Isaac Ambrose (1604 – 20 January 1664) was an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
Puritan
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...
divine
Divinity or the divine are things that are either related to, devoted to, or proceeding from a deity.[divine< ...](_blank)
. He graduated with a BA. from
Brasenose College, Oxford, on 1624. He obtained the curacy of
St Edmund’s Church, Castleton, Derbyshire, in 1627. He was one of king's four preachers in Lancashire in 1631. He was twice imprisoned by commissioners of array. He worked for establishment of Presbyterianism; successively at Leeds, Preston, and Garstang, whence he was ejected for nonconformity in 1662. He also published religious works.
Biography
Ambrose was born in 1604. He was the son of Richard Ambrose, vicar of
Ormskirk
Ormskirk is a market town in the West Lancashire district of Lancashire, England, north of Liverpool, northwest of St Helens, southeast of Southport and southwest of Preston. Ormskirk is known for its gingerbread.
Geography and administr ...
, and was probably descended from the Ambroses of
Lowick in
Furness
Furness ( ) is a peninsula and region of Cumbria in northwestern England. Together with the Cartmel Peninsula it forms North Lonsdale, historically an exclave of Lancashire.
The Furness Peninsula, also known as Low Furness, is an area of vill ...
, a well-known
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
family. He entered
Brasenose College, Oxford, in 1621, in his seventeenth year.
Having graduated B.A. in 1624 and been ordained, Ambroses received in 1627 the little cure of
Castleton in
Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...
. By the influence of
William Russell, earl of Bedford, he was appointed one of the king's itinerant preachers in
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...
, and after living for a time in
Garstang
Garstang is an ancient market town and civil parish within the Wyre borough of Lancashire, England. It is north of the city of Preston and the same distance south of Lancaster.
In 2011, the parish had a total resident population of 4,268; ...
, he was selected by the Lady Margaret Hoghton as vicar of
Preston. He associated himself with
Presbyterianism
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
, and was on the celebrated committee for the ejection of "scandalous and ignorant ministers and schoolmasters" during the
Commonwealth.
So long as Ambrose continued at Preston he was favoured with the warm friendship of the Hoghton family, their ancestral woods and the tower near
Blackburn
Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...
affording him sequestered places for those devout meditations and "experiences" that give such a charm to his
diary
A diary is a written or audiovisual record with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. Diaries have traditionally been handwritten but are now also often digital. A personal ...
, portions of which are quoted in his ''Prima Media'' and ''Ultima'' (1650, 1659). The immense auditory of his sermon (''Redeeming the Time'') at the funeral of Lady Hoghton was long a living tradition all over the county. On account of the feeling engendered by the civil war Ambrose left his great church of Preston in 1654, and became minister of Garstang, whence, however, in 1662 he was ejected along two thousand ministers who refused to conform (see
Great Ejection
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 The Restoration of Charles II. It was a consequence (not necessarily ...
). His after years were passed among old friends and in quiet meditation at Preston. He died of
apoplexy
Apoplexy () is rupture of an internal organ and the accompanying symptoms. The term formerly referred to what is now called a stroke. Nowadays, health care professionals do not use the term, but instead specify the anatomic location of the bleedi ...
about 20 January 1664.
Character assessment
As a religious writer Ambrose has a vividness and freshness of imagination possessed by scarcely any of the
Puritan
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...
Nonconformists. Many who have no love for Puritan doctrine, nor sympathy with Puritan experience, have appreciated the
pathos and beauty of his writings, and his ''Looking unto Jesus'' long held its own in popular appreciation with the writings of
John Bunyan
John Bunyan (; baptised 30 November 162831 August 1688) was an English writer and Puritan preacher best remembered as the author of the Christian allegory ''The Pilgrim's Progress,'' which also became an influential literary model. In addition ...
.
Dr
Edmund Calamy the Elder
Edmund Calamy (February 160029 October 1666) was an English Presbyterian church leader and divine. Known as "the elder", he was the first of four generations of nonconformist ministers bearing the same name.
Early life
The Calamy family claimed ...
(1600–1666) wrote about him:
In the opinion of John Eglington Bailey (his biographer in the
DNB
Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-ba ...
), his character has been misrepresented by Wood. He was of a peaceful disposition; and though he put his name to the fierce "Harmonious Consent", he was not naturally a partisan. He evaded the political controversies of the time. His gentleness of character and earnest presentation of the gospel attached him to his people. He was much given to secluding himself, retiring every May into the woods of Hoghton Tower and remaining there a month.
Bailey continues that Dr. Halley justly characterises him as the most meditative puritan of Lancashire. This quality pervades his writings, which abound, besides, in deep feeling and earnest piety. Mr. Hunter has called attention to his recommendation of diaries as a means of advancing personal piety, and has remarked, in reference to the fragments from Ambrose's diary quoted in the "Media", that "with such passages before us we cannot but lament that the carelessness of later times should have suffered such a curious and valuable document to perish; for perished it is to be feared it has".
Works
*
Looking unto Jesus: A View of the Everlasting Gospel; Or, The Soul's Eying of Jesus as Carrying on the Great Work of Man's Salvation, from First to Last'
*
The Christian Warrior: Wrestling with Sin, Satan, The World and the Flesh'
*
The well-ordered family : wherein the duties of various members are described and urged. A small, but very comprehensive piece, suitable to be in the hand of every ; and may be especially seasonable in the present day'
Notes
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ambrose, Isaac
1604 births
1660s deaths
English diarists
Ejected English ministers of 1662
People from Garstang
17th-century diarists