Old Friends – Rev William Moffatt

October 1965

South Yorkshire Times October 23, 1965

Old Friends

Our Denaby Correspondent received a letter from Mr W Astbury of Scarborough in which he refers to a visitor in their Scarborough home last Friday.

Many older readers will recall Mr and Mrs J Moffat who many years ago lived in Tickhill square and later in the villas in Cadeby Lane near Cadeby Colliery. They left Denaby Main in 1909 when Mr Moffatt was appointed official of the Carlton Main coke open plant.

The Moffatt’s were members of the Parish Church and they had daughters and one son. It was their son, Willie Moffatt, as he was known to many, who visited Mr Astbury and his sister Mrs Cutts last week. He is now the reverent William Moffatt and with his wife was spending a holiday at Whitby and went over to Scarborough to look up old friends in the North. He was only 11 years of age when he left Denaby Main but he remembered many people. He asked after quite a few he knew in those days including Flory and Lily Smith, Francis and Edward White, may ask for, Mayberry, Ernest Dabbs and many others including results schoolteacher Mr E.A.Unsworth.

He also recalled the days of the Ministry of the first Vicar of Denaby Main, the Rev Joseph Brookes, who will be here at that time when he and his two sisters (Jenny and Agnes) attended the Sunday school. He told Mr Astbury that his sister Jenny (Mr G Hill) died at Sheffield in 1962.

For some years Mr Moffatt was a master at Rugby College the also carried out the duties of a Lay Reader, and when he retired from the college he was ordained and became the vicar of Royden in Norfolk for seven years. He retired about five years ago and he and his wife now live at South Wolds in Suffolk.

Mr Astbury adds The Rev William Moffatt may have retired but he told me he keeps in touch with church work and you have been preaching somewhere every Sunday this year. Is now 69, and they have one daughter and three grandchildren. Another bit of news for Denaby church members is that Mr and Mrs Moffatt live not far away from Mrs Lee, the widow of a onetime vicar of Denaby Main, the Rev Harry Lee.

Our correspondent thanked Mr Astbury for the news and adds that since a copy of this paper is to be sent on to Mr Moffatt, he sends greetings and good wishes to all the church members who remember him. Through him he adds greetings to Mrs Lee with pleasant memories of the work she and her husband did in the village