Susan Silvester in Curdworth Parish Church and Minworth, West Midlands - between 1880 and 1889
My father and mother originally attended the parish church at Curdworth; my father had a good bass voice, was very fond of singing and was a member of the choir. But one day he missed a practice because he was working late in the harvest field. On the following Sunday the rector, Dr. Jones—who was a doctor of music as well as of divinity—sent a note to the choir telling those who had missed the practice not to sing. My father was so … more >>
My father and mother originally attended the parish church at Curdworth; my father had a good bass voice, was very fond of singing and was a member of the choir. But one day he missed a practice because he was working late in the harvest field. On the following Sunday the rector, Dr. Jones—who was a doctor of music as well as of divinity—sent a note to the choir telling those who had missed the practice not to sing. My father was so offended that he left the church and joined the Independent—later Congregational—Chapel at Minworth. He didn’t sever his connection with the church completely for he used to take me sometimes to the morning service at Curdworth. He would usually be pressed to go into the choir and I would go with him, so he must have been forgiven for leaving.
[…]
[…] The Independent Chapel had been founded in 1855 and my parents had joined it when I was a small child. I think it suited them better than the church for they were people of a radical and independent spirit. My mother later became a keen suffragette though never a ‘militant’, and they were always politically liberal. They belonged to the Chapel for the rest of their lives[.]
[…]
Amongst my earliest memories are those of the meetings which used to be held at our house in the evenings when a few men and women would come and say prayers and sing hymns.
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cite as
Susan Silvester, In a World That Has Gone. In Brunel University Library Special Collections, number 1:628, p. 10-11. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1541766410406 accessed: 27 September, 2023 (By permission of Brunel University Library, Special Collections)
Listeners
Susan Silvester

baker, Grocer's assistant, in service, shop keeper
1878-1968
Originally submitted by 5011Henning on Fri, 09 Nov 2018 12:26:51 +0000
Approved on Wed, 02 Jan 2019 22:11:52 +0000