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Joseph Rhodes Dunwell was born in 1807 and grew up in Pool-in-Wharfdale, Yorkshire. A disagreement with his parents over his faith meant he moved out of the family home and travelled to London. He continued his association with the Wesleyan Methodist Church, becoming a local preacher in Southwark in 1831, whilst earning a living as tea dealer. He was accepted as a minister in 1834 and answered, at short notice, a request by a group of Ghanaian Christians for a missionary and Bibles to be brought with him. Arriving at Cape Coast, Ghana, on 1 January 1835 he began ministering to both European residents and indigenous people, formed Sunday Schools and Society Classes as well as beginning the process of founding a viable mission. However, within 6 months of arriving he developed 'fever' and died at Cape Coast Castle on 24 June 1835. Spurred on by Dunwell's success, and despite the known high mortality rate amongst Europeans in West Africa, the WMMS continued to send missionaries and found new missions upon the coast and into the interior of West Africa.
Further Reading:
Bartels, F L, The roots of Ghana Methodism (1965);
Findlay & Holdsworth, The History of the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society, (vol 4, 1922);
Mission 200 Committee, Mission 200 1786-1986. A record of 200 years of Methodist missionary activity, with special reference to the part played by the Leeds District of the Methodist Church (1986). |
Joseph Rhodes Dunwell was born in 1807 and grew up in Pool-in-Wharfdale, Yorkshire. A disagreement with his parents over his faith meant he moved out of the family home and travelled to London. He continued his association with the Wesleyan Methodist Church, becoming a local preacher in Southwark in 1831, whilst earning a living as tea dealer. He was accepted as a minister in 1834 and answered, at short notice, a request by a group of Ghanaian Christians for a missionary and Bibles to be brought with him. Arriving at Cape Coast, Ghana, on 1 Jan ... View more |
