EPISODE · Jul 1, 2026 · 14 MIN
House on James Street: Episode four - "Missionaries, Mobs and the Conventicle Act"
from Radio Bimshire Presents · host Radio Bimshire
House on James Street, episode four, follows the arrival of Moravian and Methodist missionaries into an island society built on sugar, slavery and Anglican respectability – and the backlash that followed.In “Missionaries, Mobs, and the Conventicle Act”, we trace how evangelical preaching, British debates over slavery, and fears of rebellion turn Methodist missions into targets for pro-slavery planters in Barbados. As mobs destroy the island’s Methodist chapel and drive out its minister, a free coloured woman, Ann Gill, opens her house on James Street to a persecuted congregation, defying hostile magistrates, an indifferent governor and an obscure 17th‑century English law, the Conventicle Act. This episode explores how a woman marked in the records as “FC” for "free coloured" becomes the unlikely defender of religious freedom and Methodist witness in Bridgetown, and how her stand sends ripples all the way to the British Parliament.Produced and Presented by Julius GittensSeries theme music: Ralph Vaughan Williams - "Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis" - US Army Strings (public domain)
What this episode covers
House on James Street, episode four, follows the arrival of Moravian and Methodist missionaries into an island society built on sugar, slavery and Anglican respectability – and the backlash that followed.In “Missionaries, Mobs, and the Conventicle Act”, we trace how evangelical preaching, British debates over slavery, and fears of rebellion turn Methodist missions into targets for pro-slavery planters in Barbados. As mobs destroy the island’s Methodist chapel and drive out its minister, a free coloured woman, Ann Gill, opens her house on James Street to a persecuted congregation, defying hostile magistrates, an indifferent governor and an obscure 17th‑century English law, the Conventicle Act. This episode explores how a woman marked in the records as “FC” for "free coloured" becomes the unlikely defender of religious freedom and Methodist witness in Bridgetown, and how her stand sends ripples all the way to the British Parliament.Produced and Presented by Julius GittensSeries theme music: Ralph Vaughan Williams - "Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis" - US Army Strings (public domain)
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House on James Street: Episode four - "Missionaries, Mobs and the Conventicle Act"
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