J. Jackson (James Jackson) Wray

Born in Sancton, Yorkshire, on August 12, 1832, James Jackson Wray was an English Nonconformist minister and writer. Reference works on his life describe him as educated at Westminster Normal College, after which he worked in school posts before entering the Wesleyan Methodist Conference in 1858 and serving briefly in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

After returning to Britain, he served in several Methodist circuits and later became associated with Congregational ministry. Alongside his preaching, he built a substantial career as an author, publishing religious biographies, temperance tales, and fiction with strong ties to Yorkshire Methodism.

His books include Nestleton Magna, The Red, Red Wine, and John Wycliffe, and Project Gutenberg lists a number of his works still in circulation today. He died in 1892 and was remembered in contemporary newspaper notices as both a well-known preacher and a widely read writer.