Bourne, Hugh [key], 1772–1852, English founder of the sect of Primitive Methodists. In 1799 he joined the Wesleyan Methodists and became a preacher. In 1807 he began holding outdoor revival services, despite prohibitions by the Wesleyan Methodist Conference. His adherents gathered around him to establish a new community, whose first class was organized in 1810. In 1812 the name Primitive Methodists was adopted. Within the lifetime of the founder the sect gained over 110,000 members. From 1844 to 1846, Bourne visited the United States, where he gathered large congregations.
See biography by J. T. Wilkinson (1952).
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