Fitzgerald, William Blackburn
1856-1931; e.m. 1877

WM minister, a son of the manse, he was born at Barnard Castle on 22 May 1856 and educated at Kingswood School and Headingley College. In 1890 he conceived the idea of the Wesley Guild to bridge the gap between Sunday School and Church. The method worked at Roscoe Place, Leeds and was adopted by the 1896 Conference. In 1906 Fitzgerald was set apart to be secretary of the Guild at Oxford Place Chambers, Leeds. He edited the Guild Magazine, pioneered the Guild Holiday Homes and its support for medical missions. The Four Alls of Methodism' originated with him and he wrote a book The Roots of Methodism' (1903), introducing their tradition to the Methodists themselves. He died at Cheam on 18 February 1931. He is commemorated by a stained-glass window at Wesley's Chapel, London.

Sources
  • L.E. Ingram, Fifty Years for Youth (1945)