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Imverstty Mcrafilms International INFORMATION TO USERS This reproduction was made from a copy of a manuscript sent to us for publication and microfilming. While the most advanced technology has been used to pho­ tograph and reproduce this manuscript, the quality of the reproduction is heavily dependent upon the quality of the material submitted. Pages in any manuscript may have indistinct print. In all cases the best available copy has been filmed. The following explanation of techniques is provided to help clarify notations which may appear on this reproduction. 1. Manuscripts may not always be complete. When it is not possible to obtain missing pages, a note appears to indicate this. 2. When copyrighted materials are removed from the manuscript, a note ap­ pears to indicate this. 3. Oversize materials (maps, drawings, and charts) are photographed by sec­ tioning the original, beginning at the upper left hand comer and continu­ ing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each oversize page is also filmed as one exposure and is available, for an additional charge, as a standard 35mm slide or in black and white paper format. * 4. Most photographs reproduce acceptably on positive microfilm or micro­ fiche but lack clarity on xerographic copies made from the microfilm. For an additional charge, all photographs are available in black and white standard 35mm slide format.* ♦For more information about black and white slides or enlarged paper reproductions, please contact the Dissertations Customer Services Department. IMverstty Mcrafilms International 8603056 Smith, John Quincy THE ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE KEIGHLEY METHODIST CIRCUIT: A STUDY OF METHODISM IN A YORKSHIRE TEXTILE COMMUNITY, 1748-1850 The Ohio State University Ph.D. 1985 University Microfilms International300 N. Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 Copyright 1985 by Smith, John Quincy All Rights Reserved THE ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE KEIGHLEY METHODIST CIRCUIT: A STUDY OF METHODISM IN A YORKSHIRE TEXTILE COMMUNITY, 1748-1850 DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of the Ohio State University By John Q. Smith, B.A., M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 1985 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Clayton Roberts Martha M. Garland (/ Adviser James M. Kittelson Department of History Copyright by John Q. Smith 1985 In Memory Of My Father, Ralph Smith, And My Father-in-law, Curtis Justice ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to my adviser, Professor Clayton Roberts, for his guidance and encouragement throughout this project. The other members of my dissertation committee, Professors Martha Garland and James Kittelson, provided insightful comments and suggestions. I am grateful to Mr. D. Colin Dews, secretary of the Yorkshire Branch of the Wesley Historical Society, whose acquaintance with the local archival material proved invaluable. He and his wife Christine also provided a cordial welcome to West Yorkshire. Mr. Ian Dewhirst, reference librarian at the Keighley Central Library, patiently answered questions and assisted me in locating sources. Special thanks go to Miss Tammie Crews and Miss Bessie Sugden, who provided essential research assistance and moral support when I was incapacitated from a cricket injury. I sincerely appreciate the encouragement and support of my mother-in-law, Esther Justice Willis, and especially of my mother, Eleanor Smith. My thanks and apologies go to iii my two sons, Bryan and David, who do not quite understand why they have not been the center of my attention recently. Above all, I want to express my affectionate gratitude to my wife, Grace, without whose loving patience and encouragement I would never have been able to complete this dissertation. VITA Name: John Q. Smith Address: 308 Barkley Place East, Whitehall, Ohio 43213 Telephone: 614-864-3053 Birthdate: October 26, 1952 in Barberton, Ohio Academic Degrees: B.A. from Mount Vernon Nazarene College (Mount Vernon, Ohio), 1976, magna cum laude M.A. from the Ohio State University, 1980 Thesis— "The Influence of the Religious Thought of John Wesley on his Political and Social Views" Passed general exam for Ph.D., Spring, 1983 Dissertation— "The Origins and Development of the Keighley Methodist Circuit: A Study of Methodism in a Yorkshire Textile Community, 1748-1850"; Clayton Roberts adviser Fields : Tudor-Stuart England; Modern Britain; Early Modern Europe; Renaissance and Reformation Honors and Awards: Elected to Phi Delta Lambda Academic Honor Society, 1976 Philip Poirier Memorial Research Grant, Winter 1984 Graduate Student Alumni Research Award, Summer 1984 Teaching Experience: Teaching Associate at the Ohio State University: Spring 1977-Winter 1978, and Winter 1981, discussion leader in American History Autumn 1980, discussion leader in European History 1500-1789 Spring 1981, grader in European History 1500-1789 and American Women's History Autumn 1981-Winter 1985, full teaching responsibility for Freshman Composition, Department of English Lecturer at the Ohio State University: Autumn 1985, lecturer for Department of English, teaching Freshman Composition Research Experience: Spring-Summer 1980, and Summer 1981, Graduate Research Associate, the Ohio State University, Department of History; Project: French Administrative History, 1695-1715 Papers : "The Influence of Mysticism on John Wesley's Concept of Religious Experience," Ohio Academy of History, Spring meeting, Columbus, Ohio, April 1981 References: Professor Clayton Roberts, Department of History, the Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210 Professor John Rule, Department of History, the Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210 Professor June Fullmer, Department of History, the Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210 Professor Frank O'Hare, Department of English, the Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210 TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION......................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................. iii VITA ................................................ v LIST OF T A B L E S .................................... ix LIST OF F I G U R E S .................................. x PREFACE ........................................... xi CHAPTER PAGE I. ORIGINS OF THE CIRCUIT.................... 1 N o t e s ................................ 49 II. STRUCTURE AND EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF THE KEIGHLEY C I R C U I T .................. 57 N o t e s ...................................107 III. GROWTH OF THE CIRCUIT: 1791 TO 1850 . 114 N o t e s ...................................179 IV. FINANCES AND INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT: 1791 TO 1350 186 Finances................................ 186 Leadership.............................. 203 W o r s h i p ................................ 232 Sunday Schools ....................... 244 N o t e s ...................................268 V. PRIMITIVE METHODISM IN KEIGHLEY TO 1850 ........................... 274 vii Notes 294 CONCLUSION............................................297 APPENDIX Map of portions of the early Haworth R o u n d ......................... 309 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..... ........................... 310 viii LIST OF TABLES TABLE PAGE 1. Occupations in the Keighley circuit in 1763 ................................. 106 ix LIST OF FIGURES FIGURES PAGE 1. Circuit membership: 1763-1792 .............. 103 2. Circuit income: 1755-1792 ................... 104 3. Circuit finances--income and expenditure: 1755-1792 104 4. Parish expenditures on the poor: 1745-1791 ........................... 105 5. Circuit membership: 1792-1837 .............. 177 6. Membership of the Wesleyan Connexion: 1792-1851 . ...................... 177 7. Parish expenditures on the poor: 1792-1837 ........................... 178 8. Circuit income: 1792-1851 ................... 266 9. Circuit finances--income and expenditures: 1792-1851 .................. 266 10. Worship patterns in the Keighley circuit: 1814-1849 ........ 267 11. Map of portions of the early Haworth R o u n d ........................... 309 x PREFACE The origins of Methodism and its role in British society have long been the objects of historical research and speculation, as the ever-growing bibliography of British Methodism reveals. Historians of religion, as well as scholars interested in politics and society, have felt compelled to consider the role of Methodism in modern English history. Their explanations of its appeal and their conclusions regarding its impact on British society have sometimes differed sharply. It would appear that the most fruitful method of resolving these differences would be to carry out research at the local level— or, to use the Methodist nomenclature, at the circuit level. The Keighley circuit offers such a fruitful study. This circuit included the town of Keighley and the surrounding vicinity, a vicinity that was originally rather large geographically but decreased in area as the number of adherents to Methodism increased, the circuit subdividing and forming several smaller circuits. What xi makes it especially intriguing is the fact that by 1851, the religious census shows a larger percentage of Methodist worshippers in Keighley than Anglicans. An examination of the origins and subsequent growth and development of the circuit poses a number of questions. First of all, what process characterized the formation of the circuit? How did the itinerant preaching of the Scottish evangelist William Darney and others, the pastoral oversight of the Reverend William Grimshaw of Haworth, and the organizational supervision
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