James Townley (1774–1833) was a Wesleyan minister and author of numerous books.

Career

Son of Thomas Townley, a Manchester tradesman, James Townley was born on 11 May 1774. He was educated by the Rev. David Simpson of

Macclesfield Macclesfield is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Bollin in the east of the county, on the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east ...

. He became a member of the Wesleyan Methodist body in 1790, and a minister in 1796. In 1822 Townley received the degree of D.D. from the college of Princeton, New Jersey, in recognition of his literary work. From 1827 to 1832 he acted as general secretary of the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society, and in 1829 was elected president of the Wesleyan conference, and presided at the Dublin and Leeds conferences. While in Manchester he was a member of a philological society founded by Adam Clarke. Townley died at Ramsgate on 12 December 1833. He was twice married, to Mary Marsden and Dinah Bull, both of London, and had seven children by his first wife.

Bibliography

Townley, a good preacher and an accomplished linguist, wrote many books. * ''Biblical Anecdotes,'' 1813 * ''Illustrations of Biblical Literature, exhibiting the History and Fate of the Sacred Writings from the Earliest Times to the Present Century,'' 1821, 3 vols. * '' Essays on various Subjects of Ecclesiastical History and Antiquity,'' 1824 * ''The Reasons of the Laws of Moses, from the " More Nevochim" of Maimonides, with Notes, Dissertations, and a Life of the Author,'' 1827 * ''An Introduction to the Literary History of the Bible,'' 1828 (available online a
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. Among his contributions to the ''

Methodist Magazine The ''Wesleyan Methodist Magazine'' was a monthly Methodist magazine published between 1778 and 1969. Founded by John Wesley as the ''Arminian Magazine'', it was retitled the ''Methodist Magazine'' in 1798 and as the ''Wesleyan Methodist Magazi ...

'', besides those included in his volume of ''Essays,'' were ''On the Character of Popery'', 1826; ''Claims of the Church of Rome Examined'', 1827; and ''Ancient and Foreign Missions'', a series four articles, published in 1834.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Townley, James 1774 births 1833 deaths Presidents of the Methodist Conference Princeton University alumni Wesleyan Methodists Wesleyan ministers