Alfred was born on May 5th 1816 in Bishopsgate,
central London. His parents were Nathan and Jeanette Sturge. Nathan (an oil
merchant) came from a prominent Quaker family. Jeanette was descended from a
noble French family, her maiden name was Emeric de St Dalmas. Alfred was
educated at a Quakers’ School1. He later moved to Plymouth and the
1841 census shows him living there, aged 25, a confectioner. Later that year, Alfred married Margaret Tait Stove in
Bristol. She was aged 22 and came from Edinburgh. They went on to have twelve
children, six girls and six boys. Their names were Esther Eliza (born 1842),
Alfred Robert (b 1844), Margaret (b 1845), Thomas Stove (b 1847), Lydia (b
1849), Emily Jane (b 1850), Samuel George (b 1852), Herbert (b 1854), Maria
Frances (b 1856), Henry Havelock (b 1858), Agnes Ellen (b 1860) and Ernest Brainerd
(b 1862). All these births were in the Plymouth registration district.
In about 1841, Alfred joined a Baptist Church. Baptists are
Christians who believe that baptism should be performed only for professing
believers (as opposed to infant baptism) and that it must be done by complete
immersion. Alfred began to preach and later accepted an invitation to become
minister of the church at Modbury1, a village 12 miles east of
Plymouth.
The 1851 census shows Alfred and his family living in
Plymouth and his occupation as “town missionary”. By 1861 they had moved to a
different address in Plymouth and Alfred is described as a baptist minister.
Soon after this, Alfred was appointed as pastor of the Baptist Church at Madras
in India, where he worked for four years1. He returned to Britain in
1865 and stayed with his uncle, Thomas Sturge, at Northfleet. In May 1865,
Reverend William Hodsoll, the minister at the Congregational Church on West
Hill, Dartford was unwell and so Alfred stood in for him. By January 1867,
Reverend Hodsoll’s health was worse. Alfred would have replaced him on a
permanent basis, except that the rules of the church said that a Baptist was
not eligible for the pastorate2. Alfred therefore resigned in March
1867 and formed a Baptist Church, with a temporary home in High Street,
Dartford. The foundation stone for a new church in Highfield Road, Dartford was
laid in November 1867. It is inscribed
This stone was laid by the
Reverend Francis Tucker BA,
6th November 1867,
Rev Alfred Sturge, pastor.
The church was built by a local firm, James Sharp &
Sons. It opened for worship on April 8th 1868. In 1872, James Sharp
(1844-1900), the eldest son of James Sharp (1808-83) the founder of the
building firm, married Alfred’s daughter Emily Jane Sturge.
Baptist Church,
Highfield Road, Dartford (2013)
Interior of the Baptist
Church (2013)
Alfred moved into 4 Highfield Road, next to the church (the
site of this house is now a car park). In 1871, the census shows Alfred Sturge
(54, a baptist minister) living there with his wife Margaret (51) and children
Lydia (22), Emily (20), Samuel (19), Henry (13) and Ernest (9) as well as a
housemaid and a cook. In 1881, the family
at 4 Highfield Road was Alfred (64), Margaret, their daughter Agnes (21) and a
general servant. Alfred’s youngest son Ernest died in 1882 aged 20. In 1885 Alfred,
by then 68, retired from his ministry. The 1891 census shows him living at 29 Highfield
Road, Dartford with his wife Margaret and son Herbert (36, a veterinary
student). This house is about 50 yards south of the church, on the opposite
side of the road.
29 Highfield Road,
Dartford
The Elementary Education Act of 1870 required the formation
of School Boards to establish and administer elementary schools free from
Church of England doctrine. Members were directly elected. Alfred was involved
with the formation of the Dartford School Board and was for many years its
chairman. He also acted as guardian, charity trustee and governor of Dartford
Grammar School. Alfred was a leading Liberal and made political speeches. He
advocated temperance and was himself a total abstainer3.
Alfred Sturge
After Alfred’s retirement from the Dartford ministry “he was frequently occupied in lending his
eloquence to platforms or pulpits elsewhere, travelling to distant parts of the
country and earned the honorary and endearing designation of “The Bishop of the
Baptists.””3 When he was aged 82, he went mountain climbing in
Switzerland with his son Henry. However, Alfred’s health deteriorated after
this and he died on January 25th 1901 aged 84 at his home.
A local newspaper3 described Alfred as “one of the most notable residents of the
parish of his generation”. They referred to “the fearlessness, independent spirit and vigour which characterised
the ministry and public life of the Rev. Alfred Sturge in Dartford. His
intellectual ability and cheery, cordial manner will alike be long missed
here.”
Alfred was buried in East Hill Cemetery. His gravestone is
inscribed:
In loving memory / of
/ ERNEST BRAINERD STURGE / who fell asleep in Jesus / September 21st 1882 / in
his 21st year. / 'As in Adam all die, even so in Christ / shall all be made
alive.' 1.Cor. XV.22. / Also / in loving memory of / the Revd ALFRED STURGE, /
for nearly 40 years a faithful minister of / Jesus Christ / in this town, /
founder and first pastor of the Baptist church in Highfield Road / Entered into
his rest Jan 25th 1901 / in his 85th year. / 'He was a good man, and full of
the Holy / Ghost and of faith: and much people was / added unto the Lord.'
Acts.XI.24. / Also in loving memory of / MARGARET TAIT STURGE, / wife of the
Rev ALFRED STURGE, / a devoted wife & mother and an earnest Christian
worker. / Entered into her rest on March 29th 1913, / in the 95th year of her
age.
The gravestone of
Alfred Sturge
Probate on Alfred’s estate was granted to Henry Havelock
Sturge (his son) and Thomas Sturge (a chartered accountant). He left £2,005 11s
9d, which is equivalent to about £790,000 now4.
The fortunes of Alfred’s sons were somewhat mixed. His
eldest four sons all emigrated to North America. Alfred Robert was a newspaper
writer, who died in Tennessee. Thomas Stove, Samuel George and Herbert lived in
Rochester, New York where they ran boarding stables. Herbert later returned to
England where he married Emily Curtis Bray in 1891. She divorced him in 1900 on
the grounds of cruelty and adultery with Alberta Emily Sercombe (who had three
children by Herbert). They don’t seem to have married. Henry Havelock Sturge
became a surgeon who worked in South Africa and then England.
Philip Taylor
References
1. Alfred Sturge, Wikipedia,
22/12/2013.
2. Dartford: Some
Historical Notes, S K Keyes (1933), page 346.
3. Death of the Rev
Alfred Sturge, Local newspaper (title not known), Feb 2nd 1901.
4. Estimated with respect to average earnings using the
website Measuring Worth www.measuringworth.com/ukcompare/
