George Benjamin SCOTT

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Margaret Noble
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I am looking for information about George Benjamin SCOTT who was a Congregational minister at Whitchurch from about 1863 until 1866. He and his family then made a sudden move to London. I have a journal written by one of his daughters and the pages relating to this period have been cut out as if there was some shameful reason for the move. Comments on the next page indicate that there was some big problem. Can anyone help with a reason for this flight? The family were reasonably well off but the move resulted in a period of several years in poverty. He eventually found a new post in Suffolk. Some of the family eventually returned to live in Shrewsbury and one of the daughters married a member of a family of medical men named Brown who lived in Whitchurch and then went to Australia.
We live in Australia and I have the tree on Ancestry. I am hoping someone will have access to newspapers or church minutes or some such that may help to solve the mystery.
Thanks
Margaret Noble

Michael J Hulme
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Hello Margaret

Your best option to find information if there has been some scandal is in the local newspapers.  I don't think the Whitchurch Herald started until 1869 so you will probably need to try one of the Shrewsbury or Oswestry newspapers.  There are more and more newspapers coming online but you will need to check whether any include the dates you want.

You might be interested in a book 'A History of Congregationalism in Shropshire' by Ernest Elliot published in 1898 by Woodall, Marshall & Co, Oswestry, Shropshire which you can find listed here.

I didn't find an online version but the above site shows that two copies are available in libraries in Australia which may be able to help you.  I don't know if this book actually mentions individuals and in any case I doubt that it would contain any scandal.

Mike

Margaret Noble
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Joined: Saturday, 16-04-2016

Thanks Mike. I will try the library as one of them is only about twenty minutes away. Not bad for such a big place as Australia.

Michael J Hulme
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Joined: Saturday, 4-06-2011

Hello Margaret

Thanks to a subscriber on another list I have learnt of the following since writing my reply yesterday.  There is a large list of various newspapers online on Wikipedia.  Some pay, some free.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:List_of_online_newspaper_archives>

When I looked at the above and followed the links to the United Kingdom then England, I tried 'The British Newspaper Archive' link searching for George Scott and using the filters to reduce the results to Shropshire and 1866.  Several potential results were displayed, the second of which was for Whitchurch - George B. Scott.  I am not able to see the full item because I don't have a subscription.

When you go to your local library ask them if they have a subscription to the above and also to the UK edition of 'The Times' newspaper which is fully indexed.  Several UK archives and libraries have these subscriptions.

Mike

Greenaway
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Joined: Sunday, 28-01-2018

I was interested to read about the Rev GB SCOTT. He was my great great great grandfather. I have a tiny book that he wrote called "Tried Gold" but I have since discovered that he wrote a number of books. There is much that I don't know about him. Why for example was his fifth son  (Walter James) born in Sligo Ireland?  I managed to find that GB seem to move around quite a bit.1845-1847 Manchester City Mission, Shelley Yorkshire 1847-49, Brotherton Yorkshire 1849-57, Lichfield Staffs 1858-62, Whitchurch, Salop 1861-66, Sunbury, Middx 1866-72 and Cockfield, Suffolk 1872-75.He died in 1875 visiting the grave of his first wife. When he died he left under 200 pounds .His first wife died after childbirth in 1838 after giving birth to 7 kids and his second wife died in 1915 after giving birth to 6 kids?.

A few years ago I looked at the Times online and found him mentioned  when he went to Lichfield and left Broughton. Apart from his church work he gave lectures in astronomy and other scientific subjects to boys clubs. He was also involved in the Sunday School movement. Sorry I don't know why he left his post in Whitchurch but it would be interesting to learn if there was any reason.Yesterday I learnt that he was born illegitimate. This may have brought problems at a later stage..The SCOTT name comes from his mother Mary SCOTT who was only 18 at the time and not married. Subsequently she married a William MARSH and later, when he died, his brother Thomas. GB's birth father (a baker) was ordered to pay maintenance which he did until George was 13

Margaret Noble
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Last seen: 4 years 2 weeks ago
Joined: Saturday, 16-04-2016

Thanks. As I said, I have a diary written by one of GB's daughters which tells much about the life they led but not about the mystery flight from Whitchurch. They were a very religious family.