'… a delightful friend and companion. He was as a preacher too full of energy, who had to be warned against excessive straining of his voice. People said that he was apt to "scream", and had injured a blood vessel, and was in danger of doing so again. But he was universally liked, and especially by the young. He used knives with all the art of a skilled mechanic - carved boats, rigged me a toy ship, and ingeniously made many compasses of cork and steel. He was under middle height, with a pleasant and rather full oval face, regular features, bright eyes, and a taking manner. It was said that he might have been a wealthy merchant of Bristol, like his father, but that he chose, like St. Matthew,to give up all for the ministry…'

R. Denny Urlin, Father Reece (1899)