Josiah Owen (1711?–1755) was a Welsh

Presbyterian 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 ...

minister in north England, known as a controversialist.

Life

Owen was born about 1711, a nephew of James Owen (1654–1706) and Charles Owen. He is generally said to have been the son of their eldest brother, David Owen (died 7 October 1710, aged 59), minister of

Henllan Henllan is a village and community in Denbighshire, Wales with a population of approximately 750 (OfNS/2004) and lies in the countryside, approximately 2.25 miles (3.5 km) north-west of the walled town of Denbigh. The name is Old Welsh, ' ...

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire ( cy, Sir Gaerfyrddin; or informally ') is a county in the south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. The county is known as ...

, and may have been a posthumous son. Josiah Owen was educated by his uncle Charles Owen at

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

. His first settlement as minister was at

Bridgnorth Bridgnorth is a town in Shropshire, England. The River Severn splits it into High Town and Low Town, the upper town on the right bank and the lower on the left bank of the River Severn. The population at the 2011 Census was 12,079. Histor ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

(after 1729), which he left in 1735. He then ministered for short periods at

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is th ...

, and at

Stone, Staffordshire Stone is a canal town and civil parish in Staffordshire, England, north of Stafford, south of Stoke-on-Trent and north of Rugeley. It was an urban district council and a rural district council before becoming part of the Borough of Staffor ...

. Some time after June 1740 Owen became minister of Blackwater Street Chapel, Rochdale, Lancashire. His ministry was immediately successful, and his chapel was enlarged in 1743. He came to prominence with the

1745 Jacobite Rebellion The Jacobite rising of 1745, also known as the Forty-five Rebellion or simply the '45 ( gd, Bliadhna Theàrlaich, , ), was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the Monarchy of Great Britain, British throne for his father, James Franci ...

, as a political and religious writer against

Jacobitism , war = , image = Prince James Francis Edward Stuart by Louis Gabriel Blanchet.jpg , image_size = 150px , caption = James Francis Edward Stuart, Jacobite claimant between 1701 and 1766 , active ...

. Though nominally a Presbyterian, Owen was opposed to formal synods and assemblies. With James Wood as ally, he is said to have been instrumental in the period about 1740 to 1750) in stopping the customary questions on the internal state of congregations from the meeting’ of the Lancashire ministers. Owen's ministry at Rochdale ended on 14 June 1752. He became minister of the Presbyterian congregation at Ellenthorp,

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

, where he died in 1755, aged 44.

Works

Owen has been given credit for a quip on the word Jacobite which belongs to Daniel Burgess (that the Israelites as descendants of Jacob weren't called "Jacobites" because that was God's choice in the matter). He published a sermon with the title, ''All is well; or the Defeat of the late Rebellion … an exalted and illustrious Blessing'', 1746. He was particularly harsh about

Thomas Deacon Thomas Deacon (2 September 1697 – 16 February 1753) was an English non-juror bishop, liturgical scholar and physician. He was born to William and Cecelia Deacon. After his mother married the nonjuror bishop Jeremy Collier, the young Deacon ...

: an anonymous letter in the ''Whitehall Evening Post'' (11 October) scoffed at Deacon for pulling off his hat when passing the head of his executed son on the Manchester Exchange, and this letter was defended in the ''

Gentleman's Magazine ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1922. It was the first to use the term '' magazine'' (from the French ''magazine' ...

'' by a letter at the end of the year from "Philopatriæ", who was Owen.

John Byrom John Byrom or John Byrom of Kersal or John Byrom of Manchester FRS (29 February 1692 – 26 September 1763) was an English poet, the inventor of a revolutionary system of shorthand and later a significant landowner. He is most remembered as t ...

referred in ''An Epistle to a Friend'' to "the low-bred O——ns of the age", and published a ballad on "the zealot of Rochdale", under the title of ''Sir Lowbred O .. N, or the Hottentot Knight''. Owen published sermons, including ones in 1746 for the funerals of Charles Owen and James Hardman; and also: *''A Letter to the Bishop of Litchfield and Coventry'', 1746; two editions in the same year. *''Jacobite and Non-juring Principles freely Examined'', Manchester, 1747; 2nd edit. 1748. Among other answers was ''A Letter to the Clergy of Manchester'' thought to be by

Thomas Percival Thomas Percival (29 September 1740 – 30 August 1804) was an English physician, health reformer, ethicist and author who wrote an early code of medical ethics. He drew up a pamphlet with the code in 1794 and wrote an expanded version in 18 ...

. *''Dr. Deacon try'd before his own Tribunal'', Manchester, 1748.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Owen, Josiah 1711 births 1755 deaths Welsh Presbyterians