Thomas Jackson (1783–1873): Wesleyan Methodist minister and writer. The son of an agricultural labourer, he was born in Lincolnshire. His formal education finished at the age of twelve when he was sent to work on a farm. This was followed by an apprenticeship to a carpenter. He became a Methodist in 1801 and was appointed an itinerant preacher in 1804. He served some of the key circuits in London and the North of England and, as a result, was an influential figure. He edited Wesleyan Methodist periodicals from 1824 until 1842, when he was appointed theological tutor at Richmond College, Surrey. He became President of the Wesleyan Conference for the first time in 1838–1839 and played a significant role in the movement’s centenary celebrations. His published writings included sermons, biographies of prominent Methodists and nonconformists, including Lives of the Early Methodist Preachers (1865), and a 14-volume edition of the works of John Wesley (1703–1791; DNB). In 1822 Southey wrote to Jackson to thank him both for a copy of his Life of John Goodwin, which had appeared earlier that year, and for his judicious appraisal of Southey’s own Life of Wesley (1820).