Henry James Prince (1811-1899)became a doctor in 1832; five years later he gave up medicine due to his own ill health and entered an Anglican seminary in Wales.
Ordained in 1846, he was accepted by the Bishop of Bath and Wells in Somerset and appointed curate at a rural church there. His rector being ill, Prince ran the parish by himself and underwent a series of “possessions” through which he claimed to be united to Christ.
As was customary in Wales in those days, women and men worshipped separately. Prince introduced a new division – “sinners” and “righteous”. Oddly enough, wealthy women made up a large percentage of the latter. To his flock Prince preached that he had been absorbed by God and was now an incarnation of the Holy Spirit. His rector read his sermons, was cured and joined him.
