There are few Methodist churches whose beginnings have been so closely identified with the religious experience of one man as that of our own church in Higham Ferrers. Daniel Pressland, the man in question, was born in the village of Swineshead in the year 1755 and he was one of a family of five children. He appears to have had more education than was common in those days, becoming at an early age proficient in English and a very fair Latin scholar. Of a serious turn of mind he inclined more to study than to sport,and as he grew older became a voracious reader, gathering together his own library at a time when books were expensive. This power of concentration, acquired in early life, was to stand him in good stead in later years, in his business life, his religious life, and the many civic duties in which he was to find so rich a field of Christian service. Whilst he was still a boy his father died suddenly, leaving his mother to bring up five children alone, and not long afterwards a sister to whom he was deeply attached, passing by an open well, fell in and was drowned. It is not surprising that these tragic events should have brought home to his youthful mind a sense of the brevity of life and of his own unpreparedness for death, and this awakened within him a concern for his spiritual welfare. Not long afterwards he had a vivid dream in which he seemed to be walking in the fields near Swineshead. As he walked an angel met him carrying in its hand a pair of scales, and said to him, “Thou art weighed in the balance and found wanting.” It was the deep impression made by this dream which resulted in his conversion, a change of heart so real that he never afterwards turned aside from following Christ.
It was at the age of twelve in the year 1767 that Daniel Pressland came to Higham Ferrers, arrangements having been made for him to reside with his aunt, Mrs. Sarah Haigh, who had at that time a large linen drapery establishment on the Market Square (now No. 4). Under her watchful eye he was instructed in the business, and his industry was such that in the years following the business expanded greatly. At the same time that he was applying himself to business matters there were other matters which seemed of even greater importance to him. The religious awakening which had come to him in early life was in no way dimmed and with his aunt, herself a zealous churchwoman, he attended regularly the services at the Parish Church. More earnestly than ever he brooded over the word of God, often reading it upon his knees as he prayed for God's light and truth to break through to him. And he was constantly exercised in his mind by the spiritual state of those around him, so many of whom cared nothing at all for the ordinances of the church, or for their own personal salvation. It was at this time, when he was in his middle twenties, that he came across a volume of Bishop Beveridge's sermons which meant so much to him that he resolved to share them with others in the hope of turning the careless to Christ. And so, armed with this volume of sermons, we find him on Sunday evenings going from cottage to cottage, reading a sermon and a chapter of the Bible, endeavour¬mg to explain both, and concluding with a prayer. These visits were so well received that neighbours would gather together in one another's cottages and so make a little congregation, which were so well received that neighbours would gather together in one another's cottages and so make a little congregation, which was often deeply impressed by the zeal and spiritual fervour of this young man.
Daniel Pressland does not appear at this stage to have made any contacts with the Methodists, whose nearest Society appears to have been at Bedford. Nor does he appear to have had any desire to form any particular sect, his one intention being that of turning his friends and neighbours to Christ. And yet he met with criticism and condemnation from his aunt and others, and in order to protect himself had to procure licences for several houses where such little services were held. It was in 1787 that the Methodists first visited places in the vicinity of Higham Ferrers, and Daniel Pressland and one or two others went to hear the Revd. William Jenkins of the Bedfordshire Circuit preach at Irchester. This contact was important as it convinced them that in Methodism were to be found the fellowship and religious life for which they were yearning. In 1789 the Revd. W. Jenkins came riding through Higham Ferrers on his way to a preaching appointment at Raunds, and being accosted by Daniel Pressland, consented there and then to hold an open-air service on the Square. Whilst the preacher was putting up his horse, the young man went around the Borough calling a congregation together, and within half-an-hour the Methodist preacher, standing beside the Market Cross, was able to preach to a large company. More such services followed, and as the result of them a Methodist Society was formed which was soon to procure its own place of meeting.
The impact of the events described above on the personal life of Daniel Pressland was far from pleasant as he had to suffer hostility, threats and even persecution. His aunt, always a strong-minded woman, and disapproving greatly the course of action fbllowed by her nephew, was encouraged in this by his critics. In the end, quite suddenly late one Saturday evening, she ordered him out of her house. At such a late hour there was no time to look for a lodging, and he had to seek shelter under the roof of a friend. Later a Mr. Allen, who was to become Steward to Earl Fitzwilliam, helped him to find a suitable home of his own in the Borough. Mr. Allen and others also assisted him to start a business for himself which in the years that followed proved to be extremely successful. It is sad to note that the estrangement thus caused between aunt and nephew was never healed, despite many attempts by Daniel Pressland to bring about a reconciliation. Even on her death-bed she refused to see him, and her will which had been made in his favour was altered, so that her possessions passed to a distant relative. And strangely enough when after her death her house was pulled down, and another erected on nearly the same site, he was able to move into it in 1791, and he dwelt there for the remainder of his life more than fifty years.
It was about this time that Daniel Pressland and his friends came to feel that a chapel must be built, in which the growing Methodist Society and congregation might meet for worship and fellowship. A site for this was provided by Mr. Daniel Adcock, a butcher, whose premises were on the High Street (now No. 16). Along with Mr. Pressland, he opened a subscription list, which proved so successful that it was possible in 1791 to erect the chapel on the site provided, which was situated on the East side of the High Street and approached by a right of way. The preacher at the opening services was the same Revd. William Jenkins who had conducted the first Methodist service on the Market Square. The services on the second Sunday in the new chapel were marked by the preaching of a special funeral sermon commemorating the death of the Revd. John Wesley, founder of Methodism.
It must have been a great joy to Daniel Pressland to recall that he had once heard Mr. Wesley preach at St. Paul's Methodist Chapel, Bedford, and had spent a few minutes there in conversation with him. As Class Leader, Mr. Daniel Pressland was responsible for the pastoral care of the Society, now housed in the new chapel. We can appreciate his zeal and that of his fellow members, when we recall that it was his custom to go around knocking them up at 6 a.m. on Sunday mornings that they might meet with him at the chapel in the heart-searching fellowship of the Class Meeting. The result of this care was seen in the growth of the Society so that soon Mr. Daniel Adcock and Mr. Robert Eady were appointed to share with him this pastoral oversight. As the Society grew, the congregation grew, so that it was not long before side galleries had to be put in to meet the needs of the growing number of worshippers. The names of Mr. and Mrs. John Parker, Mr. Owen Parker and Mr. William Blott were associated with those already mentioned in this period of rapid expansion, and tablets to the memory of Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Adcock and their grandson, and Mr. and Mrs. John Parker and their son, Mr. and Mrs. William Blott and their children, were placed in the old chapel on their death and later removed to the present chapel when the old building ceased to be used.
The Methodist Society in Higham Ferrers was for a year or two part of the Bedfordshire Circuit, but the work progressed so well that a Higham Ferrers Circuit was formed in 1793. In 1798, when the Kettering Circuit was formed, the Higharn Ferrers Circuit was united with it, but in 1802 Higham Ferrers again became a separate Circuit.
It was in this period when Methodism was becoming firmly established in Higham Ferrers that two further significant events took place in the life of Daniel Pressland. In 1795 at the age of 40 he married, only to lose his wife by death within one short year. In August, 1803, he was married again to a Miss Hannah Dennis, of Bedford, who was herself a Methodist, and who was to remain his much-loved partner until she died in 1841. This was only a week or two prior to his own death which took place on February 3rd, 1841, at the age of 85 years.
In the same year that he married his first wife Daniel Pressland became a member of the Higham Ferrers Corporation and he was to continue in this civic service for 44 years until the time of his death, serving as Councillor and Alderman. There was thus begun in this early period of the Church's life that tradition of civic as well as religious service which has continued to this day.
The man who under God was primarily responsible for the establishing of Methodism in Higham Ferrers was, as we have seen, a man of serious purpose and of deep religious conviction. He was also a man who drove himself hard, rising early, spending much time in prayer, and leading others in many different enterprises. But he had other admirable qualities. He enjoyed good music and was a reader of many books. He was a great lover of nature and a keen gardener, delighting to share the beauties of his garden with children and friends.
He was also patient in times of persecution, forgiving to those who wronged him and generous to a fault, though always desirous of hiding his benefactions. The following words inscribed upon the tablet placed to his memory in the chapel speak for themselves:
