Edward Lawrence or Laurence (1623–November 1695) was an English

ejected minister The Great Ejection followed the Act of Uniformity 1662 in England. Several thousand Puritan ministers were forced out of their positions in the Church of England, following Stuart Restoration, The Restoration of Charles II of England, Charles I ...

Life

The son of William Laurence, he was born in 1623 at Moston, Shropshire. He was educated first in the school at Whitchurch in the same county, and was then admitted as a sizar of

Magdalene College, Cambridge Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary ...

on 8 June 1644. He matriculated in 1645, graduated BA in 1647-8, and MA in 1654. After preaching for a time, in 1648 Lawrence was made vicar of

Baschurch Baschurch is a large village and civil parish in Shropshire, England. It lies in North Shropshire, north-west of Shrewsbury. The village has a population of 2,503 as of the 2011 census. The village has strong links to Shrewsbury to the south-e ...

in Shropshire, near his native place. Declining offers of

preferment A ferment (also known as bread starter) is a fermentation starter used in ''indirect'' methods of bread making. It may also be called mother dough. A ferment and a longer fermentation in the bread-making process have several benefits: there is ...

, he remained there till 1662, when he was ejected under the Act of Uniformity. After his ejection he resided with a gentleman in the parish of Baschurch until March 1666, when the Five Mile Act necessitated a move, and he settled at Tilstock, a village in the area of Whitchurch. In February 1667-8 Lawrence and his friend

Philip Henry Philip Henry (24 August 1631 – 24 June 1696) was an English Nonconformist clergyman and diarist. His son Matthew Henry was a notable commentator on the Bible and also a Presbyterian minister. Early life Philip Henry was born at Whitehall, L ...

were invited to

Betley Betley is a village and civil parish in the Newcastle district of Staffordshire, England, about halfway between Newcastle-under-Lyme and Nantwich. Betley forms a continual linear settlement with Wrinehill. SchoolBetley School Transport Betley l ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

, where they preached in the church. The incident was reported in the House of Commons, and with others of a similar nature provoked a proclamation against papists and nonconformists (18 February 1668). In May 1670, when living at Whitchurch, and preaching one Sunday afternoon at the house of a neighbour to his family and four friends, he was arrested by Dr Fowler, the minister of Whitchurch, under the Conventicle Act. Lawrence and four others were fined. This affair caused Lawrence to take his family to London in May 1671, where he remained, preaching in his meetinghouse near the Royal Exchange and elsewhere. Lawrence died in November 1695, known as a minister troubled at the divisions of the church. He is often mentioned in Philip Henry's diary. Samuel Lawrence of Nantwich was his nephew.

Works

Lawrence published: * 'Christ's Power over Bodily Diseases,' preached in several sermons on Matt. viii. 5-13, London, 1662; 2nd edit. 1672.

Richard Baxter Richard Baxter (12 November 1615 – 8 December 1691) was an English Puritan church leader, poet, hymnodist, theologian, and controversialist. Dean Stanley called him "the chief of English Protestant Schoolmen". After some false starts, he ...

wrote a preface. * 'There is no Transubstantiation in the Lord's Supper,' delivered as a morning lecture at

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

, and published as Sermon xxi in '' The Morning Exercise against Popery'' (cf. edition by James Nichols, 1845, vol. vi.), first issued by

Nathaniel Vincent Nathaniel Vincent (?–1697) was an English Nonconformist (Protestantism), nonconformist minister, ejected in 1662 and several times imprisoned. Life He was probably born in Cornwall about 1639, son of John Vincent (1591–1646), who was nominate ...

, London, 1675. An abstract of the sermon, with a notice of Lawrence, is in Samuel Dunn's ''Seventy-five Eminent Divines'', pp. 222–3. * 'Parents' Groans over their Wicked Children,' several sermons on Prov. xvii. 25, London, 1681. * Two funeral sermons on the 'Use and Happiness of Human Bodies,' London, 1690.

Family

Edward and Deborah Lawrence recorded the baptisms of eight children at Baschurch, between 1649 and 1661. The conduct of two of his children caused Lawrence distress. Nathaniel, born 28 April 1670, became nonconformist minister at Banbury.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrence, Edward 1623 births 1695 deaths Ejected English ministers of 1662 Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge Clergy from Shropshire