Frederic W. (Frederic William) Macdonald

Born in Leeds on 25 February 1842, Frederic William MacDonald became a Wesleyan Methodist minister and went on to build a varied career as a preacher, editor, professor, and church leader. He studied at Owens College in Manchester, entered the ministry in 1862, and later taught systematic theology at Handsworth College in Birmingham.

MacDonald was also a productive writer. His books include religious biography such as Fletcher of Madeley, memoir and reflection in As a Tale That Is Told, and travel and missionary writing including The Story of Mashonaland and the Missionary Pioneers. That mix gives his work a broad appeal: some readers come for Methodist history, while others are drawn to his firsthand sense of place and period.

He spent part of his later career in important Methodist leadership roles, including work connected with missions, and he represented British Methodism abroad. MacDonald died on 16 October 1928, leaving behind writing that captures both the inner life of Victorian religion and the wider world his ministry touched.