His parents were of the established church, and related to Dr. John Averell, bishop of Limerick, who died in 1771, aged 58.
He was at this time in the habit of preaching against the Methodists, and lived as a man of the world, enjoying cards, hunting, and dancing.
On 7 October, 1792 he preached for the first time to a Methodist congregation; in 1796 the Dublin conference admitted him to full connection.
In the division which was the result of the controversy respecting the administration of the sacraments by the preachers (1814–18), Averell took a prominent part with the conservatives who adhered to Wesley's polity, declaring on 21 Jan. 1818 at Clones that the Methodists 'are not a church but a religious society.'
The first meeting of the Primitive Wesleyan Methodist Conference[2] was held on 10 July 1818; Averell was elected president, and constantly re-elected until after 1841, when his infirmities led him to decline office.