On Tuesday 21 May 2019, this year’s annual John Wesley Lecture was delivered by Dr Colin Haydon on the subject of ‘John Wesley, Roman Catholicism and ‘No Popery!’. Dr Haydon has published extensively on the religious history of eighteenth-century Britain, and is the author of Anti-Catholicism in Eighteenth-Century Britain, c1714-80. The lecture was a great success, as Dr Haydon eruditely contrasted Wesley’s published writings against Popery with his known admiration of certain Catholic devotional works and biographies. These readings were placed in the context of Wesley’s century-spanning lifetime, alongside his personal experiences in Ireland, and literary output during periods of anti-Catholic alarm in Britain.
The event was supported by an exhibition organised by OCMCH and Lincoln College which showcased original manuscripts, objects, and printed works from their collections relating to Wesley, his family, and anti-Catholicism in Britain. We are also grateful to the Angus Library for the loan of a 1722 edition of the Book of Common Prayer for display.
The annual John Wesley Lecture is an event organised by the OCMCH, the Wesley Memorial Church and Lincoln College, Oxford, who also act as hosts. The lecture has been delivered by leading scholars of social and religious history, such as Professors J. Richard Watson , Jeremy Black, Grayson Ditchfield, and J. C. D. Clark.
Westminster Oxford Research Network 