William Thompson (1733–1799) was the first President of the Methodist Conference after

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

's death, being elected President at the

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

conference in 1791.Kelly, C. H. (1891)
''Wesley and his successors: a centenary memorial of the death of John Wesley''
London, pp 23-24

Life

Thompson was born in 1733 at

Newtownbutler Newtownbutler or Newtown Butler is a village in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the southeast corner of the county, near Lough Erne, the border with County Monaghan, Republic of Ireland, and the town of Clones. It is surrounded by ...

County Fermanagh County Fermanagh ( ; ) is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of six counties of Northern Ireland. The county covers an area of and had a population of 63,585 as of 2021. Enniskillen is the ...

, Ireland.The Methodist Archives Biographical Inde
''William Thompson (1733-99)''
University of Manchester Library He entered the Wesleyan itinerancy in 1757. During his early ministry he endured persecution including imprisonment and the

impressment Impressment, colloquially "the press" or the "press gang", is a type of conscription of people into a military force, especially a naval force, via intimidation and physical coercion, conducted by an organized group (hence "gang"). European nav ...

of several of his hearers into the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

. They were subsequently released through the intervention of the Lady Huntingdon. After his term as President of the Methodist Conference, Thompson was involved with the sacramental controversy of the early 1790s. His pen drafted the Plan of Pacification of 1795, which arose out of disputes between the Methodist societies and the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

over the status of travelling preachers and the administration of the sacraments, fomenting their separation.Methodist Church of Great Britain
Separation from the Church of England
accessed 1 December 2019 He was serving as Chairman of the Birmingham District when he died on 1 May 1799. He was buried at St Mary's Church, Whittall Street, Birmingham (demolished in the late 1920s). A tablet, formerly in that church, and now in St Martin in the Bull Ring, reads:

References

External links

''Methodist Collections''

University of Manchester Library The University of Manchester Library is the library system and information service of the University of Manchester. The main library is on the Oxford Road campus of the university, with its entrance on Burlington Street. There are also ten other ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, William 1733 births 1799 deaths Presidents of the Methodist Conference Clergy from Birmingham, West Midlands Christian clergy from County Fermanagh