Recently accessioned in the Methodist Archive at the Library is this print of W.H.Y.Titcomb’s acclaimed work, Primitive Methodists. Titcomb, a figurative oil painter, was particularly known for his depictions of Cornish fisherfolk. His painting, the full title of which is Primitive Methodists at Prayer, was first displayed at the Dudley Museum and Art Gallery in 1889.
It won many international medals and was the first of three paintings that Titcomb completed of the Primitive Methodist congregation of St. Ives. The Primitive Methodists movement was formed in Great Britain in 1810, with the Primitive Methodist Connecxion beginning its work in New Zealand in 1844 under the direction of the Rev. Robert Ward.
In 1913 the Wesleyan and Primitive Methodist Churches prepared a “Basis of Union” and the first united Conference of the Methodist Church of New Zealand was opened on February 16, 1913.
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