John Wesley (1703-1791) was a cleric of the Church of England who unintentionally founded his own denomination. Born to the Rev Samuel Wesley and his wife, Susanna, at the rectory in Epworth, John grew up in a large and in some ways peculiar household. Although his parents had been raised as Puritans, they had converted to Anglicanism; the older Wesley retained his Puritanical moral outlook while adopting Tory political principles, which led him into conflict with both his parish and his wife.
John was sent to Charterhouse and Oxford. While he was at university, his family back at the rectory were plagued by the so-called Epworth poltergeist.
