George Tomkins (1846-1937) was born in Stratford on Avon, Warwickshire, England, and died in New York, New York. By 1881 he was an ordained Baptist minister living in London, England, and serving alongside the well-known Baptist preacher Dr. Charles H. Spurgeon. Tomkins immigrated to the United States in 1883 and became a naturalized citizen in 1896. In 1885 he married Elizabeth J. Tomkins (b. Redpath) in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. They moved to New York in 1889, where Tomkins became embroiled in legal trouble both with the Calvary Baptist Church and with his wife. He was expelled from the Baptist church and divorced from his wife in the early 1890s.
In 1896 Tomkins was introduced to Christian Science through a party he deemed prejudiced, and so he attended a testimonial meeting to investigate it for himself. He then took a class from Mary Baker Eddy's student Laura V. Lathrop at the New York Christian Science Institute. In the May 1897 issue of The Christian Science Journal he published an article titled "What Made a Baptist Minister a Christian Scientist." His account caught Eddy's favorable attention, and she invited him to meet with her in person at her Pleasant View home. Tomkins joined The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts, on July 3, 1897, and the following day he traveled to Pleasant View where, alongside Eddy, he was featured as one of the speakers to approximately 2,500 people gathered on the lawn. He was listed as a practitioner in the Journal from 1898 until 1912 and was among the initial five lecturers appointed to the Board of Lectureship in January 1898. He was also elected a First Member of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts on January 1, 1898.
Tomkins's rapid rise in the Christian Science movement occurred without Eddy's apparent knowledge of his documented history of fraudulent and abusive behavior, for which he had been legally censured several times prior to his involvement with Christian Science, and unfortunately that pattern continued. Sometime prior to 1900 Tomkins moved to New Jersey, where he became First Reader of First Church of Christ, Scientist, Camden, New Jersey. In 1900, a member of that church accused him of treating her with an unsuccessful "kissing cure" and sued him for embezzlement of investment funds she had entrusted to him. Tomkins was both dismissed from the church and spent several months in the Camden County jail.
Shortly thereafter he married Estella L. Baker (b. Vernon). She was a Chrstian Scientist who had joined The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts, on June 2, 1900, and was a practitioner listed in the Journal from 1901 until 1912. The couple moved to Boston around 1902 and divorced in 1915.
After 1912 Tomkins became an adherent of the New Thought movement. He withdrew his membership from The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1921. At some point he was also a member of Second Church of Christ, Scientist, in New York, New York, and at the time of his passing he was a member of the interdenominational Riverside Church in New York.
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George Tomkins (1846-1937) was born in Stratford on Avon, Warwickshire, England, and died in New York, New York. By 1881 he was an ordained Baptist minister living in London, England, and serving alongside the well-known Baptist preacher Dr. Charles H. Spurgeon. Tomkins immigrated to the United States in 1883 and became a naturalized citizen in 1896. In 1885 he married Elizabeth J. Tomkins (b. Redpath) in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. They moved to New York in 1889, where Tomkins became embroiled in legal trouble both with the Calvary Baptist Church and with his wife. He was expelled from the Baptist church and divorced from his wife in the early 1890s.
In 1896 Tomkins was introduced to Christian Science through a party he deemed prejudiced, and so he attended a testimonial meeting to investigate it for himself. He then took a class from Mary Baker Eddy's student Laura V. Lathrop at the New York Christian Science Institute. In the May 1897 issue of The Christian Science Journal he published an article titled "What Made a Baptist Minister a Christian Scientist." His account caught Eddy's favorable attention, and she invited him to meet with her in person at her Pleasant View home. Tomkins joined The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts, on July 3, 1897, and the following day he traveled to Pleasant View where, alongside Eddy, he was featured as one of the speakers to approximately 2,500 people gathered on the lawn. He was listed as a practitioner in the Journal from 1898 until 1912 and was among the initial five lecturers appointed to the Board of Lectureship in January 1898. He was also elected a First Member of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts on January 1, 1898.
Tomkins's rapid rise in the Christian Science movement occurred without Eddy's apparent knowledge of his documented history of fraudulent and abusive behavior, for which he had been legally censured several times prior to his involvement with Christian Science, and unfortunately that pattern continued. Sometime prior to 1900 Tomkins moved to New Jersey, where he became First Reader of First Church of Christ, Scientist, Camden, New Jersey. In 1900, a member of that church accused him of treating her with an unsuccessful "kissing cure" and sued him for embezzlement of investment funds she had entrusted to him. Tomkins was both dismissed from the church and spent several months in the Camden County jail.
Shortly thereafter he married Estella L. Baker (b. Vernon). She was a Chrstian Scientist who had joined The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts, on June 2, 1900, and was a practitioner listed in the Journal from 1901 until 1912. The couple moved to Boston around 1902 and divorced in 1915.
After 1912 Tomkins became an adherent of the New Thought movement. He withdrew his membership from The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1921. At some point he was also a member of Second Church of Christ, Scientist, in New York, New York, and at the time of his passing he was a member of the interdenominational Riverside Church in New York.
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