Mary Ann Girling was an English religious leader and the founder of the sect called "The People of God," also known as New Forest Shakers or Walworth Jumpers.
After a childhood as a farmer’s daughter, Girling explored the Methodist faith. She left it when the congregation refused to listen to her inspirations. In the meantime she had become the wife of George Stanton Girling, first a seaman, then a fitter in an iron foundry, and afterwards a general dealer at Ipswich.
Around 1864, she began to believe that she was a new incarnation of the Deity. One sign of this was in the stigmata which appeared on her hands, feet, and side. She described in detail the extraordinary emotion which overwhelmed her at the moment when she experienced the divine call. From that period she went about proclaiming the new revelation and speaking as with absolute knowledge of hidden mysteries.
She gathered around her a small company of men and women, belonging for the most part to the laboring classes. Their first meeting-place for public worship was at 107 Bridge Road, Battersea, London, where in August 1870 they attracted much attention. They were generally called shakers, but they themselves never accepted that name, but always spoke of their community as the children of God.
Girling's mission began operating from a railway arch near the Walworth Road, where she preached excitedly before crowds of several thousands, which led to the nickname "the Jumpers of Walworth." Attacked by hostile mobs in London, Girling announced to her followers in 1872 that they were going to move to Hordle in the New Forest in Hampshire. In January, 1872, they left London and settled near Hordle in the New Forest, Hampshire, where Miss Wood, a wealthy lady, had purchased for them a residence and a farm, known as New Forest Lodge.
It was believed that they would all live forever, and that sooner or later everybody would acknowledge the divinity of Mrs. Girling, who would then rule over a peaceful world. She was a tall, lean woman, with an upright carriage, a strong, intelligent countenance, bright eyes, and a strong voice.
Although the community was industrious and lived in a state of celibacy, it got into debt and was ejected from New Forest Lodge in December 1873.
In 1879, Mrs. Girling rented a small farm of two acres called Tiptoe Farm, near Hordle, Lymington. Here they erected a number of wooden huts with canvas roofs, with a larger and superior hut as a place of public worship.
The only publication issued by Mrs. Girling is a small four-page tract entitled The Close of the Dispensation: the Last Message to the Church and the World. It is signed ‘Jesus First and Last (Mary Ann Girling), Tiptoe, Hordle, near Lymington, Hants, 1883.’
In it she says: I now close this letter with the true and loving declaration that I am the second appearing of Jesus, the Christ of God, the Bride, the Lamb's Wife, the God-mother and Savior, life from heaven, and that there will not be another.
She died of cancer at Tiptoe, Hordle, on September 18, 1886, aged 59, and was buried in Hordle churchyard. After the funeral only six persons were left to occupy the camp at Tiptoe. Mrs. Girling left children, among them a younger son, William Girling.
References:
London’s Lost Eden, by Philip Hoare.
Modern Mesiahs and Wonder Workers, by William Oxley.
Mary Girling. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Unorthodox London, by C Maurice Davies.
After a childhood as a farmer’s daughter, Girling explored the Methodist faith. She left it when the congregation refused to listen to her inspirations. In the meantime she had become the wife of George Stanton Girling, first a seaman, then a fitter in an iron foundry, and afterwards a general dealer at Ipswich.
Around 1864, she began to believe that she was a new incarnation of the Deity. One sign of this was in the stigmata which appeared on her hands, feet, and side. She described in detail the extraordinary emotion which overwhelmed her at the moment when she experienced the divine call. From that period she went about proclaiming the new revelation and speaking as with absolute knowledge of hidden mysteries.
She gathered around her a small company of men and women, belonging for the most part to the laboring classes. Their first meeting-place for public worship was at 107 Bridge Road, Battersea, London, where in August 1870 they attracted much attention. They were generally called shakers, but they themselves never accepted that name, but always spoke of their community as the children of God.
Girling's mission began operating from a railway arch near the Walworth Road, where she preached excitedly before crowds of several thousands, which led to the nickname "the Jumpers of Walworth." Attacked by hostile mobs in London, Girling announced to her followers in 1872 that they were going to move to Hordle in the New Forest in Hampshire. In January, 1872, they left London and settled near Hordle in the New Forest, Hampshire, where Miss Wood, a wealthy lady, had purchased for them a residence and a farm, known as New Forest Lodge.
It was believed that they would all live forever, and that sooner or later everybody would acknowledge the divinity of Mrs. Girling, who would then rule over a peaceful world. She was a tall, lean woman, with an upright carriage, a strong, intelligent countenance, bright eyes, and a strong voice.
Although the community was industrious and lived in a state of celibacy, it got into debt and was ejected from New Forest Lodge in December 1873.
In 1879, Mrs. Girling rented a small farm of two acres called Tiptoe Farm, near Hordle, Lymington. Here they erected a number of wooden huts with canvas roofs, with a larger and superior hut as a place of public worship.
The only publication issued by Mrs. Girling is a small four-page tract entitled The Close of the Dispensation: the Last Message to the Church and the World. It is signed ‘Jesus First and Last (Mary Ann Girling), Tiptoe, Hordle, near Lymington, Hants, 1883.’
In it she says: I now close this letter with the true and loving declaration that I am the second appearing of Jesus, the Christ of God, the Bride, the Lamb's Wife, the God-mother and Savior, life from heaven, and that there will not be another.
She died of cancer at Tiptoe, Hordle, on September 18, 1886, aged 59, and was buried in Hordle churchyard. After the funeral only six persons were left to occupy the camp at Tiptoe. Mrs. Girling left children, among them a younger son, William Girling.
References:
London’s Lost Eden, by Philip Hoare.
Modern Mesiahs and Wonder Workers, by William Oxley.
Mary Girling. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Unorthodox London, by C Maurice Davies.
Mary Ann Girling was an English religious leader and the founder of the sect called "The People of God," also known as New Forest Shakers or Walworth Jumpers.
After a childhood as a farmer’s daughter, Girling explored the Methodist faith. She left it when the congregation refused to listen to her inspirations. In the meantime she had become the wife of George Stanton Girling, first a seaman, then a fitter in an iron foundry, and afterwards a general dealer at Ipswich.
Around 1864, she began to believe that she was a new incarnation of the Deity. One sign of this was in the stigmata which appeared on her hands, feet, and side. She described in detail the extraordinary emotion which overwhelmed her at the moment when she experienced the divine call. From that period she went about proclaiming the new revelation and speaking as with absolute knowledge of hidden mysteries.
She gathered around her a small company of men and women, belonging for the most part to the laboring classes. Their first meeting-place for public worship was at 107 Bridge Road, Battersea, London, where in August 1870 they attracted much attention. They were generally called shakers, but they themselves never accepted that name, but always spoke of their community as the children of God.
Girling's mission began operating from a railway arch near the Walworth Road, where she preached excitedly before crowds of several thousands, which led to the nickname "the Jumpers of Walworth." Attacked by hostile mobs in London, Girling announced to her followers in 1872 that they were going to move to Hordle in the New Forest in Hampshire. In January, 1872, they left London and settled near Hordle in the New Forest, Hampshire, where Miss Wood, a wealthy lady, had purchased for them a residence and a farm, known as New Forest Lodge.
It was believed that they would all live forever, and that sooner or later everybody would acknowledge the divinity of Mrs. Girling, who would then rule over a peaceful world. She was a tall, lean woman, with an upright carriage, a strong, intelligent countenance, bright eyes, and a strong voice.
Although the community was industrious and lived in a state of celibacy, it got into debt and was ejected from New Forest Lodge in December 1873.
In 1879, Mrs. Girling rented a small farm of two acres called Tiptoe Farm, near Hordle, Lymington. Here they erected a number of wooden huts with canvas roofs, with a larger and superior hut as a place of public worship.
The only publication issued by Mrs. Girling is a small four-page tract entitled The Close of the Dispensation: the Last Message to the Church and the World. It is signed ‘Jesus First and Last (Mary Ann Girling), Tiptoe, Hordle, near Lymington, Hants, 1883.’
In it she says: I now close this letter with the true and loving declaration that I am the second appearing of Jesus, the Christ of God, the Bride, the Lamb's Wife, the God-mother and Savior, life from heaven, and that there will not be another.
She died of cancer at Tiptoe, Hordle, on September 18, 1886, aged 59, and was buried in Hordle churchyard. After the funeral only six persons were left to occupy the camp at Tiptoe. Mrs. Girling left children, among them a younger son, William Girling.
References:
London’s Lost Eden, by Philip Hoare.
Modern Mesiahs and Wonder Workers, by William Oxley.
Mary Girling. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Unorthodox London, by C Maurice Davies.
After a childhood as a farmer’s daughter, Girling explored the Methodist faith. She left it when the congregation refused to listen to her inspirations. In the meantime she had become the wife of George Stanton Girling, first a seaman, then a fitter in an iron foundry, and afterwards a general dealer at Ipswich.
Around 1864, she began to believe that she was a new incarnation of the Deity. One sign of this was in the stigmata which appeared on her hands, feet, and side. She described in detail the extraordinary emotion which overwhelmed her at the moment when she experienced the divine call. From that period she went about proclaiming the new revelation and speaking as with absolute knowledge of hidden mysteries.
She gathered around her a small company of men and women, belonging for the most part to the laboring classes. Their first meeting-place for public worship was at 107 Bridge Road, Battersea, London, where in August 1870 they attracted much attention. They were generally called shakers, but they themselves never accepted that name, but always spoke of their community as the children of God.
Girling's mission began operating from a railway arch near the Walworth Road, where she preached excitedly before crowds of several thousands, which led to the nickname "the Jumpers of Walworth." Attacked by hostile mobs in London, Girling announced to her followers in 1872 that they were going to move to Hordle in the New Forest in Hampshire. In January, 1872, they left London and settled near Hordle in the New Forest, Hampshire, where Miss Wood, a wealthy lady, had purchased for them a residence and a farm, known as New Forest Lodge.
It was believed that they would all live forever, and that sooner or later everybody would acknowledge the divinity of Mrs. Girling, who would then rule over a peaceful world. She was a tall, lean woman, with an upright carriage, a strong, intelligent countenance, bright eyes, and a strong voice.
Although the community was industrious and lived in a state of celibacy, it got into debt and was ejected from New Forest Lodge in December 1873.
In 1879, Mrs. Girling rented a small farm of two acres called Tiptoe Farm, near Hordle, Lymington. Here they erected a number of wooden huts with canvas roofs, with a larger and superior hut as a place of public worship.
The only publication issued by Mrs. Girling is a small four-page tract entitled The Close of the Dispensation: the Last Message to the Church and the World. It is signed ‘Jesus First and Last (Mary Ann Girling), Tiptoe, Hordle, near Lymington, Hants, 1883.’
In it she says: I now close this letter with the true and loving declaration that I am the second appearing of Jesus, the Christ of God, the Bride, the Lamb's Wife, the God-mother and Savior, life from heaven, and that there will not be another.
She died of cancer at Tiptoe, Hordle, on September 18, 1886, aged 59, and was buried in Hordle churchyard. After the funeral only six persons were left to occupy the camp at Tiptoe. Mrs. Girling left children, among them a younger son, William Girling.
References:
London’s Lost Eden, by Philip Hoare.
Modern Mesiahs and Wonder Workers, by William Oxley.
Mary Girling. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Unorthodox London, by C Maurice Davies.
Advertisement
Advertisement
