• 1. the name John Carver appears on a list of people in the parish of Wellingborough liable to serve in the militia made 28th November 1777 - Jno Carver, teacher of a separate congregation. The congregation met in a chapel on Outlaw Lane  which continued use for services, until 1868; after which the church was disbanded and the premises were taken over by Primitive Methodists who purchased it in 1882. Those gathered were variously referred to as :- Dissidents, Separatists, Protestant, Congregationalists and Independent Calvinist.

  2. Referenced in the works of The Project Gutenberg EBook of Memorials of the Independent Churches in Northamptonshire, by Thomas Coleman.

  3. Noted: "Independency in St. Albans", F A J HARDING. 1962 ”At this time there was very little difference between an Independent and a Presbyterian Church. They did differ in one important thing; in the Independent Church, the minister was appointed by the whole body of the members, while in the Presbyterian Church, the minister was chosen by the Trustees. Their similarity in constitution, led the two groups, in 1690, to explore a means of union.”

“MEMORIALS OF THE INDEPENDENT CHURCHES IN NORTHAMPTON“ : "Where the events relating to the early history of a community have not been put upon record about the time they occurred, or where the records, when made, have been subsequently neglected and lost, it becomes scarcely possible to discover its origin, or to obtain any correct information relating to its progress. This is the case, we regret to state, with the Independent Church, Cheese Lane, Wellingborough; it appears to be scarcely possible now to discover the date of its origin, or the circumstances under which it was formed."

Extract from Thomas Coleman, regarding John Carver: The following account of Mr. Carver's life, character, and ministry, was drawn up by the late Mr. Bull, of Newport, the friend of Newton and Cowper. William Bull (1738–1814) was an English independent minister.

"The Rev. John Carver was born a.d. 1733, at Southill, in Bedfordshire, and was several years a member of the Independent Church in that place, of which Church his father was a deacon. That piety and those talents which shone with increasing lustre to the close of his life, discovered themselves at a very early period; but unaffected modesty and conscientious motives prevented his entering into the ministry till he had completed his thirtieth year.

He began by privately exercising his gifts before the Church, and afterwards established an evening lecture among his poor neighbours, to whom he preached after the labours of the day were closed. He continued these exercises, and some occasional services, a considerable time before he relinquished his secular employment and devoted himself entirely to the service of the Church. At length, however, he accepted the unanimous and urgent invitation of a small but affectionate congregation at Kirtling, near Newmarket, in Cambridgeshire. 

With this people he remained until his removal to Wellingborough, where he continued his ministry with great respectability and usefulness near twenty-seven years, his life and his labours ending on January 31st, 1797. 

Mr. Carver had not the advantage of an academical education; but his understanding, naturally vigorous, was cultivated by reading and reflection. In conversation he was habitually serious without gloom, and cheerful without levity. He possessed to an uncommon degree the happy talent of giving a devotional turn to almost every subject. Far from assuming any consequential airs, he alone seemed insensible to what every one else perceived, that he was the life and soul of the company. While the advanced Christian felt himself edified by the depth and solidity of his remarks, the young, to whom he paid a particular attention, were charmed by his affectionate address, the simplicity of his language, and the aptness of his illustrations. Though he did not pretend to an acquaintance with the original languages, his biblical knowledge was truly respectable. A sound judgment, a correct taste, and extraordinary diligence in reading and studying the word of God, joined with a proper use of our best commentators, enabled him to appear to great advantage as an interpreter of Scripture. In preaching, he never addressed the passions, but in subservience to reason and truth. In explaining and defending the doctrines and precepts of Christianity he was calm, perspicuous, and often very ingenious. 

He was a firm but not dogmatizing advocate for the sentiments usually styled Calvinistical. In the practical and applicatory parts of his discourse he was peculiarly striking. His numerous hearers will doubtless long remember with what solemnity of voice and manner, with what pointed energy of expression, he warned the young, the thoughtless, and the dissipated; with how much skill and tenderness he administered the consolations of the Gospel to those who laboured under spiritual discouragements. On these occasions, not only his voice and gesture, but his countenance, and not infrequently his tears, expressed the interest he felt in their eternal welfare. He greatly excelled in prayer. Often was his large congregation visibly affected by the seriousness and importunity of his addresses at a throne of grace. 

"In private life he was truly exemplary. As a husband and a father, his prudence, gentleness, and love, the evenness of his temper and regularity of his conduct, commanded the veneration and promoted the happiness of his family. Under the pressure of great, not to say unparalleled afflictions, he was resigned; when troubles came in upon him as a mighty flood, his heart was still fixed, trusting in the Lord. Those who have witnessed his deportment on the most trying occasions have confessed their astonishment, and felt themselves constrained to say, "Verily this is the Lord's doing, and marvellous in our eyes."

One part of his character we must not omit. He was an eminently peaceable man. To obtain and preserve peace he would sacrifice everything, a good conscience only excepted. The happy fruits of this disposition, and the beneficial effects of such an example, will, we trust, continue to be enjoyed many years by those who have had opportunity of observing his great anxiety and unwearied exertions for the sake of peace.

In his last illness, though his disorder was of a very painful and distressing nature, yet neither the extremity of his sufferings on the one hand, nor their long continuance on the other, did ever extort from his lips a single expression of impatience or distrust. His understanding was unimpaired and his faith unshaken to the last moment; and he expired in the act of repeating that triumphant song, "O death! where is thy sting? O grave! where is thy victory?"

After the death of Mr. Carver, the congregation was unsettled for some time, and was dependent on supplies through the next two or three years. At length Mr. Bell was invited to become their pastor. But his ministry proved of short continuance. It is said, "that he was possessed of good talents; but was very high in doctrine, denied the Gospel call to sinners as sinners—that he manifested too great a degree of levity, having much jocular wit." "He came to Wellingborough like a burning light, and went out like a candle in the estimation of many. There were, most probably, faults on both sides; but some sad effects resulted, it is considered, from his sentiments and his levity." He continued only two or three years.

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Children of John Carver and Ann Dunton

Rev. John Carver's surviving sons were the following:

• Thomas Carver, 1759-1809, m Eliz Grummitt and Elizabeth Patson; he was a baker of Bedford. One infant death from 1st marriage, 6 from 2nd: Abraham, Catherine, Elizabeth, John, Thomas and Rebecca Ann.

• John Carver, was born before 1767 and joined the army. He was an officer, at rank of Captain , by 1791.

  • He is possibly referenced in the Marriage of John Carver on 11 May 1815 at Irchester, Northampton, England, to Ann Houghton (Source: FHL Film Number: 1999465 Reference ID:it 1).  This John Carver may have been born in Welby, Somerset, England before 1766 and married Ann born abt 1788 and lived in Wellingsborough (1857 census).

• Simon Carver (?)

• Mary Carver (?)

• Martha Carver (?)

•  Benjamin Carver  may have been born under the name Henry about 1768, in either Bedfordshire or in Kirtling, Cambridgeshire, and he arrived in NSW in 1791 and died in Australia in 1822.

• William Carver - born 11 August, 1770, Kirtling, Cambridgeshire and died Melbourn, Cambridgeshire on 3rd. August 1825. Rev. William Carver was pastor from 1791 and founder of the Melbourn Independent school. William's son, William Crole Carver succeeded as master of the Melbourn Independent School on the death of his father and carried on the good work and the school had 200 part time students by late 18th. Century. See Evangelical Magazine and Missionary Chronical Vol. 3 (1825). 

  • William Crole Carver became one of the principal farmers for he owned and occupied a large farm acreage (approximately 265 ac.) and ran 160 sheep and cattle.