Grimshaw, William

(1708–63)

   Missionary.

   Grimshaw was born of a poor family in Lancashire and he was educated at the University of Cambridge. After ordination, he became perpetual curate of the parish of Haworth, Yorkshire (where Patrick Brontë, the father of Charlotte, Emily and Anne, was later to be incumbent). Grimshaw was an extraordinary pastor. He rounded up sinners and shirkers with the aid of his riding crop; his sermons were heartfelt and funny and he paid particular attention to the sick and the poor. He even invited George whitefield and John wesley to preach from his pulpit. From Haworth, he began to preach in the surrounding parishes, to the fury of their regular ministers. However, when protests were made to the Archbishop of York, Archbishop Hutton gave Grimshaw his support.

   F. Baker, William Grimshaw 1708–1763 (1963).