Samuel Horsley (15 September 1733 – 4 October 1806) was a British churchman,

bishop of Rochester The Bishop of Rochester is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Rochester in the Province of Canterbury. The town of Rochester has the bishop's seat, at the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, which was foun ...

from 1793. He was also well versed in physics and mathematics, on which he wrote a number of papers and thus was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in 1767; and secretary in 1773, but, in consequence of a difference with the president (

Sir Joseph Banks Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, (19 June 1820) was an English naturalist, botanist, and patron of the natural sciences. Banks made his name on the 1766 natural-history expedition to Newfoundland and Labrador. He took part in Captain James C ...

) he withdrew in 1784.

Life

He was the son of Rev John Horsley of

Newington Butts Newington Butts is a former hamlet, now an area of the London Borough of Southwark, that gives its name to a segment of the A3 road running south-west from the Elephant and Castle junction. The road continues as Kennington Park Road leading to ...

and his first wife Anne Hamilton, daughter of Rev Prof William Hamilton of Edinburgh and Mary Robertson. Entering

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is the fifth-oldest surviving college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by ...

in 1751, he became

LL.B. Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

in 1758 without graduating in arts. In the following year he succeeded his father in the living of

in Surrey. In 1768 he attended the son and heir of the 3rd Earl of Aylesford to

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

as private tutor; and, after receiving through the earl and

Bishop of London A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

various minor preferments, which by dispensations he combined with his first living, he was installed in 1781 as archdeacon of

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

. Horsley now entered his controversy with

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 ...

, who denied that the early Christians held the doctrine of the

Trinity 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 F ...

. In this fierce debate, Horsley's aim was to lessen the influence which Priestley's name gave to his views, by pointing to (what he claimed were) inaccuracies in his scholarship. Horsley was rewarded by Lord Chancellor Thurlow with a

prebendal stall A prebendary is a member of the Roman Catholic or Anglican clergy, a form of canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in particular seats, usually at the back of the ...

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

; and in 1788 Thurlow procured his promotion to the see of St David's. As a bishop, Horsley was active both in his

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...

, and in parliament. The effective support which he afforded the government was acknowledged by his successive translations to

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

in 1793, and to

St Asaph St Asaph (; cy, Llanelwy "church on the Elwy") is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and community (Wales), community on the River Elwy in Denbighshire, Wales. In the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census it had a population of 3,355 ...

in 1802. With the see of Rochester he held the deanery of

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

Family

He married firstly Mary Botham (died 1777), daughter of John Botham, Rector of

Albury, Hertfordshire Albury is a village and civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England, about five miles west of Bishop's Stortford. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 537, increasing in the 2011 Census to 595. Albur ...

, and secondly Sarah Wright, who died in 1805. Sarah had been a servant of his first wife, but her elegant manners impressed

Queen Charlotte Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (Sophia Charlotte; 19 May 1744 – 17 November 1818) was Queen of Great Britain and of Ireland as the wife of King George III from their marriage on 8 September 1761 until the union of the two kingdoms ...

when she was presented at Court. By Mary, he had one surviving son, the Rev

Heneage Horsley Heneage Horsley (23 February 1776 – 6 October 1847) was Dean of Brechin from 1812 until his death. He was the 3rd son of Samuel Horsley, Bishop of St Asaph, and his first wife Mary Botham. He died on 6 October 1847. He had at least one daug ...

, and a daughter who died young. He died at

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

in 1806, and was buried in St Mary's Church,

. He died heavily in debt, due largely it was said to his generous and charitable nature. His granddaughter Harriet Horsley married Robert Jebb QC and had numerous distinguished descendants, including

Richard Claverhouse Jebb Sir Richard Claverhouse Jebb (27 August 1841 – 9 December 1905) was a British classical scholar. Life Jebb was born in Dundee, Scotland. His father Robert was a well-known Irish barrister; his mother was Emily Harriet Horsley, daughter of t ...

Works

Besides the controversial ''Tracts'', which appeared in 1783–1785, 1786, and were republished in 1789 and 1812, Horsley's more important works are: *''Apollonii Pergaei inclinationum libri duo'' (1770) *''Remarks on the Observations ... for determining the acceleration of the Pendulum in Lat. 7o 51 (1774) *
Isaaci Newtoni Opera quae extant Omnia
', with a commentary (5 vols

4to Quarto (abbreviated Qto, 4to or 4º) is the format of a book or pamphlet produced from full sheets printed with eight pages of text, four to a side, then folded twice to produce four leaves. The leaves are then trimmed along the folds to produc ...

, 1779–1785) *
On the Incarnation. A Sermon, Preached in the Parish Church of St. Mary Newington, in Surrey, Dec. 25, 1785
' *''A Sermon Preached in the Cathedral Church of St. Paul'' (1789) *
A Review of the Case of the Protestant Dissenters with Reference to the Corporation and Test Acts
' (1790) *
A Sermon Preached Before the Incorporated Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts
' (1795) *''On the Prosodies of tke Greek and Latin Languages'' (1796) *''Disquisitions on Isaiah xviii.'' (1796) *''Hosea, translated ... with Notes'' (1801) *''Elementary Treatises on ... Mathematics'' (1801) *''

Euclid Euclid (; grc-gre, Wikt:Εὐκλείδης, Εὐκλείδης; BC) was an ancient Greek mathematician active as a geometer and logician. Considered the "father of geometry", he is chiefly known for the ''Euclid's Elements, Elements'' trea ...

is elernentorum libri priores XII.'' (1802) *''Euclidis datorum liber'' (1803) *

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: t ...

's ''Two Seasons of Honey, &c.'' (1805) *papers in the '' Philosophical Transactions'' from 1767 to 1776 After his death there appeared several collections edited by

: *

' (1810–1812) *''Speeches in Parliament'' (1813) *
Book of Psalms, translated with Notes
' (1815) *
The watchers and the holy ones, a sermon
Volume 17'' (1816) *
Biblical Criticism
' (1820) *
Sermons. Nine sermons on our Lord's resurrection, and A dissertation on the prophecies of the Messiah dispersed among the heathen'' (1829)
*''Collected Theological Works'' (6 vols

8vo Octavo, a Latin word meaning "in eighth" or "for the eighth time", (abbreviated 8vo, 8º, or In-8) is a technical term describing the format of a book, which refers to the size of leaves produced from folding a full sheet of paper on which multip ...

, 1845).

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Horsley, Samuel 1806 deaths Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge Bishops of Rochester Bishops of St Asaph Bishops of St Davids English theologians Deans of Westminster Archdeacons of St Albans Fellows of the Royal Society 18th-century Church of England bishops 19th-century Church of England bishops 1733 births 19th-century Welsh Anglican bishops 18th-century Welsh Anglican bishops 18th-century Anglican theologians 19th-century Anglican theologians