Revd John Hatfield Topping

Abt 1830 - 1893  (63 years)

• Name	John Hatfield Topping
  Prefix	Revd
  Birth	Abt 1830	Ireland
  Gender	Male
  Census	1861	22 Whitrope Tunnel Cottages, Castleton, Roxburghshire, Scotland
  Occupation: Missionary
  Residence	1865	107 Parson Street, Glasgow, Scotland
  Post Office Annual Glasgow Directory 1864-1865, Chaplain Royal Infirmary
  Residence	1866	107 Parson Street, Glasgow, Scotland
  Post Office Annual Glasgow Directory 1865-1866, Chaplain Royal Infirmary
  Residence	1867	31 Stanhope St, Glasgow, Scotland
  Post Office Annual Glasgow Directory 1866-1867, Chaplain Royal Infirmary
  Residence	1868	31 Stanhope St, Glasgow, Scotland
  Post Office Annual Glasgow Directory 1867-1868, Chaplain Royal Infirmary
  Residence	1869	31 Stanhope St, Glasgow, Scotland
  Post Office Annual Glasgow Directory 1868-1869, Chaplain Royal Infirmary
  Residence	1870	31 Stanhope St, Glasgow, Scotland
  Post Office Annual Glasgow Directory 1869-1870, Chaplain Royal Infirmary
  Census	1871	125 North John Street, Glasgow, Scotland
  Residence	1871	125 North John Street, Glasgow, Scotland
  Post Office Annual Glasgow Directory 1871-1872, Chaplain Royal Infirmary
  Residence	1873	6 Chatham Place, Glasgow, Scotland
  Post Office Annual Glasgow Directory 1872-1873, Chaplain Royal Infirmary
  Residence	1876	6 Chatham Place, Glasgow, Scotland
  Post Office Annual Glasgow Directory 1875-1876, Chaplain Royal Infirmary
  Residence	1877	6 Chatham Place, Glasgow, Scotland
  Post Office Annual Glasgow Directory 1876-1877, Chaplain Royal Infirmary
  Occupation	1878	London
  Started work as assistant to The Rev Adolph Saphire
  Residence	1878	6 Chatham Place, Glasgow, Scotland
  Post Office Annual Glasgow Directory 1877-1878, Chaplain Royal Infirmary
  Residence	1880	3 Ladbroke Crescent, Notting Hill, London
  Electoral Register for Notting Hill
  Census	1881	13 Loftus Road, Hammersmith, London
  Census	1891	19 Lansdowne Rd, Kensington, London
  Visitor
  Occupation	Baptist minister, missionary
  Occupation	Chaplain, Glasgow Royal Infirmary (30 Dec 1862 - Mar 1878)
  Death	20 Mar 1893	Farnham, Surrey
  Burial	27 Mar 1893	Kensal Green Cemetery
  Person ID	I988	Ash Family Database
  Last Modified	31 Oct 2025

  
  

  Family	Alexina Maitland Notman,   b. 1831, Corstorphine, Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland d. Nov 1895, Edmonton, London (Age 64 years)
  Marriage	12 Jun 1855	Kirkliston, West Lothian, Scotland
  Notes	1855 Marriages in the Parish of Kirkliston in the County of Linlithgow: ‘Twelfth June 1855, Clifton Hall, West Lothian, after Publication of Banns according to the forms of the Free Church of Scotland, John Hatfield Topping, of Clifton Hall, Ratho, West Lothian, usual of Canadale, Argyleshire, age 25, groom, born and registered at Bradford, Wilts. and Alexandrina Maitland Notman, of Clifton Hall, Ratho, West Lothian, usual of Clifton Hall, Ratho,West Lothian, age 26, born and registered at Corstorphine, Midlothian. His parents Thomas Topping, (unreadable) and Mary Topping, maiden name Recher (both deceased) and her parents William Notman, Gardener and Jane Notman, maiden name Simpson. Officiated by James L, Burn, Minister of the Free Church of Kirkliston and witnessed by H.E. Gilmore Maitland and William Forrest. Registered 1855 June 14th at Kirkliston by Richard Balmon, Registrar.’ The entry in the Register of Marriages of 1855 gives John's usual address as Carradale, Argyleshire and Alexandrina's as Clifton Hall, Ratho, West Lothian. They were married from Alexandrina's home. The wedding was conducted by a Minister of the Free Church in Kirkliston called James C. Burns. The witnesses were William Forrest and A.C.Gibson Maitland. The Registrar was Thomas Balmer.
  Children	1. Walter Frederick Topping,   b. 1857, Ireland d. Nov 1898, San Fransisco, California, USA (Age 41 years)
  Family ID	F355	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	31 Oct 2025

  
  

• Event Map

  Birth - Abt 1830 - Ireland Census - 1861 - 22 Whitrope Tunnel Cottages, Castleton, Roxburghshire, Scotland Residence - 1865 - 107 Parson Street, Glasgow, Scotland Residence - 1866 - 107 Parson Street, Glasgow, Scotland Residence - 1867 - 31 Stanhope St, Glasgow, Scotland Residence - 1868 - 31 Stanhope St, Glasgow, Scotland Residence - 1869 - 31 Stanhope St, Glasgow, Scotland Residence - 1870 - 31 Stanhope St, Glasgow, Scotland Census - 1871 - 125 North John Street, Glasgow, Scotland Residence - 1871 - 125 North John Street, Glasgow, Scotland Residence - 1873 - 6 Chatham Place, Glasgow, Scotland Residence - 1876 - 6 Chatham Place, Glasgow, Scotland Residence - 1877 - 6 Chatham Place, Glasgow, Scotland Residence - 1878 - 6 Chatham Place, Glasgow, Scotland Residence - 1880 - 3 Ladbroke Crescent, Notting Hill, London Census - 1881 - 13 Loftus Road, Hammersmith, London Census - 1891 - 19 Lansdowne Rd, Kensington, London Death - 20 Mar 1893 - Farnham, Surrey Burial - 27 Mar 1893 - Kensal Green Cemetery  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Photos

  John Hatfield Topping

  
  

• Notes

  John Hatfield Topping was a Baptist Minister. Family folklore has in the past, suggested that he was a Chaplain to the armed forces in the Crimea between 1854-1856 and that, though reported to have died of cholera, he survived. There is no evidence for this and there is no record of his service in the Crimea in the National Archives. In any case, these dates clash with the period when he would have been preparing to marry his wife Alexina. The minutes of a meeting of the Directors of the Glasgow Royal Infirmary in January 1863, reported in the Glasgow Daily Mail, during which they argued over his appointment as Chaplain to the hospital, give us valuable information about his life. They tell us ⁠that he used to be the ‘body servant to a nobleman of the highest rank’ (on his marriage certificate his occupation was given as ‘groom’ at Cliftonhall House near Edinburgh); ⁠that he was a missionary in Northern Ireland for 5 years; that he was highly esteemed by other Scottish Baptists; ⁠that he was a good preacher; ⁠that he had good pastoral skills and a deep care for the poor; ⁠that, at some point, he took on the running of a Baptist church in Millport on the island of Great Cumbrae in the Firth of Clyde when the pastor died. John was the Chaplain to the GRI from 30th December 1862 until his resignation in March 1878. He left to become the assistant of Adolph Saphir, a Hungarian Jew who was converted to Christ by the Scottish church, trained as a minister of the Free Church of Scotland, studied at Glasgow University (where he must have met John), was appointed as a missionary to the Jews and ended up at Trinity Church South Street in Notting Hill, where he was a popular preacher. John next appears on the 1881 Census living at 13 Loftus Road, Hammersmith, London with his wife Alexandrina, 7 children, a servant, Mary Bell, aged 25, and a boarder, Charles Buchanan, a surveyor aged 26. Today, the house is close to the BBC Television Centre at Shepherd's Bush and is adjacent to the QPR football stadium. In the 1880s, it was in a moderately well-to-do area on the edge of farm land and a short walk across open fields to Wormwood Scrubs Prison. The 1891 Census lists John H Topping, who describes his profession as Minister of the Gospel, residing as a visitor at 19 Lansdowne Road, Kensington, just north of Holland Park. The only other people at this address are Elizabeth Crickmore, a nurse aged 50, and Mary Harmaby, a servant aged 21. Alexandrina is at an address in Frimley, Surrey at this point.