Huntingdon, Selina Hastings, countess of

Huntingdon, Selina Hastings, countess of, 1707–91, English religious leader, patron of the Calvinistic Methodists. She was closely associated with the Wesleys and George Whitefield. When they split, she took the side of Whitefield, whom she made one of her chaplains. Largely responsible for introducing Methodism to the upper classes, she established chapels in Bath and other centers of fashion and appointed chaplains to take charge of them. In 1768 she founded a seminary for the training of ministers at Trevecca House in Wales. Later it was removed to Cheshunt, Hertfordshire. Those associated with her establishments and under her moral control were known as "Lady Huntingdon's Connexion." Huntingdon College, Montgomery, Ala., is named for her.

Bibliography

See S. Tytler, The Countess of Huntingdon and Her Circle (1907).