The funeral of the late Mr Foster Vorley, of Rushden, took place on Monday afternoon in the Rushden Cemetery in the presence of a large number of friends and sympathisers.
An impressive service was held at 3p.m. in the Succoth Chapel, with which the deceased had been so closely identified for over half-a-century. The service was taken by the Rev W H Jarman, pastor of Irthlingborough Baptist Chapel, and Mr J Bennett, one of the leading members of the Succoth Chapel, both of whom were personal friends of the deceased. The coffin, which was covered with wreaths, was reverently carried into the chapel, and during the service was placed near the pulpit.
The principal mourners were:
Mr and Mrs B Vorley (son and daughter-in-law), Rushden.
Mr and Mrs C Featherstonhaugh (son-in-law and daughter), Irthlingborough.
Mr and Mrs G Russell (son-in-law and daughter), Watford.
Mr and Mrs F Jordan (son-in-law and daughter), Irthlingborough.
Mr E Featherstonhaugh, Irthlingborough, and Mr Bob Goodwin, Rushden (grandsons).
Misses E and Nelly Featherstonhaugh (granddaughters), Irthlingborough.
Mr G Vorley (brother), Irthlingborough.
Mr e Cox (brother-in-law), Rushden.
Mrs G Clayton (niece), Rushden.
Mr G Berrill, Wellingborough.
Miss Alice Kingston, and Miss F Eady, Rushden.
The congregation included Messrs W Hobbs, W Desborough, W H Saint, Z Newell, J Ladds, and many other members of the Succoth Chapel; Messrs John Claridge, J.P., C.C., William Clarke, D Darnell, John Sargent, Amos Wright, W H Darnell (Rushden temperance Society); T Robinson (the Rushden Temperance band); G Hustwaite (Higham Ferrers); Messrs J S Clipson, G Selwood, and H D Walker (Rushden Liberal Association), Mrs Jaques (president of the B.W.T.A.), Mrs Paragreen, Mrs Panter, Mrs Carrington, Miss L Denton, and Mr W Bettles (Rushden I.O.G.T.), and many others. Mr G Bayes, secretary of the Rushden Temperance Society, was unable to attend owing to official duties.
The Service
opened with the reading of Psalm xv. And 1 Thess. Iv. 13-18 by Mr Bennett, who then offered up prayer, after which the hymn, “Jesus, Lover of my soul”, was sung, Miss Newell presiding at the harmonium.
An address was then given by Mr Jarman, who, speaking with evident emotion, said:
The sorrow that has come, the bereavement that has fallen upon us, does not affect Rushden alone. I see at least one or two of my Irthlingborough friends here. It is our loss, as your loss. Our Brother Vorley was almost as well known at Irthlingboro’ as he was at Rushden. Truly his influence here in Rushden and there at Irthlingborough have been felt.
I take it that our presence here today is, first of all, to show our appreciation opf our departed friend. We honour him in the memory. That memory will not quickly pass, and those of you who came into contact more frequently and more intimately with him will cherish that memory most.
But we have also assembled ourselves in order that we may express our
Deepest, Sincerest Sympathy
with these our friends. The loss to us will be felt; it is great. But they knew him most, and I am sure that they to-day will fully appreciate this loving tribute to their departed father and friend, and also our sympathy with them in their sorrow. I need not say that the expressions of sorrow and sympathy that have been made to them are many.
There have been received tributes of respect from many quarters. I have just selected one from an old scholar, who came under our departed brother’s influence in earlier life. He says to Mr Benjamin Vorley:- “Dear friend,—I did not know until this evening of the sad event you have experienced to-day, but hasten with the sincerest of feelings to express my own sympathy with you and all the family in the great loss you have sustained. I also desire to record the high appreciation which for many years I have had for your father, and feel extremely grateful that ever I came personally into contact and association with him, both as
A Scholar in His Class
and in the different other causes in which we were together engaged, and I can truthfully say, in looking back, that not one single case can I recall where his influence on my life has been other than good. Therefore, I feel it a pleasing duty, though tinged with sadness at the great loss, to express, as an old scholar of his and friend for many years, the thanks I owe to him and his memory which I shall always cherish. Kindly convey my sympathy to Mrs Vorley, sen., and all other members of the family. Praying that the Divine Consoler will bless you all at this your time of trial, and that you may all be sustained with His presence, and comforted in the thought of ‘much attempted and great good done’ in the life so suddenly come to a close, with best wishes and love from my wife and myself.” And I am sure that those expressions are but the expressions of many of you here to-day.
While thinking of the service here this afternoon my thoughts ran on the words, “After he had served his own generation by the will of God he fell on sleep” (Acts xiii. 36). I think that is
A Beautiful Comment
upon the life of a good man. To the will of his God, his will was bent. I believe that first and foremost with our dear friend was his love and regard for his Lord. All that he was as a child of God, all that he was that was good, he was by the grace of God. “By the will of God” he served. Whom did he serve? “His generation, by the will of God”.
Shall we think of him as a man? The three score years and ten had been long passed. Over 50 years he has been in association with this House of Prayer. He has been with it in its sorrows as well as its joys. For more than 50 years he has been associated with Rushden. And as a man his character stands to-day such as we feel would favourably compare with any character here. He served as an upright character—a man of conviction.
There are societies with which he has been associated that will miss him. Think of his adherence to the principles that he espoused. It was characteristic of the man that, many years ago, after searching, after earnest study, against his former prejudices he came to the conclusion that for him and for others it were better that he should eschew the use of ardent spirits and should join the temperance cause. In a modest was—not in a noisy way because of his past opposition—he felt he would join
The Temperance Cause,
and he steadfastly adhered to his conviction. While he would not obtrude his own principles to the discomfort of others, he was ever ready to stand by the principles in which he himself believed. It is well that we should have men of this class, whose hearts are fixed, whose minds are made up.
As to his political and other associations, this is neither the time nor the place for me to enter upon them, but we honour him for being staunch and true.
Mr Jarman proceeded to speak of the deceased as a man of God—a godly man. His associations with the Succoth were lengthy, and up to the last the cause lay near to his heart. And how could it be otherwise, for it was his spiritual home. After a few touching sequences about the deceased as a father and a friend, he said they would miss his familiar figure and his counsel. He urged the bereaved relatives to remember that it was “by the will of God” that the deceased “fell on sleep”. The very stroke which liberated him from the casket of clay was a kiss of divine love. This “sleep” was
The Cessation of Toilsomeness
and was, after all, only a temporary matter. “They that sleep in Jesus shall rise again.”
Deceased’s favourite hymn, “When Thou, my righteous Judge, shalt come,” was sung with deep feeling, and Mr Jarman then offered up prayer. As the mourners, following the coffin, left the church, Miss Newell played “The Dead March” (Handel’s “Saul”).
The cortege then proceeded to the cemetery. The coffin was of polished elm, with brass fittings. The breastplate bore the inscription—
Foster Vorley
Died Feb. 26th 1908
Aged 76 years.
The wreaths bore the following inscriptions:-
In memory of a good husband and loving father, from his sorrowing wife and family. “Asleep in Jesus”.
In affectionate remembrance of dear father and grandpa from George and Annie and grandchildren of Watford. “Safe in the arms of Jesus”.
In loving memory of our dear grandpa from the elder grandchildren. “Gone but not forgotten!”
To dearest grandpa from his younger grandchildren., “Safe in the arms of Jesus”.
In affectionate remembrance of dear uncle from his nephews and nieces, N Claridge, R Clayton, Herbert, Edith and Sis. Cox.
To dear uncle in grateful remembrance of bygone years, H.B., R.W., D.B., E.W. “Ever remembered by what he has done!”
In loving memory of a dear old friend from Pastor G W and Mrs Thomas, Watford.
In memory, F. and C.
Messrs Whittington and Tomlin were the undertakers.
Mrs F Vorley and family desire to thank the many friends for their expressions of sympathy in their sad bereavement.
