Charles Wesley

In 1749, he tied the knot with Sarah Gwynne, daughter of a wealthy Welsh magistrate Marmaduke Gwynne. Fondly known as Sally, she accompanied him and John in their evangelistic journeys until 1753.

Only three of their eight children survived past infancy. Both his sons, Charles Jr and Samuel were musically talented as their father and became most accomplished musicians in the world.

The family first stayed in Bristol and later shifted to London in 1778, where they remained up until 19th century. The house in Bristol still stands as of now.

Charles Wesley was the youngest son and eighteenth child of the nineteen children born to Susanna and Samuel Wesley in Epworth Lincolnshire, England. Only ten of their children survived infancy.

His father was a priest in the Church of England. Young Wesley was much influenced by his mother who taught all her children the importance of self-control and discipline in life. She also imparted them the early education.

In 1716, he enrolled at the Westminster School in London. Ten years later, he gained admission at the Christ Church, where his elder brother John had been studying.

It was at Oxford that he formed a prayer group in 1727 comprising of fellow students. The group came to be known as Holy Club. His brother, John joined the group in 1729 becoming its leader and moulding it according to his own motives.

The group regularly met to carry out their social duties. Additionally, they stuck to a methodical study of Bible and living a holy disciplined life. Their systematic approach and exceptionally disciplined lifestyle led them to earn the label of ‘Methodists’ by fellow students.

The dejection that he faced in Savannah left both him and John depressed and gloomy. However, the state of melancholy did not stay for long as he experienced a conversion on May 21, 1738, a day which he marked as ‘Day of Deliverance’. John experienced a similar conversion three days later.

The depressive mood and melancholy living gave way to a spirited approach which was further uplifted with a renewed passion for spreading the teachings of the Gospel in a novel manner in both the brothers.

It was also around this time that he began to pen down hymns, for which he became known worldwide. He transformed his style of preaching completely. Instead of urging people to walk down to a near-by Church and get influenced by the words of Gospel, he sang poetic hymns wherever he found a group of people.

The open-air preaching, which was first initiated by George Whitfield, became hugely popular. The converts slowly magnified in numbers and were clubbed into ‘societies’ to further nurture their faith and belief.

Upon Whitefield’s departure to America, he and John were responsible for organizing the growing Methodist movement in England. The brothers took to spreading the knowledge by travelling to different parts of the country such as London, Bristol and New Castle and to parts of Scotland, Wales and Ireland as well.

He was one of the founding fathers of the Methodist denomination of Christianity, who gained fame for writing hymns, some of which are featured in the Methodist hymn book ‘Hymns and Psalms’. His hymn, ‘Hark the Herald Angels Sing’ is played everywhere from cathedrals to supermarkets