This short-lived denomination originated with a division in the Derby Wesleyan Methodist Circuit (their alternative name was the ‘Derby Faith Folk’) in January 1832. It was apparently strongly revivalistic in nature, and it made use of women preachers such as Elizabeth Ann Evans, whose husband’s mill was one of their meeting places.
Starting with four Local Preachers expelled from the Derby Circuit, and 600 members who chose to join them it soon had three preaching places in Derby and a further 27 elsewhere in the county. The movement spread into neighbouring counties and at its height numbered about 1,800 members. According to the list of Circuits in the Free Methodist Manual there were three Circuits: Leicester, Nottingham, and Redditch.
It amalgamated with the Wesleyan Methodist Association in 1837.
Reference:
Harrison, A.W. “The Arminian Methodists”. Proceedings of the Wesley Historical Society. 23(2) (1941), 25-26.
The Free Methodist Manual (1898) pp118-181
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