Wesley, Charles

Author: Wesley, Charles

Biography:

WESLEY, Charles (1707-88: ODNB)

The younger brother of John Wesley (q.v.), he may have been overshadowed by his brother in his lifetime and in the historical record, but as a poet--"the Poet of Methodism" (Benson 220)--his superiority is unquestionable. The third surviving son of Susanna (Annesley) and Samuel Wesley, he was born at his father's rectory in Epworth, Lincolnshire, and educated at Westminster School. He then followed his brother John to Oxford (BA 1730, MA 1733), into Anglican orders (1735), and on the aborted Georgia mission. He preceded his brother in 1729, however, as a founding member of the "Holy Club" at Oxford, a group of students from different colleges who met for worship and performed good works in an attempt to live a holy life. In 1738 he also preceded him by a few days in his experience of conversion at a Moravian meeting in London. Thereafter, with John as the leader and Charles on occasion acting as a brake, they became partners in the Methodist movement. According to Benson, in a period of 53 years the Wesleys published 56 titles, 36 of them entirely original and with much original work appearing also in the other collections. Most of them were published anonymously, but eight were identified as John's work, three as Charles's, and six as theirs jointly. Most of these titles were "hymn tracts"--small collections of original hymns. In 1780, John Wesley issued what became the standard collection, Hymns for the Use of the People Called Methodists, which consisted entirely of previously published works. The unpublished materials that Charles left at his death were later gathered in Osborn's edition of The Poetical Works of John and Charles Wesley (1868-72). Unlike his brother, Charles had a happy marriage. In 1749 he married Sarah Gwynne (1726-1822), with whom he had two sons who survived to maturity: their mother was a fine singer and both of them became musicians. Charles Wesley gave up circuit preaching in 1756 but continued to preach at meetings in Bristol (until 1771) and in London. He died at home in London and was buried in the graveyard of his parish church of St. Mary's, Marylebone. His funeral expenses were paid by friends. (ODNB 24 Jan. 2021; ancestry.com 24 Jan. 2021; Benson 260-303) HJ