PM minister, born in Belper on 16 October 1850. His mischievous exploits in his boyhood got him into trouble with the police and forced him to escape to Sheffield, where he becme an ironworker. Persuaded to attend a service in a PM chapel, he was soundly converted and in due course was accepted for the PM ministry.

In 1876 he was sent to Bethnal Green Mission as a Probationer and served in London's East End for the next 56 years, at first in Walthamstow and then in Homerton and Clapton Sent to Whitechapel in1896, he bought the Home for Working Boys next to Whitechapel station in 1902 and began the Whitechapel Mission in Brunswick Hall opposite. His own early experience gave him an understanding of boys who fell foul of the law. The police came to trust him with boys brought into court. He offered a home, educational help and a fresh start to many of them, especially first offenders.

Appalled by the working conditions and exploitation of women home workers in the Easr End, he founded the Garment Workers' Union to combat sweated labour in Whitechapel anfd wrote Sweating (1905/1910). In 1912 in recognition of his outstanding ministry and his humble beginnings he was enthusiastically elected President of the PM Conference. He died on 5 October 1932.

Entry written by: JDB
Category: Person
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