Jonathan Crowther (1794–1856) was an English Wesleyan Methodist minister, who for a period supervised Wesleyan missionaries in the

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency, or the Presidency of Fort St. George, also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision (presidency) of British India. At its greatest extent, the presidency included most of southern India, including the ...

of the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

Life

He was born at

St. Austell St Austell (; kw, Sans Austel) is a town in Cornwall, England, south of Bodmin and west of the border with Devon. St Austell is one of the largest towns in Cornwall; at the 2011 census it had a population of 19,958. History St Austell wa ...

, Cornwall, on 31 July 1794; his father, Timothy Crowther, and his uncles Jonathan Crowther (1760–1824) and Richard, were Methodist preachers appointed by

John Wesley John Wesley (; 2 March 1791) was an English people, English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The soci ...

. He was educated at

Kingswood School (''In The Right Way Quickly'') , established = , closed = , type = Independent , religious_affiliation = Methodist , president = , head_label = Headmaste ...

, then in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, and began to preach aged about 20. Having been principal teacher at

Woodhouse Grove School Woodhouse Grove School ('The Grove') is an independent, co-educational, day and boarding public school and Sixth Form. it is located to the north of Apperley Bridge, West Yorkshire, England (Apperley Bridge is located in the City of Bradfor ...

, near

Bradford, Yorkshire Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a p ...

, Crowther was appointed in 1823 headmaster of Kingswood School. He was removed from his position there in 1826, because of a brutal use of corporal punishment. One of his pupils was

Christopher Walton Christopher Walton (1809 – 11 October 1877) was an English businessman, known as a writer on Theosophy (Blavatskian), theosophy. Life The son of John and Hannah Walton, he was born at Worsley, Lancashire, in June 1809, and was educated by Jonat ...

. After this he was moved between Wesleyan circuits. In 1837 Crowther was appointed general superintendent of the Wesleyan missions in India, returning to England in 1843 in poor health, where he was again employed in the home ministry. In 1849 he received the appointment of classical tutor in the Wesleyan Theological Institution at Didsbury, in Lancashire. As a scholar, Crowther had a knowledge of Hebrew and several modern languages. He acted as examiner at

Wesley College, Sheffield Wesley College, a school to educate the sons of the laity, opened in 1838 in new buildings designed by William Flockton on Glossop Road, Sheffield, England. It was founded by Rev. Samuel Dousland Waddy (1804–1876) to "supply a generally sup ...

, as well as at the New Kingswood and Woodhouse Grove schools, and wrote for Wesleyan periodicals. His health failed some time before his death, and on 31 December 1855 he was seized with "congestion of the brain" while on a visit to the Rev. William Willan in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

. In this friend's house he died on 16 January 1856, leaving a widow and family.

Notes

External links

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Crowther, Jonathan 1794 births 1856 deaths English Methodist ministers People from St Austell 19th-century English Methodist ministers