CRAGGS, Charles Gill 1869 - 1950

Born at West Boldon, Sunderland, in 1869. He was trained at Headingley College and entered the Wesleyan Methodist Ministry in 1895. His first call was from overseas. He went to Karur in the Trichinopoly District of India, and one of the great achievements of those early days was his complete mastery, in a very short space of time, of the Tamil language.

He possessed a keen linguistic gift, cultivated and consecrated it so much so that when he moved to Bangalore in the Mysore District, he regularly both preached and sang to the natives in the Tamil language.

The influence of that cultured, saintly life lived among the Tamil people can never be forgotten.

He married Janet Louisa Wenyon on 22nd August 1899. The gracious lady was the sister of the Rev. Dr. Charles Wenyon (founder of the Wenyon Memorial Hospital in Futcharm, China) a name ever remembered in the field of Methodist Medical Missions. She was a wise and understanding helpmate and only predeceased him by four months. Returning to England in 1900, he travelled extensively—Chelmsford, Leigh-on-Sea, Barnet, Hull, The Deptford and Greenwich Mission, where he spent seven eventful years during the First World War.

In all his home circuits he did the work of an evangelist; but he was also an outstanding missionary, possessing the dual ability for service both here and abroad.

As his varied ministry stands out, so did his personality: the moment he entered a pulpit the congregation was gripped by his very appearance, there was something very manly and commanding about his presence; people were arrested by his powerful voice, and whenever he preached it was with passion and intensity; his power of prayer was outstanding. He greatly enjoyed the company of his brother ministers, possessing a real sense of humour, gay and spirited, he made a delightful companion.

He passed into the larger life on the 18th July 1950, at the age of eighty-one years.

©Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes 1950