1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Keswick Convention

KESWICK CONVENTION, an annual summer reunion held at the above town for the main purpose of “promoting practical holiness” by meetings for prayer, discussion and personal intercourse. It has no denominational limits, and is largely supported by the “Evangelical” section of the Church of England. The convention, started in a private manner by Canon Harford-Battersby, then vicar of Keswick, and Mr Robert Wilson in 1874, met first in 1875, and rapidly grew after the first few years, both in numbers and influence, in spite of attacks on the alleged “perfectionism” of some of its leaders and on the novelty of its methods. Its members take a deep interest in foreign missions.

In the History of the C.M.S., vol. iii. (by Eugene Stock), the missionary influence of the “Keswick men” in Cambridge and elsewhere may be readily traced. See also The Keswick Convention: its Message, its Method and its Men, edited by C. F. Harford (1906).