author
Thomas Webster
1809–1901
An Irish-born Methodist minister who became a prominent voice in 19th-century Canadian church life, he wrote histories, biographies, and spirited arguments on religion and social questions. His work is closely tied to the growth of Methodism in Upper Canada and Ontario.
1 Audiobook
Woman: Man's Equal
by Thomas Webster
About the author
Born in Glendalough, County Wicklow, on October 24, 1809, he moved with his family first to New York and then to Upper Canada as a child. He later became a Methodist clergyman, editor, and author, and spent much of his life serving churches in what is now Ontario.
He is especially remembered for helping found and edit the Canada Christian Advocate and for writing books such as History of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Canada and a life of Bishop James Richardson. His writing was practical and engaged, shaped by church controversies, denominational history, and questions of public life.
He died in Newbury, Ontario, on May 2, 1901. Surviving records present him as an energetic religious leader whose books now offer a window into Canadian Methodism in the 1800s.