FEW particulars of the life of this writer are given in a sketch by his son-in-law, the Rev. Thomas Flint, appended to A Funeral Discourse occasioned by the Death of Mr. Benjamin Francis, by John Ryland, D.D. Benjamin Francis was born in Wales, in 1734. At the age of 15 he became a member of a Baptist Church, and three years after, having shown capacity for preaching, he was sent to Bristol College, to prepare for the ministry. He was at first quite ignorant of English, but by diligence acquired it, and carried on his ministry in England; though he often visited Wales and preached in his native tongue. On leaving college, he commenced his ministry at Sodbury, but in 1757 removed to Shortwood, Gloucestershire. There the chapel was twice enlarged, in consequence of his popularity. He also preached in the neighbouring village of Minchin Hampton, where a chapel was erected in 1765. He was very earnest and devoted in his Christian life and ministry, and refused to forsake his people when attracted by an invitation to a pastorate in London. He died in faith December 14, 1799. He was the author of Conflagration - a Poem in Four Parts (1770); An Elegy on the Death of the Rev. G. Whitefield (sixth edition, 1771); and an Elegy on the Death of the Rev. Caleb Evans.
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