Bedford, John

Bedford, John a distinguished English Wesleyan minister, was born at Rothwell, Wakefield, July 27, 1810. He was received into the ministry in 1831; was appointed assistant secretary to the General Chapel Committee in 1855; succeeded Wm. Kelk as general secretary in 1860; retired from office 1872; was appointed secretary to the Board of Trustees for Chapel Purposes in that year; was elected president of the Conference in 1867; and died at Chorlton-cum-Hardy, near Manchester, Nov. 20, 1879. Mr. Bedford's diligence and punctuality were unfailing. His energy was felt in all the departments of his service. He was a fearless and ready debater, sometimes appearing hard and exacting. For many years he. was writer of the official Conference letters, and one of the assistant secretaries of the Conference. He published Letters on Doctrines and Systems of the Wesleyan Methodists (Bolton, 1842), against the reform movement in the Connection; and Funeral Sermons for the Duke of Wellington (Stockport, 1852) and Rev. Dr. Newton (ibid. 1854). See Minutes of the British Conference, 1880, p. 17.