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The Life and Times of George Bailey 1820 - 1889
George Bailey was born in June 1820, in the beautiful and historic village of Avebury, in Wiltshire. He was the son of Thomas and Sarah Bailey (nee Nash) who, although they were not religious people, wanted to provide their son with the best education they could afford. They sent him to the local village school kept by the Rev. W. Cornwall, the Minister of the Independent Church in the village.
George's school years were one of the happiest periods of his life and it was during these years that he attempted to preach. One day, when the schoolmaster didn't turn up, the boys sneaked into the little chapel and George was put in the pulpit to preach to his schoolmates. As time went on the fun and frivolity escalated until suddenly, without warning, the schoolmaster appeared. In a flash all the boys scarpered and George was left to flee the scene on his own. In his haste to escape the notice of the incensed minister, he collided into the stove, which fell down with an enormous clatter, leaving George in the clutches of the minister, who subsequently gave him a 'sound thrashing'.
George's school years were one of the happiest periods of his life and it was during these years that he attempted to preach. One day, when the schoolmaster didn't turn up, the boys sneaked into the little chapel and George was put in the pulpit to preach to his schoolmates. As time went on the fun and frivolity escalated until suddenly, without warning, the schoolmaster appeared. In a flash all the boys scarpered and George was left to flee the scene on his own. In his haste to escape the notice of the incensed minister, he collided into the stove, which fell down with an enormous clatter, leaving George in the clutches of the minister, who subsequently gave him a 'sound thrashing'.
Life of George Bailey
Gathering Information
My next course of action had to be to find information on George Bailey, James FW’s grandfather, as he was the nearest blood relative that was definitely proven to be related to him. When looking at the census returns for George Bailey, I found that he was actually an Independent Minister, rather than a labourer, as stated on James’ birth certificate, so my next step was to find information on what an Independent Minister actually was. Whilst searching for this information I was incredibly lucky to find the address of a Trust that keeps theological records for the United Reformed Churches. I rang them up and was delighted to find that they not only kept records on the churches where George had been minister, but they also kept records on actual ministers within the independent churches themselves. They confirmed that they had an article written about George Bailey and promised to send me photocopies, although they gave me no clue as to what information was included in the article. The next day the envelope arrived and I could hardly contain my excitement as I opened the envelope wondering what details about George I was going to find.
I was overjoyed to find an article that described George’s life as a Minister and a hint of some of the most significant events in his life. This whetted my appetite and I was keen for more information, particularly with regard to the mention of a memorial that was to be written on his life. I wrote back to the Theological Trust, thirsty for more information, but was bitterly disappointed when they told me they were unable to help me further and that I would have to go down in person if I wished to find out more information. Luckily, after hours of trawling through the internet, I found a reference to said the memorial in the Wiltshire Records Office. I promptly rang them and asked if it was possible to purchase a copy of the memorial, and imagine my delight when I found that the memorial written for the Rev. George Bailey was 64 pages long! They sent me a copy of the memorial, ‘A Village Ministry’ which was written by his son, Amos Bailey in 1890, and I have used this as a basis in the following account of George’s life.
George’s Childhood
George was born in June 1820, in the beautiful and historic village of Avebury, in Wiltshire. He was the son of Thomas and Sarah Bailey (nee Nash) who, although they were not religious people, wanted to provide their son with the best education they could afford and so sent him to a school kept by the Rev. W. Cornwall, the minister of the Independent Church in the village.
His school years were one of the happiest periods of his life and it was during these years that he first attempted to preach. One day, when the schoolmaster didn’t turn up, the boys sneaked into the little chapel and George was put in the pulpit to preach to his schoolmates. As time went on the fun and frivolity escalated until suddenly, without warning, the schoolmaster appeared. In a flash all the boys scarpered and George was left to flee the scene on his own. In his haste to escape the notice of the incensed minister, he collided into the stove, which fell down with an enormous clatter, leaving George in the clutches of the minister, who subsequently gave him a ‘sound thrashing’.
George’s father, Thomas Bailey was a slave to the demon drink and spent more and more of the family money to feed his habit. By the time George was 15, he had totally squandered all the family money and the effects of this excessive drinking was that it finally broke up the family home and George was ‘cast upon the wide world to cater for himself’. During the following years George suffered from extreme poverty and he struggled so hard to survive that he even stooped so low as to actually eat the soft chalk off the Downs to deaden his excruciating hunger pangs.
A turn in fortune
It was not until George was about 20, when he moved to Marlborough, that he eventually made friends with people who helped him to start his own business and he finally became more financially secure. Without the burden of his extreme struggles, he was able to turn his mind back to religious matters again, as they had been a great influence to him when he was a boy. He went to live in the house of a widow called Sarah Awdry who was a staunch Independent in her beliefs and regularly provided refreshments and shelter for the local Primitive Methodists who were bitterly persecuted at the time. They were dubbed as ‘ranters’, which originated from 1814, when the people in Belper used to sing through the streets on their way home after a meeting, and were regularly pelted with rotten eggs, mud and stones.
George eventually fell in love with Sarah, the youngest surviving daughter of Sarah Awdry’s 12 known children (of which at least 4 died in childhood) and they eventually married on 18th October 1842. It was at this time that he began his work as a preacher and although he preferred the principles of the Independent Church, his love for Sarah led him to become a Primitive Methodist preacher. He used to visit the villages that were scattered around the Wiltshire Downs as well as the villages lying close to the boarders of Berkshire. These were very difficult times for him as while he worked evangelizing around the villages, he was continually persecuted and subject to direct opposition. Sarah, his wife, was a kindred spirit, full of sympathy in the work that George engaged in and was willing to take her share of self-sacrifice in order to ‘champion the cause’.
A brush with the law
One of the villages George and his friends visited to evangelise was Great Bedwyn, about 7 miles south-east of Marlborough and one day they were met at the outskirts by the local vicar who refused to allow their ‘blasphemies’ in his village. But, when George rapidly began preaching as a crowd gathered round, a number of village rowdies were directed by a big farmer to attack George and his friends. The attack shortly culminated in a riot and George was very roughly handled and hustled out of the village with dire threats of worse treatment if he dared to show his face again. He eventually returned home weary, bashed and bruised, with a ‘coat lappet’ missing.
Nothing daunted, George and his friends duly arrived at the same village the following Sunday and no sooner had they arrived than the villagers rushed together whilst the big farmer on horse back actually tried to ride George and his friends down. Undaunted, George proceeded to preach and then the village constable turned up (instigated by the village farmer) and he seized him by the neck, almost choking him. There was an enormous man who had been listening to the sermon and decided to stick up for the preacher. He pulled a knife from his pocket and in a broad Wiltshire dialect exclaimed ‘Teak thee honds off thick mon, or wee’ll ha thee vingers off!’ The frightened constable, knowing he was in the wrong, quickly released his hold on George, but the mob soon took over and drove them away.
A few days later, George and his friends were summoned to appear before the magistrates at Marlborough, charged with creating a riot. The incident gathered a lot of interest and during the trial the court-house was crowded. There was a solicitor in the crowd who was a member of the Independent Church and volunteered to defend George and his friends. He examined the summons and discovered a loophole in the law and so the proceedings were subsequently quashed, leaving George and his friends free of all charges.
Scenes of riots and mob rule were repeated again and again, like an incident in Manton, for example, where a gang of plough-boys were paid to disturb the meetings with sheep-bells and in Pewsey, where another mob became so violent that at one stage George’s life was actually in danger. Despite these incidents, he was so steadfast in his beliefs that he said he would ‘willingly have laid down my life if by doing so I could have saved some.’
A change of faith
As George still clung onto the theology of the old Independents, he eventually resolved to sever his connections with the Primitive Methodist body as he could not subscribe to all their standards or sympathise with their methods of work. He subsequently applied join the Independent Church, but they were cautious of his intense activity and zeal and thought his activities might disturb the relative peacefulness of the church. They resolved that his application must stand for a period time, but, as the wait meant a cessation of his preaching, George declared that it was crucial that he preached and if no recognised church would have him, he would go out on his own and preach. So, for several years this is what he did, preaching anywhere he could and to anyone who would listen, no matter what church they belonged to, and as a consequence he found many lifelong friends and helpers along the way.
Converted friends
During his years of wandering the Wiltshire Downs, evangelising to ‘win some subjects for the Master’s kingdom’, he visited an isolated village in the middle of the Downs called Broad Hinton. On his first visit a few villagers gathered to listen to him and a few weeks later he went again to the same place only to find an old man stood there waiting for him. The old man told him that he had gone to the same spot every Sunday since George’s first visit so he could invite the preacher to use his cottage for services. George accepted his offer and as the old man was poor, George used to take him packages of tea as a ‘thank you’ for his hospitality. On one occasion the old man invited George for dinner, but was so poor, he drew aside a curtain and produced a loaf of bread and a raw onion. He placed them on a stool and took a knife from his pocket, opened it and polished the blade on his ‘corduroy breeches’ and presented the meal to George, saying ‘help yourself, sir; tha kindly welcome’.
The ‘Gadburn Devil’
There was a notorious woman that lived in the neighbourhood of Broad Hinton who was feared and disliked by everyone and known locally as the ‘Gadburn Devil’. She used to attend fairs in a caravan, accompanied by a man who lived with her and whatever went missing in the district, from a chicken to a purse, she was blamed for it. Although she was very frugal, she was known to have lots of money and on one occasion some men broke into her caravan when she was out. They were enraged when they couldn’t find any money, so they ‘cruelly pounced upon her dwarf daughter, cut her throat, and sat her on the fire’. Luckily, the wound wasn’t fatal and she managed to crawl to the safety of her bed.
Out of curiosity one evening, the ‘Gadburn Devil’ went to the old man’s cottage to listen to George’s sermon, and was so affected by his preaching’s that she sped back to her caravan and announced to her lover, ‘no more of this. The van is mine; but take it and leave me. I will live a different life.’ He tried to dissuade her, but in a fit of rage when she refused to change her mind, he jumped on her feet and tried to intimidate her with violence. But despite this, she remained steadfast and amazed the villagers who would come to the services to see ‘the one from whom the demon had been cast out’ sitting ‘at the feet of Christ’, humbly and patiently learning about eternal life.
Goatacre
During George’s years of travelling the Downs, preaching and evangelising, he refused to accept payment for his work, remaining self-sufficient, rather than being tied to anyone in particular. One exception to this, however was at Goatacre, where friends insisted that he accepted a regular fee of 5 shillings (worth about £17:50 today). Another preacher who often preached in the same villages as George, was annoyed at this and argued that he shouldn’t be accepting a fee for his preaching’s. George reminded his fellow preacher that a lady had recently pressed a £50 note into his hand (worth about £3,500 today) and he had accepted it. The other preacher insisted that this was quite a different matter and not the same as a regular payment. When George used to relate this incident, he would say, with a twinkle in his eye, ‘I could never for the life of me see any difference, except in the amount!’
Castle Combe
George’s zeal and self-denial was often misinterpreted by other preachers, who suspected him as being fanatical and even a little insane. This did not affect George and he steadfastly kept on working, seeking to gain approval from Christ and not from men. But one man, on hearing George preach at Goatacre one day, persuaded him to preach at his village of Castle Combe.
His subsequent ministry at Castle Combe attracted many people from the surrounding villages who walked or drove a considerable distance to attend his morning service, which was described as being simple, hearty and reverent. He would preach throughout the whole week and carry out a lot of pastoral work which spread throughout a wide area. For some time George devoted his efforts to building up the old Church in Castle Combe and he eventually secured the help of a band of Christian workers who helped him in his quest.
Among these people was one man in particular, called Absalom Billet, who had been in the army in India and had contracted a disease which resulted in total blindness. He used to travel for miles round the whole district to visit the sick, singing hymns and reading prayers with them. He travelled with only a stick to guide him and dressed in a long white smock frock so he could be seen in the dark, and a tall silk hat, with a portion of tactile Scriptures written for the blind under his arm.
George’s personal life
George was a greatly loved man and his chief characteristics were described as being his ‘steadfastness of purpose and singleness of aim; his transparent sincerity and simple-hearted goodness impressed all who came into contact with him, giving his words a power which nothing else could bestow.’ He was significantly successful at touching men spiritually and his devotion to his work meant that he never rested or allowed his fellow workers to rest. His incessant toil in his public ministry meant that he greatly sacrificed his own home comforts and family life.
The whole family suffered from these sacrifices, especially his wife, Sarah. She was a very lonely woman, being left alone day and night to bring up their 7 children almost single-handedly. She was a frail woman, but bore her burden of wifely and motherly duties uncomplainingly, and unburdened her troubles through prayer. Their children would sometimes be woken up in the middle of a dark winter’s night by the sounds of their mother pouring her heart out and earnestly pleading in fervent prayer for her husband and her children.
George’s salary was extremely inadequate for the needs of a large family and for many years his life was an intolerable uphill struggle against poverty. To add to their difficulties, Lydia, their youngest daughter had a spinal disease which needed constant care. It was George’s last duty every day before he left for work to carry his much loved Lydia from her bedroom to her couch in the family sitting-room. He found this ‘long continued affliction’ a severe trial and it often caused him to suffer from deep depression, but this just spurred him on even more to carry on his life’s work. People listening to his preaching’s would often comment that the more trials and tribulations he encountered, the better he preached and ‘these fruits of his sorrow were precious to his people, and the means of fruitfulness in them’.
Move to Crockerton
The years of heavy toil gradually caught up with George and as he was suffering from great pain and failing strength, he was reluctantly forced to accept a pastorate at Crockerton in 1873. The local congregation increased under George’s ministry and as well as taking regular services in the church, he also held a regular service at the local silk factory. Every Tuesday morning, at 9o’clock, the factory bell rang for the people to return from breakfast, not to work but to worship. There were hundreds of workpeople in the factory (in 1871 there were 228 women, 300 girls, 61 men and 44 boys) and they would troop into a large room in the factory and attend a 30 minute service. This scene was also repeated on a Thursday morning in another factory owned by the same man, Charles Jupe, in Warminster. These weekly services were much appreciated by the workers as they made a pleasant break from the monotonous whirl of the machinery and the tedious toil of their mundane work. George also had another church under his charge in the village of Sutton Veny which was 2 miles away and, as if this wasn’t enough, he also added another church to his weekly schedule by superintending at Warminster Common.
Failing health
In 1876, George accepted a pastorate at Heytesbury and moved there, but still retained an oversight of the church at Sutton Veny and some years later, took charge of the churches at Codford and Wylye. During this time his health was rapidly declining and could no longer undertake any work requiring physical effort, as work and worry tended to ‘disorganize his nervous system’. Several times during his last winter in this district he lost his way in the darkness, bruising himself again and again by colliding with trees and walls, until he eventually admitted to himself that it was no longer possible to manage the long exhausting walks between villages.
His declining physical health caused him to enter into long periods of depression which were extremely distressing to everyone, so in 1873, he went to be pastor at the Silver Street Church in Malmesbury. Once there, he set about to restore and build up the church and he renovated the sanctuary, both externally and internally. This, was obviously not enough for George, and the temptation to superintend 3 more small churches at Corston, Christian Malford and Brinkworth proved to be too much and as he could no longer physically walk there, generous friends would take it in turns to drive him there by horse and cart.
As the years progressed, George’s physical health caused him great suffering and sometimes he felt as if he was suffocating, making his breathing quick and laboured. Despite this, he was still very loath to relinquish any of his work, despite constant pleas from his family and friends. Eventually he decided that resigning from his pastorate might help to restore his health, but by this time it was too late. His strength rapidly declined and eventually, on the first Sunday in 1889 when visiting one of his out-stations, he fell into the cart in a state of complete exhaustion. He came round enough to take the service at Silver Street that evening, but had to be almost carried home.
Terminal heart failure
A medical examination revealed that he had a valvular disease of the heart, which must have been developing for years and although it was terminal, he hoped that with care he might be spared and be able to do some occasional religious work. However, as the weeks passed there was little improvement and in February he had a haemorrhage which brought him close to death’s door. He did, however rally and although his days and nights were full of suffering and weariness, it was hoped that he might find relief after a time. In May, he contracted dropsy (fluid retention due to heart failure) and after this his ‘sufferings were piteous’.
For weeks he could not lie flat and spent day and night sat propped in a chair, only being lifted from one chair to another. During frequent heart attacks his cries of pain could be heard for hundreds of yards and night after night his family and friends kept a weary vigil, praying for Jesus to take him quickly. During this time they all treated him with such affection and kindness, he wondered what he had done to deserve such love and affection.
In the July, he had an operation and had some months of comparative ease, which enabled him to move from one room to another. One morning in October, George insisted on being taken to the morning service at the Silver Street Church, where his son was preaching, so a group of friends arranged to take him there. The effort to get there was really distressing to everyone and it was pitiful to see the suffering old pastor propped up in a chair on the platform with the communion table in front of him, taking his last look at the people and the church that meant so much to him. During the service he painfully and laboriously prayed with indescribable fervour from where he sat, whilst the people wept under the sound of his voice and the influence of his prayer.
After this he gradually got worse, until one night in the 1st week in November, he was heard to pray for his wife and children and their children, naming each one by name. The following day, his suffering finally came to an end and he died on 7th November 1889, at the age of 69. He was buried the following Monday and his funeral was attended by all the neighbouring ministers and most of the neighbouring town and village folk as well friends and family from all parts of the country.
My next course of action had to be to find information on George Bailey, James FW’s grandfather, as he was the nearest blood relative that was definitely proven to be related to him. When looking at the census returns for George Bailey, I found that he was actually an Independent Minister, rather than a labourer, as stated on James’ birth certificate, so my next step was to find information on what an Independent Minister actually was. Whilst searching for this information I was incredibly lucky to find the address of a Trust that keeps theological records for the United Reformed Churches. I rang them up and was delighted to find that they not only kept records on the churches where George had been minister, but they also kept records on actual ministers within the independent churches themselves. They confirmed that they had an article written about George Bailey and promised to send me photocopies, although they gave me no clue as to what information was included in the article. The next day the envelope arrived and I could hardly contain my excitement as I opened the envelope wondering what details about George I was going to find.
I was overjoyed to find an article that described George’s life as a Minister and a hint of some of the most significant events in his life. This whetted my appetite and I was keen for more information, particularly with regard to the mention of a memorial that was to be written on his life. I wrote back to the Theological Trust, thirsty for more information, but was bitterly disappointed when they told me they were unable to help me further and that I would have to go down in person if I wished to find out more information. Luckily, after hours of trawling through the internet, I found a reference to said the memorial in the Wiltshire Records Office. I promptly rang them and asked if it was possible to purchase a copy of the memorial, and imagine my delight when I found that the memorial written for the Rev. George Bailey was 64 pages long! They sent me a copy of the memorial, ‘A Village Ministry’ which was written by his son, Amos Bailey in 1890, and I have used this as a basis in the following account of George’s life.
George’s Childhood
George was born in June 1820, in the beautiful and historic village of Avebury, in Wiltshire. He was the son of Thomas and Sarah Bailey (nee Nash) who, although they were not religious people, wanted to provide their son with the best education they could afford and so sent him to a school kept by the Rev. W. Cornwall, the minister of the Independent Church in the village.
His school years were one of the happiest periods of his life and it was during these years that he first attempted to preach. One day, when the schoolmaster didn’t turn up, the boys sneaked into the little chapel and George was put in the pulpit to preach to his schoolmates. As time went on the fun and frivolity escalated until suddenly, without warning, the schoolmaster appeared. In a flash all the boys scarpered and George was left to flee the scene on his own. In his haste to escape the notice of the incensed minister, he collided into the stove, which fell down with an enormous clatter, leaving George in the clutches of the minister, who subsequently gave him a ‘sound thrashing’.
George’s father, Thomas Bailey was a slave to the demon drink and spent more and more of the family money to feed his habit. By the time George was 15, he had totally squandered all the family money and the effects of this excessive drinking was that it finally broke up the family home and George was ‘cast upon the wide world to cater for himself’. During the following years George suffered from extreme poverty and he struggled so hard to survive that he even stooped so low as to actually eat the soft chalk off the Downs to deaden his excruciating hunger pangs.
A turn in fortune
It was not until George was about 20, when he moved to Marlborough, that he eventually made friends with people who helped him to start his own business and he finally became more financially secure. Without the burden of his extreme struggles, he was able to turn his mind back to religious matters again, as they had been a great influence to him when he was a boy. He went to live in the house of a widow called Sarah Awdry who was a staunch Independent in her beliefs and regularly provided refreshments and shelter for the local Primitive Methodists who were bitterly persecuted at the time. They were dubbed as ‘ranters’, which originated from 1814, when the people in Belper used to sing through the streets on their way home after a meeting, and were regularly pelted with rotten eggs, mud and stones.
George eventually fell in love with Sarah, the youngest surviving daughter of Sarah Awdry’s 12 known children (of which at least 4 died in childhood) and they eventually married on 18th October 1842. It was at this time that he began his work as a preacher and although he preferred the principles of the Independent Church, his love for Sarah led him to become a Primitive Methodist preacher. He used to visit the villages that were scattered around the Wiltshire Downs as well as the villages lying close to the boarders of Berkshire. These were very difficult times for him as while he worked evangelizing around the villages, he was continually persecuted and subject to direct opposition. Sarah, his wife, was a kindred spirit, full of sympathy in the work that George engaged in and was willing to take her share of self-sacrifice in order to ‘champion the cause’.
A brush with the law
One of the villages George and his friends visited to evangelise was Great Bedwyn, about 7 miles south-east of Marlborough and one day they were met at the outskirts by the local vicar who refused to allow their ‘blasphemies’ in his village. But, when George rapidly began preaching as a crowd gathered round, a number of village rowdies were directed by a big farmer to attack George and his friends. The attack shortly culminated in a riot and George was very roughly handled and hustled out of the village with dire threats of worse treatment if he dared to show his face again. He eventually returned home weary, bashed and bruised, with a ‘coat lappet’ missing.
Nothing daunted, George and his friends duly arrived at the same village the following Sunday and no sooner had they arrived than the villagers rushed together whilst the big farmer on horse back actually tried to ride George and his friends down. Undaunted, George proceeded to preach and then the village constable turned up (instigated by the village farmer) and he seized him by the neck, almost choking him. There was an enormous man who had been listening to the sermon and decided to stick up for the preacher. He pulled a knife from his pocket and in a broad Wiltshire dialect exclaimed ‘Teak thee honds off thick mon, or wee’ll ha thee vingers off!’ The frightened constable, knowing he was in the wrong, quickly released his hold on George, but the mob soon took over and drove them away.
A few days later, George and his friends were summoned to appear before the magistrates at Marlborough, charged with creating a riot. The incident gathered a lot of interest and during the trial the court-house was crowded. There was a solicitor in the crowd who was a member of the Independent Church and volunteered to defend George and his friends. He examined the summons and discovered a loophole in the law and so the proceedings were subsequently quashed, leaving George and his friends free of all charges.
Scenes of riots and mob rule were repeated again and again, like an incident in Manton, for example, where a gang of plough-boys were paid to disturb the meetings with sheep-bells and in Pewsey, where another mob became so violent that at one stage George’s life was actually in danger. Despite these incidents, he was so steadfast in his beliefs that he said he would ‘willingly have laid down my life if by doing so I could have saved some.’
A change of faith
As George still clung onto the theology of the old Independents, he eventually resolved to sever his connections with the Primitive Methodist body as he could not subscribe to all their standards or sympathise with their methods of work. He subsequently applied join the Independent Church, but they were cautious of his intense activity and zeal and thought his activities might disturb the relative peacefulness of the church. They resolved that his application must stand for a period time, but, as the wait meant a cessation of his preaching, George declared that it was crucial that he preached and if no recognised church would have him, he would go out on his own and preach. So, for several years this is what he did, preaching anywhere he could and to anyone who would listen, no matter what church they belonged to, and as a consequence he found many lifelong friends and helpers along the way.
Converted friends
During his years of wandering the Wiltshire Downs, evangelising to ‘win some subjects for the Master’s kingdom’, he visited an isolated village in the middle of the Downs called Broad Hinton. On his first visit a few villagers gathered to listen to him and a few weeks later he went again to the same place only to find an old man stood there waiting for him. The old man told him that he had gone to the same spot every Sunday since George’s first visit so he could invite the preacher to use his cottage for services. George accepted his offer and as the old man was poor, George used to take him packages of tea as a ‘thank you’ for his hospitality. On one occasion the old man invited George for dinner, but was so poor, he drew aside a curtain and produced a loaf of bread and a raw onion. He placed them on a stool and took a knife from his pocket, opened it and polished the blade on his ‘corduroy breeches’ and presented the meal to George, saying ‘help yourself, sir; tha kindly welcome’.
The ‘Gadburn Devil’
There was a notorious woman that lived in the neighbourhood of Broad Hinton who was feared and disliked by everyone and known locally as the ‘Gadburn Devil’. She used to attend fairs in a caravan, accompanied by a man who lived with her and whatever went missing in the district, from a chicken to a purse, she was blamed for it. Although she was very frugal, she was known to have lots of money and on one occasion some men broke into her caravan when she was out. They were enraged when they couldn’t find any money, so they ‘cruelly pounced upon her dwarf daughter, cut her throat, and sat her on the fire’. Luckily, the wound wasn’t fatal and she managed to crawl to the safety of her bed.
Out of curiosity one evening, the ‘Gadburn Devil’ went to the old man’s cottage to listen to George’s sermon, and was so affected by his preaching’s that she sped back to her caravan and announced to her lover, ‘no more of this. The van is mine; but take it and leave me. I will live a different life.’ He tried to dissuade her, but in a fit of rage when she refused to change her mind, he jumped on her feet and tried to intimidate her with violence. But despite this, she remained steadfast and amazed the villagers who would come to the services to see ‘the one from whom the demon had been cast out’ sitting ‘at the feet of Christ’, humbly and patiently learning about eternal life.
Goatacre
During George’s years of travelling the Downs, preaching and evangelising, he refused to accept payment for his work, remaining self-sufficient, rather than being tied to anyone in particular. One exception to this, however was at Goatacre, where friends insisted that he accepted a regular fee of 5 shillings (worth about £17:50 today). Another preacher who often preached in the same villages as George, was annoyed at this and argued that he shouldn’t be accepting a fee for his preaching’s. George reminded his fellow preacher that a lady had recently pressed a £50 note into his hand (worth about £3,500 today) and he had accepted it. The other preacher insisted that this was quite a different matter and not the same as a regular payment. When George used to relate this incident, he would say, with a twinkle in his eye, ‘I could never for the life of me see any difference, except in the amount!’
Castle Combe
George’s zeal and self-denial was often misinterpreted by other preachers, who suspected him as being fanatical and even a little insane. This did not affect George and he steadfastly kept on working, seeking to gain approval from Christ and not from men. But one man, on hearing George preach at Goatacre one day, persuaded him to preach at his village of Castle Combe.
His subsequent ministry at Castle Combe attracted many people from the surrounding villages who walked or drove a considerable distance to attend his morning service, which was described as being simple, hearty and reverent. He would preach throughout the whole week and carry out a lot of pastoral work which spread throughout a wide area. For some time George devoted his efforts to building up the old Church in Castle Combe and he eventually secured the help of a band of Christian workers who helped him in his quest.
Among these people was one man in particular, called Absalom Billet, who had been in the army in India and had contracted a disease which resulted in total blindness. He used to travel for miles round the whole district to visit the sick, singing hymns and reading prayers with them. He travelled with only a stick to guide him and dressed in a long white smock frock so he could be seen in the dark, and a tall silk hat, with a portion of tactile Scriptures written for the blind under his arm.
George’s personal life
George was a greatly loved man and his chief characteristics were described as being his ‘steadfastness of purpose and singleness of aim; his transparent sincerity and simple-hearted goodness impressed all who came into contact with him, giving his words a power which nothing else could bestow.’ He was significantly successful at touching men spiritually and his devotion to his work meant that he never rested or allowed his fellow workers to rest. His incessant toil in his public ministry meant that he greatly sacrificed his own home comforts and family life.
The whole family suffered from these sacrifices, especially his wife, Sarah. She was a very lonely woman, being left alone day and night to bring up their 7 children almost single-handedly. She was a frail woman, but bore her burden of wifely and motherly duties uncomplainingly, and unburdened her troubles through prayer. Their children would sometimes be woken up in the middle of a dark winter’s night by the sounds of their mother pouring her heart out and earnestly pleading in fervent prayer for her husband and her children.
George’s salary was extremely inadequate for the needs of a large family and for many years his life was an intolerable uphill struggle against poverty. To add to their difficulties, Lydia, their youngest daughter had a spinal disease which needed constant care. It was George’s last duty every day before he left for work to carry his much loved Lydia from her bedroom to her couch in the family sitting-room. He found this ‘long continued affliction’ a severe trial and it often caused him to suffer from deep depression, but this just spurred him on even more to carry on his life’s work. People listening to his preaching’s would often comment that the more trials and tribulations he encountered, the better he preached and ‘these fruits of his sorrow were precious to his people, and the means of fruitfulness in them’.
Move to Crockerton
The years of heavy toil gradually caught up with George and as he was suffering from great pain and failing strength, he was reluctantly forced to accept a pastorate at Crockerton in 1873. The local congregation increased under George’s ministry and as well as taking regular services in the church, he also held a regular service at the local silk factory. Every Tuesday morning, at 9o’clock, the factory bell rang for the people to return from breakfast, not to work but to worship. There were hundreds of workpeople in the factory (in 1871 there were 228 women, 300 girls, 61 men and 44 boys) and they would troop into a large room in the factory and attend a 30 minute service. This scene was also repeated on a Thursday morning in another factory owned by the same man, Charles Jupe, in Warminster. These weekly services were much appreciated by the workers as they made a pleasant break from the monotonous whirl of the machinery and the tedious toil of their mundane work. George also had another church under his charge in the village of Sutton Veny which was 2 miles away and, as if this wasn’t enough, he also added another church to his weekly schedule by superintending at Warminster Common.
Failing health
In 1876, George accepted a pastorate at Heytesbury and moved there, but still retained an oversight of the church at Sutton Veny and some years later, took charge of the churches at Codford and Wylye. During this time his health was rapidly declining and could no longer undertake any work requiring physical effort, as work and worry tended to ‘disorganize his nervous system’. Several times during his last winter in this district he lost his way in the darkness, bruising himself again and again by colliding with trees and walls, until he eventually admitted to himself that it was no longer possible to manage the long exhausting walks between villages.
His declining physical health caused him to enter into long periods of depression which were extremely distressing to everyone, so in 1873, he went to be pastor at the Silver Street Church in Malmesbury. Once there, he set about to restore and build up the church and he renovated the sanctuary, both externally and internally. This, was obviously not enough for George, and the temptation to superintend 3 more small churches at Corston, Christian Malford and Brinkworth proved to be too much and as he could no longer physically walk there, generous friends would take it in turns to drive him there by horse and cart.
As the years progressed, George’s physical health caused him great suffering and sometimes he felt as if he was suffocating, making his breathing quick and laboured. Despite this, he was still very loath to relinquish any of his work, despite constant pleas from his family and friends. Eventually he decided that resigning from his pastorate might help to restore his health, but by this time it was too late. His strength rapidly declined and eventually, on the first Sunday in 1889 when visiting one of his out-stations, he fell into the cart in a state of complete exhaustion. He came round enough to take the service at Silver Street that evening, but had to be almost carried home.
Terminal heart failure
A medical examination revealed that he had a valvular disease of the heart, which must have been developing for years and although it was terminal, he hoped that with care he might be spared and be able to do some occasional religious work. However, as the weeks passed there was little improvement and in February he had a haemorrhage which brought him close to death’s door. He did, however rally and although his days and nights were full of suffering and weariness, it was hoped that he might find relief after a time. In May, he contracted dropsy (fluid retention due to heart failure) and after this his ‘sufferings were piteous’.
For weeks he could not lie flat and spent day and night sat propped in a chair, only being lifted from one chair to another. During frequent heart attacks his cries of pain could be heard for hundreds of yards and night after night his family and friends kept a weary vigil, praying for Jesus to take him quickly. During this time they all treated him with such affection and kindness, he wondered what he had done to deserve such love and affection.
In the July, he had an operation and had some months of comparative ease, which enabled him to move from one room to another. One morning in October, George insisted on being taken to the morning service at the Silver Street Church, where his son was preaching, so a group of friends arranged to take him there. The effort to get there was really distressing to everyone and it was pitiful to see the suffering old pastor propped up in a chair on the platform with the communion table in front of him, taking his last look at the people and the church that meant so much to him. During the service he painfully and laboriously prayed with indescribable fervour from where he sat, whilst the people wept under the sound of his voice and the influence of his prayer.
After this he gradually got worse, until one night in the 1st week in November, he was heard to pray for his wife and children and their children, naming each one by name. The following day, his suffering finally came to an end and he died on 7th November 1889, at the age of 69. He was buried the following Monday and his funeral was attended by all the neighbouring ministers and most of the neighbouring town and village folk as well friends and family from all parts of the country.
Preaching around the Wiltshire Downs
What is an Independent Minister?
Once I found out that George Bailey was in Independent Minister, I needed to find out exactly what this meant. I found out that it originated from when King Henry VIII broke with Rome and made the Church of England accountable to the English crown. Many people thought that his reforms had not gone far enough and some of them, known as Puritans, tried to change the Church from within, whilst others, known as Separatists, left the state church altogether and formed local groups of believers, preaching to others as Independent ministers. They believed that each congregation should have control of its own affairs and their beliefs are now more commonly known as Congregationalism.
They were opposed to the perceived abuses of power in the State Church and sought to reproduce a Church according to the New Testament model of simplicity and democracy. They wanted the freedom to choose their own ministers rather than to be forced to accept the choice of the bishop. They wanted to simplify acts of worship and rituals as well as simplify the ceremonial robes of ministers and strip the church building of its elaborate ornamentation. They also wanted the prayers of the people to be led by Christ, rather than a set of prayers chanted from the Book of Common Prayer. They declared themselves independent and subject only to Christ and the covenants they would draw up in their independent churches.
What is Primitive Methodism?
When George first moved to Marlborough, he followed the Primitive Methodist faith, as this was the faith of Sarah Awdry, his future wife, but what was the difference between this and Independents? I found that a Methodist lay preacher called Hugh Bourne had been expelled from the movement as he had developed a reputation as a zealous preacher and they did not always agree with his radical ideas. Bourne and his 200 or so followers became known as Primitive Methodists, who, unlike the former Wesleyan Methodists, encouraged women evangelists. Hugh Bourne was amongst those who visited Marlborough and he used to wear silver buckles on his shoes, which Sarah Awdry, George’s future wife, used to be fascinated by and greatly admire when she was a little girl.
George Bailey’s Evangelical Preaching
After reading the obituary on George Bailey from the Church Year Book, I had to admire his enthusiasm and zealousness in his evangelical preaching’s around the Wiltshire villages. His selfless eagerness to make other people share his religious beliefs and ideals, despite being subject to ‘much persecution’ must be respected, even if I personally did not share these religious beliefs. He undoubtedly seemed to live and breathe his religion and this enthusiasm was passed down to 2 of his sons, but not, it would seem, to James.
Work on the Wiltshire Downs
The Wiltshire Downs are renowned for their high bleak ground with scanty grass and were unpopulated, apart from in the valleys of the rivers where the villages lay scattered at considerable intervals. They were particularly difficult to travel across, partly due to the lack of any shelter and partly due to the many very high hills that needed climbing.
George frequently travelled over the Downs for many years as he carried out his self-appointed quest to spread the Gospel to the villages. In summer he would travel mile after mile without meeting a single person, forced to plod along his weary way through the searing summer sun with no trees or even bushes to give him shelter from the glaring light and burning heat of the scorching day. In winter it was even worse as there was nothing to break the force of a winter stoem as the freezing blasts swept furiously over the open downs, driving hail or raindrops into his bent, frozen body.
He would frequently walk for 20 to 30 miles a day to preach about 3 times during his journey. There were about 40 places that George tirelessly visited to evangelise, including places like Ramsbury, Manningford, Oare, Berwick, Wootton Bassett, Swindon, Chickdale, Axford, Ogbourn, Chisselden, Wroughton, Overton, Winterbourn and Burbage.
Avebury
Before looking in detail at the many villages George preached in during his life, I needed to look at Averbury, the place where George grew up, as its history had had a profound effect on George. The village was famous for the remarkable remains of what were mistakenly thought to be Druid Stone Circles that were older, bigger and even more remarkable than Stonehenge. Archaeologists have only begun to unravel the history of the multiple rings at Avebury, which actually originate from a Neolithic tribe that lived on the nearby area called Windmill Hill about 4,500 B.C.
It was amongst these gigantic prehistoric stones that George first ‘saw the light’. He used to frequently escape from his home to go the village chapel to listen to his schoolmaster preaching to the villagers. After this, he would often wander on his own amongst the remains of the ‘Pagan’ Temple which, during this time, was thought to be the site of heathen ceremonies and rituals and he would kneel behind a stone to meditate and to pray.
The main circle at Avebury was surrounded by an enormous ditch and the circle itself comprised of at least 98 huge, irregular sarsen stones, enclosing about 28 acres of land, but now there are only 27 left. This circle encloses 2 smaller stone circles, which were probably constructed around 2600 BC, while the large outer ring dates from 2500 BC. The northern circle is 320 feet in diameter and originally had 27 stones but only 4 remain standing today; and the southern circle is 340 feet across and once contained 29 stones, but only 5 remain standing. The reasons for the disappearance of these stones started in the 14th century when the local Christian authorities, who were trying to eradicate any remains of 'pagan' religious practices, toppled, broke up and buried many of the gigantic stones. Later, in the 17th and 18th centuries, more stones were removed so that crops could be planted and the massive stones would then be broken into smaller pieces and used to build houses and other buildings.
It was a man called John Aubrey that was the first Antiquarian to recognise the true importance of Avebury when he came across it by chance 1650 while he was out fox-hunting. Later, in 1743, Dr William Stukeley, another antiquarian, declared that the original design of the stones and avenues were arranged to represent a giant snake, but their original purpose is still a matter of conjecture. Dr Stately frequently visited the site and watched in dismay as the local farmers, unaware of the cultural and archaeological value of the ancient temple, continued with its destruction. For over thirty years he made careful measurements and numerous drawings of the site, drawings that are today our only record of both the immense size and complexity of the ancient temple.
Years after George had left Avebury, he returned one day and revisited the quiet spots where he used to pray as a boy and the huge stones and their history had a profound effect on him. They seemed to him like grim and silent witnesses that were pointing back to a time when pagan rites and ceremonies dominated the country and he felt an intense feeling that he could be stood on the very spot in one of the circles where human sacrifices were actually made. He lifted his heart and ‘where once was heard the shriek of the captured man or maiden, and the chanting of fierce Druids, was heard the voice of Christian faith and consecration’.
The United Reformed Church, Avebury Avebury Chapel, where George was taught, is one of the few places for christian worship built within a prehistoric stone circle. The founders cannot have inherited any of the superstitious fears of Medieval times for they used pieces of the stones to build the walls of their own Chapel. At this time many villagers were using the stone for domestic buildings.
The congregation originated in 1669 during a time of great religious and civil unrest and the church was registered in 1707, probably the date of its building. Originally a small square structure it was extended in the 18th cenury, and again in 1830 when a schoolroom was added. Built of sarsen stone, with brick dressings and a brick rear extention its stands approximately at the centre of the stone circle.
Castle Combe
In 1847 George moved to Castle Combe which was one of the prettiest villages in England and was situated in the middle of beautiful scenery in the north of Wiltshire, about 6 miles from Chippenham. The district was made up of several hills with lots of woodland and narrow valleys through which a ‘considerable stream winds its way until it joins the Avon at Bath’.
In the 1850s there was a total of 557 people living in 128 houses in the parish, which included Ford, Bybrook, Shrub and Colham. The parish was fairly self-sufficient with four general shops, two butchers, a baker, a tailor and a shoemaker. There was a carpenter, a plumber and glazier, two blacksmiths, five masons and two plasterers and tilers. Two mills were grinding corn and grist while another, Lower Dean Mill, was used for papermaking. There was also a cooper and a tallow chandler. There were four inns and public houses, including the Salutation at Gibralter, more commonly shortened to The Gib. The village had a postmaster and two surgeons, while two carriers transported goods and people to and from local markets. The land was divided between eight farms.
A well known non-conformist first visited Castle Combe in 1740 and preached to a large number of people in the street. He returned in 1743 and at later times, holding services in a cottage at the end of West Street. The owner of the cottage moved to a larger one and a room, known as the 'Prophet's Chamber' here was fitted out for services to be held. The congregation increased and in 1757 a chapel was built on the hill. With a growing congregation, the chapel was enlarged and continued to attract many notable preachers. In 1806 a Sunday School was started that lasted for 30 years, and then was re-formed in 1842. A schoolroom was erected in 1846.
The lease on the chapel expired in the early 20th century and the committee bought the old malthouse at Upper Combe in the spring of 1903. They began to restore it and reconstruct it as a chapel.. The old Hillside chapel deteriorated and had become dangerous by the time it was demolished in 1935. The old schoolroom of 1846 was renovated and became the local telephone exchange.
Independent Church, or Ebenezer Chapel, Silver Street, Malmesbury In 1792 a cottage was certified for Independent meetings and the Church was formed in 1796. At first services were held in a cottage near the present King's Walk but it was too small and before 1800 they acquired two cottages in Silver Street, which they converted into the Ebenezer chapel. Many of the congregation united with the Westport Presbyterians after 1812 and this movement flourished at first but did not ultimately prosper. Some were opposed to the merger and in 1841, as the friends of the Old Independent Church, they took over the Silver Street building.
This was enlarged or rebuilt in 1848 and again called the Ebenezer chapel. Whilst George was minister, new seating was installed in 1885, providing accommodation for 300, and an adjacent cottage was acquired to provide two classrooms.
In 1914 there was no settled minister and a union with the Westport Congregationalists was suggested but was resisted by the deacons. Instead the church prospered alone and the building was refurbished in the late 1920s. In 1952 the Independents were formally united with the Westport Congregational Church and moved to their building in St. Mary's Street. The chapel in Silver Street was used as a masonic lodge from 1958.
During the 18th Century, Marlborough was a coaching stop for wealthy families travelling from London to the prestigious resort of Bath Spa. The town became prosperous with large numbers of innkeepers and horsekeepers and also many merchants who provided everything that horses and humans would ever need. With the coming of the railways in 1840, the coaching trade finished and Marlborough was left stranded from any main railway line and it became a backwater until new railway lines were built that connected it with other towns in the latter part of the 19th century. Industries that survived in Marlborough at this time included cloth, tanning, pin-making and rope-making industries, although most were in a state of decline.
Once I found out that George Bailey was in Independent Minister, I needed to find out exactly what this meant. I found out that it originated from when King Henry VIII broke with Rome and made the Church of England accountable to the English crown. Many people thought that his reforms had not gone far enough and some of them, known as Puritans, tried to change the Church from within, whilst others, known as Separatists, left the state church altogether and formed local groups of believers, preaching to others as Independent ministers. They believed that each congregation should have control of its own affairs and their beliefs are now more commonly known as Congregationalism.
They were opposed to the perceived abuses of power in the State Church and sought to reproduce a Church according to the New Testament model of simplicity and democracy. They wanted the freedom to choose their own ministers rather than to be forced to accept the choice of the bishop. They wanted to simplify acts of worship and rituals as well as simplify the ceremonial robes of ministers and strip the church building of its elaborate ornamentation. They also wanted the prayers of the people to be led by Christ, rather than a set of prayers chanted from the Book of Common Prayer. They declared themselves independent and subject only to Christ and the covenants they would draw up in their independent churches.
What is Primitive Methodism?
When George first moved to Marlborough, he followed the Primitive Methodist faith, as this was the faith of Sarah Awdry, his future wife, but what was the difference between this and Independents? I found that a Methodist lay preacher called Hugh Bourne had been expelled from the movement as he had developed a reputation as a zealous preacher and they did not always agree with his radical ideas. Bourne and his 200 or so followers became known as Primitive Methodists, who, unlike the former Wesleyan Methodists, encouraged women evangelists. Hugh Bourne was amongst those who visited Marlborough and he used to wear silver buckles on his shoes, which Sarah Awdry, George’s future wife, used to be fascinated by and greatly admire when she was a little girl.
George Bailey’s Evangelical Preaching
After reading the obituary on George Bailey from the Church Year Book, I had to admire his enthusiasm and zealousness in his evangelical preaching’s around the Wiltshire villages. His selfless eagerness to make other people share his religious beliefs and ideals, despite being subject to ‘much persecution’ must be respected, even if I personally did not share these religious beliefs. He undoubtedly seemed to live and breathe his religion and this enthusiasm was passed down to 2 of his sons, but not, it would seem, to James.
Work on the Wiltshire Downs
The Wiltshire Downs are renowned for their high bleak ground with scanty grass and were unpopulated, apart from in the valleys of the rivers where the villages lay scattered at considerable intervals. They were particularly difficult to travel across, partly due to the lack of any shelter and partly due to the many very high hills that needed climbing.
George frequently travelled over the Downs for many years as he carried out his self-appointed quest to spread the Gospel to the villages. In summer he would travel mile after mile without meeting a single person, forced to plod along his weary way through the searing summer sun with no trees or even bushes to give him shelter from the glaring light and burning heat of the scorching day. In winter it was even worse as there was nothing to break the force of a winter stoem as the freezing blasts swept furiously over the open downs, driving hail or raindrops into his bent, frozen body.
He would frequently walk for 20 to 30 miles a day to preach about 3 times during his journey. There were about 40 places that George tirelessly visited to evangelise, including places like Ramsbury, Manningford, Oare, Berwick, Wootton Bassett, Swindon, Chickdale, Axford, Ogbourn, Chisselden, Wroughton, Overton, Winterbourn and Burbage.
Avebury
Before looking in detail at the many villages George preached in during his life, I needed to look at Averbury, the place where George grew up, as its history had had a profound effect on George. The village was famous for the remarkable remains of what were mistakenly thought to be Druid Stone Circles that were older, bigger and even more remarkable than Stonehenge. Archaeologists have only begun to unravel the history of the multiple rings at Avebury, which actually originate from a Neolithic tribe that lived on the nearby area called Windmill Hill about 4,500 B.C.
It was amongst these gigantic prehistoric stones that George first ‘saw the light’. He used to frequently escape from his home to go the village chapel to listen to his schoolmaster preaching to the villagers. After this, he would often wander on his own amongst the remains of the ‘Pagan’ Temple which, during this time, was thought to be the site of heathen ceremonies and rituals and he would kneel behind a stone to meditate and to pray.
The main circle at Avebury was surrounded by an enormous ditch and the circle itself comprised of at least 98 huge, irregular sarsen stones, enclosing about 28 acres of land, but now there are only 27 left. This circle encloses 2 smaller stone circles, which were probably constructed around 2600 BC, while the large outer ring dates from 2500 BC. The northern circle is 320 feet in diameter and originally had 27 stones but only 4 remain standing today; and the southern circle is 340 feet across and once contained 29 stones, but only 5 remain standing. The reasons for the disappearance of these stones started in the 14th century when the local Christian authorities, who were trying to eradicate any remains of 'pagan' religious practices, toppled, broke up and buried many of the gigantic stones. Later, in the 17th and 18th centuries, more stones were removed so that crops could be planted and the massive stones would then be broken into smaller pieces and used to build houses and other buildings.
It was a man called John Aubrey that was the first Antiquarian to recognise the true importance of Avebury when he came across it by chance 1650 while he was out fox-hunting. Later, in 1743, Dr William Stukeley, another antiquarian, declared that the original design of the stones and avenues were arranged to represent a giant snake, but their original purpose is still a matter of conjecture. Dr Stately frequently visited the site and watched in dismay as the local farmers, unaware of the cultural and archaeological value of the ancient temple, continued with its destruction. For over thirty years he made careful measurements and numerous drawings of the site, drawings that are today our only record of both the immense size and complexity of the ancient temple.
Years after George had left Avebury, he returned one day and revisited the quiet spots where he used to pray as a boy and the huge stones and their history had a profound effect on him. They seemed to him like grim and silent witnesses that were pointing back to a time when pagan rites and ceremonies dominated the country and he felt an intense feeling that he could be stood on the very spot in one of the circles where human sacrifices were actually made. He lifted his heart and ‘where once was heard the shriek of the captured man or maiden, and the chanting of fierce Druids, was heard the voice of Christian faith and consecration’.
The United Reformed Church, Avebury Avebury Chapel, where George was taught, is one of the few places for christian worship built within a prehistoric stone circle. The founders cannot have inherited any of the superstitious fears of Medieval times for they used pieces of the stones to build the walls of their own Chapel. At this time many villagers were using the stone for domestic buildings.
The congregation originated in 1669 during a time of great religious and civil unrest and the church was registered in 1707, probably the date of its building. Originally a small square structure it was extended in the 18th cenury, and again in 1830 when a schoolroom was added. Built of sarsen stone, with brick dressings and a brick rear extention its stands approximately at the centre of the stone circle.
Castle Combe
In 1847 George moved to Castle Combe which was one of the prettiest villages in England and was situated in the middle of beautiful scenery in the north of Wiltshire, about 6 miles from Chippenham. The district was made up of several hills with lots of woodland and narrow valleys through which a ‘considerable stream winds its way until it joins the Avon at Bath’.
In the 1850s there was a total of 557 people living in 128 houses in the parish, which included Ford, Bybrook, Shrub and Colham. The parish was fairly self-sufficient with four general shops, two butchers, a baker, a tailor and a shoemaker. There was a carpenter, a plumber and glazier, two blacksmiths, five masons and two plasterers and tilers. Two mills were grinding corn and grist while another, Lower Dean Mill, was used for papermaking. There was also a cooper and a tallow chandler. There were four inns and public houses, including the Salutation at Gibralter, more commonly shortened to The Gib. The village had a postmaster and two surgeons, while two carriers transported goods and people to and from local markets. The land was divided between eight farms.
A well known non-conformist first visited Castle Combe in 1740 and preached to a large number of people in the street. He returned in 1743 and at later times, holding services in a cottage at the end of West Street. The owner of the cottage moved to a larger one and a room, known as the 'Prophet's Chamber' here was fitted out for services to be held. The congregation increased and in 1757 a chapel was built on the hill. With a growing congregation, the chapel was enlarged and continued to attract many notable preachers. In 1806 a Sunday School was started that lasted for 30 years, and then was re-formed in 1842. A schoolroom was erected in 1846.
The lease on the chapel expired in the early 20th century and the committee bought the old malthouse at Upper Combe in the spring of 1903. They began to restore it and reconstruct it as a chapel.. The old Hillside chapel deteriorated and had become dangerous by the time it was demolished in 1935. The old schoolroom of 1846 was renovated and became the local telephone exchange.
Independent Church, or Ebenezer Chapel, Silver Street, Malmesbury In 1792 a cottage was certified for Independent meetings and the Church was formed in 1796. At first services were held in a cottage near the present King's Walk but it was too small and before 1800 they acquired two cottages in Silver Street, which they converted into the Ebenezer chapel. Many of the congregation united with the Westport Presbyterians after 1812 and this movement flourished at first but did not ultimately prosper. Some were opposed to the merger and in 1841, as the friends of the Old Independent Church, they took over the Silver Street building.
This was enlarged or rebuilt in 1848 and again called the Ebenezer chapel. Whilst George was minister, new seating was installed in 1885, providing accommodation for 300, and an adjacent cottage was acquired to provide two classrooms.
In 1914 there was no settled minister and a union with the Westport Congregationalists was suggested but was resisted by the deacons. Instead the church prospered alone and the building was refurbished in the late 1920s. In 1952 the Independents were formally united with the Westport Congregational Church and moved to their building in St. Mary's Street. The chapel in Silver Street was used as a masonic lodge from 1958.
During the 18th Century, Marlborough was a coaching stop for wealthy families travelling from London to the prestigious resort of Bath Spa. The town became prosperous with large numbers of innkeepers and horsekeepers and also many merchants who provided everything that horses and humans would ever need. With the coming of the railways in 1840, the coaching trade finished and Marlborough was left stranded from any main railway line and it became a backwater until new railway lines were built that connected it with other towns in the latter part of the 19th century. Industries that survived in Marlborough at this time included cloth, tanning, pin-making and rope-making industries, although most were in a state of decline.