Mr George & Elizabeth Whitehurst

Mr George Whitehurst was born in 1845 and was baptised by the Revd. Richard Jukes. His father was a member of the Primitive Methodist connexion. He attended Mow Cop Church of England School and on Sunday the Wesleyan Sunday School. At the age of 20 he preached for the first time at Cloud End Chapel, which was part of the Congleton circuit. He did want to go into the ministry full time but his family was unable to support him. He started work age 12 in the iron works, which he later described as slave labour. He continued with his preaching commitments and became Society Steward in 1882. In 1889 he became treasurer of Mow Cop Memorial Chapel. He married Elizabeth Cumberbatch in 1872, they had one daughter, Annie.
He abstained from alcohol and even stopped selling tobacco in his shop, which was next to the Ash Inn. He died in 1917 aged 72