James Everett

James Everett (1784–1872) was an English Methodist and miscellaneous writer. He was a prominent figure behind the formation of the United Methodist Free Churches. Life Everett was born in 1784 at Alnwick in Northumberland. He was the second son of John Everett and his wife, Margaret Bowmaker. Everett's father died when he was young, and the boy soon learned to help his mother. After a short time at a private school in Alnwick, he was apprenticed to a general dealer, where he was given to fun and practical jokes. In 1803 he underwent a great change, joined the Wesleyan society, and began to preach. He refused an offer made in 1804 to send him to Hoxton Academy to prepare for the ministry among the independents. At the end of his apprenticeship in 1804 he went to Sunderland, and there showed such preaching power that in December 1806 he was recommended for the regular ministry among the Wesleyan Methodists, and was duly accepted by the conference of the following year. His first circuits were Sunderland, Shields, and Belper in Derbyshire. He obtained a good knowledge of practical theology, and a wide acquaintance with general literature. In August 1810 he married Elizabeth Hutchinson of Sunderland.