View source for Jonas Pilling

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2024}}

{{Infobox Christian leader
| type             = [[Anglicanism|Anglican]] [[Priest]]
| name             = Jonas Pilling
| title            = Reverend
| image            =
| image_size       = 
| alt              = 
| caption          = 
| church           = '''1881''' [[Christ Church, Heaton Norris|Christ Ch, Heaton Norris]]<br />'''1890''' St Augustine, [[Scisset]]<br />'''1892''' [[St Mary's Church, Penwortham|St Mary, Penwortham]]<br />'''1896''' St Anne,  [[Lydgate, Greater Manchester|Lydgate]]<br />'''1898''' [[St Laurence's Church, Chorley|St Laurence, Chorley]]<br />'''1901''' St Paul, [[Withnell]]<br />'''1904''' St Jude, [[Preston, Lancashire|Preston]]<br />'''1905''' [[St Andrew's Church, Steeple Gidding|St Andrew, Steeple Gidding]]<br />'''1905''' [[Church of St Mark, Old Leeds Road|St Mark, Leeds Rd]], [[Huddersfield|Hudd]]
| archdiocese      = 
| diocese          =  
| appointed        = 
| other_post       = 
| ordination       = 1883 ([[priest]])
| ordained_by      = [[James Fraser (bishop)|Bishop of Manchester]]
<!---------- Personal details ---------->
| birth_name       = 
| birth_date       = 1855
| birth_place      = [[Farnworth]], [[Lancashire]], England
| death_date       = 28 February {{death year and age|1926|1855}}
| death_place      = [[Huddersfield]], [[Yorkshire]], England
| buried           = 
| nationality      = British
| residence        = 
| parents          = 
| spouse           = 
| children         = 
| occupation       =  
| profession       = 
| previous_post    = 
| education        =
| alma_mater       = [[Hatfield College, Durham|Hatfield Hall, Durham]]
| motto            = 
| signature        = Rev Jonas Pilling Signature.JPG
| signature_alt    = Jonas Pilling
<!---------- Other ---------->
| other            = 
}}

'''Jonas Pilling''' (1855 – 28 February 1926) was vicar of the former [[Church of St Mark, Old Leeds Road]], [[Huddersfield]], West Yorkshire, England, from 1905 to 1926. He was the notorious subject of many newspaper articles about the fourteen-year dispute between Pilling and his congregation, the absence of churchwardens, other officials and choir, the dwindling of his congregation and the dereliction of the church building. This occurred in an industrial environment of great poverty, where there was "plenty of scope for church work".<ref name="Leeds Mercury 16Apr1909" /><ref name="Leeds Mercury 21apr1921" /><ref name="Crock 1907" /> At the 1921 Bishop's Commission, he mentioned his fear of "plottings".<ref name="Leeds Mercury 21apr1921" /> 

However, Pilling was a [[Manchester]]-born man, assuming a position of respect in Huddersfield, in an era of powerful inter-city rivalries.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kierans |first1=Stephen |title=Premier League's biggest rivalries: How they all began |url=https://footballpink.net/premier-leagues-biggest-rivalries-how-they-all-began/ |website=footballpink.net |publisher=Football Pink |access-date=30 June 2022 |date=25 February 2021}}</ref> He came from a tradition of cotton-spinning, whereas Huddersfield was a wool town; culture and dialect differed.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Baines |first1=Thomas |title=Yorkshire, Past and Present: A History and a Description of the Three Ridings of the Great County of York, vol.2, part 2: The history of the borough of Huddersifled |date=1875 |location=United Kingdom |url=https://huddersfield.exposed/wiki/Yorkshire,_Past_and_Present_(1875)_-_The_History_of_the_Borough_of_Huddersfield |access-date=30 June 2022}}</ref> He was studious; he was an [[Exhibitioner]] and a [[Master of Arts]], whereas his flock included some of the most deprived people in the area. Although his relationship with his congregation deteriorated disastrously over sixteen years, the Bishop of Wakefield failed to assist either Pilling or his flock during that period. 

==Life==
Pilling's father was Richard Pilling (born 1829), a "hasher" or [[Sizing|sizer]] of cotton yarn from [[Sharples, Greater Manchester|Sharples]], [[Bolton]]. His mother was Ann Ashworth (born 1828), from [[Halliwell, Greater Manchester]]. His parents married in [[Manchester]] in 1853. He was born in 1855, the second of four children, in [[Farnworth]]. In 1861 he was living at 153 Bridgewater Street, Farnworth.{{Refn|Marriages Sep 1853 Ashworth, Ann and Pilling Richard, Manchester vol8d p128. Births Mar 1855 Pilling Jonas Bolton Vol8c p242|group=nb}}<ref>United Kingdom Census 1861: RG9/2808/52/p29 153 Bridgewater Street, Farnworth</ref><ref name="Census 1891" >United Kingdom census 1891</ref> By 1871 Jonas was a pupil teacher, living with his parents at 39 Manchester Road, [[Kearsley]], Bolton.<ref>United Kingdom Census 1871: RG10/3919/9/p9 Kersley</ref> Pilling died at St Mark's vicarage in Huddersfield on 28 February 1926, aged 70 years. He died of [[Colorectal cancer|carcinoma of the colon]] and [[myocarditis]], while still vicar of St Mark's. His landlady Elizabeth Margaret Banforth was present at his death.{{Refn|Deaths Mar 1926 Pilling Jonas 70 Huddersfield vol9a p429. The death certificate says: 28 February 1926, 38 Bath St, Jonas Pilling, male, 70 years, Vicar of St Marks Huddersfield, (1) carcinoma of colon (2) myocarditis, Elizabeth Margaret Banforth of 38 Bath Street Huddersfield present at the death.|group=nb}} He left £8,255 gross; £4,740 net (equivalent to £{{formatnum:{{Inflation|UK|4740|1926|r=-4}}}} in {{Inflation-year|UK}}).{{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y}}<ref name="YEP 23Apr1926" >[http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000273/19260423/282/0013 ''Yorkshire Evening Post '', Friday 23 April 1926 p13: "Today's wills"]</ref> He had formerly been curate of Penwortham church, and he was buried in the graveyard there at 2&nbsp;pm on Wednesday 3 March 1926.<ref>[http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000711/19260302/226/0006 ''Lancashire Evening Post'' , Tuesday 02 March 1926 p6: "Deaths"]</ref>

==Work==
[[File:St Mary's Church, Penwortham.jpg|thumb|left|St Mary's, Penwortham, where Pilling is buried]]
He was a Theology [[Exhibition (scholarship)|Exhibitioner]] of [[Hatfield College, Durham|Hatfield Hall, Durham]], and a [[Licentiate of Theology]] 1881. The 1881 Census shows him as a student in theology, aged 25 and single, boarding at Leigh Bank, Lees Road, [[Saddleworth]], [[Yorkshire]].<ref>RG11/4362/27/p45 Lees Road, Saddleworth</ref> He gained his BA in 1882, and his MA in 1893. He was ordained deacon in 1881, and priest in 1883 by the [[James Fraser (bishop)|Bishop of Manchester]]. He was curate of [[Christ Church, Heaton Norris]] 1881–1890; of St Augustine, [[Scissett]], Yorkshire 1890–1892,<ref name="Crock 1907" /> where he described himself as "curate in charge of Skelmanthorpe";<ref name="Census 1891" /> of [[St Mary's Church, Penwortham]] 1892–1894; of St Anne's [[Lydgate, Greater Manchester]] 1896–1898. He was curate of [[St Laurence's Church, Chorley]] 1898–1901. He was curate of St Paul, [[Withnell]] 1901–1904, and of St Jude, [[Preston, Lancashire]] 1904–1905. The 1901 Census finds him at age 45 still single and describing himself as a clergyman, with his father at 48 Tithebarn Road, Southport.<ref>United Kingdom Census 1901: RG13/3539/p12 Tithebarn Road, Southport</ref> He was rector of [[St Andrew's Church, Steeple Gidding]] briefly from January 1905.<ref name="Crock 1907" /><ref>[http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001290/19050127/045/0003 ''Bedfordshire Mercury'', Friday 27 January 1905 p3: "Ecclesiastical"]</ref>

He became vicar of St Mark's, Old Leeds Road, Huddersfield, in 1905,<ref name="Crock 1907" /> and remained in the post until 1926 when he died.{{Refn|See Jonas Pilling's death certificate in note above|group=nb}}<ref name="Daily Gazette for M 26Apr1916" /> His patrons were the [[Trustee]]s.  In 1907 his fees were £4, his ecclesiastical commission was £192, his gross income was £196, and St Mark's parish population was 3403; it had risen to 4000 by 1908.<ref name="Crock 1907" >''Crockford's Clerical Directory'' (1907), Oxford</ref><ref name="Crock 1908" >''Crockford's Clerical Directory'' (1908), Oxford</ref> The 1911 Census finds him still single at age 55, living with a servant at 38 Bath Street, Huddersfield. This may have been St Mark's vicarage, as it had seven rooms. He describes himself as a clerk in holy orders for the Church of England.<ref>United Kingdom Census 1911 Schedule 74, Bath Street , Huddersfield</ref> On Thursday 27 August 1925 he officiated at Edgerton Cemetery, Huddersfield, at the funeral of twenty-eight-year-old gunner Walter Wood, who had tragically died in initially mysterious circumstances six days after he had enlisted. It was later learned that the soldier died of a misdiagnosed ulcer which had ultimately suffocated him.<ref>[http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000687/19250829/324/0011 ''Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer'', Saturday 29 August 1925 p11: "Died six days after enlisting, solder's death explained"]</ref>

==Deadlock at St Mark's==
[[File:St Mark Leeds Road Interior 151.JPG|thumb|right|Angel on chancel arch, directly above former site of pulpit of St Mark's]][[File:St Mark Leeds Road 249.jpg|thumb|right|St Mark's before 1907]][[File:St Mark Leeds Road interior 001.jpg|thumb|right|St Mark's before 1907]]

In 1907 there was a dispute between the [[churchwarden]]s and the vicar Reverend Pilling. On Monday 6 May 1907, the ''Aberdeen Journal'' reported:<ref name="Aberdeen Journal 6May1907" /> <blockquote>"After evensong at St Mark's Church, Huddersfield, last night, the whole of the voluntary Church officers – comprising churchwardens and [[Sidesperson|sidesmen]] – walked out of the church in a body, all having resigned their positions owing to disputes with the vicar, Rev. J. Pilling, over questions of authority.  The retiring officers refused to stand again, and, although three [[Meeting of parishioners|vestry meeting]]s have been had since Easter, no successors have been elected. The vicar's warden, Henry Kilburn, has received a letter from the secretary of the [[Diocese of Wakefield]], advising the wardens that they must continue in office until their legal successors are appointed."<ref name="Aberdeen Journal 6May1907" >[http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000576/19070506/092/0006 ''Aberdeen Journal'', Monday 06 May 1907 p6: "Strike of church office-bearers"]</ref></blockquote>

The ''Leeds Mercury'' put it thus:<ref name="LM 27apr1907" /><blockquote>"It is quite evident that after the archdeaconal visitation, St Mark's Church, Huddersfield will be without church officers, for at present there are no signs of an amicable settlement with respect to the alleged differences between the vicar (the Rev. J. Pilling) and some of his parishioners. The annual vestry last week ended in a [[impasse|deadlock]], as the outgoing officers declined reappointment, and although the vicar nominated Mr J.&nbsp;W. Mather, the choirmaster, as his warden, the church officers objected, on the ground that he was a paid official. The parties are apparently [[Controversy|at loggerheads]], for Thursday's meetings, one convened by the vicar, and the other by the churchwardens, Messrs H. Kilburn and A. Lawton, ended without anything having been done. It is stated that the patron of the living has been appealed to, and also the [[Rural Dean|rural dean]]. Will the Bishop interfere?  The vicar in conversation with a Press representative yesterday, when asked for his version of the affair, simply replied, "I have nothing to say on the matter," but he added that he had not read the report of the meeting called by the churchwardens, and he did not intend to do so. Mr H. Kilburn, the vicar's warden, would only state that he thought that sufficient publicity had been given to the state of affairs in the newspapers to justify the Bishop in holding an enquiry. At the meeting convened by the vicar, there was only a small attendance. The vicar presided, and amongst those present were the churchwardens, Captain Elcombe of the [[Church Army]], and Mr J. Lockwood, a sidesman."<ref name="LM 27apr1907" >[http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000747/19070427/254/0007 ''Leeds Mercury'', Saturday 27 April 1907 p7: "Church squabble, Huddersfield vicar ignores his officers, parties at loggerheads"]</ref></blockquote>

[[File:St Marks Sunday School 1880s-90s.jpg|thumb|right|Interior of St Mark's Sunday school 1880s: closed when there was "plenty of scope for church work"]][[File:Child welfare; Ragged School, Whitechapel, 19thC Wellcome L0002066.jpg|thumb|right|A 19th century ragged school]][[File:St Mark Leeds Road 112.JPG|thumb|right|Doorways to former vestries below chancel]]

On 23 April 1908 the ''Yorkshire Evening Post'' reported that the vicar was still unable to persuade parishioners to volunteer themselves as churchwardens, and that "from what transpired today, there seems but slight prospect of an immediate improvement in the situation." The vicar had given notice of the meeting at twelve noon that day, but his notice attracted only four reporters and one choir member. The vicar did not enter the vestry but called the chorister out into the churchyard and asked him to inform the reporters that there was to be no vestry meeting. The vestry and the church gates were locked by 12.15&nbsp;pm.<ref name="YEP 23Apr1908" >[http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000273/19080423/213/0008 ''Yorkshire Evening Post'', Thursday 23 April 1908 p8: "A church without officials, only one parishioner attends the vestry meeting, the vicar's intimation to the press"]</ref><ref name="YEP 15Apr1909" /> In June 1908 the choir could not get a conference with the vicar, so they "unanimously resolved they would go out in a body" and resigned in July.<ref name="Leeds Mercury 16Apr1909" /> The ''Cornishman'' published the following explanation on 30 April 1908:<ref name="Cornishman 30apr1908" /> <blockquote>"A deplorable deadlock, which is having bad results for both the church and the people, exists in the parish of St Mark's Huddersfield, where the Rev. J. Pilling is vicar. At the annual [[Meeting of parishioners|vestry]] a year ago, a dispute arose between the vicar and the church officials. It was alleged that Mr Pilling in certain matters had ignored the churchwardens, that he had stopped the publication of the [[parish magazine]], discontinued the morning [[Sunday school]], and that he took no notice of the invitation extended to him to preside at a congregational tea. At the request of the vicar the Sunday school superintendent resigned, and his example was followed by other teachers. The [[churchwarden]]s declined to be again nominated, and other members of the congregation refused to stand. Since that time the rev. gentleman has carried on the parish work practically single-handed, and has enlisted the services of [[Choirboy|choir boys]] to make collections in the church. It was hoped by those interested in the church that some understanding might be arrived at between the congregation and vicar at this year's vestry, and the [[Rodney Eden|Bishop of Wakefield]] expressed his willingness to preside and endeavour to bring about a more satisfactory state of affairs. These hopes, however, were disappointed. Last Sunday morning the vicar posted up a written notice (signed by himself only) in the church porch, that the annual vestry would be held at noon. Those who attended were four reporters and a member of the choir who is not a [[parish]]ioner. Upon ascertaining the nature of the gathering when in the churchyard the vicar returned home without putting in an appearance at the vestry. The parish is a thickly-populated one, and the population consists of poor [[Working class|working-class]] people.  The church and Sunday school were formerly in a flourishing condition, but the congregation and the number of [[Student|scholars]] is fast dwindling away in the unhappy condition of things."<ref name="Cornishman 30apr1908" >[http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000331/19080430/117/0006 ''Cornishman'', Thursday 30 April 1908 p6: "Parish deadlock, vestry of four reporters and a non-parishioner"]</ref></blockquote>

On Thursday 15 April 1909 Reverend Pilling presided over a vestry meeting comprising one parishioner, Mr J. Lockwood, and four representatives of the Press. Pilling convened the meeting, then asked whether there was any nomination for churchwarden. There was no reply, so he announced the end of the meeting. Lockwood asked for the [[balance sheet]], and Pilling replied that it would be "posted on the church door".<ref name="YEP 15Apr1909" >[http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000273/19090415/148/0007 ''Yorkshire Evening Post'', Thursday 15 April 1909 p7: "One parishioner present. Huddersfield vicar's relations with his congregation"]</ref> By 1909 most of the congregation had left due to poor community relations. The ''Leeds Mercury'' commented, "The parish of St Mark embraces a poor neighbourhood, in which there is plenty of scope for church work."<ref name="Leeds Mercury 16Apr1909" >[http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000748/19090416/050/0003 ''Leeds Mercury'', Friday 16 April 1909 p3: "Nobody will work. Strange deadlock in a Huddersfield church"]</ref>

In 1910 Pilling's housekeeper at St Mark's vicarage was looking for another post, for some reason.<ref>[http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000687/19101027/070/0003 ''Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer'', Thursday 27 October 1910 p3: "Housekeepers etc. want places"]</ref> Referring to an incident of February 1912 between Pilling and a housekeeper, ''The Times'' printed the following:<ref name="The Times 3 July 1913" >{{cite news |work=The Times |date=3 July 1913|title=The Legal Status of Lady Housekeepers|issue= 40254|url= https://galeapps.gale.com/apps/auth?userGroupName=&origURL=https%3A%2F%2Fgo.gale.com%2Fps%2Fi.do%3Fp%3DTTDA%26u%3D%26id%3DGALE%7CCS51314915%26v%3D2.1%26it%3Dr&prodId=TTDA|url-access=subscription|via=Gale|access-date=6 June 2024}}</ref>

<blockquote>[...] a case in Huddersfield County Court yesterday, in which the Rev. Jonas Pilling, vicar of St. Mark's Church, Huddersfield, was sued by his late housekeeper, Miss Lily Jane Puttock, for {{nobreak|£3 16s. 8d.}} for <q>wages and board in lieu of notice.</q> The plaintiff stated that she entered the service of the defendant in February last as lady housekeeper and was summarily dismissed on May 21. The only complaint the defendant had made was that she should get up earlier in the morning, as he wanted his breakfast earlier.<ref name="The Times 3 July 1913" /></blockquote>

An annual vestry meeting was scheduled for Tuesday 25 March 1913, but only two news reporters attended. The vicar was in the church, but no business was transacted.<ref>[http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000276/19130326/147/0006 ''Sheffield Evening Telegraph'', Wednesday 26 March 1913 p6: Chit chat of the day. Only the Press"]</ref> At 10.45 on Sunday 12 April 1914 the annual vestry meeting appointment was attended by the [[verger]] and several representatives of the Press, but the vicar Rev. J. Pilling "did not enter the vestry". When the verger told him that no parishioner was present, Pilling left.<ref name="YEP 13Apr1914" >[http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000273/19140413/137/0004 ''Yorkshire Evening Post'', Monday 13 April 1914 p4: "A vestry without a quorum"]</ref><ref name="MEN 14Apr1914" >[http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000272/19140414/038/0002 ''Manchester Evening News'', Tuesday 14 April 1914 p2: "A long-standing parochial dispute"]</ref> On 26 April 1916, the ''Daily Gazette for Middlesbrough'' reported that as of 1916 no parishioners had attended any vestry meeting for seven successive years, and that the dispute "is apparently as far from settlement as ever. Since the dispute the church has been without officers, and the congregation is very small."<ref name="Daily Gazette for M 26Apr1916" >[http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000159/19160426/071/0003 ''Daily Gazette for Middlesbrough'', Wednesday 26 April 1916 p3: "Officer-less church"]</ref>

===Bishop of Wakefield's commission===
[[File:George Rodney Eden 002.jpg|thumb|right|Rodney Eden, Bishop of Wakefield]]

In 1910 the [[Rodney Eden|Bishop of Wakefield's]] Commission recommended that "St Mark's shall cease to exist as a separate parish and that it shall be taken over by Huddersfield Parish Church as a mission church." However subsequent events show that no action was taken at that time.<ref>[http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000748/19100401/049/0003 ''Leeds Mercury'', Friday 01 April 1910 p3: "No vestry meeting, curious state of affairs at Huddersfield church"]</ref> The situation continued until Wednesday 20 April 1921, when the Bishop's Commission was convened again by registrar W.&nbsp;H. Coles at Huddersfield "to investigate and report on the desirability of uniting the benefices of Huddersfield Parish Church and St Mark's Church, Lowerhead-row <nowiki>[now Old Leeds Road]</nowiki>, the latter of which is alleged to be in an almost derelict condition." The small attendance and lack of churchwardens since 1906 was noted.<ref name="Leeds Mercury 21apr1921" />

Pilling was summoned to the meeting, and said that "St Mark's parish had been thrust out of the Parish Church parish on account of its poverty. The Parish Church had never done anything for them, any more than the Bishop had. For fifteen years he had never had a holiday. He had lived and slept in the town every day and night. He had to be on the look out for these schemes and plottings." When questioned, he admitted that there had been no attendance at vestry meetings, although they had been advertised.<ref name="Leeds Mercury 21apr1921" >[http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000748/19210421/107/0009 ''Leeds Mercury'', Thursday 21 April 1921 p9: "A Huddersfield enquiry, vicar who has not had a holiday for 15 years"]</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=nb}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline|St Mark's Old Leeds Road Huddersfield}}
* {{Commons category-inline|Clergy at St Marks Old Leeds Road}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pilling, Jonas}}
[[Category:1855 births]]
[[Category:1926 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century English Anglican priests]]
[[Category:People from Farnworth]]
[[Category:Alumni of Hatfield College, Durham]]