Portland U.F. Church Between the Wars – 1922 to 1939.
In 1922, the new British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) was inaugurated by Lord Reith. That same year
Portland United Free Church received a calling from Highgate Church in London that they would like the Rev.
George Brander to become their minister.
In October 1922, a letter was received from Rev. A G Stewart BA of Newton Mearns, who intimated his
willingness to consider a call to Portland if the salary was not less than £500 (£25,599.55 in today’s money).
This was agreed and in November a Presbytery meeting in Glasgow sustained the call to him. Mr Stewart was
invited to be inducted into Portland in December 1922, as the manse would be ready for him, but Mr Stewart
replied that he could not come before the 11th of January 1923. In the meantime, it was agreed that
Broomfield on South Beach should be purchased as the manse, with the help of Mr A E Stephen (the same
gentleman who donated the stained glass memorial window), who gave £1,000 (which would equate to
£51,199.10 today) to purchase that house.
Broomfield was duly purchased for the sum of £2,900 (£148,477.39 in today’s money), the old manse was sold
to a lady from Edinburgh for £1,152.10 (equivalent to £59,006.96 now). That same year, two anonymous
donations were made to supply electric lighting in the manse.
In October 1923, consideration was given to acquiring individual Communion cups and also for some
arrangements to show the numbers of the Hymns that would be sung. The Communion cups were not
purchased until 1926 at the cost of £152 (the equivalent of £7,860.68 now) for 24 trays with 576 cups, covers,
etc. In November 1924, a letter was received from Band of Hope (an organisation promoting temperance) asking
that they be allowed to use the Church Hall. The Session agreed on the understanding that the Band of Hope
became affiliated to the Church, thus the group became known as “Portland U.F. Church Band of Hope”.
On the 5th of May 1925, it was agreed by the Deacon’s Court that the weekly offering should be collected at the
end of the service and that “the minister receive the bags from the collectors and place them on the communion
table and pronounce the Benediction.” Also in 1925, the Organist Mr Ely, decided to train a Choir, of which the
Church Choir was to form the nucleus, for festival competitions. It is interesting to note that in 1935, four
members of the choir travelled to London to sing at the Command Performance in the Albert Hall and in 1936,
took part in the Renfrewshire Festival.
1926 brought Britain to the brink of disaster with the National General Strike, but interestingly enough, nothing
is mentioned in the Deacon’s Court Minutes about the trials and tribulations in the wider world. In 1927, the
Woman’s Guild gave a donation of £65 to purchase a new piano for the Church Hall and the question of both
installing electricity in the Church and Halls and installing heating were considered; the Woman’s Guild were
asked to raise £120 to help to install the electricity, which they duly did – the heating in the Church was finally
completed in 1934. Mention is made in the Minutes that people had not paid their seat rents and that the
collections had dropped slightly but even so, Portland seemed to escape the huge problems that the rest of the
country was facing – 1929 brought the beginning of the Great Depression and 1932 brought the National Hunger
March.
1933 in Portland saw the repair of all of the windows in the Church, including the memorial window, because the
stonework around the windows was eroding – a problem that persists today! Portland Church was visited by the
Moderator of the General Assembly, The Very Rev. Marshall B Lang in 1936 on his tour of the Ayr Presbytery and
a public service was held on Friday 6th March, where the Moderator preached, the “Elders and Managers with
their ladies of Old Troon and St Meddan’s Churches” were invited to meet the Moderator at tea in the hall after
the service. That same year, a year which saw King George V die and Edward VIII abdicate, the question in
Portland was the one of extending the halls. This was first considered in May of that year, as was the purchasing
of 30 yards of an adjoining feu at the cost of £200 (£11,960.52 now); the Deacon’s Court offered £150, which
was rejected and the proposal to extend the halls were put aside. That same year, poppies were purchased for
the use on the Communion Table and Font on Armistice Day.
Frequently in the Deacon’s Court Minutes, mention is made of seat letting rents (either being paid or not being
paid), leaking flat roofs in the Church, heating and lighting issues and storm damage, but the country was about
to face an even bigger storm that was gathering across Europe – that of the rise of Hitler and the Nazi party.
With the invasion of Poland by Germany, Britain faced the fact that they were about to have a second war in a
generation, and in Portland Church, this was also having an impact. The extension of the halls, which had been
proposed, planned and estimated at a cost of £5,200 became an issue that “the court might consider very
carefully, in the light of the present world situation whether the scheme should be proceeded with meantime”.
These plans were to be put on hold for some years.
The Portland Church Guild Centenary Play, date unknown.
Back row: Mrs McLaren, speaker (not identified), Rev A G Stewart,
Front row: Mrs Milne, Mrs Cathcart, Mrs Hamilton, Miss Graham, Mrs Nicol, Mrs Stewart and Mrs Acksford(?)
