William Gadsby, Minister of the Gospel, Manchester

Summary

Portrait of William Gadsby (1773-1844), Baptist Minister, reputed as a powerful and radical high Calvinist preacher. Gadsby was an advocate of Sunday Schools as a means of providing education to the people. He worked at St George's Road Baptist Chapel, Manchester, which was located an area of acute urban poverty. Gadsby is in middle age here: he is a sustantial man with a high forehead and frank expression. He is depicted as in the midst of preaching, his right arm gesturing towards the viewer across a draped lectern. The back of a simple pulpit or chair is visible behind him.