Grindrod, Edmund
1786-1842; e.m. 1806
WM minister, born at Clay Lane, near Rochdale. He was a gifted teacher, noted for his piety, integrity and uprightness. During his superintendency of the Newcastle Circuit, 1817-1820, he laid the foundation stone of Brunswick Chapel. He was Superintendent of the Leeds East Circuit at the time of the Leeds organ case in 1827 and his rigid adherence to the constitution of Methodism and his view of the pastoral office made him refuse to compromise on the issue. His health was impaired as a result. He became Secretary of the WM Conference in 1833 and was President in 1837. The most lasting benefit he conferred on the Connexion was his Compendium of the Laws and Regulations of WM (1842). He died on 1 May 1842 after a prolonged illness and was buried in the graveyard of Wesley's Chapel.
'I never met with anyone who knew Mr. Grindrod who doubted that, in his treatment of the Leeds disturbances as Superintendent and Chairman, he acted under the direction of a more inflexible will and a more impetuous nature than his own, for his action was out of keeping with his habits and his temperament, and the general context of his ministerial life... I am constrained to testify that Mr. Grindrod was one of the gentlest and kindliest and most dispassionate of men.'
Benjamin Gregory, Side Lights on the Conflicts of Methodism (1898) p.60
- Wesley and his Successors (1895) pp. 141-42
- Benjamin Gregory, Side Lights on the Conflicts of Methodism (1898)
- WHS Proceedings29, p.146
Entry written by: MB
Category: Person
Comment on this entry