John Wesley, Founder of Methodism |
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Other key events |
Key events in John Wesley's life |
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1702 - |
Reign of Queen Ann last of the Stuarts. |
1703 | Born in Epworth Rectory, one of ten children. His mother was strict but loving and taught each of her children for 6 hours a day from the age of 5. He had a happy family life. |
| 1709 | Epworth Rectory burnt down. John, aged 5½, was the last to escape the house from an upstairs window, only moments before the blazing roof crashed in. There was no time to fetch a ladder; the rescuers had to climb on each others shoulders to reach him. For a time the family was homeless. | ||
| 1713 - 1714 |
John left Lincolnshire (aged 10) to become a boarder at Charterhouse School, London. He was nominated by the Duke of Buckingham as a 'Gownboy' (this means he did not have to pay for his education). | ||
| 1714 - 1727 |
Reign of George I. The first of the Hanoverians. | ||
| 1715 | Jacobite Rebellion - many highlanders in Scotland remained loyal to the descendants of the deposed James II. They were known as Jacobites and rebelled hoping to make James Edward Stuart King. | 1720 | John left school at 17 for Oxford and gained a scholarship of £40 a year. He enjoyed his time at Christchurch College Oxford.He decided to become an Anglican Priest like his father. |
| 1721 - 1742 |
Walpole leader of the government. | 1725 | Ordained as deacon. |
| 1726 | Made a fellow of Lincoln College. This gave him an income as a tutor. His brother Charles Wesley came to Oxford. | ||
| 1727 - 1760 |
Reign of George II. | 1727 | John went back to Lincolnshire to help his father. |
| 1728 | Ordained as an Anglican Priest. | ||
| 1729 | Returned to Oxford to find his younger brother Charles was meeting with other young men to pray and study the Bible. John soon became a leader of this group. They showed practical concern for the poor. At this time there was no welfare state or social services. They put aside some of their money to provide food, clothes and medicines for the poor. John found he could live on £28 a year and gave away the rest of his income. They also started a school for children of poor families. This group was given various nicknames, one of them was Methodists. | ||
| 1735 | John and Charles Wesley set off to work in Georgia, a new colony on the Atlantic Coast of North America. The colony was made up of prisoners and people from across Europe being persecuted for their religious belief. On the voyage out to Georgia the ship went through a fierce winter storm, even the sailors were terrified and so were the Wesley brothers. However, there were a group of German peasants who remained calm because of their simple faith in God. This made a big impression on the brothers. | ||
| 1737 | Most of the settlers had no time for John Wesley and his strict faith and like his brother Charles he returned to England. | ||
| May 24th 1738 | John always remembered this day. He felt a special sense of God's love and said it was his 'spiritual birthday.' | ||
| 1739 | John was invited by George Whitefield to preach to the miners of Kingswood. He built a school for the children of the miners and laid the foundations for a chapel. Although it was rebuilt a few years later it is now the oldest Methodist church in the world.He bought the old foundry in London for £115 and spent another £700 on repairs. This chapel held 1,500 people. Men and women sat in different parts of the chapel. | ||
| 1740 | John left a young man called Thomas Maxfield in charge at the foundry. He became the first Methodist lay preacher (a lay preacher is able to preach but is not a specially trained clergyman). | ||
| 1745 | Another Jacobite Rebellion when Bonnie Prince Charlie (James Edward's son) landed on the west coast of Scotland. | 1745 | Methodists were accused of being Jacobites, trying to overthrow the government and many were persecuted.John opened London's first free clinic and dispensary, where the poor could get health care. |
| 1746 | The Jacobite army was massacred at the Battle of Culloden Moor. | ||
| 1747 | He published a little book called "Primitive Physick or An Easy and Natural method of curing most Diseases". It suggested bruises should be treated with treacle spread on brown paper and baldness could be cured by rubbing the head with a mixture of honey and onions. | ||
| 1757 | The First canal was built in England. | 1757 | A planter, Nathaniel Gilbert from the West Indies read one of Wesley's books. He was so impressed he came to England to meet Wesley. When he returned to the West Indies he began to speak to others about God's love. In this way Methodism began to spread overseas. |
| 1760 - 1820 |
Reign of George III. | 1776 | Methodism spread to America. It started among the Irish immigrants in New York. |
| 1777 | Wesley laid the foundation stone for a new chapel in London. | ||
| 1778 | The chapel was completed. | ||
| 1779 | First iron bridge | 1779 | John saw the first Iron Bridge being put up. |
| 1784 | First mail coach. | 1784 | There were 356 Methodist chapels. The Bishop of London refused to ordain two ministers to lead the Methodists in America. Instead Wesley ordained two ministers himself. This led to a break with the Church of England. Wesley expected his followers to attend the Church of England in addition to their Methodist meetings, but soon after his death the Methodist church became a separate church. |
| 1785 | Steam power first used in spinning. | ||
| 1787 | The first iron boat was built. | ||
| 24th Feb. 1791 | John wrote to William Wilberforce to encourage him in his fight against slavery. | ||
| 2nd March 1791 | John Wesley died at the age of 87 surrounded by some of his closest friends.Ten thousand people filed past his coffin and his funeral was held before dawn in an attempt to limit the number of people wishing to attend. | ||
| 1807 | Slavery was abolished. | ||
| 1815 | Almost a quarter of a million Methodists in Britain and a similar number in the USA. |
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