Howell Harris' First Society (1736)
Harris began societies. 'Their object was to associate in religious fellowship the men and women who had been brought under conviction by Harris' ministry, and who from the opposition of the time were exposed to the same persecution. The earliest of these societies, which may be regarded as the first fruits of Welsh Methodism, and of all Methodism, being formed three years before Mr Wesley adopted a similar plan, was founded by Harris at Erwood, at a distance of eight miles from his own home.' Life of Howell Harris by H J Hughes.
Additional Information
.I am sorry for the quality of these photos. Although the farm has changed a lot since Harris' day, there are enough original parts of this room for him to feel at home here. Wernos was a centre for meetings of dissenters in the seventeenth century. The family who lived there at that time were the Lloyds. They were the same family who gave the land for Maesyronnen (see this website) to be built.
Howell Harris first visited Wernos in the company of John Games, a music teacher; a few days before Christmas 1736. The first of the Methodist societies in Wales was established there, according to Harris' diary, on 'Holy Thursday', 1737. In May 1737 the son and daughter of John Williams, the Skreen, Erwwod (see this website), visited Wernos and were converted by Harris. The daughter, Anne, later married Harris. Her father was the Sheriff of Radnorshire in 1736.