Thomas Coke (bishop)
Welsh-American clergyman (1747–1814); Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church
Thomas Coke (9 September 1747 – 2 May 1814) was the first Methodist bishop. Born in Brecon, Wales, he was ordained as a priest in 1772, but expelled from his Anglican pulpit of South Petherton, Somerset, for being a Methodist. Coke met John Wesley in 1776. He later co-founded Methodism in America and then established the Methodist missions overseas, which in the 19th century spread around the world.
Early life and ordination
Born in Brecon, South Wales, his father, Barthomolew, was a well-to-do apothecary. Coke, who was only 5-foot and 1 inch tall and prone to being overweight, read jurisprudence at Jesus College, Oxford, which has a strong Welsh tradition, graduating Bachelor of Arts, then Master of Arts in 1770, and Doctor of Civil Law in 1775. On returning to Brecon he served as mayor in 1772.
In the same year as his mayoralty he was ordained in the Church of England and served a curacy at South Petherton in Somerset. He had already allied himself with the Methodist movement, and this made for trouble when a new rector arrived in the parish. Coke had begun to hold cottage services and open services of the sort promoted by John Wesley.
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Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 12, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q718439. VIAF identifies the subject as 69723361. The Library of Congress control number is n50031181. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1747, 1814, 1772 and 1776.
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This entry incorporates text from “Thomas Coke (bishop)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.