William Seward’s Diary

Diary of William Seward (1702-1740)

A.2.116 Diary of William Seward, promoter of Methodism. From 6 September 1740 – 15 October 1740. From the Crossley collection. 107 ff.

View the pdf of Seward’s Diary here.

William Seward, supporter and promoter of Methodism and friend of the Methodist leader George Whitefield, devoted himself to evangelical work and preaching. He travelled with and financially supported Whitefield, and acted as his publicist on his first tour to America in 1739. Seward later quarrelled with the Wesleyans, and the diary is filled with criticism of their theology as well as details of his exhaustive schedule of travel and preaching. He died a week after the final entry, probably from the effects of a fracas where he lost his sight and another incident where he was hit on the head by a stone.