Bible Christian Magazine G P Dymond

Mr. G. P. Dymond, M.A.

THE subject of this sketch is known throughout the denomination as one of its most loyal and devoted members. Born of Bible Christian parents, and permeated with the spirit of the denomination, he stands out as a lay representative of distinguished ability and force of character, and a gentleman whose service to the Connexion is not unworthy to be compared with many ministers of the same age and standing. The son of the best of parents, trained amid conditions essentially religious and spiritual, he is a true son of his father, for whom he has the utmost respect and reverence. Nature has dealt bountifully with him in the bestowment of an unusually fine physique. As a man, he is one of

creation's best specimens, with massive head, equally massive frame, and a voice whose tone and timbre would be discernible in almost any average choir. Fortunately, the massiveness and strength of his physical frame have their parallel in the soundness of his heart and the vigour of his mind. Some men - perhaps the majority - are lopsided, unevenly balanced, with a waywardness in certain directions which handicaps them in their movements towards definite ends. Not so the subject of this sketch. If the blending of the emotional with the intellectual and spiritual is not exactly perfect, it is a most delightful approximation, and when this trinity of forces is summoned by the will to assist in the delivery of an important speech, the effect is unmistakable. He has a disciplined intellect, and it is warmed and inspired by a great heart. Sometimes he allows the latter very great freedom, and then up through the eye-sockets flows liquid emotion. He is in the line of apostolic succession, and true to the best traditions of "the fathers." Much might be said of his talents, gifts, and graces, but suffice it that these are consecrated to the highest ideals,

and these in association with the church to which he owes so much, and which he loves so well. Technically "only a layman," in the best sense he is one of the most thoughtful, devoted, and acceptable ministers in the denomination, and even beyond it.

Mr. Dymond is the eldest child in a large family. On his mother's side (says a writer in the Free Methodist, from which most of the following facts are taken), he is the grandson of Captain G. P. Pearse, one of a line of fine sailors belonging to Barnstaple, in which town Mr. Dymond was born on May 13th, 1864. He is an unspeakable debtor to the law of heredity, which to him has been of the most beneficent and generous kind, since to the quiet strength and beauty of his mother's character, supplemented with the devout spirit and Christian life of his saintly father, he owes much of those qualities of mind and heart which have given him prominence among men.

His early years were spent in London, Torquay, and Jersey. At the last-named place he was the pupil of Mr. E. Saunders,

and here the first steps were taken up the ladder of educational acquirement and distinction. On returning to England he went to Shebbear College, where he attained such proficiency that at the end of four years he was head pupil. He was then appointed as assistant master at the college, and gradually worked his way up to the position of second master. He matriculated at London University in the year 1880, with the Rev. H. W. Horwill, a fellow student, both being a month over sixteen, the minimum age. For some years after matriculation he studied for the Higher Civil Service. He had not yet definitely decided as to his life's vocation, but it was being determined for him, and the wisdom of his ultimate decision to remain in the teaching profession has been confirmed by subsequent years.

He remained at Shebbear for thirteen and a-half years, and those years have ever since been held in grateful memory. He cherishes a deep admiration for Mr. T. Ruddle, B.A., headmaster of the college. He owes much also to the late Rev. John Gammon, governor of the college, whose saintly life and wise counsels had much to do with

headmaster of the college. He owes much also to the late Rev. John Gammon, governor of the college, whose saintly life and wise counsels had much to do with moulding and directing the spiritual life of the young student. Mr. Dymond left Shebbear in 1888, and, in all the ardour and freshness of his young manhood, came to Plymouth to take the position of headmaster at the Hoe Grammar School. Since that time the school has greatly prospered. The number of its pupils has risen from thirty to one hundred and twenty-five, and its reputation for successful work is widening year by year.

His own educational position and honours are of the highest order, and have been won, not so much by brilliance of gift, as by steady, persistent, indefatigable industry and perseverance. He has seen in vision the shining uplands, and by a sure and steadfast climb has scaled their summits. While still at Shebbear he was eighth of his year in Latin Honours at Intermediate Arts. He graduated B.A. at London in 1891, and M.A. at the same university in 1903. He throws himself into every kind of educational work with zest and delight. It is the centre round which his

activities revolve, the goal of ambition and desire. He has been secretary, treasurer, and president of the Plymouth and District Branch of the Teachers' Guild, and hon. secretary of the Oxford Local Examinations at the Plymouth Centre since 1892. He is a member of the London University Committee at Plymouth, and is president of the Private Schools' Association, besides being a lecturing member of the Plymouth Institution. His lecture on "Sidelights on American Education" was published in the Teachers' Guild Quarterly for December, 1904. In his own school work he is ably assisted by Mr. John Rounsefell, B.A., B.Sc., who has been senior assistant for sixteen years.

Notwithstanding the multiplicity of his daily duties, Mr. Dymond finds much time for definite Christian service. He commenced work as a local preacher at an early age, and still renders valuable service in that capacity, in addition to which he is president of the Men's Meetings held every Sunday

afternoon in the Plymouth Corn Exchange, - under the auspices of the local Free Church Council. An ever loyal son of the denomination, he loves the church of his fathers, glories in her traditions, and gives himself without reserve to serve her interests. In the Plymouth Circuit he is esteemed and beloved by all, and has contributed not a little to its consolidation and advancement. He has filled the offices of circuit steward, Sunday school superintendent, &c., and even the East Street choir is not complete without him.

For many years he has served the larger life of the Connexion by exercising his judgment on the Executive Committee and at the sessions of the Annual Conference. Since 1890 he has been a member of the Examining Committee. In 1901 he attended as a delegate the Methodist Ecumenical Conference in City Road Chapel, London. He is also a member of the Joint Committee on Methodist Union, being in perfect sympathy with the proposed union of the three

denominations now negotiating. His vision and service, however, are not merely parochial, limited to the narrow bounds of his own church and people. Catholic in his sympathies and views, he manifests interest in the religious life of the nation, and co-operates in service in the common cause of the Free Evangelical Churches, which he serves with energy and ability. A few years since he was President of the South Devon and East Cornwall Federation of Free Churches.

A strong man, and still in manhood's prime, Christian service, larger and wider than has yet been attempted, remains for Mr. Dymond to accomplish, and should Nature still continue to be gracious in the preservation of his physical and mental powers, no doubt can be cherished as to the beneficence, of his Influence in those causes which have such a large place in both his head and heart.

[Volume 1 pages 258 - 264 ]

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