Acknowledgments
Acknowledgments
First place in my list of acknowledgments must go to Professor Alan Stuart who read every chapter as it was written, spotted several errors and made many helpful suggestions. Then I must thank Mr J. J. Rose, present director of the Muller Homes in Bristol who has been unfailingly helpful at every stage of the project, and answered numerous queries orally and by letter. I must also record my thanks to Miss Edith Larby, Miss Anne Larby, Miss Ada Stewart and Mr George Collett, all of whom spent their childhood on Ashley Down and chatted to me freely about old times at the Homes. I shall not forget the delightful walk we took together on Pur Down, venue of the annual outing.
Many friends kindly lent me books—often long since out of print. Mr Metcalfe Collier deserves special mention not only for his selection of a large number of books for my attention from his voluminous library, but also for his stimulating conversations and (sometimes late-night) telephone calls on the subject of Muller and the Brethren. Professor F. F. Bruce took the trouble in a busy life to write me several long letters and lend me a number of books including an invaluable collection of fascinating pamphlets on the Bethesda affair.
Mrs Nancy Garton discussed George Muller and his Homes with me and parts of my account of life on Ashley Down (chapter 18) are heavily dependent on her book George Muller and his Orphans (Hodder and Stoughton, 1963). A work that I have had beside me at all times while writing has been Roy Coad’s A History of the Brethren Movement (Paternoster Press, 1968). My own chapters three, four and fourteen could not have been written were it not for Mr Coad’s painstaking research and detailed bibliography. I am also grateful both to Mrs Garton and Mr Coad for their comments on parts of the book. All the books and other works of reference which I have consulted and from which I have quoted are listed in the bibliography.
Others to whom I am indebted are Margaret Cotton for her translation of a description of Wolfenbiittel in Brockhaus Konver-sationslexikon on which I have based the opening paragraph of the book; Mr Edward England for his crash course on ‘how to write a biography’ at the commencement of this project, as well as for his help and encouragement at all stages of publication; and Jenni Wilson, who typed the whole manuscript, cheerfully producing faultless typescript from by no means always tidy drafts. Finally my wife Sheila has not only stoically borne with the interruption to our lives which my obsession with Muller has involved, but has also undertaken the tedious task of preparing the index.
Roger Steer