Rushden Research Group: Churches - Religious Census of Rushden 1903

Rushden Argus, 15th May 1903, transcribed by Greville Watson

Religious Census of Rushden 1903

Interesting Facts & Figures

On Sunday last an enumeration of the attendance at the various places of worship in Rushden was carried out by the staff of this journal, assisted by a goodly number of competent enumerators. The day proved a most favourable one for the undertaking, and in the majority of cases the figures given may be taken as the nearest possible approach to the average attendance. The weather was fine, though cloudy for the greater part of the day, whilst the wind was not so cold as on many other adjacent days. No rain fell till just before the time for the evening services, and then the shower was so slight as to interfere very little with those proceeding to their accustomed places of worship, and though a smart shower followed later, this could not affect the attendance in any way. The figures are certainly suggestive in many ways, and not least with regard to the proportion of the attendance to the population. At the census in 1901 the number of inhabitants was given as 12,460, but the latest estimate gives the number at not less than 13,500. The following are the figures supplied by the enumerators :-

	Church of England
Church	Morning				Evening
	Men	Women	Children	Total	Men	Women	Children	Total
Parish Church	102	117	264	483	154	254	108	516
St.Peter's	42	28	138	208	74	113	61	248
Totals	144	145	402	691	228	367	169	764
	Free Churches
Park Road Baptist	147	151	132	430	212	263	87	562
Independent Wesleyan (High Street)	77	78	230	385	128	204	97	429
Wesleyan (Park Road)	90	58	209	357	72	115	59	246
Independent Wesleyan (Wellingborough Road)	91	71	320	482	159	147	157	463
Congregational	34	24	76	134	43	57	27	127
Succoth Baptist	29	27	34	90	38	36	14	88
Zion Baptist	31	30	31	92	38	40	7	85
Primitive Methodist	11	4	29	44	17	20	35	72
Salvation Army	19	20	54	93	50	78	38	166
Totals	529	463	1,115	2107	757	960	521	2238
	Roman Catholic
Roman Catholic	18	11	5	34
	Denominational Totals
	Morning				Evening				Total
	Men	Women	Children		Men	Women	Children
Church of England	144	145	402		228	367	169		1,455
Baptist	207	208	197		288	339	108		1,347
Congregational	34	24	76		43	57	27		261
Wesleyan	90	58	209		72	115	59		603
Independent Wesleyan	168	149	550		287	351	254		1,759
Primitive Methodist	11	4	29		17	20	35		116
Salvation Army	19	20	54		50	78	38		259
Roman Catholic	18	11	5		-	-	-		34
Totals	691	619	1,522		985	1,327	690		5,834

These figures include all the various places of worship, excepting that of the Plymouth Brethren, who have a small meeting place in Moor-road, where the average attendance is but small. In addition, mention should be made of the Adult Schools. At the men's meeting in the morning there were 119 present, whilst 12 of the regular attendants had gone to Raunds and Finedon to help in the schools there. Many of these, however, would also attend at some place of worship. At the women's gathering in the afternoon 102 members and some 20 non-members were present. At the gathering for women in the B.W.T.A. Hall during the afternoon there was an attendance of 30. In connection with the Park-road Baptist Church separate services are held for children at the same time as the service in the chapel. This service was on Sunday morning attended by 11 adults and 216 children, and in the evening 10 adults were present with 312 children. A separate service for infants is also held in connection with St. Peter's Church, whilst in other places the infants are allowed to go home. The return, however, does not deal with the number of children in attendance of the various schools, but only with those actually present at the different services tabulated. With regard to the Roman Catholic figures, only one service was held during the day. In all the other cases the two chief services were taken, the morning service beginning at 10.30, 10.45, or 11 o'clock, as the case might be, and the evening service at six o'clock. Other services are ignored in the returns.

At most of the places of worship what may be termed the normal conditions prevailed. Where there is a settled pastor he was the preacher, with the exception of the Independent Wesleyan Church, where the place of the Rev R Shorten was taken by Mr J Gant of Raunds. Perhaps, too, some slight allowance should be made in the case of the Wesleyan and Independent Wesleyan communities for the special services held in continuation of the opening of the new Wesleyan Chapel at Higham Ferrers. At the Salvation Army barracks the new captain took his first Sunday services, but no special arrangements were made.

Comparison with former conditions in the town are not possible, seeing that no complete returns of former enumerations are available, but the return will doubtless be useful in coming years in showing to what extent attendance at religious services keeps pace with the growth of the town. It may, however, be of interest to state that at Kettering, in February last, when a sensus was carried out for the "Kettering Leader," the total attendances for the day were 10,416 out of a population of 29,000; at Wellingborough, at the end of March, when the figures were taken for the "Wellingborough News," the total was 7,265, with a population of 19,400; whilst the above figures give a total of 5,834, with a population of 13,500. Rushden consequently compares most favourably in this respect with both the towns in question. Other lessons in calculations we must leave to those most immediately concerned.

As to the experiences of the enumerators little need be said. Their movements in some cases aroused some amount of curiosity, but in others the remembrance of returns made in Kettering and Wellingborough, not to mention other parts of the country, raised a suspicion at once of what was taking place. Seeing too, that in some quarters there had been a desire manifested to know if anything of the kind was to be attempted in Rushden, it is not surprising if during the day some inkling of what ws being done had got abroad. That so many as 20-25 or more persons were engaged in the task, however, would have come as a surprise to most people, and it is certain that whatever idea was gained at the places did not appreciably affect the results. In a few cases where the enumerators were "spotted" it was quite amusing to note the eager desire that each one should be "put down"; whilst chance remarks overheard greatly relieved what otherwise would have been a monotonous task.