William Morley Punshon (29 May 182414 April 1881) was an English

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minister.

Life

Grave of William Morley Punshon in West Norwood Cemetery

Punshon was born at

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

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, was educated there, and, after spending a few years in business, at the Wesleyan College, Richmond. In 1845 he received his first appointment, at Marden, Kent, and soon became known as a preacher. After serving the usual period of probation he was ordained at

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

in 1849 and for the next nineteen years travelled in several circuits, including some of those in London (1858–1864). In 1868 he went to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

as the representative of the Wesleyan Methodist conference, and settling in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

did much to advance the cause of his denomination. His preaching and lecturing drew great crowds both in the Dominion and in the United States, and he was five times president of the Canadian conference. In Canada, he often worked with and mentored

Manly Benson Manly Benson (27 April 1842 – 20 July 1919) was a Methodist minister. He was born in Newburgh, Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by th ...

a Methodist minister who was an eloquent lecturer. While in Canada, he wed his sister-in-law, a marriage which was forbidden by the British Methodists. In his five short years in Canada Dr. Punshon restored the fortunes of the flagging Victoria College in Cobourg, Ontario, (now Victoria University in the University of Toronto), and created the great Metropolitan Methodist Church in downtown Toronto (now Metropolitan United Church, the flagship congregation of the United Church of Canada). He returned to England in 1873, was elected president of conference 1874, and in 1875 one of the missionary secretaries. A sign of his oratory was the collection after one of his sermons at the City Road chapel in 1873, which raised £2,079. He also raised £10,000 over three years for the 'Watering Places Chapel Fund' which built 24 chapels in resorts in England and Wales. He published several volumes of sermons, and a book of verse entitled ''Sabbath Chimes'' (1867, new edition 1880). He died, aged 57, at Tranby Lodge,

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, on 14 April 1881 and was interred in a miniature

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chapel erected at West Norwood Cemetery. A bust of him was installed at the City Road chapel in 1884.

Notes

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''

The Punshon Memorial Methodist Church, Bournemouth, by Bob Flanagan, Friends of West Norwood Cemetery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Punshon, William Morley 1824 births 1881 deaths English Methodist ministers Methodist ministers Canadian clergy People from Doncaster 19th-century Methodist ministers Burials at Wesley's Chapel Presidents of the Methodist Conference Methodist Church of Great Britain people English sermon writers Burials at West Norwood Cemetery