Collection of Wesleyana at Bridwell Library

About the Collection

This collection features letters, images, and other documents written by or relating to the founders of Methodism, John and Charles Wesley. Included among these are more than 260 letters written by John Wesley. This collection also includes music, poetry, and images associated with Charles Wesley, his wife, their three children, and one grandson.

John Wesley was born on June 28, 1703 in Epworth, England. He was the fifteenth child of Anglican rector Samuel Welsey and Susanna Annesley Wesley. Charles was born December 18, 1707, also at Epworth. Both brothers studied at Christ Church College, Oxford, where Charles founded the Holy Club in 1729.

After assisting his father in the parish ministry from 1727 to 1729, John Wesley returned to Oxford and became the leader of the Holy Club, whose members committed to meeting frequently for Bible study, prayer, self-examination, and the performance of charitable acts. This systematic approach to fostering spiritual vitality earned the group the derisive nickname “Methodists.”

In 1735 John Wesley and Charles Wesley traveled to the British colony of Georgia as missionaries. Not long after his return to England in 1738, John Wesley had a life-changing conversion experience. From that time on he became a prominent leader in the English evangelical revival.

At the urging of George Whitefield, Wesley took up field preaching in 1739. In 1743 he organized the first Methodist class-meetings. A year later, in 1744, he presided over the first Methodist Conference. Following the American Revolution, John Wesley ordained and commissioned preachers to serve in the United States of America. This led to the founding of the North American branch of the Wesleyan movement, the Methodist Episcopal Church, in December of 1784.

John Wesley letter to Mary Wesley, his wife, 1756 January 7

[Print of Charles Wesley engraved by Stodhart]

[Four-line poem by Samuel Wesley: ''Our grandfathers were papists all,'' 1827 November 5]