CHARLESTON
Peters nominated as a candidate for the Ministry. (He was accepted and appointed to Reefton.) October, 1896—Rev. S. Potts to visit Charleston. September, 1898—Services to be resumed at Charleston and at The Beach.
Mrs. Peters, of Papanui, has made available the following information from the papers of her late husband, the Rev. Alfred Peters. Mr. Alfred Peters arrived at Nelson from England about 1871. On the voyage he met a family en route for Charleston and was induced to accompany them. There he found ready employment. On the first Sunday after his arrival he attended service at the United Methodist Free Church. The preacher was “a half-caste negro who gave a good acceptable and profitable address.” The church, he said, had for some time been without a minister, and it would yet be some weeks before the appointed incumbent would arrive, so a call was made for a layman to occupy the pulpit during the interval. Mr. Peters was elected. He later offered himself as a candidate for the ministry, was accepted, and appointed to the Reefton circuit in 1876. He describes Reefton as being “in its glory as far as money went; reefs were being discovered and lodes of rich gold brought to light, fortunes made, and general prosperity prevailed, in which the churches shared.”
CHURCH REGISTERS.
Church of England. Baptisms: 24th May, 1869—Frederick Leopold, son of Frederick Leopold and Mary Raseniski, Brighton. 2nd June, 1869—Martha, daughter of Joseph and Margaret Plows, Charleston. 6th June, 1869—Charlotte Sarah, daughter of Samuel and Mary Eliz. Goodall, Charleston.
Marriages: 1st June, 1869—Joshua Lester Greenwood, Engineer, and Margaret Hanna. 22nd July, 1869—John Ching, Merchant, and Fanny May. 27th September, 1869—William Price, Miner, and Rhoda Mary Townsend. 13th October, 1869—Thomas Aitken Poole, Storeman, and Mary Jane Perry. (The Officiating Minister in each case was Rev. Thos. Flavell, Charleston.)
Burials: 22nd May, 1869—Elizabeth Meredith, Charleston. 25th May, 1869—Robert Kyne, Brighton. 3rd September,
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