| Several eminent ministers have officiated here. The appointment is vested in certain Trustees, named by the deed. The first minister appointed appears to have been the Rev. David Waterhouse, and after him came in succession, the Reverends John Elton, William Dowding, William Thornhill, Thomas Foster, and Martin Benson. The latter gentleman, whose memory is highly respected by the inhabitants, was appointed in the year 1785, and held the office for forty three years, having resigned in 1823, on which occasion a piece of plate was presented to him as a testimony of the esteem in which he had been held. He died 1st. of April, 1833, aged 72 years. He was succeeded in his ministry in 1829, by the present minister, the Rev. W. L. Pope, M. A. Fellow of Worcester College, Oxford. ..... The Rev.W. L. Pope resides at Claremont Lodge; Mr. Thomas Stidolph, Organist, at Cumberland Terrace; and Mr. John Jenner, Clerk, at Mount Sion. |