WM minister, born in Birmingham and trained at Handsworth College. He became a powerful preacher with a cultured mind, an expert administrator and one of the most important collectors of Wesleyana of his time. His collection included original Wesley letters, manuscripts, pamphlets and other printed matter; also paintings, etchings and prints of John Wesley, and busts, figures, plaques, metal and jasper medallions, and pottery with transfer images of Wesley. Other items represent the Rev. John Fletcher, his wife Mary (née Bosanquet) and George Whitefield. His collection was of such importance that the Bicentenary exhibition at the LiverpoolHornby Gallery in 1938 was mainly from him. He died on 30 November 1943. The Lawson family, through his sister-in-law, Mrs. Adams of Plymouth, gave the collection to the Methodist Conference in 1965 and it can now be seen in the Methodist Archives Centre at the John Rylands University Library, Deansgate, Manchester.

Entry written by: DHR
Category: Person
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