Obituary J Sylvester Poulton

This obituary appeared in the Baptist Union Handbook for 1943

POULTON, JAMES SYLVESTER, was born at Dalston, London, on 9th February, 1861. He was trained for the ministry at Spurgeon's College. His first pastorate was at Winslow, Bucks, from 1885 to 1889, and his second at Coate, Oxfordshire, from 1889 to 1894. In February, 1882, he conducted a very successful mission at Child's Hill Church, then under the ministry of the Rev. W. Rickard. So great an impression did the young minister make that, twelve years later, when Mr. Rickard resigned, he suggested that Mr. Poulton should become his successor. The Church agreed, and Mr. Poulton began his ministry there on 9th December, 1894. His influence grew with the years, for he was one of the kindliest of men, was absolutely sincere and never too busy to undertake new responsibilities. His name became a household word in the district, and for thirty-five years he remained minister of the Church. In 1914 Mr. Poulton took a vigorous lead in the task of entertaining Belgian refugees. On the occasion of the Jubilee of the Church, in 1927, warm tributes were paid to his ministry. Two years later Mr. Poulton, to the great regret of his people, resigned his ministry owing to advancing years. Mr. Poulton was called to the presidency of the Western Group of the London Baptist Association, and later became a life member of the committee. He took an active part in all interdenominational work in the area. He was a member of the Hendon Education Committee, and served for an unbroken period of forty-four years. He was also a governor of the Hendon and Kingsbury County Schools. He died on 30th March, 1942, leaving a widow, four sons and a daughter. His courteous personality and devotion to duty endeared him to all and he left behind a fragrant memory. - E.K.A. (ie E K Alexander)

Anniversary 1896

On October 31, 1896 The Middlesex Courier reported

Baptist Chapel.—The anniversary of this church was held on Sunday last, when appropriate sermons were preached by the pastor, the Rev. J. Sylvester Poulton, to good congregations both morning and evening. On Tuesday a public tea was held in the British School, when the prettily-arranged tables were well filled with provisions and guests. The evening public meeting was held in the chapel, which had been tastefully decorated for the occasion. Mr. Herbert Marnham (of Hampstead) took the chair and was supported by the Rev. W. Brock (of Heath Street, Hampstead), Rev. H. B. Murray (of Canterbury Road, Kilburn), and the pastor. A letter was read from the Rev. W. Whittley. (of the Lown Memorial Church, Cricklewood*) expressive of his regret at being absent, which had been occasioned by the sudden and serious illness of a relative. The meeting was a very hearty one throughout, suitable and stirring addresses being given by all the speakers. The report, which was read by the secretary (Mr. J. Moore), showed that a quiet, steady work was being done by the church, and that a decided progress had been made in all the organisations. The pastor expressed the thanks of the church and congregation to the speakers, and to all those friends who by their offerings of money and service had contributed to the success of the anniversary.

*This is the church that began in 1885 as an iron mission chapel in Cricklewood Lane, an outreach of Lyndhurst Rd, Hampstead church 1885. The congregation moved the other side of Cricklewood Broadway to ao brick building, Lown memorial hall in Howard Rd, in 1893. A new chapel in the Gothic style with a tower was opened 1902 in Chichele Rd. In 1903 the attendance was 187 am and 402 pm. By 1978 it had only 21 members and closed. It reopened as a mosque in 1980. 

Past ministers

Here is some information about past ministers of the church.

1. William Thomas Rickard (1837-1896)

Born Pennycross, Devon.

Founder and first pastor. Minister 1865-1894.

Previously at Hunton Bridge, Herts and Heath Street, Hampstead.

Married to Mary S Rickard. Three children including daughters Mrs Moore and Emily.
Lived in Homelea, The Ridge.
2. J(ames) Sylvester Poulton (1861-1942)

Born Dalston, London.
Studied Spurgeon's Pastor's College.

Second pastor. Minister 1894-1928.

Previously at Winslow and Cote.

Married to Emily Poulton. Six children (Percy, etc).
Lived in Fernleigh, Avenue Villas.
3. Ernest Kennard Alexander (1885-1956)

Born Newport, Monmouthshire.

Third pastor. Minister 1928-1953.

Previously a missionary in the Congo then briefly minister at Highams Park.

Married to F Alexander (nee Clare). A first son died in the Congo. There was also a second, F H Alexander.
Lived in Crewys Road and retired to Nant Road.

4. Leslie Wright (d 1990)

Born ?
Fourth pastor. Minister 1954-1961.

Subsequently at Netherton (61-68?), Potters Bar (69-76) and Clacton (82-90).

Married with children.
Lived in Crewys Road manse.
5. John Lionel Pretlove (b 1939)

Born South West London
Studied Spurgeon's College
Fifth pastor. Minister 1963-1970.

Subsequently ministered in Sheffield then America (Criswell Seminary, Dallas)

Married to Rosemary Violet Wigan from the congregation. Two daughters born while in Childs Hill (and later a son). Later remarried following Rosemary's death.
Lived in Crewys Road manse.
6. Anthony Sandys (d 2007)

Sixth pastor. Minister 1971-1975.

Subsequently involved in various churches and various occupations.

Married to Joy Sandys. At least one child.
Lived in Crewys Road manse.
7. Mark P Sharman (b 1949?)

Studied Trinity, Bristol
Seventh pastor. Minister 1976-1981.

Subsequently ministering in Newcastle. Married to Sandy Sharman. Two children while here, one later.
Lived in Crewys Road manse.

LBA Address

Cover for the printed sermon delivered by JSP Tuesday, January 10, 1911, to the Western Group of The London Baptist Association.

Close of Mr Poulton's Ministry

These two relatively uninformative sheets were used at the farewell service for Mr Poulton on Sunday September 30, 1928. Click to see full size.

The Poultons

A picture, probably from the twenties of Mr J(ames) Sylvester and Mrs Emily Poulton. The Poultons had six children - Percy Sylvester (1894) Lesley Ernest (1895) Reginald Charles (1897) Marjorie Rose (1900) Edith Josephine (1901) and Kenneth James (1908)

Pastor and deacons 1910

This picture was kindly sent to me from Australia. It was originally given to Miss Phoebe Edwards (as she then was) on November 26, 1910 by the then minister J Sylvester Poulton. He is seated in the centre of this photograph (presumably taken in his garden). The other men (the deacons) are named as Dickens, Howard, Wood, Nichols, Balfour, Higgins and Abbot .

Snippet 7 Poulton Call

The year 1882 must have been a momentous one in the life of young J Sylvester Poulton - not only did he marry that year but, more importantly, he finally decided definitely to begin training for the pastoral ministry. In February he led an evangelistic meeting here in Childs Hill. By August he had given up his career - and was ready to commence studying at C H Spurgeon’s famous ‘Pastors College’. By this time Spurgeon was at the height of his popularity and was the president of the college. Mr Poulton is quoted as saying that Spurgeon’s personality ‘Has left a lasting impression for good upon my life’.
Following his college course Mr Poulton’s first pastorate was in Winslow, Buckinghamshire. He was there for five years. He was then called to Cote, near Aston, in Oxfordshire. There he had charge of some six chapels - aided by as many as 27 local preachers. The work involved a great deal of travel (on horse back) but Mr Poulton loved the work. ‘I had the privilege of preaching regularly seven times a week to the same congregations’ he writes. ‘So happy and useful did my ministry at Coate seem that I did not think any church would have drawn me away but Childs Hill.’
Mr Poulton had preached in Childs Hill several times since his first visit in 1832. When Mr Rickard retired in 1894 it is not surprising that, with their old pastor’s prompting, the congregation asked Mr Poulton to be their pastor. Mr Rickard preached his farewell sermon on September 23rd. No time was lost in calling his successor and by December 9th of that same year Mr Poulton had commenced his 35 years of ministry in this area.

Evangelists Association

This is a report from Spurgeon's magazine the Sword and Trowel, the year before Mr Poulton came to Childs Hill.

On Friday evening, Sept. 23, the annual meeting of THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE EVANGELISTS’ASSOCIATION Was held in the Lecture-had, under the presidency of Pastor C H Spurgeon. There was a large and enthusiastic muster of the workers and friends of the Association, and the proceedings throughout were of the most encouraging description. We beg our readers to observe the vast amount of work done by this Society. Mr Elvin presented the report, from which we learn that, during the year, the following services have been held: On Sundays, at the stations belonging to the Association, 603; at other mission stations, 728; in the open-air, 131; in connection with special services, 63; children’s services and supplies, 376; on week-nights, in various chapels and halls, 1,508; in the open-air, 76; or a total of 3,485 meetings at which the gospel has been preached in some part of London. As the evangleists usually adopt the Scriptural plan of going two by two, the number of addresses given is still larger, amounting to no less than 4,948. To accomplish this work 124 brethren and sisters have been more or less occupied as opportunities presented themselves. The cost of carrying on this effort has been exactly £200, a very small sum when we think how much has been accomplished by this agency towards the actual evangelization of this vast city. The addresses actually cost under 10d. each. We have been glad to meet rather more than half the expenses by sums left to our discretion, the churches visited have contributed £53 1s 6d, donations from various friends, collections, tea meetings, etc, have realized about £43, leaving a balance of £2 10s 0d in hand with which to commence the work of another year. As fresh openings are constantly occurring, it is necessary that the funds should increase in like proportion, and the Society will also be glad of more voluntary preachers of the right sort. The honorary secretary is Mr G E Elvin, 30, Surrey-square, Walworth, SE.

Snippet 6 Mr Poulton

The second pastor at Childs Hill, following Mr Rickard’s retirement in 1894, was a man by the name of J Sylvester Poulton. Mr Poulton was born in Dalston, London, in 1861. His father was the principal of a private schoo1 - but he died when his son was only 10. No doubt that caused the boy to give some serious thought to life, but it was eventually the splendid singing of a large Baptist Mission that attracted him to the gospel. He began attending regularly when he was 15 and dated his conversion to a particular service two years later when he was 17.
It seems that from that moment he throw himself into the work of preaching the gospel with great enthusiasm. He preached in various lodging houses, work houses and mission halls, as well as engaging in open-air work.
At the ago of 19 he became a member of Vernon Baptist Chapel, Kings Cross. There he was very much influenced by the preaching of the minister, Rev C B Sawday. At the time one of London’s leading Baptist Churches met in the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Elephant and Castle. The Tabernacle had been built in 1860 to house the vast congregations that flocked to hear the Rev C H Spurgeon. Several helpful agencies were commenced by Spurgeon, including and Evangelists Association, which Mr Poulton joined. It was in connection with this association that Mr Poulton first came to Childs Hill, in February 1882, to lead a series of special evangelistic meetings. Little did those who heard him that week realise that he would later be pastor of the church for more than 30 years.

Cote

J Sylvester Poulton's second pastorate (1889-1894) was at the Baptist church in Cote, near Aston in Oxfordshire. That church goes back to Wycliffe's Poore Preachers who taught at Longworth across the River Thames in the late 15th Century. The first 'meeting house' is recorded in 1604 and the first minister of the Longworth/Cote meeting was appointed 1652. The first chapel at Cote was built 1704, the present one (no longer in regular use) in 1756. It is one of the oldest in the country and is under the ownership of The Historic Chapels Trust. See here.

Winslow

J Sylvester Poulton's first pastorate was at Winslow in Buckinghamshire

where he served 1885-1889. See here for the history of that work.

J Sylvester Poulton

J(ames) Sylvester Poulton, second pastor. Minister 1894-1929. He was born in 1861 and died March 30, 1942.