Anecclesiasticalaffair–scandalandlibelinaBlackCountryparish

Part4–TheaftermathChrisBaker

InthefirstthreepartsofthisarticletheparishofPensnettinthe1860shasbeendescribedandthestoryhasbeentoldofthevicarofPensnett,CharlesAtherton,his liaison with a young girl in the parish, Agnes Bowdler, the subsequentecclesiastical enquiries, the anonymous letters that followed, and the libelproceedingsthathebroughtagainstthosehethoughtresponsible.The question of who actually wrote the string of anonymous letters howeverdoes not seem to have been resolved. The letters show a good, if somewhattwisted, grasp of biblical quotes,music hall references and past history and itseemstotheauthorthatthosewhowerenamedinthelibeltrialwerenotofanadequate educational level to havewritten them, andwere probably nomorethandistributorsoftheletters. Twogeneralpossibilitiesfortheactualauthorscometomind.Firstly,therewasclearlysomeantagonismbetweentheAnglicanandNon-Conformistchurchesatthetime,anditseemspossiblethatsomeoneinthewell-educatednon-conformistcircleofCorneliusChambers,horrifiedbytheseeming lack of moral probity in the Anglican church, might have beenresponsible.AgainstthiswastheintimateknowledgethatthelettersshowedofgoodgraspofAnglicanchurchaffairs,whichwouldpointtosomebodywithintheAnglicancongregation–perhapsthe“Alpha”whocomplainedaboutAtherton’s1868newyearsermon(seePart2).Ofthetwopossibilities,theauthorfavoursthesecond,butitisunlikelythattheauthorwilleverbeidentified.

Whilst the formal proceedings of the libel actionwere closed in late 1870, nodoubt the emotional andmental wounds took longer to heal. With regard toAgnesherself, it isnotclearwhathappened toher immediatelyafter the1870incident.ShedoesnotappearinthePensnettentriesforthe1871census,carriedoutonApril2nd.Therearetwopossibleexplanationsforthis.Thefirst,andmostlikely,isthatsheappearsinthecensusastheAnnieBowdler,aged17andborninBromley, living atheruncle’shome in Stourbridge– sufficiently far away toberemoved from the local gossip. Theother, less likely,possibility is anentry inthatcensusofthecorrectageofoneAgnesBricewhoisrecordedasadomesticservantworkingforRevFrancisJBurlton,thecurateofStottesdoninShropshire(nearCleoburyMortimer)and is registeredasbeingborn inStaffordshire.Thename of Brice provides the possible clue. It has already been noted that JohnBryce was the Parish Clerk of Pensnett in the 1850s and his daughter wasmarriedtoBenjaminWoods.Indeedin1871hiswidowElizabethwasalsolivingwith the Woods in Bromley House and was still the Infants Teacher in theNationalSchool.AlsoAgnesBricedoesnotappearinanycensusrecordsbeforeorafter1871.Itcanthusbeconjecturedthatthereisapossibilitythatsometimeinlate1870orearly1871Agneswas“found”apositionindomesticservicebythechurchwardenatSt.Mark’sandhiswifeandmother,andgivenwhatwastobea temporary falsename.Or inmoreblunt terms, shewas sent away so she

would be no further cause of embarrassment. Presumably the Burlton familywouldhavebeenknowntotheBrycesthroughAnglicancircles.AtthetimethatAgneswasemployed,FrancisBurltonwasover60,withsixchildren(includingfour unmarried daughters in their 20s and 30swhich gives thewhole affair aJaneAustentouch).Forsomeonewhowasusedtotheresponsibleteachingrole,sheprobablywouldhavefoundtheimposedroleofdomesticservantmorethanalittledifficult.Ofcourseitisquitepossiblethatboththeseexplanationsofherabsence are “correct”, and that, the census entry for Cleoburywas an entry ofwho should have been there rather than who was there. Certainty is notpossible.In the census returns of 1871, Charles’ wife, Selina Atherton was not at theVicarage, although the rest of her family and a number of visitors were –includingAnnandSamuelAtherton,thelattermakinghisfirstappearanceinthehistoricalrecordsincehismarriageinthe1830s.SelinawasatthehomeoftheBaldwin family inCarrington inNottinghamshire.Whether thiswasdue to theevents of the previous year it is not possible to tell, but her absence from thevicaragemaywellberelatedtotheseevents.Thereafterhowever,thingsseemtohavesettleddownandSelinareturned.Nodoubtthelivesofothersinvolvedweresimilarlyaffectedandthepaincausedwouldhaveremainedforsometime.Athertonhimselfisrecordedinthepressasengaging in all the normal aspects of church life, and, as noted above, anwasquiteheavilyinvolvedintherestorationsandalterationsofStMark’sthatbeganinintheearly1870s.HeleftPensnettforNympsfield,Gloucestershire, in1876,partly itwould seem to lighten hisworkload due to a period of ill heath. Thesocialeventtomarkhisdepartureheardwarmwordsandglowingtributesforhis preaching and his pastoralwork. The report in the local newspaper notesthat

“If the hearer was told that there was a hell and a judgment to come, he wasremindedthatbytheacceptanceoftheSacrificeonceoffered,therewasthebrighthope of immortality in the glorious abode of the spirits of justmenmadperfect.TrulyhasMrAtherton’scareeratPensnettbeenfarfromanuneventfulone”.Thatlastphrasemightberegardedassomethingofanunderstatement.TributeswerealsopaidtoSelina“whohaseverheartilyenteredintohisschemesforimprovement,andaffordedthatconsolationtohiminhishoursofunremittingtoil,whichitisWoman’sandaboveallthetruehelp-mate’sprovincetoimpart”.Atherton’s departure in some ways Mark’s the beginning of the communityforgetting of the events of Atherton’s incumbency. The history of the parishwrittenin1965makesnomentionatallofthem,andthelatterhistoryof1999,whilst having access to the copies of the Pensnett Review fails to understandtheir context, as the nature of the original scandal had been forgotten. AfterAtherton’sdeparture, thechurchsettleddown,underaseriesofunremarkablevicars,totheroutineofAnglicanlife,withthemajorconcernsbeinghowtostopthe church falling into the Earl of Dudley’smines beneath the land he had sothoughtfullyprovided.

Charles Atherton’s later career can be traced quite easily through theecclesiastical records. After two years at Nympsfield hemoved to St Paul’s inBedminsterin1878where,throughhisleadership,thechurchenteredaperiodofveryconsiderablegrowth.From1885to1886hespentashortperiodasVicarof Snaith in Yorkshire (effectively swapping Livings so that he could recoverfromafurtherperiodofillhealth–seebelow),followedbytwoyearsasRectorofFaringdoninDevon.In1885hepublishedafurtherbook–“InstructionsintheWayofPeace”,(whichcanbepurchasedasaspecialprintingfromAmazon).Hethenmoved toExeterCathedral in1889wherehe remaineduntil hisdeath in1907,becomingTreasurerin1891andWardenoftheSocietyforMissionClergy.It is clear that he had considerable gifts in both administration and as amissioner and a considerable capacity for work, organized major diocesangatheringsandtouchedthelivesofbothindividualsandchurches.Nomentionismade of the incident with Agnes, or of the libel case. A common themethroughouthiscareerseemstohavebeentherecurrenceofperiodsofillhealththat required he lighten his workload. His life is celebrated in a monumentsituatedinthesouthaisleofthecathedral

TheothermajorcharacterinthesagaisofcourseAgnesBowdlerherself.Tracingher fortunes is not altogether straightforward. As noted above, she does notappearatall in the1871census,at leastnotunderherpropername,butdoesreappearintherecordsagainin1875whenshemarriedSamuelEdwardWortonin Sheffield. The later census records reveal (after allowing for transcriptionerrors in her surname that complicated the search) that both she and Samuelworked as schoolteachers in Halifax and Leeds, with Samuel becoming aheadmasterataCounty(Board)school inEllandby1911andAgnesbecomingheadmistress.Samuelappearstohavebeenanotedorganistandgaveconcertsthroughout theareaatMethodist chapelsandothervenues, includingatLeedsCivicHall.Theyhadfivechildren–Frederickbornin1876whodiedininfancy,Ralph born in 1883 who died aged 15, and Adelina Minnie born in 1888,Bertrandbornin1895andPercivalbornin1896whoallsurvivedintooldage.Agnesdiedin1935inLiverpool,fouryearsafterSamuel.Picturesofthembothsurvive–oneaposedphotographofAgnesandSamuelinBlackpoolpossiblyontheir honeymoon, and others of Samuel himself, including one of him at theorgan.

ThecensusrecordsindicatethatSamuelhimselfwasborninPensnett,andinthe1871census,whenhewas15,helivedclosetotheNewConnexionChapelandisrecordedasapupilteacher.Hisfatherisrecordedasanengineer.Lodgingnextdoor were William Hinton and Sarah Gibbons, the teacher and assistantschoolteacheratBritish/BoardSchoolassociatedwiththechapel.This,andthefactthatSamuelandAgneslatermovedinnon-conformistcircles,suggeststhatSamuel’spositionasapupilteacherwasatthisSchool.Samuel’sconnectionwiththeNewConnexionchurchisfurtherconfirmedbythefactthatin1887hewroteatestimonialletterthatwasreadoutataneventtomark50yearsofaWilliamBarlow’s,involvementwiththechurch–asfounder,Steward,andSundaySchoolSuperintendent.AlsoitseemsthataJohnWortonwasamajorbenefactorinthebuildingoftheoriginalSchoolroombehindthechapel,indicatingafurtherfamilyconnection. ItwouldseemlikelythatAgnesandSamuelhadknowneachotherfrom childhood. Unfortunately there is no record of what happened to Agnes

between1871inShropshireandhermarriagein1875inSheffield,andhowsheagaincameintocontactwithherchildhoodfriend.InAnglicaneyesAgneswouldthus have compounded her sins in leading the vicar astray by marrying aMethodist.Intriguingly, for thebriefperiodwhenCharlesAthertonandhis familywereatSnaith, theywerewithin20milesofAgnes,andonewonders if theyevermet.ThereisafamilystorythatherdaughterMinniehadtwoveryvaluableringsandadiamondbrochethathadbeengiventohermotherby“UncleCharlie”so“shewould have something to fall back on if she ever neededmoney. There is noobvious “Uncle Charlie” in the family so this opens up a whole new area ofspeculationthattheymetagainwhileCharleswasatSnaith,withorwithouttheknowledgeoftheirrespectivefamilies.SobothCharlesAthertonandAgnesBowdlerseemtohave foundsomesortofsuccessandstabilitylaterintheirlives.Therearehowevermanyquestionsthatthe sources are simply unable to answer, as well as who actually wrote theanonymous letters. What were the long-term effects of the events on theAtherton marriage? Did the events of 1870 and her possible exile leave theirmark on Agnes in anyway?Were there lasting effects on the life of Pensnettparish? And did Francis Burlton evermanage tomarry off any of his spinsterdaughters?

TheAthertonMonumentinExeterCathedral

PhotosofEdwardWortonandAgnes–UsedbypermissionofSooLinacre,great

granddaughter

InstructionsintheWayofPeacehttps://www.amazon.co.uk/Instructions-Peace-Charles-Isaac-

Atherton/dp/B0068QV0YK

SourceMaterial

GeneralinformationonSt.Mark’sChurchAndertonR(1965)AHistoryoftheParishChurchofStMarkPensnett

Cope S (1999) The Black Country Cathedral. The history of St. Mark’s churchPensnett1849/1999,HuntsmillPublishingLtdHistoricEngland

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1228789

Generalbiographicinformation

Much of the biographical information in this essay has been found from adetailed analysis of the census returns, particularly those for 1871. These areavailable through a number of channels – I have in the main obtained theinformation fromAncestry. Inaddition Ihaveusedsome information from the1851religiouscensus,whichisavailableintheDudleyArchives.

RichardBoot

WilliamHenryHyde-WorcesterChronicle3/4/1861

Adulterytrial-SheffieldIndependent25/3/1867Crockford’sClericalDirectory-Ancestry

CharlesAthertonBiography - Cambridge University Alumni, 1261-1900, Crockford’s ClericalDirectory-Ancestry1868 sermon - County Express; Brierley Hill, Stourbridge, Kidderminster, andDudleyNews-Saturday25January1868

Libel case - Birmingham Daily Post 15/12/1870, Birmingham Daily Post24/12/1870, Aris's Birmingham Gazette – 24/12/1870, County Express;BrierleyHill,Stourbridge,Kidderminster,andDudleyNews,Saturday1/1/1870Farewellevent -CountyExpress;BrierleyHill,Stourbridge,Kidderminster,andDudleyNews-Saturday23September1876

Books – “Nature’s Parables” – Hathi Trust Digital Libraryhttps://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/100592554; “Instructions in the way ofpeace”–SpecialprintingfromAmazonhttps://www.amazon.co.uk/Instructions-Peace-Charles-Isaac-Atherton/dp/B0068QV0YKObituary – The Eagle, Amagazine supported bymembers of St John’s College,1908Memorial-http://www.churchmonumentssociety.org/Devon_2a.html

AgnesBowdlerandSamuelWorton

Photographs–foundonAncestryathttps://www.ancestry.co.uk/mediaui-viewer/tree/18182697/person/625177745/media/478bb333-abeb-4e4f-8f3d-95d4eded3901;

https://www.ancestry.co.uk/mediaui-viewer/tree/18182697/person/625177745/media/d06e1f8a-51b8-42eb-8de4-ddf06559c32e;

https://www.ancestry.co.uk/mediaui-viewer/tree/62279743/person/36088024189/media/12dc6274-0a7c-4160-b5bc-5360ac4b5099

Informationwas alsoprovidedbyEdward andAgnes’ great-grandaughter, SooLinacre,andherhelpisgratefullyacknowledged.

AnonymouslettersandotherdocumentsThevariousanonymousletters,balladsandotherdocumentsareavailablefromDudley Archives - Reference Number BK 01750; The Pensnett Review, no.2ThursdayDecember11870andlettersconcerningmorality intheparishofSt.Mark'sPensnett;ClassLD283P