Founder of the Primitive Methodists, born at Fordhays, parish of Stoke-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, England, on the 3rd of April 1772; died at Bemersley on the 11th of October 1852. At first an assistant to his father, who was a farmer and wheelwright, when twenty-seven years of age he became a preacher among the Wesleyan Methodists. His method of conducting services and his zeal for open-air meetings were not approved by the leaders of the denomination, and in 1808 he was cut off from the Wesleyan connection. His preaching, however, was wonderfully acceptable to the public, and he soon gathered around him a large number of devoted adherents. In March 1810, a committee of ten was formed at Standley, near Bemersley. This is regarded as the first move toward official organization of the body, which in 1812 adopted the name Primitive Methodists. The first chapel of the body was founded at Tunstall in 1811, by Bourne and his brother. For the greater part of his life he worked as a carpenter and builder, but found time to visit Scotland, Ireland and the United States.
