author

W. J. (William John) Townsend

1835–1915

A leading Methodist minister and historian, he wrote lively, thoughtful books on theology, church history, and reform. His work ranged from medieval philosophy to missionary biography, showing a wide curiosity and a gift for explaining big religious ideas clearly.

1 Audiobook

Men of the Bible; Some Lesser-Known Characters

Men of the Bible; Some Lesser-Known Characters

by Walter F. (Walter Frederic) Adeney, J. Morgan (James Morgan) Gibbon, J. G. (John Gershom) Greenhough, H. Elvet (Howell Elvet) Lewis, George Milligan, Alfred Rowland, David Rowlands, W. J. (William John) Townsend

About the author

Born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne on January 20, 1835, William John Townsend was educated at Percy Street Academy and worked in business before entering the ministry. After studying at Ranmoor College in Sheffield, he became a minister of the Methodist New Connexion in 1860.

Townsend went on to play an important part in British Methodism. He served as President of the Methodist New Connexion Conference in 1886 and later edited the Methodist New Connexion from 1893 to 1897. He died on March 7, 1915.

His books show both strong learning and broad interests. He wrote on doctrine and church history, produced biographies of figures such as Robert Morrison and Alexander Kilham, and published The Great Schoolmen of the Middle Ages in 1881. He also helped write A New History of Methodism in 1909, a major work on the movement he served for much of his life.