Richard Cecil (8 November 1748 – 15 August 1810) was a leading Evangelical Anglican priest of the 18th and 19th centuries.

Life

Cecil was born in London. His father (died 1779) and grandfather were scarlet dyers to the British

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

. His mother (died 1777) was the sister of

Benjamin Grosvenor Benjamin Grosvenor (born 8 July 1992) is a British classical pianist. Education Grosvenor was born and brought up in Westcliff-on-Sea, Southend-on-Sea, Essex. He is the youngest of five brothers. His father is an English and Drama teacher, an ...

; his father was an Anglican while his mother was a Dissenter, whose family had been devout Christians for generations. He entered

The Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault. It is distinguished by its pred ...

, in 1773, was ordained deacon in 1776 on the title of a priest named Pugh, of

Rauceby Rauceby may refer to: * North Rauceby, in Lincolnshire, England * South Rauceby, in Lincolnshire, England {{Geodis ...

, Lincolnshire, and was admitted to priest's orders in 1777. Shortly thereafter he went to serve three Leicestershire churches: Thornton,

Bagworth Bagworth is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Bagworth and Thornton, in the Hinckley and Bosworth district, in Leicestershire, England, west of Leicester. In 1931 the parish had a population of 1568. History The village ...

, and

Markfield Markfield is a large village in both the National Forest and Charnwood Forest and in the Hinckley and Bosworth district of Leicestershire, England. The settlement dates back to at least the time of the Norman conquest and is mentioned in th ...

. His evangelical preaching produced many conversions and flourishing congregations here. He later became minister of two small livings in

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of ...

, Sussex. After the death of his parents, he moved, because of bad health, to

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 ...

, London and preached at different churches and chapels there. In March 1780 he became minister of

St John's Chapel, Bedford Row St John's Chapel, Bedford Row, in Bloomsbury, London (opened 1721 - demolished 1863), was a proprietary chapel and the home of a large evangelical Anglican congregation in the 19th century. According to ''The Eclectic Review'' it was built for pe ...

,Josiah Pratt, The Life and Remains of Richard Cecil (London, 1876), p.xiii which became a major Evangelical Anglican venue continuing into the mid 19th century. For some years he preached a lecture at

Lothbury Lothbury is a short street in the City of London. It runs east–west with traffic flow in both directions, from Gresham Street's junction with Moorgate to the west, and Bartholomew Lane's junction with Throgmorton Street to the east. History ...

at 6 o'clock on a Sabbath morning, and later an evening lecture in Orange Street, followed by the chapel in

Long Acre Long Acre is a street in the City of Westminster in central London. It runs from St Martin's Lane, at its western end, to Drury Lane in the east. The street was completed in the early 17th century and was once known for its coach-makers, and l ...

. From 1787 he preached the evening lecture at

Christ Church, Spitalfields Christ Church Spitalfields is an Anglican church built between 1714 and 1729 to a design by Nicholas Hawksmoor. On Commercial Street in the East End and in today's Central London it is in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, on its western bord ...

. He alternated with a Foster in these two last lectureships during the period 1784 to 1801, though he had help from a Pratt in the last few years there. He became ill again in 1798, and later (1808–9) visited Bath, Clifton, and Tunbridge Wells for health reasons before relinquishing the lease of the chapel, moving in April 1810 to Hampstead, where he died four months later. He was associated with the

Clapham Sect The Clapham Sect, or Clapham Saints, were a group of social reformers associated with Clapham in the period from the 1780s to the 1840s. Despite the label "sect", most members remained in the established (and dominant) Church of England, which ...

whose best known member was

William Wilberforce William Wilberforce (24 August 175929 July 1833) was a British politician, philanthropist and leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becom ...

, and was a founding member and leader of the Eclectic Society, an evangelical Anglican society which was started along with

John Newton John Newton (; – 21 December 1807) was an English evangelical Anglican cleric and slavery abolitionist. He had previously been a captain of slave ships and an investor in the slave trade. He served as a sailor in the Royal Navy (after forc ...

and Henry Foster in the upstairs room of a pub in 1783, but later moved to the vestry at Bedford Row in 1784.

References

External links

* Anglican clergy from London 18th-century English Anglican priests 1748 births 1810 deaths English evangelicals Evangelical Anglicans {{UK-Christian-clergy-stub