BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES OF THEIR PASTORS,

AND SOME ACCOUNT OF

THE PURITAN MINISTERS WHO LABOURED IN THE COUNTY.

BY

THOMAS COLEMAN.

LONDON:

JOHN SNOW, 35, PATERNOSTER ROW.

1853.

INTRODUCTION.

In presenting some historical Memorials of the Independent Churches in the County of Northampton, it may be proper to take a glance at "the rise and progress" of Nonconformity from the early days of the Reformation.

When the Pope's supremacy was denied and some change in the Church was sanctioned by Henry the Eighth, there were a number of Protestants in England who desired the reformation from Popery to be carried further than was agreeable to the reigning monarch and those that had the ascendancy in his counsels. The reformers acknowledged "that corruptions had been a thousand years introducing, which could not be all discovered and thrown out at once"; and yet the ruling powers sought by "Acts of Uniformity" to put a stop to all further improvement.

In the days of Queen Elizabeth, when the Protestant exiles returned who had been driven to the Continent by the persecutions in the reign of Mary, there was a considerable increase in the number of ministers who were dissatisfied with the reformation of the Anglican Church. When the Act had passed, in the year 1559, entitled "An Act for the Uniformity of Common Prayer and Service in the Church, and Administration of the Sacraments," there were many ministers connected with the Church who could never submit to its requirements. They were men who pleaded for a purer mode of worship and discipline than the authorities would allow; and hence they were called Puritans. They refused to wear the vestments, to read the whole of the liturgical service, and to comply with many of the ceremonial observances required; they regarded them as relics of Popery, contrary to the simplicity of the Gospel of Christ, and opposed to the purity of his Church.

They suffered much during the reigns of Elizabeth and the first two English Sovereigns of the Stuart line. "The Star Chamber" and "the High Commission Court" were established, before which they were summoned, and where they were required to answer questions proposed, that would have made them their own accusers. If they refused to answer, they were punished for contumacy; if they complied, they were punished for Nonconformity.

To promote the reformation in the Church which they desired, the Puritan ministers formed associations, instituted classes, held meetings, and appointed lectures, which they preached alternately at their different Churches.

The County of Northampton was distinguished as one of the strongholds of Puritanism. There were a considerable number of Puritan divines in the Churches in this County: here, the meetings of their associations were frequently held; and here, in several of the towns, their lectures were delivered; and though they had to suffer much, yet they had some noble friends in the County, who endeavoured to hold over them the shield of their protection. These were the men who, by their principles, their preaching, and their writings, were the means of promoting evangelical truth and piety in the country; and they were the men who preserved the liberties of Englishmen, when they were in danger of being trampled in the dust. While Hume, the historian, treats their principles as frivolous and their conduct as ridiculous, he bestows upon them this high eulogium: "So absolute was the authority of the Crown, that the precious spark of liberty had been kindled and was preserved by the Puritans alone; and it was to this sect that the English owe the whole freedom of their constitution."

At the commencement of the reign of James I., when Bancroft was Archbishop of Canterbury, the clergy were commanded to renew their subscription to the requirements of the Church. More than seven hundred of them refused; and in that number there were fifty-seven non-subscribing ministers in Northamptonshire.

At a meeting of their Association, held in Northampton, the ministers signed the following confession: "That they believed the word of God contained in the Old and New Testaments to be the perfect rule of faith and manners; and that it ought to be read and known by all people; and that the authority of it exceeds all authority, not of the Pope only, but of the Church also, and of councils, fathers, men, and angels."

The liberty enjoyed in the days of the Commonwealth many of them improved to the noblest purposes—prizing the advantages they possessed, even where they did not approve of the ruling powers.

At the restoration of the second Charles they hoped, from the fair promises made by the King, that some changes would have been made in their favour, so that they might have ministered in the Church without being required to violate the dictates of conscience; but the enemies of further reformation gained the ascendancy, and strove to drive from the Church the Puritan divines: they succeeded in passing "the Act of Uniformity" of 1662, which made the terms of conformity so strait that more than two thousand ministers were ejected by it, choosing rather to resign their livings and all their worldly prospects, and to cast themselves on the care of Providence, than submit to what was required; for this Act demanded their "unfeigned assent and consent to all and everything contained in the Book of Common Prayer." It came into operation August 24th, 1662, on Bartholomew-day—the day when the massacre of the Protestants in France took place ninety years before, hence called by some "Black Bartholomew." It is stated, that this day was chosen for this Act to take effect because the Nonconforming ministers would then be deprived of their year's income, which would be due shortly after.

The great Mr. Locke styles the ministers who refused to conform, "learned, pious, orthodox divines."

It has been, we think, justly observed, "that ecclesiastical history furnishes no such instance as this of a noble army of confessors at one time—it is an honour peculiar to the English Dissenters. Never has the world seen such a sacrifice to principle."

From this time the name of Puritan was exchanged for that of Nonconformist.

These were the men that laid the foundation of a large number of the Dissenting Churches which remain to this day. In the County of Northampton there were sixty ministers who were ejected by this Act. Fourteen of this number afterwards conformed; but of one of them it is remarked, "that he never went up the pulpit stairs with comfort after he had conformed—that he was at last but half a Conformist, for which he was frequently cited into the Spiritual Court: he freely suffered his children to go and hear the ejected ministers, and always maintained a brotherly affection towards them."

They were exposed to great trials, and suffered much persecution, after their ejectment. To prevent them from preaching, "The Conventicle Act" was passed, forbidding more than five adult persons to meet together for worship different from the forms of the Church of England, on pain of very severe penalties. After this came "The Five Mile Act," which forbade them to reside within five miles of any corporate town where they had formerly preached, or from keeping school, or taking boarders, under a penalty of forty pounds. Thus many were driven from their families and their homes; and many were heavily fined and repeatedly imprisoned. It was in the midst of sufferings of this nature that several of the Churches were formed, the Memorials of which are here presented.

When the glorious revolution by William the Third was effected, a very pleasing change in their circumstances took place. "The Act of Toleration" that then passed was viewed by them as a great blessing. Advancing knowledge on the principles of religious liberty may have led us to see that such an Act falls far short of that complete state of freedom to which we should aspire; yet there was abundant reason for our forefathers highly to value the liberty it gave them, and they blessed the memory of him by whom it was obtained. After the passing of this Act, the term Nonconformist was exchanged for that of Dissenter, as applied to those who availed themselves of the advantages it gave. This is the name they now bear, and which they will probably continue to bear until the time when our civil rulers shall cease to raise one denomination of Christians above another, or to legislate for the Church of Christ.

A hundred and twenty years ago, Doddridge entered upon his work as pastor and tutor at Northampton. These offices he filled during twenty years; and he evidently obtained, by his spirit, his preaching, his writings, and his labours as a tutor, great influence in the Churches in the County, which continued to be felt many years after his death. A minister who was ordained over one of these Churches forty years ago observes, "It always appeared to me a pleasing fact, as indicating the hold that Doddridge had obtained on the hearts of the Northamptonshire Nonconformists, that his hymns were almost everywhere in use in conjunction with Watts, and in all the old books used in my day the two were bound up together."

The following character of the Independent Churches in this County is given by Job Orton, from the knowledge he obtained of them while resident at Northampton, first as student, afterwards as assistant, with Doddridge, leaving him in the year 1742. Writing to a young minister, he observes—"I am sorry you have met with such poor encouragement, and especially with any ill treatment, from the people in Northamptonshire. I know them well: some of them are narrow and bigoted, but in general they are serious exemplary Christians, and the bulk of them are not disposed to use a minister ill who is not imprudent, and doth not directly oppose their favourite notions, which is the only way to make people hold them the faster. They are not disposed to censure a person who preaches in a serious and experimental manner, and in an evangelical strain, though he does not use many of their favourite phrases, but will bear almost anything from the pulpit where the main thing is not wanting."

The idea of the present Work originated in a conversation with the author of the Centenary Memorial of Doddridge, at the Autumnal Meetings of the Congregational Union, held at Northampton, 1851. If the Writer could have prevailed on highly esteemed brethren in the County to have undertaken the work, he would gladly have done so; but the impression which he had of its desirableness and adaptation for usefulness produced a conviction that the attempt should be made. He has done what he could. The loss of early records in some cases, and the entire neglect to form them in others, has rendered the accounts of some of the Churches very defective; but in some cases the origin and history of the Churches can be correctly traced.

Materials have been collected from all the sources that supplied any, to which the Writer could have access. His hope is, that the work will tend to serve the cause of evangelical truth and piety, that it will illustrate the nature and importance of Christian Churches formed and sustained on the voluntary principle, and that it may aid in some degree to extend their influence and increase their efficiency. He commends it to the candid attention of the reader, and to the blessing of the Great Head of the Church.

Ashley, December 14th, 1852.

N. B. The Memorials commence with the Churches in Northampton, and the other Churches in the County are placed in chronological order, according to the date of their formation, so far as that could be ascertained.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.PAGE
Memorials of the Independent Churches in Northampton:—
Section 1.—Introductory Statement[1]
Section 2.—The Independent Church at Castle Hill[9]
Section 3.—The Independent Church at King's Street[37]
Section 4.—The Independent Church at Commercial Street[42]
CHAPTER II.
Memorials of the Independent Church at Rowell[46]
CHAPTER III.
Memorials of the Independent Church at Kettering[80]
CHAPTER IV.
Memorials of the Independent Church at Market Harborough[119]
CHAPTER V.
Memorials of the Independent Church at Ashley and Wilbarston[146]
CHAPTER VI.
Memorials of the Independent Church at Welford[155]
CHAPTER VII.
Memorials of the Independent Church at Creaton[179]
CHAPTER VIII.
Memorials of the Independent Church at Daventry[186]
CHAPTER IX.
Memorials of the Independent Church at Wellingborough:—
Section 1.—The Independent Church at Cheese Lane[210]
Section 2.—The Independent Church at West End[226]
Section 3.—The Independent Church at Salem Chapel[246]
CHAPTER X.
Memorials of the Independent Church at Oundle[250]
CHAPTER XI.
Memorials of the Independent Church at Weedon Beck[262]
CHAPTER XII.
Memorials of the Independent Church at Long Buckby[268]
CHAPTER XIII.
Memorials of the Independent Church at Potterspury[275]
CHAPTER XIV.
Memorials of the Independent Church at Yardley Hastings[291]
CHAPTER XV.
Memorials of the Independent Church at Kilsby and Crick[304]
CHAPTER XVI.
Memorials of the Independent Church at Brigstock[314]
CHAPTER XVII.
Memorials of the Independent Church at Weldon and Corby[327]
CHAPTER XVIII.
Memorials of the Independent Church at Yelvertoft[335]
CHAPTER XIX.
Memorials of the Independent Church at Wollaston[344]
CHAPTER XX.
Memorials of the Independent Church at Peterborough[352]
CHAPTER XXI.
Memorials of the Independent Church at Towcester[357]
CHAPTER XXII.
Memorials of the Independent Church at Old[361]
CHAPTER XXIII.
Memorials of the Independent Church at Everdon[367]
CHAPTER XXIV.
Memorials of the Independent Church at Brackley[369]
CHAPTER XXV.
Memorials of the Independent Church at Byfield[371]
CHAPTER XXVI.
Memorials of the Independent Church at Paulerspury[373]
CHAPTER XXVII.
Home Missionary Stations—1. King's Cliffe and Nassington;
2. Borough Fen; 3. Middleton[376]
Appendix[381]