Reverend Phillip Prees

Born in Carmarthen on 1 July 1831, Phillip Prees was the son of John Prees and his wife Margaret née Lewis, daughter of Jenkin and Elizabeth Lewis. He was baptised in the Wesleyan tradition on 15 July 1831. According to the registration of his baptism, the family were living at the King’s Arms, Priory Street, ‘in the parish of St Peter in the county of the borough of Carmarthen.’

‘CINDERFORD, GLOUCESTERSHIRE — On Tuesday, July 31st, the opening of the new and beautiful Baptist chapel was celebrated in this place. […] At five o’clock about 1,200 persons sat down for tea, under a spacious covering erected for this occasion. The proceeds of the day amounted to £172. […] This is the second chapel erected within the course of a few years. There remains, however, a great debt; and as most of the members are poor, it it one of those urgent cases which demand help and sympathy. The Rev. Philip [sic] Prees will be glad to hear from any friend on this subject’ (Christian World, 10 August 1860).

He appears on the 1861 census, a ‘Baptist Minister of the Gospel’ living at East Dean in Gloucestershire.

At least two newspaper reports of 1868 refer to ‘the Rev. Philip [sic] Prees of Cinderford.’

When the 1871 census was taken, he was a ‘Baptist Minister’ lodging with innkeeper Joseph Chivers in Flaxley, Gloucestershire.

The Reverend Phillip Prees died, aged 41, on 10 February 1873 at Flaxley in Gloucestershire, leaving an estate valued at £450. His will was proved by the Reverend Thomas Thomas of the Baptist College in Pontypool and the Reverend Thomas James of Blakeney, Gloucestershire.

According to his death certificate, the cause of death was ‘Amyloid degeneration of the liver’ [a rare disease that occurs when an abnormal amount of amyloid protein builds up in the liver]. The death was registered by Joseph Chivers, ‘present at the death.’

Photographed by Sampson Samuel Soley of Gloucester.