The Rev Joseph Dodsworth

1797-1877

Apart from ministering to the parish of Bourne for 55 years, Joseph Dodsworth is best remembered for his part in bringing the town into the national railway network during the mid-19th century. In August 1857, he was one of the main sponsors of a scheme to connect Bourne with the main line at Essendine, a project similar to that which had already been completed at Stamford. The gentlemen behind the project were the vicar, General William Johnson, a retired army officer, Edward Hardwicke and John Compton Lawrance of Dunsby, who applied for and were granted by Act of Parliament, incorporation for the Bourne and Essendine Railway Company, and the four became its first directors. 

The building of the line took more than two years and as the project was nearing completion in 1860, the vicar, accompanied by his wife and daughter, made the first trip, travelling from the station at Bourne to Essendine and back upon the tender of the engine. Dodsworth was obviously an adventurous soul and the Stamford Mercury reported: "The whole journey is said to have been performed in first-rate style, some part of it at the rate of 40 miles per hour, and without any casualty. The line is now nearly finished, except the levelling of the station yards, and it is expected that it will be ready for goods and coal traffic in the course of three weeks or a month."

Joseph Dodsworth was born on 26th December 1797 and educated at Oxford University, obtaining his MA degree at Lincoln College and moving to Bourne as curate in February 1822. He also found himself master of the grammar school nearby which was then teaching Latin to twenty boys from the parish free of charge under the terms of the William Trollope bequest although other subjects were also on the curriculum for a quarterly fee. In addition to his payment for these duties, Dodsworth was also given the free use of a garden attached to the school.

The vicar at that time was the Rev Thomas Denys, who had been in office since 1807, and when he died in 1842, Dodsworth succeeded him and took over the old Vicarage House at what is now Brook Lodge, although the church subsequently acquired the Abbey House for use as a vicarage. The living was a good one and in 1876, apart from his residence, was valued at £650 a year, which is £29,000 at today's values, an income that had enabled him to speculate in the railway company although he had already acquired a taste for business as one of the original investors in the Bourne Gas Light and Coke Company, formed in 1840 to provide a gas supply for Bourne, when he was appointed one of the original five trustees.

Dodsworth was also one of the most enthusiastic supporters of penny readings, a popular form of entertainment during the 19th century before the days of television and the cinema, and for several years he arranged an entire series during the winter evenings at the National School that he had helped to found in North Street. These events consisted of readings from popular books of the period and usually included vocal and instrumental music, performed by local people, and the schoolroom was invariably crowded with an appreciative audience.

As well as giving devoted service to the Abbey Church, Dodsworth also spent much of his time on public work, particularly in the field of education which was his main preoccupation, believing that it should be available to all children and not just to those who could afford to attend the grammar school. The establishment of elementary schools however was left entirely to voluntary bodies and in 1829-30, while still a curate, he was the main inspiration behind the opening of the National School in North Street, helping to raise the necessary finance through subscriptions from wealthy benefactors and various fund-raising activities, including an annual ball at the Town Hall to maintain the flow of funds, and he was also one of the principal guests at the stone-laying ceremony. 

He was also concerned about correct speech and manners and was an active member of the Bourne Elocution Society whose members gave regular performances of "popular entertainment" to further this cause, with programmes of songs, recitations and drama, that were always well received and usually in aid of charity. One such gathering was held in the Assembly Rooms at the Angel Hotel in 1870 when the proceeds from the evening went towards the cost of a new organ being installed in the Abbey Church.

Dodsworth died at the Abbey House on Wednesday 9th May 1877 at the age of 79 after a long and painful illness, although his dedication to public service was such that he was attending meetings of the various organisations to which he belonged until a few days before he died. He had been vicar for 35 years and so, with his curacy, his service to the church at Bourne totalled 55 years. 

The Stamford Mercury reporting his passing on Friday 18th May 1877, said: 

The funeral of the Rev Joseph Dodsworth, Vicar of Bourn and Rural Dean of Aveland, took place on Saturday afternoon last at 4 o'clock. Some time previous to that hour, persons began to assemble in the church where a portion of the service took place. The Dead March from Saul was played while the corpse was being carried down the aisle of the church. After leaving the church, the procession to the cemetery included a large number of parishioners, who in this manner evinced their regard for the deceased. The ringers, who acted as carriers, afterwards rang a dumb peal on the bells of the Abbey Church. The arrangements of the funeral were very ably carried out by Mr Thomas Harrison of the Market-place. The coffin, supplied by Mr William Hall, South-street, was of fine polished oak with handsome brass furniture, bearing the following inscription: "The Rev J Dodsworth, born December 26th 1797, died May 9th, 1877."

Buried with him are his second wife Ellen, who died on 28th March 1876 at the age of 65, his son, the Rev H J Dodsworth who was Rector of Ingoldmells in Lincolnshire, who died on 25th September 1864 at the age of 40. A third person in the grave is Brownlow Toller Westmoreland Esquire who died on 16th May 1863 at the age of 68 and whom I assume was Ellen's brother. His first wife Hannah, who died on 28th December 1830, is buried inside the church and an inscribed flagstone, or ledger stone, marks her grave in the nave and that of his brother, the Rev Edmund Dodsworth, who died on 17th July 1813, aged 44.

See also

Vicar's jottings found in the parish registers 

Abbey House     Ledgerstones    The National School

The railways     Penny readings

Go to:     Main Index    Villages Index