List of presidents of the Methodist Conference


This is a chronological list of presidents of the Methodist Conference of the Methodist Church of Great Britain and its predecessor churches.
John Wesley, founder of Methodism, organised and presided over the first Methodist Conference, which was to become the church's governing body. This article lists his successors, who are elected by the British Methodist Conference to serve a one-year term. Presidents follow Wesley's example in travelling the length and breadth of Great Britain, visiting and preaching in local Methodist chapels. Presidents also have an important role representing the Methodist Church in the wider world.
The first century of British Methodism was characterised by multiple splits from the original Wesleyan Methodist Church. Other Methodist branches, such as the Primitive Methodist Church, Bible Christian Church and the Methodist New Connexion had their own conferences and presidents. The various branches were re-united in 1932.

John Wesley and the early conference

Methodism traces its roots to the 18th-century Anglican preacher John Wesley and, to a lesser extent, his brother Charles. The Wesley brothers began an evangelical revival within the Church of England. They adopted unconventional and controversial practices, such as open-air preaching, to reach factory labourers and newly urbanised masses uprooted from their traditional village culture at the start of the Industrial Revolution.
Over time, John Wesley organised converts locally, founding Methodist "societies", organised into "circuits", and linked in a "connexion". John and Charles Wesley, along with four other clergy and four lay preachers, met for consultation in London in 1744. This set a precedent for future conferences; subsequently, the annual conference became the ruling body of the Methodist movement.
In 1773, John Wesley had designated John William Fletcher to be his successor, however he outlived Fletcher. In 1784 Wesley made provision for the governance of Methodism after his death through the Yearly Conference of the People called Methodists. He nominated 100 people and declared them to be its members and laid down the method by which their successors were to be appointed.
Wesley himself was the original president of the Methodist Conference, but after his death it was agreed that in future, so much authority would not be placed in the hands of one man. Instead, the President would be elected for one year only, to sit in Wesley's chair.
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was elected President twice, in 1798 and 1810.
A list of Wesley's early successors was produced by the Wesleyan Methodist Church, listing all Presidents up to 1890. The My Methodist History website has compiled a list of all Methodist presidents from the 1932 deed of union to 2000, and the My Primitive Methodist Ancestors site has collated the list for the Primitive Methodist presidents from their first conference up to union of 1932. The gap in the Wesleyan records is filled from entries in the Methodist Who's Who of 1912, and the Wesleyan Historical Society's Dictionary of Methodism. The Methodist Church of Great Britain website has a list of Presidents since 2000. Additional information on twentieth century Presidents is provided by the Manchester University's Methodist Archives and Research Centre.

1791–1819

1820–1932 Wesleyans and Primitives

Year of electionPresident of Wesleyan Methodist ConferencePresident of Primitive Methodist Conference
1820Jabez Bunting A.M D.DGeorge Handford
1821George Marsden
1822Adam Clarke LL.D
1823Henry Moore
1824Robert Newton D.D
1825Joseph EntwisleThomas King
1826Richard WatsonJames Bourne Esq
1827John Stephens
1828Jabez Bunting A.M.
1829James Townley D.D.James Bourne Esq
1830George Morley
1831George Marsden
1832Robert Newton
1833Richard Treffry SEN
1834Joseph Taylor
1835Richard ReeceThomas King
1836Jabez Bunting D.D
1837Edmund Grindrod
1838Thomas Jackson
1839Theophilus Lessey
1840Robert Newton
1841James Dixon D.D
1842John Hannah D.DJames Bourne Esq
1843John ScottJohn Garner
1844Jabez Bunting D.DWilliam Clowes
1845Jacob StanleyWilliam Clowes
1846William AthertonWilliam Clowes
1847Samuel JacksonJohn Garner
1848Robert Newton D.DThomas King
1849Thomas JacksonStephen Longdin
1850John Beecham D.DJohn Garner
1851John Hannah D.DJohn Garner
1852John ScottJohn Garner
1853John LomasJoseph Bailey Esq
1854John FarrarJohn Garner
1855Isaac KeelingGeorge Tetley
1856Robert YoungSampson Turner
1857Francis A WestThomas Bateman Esq
1858John BowersSampson Turner
1859Samuel D Waddy D.DWilliam Garner
1860William W Stamp D.DJohn Petty
1861John RattenburyWilliam Garner
1862Charles PrestWilliam Harland
1863George Osborn D.DWilliam Antliff
1864William L Thornton M.AJames Garner
1865William ShawWilliam Antliff
1866William Arthur M.AGeorge Lamb
1867John BedfordThomas Bateman Esq
1868Samuel Romilly HallWilliam Lister
1869Frederick James Jobson D.D.Phillip Pugh
1870John FarrarMoses Lupton
1871John H James D.DJames Garner
1872Luke H Wiseman M.AJames Macpherson
1873George T Perks M.ASamuel Antliff
1874W Morley Punshon LL.DWilliam Rowe
1875Gervase Smith D.DRobert Smith
1876Alexander M'AulayJohn Dickenson
1877William Burt Pope D.DThomas Smith
1878James Harrison Rigg D.DHenry Phillips
1879Benjamin Gregory D.DThomas Newell
1880Ebenezer Evans Jenkins M.A D.DColin C McKechnie
1881George Osborn D.DCharles Kendall
1882Charles GarrettJoseph Wood
1883Thomas M'CullaghWilliam Cutts
1884Frederic Greeves D.DGeorge Lamb
1885Richard RobertsRalph Fenwick
1886Robert Newton Young D.DJohn Atkinson
1887John Walton M.AThomas Whitehead
1888Joseph BushThomas Whittaker
1889Charles Henry KellyJoseph Toulson
1890William Fiddian Moulton M.A D.DJohn Hallam
1891Thomas Bowman StephensonJoseph Ferguson
1892James Harrison RiggJames Travis
1893Henry John PopeJohn Stephenson
1894Walford GreenJohn Wenn
1895David James WallerJohn Watson
1896Dr Marshall RandlesWilliam Jones
1897William L WatkinsonJames Jackson
1898Hugh Price HughesJohn Smith
1899John Edward RadcliffeWilliam Goodman
1900Thomas AllenJoseph Odell
1901William Theophllus DavisonH Bickerstaffe Kendall
1902John Shaw BanksThomas Mitchell
1903Marshall HartleyThomas H Hunt
1904Silvester WhiteheadRobert Harrison
1905Charles Henry KellyGeorge E Butt
1906Albert ClaytonGeorge Parkin
1907John Smith SimonHenry Yooll
1908John Scott LidgettJames Pickett
1909William PerkinsSir William P Hartley
1910John HornabrookSamuel S Henshaw
1911Dr Henry HaighEdwin Dalton
1912Frederick Luke WisemanThomas Jackson
1913Samuel Francis CollierJoseph Ritson
1914Dr Dinsdale Thomas YoungGeorge Bennett
1915Richard Waddy MossJohn D Thompson
1916Dr John Greenwood TaskerArthur T Guttery
1917Simson JohnsonJames T Parr
1918Samuel ChadwickWilliam A Hammond
1919Dr William Theodore Aquila BarberJames Watkin
1920John Thomas Wardle StaffordMatthew P Davison
1921Dr John Alfred SharpeSamuel Horton
1922John E WakerleyHenry J Taylor
1923Thomas Ferrier HulmeGeorge Armstrong
1924Amos BurnetJoseph T Barkby
1925John Holland RitsonJames Lockhart
1926William Russell MaltbyAlbert L Humphries
1927William Hodson SmithGeorge Armitage
1928Dr John William LightleyJohn G Bowran
1929William Francis LofthouseJames H Saxton
1930Dr Herbert Brook WorkmanWilliam M Kelley
1931Charles Rider SmithEdward McLellan
1932Dr Henry Maldwyn HughesWilliam Younger

Post–1932

In 1932 each denomination held a conference which elected their own interim presidents, followed a few months later by a unified conference at which a new president was elected.
Year of electionPresident of Methodist Conference
1932John Scott Lidgett
1933Frederick Luke Wiseman
1934William Younger
1935William Christopher Jackson
1936Charles Ensor Walters
1937Robert Bond
1938William Lansdell Wardle
1939Richard Pyke
1940Henry Bett
1941Walter Henry Armstrong
1942Walter James Noble
1943Leslie Frederick Church
1944Wilbert Francis Howard
1945Archibald Walter Harrison
1946Robert Newton Flew
1947William Edward Farndale
1948Ernest Benson Perkins
1949Harold Burgoyne Rattenbury
1950William Edwin Sangster
1951Howard Watkins-Jones
1952Colin Augustus Roberts
1953Donald Oliver Soper
1954William Russel Shearer
1955Leslie Dixon Weatherhead
1956Harold Crawford Walters
1957Harold Roberts
1958Norman Henry Snaith
1959Eric W Baker
1960Edward Rogers
1961Maldwyn L Edwards
1962Leslie Davison
1963Frederic Greeves
1964A. Kingsley Lloyd
1965W. Walker Lee
1966Douglas W. Thompson
1967Irvonwy Morgan
1968E. Gordon Rupp
1969Brian Stapleton O'Gorman
1970Rupert E. Davies
1971Kenneth L. Waights
1972Harry O. Morton
1973Donald R. Lee
1974J. Russell Pope
1975Alfred Raymond George
1976Colin M. Morris
1977B. Arthur Shaw
1978Donald English
1979William Gowland
1980Kenneth G. Greet
1981John A. Newton
1982Norwyn E. Denny
1983Amos Samuel Cresswell
1984Gordon Emerson Barritt
1985Christopher Hughes Smith
1986Nigel Langley Gilson
1987Dr William Rhys Davies
1988Richard Granville Jones
1989John James Vincent
1990Donald English
1991Ronald William Cecil Hoar
1992Kathleen Margaret Richardson
1993Brian Edgar Beck
1994Leslie John Griffiths
1995Brian Richard Hoare
1996Nigel Thomas Collinson
1997John Brian Taylor
1998William Peter Stephens
1999Stuart John Burgess
2000Inderjit Bhogal
2001Christina Le Moignan
2002Ian White
2003Dr Neil Richardson
2004Will Morrey
2005Tom Stuckey
2006Graham Carter
2007Dr Martyn Atkins
2008Stephen Poxon
2009David Gamble
2010Alison Tomlin
2011Leo Osborn
2012Mark Wakelin
2013Ruth Gee
2014Kenneth Howcroft
2015Steven Wild
2016Dr Roger Walton
2017Loraine Mellor
2018Michaela Youngson
2019Dr Barbara Glasson
2020Richard Teal