Charles Hargrove (1840-1918)

Charles Hargrove was born in London in 1840. His father was an independent minister attached to the Plymouth Brethren and the family was in consequence quite poor. He was educated at a private school in Wimbledon, then at King’s College London, before studying at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Away from home, his religious views developed and changed, and in 1862 he became a Roman Catholic. Upon graduating the following year, Hargrove spent some time at the Roman Catholic college at Oscott, near Birmingham, working in the college library. Later in 1863, he entered the Dominican order and was sent to study at their novitiate in Rome. In 1866 because of illness he was sent to Corsica, and he completed his studies in France, near Avignon, being ordained priest in 1869.

Hargrove was now sent by his order to work at their mission in Port of Spain in Trinidad. He worked hard and conscientiously, but from 1871 was assailed by doubts and in 1872 he renounced Catholicism and returned to England. Initially he thought to study medicine and returned to Cambridge with this in mind. During this period of uncertainty he also considered becoming a clergyman in the Church of England but did not feel he could subscribe with confidence to all its beliefs either. Nor did medicine suit his abilities or temperament, and in 1874 he took the post of Extension Lecturer in English History and Literature for the University of Cambridge, working first in Nottingham and then in Liverpool. In 1875 he married Miss Rufenacht.

Hargrove had several close friends who were Unitarians and on occasion he was even invited to preach. In 1876, the post of minister at Mill Hill Chapel at Leeds became vacant. This opportunity helped clarify Hargrove’s position with respect to Unitarianism and he allowed his name to be put forward by his friend, Charles Beard. In June, he was offered the post and he took up his duties in October 1876.

In his role as minister, Hargrove was a strong and confident preacher, well-known and respected throughout Leeds. He also threw himself into the intellectual life of the city, delivering lectures and serving on committees as diverse as those of the Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society, the Thoresby Society, various temperance societies, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children and the Council of the University. He gave 36 years service to the congregation at Mill Hill, finally retiring in 1912, when the family moved back to London. In 1915, he was made President of the Unitarians Triennial Conference, a position he held until his death in 1918.