Philip Furneaux (1726–1783) was an English independent minister.

Early life

Furneaux was born in December 1726 at

Totnes Totnes ( or ) is a market town and civil parish at the head of the estuary of the River Dart in Devon, England, within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is about west of Paignton, about west-southwest of Torquay and abo ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

. He attended Totnes Grammar School, where he formed a lifelong friendship with Benjamin Kennicott. In 1742 or 1743 he came to London to study for the dissenting ministry under David Jennings, 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 ...

Wellclose Square Wellclose Square is a public square in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, between Cable Street to the north and The Highway to the south. The western edge, now called Ensign Street, was previously called Well Street. The southern edge was ca ...

. He appears to have remained at the academy till 1749, probably assisting Jennings, whose ''Hebrew Antiquities'' he later edited (1766). After ordination he became (1749) assistant to Henry Read, minister of the presbyterian congregation at St. Thomas's, Southwark. On the resignation of Roger Pickering, around 1752, he became in addition one of the two preachers of the Sunday evening lecture at Salters' Hall. Retaining this lectureship, in 1753 he succeeded

Moses Lowman Moses Lowman (1680–1752) was an English nonconformist minister, known as a Biblical commentator. Life Born in London, he became a student at the Middle Temple in 1697, but a year later abandoned law for divinity. On 17 September 1698 he entered ...

in the pastorate of the independent congregation at

Clapham Clapham () is a suburb in south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (most notably Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Early history ...

. Despite hesitant delivery in preaching, he drew a large congregation. He received the degree of D.D. on 3 August 1767, from

Marischal College, Aberdeen Marischal College ( ) is a large granite building on Broad Street in the centre of Aberdeen in north-east Scotland, and since 2011 has acted as the headquarters of Aberdeen City Council. However, the building was constructed for and is on long- ...

. From October 1769 to January 1775 he was relieved of the afternoon service on his lecture evenings by

Samuel Morton Savage Samuel Morton Savage (1721–1791) was an English nonconformist minister and dissenting tutor. Life He was born in London on 19 July 1721. His grandfather, John Savage, was pastor of the Seventh Day Baptist church, Mill Yard, Goodman's Fields. S ...

, D.D. As a member of the

Coward Trust William Coward (1648–1738) was a London merchant in the Jamaica trade, remembered for his support of Dissenters, particularly his educational philanthropy. Life After a period in Jamaica, where he built up an estate (see Sugar plantations in ...

he had much to do with the revised plan of education adopted by the trustees on

Philip Doddridge Philip Doddridge D.D. (26 June 1702 – 26 October 1751) was an English Nonconformist (specifically, Congregationalist) minister, educator, and hymnwriter. Early life Philip Doddridge was born in London the last of the twenty children of ...

's death. He was also from 1766 to 1778 a trustee of Daniel Williams's foundations.

Activist

Furneaux was known for his work on behalf of the rights of nonconformists. His name is associated with the progress of the 'sheriff's case,’ a legal case before the courts in the period 1754 to 1767. It arose out of an expedient adopted in 1748 by the

Corporation of London The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the municipal governing body of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United King ...

to raise money for building the Mansion House, by fining nonconformists who declined to qualify for the office of

Sheriff of London Two sheriffs are elected annually for the City of London by the Liverymen of the City livery companies. Today's sheriffs have only nominal duties, but the historical officeholders had important judicial responsibilities. They have attended the ju ...

in accordance with the Sacramental Test Act. In 1754, three nonconformists resisted this imposition. The case reached the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

in 1767, and in February of that year was decided in favour of the nonconformists; and it was on this occasion that

Lord Mansfield William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, PC, SL (2 March 170520 March 1793) was a British barrister, politician and judge noted for his reform of English law. Born to Scottish nobility, he was educated in Perth, Scotland, before moving to Lond ...

delivered the speech in which occurs the remark that the 'dissenters' way of worship' is not only lawful but 'established.' This speech was reported, without notes, by Furneaux with assistance from another hearer, Samuel Wilton, D.D., independent minister of the Weighhouse,

Eastcheap Eastcheap is a street in central London that is a western continuation of Great Tower Street towards Monument junction. Its name derives from ''cheap'', the Old English word for market, with the prefix 'East' distinguishing it from Westcheap, ...

. Mansfield, who revised the report, found in it only ta few small errors. In 1769 the fourth volume of

William Blackstone Sir William Blackstone (10 July 1723 – 14 February 1780) was an English jurist, judge and Tory politician of the eighteenth century. He is most noted for writing the ''Commentaries on the Laws of England''. Born into a middle-class family ...

's '' Commentaries on the Laws of England'' appeared, in which, under the head of 'Offences against God and Religion,’ nonconformity is treated as a crime.

Joseph Priestley Joseph Priestley (; 24 March 1733 – 6 February 1804) was an English chemist, natural philosopher, separatist theologian, grammarian, multi-subject educator, and liberal political theorist. He published over 150 works, and conducted exp ...

was the first to attack this opinion; Blackstone replied in a pamphlet (2 September 1769). In the following year Furneaux published his 'Letters to Mr. Justice Blackstone,’ with a moral argument against enforcing religious truths by civil penalties. Furneaux was present on 6 February 1772 in the gallery of the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

with Edward Pickard, presbyterian minister of Carter Lane, when the clerical petition for relief from subscription, known as the 'Feathers' petition,’ was under discussion. The speeches of

Sir William Meredith Sir William Meredith, 3rd Baronet (c. 1725 – 2 January 1790), was a British landowner who sat in the House of Commons from 1754 to 1780. A Rockingham Whig, he served as a Lord of the Admiralty from 1765 to 1766. Early life Meredith was the so ...

and Sir George Savile in favour of the petition were reported by Furneaux from memory. In the course of the debate the remark was made by

Lord North Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford (13 April 17325 August 1792), better known by his courtesy title Lord North, which he used from 1752 to 1790, was 12th Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1770 to 1782. He led Great Britain through most o ...

, who opposed the petition, that if similar relief were asked by the dissenting clergy there would be no reasonable objection to it. Acting on this hint Furneaux and Pickard called a meeting of nonconformist ministers of the three denominations, who adopted an application to Parliament (prepared by Furneaux) for relief from doctrinal subscription. A relief bill passed the Commons on 3 April 1772 without a division; on 18 May it was rejected in the Lords. In support of a second bill to the same effect Furneaux published his 'Essay on Toleration' (1773). Relief was at length granted (1779), but not, as Furneaux desired, without a test. In the new subscription, the Holy Scriptures were substituted for the

Thirty-Nine Articles The Thirty-nine Articles of Religion (commonly abbreviated as the Thirty-nine Articles or the XXXIX Articles) are the historically defining statements of doctrines and practices of the Church of England with respect to the controversies of the ...

Later life

In 1777 he was seized with hereditary insanity, and remained under this affliction till his death on 27 November 1783. A fund was raised for his support, which became a charity supporting Unitarian institutions, Manchester New College and the Ministers' Benevolent Society.

Works

He published: * ''Letters to the Honourable Mr. Justice Blackstone concerning his Exposition of the Act of Toleration'', &c., 1770; the 2nd edition, 1771, has additions, and Mansfield's speech as appendix; reprinted, Philadelphia, 1773. * ''An Essay on Toleration'', &c., 1773. Other works were: a sermon on education (1755), a fast sermon (1758), funeral sermon for

Henry Miles Henry Miles, FRS (2 Jun 1698 – 10 Feb 1763) was an English Dissenting minister and scientific writer; a Fellow of the Royal Society known for experiments on electricity. Life He was born at Stroud, Gloucestershire, on 2 June 1698. He was educat ...

, D.D. (1763), sermon at ordination of Samuel Wilton (1766), ordination charge to George Waters and William Youat (1769), and sermon to the Society for Propagating Christian Knowledge in the Highlands (1775). In 1771 Furneaux was engaged in transcribing and editing the biblical annotations of

Samuel Chandler Samuel Chandler (1693 – 8 May 1766) was an English Nonconformist minister and pamphleteer. He has been called the "uncrowned patriarch of Dissent" in the latter part of George II's reign. Early life Samuel Chandler was born at Hungerford in ...

, but the work was never published.

References

* ;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Furneaux, Philip 1726 births 1783 deaths Burials at Bunhill Fields English Christian religious leaders English Dissenters People educated at Totnes Grammar School People from Totnes