Richard Pearsall (29 August 1698 – 10 November 1762) was an English Congregationalist minister and friend of

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 D ...

Life

Born at

Kidderminster Kidderminster is a large market and historic minster town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, south-west of Birmingham and north of Worcester. Located north of the River Stour and east of the River Severn, in the 2011 census, it had ...

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...

, the formative early influences on his religious beliefs were his sisters Hannah and Phoebe. He was later to publish Hannah's diary in 1774 as ''The Power and Pleasure of Divine Life''. Phoebe and Richard were both correspondents of Philip Doddridge; her diary was published by the SPCK. He received his education for the ministry at

Tewkesbury Tewkesbury ( ) is a medieval market town and civil parish in the north of Gloucestershire, England. The town has significant history in the Wars of the Roses and grew since the building of Tewkesbury Abbey. It stands at the confluence of the Riv ...

, in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, under the famous regime of

Samuel Jones, academy tutor Samuel Jones (1681/2 – 11 October 1719) was an English Dissenter and educator, known for founding a significant Dissenting academy at Tewkesbury. Early life He was the son of Malachi Jones (died 1729), a dissenting preacher from Herefor ...

. It is not necessarily the case, as stated in some biographies of Pearsall, that he became friends with

Thomas Secker Thomas Secker (21 September 16933 August 1768) was the Archbishop of Canterbury in the Church of England. Early life and studies Secker was born in Sibthorpe, Nottinghamshire. In 1699, he went to Richard Brown's free school in Chesterfield, D ...

and

Joseph Butler Joseph Butler (18 May O.S. 1692 – 16 June O.S. 1752) was an English Anglican bishop, theologian, apologist, and philosopher, born in Wantage in the English county of Berkshire (now in Oxfordshire). He is known for critiques of Deism, Thomas ...

there, but their careers at the academy almost certainly overlapped, since all three studied there in the late 1710s. Pearsall was ordained at

Bromyard Bromyard is a town in Herefordshire, England, in the valley of the River Frome. It lies near the county border with Worcestershire on the A44 between Leominster and Worcester. Bromyard has a number of traditional half-timbered buildings, inclu ...

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...

in 1721, where he spent ten years of his ministry; from here, he moved to

Warminster Warminster () is an ancient market town with a nearby garrison, and civil parish in south west Wiltshire, England, on the western edge of Salisbury Plain. The parish had a population of about 17,000 in 2011. The 11th-century Minster Church of S ...

, in

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

, where he remained for 16 years. His third and most important ministry was at

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...

, in

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, where he met opposition to his orthodox

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

Trinitarianism The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the ...

.See G. F. Nuttall, ''Calendar of the Correspondence of Philip Doddridge,'', p. 245. He was minister here for about 15 years, from 1747 to 1762.

Works

*''The brevity and uncertainty of life, considered and improved'', 1740 *''The acceptableness of the gospel'', 1748 *''Charge to Mr. Rooker at his Ordination'', 1752 *''Contemplations on the ocean, harvest, sickness, and the last judgment'', 1753, 1755, 1760 *''Early seeking after God opened, and recommended to young ones. In a sermon'', 1758 *''The saint's satisfaction as awakening in God's likeness'', 1758 *''Contemplations on butterflies'', 1758 *''A letter'' ..''addressed to the Church of Christ, under his pastoral care'', 1763 *''Reliquiae sacrae: or, meditations on select passages of scripture; and sacred dialogues between a father and his children'', 1765 *''Contemplations on the harvest. In four letters'', 1787

References

1698 births 1762 deaths People from Bromyard People from Kidderminster English Congregationalist ministers 18th-century Congregationalist ministers {{UK-reli-bio-stub