December 2013:
Lincoln, Thomas Cooper Memorial Baptist Church (Lincoln High Street)
Two views of the interior of the present Thomas Cooper Memorial Church
Our December visit was to the Thomas Cooper Memorial Baptist Church in Lincoln High Street. We were met by Steve Holman who told us that the early history of Baptists in Lincoln can be traced to 1626 when a group of Baptist, returning from exile in Amsterdam, settled here after the danger of persecution ceased. Meetings were held in various places until a church was build in 1701 to the rear of St Benedict’s Church close by the River Witham.
This church was rebuilt in 1863 and again in 1885. It was probably at this time that the chapel was first named in honour of Thomas Cooper. It is unusual for a memorial to be erected whilst the person so honoured is still living. This surely gives a clue to the personality of this man.
Thomas Cooper was born in Leicester, but his family moved to Exeter when he was a few months old. He returned to Leicester in 1840, working first on the Leicestershire Mercury newspaper, and then as editor of the Chartist Midland Counties Illuminator.
Cooper spent two years in Stafford Gaol after being convicted of sedition and conspiracy. He took no further active part in the Chartist movement after his release. In 1828 he opened his own school in Gainsborough. When this closed in 1833 Cooper moved to Lincoln becoming a staunch supporter of the Baptist Church there. For his last thirty years he was a forceful lecturer on Christianity He wrote a number of books, including his own autobiography and 'The Purgatory of Suicides', a political epic written while in prison.
Unfortunately space does not permit a longer account of Coopers life. When he died in 1892 he was buried in Lincoln
By the late 1960s the church built in 1885 had developed numerous structural issues and the church officers and trustees at that time accepted an offer to demolish this church and build a new one. This was from Marks and Spencer's, who wanted to develop their existing town centre store.
The site of the Hannah Memorial (Wesleyan Methodist) Church on the corner of High Street and Chaplin Lane was acquired and the present Thomas Cooper Memorial (Baptist) Church opened its doors in 1972.
This church was rebuilt in 1863 and again in 1885. It was probably at this time that the chapel was first named in honour of Thomas Cooper. It is unusual for a memorial to be erected whilst the person so honoured is still living. This surely gives a clue to the personality of this man.
Thomas Cooper was born in Leicester, but his family moved to Exeter when he was a few months old. He returned to Leicester in 1840, working first on the Leicestershire Mercury newspaper, and then as editor of the Chartist Midland Counties Illuminator.
Cooper spent two years in Stafford Gaol after being convicted of sedition and conspiracy. He took no further active part in the Chartist movement after his release. In 1828 he opened his own school in Gainsborough. When this closed in 1833 Cooper moved to Lincoln becoming a staunch supporter of the Baptist Church there. For his last thirty years he was a forceful lecturer on Christianity He wrote a number of books, including his own autobiography and 'The Purgatory of Suicides', a political epic written while in prison.
Unfortunately space does not permit a longer account of Coopers life. When he died in 1892 he was buried in Lincoln
By the late 1960s the church built in 1885 had developed numerous structural issues and the church officers and trustees at that time accepted an offer to demolish this church and build a new one. This was from Marks and Spencer's, who wanted to develop their existing town centre store.
The site of the Hannah Memorial (Wesleyan Methodist) Church on the corner of High Street and Chaplin Lane was acquired and the present Thomas Cooper Memorial (Baptist) Church opened its doors in 1972.
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