On 8 May 2022, Cross Street Chapel will hold a silent auction to assist the restoration of Rev’d John Grundy’s headstone. Rev’d Grundy was a minister at the chapel in the early 1800s and paid a significant role in its development of a Unitarian perspective.
About John Grundy
From Sir Thomas Baker’s “Memorial of a Dissenting Chapel”, Chapter 14
“Mr. Grundy succeeded Dr. Barnes. He was bom at Hinckley in Leicestershire in 1781, and received the chief part of his education under his maternal uncle, Dr. Estlin of Bristol, with whom he remained, with the exception of one session spent at the Academy in Manchester. He was first settled at Bury St. Edmund’s, whence he removed to Nottingham, and thence to Manchester, having been accepted as minister on September 14th, 1810.
“During the year after his election, Mr. Grundy gave a series of lectures to a society of young men belonging to the congregation. These led to the delivery of those doctrinal discourses which created in tlie town such a religious ferment as it had never before witnessed. On the evenings of their deliviery the Chapel was filled long before the time for commencing the service ; and it is said that the preacher had a difficulty in making his way to the pulpit. A competent authority describes Mr. Grundy as having by his writings achieved much in this county for the cause of pure and rational Christianity. His name will stand prominently forward in the history of Unitarianism. His accomplished delivery, and the clear language in which he enunciated his sentiments, are referred to as great excellencies by those who knew him. To these should be added his moral courage in advocating doctrines then so obnoxious to the mass of professing Christians.
“When the new Chapel which had been built in Renshaw Street, Liverpool, was opened, the Rev. Robert Lewin, the minister of the congregation which had previously assembled in Benn’s Gardens, conducted the morning service. He was advanced in years and seldom preached doctrhial sermons. In the afternoon the service was conducted by Mr. Grundy, who boldly pronounced the Chapel to be Unitarian.
“Mr. Grundy preached his farewell sermon in Manchester on the last Sunday in September, 1824. He subsequently became the pastor of the congregation which met in Paradise Street, Liverpool, where he remained till 1832, when ill health caused him to resign and retire from the ministry. He died at Bridport May 9th, 1843. Prior to his leaving Manchester, the congregation bore testimony to the zeal with which he had discharged the duties of his oflSce by presenting him with a silver tea service. The desire of removing seems to have originated with himself, and this was a graceful way of speeding his departure, accompanied as it was with expressions of their cordial feelings towards him. The Rev. James Martineau, who had been Mr. Grundy’s coadjutor in Liverpool, in a sermon which he preached on his death, referred to his personal connection with Mr. Grundy as never having been weakened or made painful by an ungentle word or thought, as never having been embarrassed by any discordance between the wisdom of the elder and the enthusiasm of the younger.”
Baker, T. (1884). Ministry of John Grundy: His Doctrinal Lectures. In Memorials of a dissenting chapel: Its foundation and worthies: Being a sketch of the rise of nonconformity in Manchester and of the erection of the chapel in Cross Street … essay, Simpkin, Marshall.
Read John Grundy's Entry in the Dictionary of National Biograhphy
The Silent Auction
You can find below a list of items being auctioned. The auction will run from 12-2 on 8 May. Online bids are accepted by emailing [email protected] before 2pm. Please include your Name, Highest bid and the lot number.
Online postings will be updated every 15 minutes.
Items for Auction
| Lot No. | Title | Image | Description | Current Bid |
| 1 | Print of Rev’d John Grundy |  | A small (297mm x 210mm ) framed print on photographic paper of the Reverend John Grundy by Samuel William Reynolds, published by Agnew & Zanetti, after Henry Wyatt mezzotint, published October 1825. Value £15.00 | £47 |
| 2 | 1st edition of “Memorials of a Dissenting Chapel” | Coming Soon! | An original copy of the hardback publication: Memorials of a Dissenting Chapel, its Foundation and Worthies, being a sketch of The Rise of Nonconformity in Manchester and the erection of The Chapel in Cross Street with notices of its Ministers and Trustees (including Rev John Grundy) by Sir Thomas Baker, published 1884 | £35 |
| 3 | “Choose the hymns” for a service | Coming Soon! | Winner gets the opportunity to choose the hymns for a service at some point in the future. | £10 |
| 4 | Electric Can Opener | Coming Soon! | Details to be confirmed | £0 |
| 5 | The Complete Works of Shakespeare | Coming Soon! | Details to be confirmed | £0 |
| 6 | IOU “Home-made Apple Crumble” | Coming Soon! | Guaranteed to be delicious! | £10 |
| 7 | 1st Generation Amazon Kindle | Coming Soon! | Old but in working order | £0 |
| 8 | Flower Pot |  | Glazed pot with bamboo pattern planted with mix of summer bedding | £22 |
| 9 | Flower Pot |  | Glazed pot with bamboo pattern planted with mix of summer bedding. | £30 |
| 10 | Food Hamper |  | Contents – bottle of Lanson champagne, smoked Cheddar cheese, olive biscuits for cheese, Brazilian ground coffee (Fairtrade), Italian chocolates and 2 small jars of chutney – presented in a hamper basket. | £25 |
| 11 | Book | Coming Soon! | Bishop Joe Aldred (ed.), “Preaching with Power: Sermons by Black Preachers” (1999, pb) | £10 |
| 12 | Book | Coming Soon! | Christiane Bird, “The Da Capo Jazz and Blues Lover’s Guide to the U.S.” (3rd Edition, 2001, pb) | £5 |
| 13 | Book | Coming Soon! | Carl B. Boyer (revised by Uta C. Merzbach with foreword by Isaac Asimov), “A History of Mathematics” (2nd Edition, 1991, pb) | £0 |
| 14 | Book | Coming Soon! | Stan Cohen, “The Games of ’36: a Pictorial History of the 1936 Olympics in Germany” (1996, illustrated pb) | £5 |
| 15 | Book | Coming Soon! | Martin Davidson & Adam Levy, “Decisive Weapons: The Technology that Transformed Warfare” (1996, illustrated hb) | £0 |
| 16 | Book | Coming Soon! | Lawrence Freedman, “A Choice of Enemies: America Confronts the Middle East” (2009, pb) | £0 |
| 17 | Book | Coming Soon! | Ronald H. Fritze, “New Worlds: The Great Voyages of Discovery 1400–1600” (2002, hb) | £0 |
| 18 | Book | Coming Soon! | Philip J. Haythornthwaite, “The Colonial Wars Source Book” (1995, illustrated hb) | £0 |
| 19 | Book | Coming Soon! | Philip J. Haythornthwaite, “The Napoleonic Source Book” (1993, illustrated hb) | £0 |
| 20 | Book | Coming Soon! | Patrick Humphries, “Elvis: The #1 Hits – The Secret History of the Classics” (2002, pb) | £5 |
| 21 | Book | Coming Soon! | Georges Ifrah, “The Universal History of Numbers: From Prehistory to the Invention of the Computer” (translated from the French by Bellos, Harding, Monk & Wood, 1998, pb) | £20 |
| 22 | Book | Coming Soon! | Hannsjoachim W. Koch, “In the Name of the Volk: Political Justice in Hitler’s Germany” (1997, pb) | £0 |
| 23 | Book | Coming Soon! | Val Sampson, “Tantra: The Art of Mind-Blowing Sex” (2002, hb) | £0 |
| 24 | Book | Coming Soon! | Robert M. Utley, “The Lance and the Shield: The Life and Times of Sitting Bull” (1998, pb) | £0 |
| 25 | ||||
| 26 | Lantern |  | 60W Pir Half Lantern with box | £0 |
| 27 | Figurine |  | Little guy on a pedestal | £5 |
| 28 | Bowl |  | Blue Glass | £15 |
| 29 | Mugs |  | £0 | |
| 30 | Scarf |  | £7.50 | |
| 31 | Cake Stand |  | 3-tiered, excellent condition | £0 |
| 32 | Necklance |  | Skagen – new with box | £35 |
| 33 | Scarf |  | Vuitton – new | £30 |
| 34 | Book |  | Chronicles of Narnia – complete set | £25 |
| 35 | Baby Quilt |  | Homemade | £10 |
| 36 | Bath Fancies | To put in your bath for fragrance and moisturising | £5 | |
| 37 | Flower Pot |  | Salt glazed pot planted up with Floridunda rose (Friends Forever), geraniums and petunia. | £20 |
| 38 | Glass Vase | £0 | ||
| 39 | Tea/coffee set | 3 Stackable pots: Coffee/tea/sugar | £10 |