonderful women who have contributed to the life and work of this Bethel Chapel since it was founded in 1888.
A few years after I joined Bethel, I came across what we now call the archives and there it was, the history of Bethel Chapel. I was entranced, I read everything that was available and realised this was the story of humble, hardworking, mostly self-educated local women and men who had done the seemingly impossible in founding and then building not one but two church buildings in ten years, armed solely with their faith in God.
In this archive is a typewritten partial history of Bethel which has on the opening page a list of names entitled the ‘Men who Mattered’ yet the document mentions many women who too were instrumental in building Bethel, so I want to redress the balance by mentioning some of the ‘Women who Mattered’ our Founding Mothers.
Some of founding mothers mentioned in the document are Mrs Charles Dickens of Cross Walks Road and Mrs Ernest Cox of Balds Lane in whose homes the first Bethel services were held. It was also Mrs Cox who made sure there were enough wooden boxes for children to sit on every Sunday.
By 1890 it became obvious to the growing number of Bethelites that they needed to acquire a large space in which they could all worship together. A local lady called Mrs Phillips came to their aid. She indicated that she was well disposed to Bethel and was willing to sell two houses she owned in order that they could be converted into a chapel.
Nervously, a deputation went to negotiate the purchase only to be amazed by the God filled generosity of Mrs Phillips when she proposed a purchase price of £74 to be paid once the church proved to be a success. If the venture failed, she would take back the properties and release the trustees from any obligation to pay. In 1896 she was paid in full, interestingly Mrs Phillips signature on the conveyance deed had to be validated by a legal ‘commissioner for taking acknowledgments by married women’. I would argue that although she does not appear in any documents as a member of Bethel she could indeed be classed as an honorary founding mother.
The two buildings required much work to convert them mostly done by members of Bethel including the women, who juggled this manual work alongside caring for their families and doing ‘outwork’. It is recorded that the women including Jane Perrins, mother of Amos and Martha Westwood spent many hours stripping and cleaning old mortar from cheap second-hand bricks so that they could be reused.
The document entitled ‘History of Bethel’ also notes that many of those remarkable Bethel women were ‘no stranger to the shovel either.’ In fact, Jane Perrins was commemorated on a marble memorial in chapel until it was damaged in the late nineties.
As an aside you might like to know that on 20th March 1893, the Bethel Ladies enjoyed a Mother’s Day service of song entitled ‘For Mother’s Sake’ in the Pump Street chapel.
I earlier mentioned Martha Westwood joined Bethel as a young woman in 1888 and she served the church until her death in early 1929. Martha was described as being there from the start of the society and noted as one of Bethel’s most active workers for its wellbeing and development. She served as unpaid caretaker at the Pump Street chapel for years alongside Jane Perrins until in 1896 there was enough money to pay each of them one shilling and sixpence a week in old money (7.5p in decimal) Martha then continued to serve in this current chapel until ill health prevented her. It was said that to know her was to love her. A noble soul with a cheerful personality, her Christian faith gave her an integrity and steadfastness that made her a person of great influence who inspired those around her to tread the same path she had faithfully followed.
Other founding mothers include Mary Anne Wooldridge who raised a £100 mortgage on her own property, for the sole purpose of lending the sum raised towards building the chapel we sit in today and Martha Barnbrook a Christian woman of whom it was said ‘she kept her light ever shining.’
When I first came to Bethel, I was very aware of the high proportion of women in leading roles in the Chapel, something I had never previously experienced in a religious setting. Prior to this, positions of influence were always held by men, and I remember thinking it was a refreshing change.
After spending much of my adult life in this chapel surrounded by Christian women of strength, I now realise these magnificent women I have been privileged to know through years are the spiritual descendants of those faith filled founding mothers and continue to light the path those earlier women showed us. And, one day, your story too, will be told as an inspiration to others.
