editor historian minister writer
John Telford was born on 5 October 1851 at Wigton in Cumberland, England. He entered Wesleyan Methodist ministry in 1873 and devoted his working life to preaching, religious writing, Methodist historical research, and editorial service. His marriage connected him with the family of the Methodist scholar and minister James Harrison Rigg, whose life Telford later wrote.
Telford received ministerial training at Didsbury College and was also educated at the University of London. This combination of ministerial preparation and higher education supported his subsequent career as a Wesleyan minister, editor, biographer, and historian of Methodism.
Telford entered Wesleyan Methodist ministry in 1873 and worked as a minister before becoming one of the leading editorial and historical figures of British Methodism. He edited the Wesleyan Methodist Magazine and the London Quarterly Review, producing religious, biographical, and historical writing for a broad Methodist readership. After taking over the London Quarterly Review in 1905, he guided it through the period leading to Methodist Union in 1932. From 1905 to 1934 he served as Connexional Editor of the Wesleyan Methodist Church, supervising major Methodist publications and directing the preparation of the standard edition of John Wesley's letters. The eight-volume edition brought together letters gathered from Wesley's published works, periodicals, manuscript sources, and the work of Methodist historians. Telford also prepared a new edition of the lives of early Methodist preachers, published as Wesley's Veterans, and wrote biographies of John Wesley, Charles Wesley, and James Harrison Rigg. He delivered the Fernley Lecture in 1908 on Man's Partnership with Divine Providence. In 1933 he succeeded John S. Simon as president of the Wesley Historical Society. Telford died at Newcastle upon Tyne on 25 July 1936. His will left £30,000 to the Methodist Church for ministerial training; after litigation, the resulting Telford Bequest was directed chiefly toward assistance for students, with preference for study at Oxford or Cambridge.
Edited and published the standard eight-volume edition of the letters of John Wesley, a major reference edition for Wesley studies that incorporated material from published, manuscript, and archival sources.
Prepared and published Wesley's Veterans, a new edition of the lives of early Methodist preachers based on their own accounts.
Wrote biographies of John Wesley, Charles Wesley, and James Harrison Rigg, contributing substantially to the popular and historical literature of British Methodism.
Established the Telford Bequest through a £30,000 legacy to the Methodist Church for ministerial training and student assistance.
The Life of James Harrison Rigg
(A biography of James Harrison Rigg, Telford's father-in-l...)
1909(A biography of John Wesley, first published in London by ...)
1886The Life of Charles Wesley
(A revised biography of Charles Wesley.)
1900(An article on the Wesleyan Methodist Church contributed b...)
1911(An article on John Wesley contributed by Telford to the e...)
1911(An article contributed by Telford to the eleventh edition...)
1911Wesley's Veterans: Lives of Early Methodist Preachers Told by Themselves
(An edited collection of autobiographical accounts and liv...)
1912Sayings and Portraits of Charles Wesley
(A compilation devoted to the sayings and portraits of Cha...)
1927Sayings and Portraits of John Wesley
(A compilation of sayings and portraits relating to John W...)
1924Makers of Our Missions: Pages from the Lives of Methodist Missionaries
(Biographical sketches of Methodist missionaries.)
1895Wesley as a World Force
(An edited work examining John Wesley's continuing histori...)
1929A History of Lay Preaching in the Christian Church
(A historical study of lay preaching in the Christian Church.)
1897A Short History of Wesleyan Methodist Foreign Missions
(A history of Wesleyan Methodist foreign missions.)
1905(The fourth revised edition of Telford's illustrated Metho...)
1924(An illustrated historical and biographical commentary on ...)
1906Telford was a Wesleyan Methodist minister whose religious life and scholarship were devoted to Methodist preaching, publishing, historical research, and the preservation of Wesleyan sources.
Telford was closely associated with the Wesley Historical Society, whose resources and members contributed to the preparation of the standard edition of John Wesley's letters. He served as president of the society from 1933 until his death in 1936.
Telford was married to a younger daughter of James Harrison Rigg, the Methodist minister and scholar. He later wrote Rigg's life, published in 1909. Telford's £30,000 legacy to the Methodist Church established the Telford Bequest, which supported ministerial training and student assistance, with particular preference for study at Oxford or Cambridge.
