William Garfield Waterworth (WGW) was born in Yorkshire, England in September 1881. After serving as a Lay Evangelist in Northern Ireland he was accepted as a candidate for the Irish Methodist Ministry in 1909. Following the death of a missionary friend in the Gold Coast [Ghana] in 1910 he applied to the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society to be sent out as a missionary to West Africa. Probably the most significant event during his period of service was the mass conversion of Ashanti people to Christianity in response to the preaching of the prophet Sam[p]son Opong during the years 1919 to 1921.Waterworth was largely responsible for the building of Wesley Church and Wesley College at Kumasi. In 1932 he retired due to ill-health but later returned to West Africa as Chairman of the West Nigeria District where he served until 1947. He died in England in 1956. For further information about the Ashanti movement see: Hans W. Debrunner, The story of Sampson Opong, Accra, 1965.
From the guide to the Waterworth, William Garfield, ca. 1907-1960, (School of Oriental and African Studies)
