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.
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.
At an early period he formed the habit of taking careful notes of the celebrated characters whom he met, and thus preserved recollections of Robert Southey, poet laureate, James Montgomery, William Dawson, and many others.
On account of a serious throat infection in 1821, Everett gave up the regular ministry and became a bookseller, first in Sheffield, afterwards in Manchester.
For many years he had been opposed to its policy and working and published anonymously several volumes of free criticism, such as The Disputants in 1835, arguing against the scheme to start a theological college for the training of ministers.
In 1845 and following years certain clandestine pamphlets called "Fly Sheets" were circulated widely, bearing neither printer's nor publisher's names.
[1] Everett then took the lead in agitation against the conference, which shook the entire Wesleyan community and resulted in the loss of over 200,000 members and adherents.
To the end of his life Everett remained a minister of this community, filling their pulpits as health and opportunity permitted.