Byrd, William (1)

an English minister of the Society of Friends, was born at Uffculme, Devonshire, in 1757. He was converted when about twenty-two years of age, and entered. the ministry in 1794. He was "sound in doctrine, and his ministry was exercised in simplicity, and in demonstration of the Spirit and of power." From conscientious reasons he abstained from the use of the produce of West India slavery. His ministry for several years was confined within the limits of Devonshire and parts adjacent, but afterwards he travelled in England, Ireland, and to the Orkney Islands. Catholic in his spirit, "he was a lover of good men of every denomination, and of enlarged charity and liberal views." He died Dec. 16, 1835. See Testimonies of Deceased Ministers, 1836, p. 3-16. (J. C. S.)