Rev Jonathan Topping who called Methodists "babblers"

This clergyman who remonstrated with the Wesleyans in Duncan Square, Oswaldtwistle and called them “babblers” was Rev Jonathan Topping, assistant curate at Church Kirk in July 1807 then curate in 1809 until March 1810. I assumed at first that his residence would be the Old Parsonage. All that remains of this is Parsonage Street. It is parallel to Market Street opposite the railway station entrance. Duncan Square was five minutes’ walk away behind the disused Palladium cinema. However, as he was only a curate and not the incumbent, this was probably not the case. He resided at Church Bridge where his first child was born, according to the baptismal record. This would be the bridge over the Leeds-Liverpool canal at its mid-point. This is marked as Church Kirk Bridge on the old OS map. There is an old house West of the bridge which I assume was and is a farmhouse. Perhaps he took lodgings there. Perhaps he had business at the old parsonage and took the opportunity to bother Mrs Haworth the Methodist just across the road.

By April 1810 he is curate at St Elphin, Warrington until December 1826. In December 1826 he is vicar of St Mary, Leigh until April 1839. So, he had nearly three years to harass the Methodists when he should have been shepherding his own flock. It does not seem to have harmed his career as he rose up the ranks to become vicar of a prestigious parish. Not every curate secured a permanent parish. You could easily become a “clerk in holy orders without cure of souls”. He came in 1839 to an untimely end, however. 

Rev Topping, it was reported, was in poor health having in the previous five years experienced severe paralytic attacks. On the 21^st of July 1839 he asked Rev James Simpson, master of Leigh Grammar School, to take the Sunday morning service, although he, Topping, was in tolerable health. He, Simpson, and the family went to church expecting Rev Topping to follow. Shortly after, the vicarage servants heard a loud report. Upon going to investigate, they found Rev Topping in a pool of blood with a large horse pistol by his side. His face and the top of his head were blown off (19^th C newspapers don’t spare the explicit details). He was the father of 14 children of whom eight survived. Needless to say, the subsequent inquest ruled that the death was accidental. A horse pistol is not for shooting horses but is a hand gun too large to carry in the belt but is carried in a horse holster. He had armed himself having been named by Rev Stephens at a Chartist meeting in Leigh in November, 1838. Rev Stephens was arrested in December 1838 to face somewhat vague charges.

This Rev Stephens was well-known in Chartist circles. Unfortunately, I don’t know enough about Chartism (more research needed). The circumstances were as follows. Rev Stephens was an incendiary, and some would say notorious, speaker. He was aged about 32, was the son of a Wesleyan preacher and was married with children. He had himself been a Wesleyan preacher but was excommunicated for accusing the Wesleyans of being too close to the Church of England and allowing chapels to be used by persons of liberal views. Mill owners had threatened his congregants with dismissal. His main beef was about the poor law. This is the new poor law under which the old parish-based poor law was replaced by larger, merged poor law unions managed by a board of poor law guardians. They were expected to replace out-relief (direct payments in cash or kind) with in-relief, that is, workhouses. A lot of people thought this was too rigid a system and out-relief did continue. There was at the time a problem with rapidly-changing technology and economic booms and busts creating local pockets of poor. The old system was creaking at the seams. 

I am not sure that Rev Stephens had any practical proposals for something better. He seemed to regard the guardians as morally guilty for facilitating an evil system when they were simply trying to do a difficult job. He named and shamed them, including Topping. He also told his followers to arm themselves (perfectly legal at the time until about 1920 when Winston Churchill disarmed all but police and criminals). However, Mrs Topping had persuaded Rev Topping to quit the guardianship, and Rev Stephens was aware of this. Stephens had not directly threatened the life of Topping. Despite this, Rev Topping installed extra security measures at the vicarage as if he expected an attack. He found this old pistol that had been lying about for some time in need of repair that had been repaired recently. 

I have the impression that Rev Topping feared attack by vigilante fanatical chartists spurred into action by hearing Stephens mention Topping by name. I am inclined to think that he had genuine fears for the safety of himself and his family, although they were probably unfounded. I am also inclined to give Rev Topping the benefit of the doubt over the manner of his death. It is possible that the pistol was not expertly repaired and was in a dangerous state and that the shooting was accidental. I also think that Topping may have been in some way mentally unstable. No doubt modern mental health “experts” would have stuck some label on him and put him on happy pills.