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List of presidents of the Methodist Conference

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This is a chronological list of presidents of the Methodist Conference of the Methodist Church of Great Britain and its predecessor churches.

William Thompson was the first President of the Methodist Conference after John Wesley's death.

John Wesley, founder of Methodism, organised and presided over the first Methodist Conference, which was to become the church's governing body. This article lists his successors, who are elected by the Conference to serve a one-year term. Presidents follow Wesley's example in travelling the length and breadth of Great Britain, visiting and preaching in local Methodist chapels.[1] Presidents also have an important role representing the Methodist Church in the wider world (most prominently, appearing at the Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph in Whitehall).[1][2]

The first century of British Methodism was characterised by multiple splits from the original Wesleyan Methodist Church. Other Methodist branches, such as the Primitive Methodist Church, Bible Christian Church and the Methodist New Connexion had their own conferences and presidents. The various branches were re-united in 1932.

John Wesley and the early conference

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Methodism traces its roots to the 18th-century Anglican evangelist John Wesley and, to a lesser extent, his brother Charles. The Wesley brothers began an evangelical revival within the Church of England. Over time, John Wesley organised converts locally, founding Methodist "societies", organised into "circuits", and linked in a "connexion". All preachers were in were in connexion primarily with him and thence with each other.[3] John and Charles Wesley, along with four other ministers and four lay preachers, met for consultation in London in 1744. This set a precedent for future conferences; subsequently, the annual conference became the ruling body of the Methodist movement.[4]

In 1773, John Wesley had designated John William Fletcher to be his successor, however he outlived Fletcher.[5] In 1784 Wesley made provision for the governance of Methodism after his death through the Yearly Conference of the People called Methodists. He nominated 100 people and declared them to be its members and laid down the method by which their successors were to be appointed.[6]

Wesley himself was the original president of the Methodist Conference – although at the 1780 conference in Bristol, Christopher Hopper presided in Wesley's absence[7] – but after his death it was agreed that in future, so much authority would not be placed in the hands of one man. Instead, the president would be elected for one year only, to sit in Wesley's chair.[1]

Thomas Coke, twice President of the Conference in 1797 and 1805, was the first Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Joseph Benson was elected President twice, in 1798 and 1810.

A list of Wesley's early successors was produced by the Wesleyan Methodist Church, listing all Presidents up to 1890.[8] The My Methodist History website has compiled a list of all Methodist presidents from the 1932 deed of union to 2000,[9] and the My Primitive Methodist Ancestors site has collated the list for the Primitive Methodist presidents from their first conference up to union of 1932.[10] The gap in the Wesleyan records is filled from entries in the Methodist Who's Who of 1912,[11] and the Wesleyan Historical Society's Dictionary of Methodism.[12] The Methodist Church of Great Britain website had a list of presidents (and lay vice-presidents) from 2000 onwards.[13] Additional information on twentieth century Presidents is provided by the Manchester University's Methodist Archives and Research Centre.[14]

1791–1819

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Year of election President of Wesleyan Methodist Conference
1791 William Thompson
1792 Alexander Mather
1793 John Pawson
1794 Thomas Hanby
1795 Joseph Bradford
1796 Thomas Taylor
1797 Thomas Coke LL.D
1798 Joseph Benson
1799 Samuel Bradburn
1800 James Wood
1801 John Pawson
1802 Joseph Taylor SEN.
1803 Joseph Bradford
1804 Henry Moore
1805 Thomas Coke LL.D
1806 Adam Clarke M.A LL.D
1807 John Barber
1808 James Wood
1809 Thomas Taylor
1810 Joseph Benson
1811 Charles Atmore
1812 Joseph Entwisle
1813 Walter Griffith
1814 Adam Clarke LL.D
1815 John Barber
1816 Richard Reece
1817 John Gaulter
1818 Jonathan Edmonson M.A
1819 Jonathan Crowther (DNB00)

1820–1932 Wesleyans and Primitives

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Jabez Bunting was four times chosen to be President

(During the early years of the Primitives' conference the presidents were not recorded, and may have been elected for each day of the conference. A later record indicates that amongst those serving as Primitive Methodist presidents before 1849, there were, in addition to those listed below, Hugh Bourne, William Garner, Thomas Bateman, Joseph Bailey, George Tetley, Sampson Turner.[15])

Year of election President of Wesleyan Methodist Conference President of Primitive Methodist Conference
1820 Jabez Bunting A.M D.D George Handford
1821 George Marsden
1822 Adam Clarke LL.D
1823 Henry Moore
1824 Robert Newton D.D
1825 Joseph Entwisle Thomas King
1826 Richard Watson James Bourne Esq
1827 John Stephens
1828 Jabez Bunting A.M.
1829 James Townley D.D. James Bourne Esq
1830 George Morley
1831 George Marsden
1832 Robert Newton
1833 Richard Treffry SEN
1834 Joseph Taylor (2ND)
1835 Richard Reece Thomas King
1836 Jabez Bunting D.D
1837 Edmund Grindrod
1838 Thomas Jackson
1839 Theophilus Lessey
1840 Robert Newton
1841 James Dixon D.D (DNB00)
1842 John Hannah D.D James Bourne Esq
1843 John Scott John Garner
1844 Jabez Bunting D.D William Clowes
1845 Jacob Stanley William Clowes
1846 William Atherton William Clowes
1847 Samuel Jackson John Garner
1848 Robert Newton D.D Thomas King
1849 Thomas Jackson Stephen Longdin
1850 John Beecham D.D John Garner
1851 John Hannah D.D John Garner
1852 John Scott John Garner
1853 John Lomas Joseph Bailey Esq
1854 John Farrar John Garner
1855 Isaac Keeling George Tetley
1856 Robert Young Sampson Turner
1857 Francis A West Thomas Bateman Esq
1858 John Bowers Sampson Turner
1859 Samuel D Waddy D.D William Garner
1860 William W Stamp D.D John Petty
1861 John Rattenbury William Garner
1862 Charles Prest William Harland
1863 George Osborn D.D William Antliff
1864 William L Thornton M.A James Garner
1865 William Shaw William Antliff
1866 William Arthur M.A George Lamb
1867 John Bedford Thomas Bateman Esq
1868 Samuel Romilly Hall William Lister
1869 Frederick James Jobson D.D. Phillip Pugh
1870 John Farrar Moses Lupton
1871 John H James D.D James Garner
1872 Luke H Wiseman M.A James Macpherson
1873 George T Perks M.A Samuel Antliff
1874 W Morley Punshon LL.D William Rowe
1875 Gervase Smith D.D Robert Smith
1876 Alexander M'Aulay John Dickenson
1877 William Burt Pope D.D Thomas Smith
1878 James Harrison Rigg D.D Henry Phillips
1879 Benjamin Gregory D.D Thomas Newell
1880 Ebenezer Evans Jenkins M.A D.D Colin C McKechnie
1881 George Osborn D.D Charles Kendall
1882 Charles Garrett Joseph Wood
1883 Thomas M'Cullagh William Cutts
1884 Frederic Greeves D.D George Lamb
1885 Richard Roberts Ralph Fenwick
1886 Robert Newton Young D.D John Atkinson
1887 John Walton M.A Thomas Whitehead
1888 Joseph Bush Thomas Whittaker
1889 Charles Henry Kelly Joseph Toulson
1890 William Fiddian Moulton M.A D.D[14] John Hallam
1891 Thomas Bowman Stephenson[14] Joseph Ferguson
1892 James Harrison Rigg[14] James Travis
1893 Henry John Pope[14] John Stephenson
1894 Walford Green[14] John Wenn
1895 David James Waller John Watson
1896 Dr Marshall Randles William Jones
1897 William L Watkinson James Jackson
1898 Hugh Price Hughes[14] John Smith
1899 John Edward Radcliffe William Goodman
1900 Thomas Allen Joseph Odell
1901 William Theophllus Davison H Bickerstaffe Kendall
1902 John Shaw Banks Thomas Mitchell
1903 Marshall Hartley Thomas H Hunt
1904 Silvester Whitehead Robert Harrison
1905 Charles Henry Kelly George E Butt
1906 Albert Clayton George Parkin
1907 John Smith Simon Henry Yooll
1908 John Scott Lidgett James Pickett
1909 William Perkins Sir William P Hartley
1910 John Hornabrook Samuel S Henshaw
1911 Dr Henry Haigh Edwin Dalton
1912 Frederick Luke Wiseman Thomas Jackson
1913 Samuel Francis Collier Joseph Ritson
1914 Dr Dinsdale Thomas Young George Bennett
1915 Richard Waddy Moss John D Thompson
1916 Dr John Greenwood Tasker Arthur T Guttery
1917 Simson Johnson James T Parr
1918 Samuel Chadwick William A Hammond
1919 Dr William Theodore Aquila Barber James Watkin
1920 John Thomas Wardle Stafford Matthew P Davison
1921 Dr John Alfred Sharpe Samuel Horton
1922 John E Wakerley Henry J Taylor
1923 Thomas Ferrier Hulme George Armstrong
1924 Amos Burnet Joseph T Barkby
1925 John Holland Ritson James Lockhart
1926 William Russell Maltby Albert L Humphries
1927 William Hodson Smith George Armitage
1928 Dr John William Lightley John G Bowran
1929 William Francis Lofthouse James H Saxton
1930 Dr Herbert Brook Workman William M Kelley
1931 Charles Rider Smith Edward McLellan
1932 Dr Henry Maldwyn Hughes William Younger

Post–1932

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John Scott Lidgett was the first President of the post-Union Methodist Conference, 1908–1909

In 1932 each denomination held a conference which elected their own interim presidents, followed a few months later by a unified conference at which a new president and lay vice-president were elected.

Year of election President of Methodist Conference lay vice president
1932 John Scott Lidgett Sir Robert William Perks
1933 Frederick Luke Wiseman Moses Bourne JP
1934 William Younger George Pearse Dymond
1935 William Christopher Jackson Edmund Lamplough
1936 Charles Ensor Walters James Gray JP
1937 Robert Bond Isaac Foot jr MP
1938 William Lansdell Wardle R. Parkinson Tomlinson MP
1939 Richard Pyke Sir Isaac Holden
1940 Henry Bett William Ernest Clegg
1941 Walter Henry Armstrong Ernest Henry Lamb MP, Lord Rochester
1942 Walter James Noble Herbert Ibberson
1943 Leslie Frederick Church Charles T. Nightingale
1944 Wilbert Francis Howard Wilfred Turner
1945 Archibald Walter Harrison Sir George Knight
1946 Robert Newton Flew Richard John Soper MP
1947 William Edward Farndale Albert Victor Murray
1948 Ernest Benson Perkins Mildred Clarissa Lewis
1949 Harold Burgoyne Rattenbury John Arthur Stead
1950 William Edwin Sangster Dr Clifford William Towlson
1951 Howard Watkins-Jones H. Cecil Pawson MBE
1952 Colin Augustus Roberts Deaconess Dr Dorothy Farrar[16]
1953 Donald Oliver Soper Leslie Ward Kay
1954 William Russel Shearer Harold Guylee Chester OBE
1955 Leslie Dixon Weatherhead Dr Thomas Edmund Jessop OBE MC
1956 Harold Crawford Walters Douglas Blatherwick OBE
1957 Harold Roberts Philip Race
1958 Norman Henry Snaith Dr John Morel Gibbs OBE
1959 Eric W Baker Dr Charles Alfred Coulson FRS
1960 Edward Rogers George Thomas, 1st Viscount Tonypandy
1961 Maldwyn L Edwards Marjorie Walton Lonsdale OBE
1962 Leslie Davison A. Lowry Creed
1963 Frederic Greeves David Foot Nash
1964 A. Kingsley Lloyd Douglas Vernon Brown
1965 W. Walker Lee Dr Pauline Webb
1966 Douglas W. Thompson Albert Bailey
1967 Irvonwy Morgan Percy L Backus
1968 E. Gordon Rupp John Clifford Blake CB
1969 Brian Stapleton O'Gorman Dr Kenneth James Thomas Leese
1970 Rupert E. Davies Dr W. Russell Hindmarsh
1971 Kenneth L. Waights John Walton Kellaway MBE JP DL
1972 Harry O. Morton Dr Howard Souster
1973 Donald R. Lee John Ireland Miller
1974 J. Russell Pope Ernest Armstrong MP
1975 Alfred Raymond George William Albert Cockell
1976 Colin M. Morris Dr Cyril J Bennett
1977 B. Arthur Shaw Esther Margaret Waterhouse
1978 Donald English Mary Lenton
1979 William Gowland Patrick William Welch
1980 Kenneth G. Greet Elsie Moult
1981 John A. Newton David Ensor OBE
1982 Norwyn E. Denny Pamela Luke
1983 Amos Samuel Cresswell Paul Gordon Bartlett Lang
1984 Gordon Emerson Barritt June Elizabeth Lunn
1985 Christopher Hughes Smith Leon Albert Murray MBE
1986 Nigel Langley Gilson Anne Mary Knighton
1987 Dr William Rhys Davies[17] Derek W Burrell
1988 Richard Granville Jones Jennifer Carpenter
1989 John James Vincent John Bryan Hindmarsh
1990 Donald English Rosemary Wass
1991 Ronald William Cecil Hoar Ivan Weekes
1992 Kathleen Margaret Richardson Dr Edmund Marshall MP
1993 Brian Edgar Beck Susan Howdle
1994 Leslie John Griffiths Christine Walters
1995 Brian Richard Hoare Stella Bristow
1996 Nigel Thomas Collinson Jan Sutch Pickard
1997 John Brian Taylor Sir Michael Checkland
1998 William Peter Stephens Margaret Parker
1999 Stuart John Burgess Brian Thornton
2000 Inderjit Bhogal Sister Eluned Williams MBE
2001 Christina Le Moignan Ann Leck MBE
2002 Ian White Professor Peter Howdle
2003 Dr Neil Richardson Judy Jarvis
2004 Will Morrey Deacon Myrtle Ann Poxon
2005 Tom Stuckey[18] John Bell
2006 Graham Carter Dudley Coates
2007 Dr Martyn Atkins Ruby Beech
2008 Stephen Poxon David Storry Walton
2009 David Gamble Dr Richard Mark Vautrey
2010 Alison Tomlin Deacon Eunice Attwood
2011 Leo Osborn Ruth Elizabeth Pickles
2012 Mark Wakelin Michael King
2013 Ruth Gee Dr Daleep Satyanand Mukarji OBE
2014 Kenneth Howcroft[19] Gillian Margaret Dascombe
2015 Steven Wild Dr Jill Barber
2016 Dr Roger Walton Rachel Judith Lampard
2017 Loraine Mellor Jill Baker
2018 Michaela Youngson Bala Gnanapragasam
2019 Dr Barbara Glasson Professor Clive Marsh
2020 Richard Teal Carolyn Lawrence
2021 Sonia Hicks Barbara Easton
2022 Graham Thompson Anthony Boateng
2023 Gill Newton Deacon Kerry Scarlett
2024 Helen Cameron Carolyn Godfrey[20]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "The President and Vice-President". Methodist Church in Britain. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  2. ^ "Out of the Silence – the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday". Joint Public Issues Team. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  3. ^ Norris, Clive Murray. Thomas Wride and Wesley's Methodist Connexion. Abingdon, Oxon. ISBN 1000048438.
  4. ^ Graves, Dan (2007). "1st Methodist Conference Convened in London". Christianity.com. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
  5. ^ Morgan, Clay. "Leadership lessons from John Wesley and successor John Fletcher". ResourceUMC. United Methodist Church. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
  6. ^ "Birth of the Conference". Methodist Church in Britain. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
  7. ^ McGonigle, Herbert. "Hopper, Christopher". A Dictionary of Methodism in Britain and Ireland. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  8. ^ Wesley and his successors – a centenary memorial. Wesleyan Methodist Church. Accessed on 9 October 2021
  9. ^ Presidents of The Conference since 1932. My Methodist History. Accessed 2 September 2014.
  10. ^ My Primitive Methodist Ancestors: Presidents of Conference. Accessed 2 September 2014
  11. ^ The Methodist Who's Who. 1912 ed. published by Charles H Kelly, London
  12. ^ Wesleyan Historical Society Dictionary of Methodism, accessed 2 September 2014
  13. ^ "Presidents and Vice-Presidents of The Methodist Conference since 2000". Methodist Church in Britain. Archived from the original on 10 September 2016. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g The Methodist Archives Biographical Index Archived 2014-02-24 at the Wayback Machine, The John Rylands University Library, The University of Manchester Archive Accessions, 1977–2011
  15. ^ History of the Primitive Methodist Connexion, J H Kendall, (undated, 1888?)
  16. ^ Matthew, H. C. G.; Harrison, B., eds. (2004-09-23). "The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/52517. Retrieved 2023-05-22. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  17. ^ Vautrey, Richard (24 May 2010). "The President and Vice-President of the Methodist Conference: North Lancashire District visit". Retrieved 26 February 2017.
  18. ^ "Tom Stuckey - Home". tomstuckey.me.uk. Retrieved 17 April 2014. Tom Stuckey was President of the British Methodist Conference in 2005
  19. ^ "Ken Howcroft". Methodist Church in Britain. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  20. ^ "President and Vice-President 2024-25". The Methodist Church. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
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