Another of my Articles for our Parish Magazine.
PECULIAR PEOPLE SECT
Many Villagers may never have heard of the Upchurch Peculiar People. The offshoot of the Wesleyan faith was formed in Essex in 1838 and gradually spread. In 1874 a group of about 20 Brickfield Workers and Farm Labourers decided to form a Village group appointing two of themselves as Elders to lead them. They met weekly in the old Wheelwrights shop on Horsham Lane across the road from St Mary’s Church. Accounts in the national press of the period described the Sect as “of very ignorant people”. The services consisted of Dancing Singing and Clapping Hands while in a ring stopping for words to be spoke by an elder and refreshments then starting all over again. Described by a witness as “quite a din”
Although probably thought of as pretty eccentric by the Congregation of St Mary’s and the Villagers they were accepted and practised their faith unimpeded. Their doctrine was based on the literal translation of the King James Bible with a puritanical form of Christianity. Their faith forbade them to seek medical attention relying only on the power of prayer, the anointing of oil and laying on of hands by the Elders.
Unfortunately in 1880 the village was hit by a tragedy when a baby of the Sect ,Henry Arthur Sears, aged 13 months, died despite the ministrations of the Elders. Consequently an inquest was held at The Crown ,The Jury appointed by the Coroner consisted of Villagers. The Jury found the Father of the baby John Sears guilty of Manslaughter for neglect of a child under 14 ,by not seeking medical aid. He was remanded for trial at Maidstone Assizes. At his trial the Jury accepted that he was following his faith and he was found not guilty. The little boy was allowed to be buried in St Mary’s Churchyard, at a funeral conducted by the Elders, which was attended by all the Peculiar People. As the burial was not conducted by the Rector his burial is not recorded in the Register.
Goodness only knows how the Sect was regarded by the villagers, after the tragedy. The Upchurch sect continued to thrive for some time well into the 20th Century . In 1926 The Rector of St Marys’ complained that the sect held a noisy service in the Churchyard while he was conducting a funeral .The matter was raised in the House of Lords by the Bishop of Lincoln but the result if any is not known.
After a Diphtheria outbreak in Essex the Sect split into Old Peculiars who still refused medicine and the New Peculiars, who allowed medical help and medication. The split was healed in 1930 when the New prevailed. I don’t know when the Upchurch Sect faded away but The Peculiar People continued to thrive elsewhere until 1956 when they were absorbed into the Union of Evangelical Church,s.
Roger Harris
