We are told that around the beginning of the 19th century Wibsey was a "Bye word" for rudeness and vulgarity. In 1816 some members of Wesley Place Chapel in Low Moor urged their friends in Wibsey on the importance of doing something to "uplift the people of Wibsey". A Sunday School was started and a building erected in 1821 but it was not until 1838 that a church was built.
Wibsey Bank had a class in the Methodist society and membership is known from 1781 to 1802. This was probably at Bankfoot, some way from the village centre. There is evidence in the early Baptism Registers at Wesley Place that some of the members of this class attended the church at Low Moor after it was built in 1809. Before the society built it's first church, class meetings would have taken place in homes or public buildings under a leader.
The table here is extracted from entries in the books of the Methodist Society in Bradford Archives. The unlined and unnumbered pages carry the information of all the local societies in the Bradford area and sometimes beyond.
The book gives the state of class membership for thirteen separate years over a 22 year period. A grey cell means that person is listed as being amongst the membership for that particular year.
Jonas Lightowler was leader of the class throughout this period, though William Heap is listed as joint leader for 1784.
Over the years, the name the class was entered under differed. In 1781 and 1783, it is entered as Bank Top, Wibsey Bank Foot in 1784 and 1788, Wibsey Bank in 1792 to 1795, Odsal from 1797 to 1801 and lastly Wibsey Bankfoot again in 1802.
There are wide variations in the spelling of names in these books. We have standardised the names here but spelling variations are listed under the 'Notes' column. The listings were usually made in June. The earlier records give the most information about members while the latter years just give name and surname.
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