His father, although a deist, intended that his son enter the clergy,[1] but Ouseley spent much of his childhood in the cabins of peasant neighbours.[3] He was tutored with his cousins Gore and William, and all three had notable careers.[4]
Married at age 20, Ouseley led a wild life that dissipated both his own and his wife's fortunes. After losing an eye when shot in a tavern brawl, a loss that reputedly left him with a frightening appearance,[3] Ouseley left his wild ways behind him. In 1791 he was converted to Methodism by English soldiers stationed in Dunmore,[5] and he set out in turn, to convert and reform others. Ouseley preached the gospel, mostly in Ulster, until his death, preaching up to 20 sermons a week.[1] His knowledge of the Irish language and of peasant mores— not to mention his eccentric preaching astride a whitehorse— won him renown as Methodism's 'apostle to the Irish'.[3]
Works
A Short Defence Of The Old Religion (1812, 2nd Ed. 1829)
Oliver St. John Gogarty wrote an autobiographical novel Tumbling in the Hay and two plays under the pseudonym Gideon Ouseley, A Serious Thing and The Enchanted Trousers.[6]
^ abc"Ouseley, Gideon". Encyclopedia Americana, Canadian Edition. Vol. 21. 1950. p. 53.
^Taggart, Norman W. "Ouseley, Gideon". A Dictionary of Methodism in Britain and Ireland. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
^ abcCunningham, John (2004). A Town Tormented by the sea: Galway, 1790-1914. Dublin: Geography Publications. p. 252. ISBN0-906602-32-7.
^R. W. Ferrier, ‘Ouseley, Sir Gore, first baronet (1770–1844)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 accessed 10 Nov 2011
