John Pye-Smith (25 May 1774 – 5 February 1851) was a

Congregational Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

minister, theologian and tutor, associated with reconciling geological sciences with the Bible, repealing the Corn Laws and abolishing slavery. He was the author of many learned works.

Biography

The son of a

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

bookseller, Pye-Smith was surrounded by books in his youth and was practically

self-taught Autodidacticism (also autodidactism) or self-education (also self-learning and self-teaching) is education without the guidance of masters (such as teachers and professors) or institutions (such as schools). Generally, autodidacts are individua ...

: he did take Latin lessons from Jehoiada Brewer. He became a

Dissenting Dissent is an opinion, philosophy or sentiment of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or policy enforced under the authority of a government, political party or other entity or individual. A dissenting person may be referred to as ...

academic and author, and was the first Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

from a

Nonconformist Nonconformity or nonconformism may refer to: Culture and society * Insubordination, the act of willfully disobeying an order of one's superior *Dissent, a sentiment or philosophy of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or entity ** ...

background. He was also elected a Fellow of the

Geological Society The Geological Society of London, known commonly as the Geological Society, is a learned society based in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe with more than 12,000 Fellows. Fe ...

at a time when there was considerable debate about accepting the idea of geological time, and if so to find ways of reconciling this with the teachings of the

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

. He was an advocate of

gap creationism Gap creationism (also known as ruin-restoration creationism, restoration creationism, or "the Gap Theory") is a form of old Earth creationism that posits that the six-''yom'' creation period, as described in the Book of Genesis, involved six lit ...

. Throughout his life he worked for the

abolition of slavery Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

. During the politically turbulent 1790s, Pye-Smith took over the editorship of the ''

Sheffield Iris The ''Sheffield Iris'' was an early weekly newspaper published on Tuesdays James Montgomery, John Holland and James Everett, ''Memoirs of the Life and Writings of James Montgomery'' in Sheffield, England. The first newspaper to be published in S ...

'', the leading abolitionist newspaper in the

North of England Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...

, during the imprisonment of its editor, his friend James Montgomery. In 1830 Pye-Smith took the Chair of the Board of Congregational Ministers when it passed an anti-slavery motion to secure support from all Congregational chapels across the country in petitioning parliament: "That we feel it to be a solemn duty to employ our influence with our congregations and the public, to promote petitions to both Houses of Parliament for the abolition of Colonial Slavery, and therefore pledge ourselves, and beg to recommend to our brethren throughout the kingdom to prepare from each congregation such petitions to parliament..." The Congregationalists' 1833 abolition lecture, "The Sinfulness of Colonial Slavery", was delivered at John Pye-Smith's Meeting House in Hackney by his former pupil,

Robert Halley Robert Halley (13 August 1796 – 18 August 1876) was an English Congregational minister and abolitionist. He was noted for his association with the politics of Repeal of the Corn Laws, and became Classical Tutor at Highbury College and Prin ...

Work in education and theological training

A committee of

merchants and ministers, including Pye-Smith, founded

Mill Hill School Mill Hill School is a 13–18 mixed independent, day and boarding school in Mill Hill, London, England that was established in 1807. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. History A committee of Nonconformist me ...

.A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 1
british-history.ac.uk for boys on 25 January 1807. Pye-Smith was the theological tutor at the

Dissenting academy The dissenting academies were schools, colleges and seminaries (often institutions with aspects of all three) run by English Dissenters, that is, those who did not conform to the Church of England. They formed a significant part of England's edu ...

known as

Homerton College Homerton College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Its first premises were acquired in Homerton, London in 1768, by an informal gathering of Protestant dissenters with origins in the seventeenth century. In 1894, the co ...

near Hackney, London for forty-five years between 1805 and 1850. His pupils included Robert Halley, future Principal of

New College, London New College London (1850–1980) (sometimes known as New College, St John's Wood, or New College, Hampstead) was founded as a Congregationalist college in 1850. Predecessor institutions New College London came into being in 1850 by the amalgamat ...

;

Samuel Dyer Samuel Dyer (台約爾, 20 February 1804 – 24 October 1843) was a British Protestant Christian missionary to China in the Congregationalist tradition who worked among the Chinese in Malaysia. He arrived in Penang in 1827. Dyer, his wife Ma ...

, the missionary; and

William Johnson Fox William Johnson Fox (1 March 1786 – 3 June 1864) was an English Unitarian minister, politician, and political orator. Early life Fox was born at Uggeshall Farm, Wrentham, near Southwold, Suffolk on 1 March 1786. His parents were strict Calvi ...

of the South Place Chapel, later the

South Place Ethical Society The Conway Hall Ethical Society, formerly the South Place Ethical Society, based in London at Conway Hall, is thought to be the oldest surviving freethought organisation in the world and is the only remaining ethical society in the United King ...

. Pye-Smith was minister of the Old Gravel Pit Chapel in Chatham Place, Hackney for nearly as long, from 1811–50.

Monument

John Pye Smith died in Hackney in 1851 and is buried below a marble chest tomb monument in Dr Watts' Walk, at the Congregationalists' non-denominational garden cemetery in the grounds of

Abney Park Abney Park is in Stoke Newington, London, England. It is a park dating from just before 1700, named after Lady Abney, the wife of Sir Thomas Abney, Lord Mayor of London in 1700 and one of the first directors of the Bank of England and associat ...

Stoke Newington Stoke Newington is an area occupying the north-west part of the London Borough of Hackney in north-east London, England. It is northeast of Charing Cross. The Manor of Stoke Newington gave its name to Stoke Newington the ancient parish. The ...

north London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire. The term ''nort ...

. He was the grandfather of

Philip Henry Pye-Smith Philip Henry Pye-Smith FRS FRCP (30 August 1839 – 23 May 1914) was an English physician, medical scientist and educator. His interest was physiology, specialising in skin diseases. Life Philip Pye-Smith was born in 1839 at Billiter Square, L ...

Publications

*John Pye Smith
''The Scripture Testimony to the Messiah: An Inquiry, With a View to a Satisfactory Determination of the Doctrine Taught in the Holy Scriptures Concerning the Person of Christ''
at Google Books (full download), 3rd ed., 3 vols. London: Jackson and Walford, 1837 *John Pye Smith
''On the relation between the Holy Scriptures and some parts of geological science''
at Google Books (full download). London: Jackson and Walford, 1840 *John Pye Smith
''Four discourses on the sacrifice and priesthood of Jesus Christ, and the Atonement and Redemption thence accruing''
at Google Books (full download). London: Jackson and Walford, 1842

References

External links

*National Register of Archive
Smith, John Pye (1774–1851) Congregational Minister
*Probate at PC
Will of Reverend John Pye Smith, Doctor of Divinity of Saint John Hackney , Middlesex
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pye-Smith, John 1774 births 1851 deaths British Christian creationists Clergy from Sheffield English Congregationalist ministers Calvinist pacifists Dissenting academy tutors English theologians English abolitionists Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Geological Society of London Fellows of Homerton College, Cambridge 19th-century Congregationalist ministers Burials at Abney Park Cemetery People associated with Conway Hall Ethical Society English male non-fiction writers Congregationalist abolitionists