Richard Bassett (7 November 1777 – 31 August 1852) was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

cleric, thought to be the last

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

clergyman in Wales to be associated with the

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

Life

Bassett was born at Tresigin, near

Llantwit Major Llantwit Major ( cy, Llanilltud Fawr) is a town and community in Wales on the Bristol Channel coast. It is one of four towns in the Vale of Glamorgan, with the third largest population (13,366 in 2001) after Barry and Penarth, and ahead of Cowb ...

Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...

, South

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. After studying at

Cowbridge Grammar School Cowbridge Grammar School was one of the best-known schools in Wales until its closure in 1974. It was replaced by Cowbridge Comprehensive School. Founded in the 17th century by Sir John Stradling and refounded by Sir Leoline Jenkins, it had c ...

, Bassett went to

Jesus College, Oxford Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship St ...

matriculating Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term "matriculation" is seldom used now. ...

in 1797, but never graduating. He was ordained deacon in 1801 and priest in 1802, becoming

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

St Athan St Athan ( cy, Sain Tathan) is a village and community in the Vale of Glamorgan in South Wales. The village and its parish church are dedicated to Saint Tathan. The church dates to the 13th–14th century, though an earlier church was dated to t ...

and

Llandow Llandow ( cy, Llandŵ) is a village and community in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. The community population taken at the 2011 census was 726. The village is located south west of Cardiff. The community includes the villages of Sigingstone and ...

in Glamorgan; in all, he spent over thirty years as a curate. In 1832, he became

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

Eglwys Brewis Eglwys Brewis is a village in the Vale of Glamorgan in south Wales. It is located just to the north of the village of St Athan, south of Flemingston and northeast of Llantwit Major. Greenlands and St Mary Church lie to the north by road from Egl ...

and, in 1843,

vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...

Colwinston Colwinston (historically sometimes Colwinstone; cy, Tregolwyn) is both a village and a community in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, approximately southeast of the centre of Bridgend and west of the centre of Cardiff. The village is located within ...

. Bassett was friends with the evangelical cleric

William Howels William Howels (also Howells; 1778–1832) was a Welsh priest of the Church of England, known as an evangelical preacher. Life The eldest of 12 children of Samuel Howells, he was born in September 1778 at Llwynhelyg, a farmhouse near Cowbridge in ...

, and through him met the Methodist cleric David Jones of Llangan. Bassett attended Methodist meetings and associations and was a trustee of a Methodist chapel in Glamorgan, but managed to retain his position in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

until his death in Colwinston on 31 August 1852. He was probably the last Anglican clergyman in Wales to be associated in such a way with the Methodists.

References

1777 births 1852 deaths Welsh Methodists Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford 19th-century Welsh Anglican priests People educated at Cowbridge Grammar School {{UK-Christian-clergy-stub