Chapel Next the Green (the history of Twickenham Congregational Church) index page
It is not known whether Mr Calvert influenced the choice of his successor but in September 1895 (at the first Church Meeting since February): Mr G.A.Hamson of Hackney College, then aged 26, was invited to accept the pastorate “as soon as he can be freed from his College duties”, the Church. undertaking to raise a minimum stipend of £130. Mr Hanson had grown in the Congregational Church at Hinckley (where his father was a prominent member) and had joined the Church during Mr Calvert’s pastorate there.
In January 1896 Mr Hamson started his ministry at Twickenham though he had preached regularly as a student during the latter part of 1895 . At his first Church Meeting on January 30th 1896 it was decided to adopt the ‘Congregational Church Hymnal’ and obtain 100 copies for the use of visitors. In July it was agreed to reconstitute the Diaconate and in due course five deacons were elected, the Committee being thanked “for the very able way in which they had conducted their very difficult duties”.
1897 saw further progress. In that year 33 members joined the church, 18 on profession of faith. Two additional deacons were elected; at the end of the Year it was agreed (not for the first or last time) to introduce Communion Cards – absence from six consecutive services without sufficient reason would constitute a lapse of membership.
That year also saw some of the first moves towards inter-church cooperation: a branch of the Free Church Federal Council was formed at Richmond and the Church decided to affiliate. That Christmas a united service with the Baptists and Methodists was held at the Wesleyan Church and similar services were held for many years after.
The members were no doubt hoping for a long and successful pastorate, but in June 1898 these hopes were quashed. Mr Hanson told the Church meeting that he had been offered the pastorate of Coggeshall Church, Essex, and felt led to accept. Many members joined in the discussion “and very great pressure was brought upon the Pastor to withdraw his resignation, it being felt that his leaving Twickenham would be nothing short of a calamity”. The members resolved unanimously “that our Pastor be requested to reconsider the matter for one week and that the Church Meeting be adjourned until next Thursday at 8.0″. The following week the members were disappointed when the Secretary, Mr Allison, read a letter from Mr Hamson confirming his decision, and the resignation was accepted ‘with profound regret”. At the end of June and Mrs Hamson left for Coggeshall; 60 members had joined the church during his two-and-a-half-year pastorate.
Mr Hanson ministered at Coggeshall and then South Woodford before becoming secretary of the Young People’s Missionary Movement in 1911. In 1913, he also became the secretary of Hackney College. When in 1915 the YPMM closed because of the war, he went to Cheshire, serving the churches at Liscard and Neston, retiring in 1938. He was also a director of the LMS from 1903 until shortly before his death on 14 February 1947.
← Arthur Calvert, 1892-1895 – – – Frederick Simmonds, 1899-1906 →