User:WilyD/William Case/James Botfield

James Botfield was a circuit rider in the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Botfield was born in Shropshire, England, where he converted to Methodism and worked as a local preacher. In 1803, he married. In 1817, they emigrated to the Canadas. After settling in Montreal, the Lower Canada district's presiding elder Henry Ryan met him, and convinced him to take up circuit riding.

In 1820, he was assigned to the Ottawa circuit. By 1821, Ryan had changed his view of Botfield, and opposed his being accepted on trial as a circuit rider by the 1821 Genesee conference. As a result, Botfield was not accepted by the conference.