Rowland Hill A.M. (23 August 1745 – 11 April 1833) was a popular English preacher, enthusiastic evangelical and an influential advocate of

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

vaccination Vaccination is the administration of a vaccine to help the immune system develop immunity from a disease. Vaccines contain a microorganism or virus in a weakened, live or killed state, or proteins or toxins from the organism. In stimulating ...

. He was founder and resident pastor of a wholly independent chapel, the Surrey Chapel, London; chairman of the

Religious Tract Society The Religious Tract Society was a British evangelical Christian organization founded in 1799 and known for publishing a variety of popular religious and quasi-religious texts in the 19th century. The society engaged in charity as well as commerci ...

; and a keen supporter of the British and Foreign Bible Society and the

London Missionary Society The London Missionary Society was an interdenominational evangelical missionary society formed in England in 1795 at the instigation of Welsh Congregationalist minister Edward Williams. It was largely Reformed in outlook, with Congregational m ...

. The famous instigator of

penny postage The Penny Post is any one of several postal systems in which normal letters could be sent for one penny. Five such schemes existed in the United Kingdom while the United States initiated at least three such simple fixed rate postal arrangements. U ...

, Rowland Hill, is said to have been christened 'Rowland' after him.

Early life

Rowland Hill was born at Hawkstone Park (11 miles from Shrewsbury),

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 ...

, 23 August 1745, the sixth son of Sir Rowland Hill, 1st Baronet (died 1783), he was educated at

Shrewsbury School Shrewsbury School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13 –18) in Shrewsbury. Founded in 1552 by Edward VI by Royal Charter, it was originally a boarding school for boys; girls have been admitted into ...

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...

and at St John's College, Cambridge (B.A., 1769), where he came under the influence of the Methodists. For preaching in the open air in and around

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

without a license, Rowland Hill was opposed by the authorities and frequently assaulted by mobs. Finally, in 1773, after he had been refused

ordination Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform v ...

into the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

by six bishops, he was ordained by the

bishop of Bath and Wells The Bishop of Bath and Wells heads the Church of England Diocese of Bath and Wells in the Province of Canterbury in England. The present diocese covers the overwhelmingly greater part of the (ceremonial) county of Somerset and a small area of D ...

and offered the

curacy A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

of Kingston 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_ ...

, but was subsequently denied priest's orders and continued his vocation as an independent or nonconformist. In 1773 he married Mary Tudway.

Surrey Chapel

Having come into an inheritance through the death of his wealthy father, Sir Rowland Hill, he built his own free chapel, Surrey Chapel, in Blackfriars Road, London, which opened in 1783. The chapel's trust deed ensured it would not subscribe formally to the theological standpoint of any particular denomination. Despite Rowland Hill's own Calvinistic

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

leanings, and a funding contribution towards his chapel from

Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon (24 August 1707 – 17 June 1791) was an English religious leader who played a prominent part in the religious revival of the 18th century and the Methodist movement in England and Wales. She founded an ...

, the chapel was not a formal part of the

Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion The Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion is a small society of evangelical churches, founded in 1783 by Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon, as a result of the Evangelical Revival. For many years it was strongly associated with the Calvinist ...

. Instead, it operated a relatively ''open door'' policy, attracting preachers from a wide range of denominations whilst also providing substantial facilities for non-religious meetings, and was operated by 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 ...

form of management. Nonetheless, Rowland Hill provided the 'anchor' and personally preached to immense audiences when he was in London. During the summer months he would visit other parts of the country, preaching in Scotland and Ireland as well as England and Wales, frequently attracting large crowds. Many benevolent institutions were established at the chapel or in the nearby district, including early

Sunday schools A Sunday school is an educational institution, usually (but not always) Christian in character. Other religions including Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism have also organised Sunday schools in their temples and mosques, particularly in the West. Su ...

. Enrollment in the latter steadily increased under Rowland Hill's successors, James Sherman and Christopher Newman Hall, reaching over 3,000 children by the 1860s. Rowland Hill was also one of the founders, and chairman, of the

; and an active promoter of the interests of the British and Foreign Bible Society and the

Smallpox vaccination

Rowland Hill was on close terms with

Edward Jenner Edward Jenner, (17 May 1749 – 26 January 1823) was a British physician and scientist who pioneered the concept of vaccines, and created the smallpox vaccine, the world's first vaccine. The terms ''vaccine'' and ''vaccination'' are derived f ...

, the pioneer of smallpox vaccination, and promoted his own plans to inoculate the congregations he visited or preached to. He published a tract on the subject in 1806 at a time when many medical men refused to sanction it. Later he became a member of the Royal Jennerian Society, which was established once the practice became accepted in Britain, India, the US and elsewhere. John C. Lettsome, an eminent Quaker physician of the day wrote to Rowland Hill commenting:

Death and legacy

Rowland Hill died in London on 11 April 1833 and was initially buried below his pulpit at the Surrey Chapel. He was succeeded at Surrey Chapel by James Sherman, whose tenure later passed to Christopher Newman Hall. Under Newman Hall, Rowland Hill's coffin was removed from Surrey Chapel and laid to rest at the

Lincoln Memorial Tower The Lincoln Memorial Tower or Lincoln Tower is a Gothic revival tower in Lambeth, London, housing small meeting rooms, that was opened in 1876 in memory of Abraham Lincoln, and paid for partly by Americans. Once part of a complex of nineteenth cen ...

, Westminster Bridge Road – part of a complex of Congregational buildings that included a new premises for the meeting hall named ''Hawkstone Hall'' which had been founded by James Sherman in memory of Rowland Hill and his birthplace. Rowland Hill's pulpit was also removed from Surrey Chapel when the congregation moved to Christ Church, Lambeth, and in later years a bronze plaque was affixed by Frederick Brotherton Meyer commemorating Rowland Hill and his successor. Christ Church was bombed during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, and the memorial plaque salvaged, to be re-erected in 1959 in the replacement building for Christ Church which stands today. A portrait of Rowland Hill (Reference NPG 5397) by Samuel Mountjoy Smith in 1828 hangs in the National Portrait Gallery, London. A Southwark Council housing block Rowland Hill House(1955) was named after Rowland Hill, whose Surrey Chapel was opposite the site

Published works

* Hill, Rowland (1800). ''Extract from a Journal of a second Tour from London: The Highlands of Scotland and North-western parts of England''. London: A. Paris * Hill, Rowland (1801; 34th ed. 1839). ''Village Dialogues''. London

References

External links

* * * ''Based partly upon an article in the public domai
New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge
– the owners of the online edition a
Christian Classics Ethereal Library
have given permission for the online copy of this public domain encyclopaedia to be used in Wikipedia articles.'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, Rowland English Methodists Calvinistic Methodists 18th-century English Anglican priests Congregationalism Smallpox vaccines People educated at Shrewsbury School People educated at Eton College Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Younger sons of baronets 1744 births 1833 deaths