"The cause of religion underwent a gracious revival in 1773, principally through the instrumentality of Mr Thomas Taylor, who at that time was stationed in the Bradford circuit; together with Mr William Barker and Mr Thomas Tennant. The congregation at the old preaching-house continued to suffer little change, till the labours of these excellent men removed a measure of the odium which heretofore had rested upon the people; in fact, Mr Taylor was the first man who attracted a regular and numerous congregation. The whole society was renovated, a fresh impulse was given, and the body discovered blessed symptoms of life and animation. The small preaching house was soon filled with attentive hearers, and awakenings and conversions followed. The preaching of Mr.Wesley's assistants began to be prized, and such was the zest and appetite of the people for the ministry, that they frequently went in company to Elland, where service was held at eight o'clock in the morning; the severity of winter did not prevent them, and not unfrequently did they hold a prayer meeting in the neighbourhood of Exley, at the hour of six, prior to the service at Elland. They would then attend the church at eleven, frequently proceed from thence to the preaching-house where a sermon was delivered in the interval of church hours. After that, they heard the afternoon lecture at the Parish church, and being attached to the Methodist minister would sometimes follow him into Bradshaw, where service was performed in the evening. No wonder, when the people thus laid themselves out, that the work of the Lord revived. Miserable, indeed, must be the state of that society, where the conversion of sinners is a work sacred only to the Christian ministry. It was not so with the Methodists at Halifax! Perfectly convinced that the exercise of one talent will prove as efficacious, in its degree, as that of five, they determined, at least, to be "hewers of wood, and drawers of water." "Come with us, and we will do you good" was the invitation of each to his neighbour, and the chapel was now often filled to an overflow."
'History of Wesleyan Methodism in Halifax and its vicinity, by J U Walker, pages 133-4.