Lady Huntingdon and the Church of England

Abstract

Selina Shirley Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon (1707-1791), was one of the central figures in the eighteenth-century evangelical revival. Lady Huntingdon understood herself as an authentic daughter of the Church of England; she labored ceaselessly to bring renewal to the Church she loved. Among her innovations were the employment of lay preachers, the establishment of a ʽConnexionʼ of Methodist chapels within the Church of England, and the founding of the first Methodist theological college (Trevecca) in South Wales. Ironically, the very steps she took to bring renewal to the Church ultimately led to her separation from it.