Samuel Fancourt (1678–1768) was a
dissenting minister
A dissenter (from the Latin ''dissentire'', "to disagree") is one who dissents (disagrees) in matters of opinion, belief, etc.
Usage in Christianity
Dissent from the Anglican church
In the social and religious history of England and Wales, and ...
and projector of circulating libraries. He is said to have been a native of
Hungerford
Hungerford is a historic market town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, west of Newbury, east of Marlborough, northeast of Salisbury and 60 miles (97 km) west of London. The Kennet and Avon Canal passes through the town alongside the ...
, in
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
.
Dissenting minister
Fancourt wrote that one of 'the four London ministers' was his tutor, and another his predecessor at the place from which he removed to Salisbury. This probably indicates that he was trained for the ministry by
Benjamin Robinson
Benjamin Robinson (1666–1724) was an English Presbyterian church minister who was a pupil of Samuel Ogden (1626–1697). He came to be a respected theologian and had his views published. He started a school in Findern in south Derbyshire.
Lif ...
at Hungerford, and succeeded
Jeremiah Smith as pastor at Andover. Robinson and Smith were two of the four ministers who led the subscribing party at the
Salters' Hall conference of 1719. From 1718 to 1730 Fancourt was minister and tutor in Salisbury. On the occasion of the controversy which arose in consequence of the proceedings at the
Salters' Hall
The Worshipful Company of Salters is one of the Livery Company, Livery Companies of the City of London, 9th in order of precedence. The Company originated as the Guild of Corpus Christi, which was granted a Royal Charter of incorporation in 139 ...
conference of London ministers in February 1719, he wrote two tracts on the side of the dogmatists. Some years later he involved himself in a controversy about
free will
Free will is the capacity of agents to choose between different possible courses of action unimpeded.
Free will is closely linked to the concepts of moral responsibility, praise, culpability, sin, and other judgements which apply only to actio ...
and
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 ...
, and left Salisbury for London. While the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography states that he left because of theological controversy, an autobiographical letter claims that he only left because of financial pressure.
The circulating library in Crane Court
After leaving Salisbury Fancourt went to London and there established what was said, about forty years afterwards, to have been the first
circulating library A circulating library (also known as lending libraries and rental libraries) lent books to subscribers, and was first and foremost a business venture. The intention was to profit from lending books to the public for a fee.
Overview
Circulating li ...
. A library conducted by him, in which the subscription was a guinea per annum, was dissolved at Michaelmas 1745, and he then carried out a new plan. This plan is described in the 'Alphabetical Catalogue of Books and Pamphlets belonging to the Circulating Library in Crane Court' (Fleet Street), 2 vols. 8vo, 1748, which he issued in parts between 1746 and 1748. According to this scheme for 'The Gentlemen and Ladies' Growing and Circulating Library,’ anyone might become a proprietor by an initial payment of a guinea and a quarterly payment of a shilling. The proprietors were to choose trustees in whom the library was to be vested, Fancourt himself being appointed librarian during good behaviour. Each proprietor was to be allowed to take out one volume and one pamphlet at a time. 'He may keep them a reasonable time according to their bigness; but if they are not wanted by others he may keep them as long as he has a mind.'
The library contained two or three thousand bound volumes and about the same number of pamphlets; from a third to a half of the books and pamphlets consisted of theology and ecclesiastical history and controversy, and only about a tenth of it was 'light' literature. The house in Crane Court in which it was placed was close to the quarters of the Royal Society, and either it or the house next to it was eventually taken by that society for an enlargement of its own library. Dr. Cromwell Mortimer, second secretary to the society, was a persistent enemy of the circulating library till his death in 1752. At some period later than 1755 Fancourt left Crane Court, and, after several changes, moved his library to 'the corner of one of the streets in the Strand,’ where his various schemes finally broke down. The library was taken by his creditors, and he retired to
Hoxton Square
Hoxton Square is a public garden square in the Hoxton area of Shoreditch in the London Borough of Hackney. Laid out in 1683, it is thought to be one of the oldest in London. Since the 1990s it has been at the heart of the Hoxton national (digit ...
, where he was supported by some of the dissenting ministers, till he died at the age of ninety, on 8 June 1768. In the Crane Court library catalogue he offered for twelve guineas to teach 'any one of a common capacity and diligence' to read, write, and speak Latin with fluency in a year, by giving them five or six hours' tuition a week.
Works
The following is a list of Fancourt's various writings, which are all, except the ninth and the last, enumerated with long titles and extracts in the Crane Court Catalogue (vol. i. pamphlets, pp. 11, 24, 27, 166–70):
*1. 'Sermon at the Funeral of Mr. John Terry,’ 1720.
*2. 'Essay concerning Certainty and Infallibility, or Reflections on "The Nature and Consequences of Enthusiasm",’ 1720.
*3. 'Enthusiasm Retorted, or Remarks on Mr. Morgan's Second Letter to the Four London Ministers,’ 1722.
*4. 'Greatness of the Divine Love,’ a sermon.
*5. 'Greatness of the Divine Love Vindicated,’ 2nd edit. 1727.
*6. 'Appendix to the "Greatness &c., Vindicated",’ 1729.
*7. 'Essay concerning Liberty, Grace, and Prescience,’ 1729.
*8. 'Apology, or Letter to a Friend setting forth the occasion, &c., of the Present Controversy' (between Fancourt, the Rev.
Anthony Bliss
Anthony Bliss was a clergyman of the Church of England, and the vicar of Portsmouth.
Bliss was a member of Worcester College, Oxford and was awarded the degrees of B.A. in 1719, M.A. in 1722, and D.D. in 1733. He was ordained in 1722 and was the Vi ...
and the Rev. John Norman), 2nd edit. 1730.
*9. 'What will be must be, or Future contingencies no contingencies, in a Letter to the Rev. John Norman,’ Salisbury, 1730.
*10. 'Appendix to a Letter to the Rev. Mr. Norman,’ 3rd edit. 1732.
*11. 'Greatness of the Divine Love further Vindicated in Reply to Mr. Millar's "Principles of the Reformed Churches",’ 1732.
*12. 'Free Agency of Accountable Creatures,’ 1733.
*13. 'Nature and Expediency of the Gospel Revelation and of a Public Ministry,’ a sermon with appendices, 1733.
*14. 'Union and Zeal among Protestants,’ 2nd edit. 1745.
*15. 'Seasonable Discourse on a Slavish Fear of Man and a Holy Trust in God, suited to the Alarms and Danger of the Present Time.'
*16. 'Nature and Advantage of a Good Education, a Sermon preached in St. Thomas's, for the benefit of the Charity School in Gravel Lane, Southwark,’ 1746.
*17. 'The Narrative,’ London, 1747.
References
Other source
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fancourt, Samuel
1678 births
1768 deaths
17th-century English writers
17th-century English male writers
18th-century English people
18th-century English writers
18th-century English male writers
People from Salisbury
English Christian religious leaders
18th-century Protestant religious leaders