Mrs. Fletcher, of Madeley
Long before the question of woman’s mission came to be debated, there were useful and pious women who quite came up to the standard modern champions of the sex have raised. History brings before us the names of many whose thoughts and doings had a vital influence upon the society in the midst of which they moved. The fidelity, zeal, and usefulness of some appear as a silver-thread woven into the past, showing that there is no sex in piety or in intellect. When the down trodden vine of Christianity had to be raised, tended, and made to entwine around the sceptre of the Cæsars, there were “fellow-helpers” of the apostles, “honourable women, not a few,” who distinguished themselves. So in the days of the Wesleys and Fletcher, there were women who greatly aided in the work of christian revival. Mrs. Fletcher was one of these. She was born at Forest House, once the residence of the Earl of Norwich, on the 1st September, 1739. The Cedars, another fine old mansion in Leytonstone, built by Charles II., was her property. She was therefore a Lady by birth and fortune; and she chose to be useful in her day and generation. She was the subject of early religious impressions, which gave tone and character to her life. The first use she made of her wealth and influence upon coining into possession of her property was to convert the spacious building she inherited into an Orphanage, and her income was devoted to the support of this and similar institutions. She held religious meetings, and exhorted among the Wesleyans, of which body she became a member. She heard frequently of Mr. Fletcher, and Mr. Fletcher of her, through the Wesleys; and a presentiment seems to have been felt by each that they were designed for each other. Twenty-six years however elapsed before proposals were made or an intimacy sprung up. They were married on the 12th of November, 1781, at Batley church, near Cross Hall, at that time the residence of Miss Bosanquet, and in January, 1782 she says in one of her letters:—
“On January 2nd, 1782, we set out for Madeley. But O! where shall I begin my song of praise! What a turn is there in all my affairs! What a depth of sorrow, distress, and perplexity, am I delivered from! How shall I find language to express the goodness of the Lord! Not one of the good things have failed me of all the Lord my God hath spoken. Now I know no want but that of more grace. I have such a husband as is in everything suited to me. He bears with all my faults and failings, in a manner that continually reminds me of that word, ‘Love your wives as Christ loved the church.’ His constant endeavour is to make me happy; his strongest desire, my spiritual growth. He is, in every sense of the word, the man my highest reason chooses to obey. I am also happy in a servant, whom I took from the side of her mother’s coffin, when she was four years old. She loves us as if we were her parents, and is also truly devoted to God.”
Married life however with them was a short one. The seeds of disease which had previously shewn themselves became in course of time more fully developed, and in three years and nine months she was left a widow. She survived her husband 30 years; and was permitted to continue to live at the vicarage; and she frequently held meetings at the Rough Park, at Coalbrookdale, Madeley, and Madeley Wood; having first taken counsel of Mr. Wesley, who approved of the steps she had taken.
“The Old Barn” was one of the places long associated with her labours and her name, and was a place long endeared to Mr. Wesley’s early ministers, who used it for preaching and exhortation. It was a heavy half-timbered building, in the fashion of former times, a lithograph representation of which by a friend of ours, Mr. Philip Ballard, may be seen in the houses of many of the inhabitants of Madeley.
Sarah Lawrence, whom Mr. Fletcher took as a child from the side of her mother’s coffin, and adopted as a daughter, was a faithful friend, and of considerable assistance in visiting and conversing with the sick; but she died some years before Mrs. Fletcher, who built a chapel at Coalport to her memory, in consequence of a dream Miss Lawrence had had, that great good would result from the erection of a place of worship there. The lease, we believe, has now expired.
Miss Tooth, another adopted daughter, survived Mrs. Fletcher, and for many years continued the Sunday morning meetings in a large upper room of her house, which is now converted into a public house. The Rev. George Perks who now holds a distinguished position among the Wesleyans, the present writer, and many others, attended these meetings. Miss Tooth took care that they did not interfere with the services of the Established church, which she set the example of attending punctually. She usually read one of Mrs. Fletcher’s papers, such as she had formerly read herself at her meetings. Speaking of Mrs. Fletcher, soon after her death Miss Tooth said:
“Her whole life was one of self-sacrificing endeavour to do good to the souls and bodies of men. She lived not for herself but for others. She was one of a thousand, as of mercy, so of economy; always sparing of expense upon herself, that she might have more to give to ‘the household of faith.’ She would often say, ‘God’s receivers upon earth are Christ’s Church and His poor.’ When I have proposed the purchasing of some article of clothing for her, she would ask, ‘Is it quite necessary? If not do not buy it: it will be much better to give the money to some of our poor neighbours than to lay it out upon me.’ Nor was this once only; it was invariably her conduct; and with great truth it might be constantly said of her also, that
“‘What her charity impairs,
She saves by prudence in affairs.’
“She was remarkably exact in setting down every penny she expended. She kept four different accounts, in which all she spent was included. These four were the house, sundries, clothes, and poor. We have often at the end of the year been astonished to find the house expenses so small, considering how many had shared with us. At such times she has said, ‘It is the Lord who has blessed our bread and water.’”