The Fletcher Page Scholars


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Home About Us The Fletchers Contexts Connexions The Library Resources Fletcher Timeline Project The Bookroom Societies & Events The Fletcher Society Fletcher Scholars Contact Us Join the Mailing List	Fletcher Scholars As part of this site's aim to provide the most up-to-date resources for Fletcher studies, a list of scholars has been created with an indication of their respective research interests, their field of contribution, and when available, a contact email address. If you or someone you know would like to be included on this list, please send us your name, a brief biography including your recent publications and where you teach/study, as well as an indication of your current Fletcher research interests, using our feedback form. Also, if you are an instructor or professor who supervises doctoral students who are researching the Fletcher's, we would like to hear from you as well and would like to include you and your students on the page. Those who are listed on this page have volunteered their information, and there are those who have opted not to be included. Thus, visitors looking for further reference are encouraged to visit our resources page(s) for further information on current Fletcher research. The scholars below are listed in no particular order other than the order of their biographical submission to the Fletcher page. The works referenced in the biographies that follow do not represent an exhaustive list of works by these scholars on the Fletchers or other figures. However, all such works will be found in the bibliographies section of the Fletcher Page.
	Fletcher Scholars
	David R. Wilson, M.Div., Ph.D. Site Director, Adjunct Faculty in Christian History and Theology, George Fox Evangelical Seminary, Portland, OR Dr Wilson is the creator and director of the Fletcher Page. He completed his Ph.D. at the University of Manchester on John Fletcher's parish ministry and has published articles on both John Fletcher and Mary Bosanquet Fletcher in Wesley and Methodist Studies, as well as a forthcoming Catalogue of the personal library of John and Mary Fletcher and Mary Tooth, held primarily by the MARC, but with several volumes in other archive collections and repositories. He has recently completed a chapter (with Phyllis Mack) on Mary Bosanquet Fletcher's preaching and use of the Bible in Scott Mandlebrote and Michael Ledger-Lomas, eds, Dissent and the Bible in Britain, 1650-1950 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012). He is co-editor with Nathan Crawford and Jonathan Dodrill of the forthcoming series 'Explorations in Social Holiness' from Emeth Publishers as well as a co-author of the first volume in the series, A Primer on Social Holiness. He is also working on editing several manuscript collections for publication related to both of the Fletchers. He is a junior fellow of the Manchester Wesley Research Centre. He teaches as an adjunct professor of Christian History and Theology at George Fox Evangelical Seminary. He is an ordained elder in the Free Methodist Church of North America and has served for many years in pastoral ministry in several denominations. His current research is on the preaching and leading minsitry of Mary Bosanquet Fletcher which will eventually be worked into a full-length biographical treatment. He has chaired and presented papers at sessions of the American Academy of Religion (AAR), and, together with Dr Andrew Cheatle, organized the annual Symposium on Early Methodism at the AAR in November 2011 in San Francisco, California. Recently published is his 'Church and Chapel: Methodism as Church Extension', in G. Hammond and P. S. Forsaith, eds, Religion, Gender, and Industry (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2011). He currently resides in the Pacific Northwest of the USA in Portland, Oregon.
	Peter S. Forsaith, Ph.D. Research Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Methodism and Church History Dr Forsaith has researched areas of Methodist-related history over more than 25 years and lectured in Britain and the U.S.A. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, member of the Society of Archivists and serves on various Methodist history-related bodies, including the Methodist Church Listed Buildings Advisory Committee and the Charles Wesley Society. He completed his Ph.D. at Oxford Brookes University in 2003: 'The Correspondence of the Revd John W. Fletcher: Letters to the Revd Charles Wesley'. An historian of religion, culture and society in 18th century Britain, his research has focused upon the social impact of the evangelical revival and the links between art and religion. He was visiting scholar at Bridwell Library, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas; January-February 2002. He has published extensively, including his recent book, 'Unexampled Labours': Letters of the Revd John Fletcher to Leaders of the Evangelical Revival (Peterborough: Epworth, 2008). His work on Fletcher has revised the picture of Fletcher as John Wesley's 'designated successor', and has examined Fletcher's friendship with Charles Wesley as well as his role more generally within the Evangelical Revival. Dr Forsaith also has responsibility for the Oxford Centre’s Methodist-related archive holdings, the Wesley Historical Society library, and art collections (including the Methodist Church Collection of Modern Art), and has in recent years researched Methodism, art, and artists.
	Phyllis Mack, M.A., Ph.D. Professor of History, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey Dr Mack teaches in the history department at Rutgers University and has research interests in women's history, the history of religion, and the history of early modern Europe. Her recent book, Heart Religion in the British Enlightenment (Cambridge, 2008) offers a revisionist account of early Methodism based upon the recorded experiences of spirituality by early Methodists themselves. In this work she pays considerable attention to the experiences and testimonies of women, Many of the sources for this study were mined in the Fletcher-Tooth and other collections of the MARC, including journals, diaries, correspondence, sermons, etc. by John Fletcher, Mary Bosanquet Fletcher, Mary Tooth, Ann Tripp, Sarah Mallet, and many others who knew one or both of the Fletchers. She has published several other essays which either include or focus specifically upon one of the Fletchers or their families and friends, including her important essay, 'Does gender matter? Suffering and salvation in eighteenth-century Methodism', Bulletin of the John Rylands University Library of Manchester, 85:2-3 (2003), 157-76. Her earlier work on the Quakers is not completely unrelated to the study of the Fletchers and Madeley, and her essay In a Female Voice: Preaching and Politics in Eighteenth-Century British Quakerism (see bibliographies section of the Fletcher Page) provides context for understanding the relationship of the Fletchers' minsitry in Madeley to the Quaker ministry in Madeley, and built upon research and analysis published in her first book, Visionary Women. Dr Mack is currently writing, with David Wilson, a chapter on the use of the Bible by Mary Bosanquet Fletcher for a volume on the Bible and Dissent, forthcoming from Oxford University Press.
	Professor Suzanne Schwarz, Ph.D. Professor of History, Institute of History & Creative Arts, University of Worcester Professor Schwarz’s research interests focus on the transatlantic slave trade and abolition in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. Her current research on Sierra Leone examines the development of the colony, and the ways in which abolitionists attempted to undermine the slave trade and reform African economy and society through policies of ‘Commerce, Civilization and Christianity’. She is currently involved in a British Library Endangered Archives project to preserve rare documentary sources in the Public Archives of Sierra Leone, and is one of the organizers of an international conference on Sierra Leone to be held in Freetown in 2012. Professor Schwarz has recently been awarded a Leverhulme Research Fellowship for her work on Sierra Leone. She was appointed as an external consultant for the development of the International Slavery Museum in 2007, and has worked closely with National Museums Liverpool to develop continuing professional development courses on the slave trade for teachers. A play based on her book Slave Captain: The Career of James Irving in the Liverpool Slave Trade was performed at National Museums Liverpool in July 2010. She is on the organizing committee for the 2012 Sierra Leone Past and Present International Conference. Her teaching interests also include local and regional history.
	Joanna Cruickshank, Ph.D. Lecturer, School of History Heritage and Society, Deakin University Biography coming soon
	Gareth Lloyd, Ph.D. Methodist Archivist, Methodist Archives and Researh Centre, JRULM Dr Lloyd, as the Methodist Archvist at MARC, has catalogued and published extensive resources for the study of the Fletcher-Tooth Collection (among others), including the publication of catalogues of the first seven boxes in the collection containing the correspondence of John Fletcher, Mary Bosanquet, and Mary Tooth. He has also published an array of articles in Methodist, Anglican, and Wesleyan Studies. His recent monograph biography, Charles Wesley and the Struggle for Methodist Identity (Oxford, 2007) offers a fresh appraisal of Charles Wesley, demonstrating his pro-Anglican stance within Methodism, the tensions between him and John Wesley, and the important role Charles played in strengthening Methodism in its early years and preventing its demise by advocating for Methodism as a movement within the Church of England. Dr Lloyd has held fellowships at Bridwell Library (Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, USA) and serves on the editorial board of the new journal, Wesley and Methodist Studies. See his article, ' "Croakers and Busybodies": The Extent and Influence of Church Methodism in the Late 18th and Early 19th Centuries', Methodist History 42:1 (Oct. 2003), 20-32. Dr Lloyds catalogues of the Fletcher-Tooth and other collections can now be searched online at the Electronic Gateway to Archives at Rylands (ELGAR) website, and his extensive Methodist Biographical Index can be found at the Rylands website.
	Susie Stanley, M.A.R., Ph.D. Professor of Historical Theology, Messiah College Dr Stanley has specialized in the history and theology of the Wesleyan/Holiness movement, primarily in the United States. Over the past thirty years, she has lectured and written extensively on the movement, considering topics such as social holiness, primitivism, sanctified feminism, camp meetings and the relevance of holiness today. Her first book, Feminist Pillar of Fire: The Life of Alma White, tells the story of a woman who founded a Wesleyan/Holiness denomination and became the first woman bishop in the United States. Holy Boldness: Women Preachers' Autobiographies incorporates the ministries of thirty-four American Wesleyan/Holiness women preachers based on their autobiographies. She also examines their view of sanctification or holiness. She devotes an early chapter of the book to Mary Bosanquet Fletcher and Hester Ann Roe Rogers who served as important role models. She outlines Fletcher's and Roger's understandings of holiness and then compares and contrasts them to the other women's views in the study. Stanley's ongoing interest in Fletcher relates to exploring the differences in the published version of her autobiography and her original version. Stanley is an ordained minister in the Church of God (Anderson, IN). Her academic interest in Wesleyan/Holiness women in ministry is paralleled by her activism which includes founding and leading Wesleyan/Holiness Women Clergy, Intl. to promote and encourage women clergy (www.whwomenclergy.org) from 1992-2006. Under her leadership, the group has published booklets, established a mentoring program and sponsored conferences.
	Patrick Streiff, Ph.D. Bishop of the United Methodist Church in Central and Southern Europe Bp Dr Streiff completed his Ph.D. studies at the University of Bern, Switzerland. His thesis research on John Fletcher's role in the history of early Methodism was published as Jean Guillaume de la Fléchère/John William Fletcher 1729-1785: Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte des Methodismus (Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 1984), and republished in an edited version, translated by G.W.S. Knowles, as Reluctant Saint (Peterborough: Epworth, 2001). This book has become the standard biography of Fletcher. Bp Streiff has published several articles and book chapters, notably a study of the context of the Evangelical Revival in Switzerland, 'Wie "methodistich" war die Erweckung in der französischsprachigen Schweiz?' in Mitteilungen der Studiengemeinschaft für Geschichte der Evang.-meth. Kirche, 16:2 (Stuttgart, 1995), 30-56. He is an ordained elder of the United Methodist Church, and in 2005 was elected Bishop of the United Methodist Church in Central and Southern Europe.
	Carol Blessing, Ph.D. Department Chair and Professor of Literature, Point Loma Nazarene University Dr Blessing teaches literature at Point Loma Nazarene University, and has conducted extensive research in the Fletcher-Tooth and other collections of the MARC. She has presented papers on Mary Bosanquet Fletcher and Mary Tooth, and as a Wesleyan Center (PLNU) fellow, wrote a paper on Miss Tooth titled 'Uncovering Mary Tooth of Madeley: Early Methodist Woman Preacher'. Carol presented a paper at the 'Religion, Gender and Industry' conference in 2009, and has recently authored a chapter with Lisa Bernal Corley, 'Speaking Out: Feminist Theology and Women's Proclamation in the Wesleyan Tradition', in Allyson Jule and Bettina Tate Pedersen, eds. Being Feminist, Being Christian (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006), 127-156. Dr Blessing's research has contributed to the otherwise scanty record we have of the life and minsitry of Mary Tooth.
	Vicki Tolar Burton, Ph.D. Associate Professor of English, Department of English, Oregon State University Dr Burton has conducted extensive research on the literary tradition of Methodism as well as the role of women in Methodism, and the study of gender and religion in the eighteenth century. Chapter Five of her recent book, Spiritual Literacy in John Wesley's Methodism (Waco: Baylor University Press, 2008) examines the education and preaching of early Methodist women, including Mary Bosanquet Fletcher, Anne Cutler, Sarah Crosby, and Hester Ann Rogers. Dr Burton completed her Ph.D. studies on Hester Rogers at Auburn University. She currently teaches English at Oregon State University where she is the Director of the Writing Intensive Curriculum. See her chapter, ' "Something for the People to Read": John Wesley's Book Inventory (1791)', in Jeremy Gregory, ed. John Wesley: Tercentenary Essays, Bulletin of the John Rylands University Library of Manchester 85 (2003), 227-49. For a fuller listing of her works related to Fletcher studies, see the bibliography page of this website.
	Revd David Frudd Biography coming soon.
	Larry Wood, Ph.D. Frank Paul Morris Professor of Systematic Theology, Asbury Seminary Biography coming soon.
	Brett McInelly, Ph.D. Associate Professor of English, Brigham Young University Brett C. McInelly is an associate professor of English at Brigham Young University. His research interests include the Methodist revival and the anti-Methodist literature written in response to the revival. His publications include “Ludere Cum Sacris: Methodism, Mimicry, and Samuel Foote’s The Minor,” Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Theatre Research 24.2 (Winter 2009): 5-24; “Redeeming Religion: Wesleyan and Calvinistic Methodism in Humphry Clinker,” Bulletin of the John Rylands University Library of Manchester 85 (Summer and Autumn 2003): 285-96; “I had rather be obscure. But I dare not”: Women and Methodism in Eighteenth-Century Britain,” Everyday Revolutions: Eighteenth-Century Women Transforming Public and Private, Eds. Diane E. Boyd and Marta Kvande, Newark, DE: U of Delaware P, 2008, 135-58; and “Method or Madness: Methodist Devotion and the Anti-Methodist Response,” Religion in the Age of Reason: A Transatlantic Study of the Long Eighteenth Century, Ed. Kathryn Duncan, New York: AMS Press, 2009, 195-210. He has two forthcoming articles, one to appear in Eighteenth-Century Life on Methodist hymnody and another on Mary Fletcher and the women of early Methodism in a collection to be published by Pickwick. He is the editor of Religion in the Age of Enlightenment, an annual published by AMS Press and is currently writing a book on the ways the anti-Methodist literature informed the revival and Methodist religious experience.
	John H. Lenton, M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D. Honorary Librarian of the Wesley Historical Society and Independent Scholar John Lenton read Modern History at Oriel College Oxford, entered the teaching profession and became Deputy Headmaster of Charlton Comprehensive School, Wellington, Telford from 1974 to 1995. He took early retirement to concentrate on Methodist history and has lectured widely in the UK and the USA. He was Convener of the British Archives and History Committee for the Methodist Church from 1996 to 2010 and has been Honorary Librarian of the Wesley Historical Society since 2002. Publications include Harold Roberts (1995), Vital Piety (ed 2005) and John Wesley's Preachers (Paternoster, 2009) He was WHS Lecturer in 2000 and visiting Methodist Scholar at Bridwell Library Southern Methodist University in 2003. He has had many articles published including several on women preachers, e.g., '"Labouring for the Lord": Women preachers in Wesleyan Methodism 1802-1932 A Revisionist View' (in Beyond the Boundaries 1998), 'Mary Fletcher and Her Adopted Daughters'; 'Women Preachers at Madeley 1782-1843' ( in the Bulletin of the Shropshire WHS 9 NS Aug 2008) and 'East Anglian Women Wesleyan Preachers to 1910' (in the Journal of the WHS East Anglia District Winter 2008 no 112) He completed his MPhil in Economic History at Leeds University in 1969 and his Ph.D. at Oxford Brookes University in 2010.
	Barrie S. Trinder, M.A., Ph.D., F.S.A. Writer, Lecturer, and Consultant on Industrial Archaeology and Social History Biography coming soon! In the mean time, you can visit Dr Trinder's own website at http://www.trinderhistory.co.uk/










	Doctoral Students Conducting Fletcher-Related Research
	Andrew Winckles Ph.D. Student, Wayne State University Andrew Winckles is a Ph.D. student at Wayne State University in Detroit specializing in Eighteenth Century and Romantic Literature and Culture. His main research interest is the intersection of eighteenth century religious movements with literary and print culture. His dissertation work focuses on gender and the writing of the Evangelical Revival in England. Specifically, it traces how women’s religious experience is portrayed, disseminated and often misunderstood throughout a wide variety of texts over the course of the long eighteenth century. He has presented at conferences around the country and is currently working on an article on Methodist lay-women’s conversion narratives in the Arminian Magazine. He also maintains a blog – 18thcenturyculture.wordpress.com – which provides access to primary texts and critical essays on religion, literature, and culture during the eighteenth century.
	Rev. Russell Frazier
	Anna Twomey Ph.D. Student, Birbeck University of London Anna Twomey is currently conducting postgraduate research at Birbeck University on 'Radical Spaces in Eighteenth-Century Methodism with Reference to the Life, Work and Associates of Mary Bosanquet Fletcher 1763-1815', supervised by Dr Nicola Brown.
	Scott Pattison

Fletcher Scholars