Susanna Wesley by Arnold Dallimore Baker Books, 1993 £6.99 168 pages
ISBN 978 0 801 030 185 Also available as an audiobook
Among the many published books on the life of Susanna Wesley, Arnold Dallimore’s biography, especially written for women, is better viewed as a family portrait with Susanna as the central figure.
There are two reasons for this.
Firstly, the mother lives historically in the shadow of her two famous sons, John and Charles, of whom there are many biographical accounts.
Secondly, the documentary evidence for Susanna’s life appears to be fairly thin, often leading her biographer to make reasonable inferences based on likelihood or probability.
With those contemporary documentary sources that are available, mostly in the form of letters and correspondence, the author succeeds in giving a realistic and believable picture of the mother of John and Charles. We see a strong-willed, intelligent woman who suffered much in a male- dominated world and who prepared her children well in terms of general as well as moral education.
One example will suffice to show her powerful intellect, even at a young age.
Her father, Rev. Dr. Samuel Annesley, was a Puritan when it became not just unfashionable but actually harmful to one’s prospects if you did not assent to the Act of Uniformity of 1662. He had suffered the great indignity of having to leave the ministry of the Church of England in 1662 (the Great Ejection) because he could not give his assent to this Act, thereby becoming part of the so-called Dissenting church (non-conformists as we would call them today).
The family, including Susanna, would thus be brought up in the ‘dissenting’ tradition. However, just before she was 13 years of age, having thought deeply and carefully about the pros and cons of the break with the Church of England, Susanna decided to revert her membership to the established church. This act grieved her father but he respected the decision.
It is easy to believe that her strength of character was at least one of the sterling qualities Susanna passed on to her children.
To modern eyes it is abundantly evident that Susanna suffered great pain, hardship and penury during her marriage to Samuel Wesley. To put it diplomatically, he was an imperious husband, constantly in debt, at times an unbending, autocratic master. Susanna endured all this, cared for her family (19 children of whom 9 died in infancy) and helped to provide education for the children.
In particular she instructed them in religious truth, teaching them about right and wrong.
One sees the effect of this upbringing in all of the children including John and Charles.
Reading this story of the life of Susanna Wesley you will discover many surprising episodes in the life of the Wesley family against the background of 18th century England.
Also worth looking at are ‘Prayers and Meditations of Susanna Wesley’ edited by
Dr M D McMullen. Methodist Publishing House, 2000. £4.95 108 pages ISBN 978 1 858 521 503
and a shorter biography of Susanna, aimed at the older teenager –
Susanna Wesley : mother of Methodism by Mary Greetham. Foundery Press, 1988 £3.00
30 pages ISBN 0 946 550 204