"Any list of the ten most notable persons associated with Brecon in the last nine hundred years would be bound to include Thomas Coke who was born in Brecon in 1747.

A quick search of the Internet reveals over 25 entries about Coke, one of which consists of 391 pages! Coke is not only revered in Wales and the rest of the United Kingdom but also in North America, the West Indies and, somewhat surprisingly, Sri Lanka.

Coke's father, Bartholomew, was a man of substance and standing in Brecon. He apparently had considerable medical knowledge and became a highly regarded and wealthy apothecary.

Bartholomew also became involved in civic affairs and after being elected as a Common Councilman he was chosen a few years later by that Council as Bailiff (Mayor) of Brecon in 1737. It should be remembered that at this time Brecon was the third or fourth largest town in Wales and to be Bailiff of Brecon was a considerable honour.

Around the age of 10 Coke was enrolled as a student at Christ College, which, under the guidance of the Rev. David Griffith, was going through one of its well-regarded phases.

During the five years he attended Christ College his fellow students included Theophilus Jones the historian of Breconshire; David Price, one of the leading Oriental scholars in the nineteenth century; John Jones, the eminent Greek lexicographer and Walter Churchey, who like Coke was to play a prominent part in religious life.

Shortly before his seventeenth birthday in 1764 he entered Jesus College, Oxford as a Gentleman Commoner and, as he later admitted, at first enjoyed, as was usual at that time at Oxford and Cambridge, a life of mild debauchery.

However he graduated as a B.A. in 1768, awarded his M.A. in 1770 and in the same year was ordained as a deacon in Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford.

Two years later he was ordained as a priest in the Episcopal Palace, Abergwili, Carmarthen, and in 1775 became a Doctor of Civil Law. Before he received his M.A. he had been selected by the Common Council of Brecon to join that august body and a year later his fellow councillors elected him as Bailiff of Brecon.

During his short period as a curate in Somerset, he began to hold cottage services and open services of the sort promoted by John Wesley, with whom he allied himself, and this resulted in his being dismissed from his post.

By then he had already met Wesley and became one of his closest assistants. The rest of his life was devoted to promoting the religious path associated with Wesley at first in London and Ireland but from 1784 in North America and the West Indies.

In the next twenty-five years Coke made, at his own expense, eighteen remarkable missionary and organising journeys to North America and the Caribbean.

On one occasion he held a discussion with George Washington regarding the abolition of slavery in Virginia and was invited to preach to the United States Congress. He preached against slavery and in slave owning states he was threatened with physical assault and flogging.

For at least twenty years Coke wished to open Methodist missions in the East Indies and by 1809 was convinced that he should lead a mission to Ceylon.

When the East India Company's Charter was renewed in 1813 one of the conditions was that its ban on missionaries should be lifted. Coke, accompanied by six other Methodist missionaries, sat sail for Ceylon in December 1813. He died at sea in May 1814, aged 67, one month before the boat reached land.

Much more information about the life of this distinguished Breconian and how he financed his missionary work, will be given during the thirteenth Sir John Lloyd Memorial Lecture, 'Thomas Coke - World Methodist Extraordinary' at 7.30 p.m. Friday 20 March in Brecon Guild Hall.

The lecturer will be Dr. John Vickers who is one of the leading Methodist historians.

Non-members of the Brecknock Society and Museum Friends may apply for a reserved seat, after 14 February 2009, by writing, enclosing a stamped addressed envelope, to: Helen Gichard, Secretary, Brecknock Society and Museum Friends, c/o The Brecknock Museum and Art Gallery, Captain's Walk, Brecon, LD3 7DW. Admission is free but there will be a retiring collection. "

Article written by Ken Jones