Born in London in 1746 and educated at Eton College, he came to America and was appointed a Methodist preacher in 1774.
He was one of the founding members of the Methodist Episcopal Church (actually it was he who suggested the name) at the Christmas Conference in Baltimore in 1784.
He had been one of the greeters of Thomas Coke who had arrived as Wesley's emissary to the new American Church.
Methodist circuit riders from then on carried his materials on their travels and distributed them widely.
As the principal provider of literature for the growing Methodist movement, he must take a significant amount of credit for its growth into the largest American church by the mid 20th century.