Plaque 4

William Kendal Gale – Mount Hermon Chapel

Awarded a Blue Plaque in 2014

William Kendall Gale (1873 - 1935) had been baptised in the chapel and was a pioneering Methodist preacher. Born in Addingham he studied in London before returning to the village during vacations to serve as pastor at Mount Hermon Chapel where he did good work and greatley helped in raising funds for a planned renovation. He later wrote that ‘I regard my pastorate at Mount Hermon as one of the great and happy periods of my Ministerial life and am very grateful for the opportunity the church gave me to preach the gospel of Christ and fulfil my call’.

He left with his family for Madagascar in 1908 to serve as a missionary with the London Missionary Society. He established over 250 churches in Madagascar. He had intended to retire to Addingham in 1937, hoping to have established 300 churches. However, he suffered complications from an operation and died in 1935 in Anjozorobe, Tananarive.

Mount Hermon Wesleyan Reform chapel was built in 1861 and is shown below during the 1890s.