Resistance to methodist students at st Edmund Hall, Oxford: The remarkable case of Stephen Seager

Abstract

The expulsion of six Methodist students from St Edmund Hall, Oxford, in 1768 has been well documented. Much less is known about what John Wesley termed the 'still more remarkable [case] of Mr. Seager, refused the liberty of entering' the same Hall a year later-an event that finally convinced Wesley to add an advanced program of study at Kingswood School. This article gathers little-known published materials and previously unpublished manuscript records that cast further light on these developments.