Jeremiah Learnoult Garrett (
fl. 1809) was an English
dissenting minister
A dissenter (from the Latin ''dissentire'', "to disagree") is one who dissents (disagrees) in matters of opinion, belief, etc.
Usage in Christianity
Dissent from the Anglican church
In the social and religious history of England and Wales, and ...
.
Life
Garrett was born at
Horselydown
Southwark St John Horsleydown was a small parish on the south bank of the River Thames in London, opposite the Tower of London. The name Horsleydown, apparently derived from the "horse lie-down" next to the river, is no longer used. The pari ...
,
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 ...
, near the Old Stairs, on 29 February 1764. His parents were boatbuilders. Before he was eight he had 'strict views of the world being burnt up, and the wicked being turned into hell.' Soon after this date his father died. He was now sent to school, first at Christ's College, Hertford, and afterwards at Jackson's Academy, Hampton. He was then set to learn the tailoring trade, but disliking it was apprenticed to a builder of ship's boats at
Wapping
Wapping () is a district in East London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Wapping's position, on the north bank of the River Thames, has given it a strong maritime character, which it retains through its riverside public houses and steps, ...
, who ill-used him. His master absconding for debt, he was apprenticed to another in the same business.
At the age of fourteen or fifteen he had a vision of an "ancient form", which he took to be Jesus Christ. A dissenting minister was called in to see him, to whom he confessed his sins; the minister 'pointed him to the blood of Christ.' Subsequently, however, he took to vicious courses, had a man-of-war's man who had assaulted him arrested, frequented theatres, fought with his fellow-apprentice, contracted debts, and a disease for which he was treated in the
London Lock Hospital
The London Lock Hospital was the first voluntary hospital for venereal disease. It was also the most famous and first of the Lock Hospitals which were developed for the treatment of syphilis following the end of the use of lazar hospitals, as l ...
. On emerging from the hospital he attended the ministrations of
John Wesley
John Wesley (; 2 March 1791) was an English people, English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The soci ...
's preachers, as well as the services of the church, used 'to go out into the fields, and rave hell and damnation to sinners.', and came to be called a second
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 ...
by the old women in
Moorfields
Moorfields was an open space, partly in the City of London, lying adjacent to – and outside – its northern wall, near the eponymous Moorgate. It was known for its marshy conditions, the result of the defensive wall acting like a dam, i ...
. A mysterious find of £80 in his bed enabled him to pay his debts.
At a somewhat later period he held forth at the old Rectifying House and the old Soap House,
Islington
Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...
, and in 1788 he laid the foundation-stone of the chapel since known as Islington Chapel in Church Street. He was received into
Lady Huntingdon's Connexion and ordained. About this time he married. He moved to
Basingstoke
Basingstoke ( ) is the largest town in the county of Hampshire. It is situated in south-central England and lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon, at the far western edge of The North Downs. It is located north-east of Southa ...
, then to
Wallingford, Oxfordshire
Wallingford () is a historic market town and civil parish located between Oxford and Reading on the River Thames in England. Although belonging to the historic county of Berkshire, it is within the ceremonial county of Oxfordshire for adminis ...
, and later spent some three years in
Guernsey
Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency.
It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...
. Returning to England, he ministered for a time at
Ashby-de-la-Zouch
Ashby-de-la-Zouch, sometimes spelt Ashby de la Zouch () and shortened locally to Ashby, is a market town and civil parish in the North West Leicestershire district of Leicestershire, England. The town is near to the Derbyshire and Staffordshire ...
, but his views on
baptism
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...
caused his ejection from Lady Huntingdon's Connexion.
Garrett went into the business of a cotton dyer at
Leicester
Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city l ...
. He soon, however, resumed preaching, and, after ministering for some time at
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...
, established himself just before 1800 at Lant Street Chapel, in the Borough, Southwark, having also a lecture at Monkwell Street Chapel, London. His views seem to have inclined to
antinomianism
Antinomianism (Ancient Greek: ἀντί 'anti''"against" and νόμος 'nomos''"law") is any view which rejects laws or legalism and argues against moral, religious or social norms (Latin: mores), or is at least considered to do so. The term ha ...
. The date of his death is uncertain.
Works
He published:
* 'The Power of an Endless Life contrasted with the Law of a Carnal Commandment. A Sermon preached at Monkwell Street on Thursday, 5 March 1801,' London, 1801.
* 'Rays of Everlasting Life,' not later than 1803.
* 'Democracy detected, Visionary Enthusiasm corrected; or Sixpennyworth of Good Advice selected from the Scriptures of Truth,' London, 1804 (?) (an attack on
Joanna Southcott
Joanna Southcott (or Southcote; April 1750 – 26 December 1814) was a self-described religious prophetess from Devon, England. A "Southcottian" movement continued in various forms after her death; its eighth prophet, Mabel Barltrop, died i ...
, to which she replied in 'Answer to Garrett's Book, and an Explanation of the word Bride, the Lamb's Wife, in the Revelations,' London, 1805).
* 'The Songs of Sion. Principally designed for the use of Churches and Congregations distinguished by the name of the Children of Sion,' London, 1804?.
* 'Huntington corrected, and Garrett's Doctrine protected from the Misconstruction of the Disaffected; or a Reply to a Book lately published called "The Doctrine of Garrett refuted by William Huntington,"' Southwark, 1808. The controversy related to the doctrine of the eternal sonship of Christ, which Huntington accused Garrett of denying.
A plate of Garrett's head is in Southcott's 'Answer.'
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garrett, Jeremiah Learnoult
19th-century deaths
English Christian religious leaders
English religious writers
18th-century English non-fiction writers
18th-century English male writers
19th-century English non-fiction writers
Clergy from Southwark
1764 births
English male non-fiction writers
19th-century English male writers