I’m starting the chain with John and Esther Broadbent – a quiet, and quietly remarkable couple. Married for nearly fifty years, in that half century of commitment and love they built a business, raised eight children and demonstrably lived out their Christianity.
John Broadbent as a Young Man
The family homes of John Broadbent, his father, and his grandfather, were in West Yorkshire. The family owned and farmed their land, and were among the entrepreneurs who moved into manufacturing as they saw the future of the wool industry.
All the family were committed to their Christian faith, and faithful in their attendance at the local church. A trip to the old churchyard would surely provide a collection of family names written in stone. One day. . .
Theirs was more than just a superficial, social Sunday religion. They lived out their Christianity in the reality of daily life, both in the business-place and at home. John’s father was recognized as a man of integrity, honourable in business, and concerned about the well-being of his employees. He had a particular interest in the unity of the families and the future of their children.
John was raised with these values, which would have been further supported by his education at the Moravian School in Fulneck.
The Moravians
The Moravian Church began in 1457 in what is now the Czech Republic. The church is one of the oldest Protestant denominations in the world, pre-dating Luther by half a century.
In 1727 the Moravian church was dynamically transformed by a Holy Spirit renewal. One of those impacted, who took a definitive stand for his beliefs, was Count Nicolaus von Zinzendorf. Between 1728 and 1744 Count Zinzendorf visited England to establish settlements. One of these was in Fulneck, and included the boarding school that John attended.
My guess is that John may have boarded there, perhaps on a weekly basis, as the school is about 15 miles from his home.
Although the school may have discouraged what it called ‘secular studies’, my impression is that it definitely fostered inquiring minds, independent thought and a thirst for knowledge.
James Montgomery, son of a Moravian missionary, attended the same school a few years earlier. A strong independent thinker, respected editor and recognised poet, outspoken in his political views, he was a founding member of the Sheffield Sunday School Union – and author of over 400 hymns, including ‘Angels from the Realms of Glory’
The Turning Point
John was an avid reader, excited – and perhaps wooed – by the revolutionary thoughts of Voltaire and Tom Paine. But at twenty-four a great change took place in his life.
He spoke unashamedly of this change, and for him it signified a conversion, a total commitment to God. I’m not sure what triggered it, but it could well have been a visit from John Wesley or one of his travelling preachers.
John and Charles Wesley were profoundly impacted by the deep, quiet, lived-out faith of the Moravians. John Wesley’s ‘Aldersgate Experience’, the ‘transformation from works–oriented religion to grace–oriented faith’1 that signified the true beginning of his ministry, took place at a Moravian meeting.
Add this to John Broadbent’s Word-filled childhood and Christian education, and you have the playing out of Proverbs 22:6 – Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
Church and Family
John joined the Wesleyan Church in 1832, and was a faithful member all his life. When he was 35 he married Esther Butterworth and they set up home in Lindley where they remained for five years. On the death of his father they returned to spend the rest of their lives at Longwood.
The home in Lindley was referred to in letters a century ago as ‘the old house.’ It is possible that this is Gatesgarth, the house where their son Benjamin, my direct ancestor, lived and raised his family.
John’s father had also been impacted by his son’s Wesleyan beliefs. Shortly before his death in 1837 he donated land for a chapel and laid the foundation stone. The new chapel opened the way for the advance of Methodism, and John became the leader of a class and superintendent of the Sunday school.
He and Esther were parents of an increasing family – nine children were born to them, and eight survived. Times were not always easy, but the children saw that their parents were guided by the same principles which were instilled into themselves.
John practised industry and economy at work, required truthfulness and respect at home, and every day, morning and evening, the family came together for worship.
There was no contradiction between precept and example, and as the children grew up and moved out into their chosen fields they took this consciousness with them. They had developed strong individual characters, learned self-reliance and self-control, and understood the responsibilities of freedom.
Esther Butterworth
John’s wife, Esther Butterworth, was a student at another Moravian School in the district. One can speculate that the families knew one another, and that the young couple met at various church gatherings.
The image on the blog post is of an almond blossom – the church where John and Esther married is in Almondbury.
Esther was the daughter of Benjamin Butterworth, who lived at Hillhouse, Holmfirth, Yorkshire,and his wife Sarah (née Woofenden).
She was also one of nine, her siblings being Joseph, Robert, Mary, Richard, Lydia, Sarah, Benjamin and Matthew.
John Broadbent
Born: 11 March 1796
Married: 17 May 1832
Died: 11 September 1880Esther Butterworth
Born: 12 January 1810
Married: 17 May 1832
Died: 11 October 1879Surviving Children
Mary Jane
Sarah Anne
Eliza
William Henry 1835
Butterworth 1837
John Edward 1845
Benjamin 1850
Arthur 1855Died in Infancy
There are two sons named on the parents’ gravestone and listed as having died in infancy. I have not personally confirmed these, but the source is reliable.
Samuel, birth date unknown.
And another Benjamin, birth date unknown. I find it interesting that the Benjamin who grew to adulthood was the 7th surviving child. Shades of Jacob.
The children, as listed here and on the Family Index page, will be addressed individually, with more detail where available. Following them, their children . .
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Well, after looking into it a little, My grandmothers step father was John Henry Broadbent. Born 1887 – I am not sure where yet. My grandmother and her sister, took his last name as they were so little when he came to be their ‘father’. He raised them as his own with Marjorie Eileen Kellar, my great grandmother. Looking into if he was related to your Broadbents, wouldn’t that be amazing! I have found a lot of passenger records for him, to and from Southampton, England…
Such an interesting possibility!