Rev Harry James Barton Lee 1907 – 1916
[Surrey Mirror 1936]
Picture from Wycliffe’s 1911 Yearbook.
Born in Lincolnshire in 1870, Rev Harry James Barton Lee was a minister at Ashburton, Devon, and Heavitree, Exeter before he joined Wycliffe in 1907. At Heavitree, he was particularly remembered for his hard work with both the church and community. He was an active member of the local council, Chaplain to the Mayor, and oversaw the building of a new “handsome Chapel” and Sunday School.
He was a member of the League of Nations Union and a gifted Lecturer. His hobby was mountaineering, and he was a member of the Swiss Alpine Club, as well as being associated with the English Rock and Fell Climbing Club.
before he joined Wycliffe
Rev Barton Lee began his Ministry on 3rd March 1907, having moved to 126 Mile End Lane with his wife Ada Elizabeth. The period of his Ministry was described as “one of the most successful periods in the history of the Church”. He became Secretary of the Bible Society in Stockport, and was author and producer of the first big Nonconformist Pageant in England – which was held in Stockport. He also took an interest in local politics, and 1910 gave a widely reported speech criticising the corruption in local elections, including Stockport!
Described as a “popular and highly esteemed Minister” with a “strong genial personality” he was “a preacher and lecturer who could both inspire and instruct”. [Surrey Mirror 1936] He took a leading part in the organisation of an elaborate Rose Garden Bazaar in 1913 when the schoolroom was transformed into a rose garden to raise significant funds for the church.
Rev Barton Lee is pictured on the oldest surviving photograph we possess in Wycliffe. Sadly it is in very bad condition, but he is instantly recognisible on the back row, the fourth one in, with his clerical collar and dashing moustache!
In 1916, Rev Barton Lee and his wife Ada welcomed their only child, Nancy Clayton Lee. Ada had been described as being “most active in every good work” [Western Times, 1907]. However, the time had come for the family to move on, and Rev Barton Lee accepted a call from Alexandra Road Church in Blackpool.
They spent three years in Blackpool, then four in Windermere, and a successful thirteen years in Redhill, Surrey. Ada tragically died in 1932 whilst on a visit to Switzerland. Her death hit Harry hard and his health began to deteriorate as he increased his workload. He died in January 1936 aged 65.
“He was one of God’s gentlemen”
Rev. D. Glannet Davies of Surrey
Rev Anthony Rippiner F.R.C.S. 1917 – 1920
Anthony Rippiner was born in Oundle, Northampton in July 1865, the son of a mason, and apprenticed to his father in his teenage years. He married local lady Naomi in 1888, having begun his Ministry in Hereford in 1887. Son Henry arrived in 1892 and went on to study medicine. Rev Rippiner’s ministry took him to Leicestershire, Lancashire, Yorkshire, and finally Wycliffe, his last position before retirement. Naomi died in 1914 aged 61, and Anthony married Alice Jane Johnson, a School Mistress in 1915.
Rev Rippiner was what we would probably call an activist nowadays, fervently supporting the passive resistance movement in the early 1900’s which objected to rates being paid to support schools where the Anglican creed and Roman Catholicism was taught. He appeared in court on at least two occasions, Rochdale in 1906, and in 1908 he was sentenced to 14 days imprisonment in Northallerton Gaol for withholding half-a-crown from his rates bill in protest! A friend paid his fine, however, and he was released at 6 pm the following evening. In a defiant letter to the Heywood Advertiser on 20th March, he wrote:
“May I…assure all who are interested in securing religious equality and elementary educational rights as citizens that, although the sentence of fourteen days passed upon me for deducting half-a-crown was unjust and outrageous, and, although some friend, too kind, released me after losing my identity in label No.1 for some six hours in the cells, we are prepared to fight this battle a outrance [attack to excess] until Roman Catholicism and episcopacy are no longer on the rates.”
He arrived at Wycliffe from Ashton Road, Oldham in September 1917, and daughter Margaret arrived at the end of November. The family lived at 1, Norris Avenue, Heaton Norris and remained there for many years. He became representative of the Liberation Society for Lancashire and the northern counties and resigned from Wycliffe in January 1920 to devote his full time to the position.
After standing for election for the Board of Guardians in Rochdale in 1898, and coming last, Rev Rippiner was finally able to follow his political ideals when he became a Borough Councillor for Stockport, a role he continued for 15 years. He also became a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society – FRGS. He died in January 1942. His wife Alice, and daughter Margaret returned to Wycliffe as members in 1943 and took a very active role in church life.
Rev Jesse Salt 1920 -1929
Jesse Salt was born in 1875 in Wormhill, Derbyshire, his father a limestone cutter. Jesse had moved to Buxton by the time he was 15 and was working as an office boy.
At some point he was called to serve God became a preacher in Caerdraw Mission in a coal mining village in Merthyr Tydfil. Here, he studied with the Congregational Union and moved to Sealand Road Chester as Minister in 1909. From here, he moved to Churchtown, Southport in 1914, and came to Wycliffe in 1920. He was assisted by Rev Corney Lee – see next – the son of Rev James Lee, the second minister at Wycliffe.
Married to Alice Dawson in 1905, the couple moved into a Manse provided by Wycliffe at 21 Victoria Grove, Heaton Chapel. Rev Salt was described as being “a very popular minister for the children” and remained at Wycliffe for nine years. The church suffered financial problems whilst he was there and the Manse was almost sold, but for a generous donation from a local lady.
Rev Salt resigned in November 1929 when he accepted a position at Barnoldswick in Yorkshire. Apart from a stint in Cumberland, he remained in the Yorkshire area, where his wife Alice was from and died there on 5th June 1957 aged 81.