The congregation was founded some time after the 1662 Act of Uniformity had excluded from the Church of England those clergy who would not conform - hence "Nonconformists" - to its provisions. In 1672 this Nonconformist or Dissenting congregation of combined Presbyterians and Independents (later called Congregationalists) called their first minister, Owen Stockton. He was one of the 'ejected' clergy of 1662 as was his successor, John Fairfax, who was appointed in 1680. At this time, the congregation worshipped in the Old Monastery House in Turret Lane. When the Presbyterians and Congregationalists parted company in 1686, Fairfax continued with the Presbyterians. They worshipped in rented rooms, most latterly in Silent Street. Among their friends and patrons was the Ipswich-born London merchant, philanthropist and pioneer Unitarian, Thomas Firmin. Fairfax and the congregation were still Presbyterian, albeit of a relatively liberal hue. The passing of the 1689 Act of Toleration opened the way for the building of the Meeting House, although ten years passed before work began. The Presbyterians were reluctant to accept their permanent exclusion from the Church of England, and as Fairfax said at the opening of the Meeting House in 1700, "Let none think that I have spoken a word to the derogation of… our publick churches… Had we the liberty of those places, we should seek no other."

Worship in the Meeting House in those early days followed a Puritan pattern. Musical instruments were forbidden and the only singing was of metrical settings of the Psalms, led by a precentor from the reading-desk below the pulpit. We know from Fairfax's sermon that the congregation covered their heads when "the Word (was) read or preached", that they stood for prayer and that it was deemed inappropriate "to talk, or laugh, or indulge ourselves in sleep, or give liberty to wandering eyes, thoughts or affection". It is likely that the sexes were segregated - men downstairs, women upstairs - in an interesting and not insignificant echo of traditional Jewish practice.
 
Although theologically orthodox, Fairfax and his congregation belonged to the increasingly liberal tradition of English Presbyterianism. We get something of its flavour from some words spoken at Fairfax's funeral service in the Meeting House by his colleague from Bury St. Edmunds, Samuel Bury:
 
"Let us never impale religion within ourselves or presently call fire from heaven on them that will not receive us. Let religion in its own latitude be the common bond of all union, and whatever difference may be amongst us in smaller matters, yet let us be lovers of all good men."
 
Among the worshippers in the Meeting House in these early Presbyterian days were the artist Thomas Gainsborough and the men of the Royal Scots Greys when stationed in the lpswich barracks.
 
During the course of the 18th century, the congregation and its ministers moved gradually towards a Unitarian position, stressing the unity - as opposed to the trinity - of God, and the humanity - as opposed to the deity - of Jesus. Doctrinal change was facilitated by the 'open' nature of the Trust Deed, which stipulated no theological conditions other than that the Meeting House be used for the "Worship of Almighty God". The crucial period was the ministry of Thomas Scott, from 1737 to 1766. Scott, an Arabic scholar, was one of the few ministerial friends of the young Joseph Priestley during his pastorate in Needham Market from 1755 to 1758. Priestley, besides his later fame as a scientist, was to become in time the foremost Unitarian minister of his day. After Scott's time both ministers and congregation were at least Arian in their beliefs. By the beginning of the 19th century the theological position of the congregation was not in doubt and ministers like Thomas Rees and Thomas Drummond represented a new and aggressive brand of Unitarianism.
 
The passing of the so-called Trinity Act in 1813 removed the legal penalties for professing Unitarianism and the resultant lingering restraints on Unitarians calling themselves by that name. The 1844 Dissenters' Chapels Act confirmed Unitarian congregations, like that in Ipswich, in possession of buildings originally constructed by people who were not Unitarian in their beliefs.
 
Two ministers caused the congregation problems at this period. In 1832 the trustees dismissed Andrew Melville for misconduct and running up debts in the town. His successor, Joseph Ketley caused further embarrassment by very publicly renouncing Unitarianism and resigning in 1836. It was left to Thomas Felix Thomas to get things back on an even keel, and his photograph begins the series depicting former ministers that hangs in the vestry.

                         

The original contract for building, signed 5 August 1699.      Scaled plan drawn by John C. Butters in November 1939.

Among the prominent laypeople in the congregation in the mid-l9th century were Herbert Wright, editor of the "Ipswich Journal", and the writer John Glyde, author of "The Moral, Social and Religious Condition of Ipswich", published in 1850.
 
The Sunday School was reported as offering a wide curriculum for a general education, and the ministers conducted an academy in one of the buildings between the Meeting House and St. Nicholas Street.
 
Later in the century, a visiting preacher on several occasions was the nationally eminent journalist, novelist and translator of Spinoza, William Hale White, alias "Mark Rutherford". In 1900 the artist E. Lucking Tavener became minister, frequently preaching on themes suggested by famous paintings. One of his own paintings, an interior of the Meeting House, is still in the congregation's possession.
 
A prominent Ipswich Unitarian at the turn of the century was Frank Woolnough. He wrote for both the "East Anglian Daily Times" and the "Mercury" (as "XYZ"), and was a campaigner for the opening of a crematorium. His main contribution to the town was as curator of lpswich Museum - for 27 years - and as the person responsible for converting the newly-acquired Christchurch Mansion for public use. Frank Woolnough was not progressive in all matters though, and in 1913 he resigned from the congregation's committee in protest at the election of women to its number!

                 

Rev. Phillip Hewett, Rev. Thomas Felix Thomas, Rev. Winifred Brown

Two ministers in the 1930s and 1940s aroused controversy. Dr. John Lewis was an active and outspoken socialist who later joined the Communist Party. His successor, in 1938, was Joseph Burton, whose vocal pacifism got him into trouble when war broke out the following year. He was effectively dismissed by the trustees in 1940, causing a number of members to resign from the congregation in protest. One of those who did so, Marianne Prime, later recalled that she resented "the intolerance of the trustees... especially as one of our Unitarian principles is tolerance towards others". A difficult period followed this rupture. Into this less than happy situation came the congregation's - and perhaps Ipswich's - first woman minister, Winifred Brown, who served from 1943 to 1946.
 
The post-war period saw Ipswich becoming a more multi-cultural place, to which the Unitarian congregation sought to respond. In the 1950s, during Phillip Hewett's brief but significant ministry, the congregation offered its hall to accommodate the newly-formed lpswich Caribbean Association. Later, in 1980 - and for fourteen years thereafter - the Unitarian Meeting House hosted the inter-faith Civic Celebration of Community, an annual event very much in harmony with Unitarian principles.
 
Something of the changing feel of congregational life during the late 20th century was described in 1986 by Marianne Prime, who first came to the Meeting House in 1922. She recalled, "No more walking sedately down our drive into Friars Street after service, we now laugh and talk as we wend our way towards our new hall for coffee and biscuits, a chat or sometimes a friendly discussion arising from the sermon".
 
It is worth noting, in conclusion, that during Hewett's ministry and that of his successor, Nicholas Teape, there was a return to calling the building a "Meeting House", after many years being described as a church or chapel. This was felt to be true both to its origins, character and history and to the way its present congregation feel about it - a place to meet with each other and with God.
 

* interim appointment
** five month American exchange ministry

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