Thomas Fawcett "The First Methodist in Sleaford"
My ancestor’s younger brother, Thomas Fawcett, born in Sleaford in 1771, was converted to Methodism by his employer while working in Manchester. He returned to Sleaford in 1798, full of zeal, and became an itinerant lay preacher. He opened a study group in a house overlooking the market square. His portrait was displayed in the Methodist Chapel until it was demolished in the 1970’s.
He married Elizabeth Blanshard, the widow of another Methodist minister Thomas Blanshard who had served as a circuit minister from 1795 to 1808, when he was appointed Book Steward in Sleaford, and then returned to active ministry despite declining health. Thomas Blanshard died in 1824. Thomas Fawcett died in 1831, and his widow erected a marble tablet to his memory in the Chapel.
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Simon, if you email wesleyanancestors@gmail.com we can pass your details to Sue Bergen
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I have written a book about Sleaford including a lot of information about Thoms Fawcett. This picture went out of local knowledge after the Methodist Church was demolished in the 1970s. I would be very pleased to make contact with Sue Bergen and discover its current whereabouts if there is any way to do this. Sleaford Museum for example would know how to contact me.
This is a fascinating article esp about the beginnings of methodism here in Sleaford. Unfortunately, Thomas is buried in a unmarked grave, I am speaking to the District supervisior and several local churces to honour Thomas with a proper headstone – as it could be argued that Methodism wouldn’t of been established here in Sleaford (and rural efforts) without Thomas’s faith and zeal.
In 1802, six Methodists from New Sleaford asked the Bishop of Lincoln to register a building occupied by Thomas Fawcett as a place of worship. They were John Matthews, Thos Fawcette, Joseph Minta, George Fawcette, Thomas Minta and Cornelius Grrenwood. (NCRO DISS 2 / 1802 / 1 M)
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