tighter financial discipline on the circuits led to an exodus of members and 30 itinerants. The movement became more geared towards consolidation through greater organisation. In 1821 preachers were called upon to record their activities and in 1822 a preachers' manual was published. Preachers now had guidelines, an element of accountability had been introduced, and the leadership had stated that the connexional accounts had priority over spreading the word. Bible A leading theologian of the Primitive Methodists was Arthur Peake, Professor of Biblical Criticism at University of Manchester in 1904–1929. He popularized modern biblical scholarship, including the new "higher criticism". He approached the Bible not as the infallible word of God, but as a record of revelation written by fallible humans. Organisation and conferences In Scotland the Primitive Methodists were poorly funded and had trouble building churches and supporting ministers. Organisationally, the Prims followed many Wesleyan precedents, including grouping local societies into Circuits, and from 1824, grouping Circuits into Districts. By 1824 there were 72 Circuits and four Districts — Tunstall, Nottingham, Hull, and Sunderland. From 1820, the Primitive Methodists held an annual conference, which was nominally the church's ultimate legal authority. However, from 1843 to 1876 the District Meetings grew in power and popularity at the expense of Conference (Lysons: 22 and ch. 4). Conference venues included: Gallery See also History of Christianity in Britain United Brethren (England) Notes Further reading R. W. Ambler, Ranters, Revivalists and Reformers: Primitive Methodism and Rural Society: South Lancashire, 1817-1875 (1989) Anthony Armstrong, The Church of England, the Methodists and Society 1700–1850 (London, University of London Press, 1973) Margaret Batty, "Primitive Methodism in Scotland 1826-1932," Proceedings of the Wesley Historical Society 55 (2006), pp. 237–251 D. W. Bebbington, Evangelicalism in Modern Britain (London, Unwin Hyman, 1989) Robert Colls, The Collier's Rant (London, Croom Helm, 1977) Owen Davies, Witchcraft, Magic and Culture 1736–1951 (Manchester, Manchester University Press, 1999) Owen Davies, "Methodism, the Clergy and the Popular Belief in Witchcraft and Magic", History (1997), p. 82 Norman Gash, Aristocracy and People: Britain 1818–1865 (1979) Ena Dorothy Graham, "Chosen by God: the female travelling preachers of early Primitive Methodism." Proceedings of the Wesley Historical Society 49#3 (1993): 77–95. online version Stephen W. Gunter, The Limits of Love Divine (Nashville, Kingswood books, 1989) David Hempton, Methodism and Politics in British Society 1750–1850 (London, Hutchinson and Co., 1984) John Kent, Holding the Fort (London, Epworth Press, 1978) Timothy