Henry Stebbing (1687–1763) was an English churchman and controversialist, who became
archdeacon of Wilts
The Archdeacon of Wilts (or Wiltshire) is a senior cleric in the Diocese of Salisbury, England. The archdeacon is responsible for the disciplinary supervision of the clergy in five deaneries: Marlborough, Pewsey, Calne, Bradford and Devizes.
Sue ...
.
Life
Baptised at
Walton, Suffolk
Walton is a settlement and former civil parish in the East Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England, lying between the rivers Orwell and Deben. It is now part of Felixstowe parish. In 1911 the parish had a population of 4226.
His ...
on 19 August 1687, he was the fourth son of John Stebbing (1647–1728), a grocer of Walton, by his wife Mary (died 1721), daughter and coheiress of Richard Kenington. Henry entered
St Catharine Hall, Cambridge, as a sizar on 24 February 1705, graduating B.A. in 1708, M.A. in 1712, and D.D. in 1730. On 19 October 1710 he was elected a fellow, and on 27 June 1738 was incorporated at Oxford.
On
Lady day
In the Western liturgical year, Lady Day is the traditional name in some English-speaking countries of the Feast of the Annunciation, which is celebrated on 25 March, and commemorates the visit of the archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary, durin ...
1713 he resigned his fellowship on being presented to the parish of
Lower Rickinghall in Suffolk, and on 31 May 1726 he was instituted rector of
Garboldisham in
Norfolk
Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
. On 14 July 1731 he was elected preacher to the Society of
Gray's Inn
The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...
, and in the following year was appointed chaplain in ordinary to the king. On 19 July 1735 he was installed archdeacon of Wilts, and in 1739 became chancellor of Sarum. In 1748 he became rector of
Redenhall in Norfolk, and retained the charge for the rest of his life. He died at Gray's Inn on 2 January 1763, and was buried in
Salisbury Cathedral
Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican cathedral in Salisbury, England. The cathedral is the mother church of the Diocese of Salisbury and is the seat of the Bishop of Salisbury.
The buildi ...
, where a monument was erected to his memory. His portrait, painted in 1757 by
Joseph Highmore
Joseph Highmore (13 June 1692 – 3 March 1780) was an England, English painter of Portrait painting, portraits, conversation pieces and History painting, history subjects, illustrator and author. After retiring from his career as a painter ...
, hangs in the
National Portrait Gallery, London.
Works
Stebbing was known by contemporaries as a champion of
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
orthodoxy. Among others he wrote against
George Whitefield
George Whitefield (; 30 September 1770), also known as George Whitfield, was an Anglican cleric and evangelist who was one of the founders of Methodism and the evangelical movement.
Born in Gloucester, he matriculated at Pembroke College at th ...
and
Benjamin Hoadly
Benjamin Hoadly (14 November 1676 – 17 April 1761) was an English clergyman, who was successively Bishop of Bangor, of Hereford, of Salisbury, and finally of Winchester. He is best known as the initiator of the Bangorian Controversy.
Li ...
,
bishop of Bangor
The Bishop of Bangor is the ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of Bangor. The see is based in the city of Bangor where the bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Cathedral Church of Saint Deiniol.
The ''Report of the Commissioners appointed ...
. His chief antagonist, however, was
William Warburton
William Warburton (24 December 16987 June 1779) was an English writer, literary critic and churchman, Bishop of Gloucester from 1759 until his death. He edited editions of the works of his friend Alexander Pope, and of William Shakespeare.
Li ...
, with whom he carried on a dispute for many years. Its origin was Stebbing's attack on Warburton's ''
Divine Legation of Moses''.
Stebbing's major works were:
* ‘A Rational Enquiry into the proper methods of supporting Christianity, so far as it concerns the Governors of the Church,’ London, 1720.
* ‘An Essay concerning Civil Government, considered as it stands related to Religion,’ London, 1724; reprinted in ‘The Churchman armed against the Errors of the Times,’ vol. iii., London, 1814.
* ‘An Apology for the Clergy of the Church of England,’ London, 1734.
* ‘A Brief Account of Prayer and the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, and other religious duties appertaining to Christian Worship,’ London, 1739; 4th edit. 1771.
* ‘A Caution against Religious Delusion,’ London, 1739; this work, against the
Methodists, ran through six editions within a year.
* ‘Christianity justified upon the Scripture Foundation,’ London, 1750.
Boyle Lectures
The Boyle Lectures are named after Robert Boyle, a prominent natural philosopher of the 17th century and son of Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork. Under the terms of his Will, Robert Boyle endowed a series of lectures or sermons (originally eight e ...
.
* ‘Sermons on Practical Christianity,’ London, 1759–60.
A collected edition of his earlier writings appeared in 1737, entitled ‘The Works of Henry Stebbing,’ London. He has also been credited with an anonymous satire entitled ‘The Fragment,’ published at Cambridge in 1751, which assailed several leading statesmen and ecclesiastics of the time.
Death
Translation of the Latin inscription on the memorial to Henry Stebbing in Salisbury Cathedral;
Sacred to the memory of HENRY STEBBING S.T.P, Archdeacon of Wiltshire, Chancellor of the Diocese of SALISBURY.
He was formally one of the Consecrated of the Honourable Society, in Gray's Inn in London, to which duty he diligently devoted himself for almost twenty years as a most skilful Orator.
His published works, not about to perish unless with literature, bear witness to how prominent he was in Theology.
In Controversies, in which he was very well practiced, he always conducted himself in such a manner that he both was, and was thought of the best company, a vigorous, accomplished, intrepid Defender of the Christian Religion and the Anglian Church.
At last, distinguished by those Qualities that honour a ''Learned man'' and a ''Priest'' and indeed a ''good'' and ''Christian Man'', finally, weakened by the feebleness of age and by his labours, he fell peacefully asleep in the Year of Our Lord 1763, at the age of 76.
Henry F placed this.
Family
By his wife, a daughter of Robert Camel of
Eye, Suffolk
Eye () is a market town and civil parish in the north of the English county of Suffolk, about south of Diss, north of Ipswich and south-west of Norwich. The population in the 2011 Census of 2,154 was estimated to be 2,361 in 2019. It lies ...
, Stebbing had a son, Henry Stebbing (1716–1787), a fellow of St. Catharine Hall, who became in 1749 rector of
Gimingham
Gimingham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. Gimingham has no shops, but has a Church, a pond and a preserved Water Mill. The village is north of North Walsham and south east of Cromer. It is north of the city of N ...
and
Trunch
Trunch is a village and parish in Norfolk, England, situated three miles north of North Walsham and two miles from the coast at Mundesley. At the Census 2011 the village had a population of 909. The parish covers an area of .
The villages name ...
in Norfolk, and, on the resignation of his father in 1750, was appointed preacher to the Society of Gray's Inn. He died at Gray's Inn on 13 November 1787. He was the author of a collection of ‘Sermons on Practical Subjects,’ London, 1788–90, published by his son, Henry Stebbing, a barrister, with a memoir.
References
*
Notes
;Attribution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stebbing, Henry
1687 births
1763 deaths
18th-century English Anglican priests
Archdeacons of Wilts
People from Felixstowe
People from Redenhall with Harleston
17th-century Anglican theologians
18th-century Anglican theologians