The most revered man for the Methodist cause in the Bourne area during the past 200 years was undoubtedly Edward Clark whose life was devoted to the welfare of his fellow man. He came from humble and obscure origins but by his own efforts, carved a niche in many areas of public life, despite a comparative lack of formal education and physical disability caused by the loss of a limb while still a young man.

Edward Clark was born at Castle Bytham, near Bourne, in 1866, the son of a smallholder, and after a village education, he went to work on the land but in 1899, he lost his right arm in an accident while working on a threshing machine. After recovering from his injury, he became secretary to Lady Frances Cecil, who lived at Stocken Hall, and by that time he had already won a formidable reputation in Methodist affairs and local politics. He was subsequently appointed a Justice of the Peace and his wide experience and practical knowledge of everyday life of workers and their families proved a valuable asset in dealing with the regular business of the petty sessions at the Town Hall in Bourne.

He was subsequently appointed manager of F W Williamson and Company, coal, corn and cake merchants, of Little Bytham, near Bourne, so beginning a brilliant business career. He took the reins with the motto “Unlimited capital, unlimited credit” and farmers flocked in with orders, a success that continued until the business closed because of the declining health of the owner, Mr Frederick Williamson. By this time, Mr Clark had become prominent in political circles, the friendly societies and in the Wesleyan Methodist movement and he was invited by the National Farmers’ Union to stand as a non-party candidate in the general election of 1928 but despite the support of the agricultural vote he did not win due to the last minute intervention of a Labour nomination.

By this time, he was also a director of the Manchester United of Oddfellows to which he devoted two to three months work each year and he was later elected Grand Master. His religious work also took up much of his time, excelling as a local preacher, and it was said of him that “he was never happier than when trying with his whole soul and heart to win men for his Saviour”. He filled all offices in the church available to the layman with distinction and success and on special occasions, such as Sunday School anniversaries and harvest festivals, he always commanded crowded congregations.

Mr Clark also served as a member of Bourne Rural District Council, becoming chairman twice from 1920-21 and again in 1927-28, and was largely responsible for the many rows of council houses that were subsequently built in the villages around Bourne with the principal objective of providing accommodation for agricultural workers. As a member of the Board of Guardians which administered the Bourne Union [workhouse] his fight for better conditions for the older inmates was a continuous one, and resulted in the provision of armchairs and feather pillows to make their life more comfortable.

But his suggestions were not always popular and, as a lifelong teetotaller, he discouraged the drinking of alcohol and opposed the provision of free beer to the inmates at Christmas time for which he was publicly insulted in the street and the market place and also received abusive letters through the post, one enclosing a miniature bottle of stout with the suggestion that he and his wife should take a drop for the good of their health. But he stood firm by his belief and the old people themselves thanked him when, instead of beer, they partook of their coffee and cocoa or mineral waters that were lavishly supplied for the festive feast.

An exceptional tribute to his endeavour was paid to him by his friend and Methodist colleague, Henry Andrews Sneath (1860-1931), in his book Methodist Memories, published circa 1930, in which he wrote:

He is the product of Lincolnshire village life. The elementary school was his only teacher, the rural district council his college, and the markets and streets of the district have been the happy grounds on which he has won his spurs. If you asked him the secret of his success, he would tell you, without the slightest hesitation: his training in Methodism, first in the Sunday School, then in the class meeting, and afterwards in the pulpits of the county, he learned to express himself in choice English, in a forcible manner; and would tell you his happiest moments have been on Sundays when preaching the blessed Gospel of the Kingdom of God. Such men are rare, and but seldom are there two men of like calibre in one generation in this district; men of honour, men of truth, men of integrity; men who faced difficulty bravely and always met life with a smile; men who love their God and their fellow men. God send us more such men in the coming days for we shall need them.

The death of Edward Clark, aged 71, on Thursday 31st March 1938 closed a romantic and busy religious, public and business life in which he had shouldered many responsibilities and had filled, at one time or another, no fewer than 100 offices. The Stamford Mercury reported on Friday 8th April 1938:

His career was as picturesque as it was useful. The record of his professional life was one of triumph over adversity and in his private life he was an example of the rectitude and honour which is the brand of the good husband and the good father. It mattered not to Mr Clark what he lost in a material sense if he could not reconcile business interests with his conscience. None, I am convinced, would be ready to believe him capable of any but the straightest conduct and I imagine that he has not left a personal enemy. On his life’s service to the cause of the Oddfellowship, the seal was worthily set by his elevation to the Grand Mastership of the order – which embraces over two million members – in 1934; his work for Methodism will long be remembered, particularly through the Stamford circuit, but also further afield; his colleagues in agricultural circles have lost a great advocate, although they have not always realised it, and in the annals of public service he has left an honourable record. Indeed, it is beyond question that he lived far more of his life for others than he did for himself.

The impressive scenes at Castle Bytham during his funeral were a mark of the esteem in which he had been held and the sorrow occasioned by his passing. Never before had so many people been seen in the village with mourners coming from all parts of the country and the little Methodist chapel where he regularly worshipped was filled to overflowing. Many more waited in the schoolroom and vestry and a large number of Oddfellows who had followed the bier from the house stood outside until the service was over. Many high officials of the order were present, including the Grand master of the Manchester Unity, Brother H Topgood of Exeter, and several directors.

The opening and concluding prayers at the service were offered by the Rev J H Clucas, the senior circuit minister, and the lesson was read by the Rev G F Hollinghurst, the junior circuit minister. The address was given by Rev George Oyston (of Raunds, Northamptonshire), the former senior circuit minister from 1931-36, who gave a moving discourse on the life of Mr Clark, referring to the great loss the community had suffered by his passing and outlining his versatile and useful career with its many activities. After the service, the cortege lead by a police deputation from Bourne headed by Inspector F Maddison, made its way to the cemetery where officers from the Oddfellows formed a guard of honour around the grave and after the coffin had been lowered, they dropped sprigs of thyme over it.

The large number of floral tributes were carried to and from the chapel on one of Mr Clark’s own farm trolleys and they included wreaths from his widow and family, a son and a daughter, friends and relatives and from the many organisations with which he was connected including the staff and scholars past and present of the village school and Methodist communities, farming organisations and Oddfellows' lodges throughout the country.