Henry BATH

BATH, HENRY (b. Truro, England, 25 Sept 1839; d. Melbourne, Vic, 4 June 1916). Wesleyan Methodist minister.

Henry was the son of Tristram Bath, agricultural labourer, and his wife Susanna. In 1849 the family migrated to Adelaide, SA, where he was raised in the tradition of Cornish Methodism. As a young man he experienced conversion, and combined work as a carpenter with lay preaching before entering the Wesleyan ministry in 1859. Bath transferred to Victoria in 1870 where he was appointed to the colony's most prestigious congregations. His commanding pulpit presence and emotional preaching earned him the title 'Prince of Preachers'. Although lacking formal education and theological training, Bath was an assiduous reader and his love of poetry and art was used effectively in his sermons.

In public affairs, Bath was a leader of the Bible in State School League, the Lord's Day Observance Society and temperance organisations. His role in protecting 'public morality' was recognised by his election as President of the Victorian Wesleyan Conference in 1884.

Bath's evangelicalism was described as 'orthodox without being narrow' and was in the mainstream of Wesleyan tradition. His belief in the excellence of Wesleyan theology and organisation led him in the 1890s to oppose the union of Methodist churches and the establishment of a Central Mission at Wesley Church.

ADB 3; E F Osborn, 'Henry Bath—Methodist preacher', Heritage (Vic Methodist Hist Soc), 13 (1962)

RENATE HOWE