Perrin, Sarah (Mrs. Sarah Jones)
c.1721-1787

One of the Wesleys' earliest supporters, born into a Quaker family, probably in the West of England. She has been largely overlooked by historians of early Methodism and most of what we know of her early life is from her surviving correspondence with Charles Wesley. She was active among the Bristol Methodists from the early 1740s and was one of the first women exhorters (apparently with the approval and encouragement of both John and Charles Wesley) in places as far apart as London and Hereford. In February 1744 John Wesley appointed her as housekeeper at the New Room. In the early 1750s she married Dr. John Jones and shared in his ministry both in Bristol and, from 1758, in London. After his Anglican ordination in 1770 they moved to Harwich. She was widowed in 1785 and died on 19 March 1787. There is a memorial to them both in Harwich parish church.

Sources
  • Gareth Lloyd, 'Sarah Perrin, early Methodist exhorter', in Methodist History, vol.41:3 (April 2003), pp.79-88
  • John Lenton, 'Surviving Letters Received by Charles Wesley' in Proceedings of the Charles Wesley Society Vol. 19 (2015), pp.47-50

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Entry written by: JAV
Category: Person
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