​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).