When William Black was only five years old John Wesley preached to a large congregation in the Rev. Henry Venn's Church in the town. This man of God was a zealous Methodist Churchman, who made Huddersfield the headquarters of extensive labors in all the neighboring region, sympathizing with the great Methodist revival, accompanying Whitefield on evangelistic tours, and for more than thirty years, he co-operated with the Wesleys and other workers in many parts of England and Wales. Though still retaining his connection with the Church of England, he continued in labors abundant, preaching in private houses, barns and in the open air, until old age. His son, the Rev. John Venn, became the projector of the Church Missionary Society. Methodism was firmly established in Huddersfield, and its influences were not unknown to the Black family. In 1767, one fourth of the members of the Methodist Church in the United Kingdom were in Yorkshire, and among the first settlers who came to Nova Scotia were some who were identified with that church, and had listened to Wesley and his preachers.
William Black, the father of the future pioneer and evangelist, was born in 1727, in Paisley, Scotland, a large manufacturing town noted for its shawls, great preachers, and the birthplace of Tannahill, the poet. He came of an independent family, as learned from the fact that his father kept a pack of hounds, and spent his leisure in the chase. When he attained his majority he became a traveller for a large industry, which necessitated some journeys to England, and there he met his future wife, and made his home in Huddersfield. The spell of Scottish literature must have fallen upon the young man, for Robert Burns, the poet, was then at the height of his fame, Alexander Wilson, a native of Paisley, had not yet won his place as a poet, though he too, emigrated to America, and became the pioneer and founder of American Ornithology, but there were other writers whose impress must have been felt by the Scotch youth.
In Elizabeth Stocks he found a lady of refinement and wealth, and the future missionary a good Christian mother. She had been converted at sixteen years of age, and her influence upon the home, and especially upon the lad was elevating, and destined to leave its mark upon the future. The father, with Scotch shrewdness, made a visit to Nova Scotia to spy out the land before removing his family from their English home. The mother watched tenderly over all the members of the family, but William, the second oldest, seemed to call for special care, and her tears and prayers found full fruition in after years, when she had passed to her reward. Frequently did she relate to her son William the story of her conversion, and with tears besought him to serve God. Alone she prayed with him, and pressed home upon his conscience the necessity of being born again. Surely this child was born well, and his future was not all of his own making.