He acted occasionally as a local preacher, but never entered the Methodist ministry, and ceased to be a member in 1804.
For some time he was master of a school at Macclesfield, Cheshire, but moved to London in 1805, at the suggestion of William Smyth.
He became a Unitarian minister, preaching his first sermon on 8 June 1806 at Parliament Street Chapel, Bishopsgate, but he never held any pastoral charge, and supported himself chiefly by writing.
[1] An article in the New Annual Register for 1807 characterised him as "a knave" and he brought an action for libel against John Stockdale, the publisher, recovering £200 in damages on 11 March 1809.
[1] Charles Sutton, the author of the Dictionary of National Biography article on Nightingale, states that "His works extend to about fifty volumes; those on topography have much merit.