The following is an excerpt from a manuscript written by Luke Tyerman in the late 1860's. Mr. Tyerman said in his writings that he obtained the manuscript of Jonathan's autobiography from Jonathan's widow who died in 1869 at age 95. This manuscript is in the John Rylands University Library, Manchester. Other data on the family is also in these archives including personal letters of the family.
JONATHAN CROWTHER, TWENTY-FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE WESLEYAN METHODIST CHURCHES IN ENGLAND -1819
Amongst the early fruits of Methodism in Yorkshire are found many families who freely contributed Ministers to supply the ranks of the Methodist itinerancy. The Crowther family, at Halifax was for many years prominently before the Connexion. Three brothers from that household were admitted by Mr. Wesley to labour in the work of the ministry, namely, Timothy and Jonathan Crowther, in 1784 and Robert Crowther, in 1789. Timothy died in 1829, aged 72 years, and was a preacher 45 years: Robert died in 1833, aged 70 years, and was a preacher 44 years: Jonathan died in 1824, aged 64 years and was a preacher 40 years. That is a good record for one family as the fruits of Methodism in Halifax.
Jonathan Crowther was born at Northowram, Halifax, June 8th 1759. He had six brothers and one sister. The sister died in infancy. All the brothers were living in 1814. Their mother died in 1799, and their father in 1810. In the Year 1779, the Rev. Brian Bury Collins, an ordained clergyman of the Cambridge University, offered his services to preach for Mr. Wesley to his Societies, his great object being as he said, to unite the followers of Mr. Whitefield and Mr. Wesley in one body. He laboured extensively and gratuitously, preaching as often as five or six times a day. Early in 1779, he was preaching in Halifax, and both Timothy and Jonathan Crowther heard him preach there. His earnestness and zeal so deeply impressed both the brothers that they began regularly to attend the ministry of Methodism. Robert was converted under the preaching of Dr. Coke. In September 1779, Jonathan Crowther received his first ticket of Membership, on trial from Alexander Mather, whose awakening ministry he delighted to attend, and under one of his sermons preached at the Christmas following, he found peace with God, and soon engaged himself in the work of the Society.
Soon afterwards he began to exhort, and seeing the blessing of God attending his humble endeavors, he began to preach in 1782 and continued to act as a local preacher till the Conference of 1784, when both he and his elder brother Timothy were received by Mr. Wesley on trial as itinerant preachers. Jonathan had the Dales for his first circuit in which he labored diligently for one year, using every opportunity which offered to acquire knowledge. In 1785 he was appointed to Scarsborough, and in 1786 he had the whole of the Isle of Man for his circuit.
At the conference of 1787, Mr. Wesley selected him to labour in Scotland; and as he had on previous years specially set apart by the imposition of hands, the preachers he had sent into that country, that they might be fully qualified to administer the Sacrament, he ordained Duncan McAllum, Alexander Suter and Jonathan Crowther for the work in Scotland, and he was sent to Inverness, accompanied by Mr. McAllum. They went to succeed two preachers, one of whom they found "dying of fever in a lousy bed", and the other was already dead and buried. Such was the cheerless prospect which met these two newly ordained Ministers. Their journey had been adventurous and dangerous; their circuit was large; and their allowance next to nothing. Mr. Crowther received only fifty shillings for the whole years labor, his food being provided at the homes of the members. He had to spend forty shillings for the cost of his removal to Dunbar. He then wrote to Mr. Wesley as follows: "No man is fit for the Inverness Circuit, unless his flesh be brass, his bones iron; and his heart harder that a stoics". After describing the deaths of the two preachers who had preceded him there, he adds: "I too shall probably be sacrificed in this miserable corner; and if I were doing good, I should be content to sacrifice seven lives every year if I had them but to live in misery, and to die in banishment for next to nothing, is afflicting indeed".
The downhearted man was soon cheered by receiving the following reply from Mr. Wesley:
LETTER FROM JOHN WESLEY
Bath, Sept. 25,1787. Dear Jonathan, The sum of the matter is you want money and money you shall have, if I can beg, borrow, or anything but steal. I say therefore, dwell in the land, and do good and verily thou shall be fed. I should be sorry for the death of Mr. Burbeck, but that I know that God does all things well; and if his work prospers in your hands, this will make your labor light. Our preachers now find in the North of Scotland, what they formerly found all over England; yet they went on; and when I had only blackberries to eat in Cornwall, still God gave me strength sufficient for my work.
J Wesley
P.S. To Mr. Atlay. Pay to Jonathan Crowther, on his order, five guineas. John Wesley.
This is a vivid but true picture of Methodism in Scotland ninety years ago. Before Mr. Crowther left Scotland he had trials of another kind, which may be briefly mentioned. In August 1788, he was removed to Dalkeith, where, however, he remained till Christmas, and then had locate himself for seven months in Glasgow. There the venerable John Pawson had preceded him, who also had been ordained by Mr Wesley. Eager to exercise his newly acquired power, he ordained in Glasgow seven elders, and he wrote a set of rules by which to regulate their conduct. The Elders on feeling their position to be one which elevated them above their brethren, they got up all sorts of trials to show their skill in settling them. One such trial was brought before Mr. Crowther, in which two women, members of Society were concerned, one of whom was charged with stealing part of half an cruse of tea, and part of a farthings worth of oil. After a lengthened investigation, the case was "not proven".
Jonathan Crowther was disgusted, and he tried to convince these ordained elders that their discipline would soon ruin Methodism. He was but a young and inexperienced Minister, in the fifth year of his itinerant life, but his common sense convinced him of the folly and danger of these proceedings so he wrote to Mr. Wesley on the subject. Mr. Wesley's reply was as follow:
SECOND LETTER FROM JOHN WESLEY
Cork, May 10,1789. My Dear Brother; "Sessions"! "Elders!" We Methodists have no such customs, neither any of the churches of God that are under our care. I require you, Jonathan Crowther, to immediately dissolve the sessions (so called ) at Glasgow. Discharge these from meeting anymore. If they will leave the Society, let them leave it. We acknowledge only preachers, stewards, and leaders among us. over which the assistant in each circuit presides. You ought to have kept to the Methodist plan from the beginning. Who had my authority to vary from it? If the people of Glasgow, or any place are weary of us, we will leave them to themselves. But we are willing still to be their servants for Christ's sake, according to our discipline, but no other. John Wesley.
These pretty little incidents go far to show somewhat the kind and severity of the trials of the early Methodist preachers; and --- how firmly they attached themselves to the work! Mr. Crowther, in his latter years, wrote a copious autobiography in two large volumes. It has never been published; but the particulars related above were extracted from the manuscript by the Rev. Luke Tyerman, with Mrs. Crowther's permission, and they are printed in The Life and Times of John Wesley. Mr. Tyerman has furnished other facts from his papers, relating to Mr. Crowther.
Leaving Scotland, the Conference of 1789 appointed Mr. Crowther to Colchester, and for several years following he had annual charges as follows: 1790, Redruth; 1791 Penzance; 1792 Cork; 1793 Waterford; and in 1794, he was ordained by Dr. Coke for the West Indies, but money and sailing ships at that time were not always available, so Mr. Crowther spent the year in Bristol, where disputes were running high between the trustees and the preachers. Mr. Crowther wrote and published an account of those disputes under the title of "Truth and Matter of Fact". In the next year he published "The Crisis of Methodism"; and in 1796, he wrote "Christian Order or Liberty without Anarchy". In 1790 Mr. Crowther was married, and stationed at Plymouth and in 1796 he removed to Worcester. In that circuit he published the sermon he preached on the "Death of Mrs. Wright".
Mr. Crowther, by the use of his pen, and by hard study had made considerable progress in acquiring a knowledge of the Greek and Hebrew languages, as well as in the study of theology. He now began to have two year appointments, which ran in the following order, namely, 1797 Shrewsbury; 1799 Rochdale, 1801 Blackburn, 1803 Keighley; 1805, Todmorden; 1807 York; 1809, Halifax; 1811, Bury; 1813, Stockport; 1815, Wednesbury; 1816 Bristol; 1817, Northwich; 1819, Burslem. At the Conference of that year, he was raised to the Presidency. A warm discussion took place during their deliberations respecting a letter written by Valentine Ward, which reflected rather ungraciously upon Dr. CLarke. The Conference did all in its power to conciliate the matters. He also presided at the Irish Conference of 1820; after which Mr. Crowther removed to Broseley; in 1821 Madeley, which was his last circuit. There his health gave way under a seizure of paralysis, and in 1823 he became a supernumerary at Warrington, where he lingered in much suffering nearly two years, imbibing more of the Divine Spirit, and in resignation to the Divine will, he died in peace June 8th,1824, aged 64 years, and was interred in the family grave at Halifax (author note-3/20/88-- as far as can be determined, only he and his young son James are interred in this grave). His portrait is the magazine for 1794 and 1813, and in the City Road Chapel Group. He published "A Scripture Gazetteer" and "The Methodist Manual" in 1810, and in 1810 "A Portraiture of Methodism" , which he enlarged and improved in 1815. He also wrote a Life of Dr. Coke, and a dozen other works, some of which he left in manuscript.
