Primitive Methodist annual membership statistics (1820-1888)

The men and women of the Primitive Methodist movement turned their world upsidedown. The movement grew rapidly in the face of persecution by gangs of rabble rousers (the mob), and persecution by those in power who brought them before the magistrate. A number of their preachers were sent to jail. In spite of this opposition, or more likely, because of it, the gospel spread as lives were changed, chapels and class meetings established, and towns and villages were impacted. The statistics below represent one way to measure how effective this movement was.

These statistics are taken from the Annual Conference statistics reported by H B Kendall in the "History of the Primitive Methodist Connexion", chapter 7, “Sidelights on facts and figures”. The first Conference was held at Hull, in May 1820. At this conference, the state of the Connexion was reported to be as follows: - eight circuits, 48 travelling preachers; 277 local preachers; 7,842 members. The annual increase or decrease is then added to this base figure of 7842 members, to give the annual total membership.

The chart shows that the growth was linear and sustained for well over 70 years. The movement grew from 7842 members in 1820 to 194,010 members in 1888. Significant years are 1821, when the movement doubled in size, the mid 1820s when the movement was on the brink of catastophe because of renegade preachers who had joined the rapidly expanding movement, and 1833 when the cholera epidemic caused many deaths in the community. Rapid growth occurred in 1849-1850. The founding fathers of the movement, William Clowes and Hugh Bourne died in 1851 and 1852 respectively. The movement nearly doubled in size in the 36 years after the death of the founders.

Year	Conference	Total	Increase
1820	Hull	7842
1821	Tunstall	16394	8552
1822	Loughborough	25218	8824
1823	Leeds.	29472	4254
1824	Halifax	33507	4035
1825	Sunderland	33582	75
1826	Nottingham	33582	(no return) 0
1827	Manchester	33582	(no return) 0
1828	Tunstall	31685	-1897
1829	Scotter	33795	2110
1830	Hull	35808	2013
1831	Leicester	37489	1681
1832	Bradford	41674	4185
1833	Sunderland	48794	7120
1834	Birmingham	52391	3597
1835	Tunstall	57163	4772
1836	Lynn Regis	62820	5657
1837	Sheffield	65791	2971
1838	Darlaston.	68180	2389
1839	Bradford	70910	2730
1840	Manchester	74504	3594
1841	Reading	76481	1977
1842	Newcastle on Tyne	80029	3548
1843	Nottingham	86079	6050
1844	Lynn Regis	88919	2840
1845	Hull	88099	-820
1846	Tunstall	88500	401
1847	Halifax	89691	1191
1848	Leeds	92297	2606
1849	Sunderland	98453	6156
1850	Nottingham	107658	9205
1851	Yarmouth	111677	4019
1852	Sheffield	112880	1203
1853	York	111829	-1051
1854	Manchester	111709	-120
1855	Hull	109654	-2055
1856	Darlaston	112353	2699
1857	Cambridge	114479	2126
1858	Doncaster	120012	5533
1859	Newcastle on Tyne	127656	7644
1860	Tunstall	135907	8251
1861	Derby	139185	3278
1862	Sheffield	144976	5791
1863	Leeds	150372	5396
1864	York	152481	2109
1865	Hull	153091	610
1866	Chester	155204	2113
1867	Luton	158717	3513
1868	Sunderland	163565	4848
1869	Grimsby	163831	266
1870	Nottingham	164765	934
187l	Oldham	163891	-874
1872	Yarmouth	164108	217
1873	London	164067	-41
1874	Hull	164179	112
1875	Leicester	169239	5060
1876	Newcastle on Tyne	176324	7085
1877	Scarborough	180537	4213
1878	Manchester	182567	2030
1879	Leeds	182396	-171
1880	Grimsby	182210	-186
1881	Hull	184831	2621
1882	Sheffield	187200	2369
1883	South Shields	192351	5151
1884	Tunstall	192329	-22
1885	Reading	193516	1187
1886	Derby	192777	-739
1887	Scarborough	192798	21
1888	Liverpool	194010	1212