WM minister and author, he was born in Norwich and moved with his family to Sheffield in 1808. Entering the ministry in 1813, he was one of six missionaries sent to Newfoundland in 1816 and was stationed at St. John's. Intellectually gifted, but of a sensitive nature, he was deeply distressed by the famine and the fire that devastated the town during his six-year ministry there and he returned home with his health seriously impaired. He became assistant to Thomas Jackson as editor at the Book Room editing the magazines and succeeding him in 1842.
He was a meticulous editor of the works of others and a productive author himself, notably of history and biography (e.g. of Martin Luther, 1841). Towards the end of his life he published four volumes in a series on 'Memorable Men and Memorable Events': Columbus, or the Discovery of America (1848), Cortes, or the Discovery and Conquest of Mexico (1848), Pizarro, or the Discovery and Conquest of Peru (1849) and Granada, or the Expulsion of the Moors from Spain (1850). His religious writings included a number of sermons and tracts, replies to Samuel Warren in the controversy over the Theological Institution, and aids for preachers: Sketches of Discourses adapted for Sunday Schools and Village Preaching (1844) and the posthumously published Outlines for Pulpit Preparation, being 150 skeleton sermons. He died on 13 October 1850.