John Collins (c. 1632–1687) was an English
Independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
minister.
Biography
![Farewell Sermons 1663](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/Farewell_Sermons_1663.jpg)
John Collins was born in England, but brought up in
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...
, where his father Edward became a deacon of the
congregational church at
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston ...
. He graduated from
Harvard College
Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...
in 1649, and became a fellow there. In 1653 he returned to Britain, as a preacher in Scotland.
In 1659 Collins was acting as chaplain to General
George Monck
George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle JP KG PC (6 December 1608 – 3 January 1670) was an English soldier, who fought on both sides during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A prominent military figure under the Commonwealth, his support was cruc ...
, whom he accompanied from Scotland to London. Monk dismissed his Independent chaplains in March 1660, when he turned to the Presbyterians. Collins held no preferment at the date of the
Uniformity Act 1662
The Act of Uniformity 1662 (14 Car 2 c 4) is an Act of Parliament, Act of the Parliament of England. (It was formerly cited as 13 & 14 Charles II of England, Ch.2 c. 4, by reference to the regnal year when it was passed on 19 May 1662.) It pr ...
, but is included by
Edmund Calamy among the "silenced ministers."
Subsequently, he succeeded
Thomas Mallory
Sir Thomas Malory was an English writer, the author of '' Le Morte d'Arthur'', the classic English-language chronicle of the Arthurian legend, compiled and in most cases translated from French sources. The most popular version of '' Le Morte d' ...
(ejected from the lectureship of St. Michael's, Crooked Lane) as pastor of a congregational church in
Lime Street, London. He was also one of the
Pinners' Hall lecturers. He died on 3 December 1687.
Works
According to Calamy, Collins published no separate work, but:
*furnished a sermon to the London ''Farewell Sermons'' (1663),
8vo
Octavo, a Latin word meaning "in eighth" or "for the eighth time", (abbreviated 8vo, 8º, or In-8) is a technical term describing the format of a book, which refers to the size of leaves produced from folding a full sheet of paper on which multip ...
;
*and another (anonymous) to the third volume (1676) of ''
Morning Exercise at Cripplegate
''Morning Exercises'' refers to a religious observance by Puritans in London which started at the beginning of the English Civil War.
Origins
As most of the citizens of London had either a near relation or friend in the army of the Earl of Essex, ...
'', edited by
Samuel Annesley
Samuel Annesley (c. 1620 – 1696) was a prominent Puritan and nonconformist pastor, best known for the sermons he collected as the series of ''Morning Exercises''.
Life
He was born in Haseley, in Warwickshire in 1620, and christened on the 26th ...
, D.D.
*In conjunction with James Baron, B.D., he wrote a prefatory epistle to
Ralph Venning
Ralph Venning (c. 1621 – 10 March 1673 or 1674) was an English nonconformist Christian.
Life
The son of Francis and Joan Venning, he was born in Devon, perhaps at Kingsteignton, about 1621. He was the first convert of George Hughes, the puri ...
's ''Remains, or Christ's School, etc.'' (1675), 8vo;
*he also wrote an epistle prefixed to a ''Discourse of the Glory to which God hath called Believers'' (1677),
12mo, by Jonathan Mitchel, a New England divine.
Family
Collins's son Thomas (educated at Utrecht) was elected copastor at Lime Street in 1697.
Notes
References
* Endnotes:
**Cotton Mather's Hist. New Eng. (1702), pt. iv. 136, 200;
**
**
**Palmer's Nonconf. Memorial (1802), ii. 4, (1803) iii. 511;
**Hist. Acct. of my own Life, 2nd ed. (1830), i. 142;
**Neal's Hist. Puritans (Dublin, 1759), iv. 203;
**Original Lists of Emigrants to America (1874), p. 97.
Further reading
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, John
1630s births
1687 deaths
Ejected English ministers of 1662
English Congregationalists
Harvard College alumni