Townley, Dr James
1774-1833; e.m. 1796

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WM minister, born in Manchester on 11 May 1774. He was educated by the Rev. David Simpson of Macclesfield and became a Methodist in 1790. An active supporter of Jabez Bunting, he was a Secretary of the WMMS 1827-1832 andPresident of the Conference in 1829. He was a frequent contributor to the WM Magazine. The most important among his religious works, Illustrations of Biblical Literature (1821) was judged well abreast of the scholarship of his time. Princeton acknowledged his scholarship by the award of a DD in 1822. Debilitated by his presidential labours, he died at Ramsgate on 12 December 1833.

Sources
  • Wesley and his Successors (1895) p.125
  • Oxford DNB