Joshua Dodgson (1795-1870), local preacher of Elland, Yorks, set up a successful dyeing business and joined the WR at its outset, providing them with a local meeting place in his warehouse.

Among his sons: Jonathan Dodgson (1820-1909), an outstanding WR local preacher and evangelist, was nicknamed because of his powerful voice 'the trumpet-voiced revivalist'. He had an experience of the 'new birth' at the 1832 WM Conference and became a local preacher in 1841. Returning from Sowerby Bridge to his native Elland, following a major breakdown in health in 1854, he formed a class from which came a number of local preachers, some of whom entered the ministry in America and others (including Dr David Brook) the UMFC ministry. James Davy Dodgson (1824-92; e.m. 1849) was a WM minister who trained at Richmond College and emigrated to Australia on health grounds, where he became President of the Victoria Conference in 1880; and Aquila Dodgson (1829- ? ) was active in the Reform movement, served for a time as a WR minister in Hull and Lancashire and was later curator of the Leeds Philosophical Society's museum.

Entry written by: JAH
Category: Person
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