John Petty (Primitive Methodist Minister)

The Revd. John Petty (1807 – 22 April 1868) was a 19th-century author and Primitive Methodist Minister, and the first Governor of Elmfield College. He was born in Salterforth, Yorkshire and died at Elmfield School, York. Memorial services were held at the Little Stonegate Chapel, York Little Stonegate (Ebenezer) Chapel on Sunday 26 April and Petty was buried in York Cemetery on 27 April. In 1903 the Monkgate Primitive Methodist Church in York was officially opened, replacing the Ebenezer Chapel in Little Stonegate. The new building was to be used for the attendance at worship of the boys from Elmfield School. This link with Elmfield was one of the factors behind the naming of the new church the ‘John Petty Memorial Church’, which title proudly surmounts the large window over the main entrance.