Frederic W. (Frederic William) Macdonald

Born in Leeds on February 25, 1842, Frederic William MacDonald became an English Wesleyan Methodist minister and writer. He was educated at the Wesleyan school in Richmond and at Kingswood School, and he went on to serve in Methodist ministry while also building a substantial career as an author.

MacDonald wrote across several forms, which helps explain his lasting appeal to readers. His works include religious biography such as Fletcher of Madeley, reflective prose like As a Tale That Is Told, and bookish essays such as Recreations of a Book-Lover. He also wrote on hymnology, showing both a scholar's interest in church song and a reader's pleasure in language and tradition.

He died on October 16, 1928. Today he is remembered as a writer who could move comfortably between ministry, history, memoir, and literary appreciation, with a style shaped by both pastoral experience and a lifelong affection for books.