PM connexional solicitor, born at Wallingford on 11 December 1854. He was the son of the Rev. Edmund Rawlings (1817-1894; e.m. 1835), who itinerated mainly in the West Country. He began his legal training at Wallingford and completed it in London, where he attended Stoke Newington PM Church. He qualified in 1879 and moved to Hammersmith, attending the Dalling Road church, where he was Sunday School Superintendent for 25 years. He was a circuit steward and local preacher and was elected Vice-President of the PM Conference in 1905. Politically a Progressive, he was a JP for the County of London and was elected Mayor of Hammersmith in 1906. He stood unsuccessfully for North Islington in 1910. He was principal of the London solicitors Rawlings and Butt, his son-in-law S. Alford Butt having become a partner the previous year. He was PM Connexional Solicitor from 1896, and also solicitor to the National Free Church Council, serving on its Executive Committee. He served as treasurer of the PM London Extension Fund. He produced: the London Directory for Primitive Methodists in 1896 (with S.A. Butt) in 1896 and (with A.S. Howard) in 1912, The Nonconformist Guide to the Marriage Laws (with S.A. Butt, 1899), The Free Churchman's Guide to the Education Act 1902, and The Free Churchman's Legal Handbook, including a summary of Laws particularly relating to Social Questions (1902).

Entry written by: DCD
Category: Person
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