This photograph of Joseph Artingstoll is scanned from Thomas Middleton's book on the history of St George's Church. The book gives the following account of him:
Joseph Artingstoll died on February 8th, 1864, at the early age of 25 years, but he had crowded into his short life a record of labour which distinguishes him as one of the most prominent of the bye-gone worthies of St. George's. His funeral sermon was published in booklet form, under the title of "A Sermon preached in St. George's Church, Hyde, on the occasion of the death of Mr. Joseph Artingsioll, on Sunday, Feb. 14th, 1864, by the Rev. Alexander Read B.A. Incumbent." In the publication, Mr. Read states--
"He was, from his earliest days, orderly, serious and fond of reading. He had read the whole Bible through, chapter by chapter, in his family circle, when quite in early boyhood. And when engaged ln his usual work, the Bible, or in later years, the Greek Testament, was a regular companion. He was a young man of strong natural powers , and had practised self-culture with marked diligence and success. ... Though daily engaged in labours demanding constant attention, so continually did he turn every moment to account. that his literary attainments were very considerable, and in such circumstances, wonderful. ... He was placed in charge of the Young Men's Class in St. George's Sunday School and was judged eminently fitted for the important duty. ... ln the course of his sickness I spoke to him of experimental religion and having expressed a fear that I had wearied him in his excessive weakness he at once replied that, "it was his greatest delight to speak on this subject; it was always edifying." And when shortly before his death, I mentioned his approaching end, and reminded him of the Christians' support in that solemn moment-- "Christ," said he, "is my rock, I have no other trust but Christ." He seemed more able to give comfort and instruction at that solemn hour than to need it."There is a tablet to Mr. Artingstoll's memory on the south wall of the church.
The memorial no longer exists. I traced this information after hearing from Alison Hunt who had written to me saying:
"I am researching my family history. The family were called Artingstoll and had premises in Hyde Lane and Chapel Street. I understand that William Artingstoll 1836-1908 donated money to the building of St George's church and that there is/was a memorial to his brother Joseph in the church school."
Whilst I didn't discover the lost memorial I did find, after thumbing through a programme for a bazaar held in 1896, an advertisement for Artingstoll's High-class decorators, established in 1835.
See a photograph of the inside of St George's church on Hyde Daily Photo.
A contribution to Inspired Sundays.
