Smith, Frederick R.
1854-1917; e.m. 1878

WM minister, born at Snaith, Humberside, on 18 April 1854 who wrote under the pen-name 'John Ackworth'. After training at Headingley College he served mostly in northern circuits. In 1896 he published Clogshop Chronicles, a collection of Methodist tales set in a Lancashire mill village and featuring dialect humour. Its immediate success led to nine other novels in the next 11 years, including The Minder (1900), which probably contains autobiographical material, and The Coming of the Preachers (1901). A popular preacher, he also published a volume of sermons and The Making of the Million (1899), tales of the Twentieth Century Fund. He died on 13 November 1917.

Sources
  • J. Sutherland, Longman Companion to Victorian Fiction (1988)

Occupations

Entry written by: EAR
Category: Person
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