Charles Wesley, Sr

Charles Wesley (18 December 1707 – 29 March 1788) was an English leader of the Methodist movement, son of Anglican clergyman and poet Samuel Wesley, the younger brother of Anglican clergyman John Wesley and Anglican clergyman Samuel Wesley (the Younger), and father of musician Samuel Wesley, and grandfather of musician Samuel Sebastian Wesley. Despite their closeness, Charles and his brother John did not always agree on questions relating to their beliefs. In particular, Charles was strongly opposed to the idea of a breach with the Church of England into which they had been ordained. Charles Wesley is chiefly remembered for the many hymns he wrote. He founded Wesley Chapel in the village of Brayton, which is just south of Selby. His house, located nearby, can still be visited today.

In 1749 he married Sarah Gwynne with whom he had 8 children, though only three survived to maturity.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Wesley

Best-known hymns and Legacy

"Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" is a Christmas carol that first appeared in 1739 in the collection Hymns and Sacred Poems, having been written by Charles Wesley. Wesley had requested and received slow and solemn music for his lyrics, not the joyful tune expected today.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Wesley#Best-known_hymns

Composer. He composed of than 8,000 hymns. His brother John Wesley was the founder of Methodism. His two sons, Samuel and Charles, Jr., also became noted composers.

Other References

• "John Wesley, Charles Wesley", Westminster Abbey

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• Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Sep 29 2022, 15:07:32 UTC

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GEDCOM Note

Charles was one of 19 children.
His Brother John is known as the founder of Methodism.
Charles is known as the poet of Methodism.

Charles, unlike the majority of his siblings, had a happy marriage. He first met Sarah (Sally) Gwynne in 1747 when he was en-route to Ireland and stopped in the village of Garth, South Wales. Sally was intelligent and, although Charles was twice her age, it seems there was a meeting of two minds.
Perhaps the most enduring legacy of Charles Wesley are his hymns. He wrote over six-thousand, often composing them as he travelled on horseback and committing them to ink and paper once he reached his destination. He only wrote the lyrics, adding them to folk and classical pieces of the day, before John Frederick Lampe began composing tunes for him.

Religious Composer and Leader. A prolific hymn writer, he wrote over 6,000 hymns, many of which are still widely popular today. The son of Anglican rector Samuel Wesley, he received his early education at home before attending the Westminster School in London, England and Christ Church, Oxford, England. After graduating with a Master's Degree in classical languages and literature, he followed his father and brother into the Anglican church in 1735. In October of that year he travelled to Savannah in the Georgia Colony in British America at the request of the governor, James Oglethorpe, and was appointed Secretary of Indian Affairs and chaplain to the garrison and colony at near-by Fort Frederica, St. Simon's Island. His ministry was largely rejected by the settlers and in July 1736 he was commissioned to England as the bearer of dispatches to the trustees of the colony. The following month he returned to England and in May 1738, he experienced an evangelical "conversion" at a Moravian meeting in Aldersgate Street in London and began his career as a traveling preacher and writing hymns. Among his best known hymns include "Christ the Lord is Risen Today," "Come Thou Long Expected Jesus," "Soldiers of Christ Arise," "O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing," "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling," "Lo! He Comes with Clouds Descending," "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," and "Jesus, Lover of My Soul." He died at the age of 80. He was the father of musician and composer Charles Wesley, grandfather of musician and composer Samuel Sebastian Wesley, and brother of John Wesley, the founder of the religious movement Methodism. Around 150 of his hymns are in the Methodist hymn book "Hymns and Psalms" (1983) and "The Church Hymn Book" (1872). In 1995 the Gospel Music Association recognized his musical contributions to the art of gospel music by inducting him into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. In 2009 Foundery Pictures produced the film "Wesley" about the life of him and his brother that featured R. Keith Harris as Charles Wesley, Burgess Jenkins as John Wesley, and June Lockhart as Susanna Wesley, the wife of Charles Wesley. He is commemorated in the Calendar of Saints of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America on March 2nd with his brother John. The Wesley brothers are also commemorated on March 3rd in the Calendar of Saints of the Episcopal Church and on May 24th in the Anglican calendar.

Charles Wesley (1707-1788) was the eighteenth child of the Rector of Epworth, and was saved from the fire of 1709 by his nurse. He entered Westminster School in 1716, became a King's Scholar and was captain of the school in 1725. He was a plucky boy, and won the life-long friendship of the future earl of Mansfield by fighting battles on his behalf. Garret Wesley of Ireland wished to adopt his young kinsman, but this offer was declined and the estates were left to Richard Colley on condition that he assumed the name Wesley. The duke of Wellington was Colley's grandson, and appears in the Army List for 1800 as the Hon. Arthur Wesley.
Charles Wesley was elected to Christ Church in 1726. John had become fellow of Lincoln the previous March. Charles lost his first twelve months at Oxford in "diversions," but whilst John was acting as their father's curate, his brother "awoke out of his lethargy." He persuaded two or three other students to go with him to the weekly sacrament. This led a young gentleman of Christ Church to exclaim: "Here is a new set of Methodists sprung up." The name quickly spread through the university and Oxford Methodism began its course.
In 1735 Charles Wesley was ordained and went with his brother to Georgia as secretary to Colonel, afterwards General, Oglethorpe, the Governor. The work proved uncongenial, and after enduring many hardships his health failed and he left Frederica for England on July the 26th, 1736. He hoped to return, but in February 1738 John Wesley came home, and Charles found that his state of health made it necessary to resign his secretaryship.
After his evangelical conversion on Whit Sunday (May 2 1st, 1738), he became the poet of the Evangelical Revival. He wrote about 6500 hymns. They vary greatly in merit, but Canon Overton held him, taking quantity and quality into consideration, to be "the great hymn-writer of all ages." Their early volumes of poetry bear the names of both' brothers, but it is generally assumed that the original hymns were by Charles and the translations by John Wesley. Poetry was like another sense to Charles, and he was busy writing verse from his conversion up to his death-bed when he dictated to his wife his last lines, "In age and feebleness extreme."
For some years he took a full share in the hardships and perils of the Methodist itinerancy, and was often a remarkably powerful preacher. After his marriage in 1749 his work was chiefly confined to Bristol, where he then lived, and London. He moved to London in 1771 and died in Marylebone on March the 29th, 1788. He was strongly opposed to his brother's ordinations, and refused to be buried at City Road, because the ground there was unconsecrated. He was buried in the graveyard of Marylebone Old Church, but this appears to have been unconsecrated also.
Charles Wesley married Sarah Gwynne, daughter of a Welsh magistrate living at Garth, on April 8th, 1749. She died in 1822 at the age of ninety-six. Five of their children died as infants and are buried in St James's Churchyard, Bristol. Their surviving daughter Sarah, who was engaged in literary work, died unmarried in 1828. Charles Wesley, Junr. (1759-1834) was organist of St George's, Hanover Square. He published Six Concertos for the Organ and Harp in 1778. He also died unmarried. Samuel, the younger brother (1766-1837), was even more gifted than Charles as an organist and composer; he was also a lecturer on musical subjects. Two of his sons were Dr Wesley, sub-dean of the Chapel Royal, and Dr Samuel Sebastian Wesley (1810-1876), the famous composer and organist of Gloucester Cathedral.