Israel Worsley (1768−1836) was an English Unitarian minister. Born at Hertford in 1768, Israel Worsley entered at

Daventry Academy Daventry Academy was a dissenting academy, that is, a school or college set up by English Dissenters. It moved to many locations, but was most associated with Daventry, where its most famous pupil was Joseph Priestley. It had a high reputation, an ...

in 1786, under

Thomas Belsham Thomas Belsham (26 April 175011 November 1829) was an English Unitarian minister Life Belsham was born in Bedford, England, and was the elder brother of William Belsham, the English political writer and historian. He was educated at the dissen ...

who made him a Unitarian. In December 1790 a committee of merchants at

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 in the reign ...

compiled for the use of the English Church at Dunkirk . . . with a Collection of Psalms,’' Dunkirk, 1791, 12mo. The volume was reprinted in ''Fragmenta Liturgica'' (1848, vol. vi.) by Peter Hall, who seemed unaware that it was itself a reprint of the ‘reformed’ prayer book of

Theophilus Lindsey Theophilus Lindsey (20 June 1723 O.S.3 November 1808) was an English theologian and clergyman who founded the first avowedly Unitarian congregation in the country, at Essex Street Chapel. Early life Lindsey was born in Middlewich, Cheshire, t ...

. How long this experiment lasted is not certain. Worsley established a school at Dunkirk. After the outbreak of the war between Britain and France in 1793 he made his way to England, but returned after the

peace of Amiens The Treaty of Amiens (french: la paix d'Amiens, ) temporarily ended hostilities between France and the United Kingdom at the end of the War of the Second Coalition. It marked the end of the French Revolutionary Wars; after a short peace it se ...

(1802), only to be arrested on the resumption of hostilities (1803), ultimately making his escape with difficulty through the

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. From 1806 to 1813 he ministered at

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

, and from 1813 to February 1831 at

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

, where he established a fellowship fund and a chapel library. He left Plymouth with his family for

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, intending a six months' stay, but was persuaded to open (in June) a place for Unitarian worship (in the

Rue de Provence The rue de Provence is a street located in the 8th and 9th Arrondissements of Paris. It begins at the rue du Faubourg Montmartre and ends at the rue de Rome . Only the short part of the street between rue du Havre and rue de Rome is in the 8th arr ...

). In January 1832 he formed a French Unitarian association for circulation of tracts. The cholera of March 1832 dispersed his congregation, but he kept his chapel open till June 1833. Returning to England, he again ministered at Lincoln (1833−6).

Bibliography

Besides sermons, tracts, and school-books, Worsley published: #''Account of the State of France . . . and the Treatment of the English'', 1806. #''Memoir'' of

Jacob Brettell Jacob Brettell (1793–1862) was an English Unitarian minister. Life Brettell was born at Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, on 16 April 1793. His grandfather was an independent minister at Wolverhampton, and afterwards assistant to James Whe ...

, Lincoln, 1810. #''Observations on ... Changes in the Presbyterian Societies of England'' 1816 (valuable for Unitarian history). #''Lectures on ... Nonconformity'', 1823; 2nd edit. 1825. #''View of the American Indians . . . the Descendants of the Ten Tribes of Israel'', 1828.

Family

His grandfather, John Worsley (d. 16 Dec. 1767), was for fifty years a successful schoolmaster at Hertford, and author of grammatical tables (1736, 8vo) and of an able translation of the New Testament, published posthumously by subscription (1770, 8vo), edited by Matthew Bradshaw and the author's son, Samuel Worsley (d. 7 March 1800). Israel's father, John Worsley, who died at High Wycombe. Buckinghamshire, in 1807 (Monthly Repository, 1808, p. 515), had continued the school at Hertford for thirty years, with less success, being too easy a disciplinarian; he published a Latin grammar (1771, 8vo). Israel Worsley died at

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...

on 3 Sept. 1836. His son, William Worsley (1796−1881), was B.A. Glasgow 1816, studied at Manchester College 1816−19, and was Unitarian minister at Thorne (1819−22), Hull (1822−25), and Gainsborough (1825−1875).

References

*Biographical Dictionary of Living Authors, 1816, p. 399 *Monthly Repository, 1822, p. 286 *Christian Reformer, 1833 pp. 269, 308, 369, 1836 p. 824 *Murch's Hist. Presb. and Gen. Bapt. Churches in West of Engl. 1835, pp. 505, 507 *Kenrick's Memoir of Kentish, 1854, p. 13 *Roll of Students, Manchester College, 1868 *Unitarian Almanac, 1882, p. 24 *Urwick's Nonconformity in Herts, 1883, p. 514.] {{DEFAULTSORT:Worsley, Israel 1768 births 1836 deaths English Unitarian ministers People from Hertford