Samuel Clark (1727–1769) was an English nonconformist minister at the Old Meeting, Birmingham.

Early life

Samuel Clark was born in St Albans, the son of Dr Samuel Clarke. He attended

Northampton Academy Northampton Academy is a mixed secondary school and sixth form in Northampton, Northamptonshire for students aged 11 to 18. Since September 2004, it has been an Academy, part of United Learning, a subsidiary of the United Church Schools Tru ...

, under Dr Doddridge, staying on as assistant tutor. When, in 1750, Dr Doddridge left England, he left the young Clark in charge of both his Castle Hill congregation and his academy. On Doddridge's death, the trustees placed

Caleb Ashworth Caleb Ashworth, D.D. (1722–1775) was an English dissenting tutor. Life Ashworth was born at Cloughfold, Rossendale, Lancashire, in 1722. His father, Richard Ashworth, who died in 1751, aged eighty-four, was a lay preacher among the Particular ...

, minister of a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

congregation in Daventry, in charge of the academy, which Ashworth transferred to

Daventry Daventry ( , historically ) is a market town and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority in Northamptonshire, England, close to the border with Warwickshire. At the 2021 Census Daventry had a population of 28,123, making ...

Tutor at Daventry Academy

Although Dr Doddridge's congregation ‘highly respected Mr Clark, and thought themselves greatly obliged to him for his services during their pastor’s absence, he was not sufficiently popular and Calvinistical fully to satisfy the generality of them, so as to be chosen assistant to the Doctor’s successor in the ministerial part of his office.’ As a consequence, Clark moved to Daventry and continued as assistant tutor at the new academy, where he preached once a month.

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 one of the college's first students, and Clark is remembered for his comments on the freshman:

Priestley seems to be a good, sensible fellow, though he has unfortunately got a bad name, Priestley: those who gave him it I hope were no prophets.

The academy had a good library, and a varied stock of scientific equipment, which included an

air pump An air pump is a pump for pushing air. Examples include a bicycle pump, pumps that are used to aerate an aquarium or a pond via an airstone; a gas compressor used to power a pneumatic tool, air horn or pipe organ; a bellows used to encoura ...

for producing a vacuum. Clark gave lectures in Anatomy, and supervised dissection classes, a rat, cat, and a dog being dissected by

and his class. Clark's Saturday morning lectures were a little more general, with topics such as 'the doctrine of the brain'. He also gave tutorials, 'took tea' Priestley calls it, with Priestley's class. Here, topics ranged from the methods for composing sermons, the writings of

Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whigs, then for the Tories), poet, and Anglican cleric who became Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dubl ...

, heraldry, and the writings of

Lord Bolingbroke Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke (; 16 September 1678 – 12 December 1751) was an English politician, government official and political philosopher. He was a leader of the Tories, and supported the Church of England politically des ...

, who had sought the repeal of the Act of Settlement 1701, and had published in 1752 an influential series of letters on the study of history. Contentious theology was not neglected, and Clark attended the students’ debating society, where topics included the issues of original sin,

predestination Predestination, in theology, is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God, usually with reference to the eventual fate of the individual soul. Explanations of predestination often seek to address the paradox of free will, whereby G ...

, the sleep of the soul and liberty versus necessity. Both tutors were young and ready to indulge their students in the greatest freedom of thought, 'so that our lectures had often the air of friendly conversations on the subject to which they related,' Clark's views being somewhat less orthodox.

Minister at Birmingham

In summer 1757, Clark quit Daventry, to accept a co-pastorship at Old Meeting Birmingham. At that time, the ministers of the Old Meeting also served the Presbyterian congregation at Oldbury. On 3 December 1769, whilst setting out for Oldbury, Clark was thrown from his horse in New Street, Birmingham; he died three days later.John Angell James, ''Protestant Nonconformity … in the town of Birmingham'' (London, 1849)

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Samuel 1727 births 1769 deaths English Congregationalist ministers