COKE
,
THOMAS
(
1747
-
1814
),
Wesleyan Methodist minister
;
b.
9 Sept. 1747
; son of
Bartholomew
Coke
,
apothecary
, of
Brecon
. He was educated at
Christ College
,
Brecon
, and
Jesus College
,
Oxford
; graduated
B.A.
in
1768
and
D.C.L.
in
1775
. Ordained
deacon
in
1770
and
priest
in
1772
, he was a
curate
at, first,
Road
, and, later,
South Petherton, Som.
, but was removed by his
rector
in
1777
for his
Methodist
sympathies. He then joined the
Methodists
, and became
John
Wesley
's
chief lieutenant
,
superintendent
of the
Methodist Episcopal Church of America
, and the
‘father’ of Methodist missions
. He d. at sea on
12 May 1814
, while on his way to
India
to establish a mission there.
In
1800
he was chiefly responsible for establishing
Welsh Wesleyan Methodism
as a part of the
missionary work of the Methodist connexion
, in much the same way as
preachers
had been sent on his initiative to preach in
Erse
in
Ireland
in
1799
. Frequent journeys through
North Wales
to and from
Ireland
had convinced him of the desirability of sending
Welsh-speaking Methodist preachers
to that part of
Wales
, and though, unknown to him, some pioneer work had already been done in certain parts of
Denbighshire
and
Flintshire
, it was his zeal and pleading which led the
Methodist conference
to send
Owen
Davies
(
1752
-
1830
) (q.v.)
and
John
Hughes
(
1776
-
1843
)
(q.v.) to
Ruthin
in
Aug. 1800
.
Bibliography:
-
J. W. Etheridge
,
;
-
J. Crowther
,
;
-
A. H. Williams
,
,
1800-1858
.
Author:
