Methodist Central Hall Westminster

Wesleyan Methodist Historic Roll

The Wesleyan Methodist Historic Roll is a unique set of 50 large leather bound volumes which are located at Westminster Methodist Central Hall in London. The volumes contain the names of over one million people who donated a guinea [£1/1/- or £1.05] to the Wesleyan Methodist Twentieth Century Fund [or The Million Guinea Fund] between January 1^st 1899 and September 1909 when the fund was finally closed. The majority of the donations were made between 1899 and 1904.

William Leary’s booklet “My Ancestors were Methodists” [Society of Genealogists (SOG) 1982, revised 1999] contains a brief reference to the Twentieth Century Fund as "the collected signatures of hundreds of people  who contributed to the fund and these names are preserved in what is called the Historic Roll and housed in a very large case specially prepared for the many volumes. This case is kept in the Westminster Methodist Central Hall and the volumes may be inspected by anyone on request."

This brief description is less than adequate for this collection of volumes kept in a specially made bookcase in the Visitors’ Centre at Central Hall.

Why did the Wesleyans seek to collect One Million Guineas?

The Wesleyan Methodists wanted to celebrate the Centenary of the death of John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement in a spectacular way.

John Wesley [1703-1791] was a Church of England priest who founded the Methodist Movement at Oxford in 1729 as an evangelical movement within the Church of England.  Most of his ministry was spent travelling the length and breadth of the British Isles preaching in the open air to working class people mainly in the Industrial Centres of the Midlands, Yorkshire, North East England, Bristol and the South West and in London.

After his death in March 1791, his followers broke away from the Church of England and formed the Wesleyan Church. Disagreements among the Wesleyans led to the formation of the Methodist New Connexion in 1797, the Primitive Methodist Church in 1807, the Bible Christians in 1815, the Wesleyan Protestant Methodist Church in 1827, the Wesleyan Methodist Association in 1834 and the Wesleyan Reformers in 1847. The last three groups amalgamated in 1857 to form the United Methodist Free Church. In 1907 the Methodist New Connexion, the Bible Christians and the United Methodist Free Church came together to form the United Methodist Church.  Eventually the Wesleyans, the Primitive Methodists and the United Methodists came together in 1932 to form The Methodist Church.

The Wesleyan Church was by far the largest of all the Methodist groups and in 1897 Mr Robert William Perks, Liberal M.P for Louth in Lincolnshire, a leading Wesleyan layman, proposed the setting up of a Fund to raise One Million Guineas from One Million Wesleyans [even though membership of the Wesleyan Church at that time was approximately 420,000] to finance a huge programme of evangelical work and social action and to build a headquarters memorial building in the heart of London to be the world centre of Wesleyan Methodism.

The Fund was officially launched in 1898. Initially no one was allowed to donate more than One Guinea [£1.05] but donors could make additional donations “In Memoriam” for loved ones who had died or moved away from home.

The Fund Raising Committee decided to ask all donors to write their names and addresses on special pages which were distributed to all Wesleyan Churches and Circuits in England, Wales, Scotland and Overseas.  When the pages were returned, they were bound into 50 volumes which were called “The Historic Roll.”  The volumes were arranged in District order, then by Circuit and by Church within each District.  Altogether the 50 volumes comprise over 17,000 pages and contain the names of more than one million donors.

When the One Million Guinea Fund closed in 1909 £1,073,682 had been donated.  The site of the Royal Aquarium, opposite Westminster Abbey, was purchased for £340,982 but part of the site was sold off as surplus to requirements.  A competition to design a building appropriate for a World Centre for Wesleyan Methodism attracted 132 entries.  Entry Number 27 submitted by the architects Lanchester and Rickards was adjudged the winner and construction of the Westminster Wesleyan Methodist Central Hall began in 1909.  The contract price for the building was £155,170 including the architects’ fees.

The grand opening took place on October 2^nd 1912.  Shortly afterwards the Historic Roll was placed in the Central Hall and the 50 volumes were made available for inspection by visitors.

The Minute Book of the Twentieth Century Fund Committee 1898-1909 which is in the Westminster Central Hall Archives gives a clear picture of the aims and objectives of the Fund.

The Historic Roll – A Basic Index           

In 2002, the Historic Roll was copied onto microfiche and a microfiche reader/printer installed in the Visitor Services Centre at Westminster Central Hall.  Visitors may use the reader/printer, preferably by appointment, and photocopy pages of the Historic Roll for a modest charge.  Alternately historians can request a search to be made by e-mail or by post and obtain an estimate of the cost of photocopying the entries for a particular Wesleyan Chapel or Circuit, or purchasing sets of microfiche for a Circuit or District.

A complete set of microfiche covering all 50 volumes of the Historic Roll comprises 1646 fiche.  Each microfiche contains a maximum of 12 pages of the Historic Roll. District sets range from 17-48 microfiche.  Volumes 1-49 cover Wesleyan Methodist Districts and Circuits in England and Wales.  Volume 50 covers Wesleyan Circuits in Scotland, France, India, China, Hong Kong, South Africa and Gibraltar.

A considerable number of entries give the home addresses of the donors and the addresses of family members who had moved to other places within the British Isles or had emigrated to countries such as the United States of America, Canada, Australia and South Africa.

There are many pages of entries for whom donations were made “In Memoriam.”  Some of these entries are accompanied by brief comments giving details of dates of birth and death and of offices held in their Chapel or Circuit.

There are also pages that were completed by Sunday School scholars attending named Wesleyan Chapels who had donated one shilling [5p].  The children would have saved their farthings and halfpennies to collect their shillings for which they would have received a John Wesley medallion.  The Treasurers’ Account Book shows that the Children’s Collection raised £4,162/0/1 - and that 90,000 medallions were struck.

Adult donors who had contributed at least a guinea received a signed certificate printed on thin card as their official receipt. Several hundred thousand of these were printed and some still turn up in collections of family memorabilia.

A master index of all the Wesleyan Chapels listed in the Historic Roll has been compiled and can been consulted at Westminster Methodist Central Hall.  For further information about the Historic Roll please visit Central Hall Conference Centre website, Contact Us or visit the Historic Roll Indexes page to download copies of the index.

Twentieth Century Fund		Historic Roll Certificates

Prices for microfiche

Researchers interested in obtaining microfiche of the entries in the Historic Roll for a former Wesleyan Methodist District, Circuit or Chapel can purchase microfiche from Methodist Central Hall, Westminster at the following prices:-

For number of fiche in a District (see District Index)

17 - 29            £16.00 + £2.80 VAT + £1.20 postage to UK addresses (For Overseas postage rates - click here)

30 - 39            £20.00 + £3.50 VAT + £1.40 postage to UK addresses (For Overseas postage rates - click here)

40 - 48           £24.00 + £4.20 VAT + £1.60 ppostage to UK addresses (For Overseas postage rates - click here)

A complete set of microfiche for all 50 volumes (1646 fiche) can be supplied at the special price of £800 + £140 VAT + postage (estimated at £12 postage to UK addresses (For Overseas postage rates - click here).

Individual fiche for a Circuit or a Chapel can be supplied at £1.20 which includes VAT and postage.

Payment should accompany the order.  Please make cheques payable to Methodist Central Hall, Westminster and allow 14 days for your order to be processed.  Orders should be sent to Visitor Services, Methodist Central Hall, 1 Storey's Gate, Westminster, London. SW1 9NH.

Please find various indexes for the Historic Roll by clicking the appropriate link in the left hand column, or by clicking here.

In addition to these pages more information about the Hall can be found at the Conference Centre Site.

Overseas  Postage

For further information about postage outside the UK - click here to e-mail your enquiry

Richard Ratclife
Archivist
18th September 2006