Samuel Thomas (1627–1693) was an English nonjuring clergyman and controversialist.

Life

Born at

Ubley Ubley is a small village and civil parish within the Chew Valley in Bath and North East Somerset about south of Bristol. It is just south-east of Blagdon Lake, just off the A368 between Compton Martin and Blagdon. History There is some evid ...

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_ ...

, he was the son of William Thomas (1593–1667), rector of Ubley. He graduated B.A. from

Peterhouse, Cambridge Peterhouse is the oldest constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Today, Peterhouse has 254 undergraduates, 116 full-time graduate students and 54 fellows. It is quite ...

, in 1649, and was incorporated at Oxford on 20 August 1651. He became a Fellow of St John's College, Oxford and graduated M.A. on 17 December 1651, being incorporated at Cambridge in 1663. In 1660 he was deprived of his fellowship by the royal commissioners, and was soon after made a chaplain or petty canon of

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

where in 1672 he became a chantor. He was also vicar of St. Thomas's at Oxford, and afterwards curate of Holywell. In 1681 he became vicar of Chard in

, and on 3 August of the same year was appointed to the prebend of Compton Bishop in the

see of Bath and Wells The Diocese of Bath and Wells is a diocese in the Church of England Province of Canterbury in England. The diocese covers the county of Somerset and a small area of Dorset. The Episcopal seat of the Bishop of Bath and Wells is located in the C ...

. On the accession of William III and Mary II, Thomas was one of those who refused to take the oaths of allegiance and supremacy, and he was in consequence deprived of his prebend in 1691, and in the following year of the vicarage of Chard. He died at Chard on 4 November 1693, and was buried in the chancel of the parish church.

Works

Thomas was the author of: * ‘The Presbyterians Unmask'd, or Animadversions upon a Nonconformist Book called the Interest of England in the Matter of Religion,’ London, 1676; republished in 1681 under the title ‘The Dissenters Disarmed,’ without the preface, as a second part to the ‘New Distemper’ of

Thomas Tomkins Thomas Tomkins (1572 – 9 June 1656) was a Welsh-born composer of the late Tudor and early Stuart period. In addition to being one of the prominent members of the English Madrigal School, he was a skilled composer of keyboard and consort mus ...

. The ‘Interest of England in the Matter of Religion’ was written by John Corbet.

Richard Baxter Richard Baxter (12 November 1615 – 8 December 1691) was an English Puritan church leader, poet, hymnodist, theologian, and controversialist. Dean Stanley called him "the chief of English Protestant Schoolmen". After some false starts, he ...

termed Thomas's reply ‘a bloody invective.’''Works'', xviii. 188. * ‘The Charge of Schism renewed against the Separatists,’ London, 1680. A pamphlet written in reply to ‘An Answer to Dr. Stillingfleet's Sermon on the Mischief of Separation’ by Stephen Lobb and John Humfrey. * ‘Remarks on the Preface to the Protestant Reconciler y_Daniel_Whitby.html" ;"title="Daniel_Whitby.html" ;"title="y Daniel Whitby">y Daniel Whitby">Daniel_Whitby.html" ;"title="y Daniel Whitby">y Daniel Whitbyin a Letter to a Friend,’ London, 1683. Thomas also wrote a preface to Tomkins's ‘New Distemper,’ in which he assailed Richard Baxter and other nonconformists.

References

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Samuel 1627 births 1693 deaths English nonjuror clergy People from Chard, Somerset