Devauden Green
The very first sermon preached by John Wesley in Wales was at Devauden Green on the 15th of October 1739. This famous event is remembered by a bust of John Wesley that now stands on Devauden Green together with a plaque containing some associated information.
The plaque tells the story of an Ann Rosser who is said to have attended the sermon and then proceeded to follow John Wesley on foot to other places in Wales before finally being converted to Methodism.
Unfortunately, although Ann Rosser is a very real person who was converted by John Wesley’s preaching and who went on to build the Earlswood Chapel, she did not attend this particular sermon as she was not born until 1747, over 7 years after this event.
Additionally the information that Ann Rosser’s first husband was a James Lewis is also not substantiable by historical research. Such research leads us to conclude with high certainty that her first husband was a Thomas Lewis, and that her maiden name was Ann Richards.
The above is an image of Devauden Green where John Wesley preached – and the bust with the plaque can be seen on the right hand side.
I here display the text pertaining to Ann Rosser on the plaque. The reality is that in the first of these two paragraphs the entry from John Wesley’s Journal is perfectly correctly presented while in the second paragraph the information pertaining to Ann Rosser’s activities agrees with that handed down in the family. However, the first paragraph refers to events in 1739 whereas Ann Rosser was born in 1747.