Wheatley, James (d. 1775)

Wheatley became a traveling Methodist preacher about 1742, and attended the 1745 Conference. While JW initially thought highly of him, doubts began to surface in 1749. In 1751 JW and CW expelled Wheatley from the connexion in light of evidence of sexual improprieties with young women in his circuit. Wheatley immediately set up as an independent preacher in Norwich, where he gathered a significant following, but soon fell into his former ways and by 1756 had been found guilty of immorality in public court. His reputation hampered the Methodist society in Norwich for some time, even though he had been put out. See Atmore, Memorial, 488–91; Pawson, Letters, 3:142; and Vickers, Dictionary, 390–91.