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Wesleyan and Methodist heritage is an integral part of the history of countries worldwide and we welcome everyone who is interested in their own roots, culture and history to visit the pages in this web site.

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NEWS AND EVENTS

WHS Essay Competition 2021. The Wesley Historical Society is delighted to announce its 2021 prize competition for essays on any topic involving the history of religion in the British Isles since 1700, open to Sixth Form pupils, and to undergraduate and masters students. For details click here.

Details of all of Wesley Historical Society Meetings, see Events page or click here.

The Proceedings of the Wesley Historical Society, Cumulative Index to Volumes 51 to 60,
is now available on the Biblical Studies.org.uk website. The direct link is https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/whs/51-60-index.pdf

Do you have a query? See the "Frequently Asked Questions" on the About Us page.

FEATURE ARTICLE

METHODIST MINISTER CHARGED WITH MURDER

Carte de Visite of Rev. George Dyson.

 

            It is said that the only British Methodist Minister to be charged with murder was the Wesleyan Rev. George. Dyson, who was implicated in the Pimlico Poisoning murder in 1886.           

            Mr Thomas Bartlett died, with a fatal quantity of chloroform in his stomach. It was argued that this was at the hands of his wife Adelaide, who it was alleged had been aided by Rev. George Dyson in the procurment of poison. George Dyson was the couple's spiritual counsellor and friend, with suggestions that Adelaide and George Dyson were also romantically attached.

            A coroner's inquest returned a verdict of wilful murder by Adelaide Bartlett, with George Dyson being an accessory before the fact. At the subsequent trial the charges against George Dyson were immediately  dropped and he was formally acquitted, and Adelaide was acquitted at the end of the trail. The case has been much analysed, and written about.

            After the trial Rev George Dyson emigrated. He was the son of Wesleyan minister Rev John B. Dyson (ministerial dates 1839-1904) the author of the History of Wesleyan Methodism in the Congleton circuit 1856, and the Rise and Progress of Wesleyan Methodism in the Leek Circuit, 1853.

NB Rev John Dyson and his son George both feature in the online dictionary of Methodism, available on this site.

Footnote:

 

 By coincidence a member of the WHS lives in George Dyson's former house in Putney, shown above.