▶Date of birth:  19 March 1797       Place of birth: Margate, Kent

▶Father:  Richard Lewis     Mother: Rebecca Garrett

▶Spouse(s):  Susanna Goldsmith    Date(s) of marriage:   20 May 1819    Place(s) of marriage: St Lawrence, Kent

▶Occupation: Clergyman (Baptist minister); Author

▶Lifestory: William Garrett Lewis became an active Baptist minister in Chatham and in Cheltenham, and published hymns, poems, and sermons in support of his religious mission. He was born in Margate, Kent, in 1797, the son of dissenting parents Richard Lewis, and his wife Rebecca Garrett. Lewis was employed commercially  at the time of his marriage in 1819 to Susanna Goldsmith, but soon after the birth of his eldest son William Garrett Lewis (see ODNB) he abandoned his job to dedicate himself to the Baptist ministry; the couple are said to have had some thirteen children in all.

Lewis was ordained a minister at the Zion Chapel in Chatham in 1824, remained minister there for eighteen years, until 1842. An avowed opponent of slavery, he published his Original hymns and poems on spiritual subjects in 1827. In 1842 he moved with his family to Cheltenham, as Minister to the Baptist Salem Chapel, and the following year laid the foundation stone for the New Baptist Chapel in Clarence Parade in Cheltenham.

He was a popular preacher, and lectured often on matters relating to the early Church and history in general (his sermons The religion of Rome explained, delivered at the Salem Chapel in Clarence Parade, Cheltenham, were published in 1851; he was of a sober rather than an exuberant character, influencing through his dedication and earnest argument. He was also very active, chairing local meetings of the Baptist Missionary Society and engaging with other local organisations. In 1861 he lived with his family at Pine Cottage in Winchcombe Street, and in 1857 lived at 2 Sussex Villas (now 9 Clarence Road), Pittville, in 1857; he is next recorded next-door in 1859-60 at 3 Sussex Villas (10 Clarence Road), before he moved to 1 Camden Terrace in the town by 1861.

His work as a Minister at the Salem Chapel was winding down in the early 1860s, and in 1863 his congregations made a collection amongst themselves of 110 guineas for their pastor. The following year he resigned his post, after twenty-two years, and went to stay in Weston-super-Mare, for the purposes of his health. He died there in March 1865, at the age of sixty-eight; his wealth at death was sworn at under £800. An oblique reference in an obituary notes that “his death is regretted by a large congregation, from which, it is said, he parted under circumstances which tended to cast a gloomy shadow over his latter days”.

▶Moved to Pittville from: Winchcombe Street, Cheltenham       Moved from Pittville to: Weston-super-Mare

▶Date of death:   22 March 1865     Place of death: Prince’s Buildings, Weston-super-Mare

▶Date of burial:   27 March 1865      Place of burial: Weston-super-Mare

▶Notes:        ID: 2396

Contributor(s):  John Simpson