Grimshaw, William

Grimshaw, William, a minister of the Church of England, was born in Lancashire, Eng., in 1708, educated at Cambridge, and entered into holy orders in 1731. After spending some years as minister of Todmorden, near Rochdale, he was appointed in 1742 to the perpetual curacy of Haworth, in Yorkshire. In 1745 he entered into a close union with the Methodists, acted as Mr. Wesley's assistant in what was known as the Haworth circuit, and until his death, which occurred April 7, 1763, was the mainstay of the connection in that part of the country. Mr. Grimshaw was the author of a Sermon in Defence of the Methodists, printed in 1749, and republished with his biography. "He was of a cheerful, generous turn of mind, very courteous, and open as the day in his conversation with the people wherever he went. He was a natural orator, spoke with great fluency, and preached the Gospel with great ability and approbation" Wesley said of him, "He carries fire wherever he goes." Myles, Life of Grim-shaw; Crowther, Portraiture of Methodism; Newton, Memoirs of Grimshaw (Lond. 1799, 12mo); Stevens, History of Methodism, i, 258; Wesley, Works, 4:117; 6:750.