Open Research Online The Open University’s repository of research publications and other research outputs Tent Methodism: 1814 - 1832 ’one soweth, and another reapeth’ Thesis How to cite: Lander, John Kenneth (2000). Tent Methodism: 1814 - 1832 ’one soweth, and another reapeth’. PhD thesis The Open University. For guidance on citations see FAQs. c 1999 John Kenneth Lander https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Version: Version of Record Link(s) to article on publisher’s website: http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21954/ou.ro.0000f96f Copyright and Moral Rights for the articles on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. For more information on Open Research Online’s data policy on reuse of materials please consult the policies page. oro.open.ac.uk TENT METHODISM : 1814-1832 one soweth, and another reapeth’ John Kenneth LANDER : BA (Honours) - The Open University FCIB A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of The Open University . for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy October 1999 Westminster College,^Oxford DATe Of AW/Hib • a s MAy 2000 ProQuest Number: C808776 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest C808776 Published by ProQuest LLO (2019). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code Microform Edition © ProQuest LLO. ProQuest LLO. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.Q. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 4 8 1 0 6 - 1346 TENT METHODISM : 1814 -1832 *one soweth, and another reapeth” After John Wesley’s death in 1791, schisms from Wesleyan Methodism occurred regularly. These events were not une^q)ected and the auihuritics often accepted them with little obvious regret, even if they did not actually encourage them. The first major split took place in 1797 v4ien the Methodist New Connexion was formed, and during the following twenty years further significant schisms led to the establishment of the Primitive Methodists and the Bible Christians. Other ofifrhoots arose but lasted for much shorter periods. One of these was the Tent Methodists, a group that has been largely ignored by historians. Although some writers have made passing reference to tlw group’s presence in particular localities, the feet that Tent Methodism did not become a major national, or even a regional, body has meant that its significance has not been sufficiently recognised. The primaiy and secondaiy material documenting the group’s activities has had to be gleaned from many different places and sources. A full length biography of the second most mqx)rtant Tent Methodist was written shortly after his death, but no major work has charted and analysed the group’s overall inq)act. This thesis is an original contribution to research in the development of Methodism in the early 19th century. The main case to be made in the thesis is that although the group existed, firstly within the Wesleyan feld and then as an independent Methodist sect, ft)r only approximately eighteen years from 1814 to about 1832, the group’s inqaact in that period was greater than has, hitherto, been acknowledged. Some of the personalities involved went on to serve other denominations with great devotion for many years. From a careful study of the material, it is also possible to compare and contrast Tent Methodism’s experience with that of the main groups that emerged from Wesleyan Methodism during the first two decades of the nineteenth century. John Lander October 1999 TENT METHODISM ; 1814-1832 *ome soweth, and another reapeth” CONTENTS Preface vn Abbreviations IX Chapter 1 : The social and religious context of the conflicts within 1 Methodism from 1791 to 1820: a) the inq)act of John Wesley’s death on the manifestations of tensions within Methodism 1 b) Tent Methodism - a sect or a denomination? 8 c) social and economic features in parts of early nineteenth century Britain 10 d) the institutional religious response to the social and economic conditions 15 e) nonconfermity in Bristol up to the early nineteenth century 17 Chapter 2 : Tent evangelical aciivirv from 1814 to 1819 21 a) Why a tent? 21 b) George Pocock’s introduction to Methodism 24 c) John Pyer’s Wesleyan activity 30 d) the evangelical activity of the tent preachers, and the growing opposition 31 Chapter 3 : The disputes that led to the Tent preachers’ withdrawal from Weslevanism 53 a) Samuel Smith and his involvement with the Methodist New Connexion 53 b) John Pyer and the refusal of the Bristol Wesleyan authorities to renew his membership 57 c) George Pocock and his refusal to submit to Wesleyan control the tents and chapels he had financed 59 d) the influence of other supporters and opponents of tent preaching 65 Chapter 4 : The formal establishment of Tent Methodism in 1820 76 a) the acquisition of Pithay Chapel in the Bristol city centre 80 b) the preparation and production of the first set of rules 82 c) conqparison with other Methodist ofifehoots 87 d) early geographical expansion 90 e) commitment of the Tent Methodist preachers 92 f) a schism or a secession? 98 g) the wish to be perceived as a mainstream, orthodox Methodist group 103 Chapter 5 : The geographical spread of Tent Methodism 111 a) Bristol city centre, Kingswood, and south Gloucestershire 113 b) other parts of southern England and Wales, particularly an area of Wiltshire 133 c) the Sphalfields, Shoreditch and Bethnal Green districts of east London 144 d) the Ancoats and Stretford areas of Manchester 154 e) Heath Street, Liverpool, and Rea Street, Birmingham 163 Chapter 6 : Other features of Tent Methodism’s progress in the earlv 1820’s 166 a) the structure, and the second version of rules 166 b) co-operation with individual Wesleyans and other nonconformist groups 169 c) the production of a hymn book, and an early History 171 d) the extent of conpetition with Wesleyans 176 e) possible membership numbers compared with other Wesleyan oflfehoots 179 Chapter 7 : The vears of decline 184 a) the loss of John Barnett to the Baptists 185 b) decline, and disposal of ch^xls, in Bristol, south Gloucestershire, Bath, )^lltshire, east London, and Birmingham 186 c) the dispute in Manchester leading to Pyer, and the Ancoats society, joining the Independents; and the same with George Smith and the Liverpool society 203 d) reduced commitment of Pocock, and loss of other preachers 211 e) influence of: (i) lack of formal ministerial training 219 (ii) lack of geogr^hical coherence 221 (iii) underlying congregational principles 223 (iv) management of c h ^ ls 225 (v) economic conditions 226 Chapter 8 : An assessment of the contribution Tent Methodism made to the religious life of the earlv nineteenth centurv 230 a) social and religious perspectives in assessing the inpact of Tent Methodism 230 b) “one soweth, and another reapeth” - Tent Methodism’s contribution to later nonconformity 233 c) the significance of the use of tents 237 d) concern for the poor, in urban and rural communities 240 e) Wesleyan reaction to secessions 247 f) the influence of Tent Methodism 250 Appendices 255 Notes and References 263 Bibliography 321 VI TENT METHODISM : 1814 -1832 ^one soweth, and another reapeth” PREFACE Study undertaken during a Research Degree programme is often a solitary experience. The various sections of the British Library, libraries holding special collections, local history units of public libraries, and Public and County Record Offices are not, as a rule, places where one finds, or indeed wants, the bustle of daily life. Part of the attraction of a lengthy course of individual academic learning is the ability to seek out information, digest it, analyse it, attenpt to explain it, look for more (vdiich is sometimes unobtainable), and generally pursue an exercise that no one else is, precisely, following. I, for one, have found that immensely rewarding. It would be quite wrong, however, not to readily acknowledge that without the assistance of many people this work could not have been completed. Apart fi*om professional banking examinations, I undertook no formal academic study between leaving school in 1958 and 1990 when I began an Open University degree course. It was during research for the final subject that I first came across the Tent Methodists. The Open University had, by then, instilled in me an appetite which I wished to satisfy. To the many tutors, now known as Associate Lecturers, ^ o guided me through several years of highly enjoyable and successfiil study, I owe much. In my pursuit of all there was to discover about Tent Methodism and the personalities involved, I have visited many libraries and Record Offices; some on numerous occasions, and I am gratefiil to them for granting me permission to use, and quote from, material held in their archives. The Wesley & Methodist Studies Centre at Westminster College, Oxford, has played a crucial role. As the sponsoring body for my degree, the College had a formal and institutional part to play, but it is the staff who have provided the practical help. Tim Macquiban, my internal supervisor, has always given support when I needed it, and his assistant Penny Fowler and John Vickers, the Librarian, were both willing to provide assistance when it was required. I have spent many fruitful days surrounded by the extensive material held in the Wesley Historical Society Library.