CHURCHEY, WALTER (1747-1805), attorney and versifier,
b. at Brecon 7 Nov. 1747, of a Somerset family domiciled at Brecon since the early 17th cent., and prominent in that town. He was one of the earliest pillars of (English) Wesleyan Methodism at Brecon, became a personal friend of John Wesley and corresponded with him [and though his claim to have been the first to suggest to Wesley the publication of the Arminian Magazine has been questioned, he appears to have advocated such a suggestion]. He was a prolific writer of religious verse — a list of his published writings is given in the D.N.B. article upon him. [Soon after Wesley's death, he embraced millenarian views.] He d. at Hay, 3 Dec. 1805. By his wife Mary Bevan (of Clyro, Rads.) he had six children; his second son Walter was town clerk of Brecon from 1814 till 1840.
Bibliography:
- D.N.B.;
- Theophilus Jones, Hist. Brecknock. (3rd ed.), ii, 103;
- [Wesl. Meth. Mag., 1823, 134;
- information from Mr. A. H. Williams].
Author:
Emeritus Professor Robert Thomas Jenkins, C.B.E., D.Litt., Ll.D., F.S.A., (1881-1969), Bangor.
