Bristol and the Methodist Controversy

Abstract

Bristol, to which Tucker came as Curate of St Stephen’s in 1737, was at that time the second city in Great Britain. It replaced Norwich in that position at about the beginning of the eighteenth century, when its population was only 20,000. It prospered during the next too years, with its population increasing to 64,000 by 1801 (42,000 in the old city), but towards the end of the century other cities grew even faster, with the result that in 1801 Manchester-Salford had 84,000, Liverpool 78,000 and Birmingham 74,000. As always, London dwarfed the others, reaching goo, 000 in 1801.