Stephens , Joseph Rayner , 1805-1879 , Methodist minister and social reformer

Joseph Rayner Stephens was born in Edinburgh in 1805 and was the son of the Methodist minister John Stephens (1772-1841). He was educated in Leeds and Manchester before becoming a schoolteacher and preacher. He was ordained as a Methodist minister in 1826 and worked in Sweden before returning to hold several posts in England. His political opinions were radical and he was much concerned with workers' rights and the condition of the poor. Stephens's expression of his strong opinions in his speeches and sermons brought him into conflict with both the Methodist hierarchy (he seceded in 1834) and the law (he once served 18 months for sedition, disturbing the peace and infractions). He took up writing for magazines in the 1840s and became a poor-law guardian in 1848. He died in Stalybridge, Lancashire in 1879.