Life of the widower, Br Timothy Gray, who departed to our Svar at Wyke Aug. 11th 1795. He has left the following account of his course thro time.

I was born Aug. 5th 1719 at North Owram in the parish of Halifax. I lived with my parents till I was 14 years old, when I was put apprentice to a cloth maker at Birkenshaw. During my apprenticeship, I became very uneasy about the state of my soul, & took to praying & self working, but soon found, that I could not help myself. Soon after I became acquainted with one John Nelson, to whom I could freely open my mind. Upon his enquiry, I told him, how I had proceeded, & that with all my endeavors I could not attain to rest for my soul, but found myself as wretched as ever. His answer was: I find that you are a poor slave of the devil. He then told me his experience, that he had been of the same way of thinking, but had found all laboring in his own strength to be in vain. He advised me to go to hear Mr Wesley, he would teach me the right way to heaven.

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…. me with cards of love to himself. I longed but, as it were, to touch the hem of his garment, & this our Savr graciously granted me, & I felt, that he owned me as his. About this time I lived with my Sisters at Birkenshaw, where we were visited by the Brn, my shyness towards them wore off by degrees, & I soon had the favor to become a member of the congn. Now a new school commenced in my heart, I learnt more & more to Know my natural corruption, but my Savr likewise granted me the grace to depend more & more upon him, for which I have great reason to thank him all my days. Soon after I went by advice of the Brn to live at Mirfield with John Sheard, where I staid nearly 2 years, & then spent 4 years agreably with the Brn at Wyke. Then I moved into the single Brns choir house at Fulneck but here I got into company with some of a reasoning spirit, whereby I suffered hurt in my soul, & this provedthe occasion, that I left the Brn for some time, & came to live at Wyke. Nevertheless my Savr held his hand over me, & in his due time brought me back to his fold. Thus far our late Brs own account.

He was received into the congn at Fulneck, Oct. 12th 1748 & admitted to the H Comn in 1749. He married married to his late wife, Elizabeth whose maiden name was Ubank in 1755, which marriage was blest with 1 son & 2 daughters, of whom only 1 daughter has survived him, & is now married to Br Wm Ellis at Hopton. In 1749 he was admitted to the holy comn with the congn. In 1789 he became a widower. He has been for many years a respectable member of this congn, tho he has his weaknesses & singularities, which sometimes rendered his course heavy to himself & others, yet amidst all, it was evident, that his heart cleaved to our Savr, & that he had sunk down upon him, as the only sure foundation. It was always a pleasure to him to be visited by the Brn & Srs & he delighted to speak freely with them of what our Lord had done upon his soul. He prized his election of grace to belong to the Brns Congn, & there was nothing he regretted so much, when confined by sickness, as to be deprived of the opportunities of blessing to be enjoyed by children of God in fellowship. He however endeavored in some measure to make up for this loss by reading diligently in the bible, & meditating daily in stillness

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on the texts of the day, which was his constant practise, & whereby according to his own testimony, he often received gracious visits from our Savr. Of late years, the infirmities of age, & increasing bodily weakness, depressed him greatly, & his strength declined visibly. His constitution was by degrees quite worn out, & he sighed, like a weary traveller for repose, longing ardently to be released from pain, & at home with his Lord. A couple of days before his departure; he declared that he had nothing, that lay heavy upon his mind, but was ready to go hence with joy, as a poor, but pardoned sinner, trusting alone in the merit of Christ, & thus he fell gently & happily asleep in the Lord, aged 76 years & a few days.