Charles Wesley, the son of the rector of Epworth, Lincolnshire, was born ion 18th December 1707. He studied at Christ College, Oxford, and became a member of a religious group that included his brother, John Wesley and George Whitefield. The group became became known as the Holy Club or the Oxford Methodists.

In 1735 Charles and John Wesley became missionaries in Georgia, America. They returned to England five years later and for the rest of his life Charles became the able lieutenant to his more charismatic brother. Charles wrote over 5,500 hymns, including the popular Jesu, Lover of My Soul and Hark, the Herald Angels Sing.

Charles Wesley died in 1788.