ISAAC

February 22nd, 2008

The second of the three Patriarchs and in my opinion, the least significant. His name is derived from the Hebrew for laughter. Abraham his father, having received Gods call to leave the land of his birth, journeys with Sarah his wife into Canaan and later on, into Egypt, to escape famine. Returning from Egypt a wealthy man, God promises that his descendants will populate the Earth. However Sarah is barren. So she gives Hagar her servant, that she acquired in Egypt, to Abraham to ensure that sons will be born to continue the line and so doing fulfil Gods promise to Abraham. So Ishmael is born.God however tells Abraham that Sarah will have a son, something which Abraham dismisses. In time three travellers stop at Abraham’s encampment and in accordance with local customs of hospitality, Abraham insist that they stay and eat. Whilst Sarah supervises the preparation of a meal she overhears the travellers predict that before the year is out she will have a son This causes the well-past child-bearing age Sarah, to laugh. The prediction is fulfilled and Isaac is circumcised on the eighth day. After Isaac is weaned Sarah requires Hagar and Ishmael to be banished to ensure that Isaac receives the inheritance.Abraham answers God call to sacrifice Isaac to show his loyalty. Isaac quietly submits and does not resist his father. Gods provision of a ram saves the day.This meekness on the part of Isaac is shown again in that he accepts his father’s choice, through a servant, of a wife Rebecca .Again we are told of a barren wife, never an infertile man.This time it is the man who petitions God for Rebecca to have a son. God obliges twins, Jacob and Esau Isaac unfortunately gives Jacob the birthright blessing instead of Esau, but that is another story.

Isaac dies with his two sons reconciled at his side.

In these chapters 17-27 from Genesis we are shown that there is a need to have confidence in God’s promises and not to take matters in to our own hands. Also that God does answer prayer,He gives us room to make mistakes and question

His commands,not meekly acquiescing to death, thus leaving Him to find a way out by providing His own sacrifice.

‘A Church for the Fee project team’

February 22nd, 2008

Finds from the church:

This is one of the grave markers found in the churchyard, mostly during recent trench digging for a new sewer pipe.
Fragments of about 20 stones were found altogether. All are made out of local sandstone. Most have inscriptions, although a couple are blank, perhaps being edges of larger stones. About half contain enough wording to make out something useful about the stone or those commemorated.

The stones generally date from the 18th century with some running into the 19th century.
Dating has been done by the obvious means of looking at any dates on them, also by looking at style and content - style of lettering and form of inscriptions, and the phrasing used as this changed over time.

As well as a physical examination of the stones, we have researched appropriate historical sources. These include the parish registers (baptisms, marriages, burials), Cheshire wills and inventories, histories of the area, and various archival sources, although further research always remains to be done. We selected this one as a starter, as it is in many ways a typical family from Wilmslow parish and it seemed to be good to let them start us off.

Preston/Hulme

Edward Preston
1716

Dinah Preston
Died 1777

A:H aged
24, 1813

Samuel Hulme
aged 65, 1836

At first sight suggesting a stone re-used by unrelated persons because of the different surnames, this turns out to be one family, the names here representing different generations. The stone is broken but complete, and measures 72 cms (2′ 5″) high by 50 cms (18″) wide, making it typical of stones of the 17th and early 18th centuries. The stone was still visible in the 1960s.

The Preston family were in this area from Tudor times, and are mentioned both in Wilmslow and at the neighbouring parish of Nether Alderley. In 1603, Robert Preston was buried at St Bart’s and an inventory was taken of his goods; he was described as being ‘of Chorley’.

Over a century later, Edward Preston was buried at St Bart’s, and it is his memorial stone which has been recovered. Edward was a watchmaker, son of another Edward who died in 1700, and whose will describes him as a yeoman - a farmer on a fairly substantial scale - also from Chorley. His mother was most probably Alice Ledsham, and Edward and Alice married in 1669 at Nether Alderley.

Other members of the family kept up the tradition of farming and allied trades. An earlier Edward , who died in Nether Alderley in 1617, was a butcher; Lawrence Preston of the Hough, yeoman, died in 1696. For all of these we have both a will and an inventory of the goods they left at their death.

Edward the watchmaker seems to have broken with family tradition in his choice of trade. He would have served an apprenticeship but we do not have any details of that. Only a tiny proportion of apprenticeship papers survive.

A marriage licence dated 29 Sep 1696 lists Edward Preston, watchmaker, of Chorley and Martha Smith, spinster, of Wilmslow; they are stated as marrying at Prestbury - we find a number of Wilmslow residents marrying there. Did they live nearer to Prestbury church or were there other, perhaps social, reasons?

Baptisms at St Bart’s list Edward and Martha’s children:-

27 July 1700, Alice, daughter of Edward Preston of Chorley; 8 Sep 1702, ‘a dead born child of Edward Preston of Chorley’; 4 Oct 1703, John, son of Edward Preston of Pownall Fee; 14 March 1707/8, Cecil, son of Edward Preston of ‘Styall’, ‘born ye 10th’; 29 May 1711, George, son of Edward Preston of Styall; 9 Aug 1713, Hester daughter of Edward Preston of Styal.

Burials at St Bart’s also show, in September 1702, ‘a dead born child of Edward Preston of Chorley’; 20 Jan 1705/6, ‘a dead born child of Edward Preston of Pownall Fee’; 30 May 1711, George, son of Edward Preston of Styall.

Chester Record Office has a catalogue (the Allen Archive) containing details of a will of John Preston of Mottram St Andrew, dated 13 Jan 1710/11, containing a bequest to Edward Preston of Styall.

Edward died in 1716. Buried St Bart’s 15 June, when he was described as Edward Preston of Styal. The Cheshire Wills project shows Letters of Administration and an Inventory for him, rather than a will. Did he die unexpectedly - accidentally rather than as result of illness? He would be in his 40s, leaving children aged betwwen 15 and 5. So far we have found no trace of most of his children but those who may have survived to adulthood are Alice, John, Cecil, and Hester.

On 13 January 1727/8 John Preston married Dinah Davis at St Wilfrid, Northenden. On 7 Jan 1733, Robert, son of John and Dinah Preston of Styal was baptised at St Bart’s.

On 9 Feb 1767 the marriage took place of Samuel Hulme and Martha Preston, both of Wilmslow - both signed their names, worth a mention at that date. As there are no other Preston families evident in the locality, this must surely make Martha a daughter of John and Dinah, though her baptism has not been traced.

On 6 Aug 1777, Dinah wife of John Preston of Styal was buried at St Bart’s. The second person named on our stone, she was therefore daughter-in-law of Edward whose name appears above hers.

There is a considerable gap between the date of Dinah’s death and the next person mentioned on this stone, ‘AH’, aged 24, 1813. Burial registers show the only possibility for AH to be Ann Hulme of Styal, buried on 4th April 1813. Her age is given on the stone, making it possible to identify her as Ann, daughter of Samuel and Martha Hulme of Styal, baptised on 12 April 1789. She was the youngest of four children of Samuel and Martha baptised at St Bart’s, the others being Martha (1779), Harriet (1782), and Sarah (1787).

The fourth name on our stone is given in full as Samuel Hulme. Buried 23 years later than Ann, he seems nevertheless to be of the same generation as her, as he lived to a much greater age. The probable solution is that Samuel was an elder brother of Ann, another child of Samuel and Martha. However, there is no baptism for him in St Bart’s registers, and it is interesting to note that Martha’s baptism does not appear until 12 years after the marriage of Samuel and Martha. They may have lived in another parish and had children baptised elsewhere; Samuel junior would have been born about 1769. A final tragic note appears in the parish registers. Beneath the entry for Samuel’s burial appear the words ‘Found drowned in the River Mersey’. To date we have no further information on the circumstances of his death.

If you have any further information about this family or would like to join in, please contact Birgitta at birgitta.hoffmann@btinternet.com

Dr. Birgitta Hoffmann

FRIENDS OF THE PARISH OF WILMSLOW

February 22nd, 2008

18th. FRIENDS’ FESTIVAL AND ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Sunday 6 April 2008 Celebration Eucharist at 10.30 a.m. Visiting preacher : Rev. Canon Dr. Trevor Dennis Vice Dean of Chester Cathedral The Annual General Meeting will be followed by a luncheon in the Parish Hall at which everyone is warmly welcome Do come !If you would like to come to the luncheon , please contact Patti Turner-Smith (01625 520353) or Berry Northen (01565 873053) for tickets. Members of the Friends will receive all details of the Festival, AGM and lunch by post during March.

Huge Thank You

February 22nd, 2008

Hi,
Written from Singapore Airport, Wednesday, while waiting for the 23.45 to Brisbane. Everything great so far.
Just wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone involved in making our farewell weekend so special. Thank you so much for everything that everyone did.
We will treasure and remember it always.
‘’I shall remember it until my memory declines so much I won’t remember who I am’’
Sending much love
Tony and Alison

St Anne’s Church, Fulshaw

February 22nd, 2008

St Anne’s Church on Nursery Lane, Fulshaw, Wilmslow was built in 1876 by Mr George Fox of Harefield in memory of the wife, Annie, of the Rector of Wilmslow, Rev Emery Bates. The building was opened and licensed by the Bishop of Chester as Fulshaw Memorial Church and School. The building housed the school each weekday and was used for worship on Sundays. As the pupil numbers increased it became difficult to teach them all in the one building so a new school was built on the opposite side of the road. That building is now part of St Anne’s Fulshaw Church of England Primary School, a controlled school.

After the school had moved out, the Church needed repairs and redecoration and the addition of a pulpit and organ. The Church was closed for 2 months and rededicated in January 1891. The organ was replaced by an electronic organ in 1991. A new boiler and radiators were also fitted in the 90s.

The name of St Anne (mother of the Virgin Mary) was given to the church in 1950. Today St Anne’s is a daughter Church in the Parish of Wilmslow and has its own Ladies Group, Brownie Pack, Rainbow Group and Sunday School. Apart from regular weekday and Sunday services, around St Anne’s Day (July 26th) there is a Festal Evensong followed by a strawberry supper. On Christmas Eve there is always a Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols held at 7.30pm for which extra seating has to be brought in. The school continue to use the Church for a weekly service and for Festival and leavers services.

All this and much more information about the Church’s story was found in the Wilmslow Church magazine, which has been published monthly since 1875.

What on earth should I be doing?

February 22nd, 2008

It’s a sobering thought. God has to use the likes of us to do what he wants done in the world! Big tasks, small jobs, they’re all done by people who said ‘yes’ to God.
If you are someone who is still puzzling about how best to serve God. it may help to remember that your abilities, personality and experience all provide important clues.
As someone said, “much of the will of God for us is written in us”.
• What do you like doing?
• What is your present work pattern?
• What concerns you?
Your answers will be a guide to how best to serve.
The trouble is that when God asks us to do something for him, it is an invitation and not a command - and invitations can be politely refused! Yet to use our gifts and abilities for God is an important part of what it means to be a disciple. Doing what I can do, in my way, not only helps me to be the person God wants me to be. it is a gift to others. In a small way it is sharing in what God is doing in his world.
An exercise
• Take a sheet of paper and jot down all the tasks, seen and unseen, which
someone must do for your church to fulfil all its Sunday and weekday
commitments. You will be amazed at how many there are!
• Now beside each one write one or two qualities or abilities a person needs
to carry out that task.
• Bearing in mind your own gifts and circumstance, is there anything you could
do or help others to do? Who could you talk it over with?
• Finish off by trying to name the people who do the various jobs at present.
Pray for them because whether they know it or not, they are part of what God is doing in the world. So what on earth should you be doing?
Ray Samuels
Director of Ordinands

THE WOMEN’S WORLD DAY OF PRAYER SERVICE

February 22nd, 2008

will be held at the United Reformed Church, Wilmslow, at 10.30am on Friday, 7th March. This year the service has been written by the Christian Women of Guyana and is entitled “God’s Wisdom Provides New understanding” There will be a chance to catch up with members of the other congregations over refreshments after the service. Everyone is welcome to take this opportunity to worship together with the other churches and enjoy the social occasion after the service.
Barbara Hood.

St Anne’s Fulshaw C of E Primary School

February 22nd, 2008

I told you last month about our visitor from OFSTED, and this month I am thrilled to tell you that he found what we strive for as teachers; our school is at the heart of the local and church community, and is a family oriented place where ‘pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is outstanding.’ We are very proud of the hard work put in by the children, teaching and non-teaching staff, parents, governors, members of the church and parish, and the PTA every day and every week at St Anne’s. Thank you all very much.

Class Five children had some very exciting news early in February. They had completed a project which involved designing a Velodrome for the 2012 London Olympics. They worked as a whole class, with different groups responsible for different aspects of the design, produced a CD and a presentation document and sent it off to the Olympic Velodream competition before Christmas. We heard that our entry has been short-listed out of 500 entries in the final five primary schools and five secondary school entries, and 8 children and 2 staff are travelling to London at the end of February for the awards ceremony at the Maritime Museum. At the moment of writing, we wish them every success, although we think they are winners for their success so far.

Back in school, we spent an enjoyable day in Fewbruary raising money for UNICEF. It is called The Day for Change, and the school council decided that they would like to spend the day out of uniform, while teachers had to wear uniform and out of normal lessons and classes. The older children also wanted to be teachers for part of the day, so they took assembly, and taught their teams a keep fit routine. We had a super art workshop, kindly sponsored by the PTA, where every children in school collaborated to produce wonderful artworks to decorate the new play area outside our foundation and Key Stage 1 classrooms, and we did music and cooked healthy snacks. It was an enriching experience for the children and the staff, and helped us to remember how fortunate we are in this country, compared to children in Africa.

During Lent in the second half of the term, we will be reflecting further on this difference as we enjoy the lighter nights, the signs of Spring renewal, and prepare for Easter worship and celebrations.

I wish you all an optimistic start to Spring, and a very Happy Easter.

Mrs P. Thomas
Acting Headteacher.

ST. ANNE’S STAGE CELEBRATION PARTY

February 22nd, 2008

St Anne’s Church has bought a new stage, helped by a very generous grant from the Manchester Airport Community Trust Fund. On Sunday 3rd Feb the church held an all age tea-party to celebrate its arrival with a home-made variety show.
There was a programme of ten turns with three generations of some church families appearing on the new stage. The show culminated in a pocket pantomime, Red Riding Hood, performed by the Footstepz Group, with Vicky Walker as Red Riding Hood and Elinor Mountford as the Wolf.
The Administrator of the Trust, Jonathan Green, and Councillor Hannam, who is a trustee of the fund, were there to enjoy the party and see their stage in use by the community.
St. Anne’s is most grateful for their support and expects the new stage to be in regular use for many years.

RETURN TO NARNIA

February 22nd, 2008

In March 2006 St. Barts, hosted a very successful Narnia Weekend for young families, with activities designed for children of primary school age. The second Narnia film, Prince Caspian is to be released in Great Britain at the end of June, and the church is planning to follow it up with a Return to Narnia Weekend, on 11th to 12th October..
The C.S.Lewis Company has given provisional approval to the project, subject to scrutiny of the detailed plans when available. There will be a first meeting for all interested in helping with this project on Monday 10th March at 8.00 pm at 23 Longmeade Gardens (The Hoods’ house). For further information speak to David Bush or Alastair King.
Do come along especially if you are a Narnia enthusiast.