Dickinson, Peard

Dickinson, Peard an English Wesleyan minister, was born at Topsham, Devonshire, Nov. 16, 1758. He received a careful training from a well-educated father, and in 1775 went to Bristol, where he soon joined a Methodist society. He entered Oxford as commoner of St. Edmund Hall in 1779, passed A.B. in 1782, and A.M. in 1785. In 1783 he was ordained in the Church of England, and became curate to Perronet (q.v.) at Shoreham. In 1786 he went to London as pastor of one of Mr. Wesley's societies, and continued to reside there in charge of various societies during the rest of his life. He died May 15, 1802. He was a man of great learning, and especially an excel. lent linguist. His researches in the early writings of Christianity were very thorough. He was a useful and beloved pastor, an intimate friend of the Wesleys, and a sort of intermediate link between the Church of England and Wesleyan Methodism. — Smith, History of Wesleyan Methodism, 1:574; Jackson, Christian Biography; Stevens, History of Methodism, 2:315.