LIST OF THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHES, &c.

THE Population, returns, &c. in the following pages, are printed from the official "Account of the total population, according to the Census, taken 1841 of each county."

The Lists of Ministers have been partly supplied by the Secretaries of County and District Associations, and partly from other sources of information.

The reader is requested to observe, that the mark + indicates a Union of Baptists and Independents in that particular church.

*

That the mark is affixed to all places whose registers have been approved by the Commissioners, and deposited with the public records. The dates inserted have been adopted for their report.

The letter A. is intended to show, that that Minister or Church is united with some Association, and which is important, as no minister or church is eligible for membership in the Congregational Union of England and Wales, who have not first been recognized by the brethren associated in their district.

The Editor has taken the most anxious pains to leave the following Lists correct, but he cannot hope that they will be found perfect, on which account he begs the candid forbearance of his brethren.

BEDFORDSHIRE.

Area, 463 square miles. Parishes, 123. Inhabited houses, 1841, 21,235. Uninhabited, 521. Building, 211. Population, 1841: Males, 52,169. Females, 55,768. -Total, 107,937.

There is no association of Independent pastors and churches in this county. "The Bedford and Bedfordshire Union of Christians" was formed at Bedford, October 31, 1797, as "a Provincial Home Missionary Society." Its 43rd annual report, (1839,) the last we have seen, states the income for that year at £152. 18s. Od. The Rev. John Frost, of Cotton End, has been appointed tutor to the students preparing for missionary labour under the Home Missionary Society. There are eleven young men now under his care; and with such a band of youthful labourers the Congregational churches of the county might, by association, do much to extend the Gospel around them.

BERKSHIRE.

Area, 752 square miles.

Parishes, 154. Inhabited houses, 1841, 31,472. Uninhabited, 1,566. Building, 200. Population, 1841: Males, 79,674. Females, 80,552. -Total, 160,226.

"The Berks Association" of Independent ministers and churches existed for many years, but was necessarily inefficient from the extent of its bounds, embracing not only the whole county of Berks, but parts of Bucks, Oxfordshire, and Middlesex, and the extreme points being forty miles asunder. In 1837, therefore, it was resolved to divide the association. "The East Berks" now includes fifteen churches, though eleven of them are within the borders of Bucks, Middlesex, and Oxforshire. J. D. Goodchild, Esq., is Treasurer, and the Rev. Henry Addiscott, Maidenhead, is secretary. The Berks Association joined the Congregational Union of England and Wales at its formation, and the present association retains that connexion.

The Oxfordshire and West Berks Association has since been formed, which embraces several churches in other parts of the county.

Area, 738 square miles. Parishes, 202. Inhabited houses, 1841, 31,071. Uninhabited, 1,157. Building, 198. Population, 1841: Males, 76,316. Females, 79,673. -Total, 155,989.

"The North Bucks Association" was formed in 1818, and joined the Congregational Union in 1832. It consists of nineteen churches, three of which are in Oxfordshire and four in Northamptonshire, but within a radius of twenty miles from Buckingham. The churches associated have thirty-eight village stations, and twentyfour Sunday-schools, containing 2403 children. Six new churches have been formed

since the Association was established. Twenty-one village chapels, the majority of which will accommodate from three to four hundred worshippers, have been erected, and £2096 have been expended in the efforts to evangelize the district. As the towns in this county are small they do not employ town missionaries; but the system of domicilary visitation, with tracts on the plan of the Christian Instruction Society, is extensively prosecuted by the members of the churches. Subscriptions to the Association, 1841, £183. 6s. 10d. J. Osborn, Esq., Newport, Treasurer. Rev. D. W. Aston, Buckingham, Secretary. Religious instruction has been greatly extended during the past thirty years in the villages and towns of this and the adjacent counties, by the zealous labours of the students in the Newport Pagnel Evangelical Institution. There are now eight young men under the tuition of Rev. Messrs. T. P. and Josiah Bull.

Area, 857 square miles. Parishes, 164. Inhabited houses, 1841, 33,112. Uninhabited, 1,218. Building, 237. Population, 1841: Males, 81,513. Females, 82,996. -Total, 164,509.

The only association at present existing in this county is denominated" The South Cambridgeshire Union and Home Missionary Society," which was founded in 1833, "for promoting Christian Knowledge" in the county. It is a union of Baptists and Independents, but its operations cannot be extensive, as the total receipts of last year amounted only to £143. 12s. 9d. Mr. A. G. Brimley, Cambridge, is Treasurer. Rev. H. Madgin, Duxford, Secretary.

The churches in the north-eastern part of the county are at present without an association. It is to be hoped they will not long remain so.

Area, 1052 square miles. Parishes, 88. Inhabited houses, 1841, 73,390. Uninhabited 5,845. Building, 523. Population, 1841: Males, 193,089. Females, 202,211. Total 395,300.

"The Cheshire Union" of Independent pastors and churches in support of itinerant preaching, has been in existence thirty-five years, but its reports have not been published regularly. It is probable, that its average expence has been from £200 to £300 per annum. It at present employs four agents. W. Cross, Esq., Chester, TreaRev. James Turner, Knutsford, Secretary.

surer.

Area, 1,330 square miles. Parishes, 205. Inhabited Houses, 1841, 65,641. Uninhabited, 4,956. Building, 928. Population, 1841: Males, 164,451. Females, 176,818. -Total, 341,269.

"The Cornwall County Association" was formed at Tregony, in December, 1802. It meets half-yearly-on the Tuesday in Easter week, and on the Tuesday after Michaelmas. Its object is to carry the Gospel into dark villages and towns, and to assist poor Congregations. More then a dozen places of worship have been erected through its efforts. J. Padden, Esq., Treasurer. Rev. W. Moore, Truro, Secretary. This Association joined the Congregational Union of England and Wales 1831.