One of the earliest PM itinerants, known as 'the boy preacher', he was born at Gorsty Hill, Staffs on 21 August 1801. He preached with great energy in the open air and was imprisoned in Worcester gaol in 1820. He resigned in 1825 and settled as a local preacher in Wednesbury. His sister Ann Brownsword (fl.1819-22) was also engaged in early missionary work and was arrested at Stourbridge and gaoled for persisting in open-air preaching. She reverted to local-preacher status on marrying Charles John Abraham, a Burslem druggist. Her brother died on 11 October 1867.