Reverend J W Massie

A portrait of "The Reverend Mr Massie" was painted by Charles Allen Du Val and exhibited in 1842. Its present whereabouts is unknown.

He was J W Massie, an Independent minister "in Manchester" (1). He was in fact the Minister of Chapel Street Chapel in Salford (2).

Although not a Methodist, in 1841 he attended a meeting in Manchester of ministers of all denominations to lobby the Methodist Conference (held that year in Manchester) and others for the repeal of the Corn Laws. That meeting of ministers was attacked in the press by both religious and secular institutions, but it was the start of the campaign to repeal the Corn Laws, eventually successful in 1846. Charles Allen Du Val was also very active in that campaign, and painted the portraits of many of the members of the Anti-Corn Law League.

References

(1) Report of the Conference of Ministers of all Denominations on the Corn Laws Held in Manchester - (1841) page 18.
(2) Letter to the Manchester Times 7 August 1841.