author
W. E. (William Edward) Winks
1842–1926
A Baptist minister with a strong feel for history, he wrote warmly about working lives, faith, and the communities around him. He is best remembered for Lives of Illustrious Shoemakers, a lively Victorian collection of biographies drawn from the world of the "Gentle Craft."
1 Audiobook
Lives of Illustrious Shoemakers
by W. E. (William Edward) Winks
About the author
Born in Leicester on January 28, 1842, William Edward Winks trained for the Baptist ministry at Chilwell College in Nottingham and was ordained in 1865. He served churches in Yorkshire and Cambridgeshire before moving to Cardiff, where he became pastor of Bethany Baptist Church in 1876 and remained there until his retirement in 1914.
Alongside his ministry, Winks wrote hymns and historical works. His best-known book, Lives of Illustrious Shoemakers (1883), gathers stories of notable people who began life in the shoemaking trade, reflecting his gift for turning social history into readable biography. He also wrote History of Bethany Baptist Church, Cardiff, published in 1906.
He died in Cardiff on December 21, 1926. Although not widely known today, his writing still offers a vivid glimpse into Victorian religious life and the pride taken in craft, character, and self-made achievement.