OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Eames, John

​EAMES, JOHN (d. 1744), dissenting tutor, was a native of London, and it is not improbable that he was a son of John Eames, born at Berkhampstead, Hertfordshire, 29 Jan. 1644–5, the only son of James Eames, inn-holder. He was admitted at Merchant Taylors' School on 10 March 1696–7, and was subsequently trained for the dissenting ministry. He preached but once, being deterred from further efforts by diffidence and by difficulty of elocution, and seems never to have been ordained. In 1712 Thomas Ridgley, D.D., became theological tutor to the Fund Academy, in Tenter Alley, Moorfields, ​an institution supported by the congregational fund board. Eames was appointed assistant tutor, his subjects being classics and science. On Ridgley's death (27 March 1734) he succeeded him as theological tutor, handing over his previous duties to Joseph Densham, one of his pupils. His reputation as a tutor, especially in natural science, was very great; there is no list of his pupils, but it appears that Archbishop Secker attended his classes (in 1716–17, at the time when he was turning his thoughts towards medicine as a profession). He enjoyed the friendship of Sir Isaac Newton, through whose influence he was elected fellow of the Royal Society, whose transactions he was employed in abridging. Dr. Isaac Watts, for whom he edited a popular manual of astronomy and geography, describes him as ‘the most learned man I ever knew.’ He is probably the only layman who ever held the theological chair in a nonconformist academy; it appears that the presbyterian board was in the habit of sending students to the Fund Academy, but none were sent while Eames was theological tutor. Of his theological work there is no trace; on 13 Feb. 1735 he took part with Samuel Chandler [q. v.] and Jeremiah Hunt, both very liberal divines, in an arranged debate with two priests of the Roman communion, at the Bell Tavern in Nicholas Lane. Eames, who was unmarried, died suddenly on 29 June 1744, a few hours after giving his usual lecture.
He published nothing of his own, but was concerned in the following: 1. ‘The Knowledge of the Heavens and Earth made easy,’ &c., 1726, 8vo, by Isaac Watts, edited by Eames. 2. ‘The Philosophical Transactions, from 1719 to 1733, abridged. By John Eames and John Martyn,’ 1734, 4to, 2 vols.; being vols. vi. (in 2 parts) and vii. of the series. 3. ‘A General Index of all the matters contained in the seven vols. of the Philosophical Transactions abridged,’ 1735, 4to (seems to have been the work of Eames and Martyn).
A. G.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Manlove, Timothy

1904 Errata appended.
​MANLOVE, TIMOTHY (d. 1699), presbyterian divine and physician, probably grandson of Edward Manlove [q. v.] the poet, was born at Ashbourne, Derbyshire. He was ordained at Attercliffe, near Sheffield, on 11 Sept. 1688, and his first known settlement was in 1691, at Pontefract, Yorkshire, where he was very popular. In 1694 he was invited to the charge of Mill Hill Chapel, Leeds, and removed thither with some reluctance. His ministry at Leeds was able, but not happy. He succeeded a minister of property, and his own requirements were not met by the stipend raised. He obtained some private practice as a physician, and has been called M.D., but Thoresby describes him as ‘Med. Licent.’ At first on good terms with Ralph Thoresby the antiquary, he quarrelled with him on the subject of nonconformity. He removed in 1699 to Newcastle-on-Tyne as assistant to Richard Gilpin, M.D. [q. v.], and, when ‘newly gone’ thither, ‘dyed of a feaver’ on 4 Aug. 1699, in the prime of life, and was buried on 5 Aug. A funeral sermon, entitled ‘The Comforts of Divine Love,’ was published by Gilpin in 1700.
He published: 1. ‘The Immortality of the Soul asserted. … With … Reflections on a … Refutation of … Bentley's “Sermon,”’ &c., 1697, 8vo (against Henry Layton [q. v.]). 2. ‘Præparatio Evangelica … Discourse concerning the Soul's Preparation for a Blessed Eternity,’ &c. 1698, 8vo. William Tong classes Manlove with Baxter for his ‘clear, weighty way of writing.’ ​
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Dictionary of National Biography, Errata (1904), p.193 N.B.— f.e. stands for from end and l.l. for last line
| Line | |
| 26 | Manlove, Timothy: for (1638-1699) read (d. 1699) |
| 28 | for son read grandson |
| 29 | omit in 1633 |
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Taylor, Abraham

​TAYLOR, ABRAHAM (fl. 1727–1740), independent tutor, was a son of Richard Taylor (d. 1717), independent minister at Little Moorfields, London. His name occurs in a list (December 1727) of ‘approved ministers of the congregational denomination’ in the London district, and in 1728 he became minister at Deptford, Kent. His first publication, an attack on Samuel Chandler [q. v.], appeared in 1729. It was entitled ‘A Letter to a Friend, occasioned by a rhapsody delivered in the Old Jewry by a reverend bookseller [Chandler] … at the shutting up his evening entertainment for the last winter season,’ 1729, 8vo. In 1730 he published a ‘Letter’ in reply to the ‘Enquiry’ into the causes of the decline of dissent by Strickland Gough [q. v.] This attracted the notice of William Coward (d. 1738) [q. v.], who selected Taylor as one of nine preachers for a weekly lecture in defence of Calvinism at Paved Alley, Lime Street. The Lime Street lectures (delivered from 12 Nov. 1730 to 8 April 1731) were collected, 1762, 2 vols. 8vo. While they were proceeding Taylor was ordained (1 Jan. 1731), having been selected as divinity tutor for a new academy, established by the ‘King's head society’ (founded 1730), with an extended course of study (six years), in which more stress was to be laid on orthodoxy than on other learning. In point of attainment Taylor was well suited for the post, but a harsh temper unfitted him for it. He soon had an angry controversy on a minor point of Calvinism with John Gill [q. v.], one of the Lime Street lecturers. When Coward first projected (early in 1735) his scheme of ‘founding a college after his death,’ he wavered between Philip Doddridge [q. v.] and Taylor as its head. He obtained the degree of D.D. about the same time as Doddridge (1736), from what university does not appear. Hugh Farmer [q. v.] writes (14 July 1737): ‘Dr. Taylor is at present the reigning favourite, and is printing twenty sermons at Mr. Coward's request.’ Samuel Clarke [q. v.] and David Jennings [q. v.] deprecated his influence with Coward. Taylor, however, lost character through financial imprudence, ceased to be tutor in 1740, and ended his ministry at Deptford soon after. He died in penury. The place and date of death are not stated.
Among his publications (chiefly sermons) is ‘A Practical Treatise of Saving Faith,’ 1730, 8vo, 3 parts. Appended to his funeral sermon (1733) for John Hurrion [q. v.] is ‘Some Account’ of him, reprinted with Hurrion's ‘Works,’ 1823, 3 vols. 12mo.
A. G.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Hamont, Matthew

​HAMONT, MATTHEW (d. 1579), heretic, was a ploughwright at Hethersett, Norfolk, five miles from Norwich. In the Hethersett parish registers the name is spelt Hamonte, Hammonte, and Hammante. He was probably of Dutch origin. Early in 1579 he was cited before Edmund Freake [q. v.], bishop of Norwich, on a charge of denying Christ. The articles exhibited against him represented him as a coarse kind of deist, holding the Gospel to be a fable, Christ a sinner, and the Holy Ghost a nonentity. That he was a man of religious character is clear from a reference to him (not previously quoted) by William Burton (d. 1616) [q. v.], who says: ‘I haue knovven some Arrian heretiques, whose life hath beene most strict amongest men, whose tongues haue beene tyred with scripture upon scripture, their knees euen hardned in prayer, and their faces wedded to sadnesse, and their mouthes full of praises to God, while in the meane time they haue stowtly denied the diuinitie of the Sonne of God, and haue not sticked to teare out of the Bible all such places as made against them; such were Hamond, Lewes, and Cole, heretikes of wretched memorie, lately executed and cut off in Norwich.’ Other authorities describe Hamont as an Arian. He was condemned in the consistory court on 13 April, and handed over to the custody of the sheriff of Norwich. His offences were aggravated by a further charge of ‘blasphemous words’ against the queen and council, for which he was sentenced to lose his ears, and for his heresy to be burned alive. On 20 May 1579 his ears were cut off in the Norwich market-place, and he was burned in the castle moat. More than a century later the case excited the curiosity of Philip van Limborch, the remonstrant theologian, who corresponded on the subject in 1699 with John Locke. Hamont left a widow, who died in 1625; he had a son Erasmus. John Lewes, mentioned above, was burned at Norwich on 18 Sept. 1583; Peter Cole, a tanner of Ipswich, met the same fate at Norwich in 1587.
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# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Jervis, Thomas

​JERVIS, THOMAS (1748–1833), unitarian minister, born at Ipswich on 13 Jan. 1748, was son of William Jervis (d. 24 March 1797, aged 72), minister of the presbyterian congregation in St. Nicholas Street, Ipswich. He was educated for the ministry in London at Wellclose Square, under David Jennings [q. v.], and at Hoxton, under Savage, Kippis, and Rees. In 1770 he became classical and mathematical tutor at the Exeter academy, having also the charge of a presbyterian congregation at Lympstone, Devonshire. In 1771–2 he shared with James Perry Bartlett the charge of the congregations at Lympstone and Topsham, Devonshire. William Petty, second earl of Shelburne, engaged him in 1772, on the recommendation of Richard Price, D.D., as resident tutor to his sons at Bowood, Wiltshire, a situation which he filled till 1783. Here he associated with Priestley, who was Shelburne's librarian till 1780. Jervis, who was ordained in 1779, removed to London about 1783, and became minister of the presbyterian congregation in St. Thomas Street, Southwark. He was elected a trustee of Dr. Williams's foundations in 1786. On the death of Kippis he was elected his successor (1796) at Princes Street, Westminster. Up to this time his views were low Arian, and it is doubtful whether they underwent any further development. In the summer of 1808 he succeeded William Wood as minister of the unitarian congregation at Mill Hill, Leeds. He resigned this charge, and left the active ministry in 1818. Returning to London, he was re-elected to Dr. Williams's trust in 1823. His closing years were spent in literary leisure. He died at Brompton Grove on 31 Aug. 1833, and was buried in the churchyard of Fryerning, Essex. He married Frances Mary, daughter of John Disney, D.D. [q. v.]
He published nineteen separate sermons and addresses (1784–1820), some of which are reprinted in (1) ‘Sermons,’ &c., 1811, 8vo; (2) ‘Remarks in Refutation of … Story of a Supernatural Appearance related by the Rev. R. Warner,’ &c., 1831, 8vo; reprinted 1832, 8vo. He wrote many biographies for the ‘Gentleman's Magazine’ and ‘Monthly Repository,’ and several hymns for the collections of Kippis and others. One of his hymns, of great beauty, written in 1795, ‘Sweet is the friendly voice,’ is in Martineau's collections.
John Jervis (1752–1820), younger brother of the above, was born at Ipswich in 1752. He succeeded his brother at Lympstone in 1773, was ordained in 1779, and held this charge till his death on 27 Oct. 1820. He was a fellow of the Linnean Society, and a mineralogist. His religious views resembled those of his brother.
A. G.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Ashworth, Caleb

​ASHWORTH, CALEB, D.D. (1722–1775), dissenting tutor, was born at Clough-Fold, Rossendale, Lancashire, in 1722. The date rests on Palmer's statement that he was ‘but fifty-three years of age’ at death, and on the monumental inscription given in Baker's ‘Northamptonshire’ (i. 332). His father, Richard Ashworth, who died in 1751, aged eighty-four, was a lay preacher among the Particular Baptists; he had three sons—Thomas, Particular Baptist minister at Heckmondwike; Caleb; and John, General Baptist minister, colleague of Dr. James Foster (Pope's ‘modest Foster’), who preached his funeral sermon in 1742. Caleb was originally a carpenter; he probably was not in sympathy with his father's views, and thus did not at first turn to the ministry. He was afterwards educated for the independent ministry, under Doddridge, at Northampton, where he first took up his quarters in 1739; and settled at Daventry in 1746, originally as assistant to James Floyd. Under Doddridge's will the management of the academy was left to Ashworth, and, as the Northampton congregation did not elect him their minister, he removed it to Daventry in 1752. He obtained the degree of D.D. from Scotland in 1759. He had married a Miss Hemings, by whom he had three sons and three daughters. His son John entered Daventry academy in 1760, but became a grazier. Ashworth died on 18 July 1775. Under him Daventry academy became a chief seat of culture among the liberal independents and presbyterians, who at that time were closely fused, and partook of the same type of theology and church polity. A list of his students may be found in ‘Monthly Repository,’ 1822. His most distinguished scholar was Priestley, who says that Ashworth took ‘the orthodox side of every question’ in theology and philosophy, the sub-tutor, Samuel Clark, ‘that of heresy.’ Doddridge's plan of referring to authors on all sides of every question, and requiring his students to give an account of them, was faithfully pursued by his successors, with the result of much independence of judgment. A pupil (Rev. T. Thomas, in Month. Rep., 1814, p. 79) says: ‘Under Dr. Doddridge there was a more popular exterior; under Dr. Ashworth a more disciplined interior.’ The defect of the academy was the neglect of languages [see Alexander, John, (1736–1765)], biblical criticism, and ecclesiastical history; its staple was dogmatics and philosophy, including psychology (then called pneumatology), ethics, and physics. Ashworth published for his academy a Hebrew Grammar, and a treatise on ‘Plane ​Trigonometry;’ for his congregation, a book of ‘Tunes;’ and Funeral Sermons for Dr. Isaac Watts 1749, Rev. James Floyd 1759, and Rev. S. Clark, his coadjutor, 1770.
A. G.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Sturch, William

​STURCH, WILLIAM (1753?–1838), theological writer, was born at Newport, Isle of Wight, about 1753. His great-grandfather, William Sturch (d. 1728), was a general baptist minister in London. His grandfather, John Sturch, general baptist minister at Crediton, Devonshire, published ‘A Compendium of Truths,’ Exeter, 1731, 8vo, and a sermon on persecution, 1736, 8vo. His father, John Sturch, ordained (21 June 1753) minister of the general baptist congregation, Pyle Street, Newport, wrote ‘A View of the Isle of Wight,’ 1778, 12mo, which passed through numerous editions, and was translated into German by C. A. Wichman, Leipzig, 1781, 8vo. He died in 1794. One of his daughters married John Potticary (1763–1820), the first schoolmaster of Benjamin Disraeli, earl of Beaconsfield.
William Sturch was an ironmonger in London, and an original member of the unitarian chapel opened by Theophilus Lindsey [q. v.] at Essex Street, Strand, in 1774. In 1799 he published anonymously a thin octavo, entitled ‘Apeleutherus; or an Effort to attain Intellectual Freedom.’ It consists of three essays; the third, ‘On Christianity as a Supernatural Communication,’ written with great ability and beauty of style, is interesting as exhibiting the sceptical side of a devout mind. A fine sonnet is prefixed to the work. In 1819 it was reprinted (anonymously), with a dedication to Thomas Belsham [q. v.], a fourth essay ‘On a Future State,’ and three additional sonnets. Sturch wrote one or two pamphlets in controversy with conservative Unitarians, and was a frequent contributor to the ‘Monthly Repository.’ He published also a very able pamphlet, with a view to Roman catholic emancipation, ‘The Grievances of Ireland: their Causes and their Remedies,’ 1826, 8vo. He took the chair at a dinner given in London (5 Jan. 1829) to Henry Montgomery, LL.D. [q. v.], when Charles Butler (1750–1832) [q. v.] was one of the speakers. He died at York Terrace, Regent’s Park, on 8 Sept. 1838, aged 85, leaving a widow Elizabeth (d. 23 Feb. 1841, aged 81) and family. He was buried in the graveyard of the New Gravel-Pit chapel, Hackney. His second daughter, Elizabeth Jesser (b. 25 Dec. 1789, d. 30 March 1866), ​married John Reid [q. v.] and founded Bedford College, London, in October 1849.
[Christian Reformer, 1838, p. 740; Taylor's Hist. of English Gen. Baptists, 1818, ii. 93; Aspland's Memoir of R. Aspland, 1850. pp. 106, 154, 557; Inquirer, 7 April 1866 p. 221, 5 May 1866 p. 284; Calendar of Bedford College, 1888; tombstones at Hackney; private information]
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# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Alberti, George William

​ALBERTI, GEORGE WILLIAM (1723–1758), essayist, was born at Osterode am Harz in 1723, and studied philosophy and theology under Heumann and Oporin at Göttingen, where he graduated in 1745. He spent some years in England, where, besides the connection between Hanover and England, he may have had ancestral ties. (There was a George Alberti of Wadham College, M.A., 1631.) He became minister of Tundern in Hanover, and died there on 3 Sept. 1758. He published: 1. ‘Diss. de Pseudothaumaturgis Pharaonis,' 1744. 2. ‘De Imputabilitate Somni' (graduation thesis), 1745. 3. ‘Some Thoughts on the Essay on Natural Religion as opposed to Divine Revelation, said to be written by the celebrated Dryden, which is pretended to be the most formidable piece that has ever yet appeared against Revelation. Reprinted and answered by Alethophilus Gottingensis,' London, 1747 (this is dedicated to the Princess Augusta, with the initials G. W. A. M. A.; the piece to which it replies is certainly not by Dryden, though of his date; it is perhaps worth remarking, in correction of l'Abbé Glaire and others, that it has nothing whatever to do with Hume; it was first printed at the end of ‘A Summary Account of the Deists Religion: in a letter to . . . the late Dr. Thomas Sydenham,' 1745; the editor says ‘he is credibly informed by a gentleman of great learning and integrity ' that it was Dryden's work; it was replied to also in ‘An Essay on Atheism and Deism,' 1749). 4. ‘Aufr. Nachricht von der Rel. . . . der Quäker,' Hanover, 1750. 5. ‘Briefe betreffend den allerneuesten Zustand der Rel. und der Wissenschaften in Gross-Britannien,' Hanover, 1752–4.
A. G.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Sampson, Henry (1629?-1700)

​SAMPSON, HENRY (1629?–1700), nonconformist minister and doctor of medicine, eldest son of William Sampson (1590?–1636?) [q. v.], was born at South Leverton, Nottinghamshire, about 1629. His mother, Helen, daughter of Gregory Vicars, married, in 1637, as her second husband, Obadiah Grew [q. v.] Sampson was educated at Atherstone grammar school, under his stepfather, and at King Henry VIII's school, Coventry, under Phinehas White. In 1646 he entered at Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, his tutor being William Moses [q. v.] He graduated B.A. in 1650, was elected fellow in the same year, and proceeded M.A. in 1653. He paid special attention to the study of Hebrew and New Testament Greek, and collected a library rich in critical editions of the scriptures. In 1650 he was presented by his college to the rich rectory of Framlingham, Suffolk, vacated by the sequestration of Richard Goultie for refusing the ‘engagement.’ He was never ordained, but acquired considerable repute as a preacher, both at Framlingham and Coventry. At Framlingham, where he had no literary neighbours, he added antiquarian to his theological interests. At the Restoration ​Goultie was replaced in the rectory, but Sampson continued for some time to preach privately at Framlingham, and founded an independent congregation, which still exists (now unitarian).
Turning to medicine, he studied at Padua and at Leyden, where he graduated M.D. on 12 July 1668. He practised in London, and was admitted an honorary fellow of the College of Physicians on 30 Sept. 1680. He retained his nonconformity, attending the ministry of Lazarus Seaman [q. v.], and later of John Howe. He died on 23 July 1700, and was buried in August at Clayworth, Nottinghamshire, of which parish his brother, William Sampson, was rector. He was twice married, but had no issue. His first wife, Elinor, died on 24 Nov. 1689. His second wife, Anna, survived him.
He published ‘Disputatio … de celebri indicationum fundamento, Contraria contrariis curari,’ &c., Leyden, 1668, 8vo, and contributed papers on morbid anatomy to the ‘Philosophical Transactions,’ 1674, 1678, 1681, 1695. His account (1663) of Framlingham Castle is printed in Hearne's editions of Leland's ‘Collectanea.’ He edited ‘Methodus Divinæ Gratiæ,’ &c., 1657, 12mo, by Thomas Parker (1595–1677) [q. v.] Sampson's papers, including ‘a particular list of the ejected in each county,’ gave ‘considerable help’ to Calamy in the preparation of his ‘Account’ (1713) of the silenced ministers of 1662. None of his manuscripts are now known to exist, but the British Museum has a volume (Addit. MS. 4460) of Thoresby's transcripts from Sampson's ‘Day-books.’ Some extracts are printed in the ‘Gentleman's Magazine,’ 1851, and in the ‘Christian Reformer,’ 1862, pp. 235 sq.
A. G.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Saddington, John

​SADDINGTON, JOHN (1634?–1679), Muggletonian, was born at Arnesby, Leicestershire, about 1634, and was engaged in London in the sugar trade. He was among the earliest adherents to the system of John Reeve (1608–1658) [q. v.] and Lodowicke Muggleton [q. v.], and hence was known as the ‘eldest son’ of their movement. He was a tall, handsome man, and an intelligent writer; his strenuous support in 1671 was of essential service to Muggleton's cause. He died in London on 11 Sept. 1679. Two only of his pieces have been printed: 1. ‘A Prospective Glass for Saints and Sinners,’ 1673, 4to; reprinted, Deal, 1823, 8vo. 2. ‘The Articles of True Faith,’ written in 1675, but not printed till 1830, 8vo. Of his unprinted pieces in the Muggletonian archives, the most important is ‘The Wormes Conquest,’ a poem of 1677, on the trial of Muggleton, who is the ‘worme.’
A. G.
# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Coningham, James

​CONINGHAM, JAMES (1670–1716), presbyterian divine, was born in 1670 in England and educated at Edinburgh, where he graduated M.A. on 27 Feb. 1694. The same year he became minister of the presbyterian congregation at Penrith. Here he employed himself in educating students for the ministry, probably with the concurrence of the ‘provincial meeting’ of Cumberland and Westmoreland. In 1700 he was chosen as colleague to John Chorlton [q. v.] at Cross Street Chapel, Manchester. He shared with Chorlton the tutorial work of the Manchester academy, and on Chorlton's death (1705) carried it on for seven years without assistance. His most distinguished pupils were Samuel Bourn the younger [q. v.] and John ​Turner of Preston, famous for his warlike exertions against the rebel army in 1715. During the reign of Anne, Coningham was several times prosecuted for keeping an academy; and though a man who combined strict orthodoxy with a catholic spirit, he was not strong enough to cope with the divergences of theological opinion in his flock. He left Manchester for London in 1712, being called to succeed Richard Stretton, M.A. (d. 3 July 1712, aged 80), at Haberdashers' Hall. His health was broken, and he died on 1 Sept. 1716, leaving the remembrance of a graceful person and an amiable character.
Coningham published three sermons, 1705, 1714, and 1715, and wrote a preface to the second edition of Henry Pendlebury's ‘Invisible Realities,’ originally published 1696, 12mo.
[Wright's Funeral Sermon, 1716; Toulmin's Hist. View, 1814, p. 246; Calamy's Hist. Acc. of my own Life, 2nd ed. 1830, ii. 31 sq. 257, 523; Cat. of Edinburgh Graduates (Bannatyne Club), 1858; Baker's Mem. of a Diss. Chapel, 1884, pp. 19, 61, 140; Extracts from records of the Presbyterian Fund, per W. D. Jeremy.]
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