Samuel Clapham (1755–1830) was a clergyman of the Church of England, a justice of the peace, and a writer. His best known work, the collection ''Practical Sermons on Several Important Subjects'', published under the pseudonym Theophilus St. John, went through four editions (1803, 1804, 1808, 1812).

Life

Samuel Clapham was born in Leeds on 27 February 1755 to John and Elizabeth Clapham (née Rook). He was the 3rd of 4 children (John, Betty, Samuel and William). He graduated B.A. from

Clare Hall, Cambridge Clare Hall is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. Founded in 1966 by Clare College, Clare Hall is a college for advanced study, admitting only postgraduate students alongside postdoctoral researchers and fellows. It ...

in 1778, taking the M.A. in 1784. During the course of his studies he was ordained deacon at London on 21 September 1777, and ordained priest at York on 6 October 1782. He became curate of

Yarm Yarm, also referred to as Yarm-on-Tees, is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, England. It was previously a port town before the industry moved down the River Tees to more accessible settlements ne ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, in 1790, vicar of

Great Ouseburn Great Ouseburn is a village and civil parish in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated south-east of Boroughbridge. The village of Aldwark is to the north-east. It had a population of 598 according to the 2011 cens ...

, Yorkshire, in 1797, and of

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

, then in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, in 1802, and rector of Gussage St Michael,

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

shire, in 1806. In the course of his clerical career, Clapham published several sermons. One of these, ''How far Methodism conduces to the interests of Christianity, and the welfare of society: impartially considered'' (1794), elicited the response ''Methodism vindicated from the charge of ignorance and enthusiasm, a reply to a sermon preached by S. Clapham'', published at Margate in 1795. Clapham also served as a

county magistrate County magistrate ( or ) sometimes called local magistrate, in imperial China was the official in charge of the ''xian'', or county, the lowest level of central government. The magistrate was the official who had face-to-face relations with the ...

in Hampshire for twenty-five years. One of his works, ''Collection of the Several Points of Sessions' Law'' (1818), was a digest of material relating to the powers and responsibilities of a justice of quarter sessions. The work drew particularly critical notice as an amateur compendium which, among other mistakes, stated that no case could be brought for verbal slander against a woman. In later life, Clapham retired to Sidmouth for his health, and he died there on 1 June 1830. He was survived by his three daughters. His only son, James Murray Clapham, had died on

HMS Pandora Ten ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS ''Pandora'' after the mythological Pandora. Another was planned, but the name was reassigned to another ship: * , a 24-gun sixth rate launched in 1779. She was sent to capture the ''Bounty'' mut ...

on 28 April 1809, aged 18.

Works

Sermons

Individual sermons

* ''A sermon, preached in the parish church of Sunderland, for the benefit of the charity school, December 16, 1792''. Leeds, n.d. * ''A sermon, preached at Knaresborough, for the benefit of the Sunday schools''. Leeds, n.d. * ''A sermon, preached at the visitation, holden at Skipton, May 12, 1794''. eeds, 1794 * ''A sermon, preached at Knaresborough, before the Royal Knaresborough Volunteer Company: on Sunday, October 12, 1794''. Leeds, n.d. * ''How far Methodism conduces to the interests of Christianity, and the welfare of society: impartially considered, in a sermon, preached at the visitation, of the Right Reverend . . . William, Lord Bishop of Chester; holden at Boroughbridge, in Yorkshire, September 2, 1794''. Leeds, n.d. * ''A sermon, preached at Stockton-upon-Tees, on Wednesday, February 25, 1795, being the day appointed for a general fast''. Binns, Leeds, 1795. * ''A sermon, preached at Knaresborough, October 23d, 1796: on occasion of a form of thanksgiving being read for the late abundant harvest''. Leeds, n.d. * ''A sermon, preached at Great Ouseborne, on Tuesday, the 19th of December, 1797: being the day appointed by His Majesty for a general thanksgiving, to almighty God, for our naval victories''. Leeds, n.d. * ''A sermon preached at the visitation, holden at Boroughbridge, in Yorkshire, on Tuesday, June 26, 1798''. Leeds, n.d. * ''A sermon, preached at St. John's, Wakefield, for the benefit of the choir of the said church, December 16, 1798. Published at the request of the congregation''. Leeds, n.d. * ''The Sinfulness of Withholding Corn: A sermon preached at Great Ouseborne, on Sunday, March 16, 1800''. ondon, 1800 * ''A sermon preached at Knaresborough, August 16, 1801, for the benefit of the Sunday Schools''. London, 1801. * ''An Earnest Exhortation to attend Public Worship ... addressed by a Minister to his Parishoners''. London, 1804. Reprinted Baltimore, 1811. * ''Friendly societies substitutes for parochial assessments: a sermon preached at Christ-Church, Hants, on whit-monday, June 11, 1810''. London, 1810. * ''A Sermon, preached at Christ Church, March 20, 1811, being a day appointed for a public fast, when a collection was made for the British prisoners in France''. London, 1811.

Collected sermons

* ''Practical Sermons on Several Important Subjects''. London, 1803. 2nd ed. (revised and corrected) 1804, 3rd ed. 1808, 4th ed. 1812. Second edition available o
google books

Compilations

* ''An Abridgement of the Lord Bishop of Lincoln's Elements of Christian Theology, for the Use of Families''. Cambridge, 1802. * ''Sermons, Selected and Abridged, Chiefly from Minor Authors, adapted to the Saints' Days, Festivals, Fasts, &c. and to General Occasions, &c. &c. For the Use of Families''. London, 1803. 2nd ed., 1815, available o
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* ''Forty Sermons, on Doctrinal and Practical Subjects: selected from the works of the Rev. Dr. S. Clarke''. London, 1806. * ''Prayers Collected from the Several Writings of Jeremy Tayor''. London, 1810. Available o
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* ''The Pentateuch, or the Five Books of Moses Illustrated: being an explication of the phraseology incorporated with the text''. London, 1818. * ''A Collection of the Several Points of Sessions' Law''. London, 1818.

References

Sources

* *

Samuel Austin Allibone Samuel Austin Allibone (April 17, 1816 – September 2, 1889) was an American author, editor, and bibliographer. Biography Samuel Austin Allibone was born in 1816 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a descendant of French Huguenots and Quakers, and t ...

, ''A Critical Dictionary of English Literature'', vol. 1 (1854), p. 384. * Obituary in ''

The Gentleman's Magazine ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1922. It was the first to use the term ''magazine'' (from the French ''magazine'' ...

'' 100 (1830), pp. 646–647. :Reprinted in

Richard Vickerman Taylor Richard Vickerman Taylor was born in Leeds, Yorkshire, on 10 October 1830, the son of John Taylor and his wife Ann Vickerman. He was married twice, first to Caroline Franks and then to Elizabeth Ann Knowles. In 1856 he became Senior Classical Mast ...

, ''Biographia Leodiensis; or, Biographical Sketches of the Worthies of Leeds and Neighbourhood'', London and Leeds, 1865, pp. 324-327. (available o
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Clapham, Samuel 1755 births 1830 deaths Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge 18th-century English Anglican priests 19th-century English Anglican priests English sermon writers