Charles Vince (Baptist) Explained

Charles Vince (1823–1874) was a noted and popular Baptist minister in Birmingham, England, at the Graham Street chapel from 1852 to 1874.^[1] He was one of the religious leaders developing Birmingham's Civic Gospel, with his predecessor at the chapel George Dawson, and Henry William Crosskey.^[2]

Life

Vince was born in Farnham, Surrey, into a Congregationalist background: his father was a carpenter and builder. He attended a local school, run by a nephew of William Cobbett, became an apprentice to Mason & Jackson, the firm for which his father worked, and joined the local Mechanics' Institute. After a Baptist conversion, he entered Stepney College in 1848. He was then assigned to the Mount Zion Chapel, in Graham Street, Birmingham.^{[3] [4] [5]} He has been described as a "charismatic preacher".^[6]

As a figure of the Birmingham "civic renaissance" (or "civic gospel"), a movement promoted by Dawson's supporters, Vince spoke for causes including the Reform League, the National Education League, and the Liberal Association. He was also personally popular as a minister.^[7] He defended the radicalism of George Edmonds in an 1868 funeral sermon for him.^[8]

Vince was an influential participant in Birmingham's social institutions, and a member of Birmingham's first school board. He died on 22 October 1874, at age 51, and was buried at Key Hill Cemetery, Hockley.^{[3] [9]}

Works

• Lessons for Christian labourers from the lives of the Jesuits (1861)
• The Child's Book of Praise (1863)
• Lights and Shadows in the Life of King David (1870)
• The Unchanging Saviour, and other sermons (1875)
• Christian Hymns for Public Worship (1876), with Henry Platten^[10]

Family

Vince left a widow and seven children.^[11] They included Charles Anthony Vince (born 1855), an academic, head of Mill Hill School, Liberal Unionist and local historian of Birmingham; and James Herbert Vince. The fourth son, W. B. Vince, was a solicitor and worked for the Birmingham Post before dying young.^[12]

Notes and References

1. Book: Betteridge, Alan. Deep Roots, Living Branches: A History of Baptists in the English Western Midlands. 7 March 2018. 2010-08-01. Troubador Publishing Ltd. 9781848762770. 164.
2. Book: Parsons, Gerald. Religion in Victorian Britain. 7 March 2018. 1988. Manchester University Press. 9780719025112. 93.
3. Book: Cathcart, William. The Baptist Encyclopedia. 2. 7 March 2018. 2001. The Baptist Standard Bearer, Inc.. 9781579789114. 1194–5.
4. Book: Wesleyan-Methodist Magazine: Being a Continuation of the Arminian Or Methodist Magazine First Publ. by John Wesley. 1884. 742.
5. Book: Edwards, Eliezer. Personal Recollections of Birmingham and Birmingham Men: Reprinted from the "Birmingham Daily Mail," with Revisions, Corrections, and Additions. 7 March 2018. 1877. Midland Educational Trading Company. 160.
6. Book: Williams, J. B.. Worsted to Westminster: The Extraordinary Life of the Rev Dr Charles Leach MP. 7 March 2018. 2009. Darcy Press. 9780956252302. 65.
7. Book: Briggs, Asa. Victorian Cities. 7 March 2018. 1993-03-24. University of California Press. 9780520079229. 198.
8. 74226. Edmonds, George. Susan. Thomas.
9. Book: Betteridge, Alan. Deep Roots, Living Branches: A History of Baptists in the English Western Midlands. 7 March 2018. 2010-08-01. Troubador Publishing Ltd. 9781848762770. 303–.
10. Book: Vince, Charles. Christian Hymns for Public worship, selected and arranged by C. Vince [and H. Platten]]. 7 March 2018. 1876.
11. Web site: The Gospel Magazine. March 1875. 3. 7 March 2018.
12. Book: Whates, Harold Richard Grant. The Birmingham Post, 1857–1957: A Centenary Retrospect. 1957. Birmingham Post & Mail. 158.