PM minister and prolific writer, born at Bridlington on 29 April 1829. Initially a delicate child, he had a meagre education at a dame's school, then at a national school. Leaving at 7, he worked as a farm lad and then in 1843 as a tailor's apprentice. Converted at 14, he received a note to preach at 18, most of his itinerancy being spent in Yorkshire and to a lesser degree in Lincolnshire. In politics it has been alleged that he was a Tory and if so this would have been most unusual for a Primitive Methodist at that period. He died at Bridlington on 3 January 1922.

Amongst his many articles he contributed a weekly article to the Primitive Methodist, later the Primitive Methodist Leader. He wrote 16 books, including Popery Unmasked (1862); The Gipsies [sic] (1865); Queen Victoria and the Royal Family (1887); Piety amongst the Peasantry: Primitive Methodism in the Yorkshire Wolds (1889) Seventy Sermon Outlines (2 vols, 1895/1898); Reasons why Primitive Methodism offers Passive Resistance to the Education Act, of 1902. Jointly with Joseph Ritson he wrote the second edition of Queen Victorian and the Royal Family (1901) and with a contribution by Robert Harrison The Student's Handbook to Scripture Doctrine (nd).

Sophia Woodcock, whose writings included Gems for Boys and Girls and Children leading Adults to Christ (both c1875/1880), is thought to have been his second wife.

Entry written by: DCD and WL
Category: Person
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