Subject

Methodist deaconess. Born Mary Bosanquet at Leytonstone Manor (or Forest House, depending on source), Leytonstone, Essex. A close friend of John Wesley, her house served as a meeting place for prayer and bible study, as well as an orphanage, school and a social service centre for the poor and needy. In 1768, she purchased larger premises outside Leeds. She married the Reverend John Fletcher in 1781, and they moved to Madeley, Shropshire. He died less than four years later, but she was allowed to live on in the vicarage and continued to hold religious meetings almost up to her death.