The ''Christian Observer'' was a London

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

periodical, serving a readership in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

. It appeared from 1802 to 1874.

History

The ''Christian Observer'' was founded by William Hey "in response to the dissenters' ''

Leeds Mercury The ''Leeds Mercury'' was a newspaper published in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was published from 1718 to 1755 and again from 1767. Initially it consisted of 12 pages and cost three halfpennies. In 1794 it had a circulation of about 3,00 ...

''."Margaret DeLacy
‘Hey, William (1736–1819)’
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 16 September 2007 It was published by the bookseller

John Hatchard John Hatchard (1769–1849) was an English publisher and bookseller, in Piccadilly, London. The Hatchards bookshop there is still in business. Early life Hatchard had a trial at the works of the printer Thomas Bensley. He then served on appren ...

. Various members of the

Clapham Sect The Clapham Sect, or Clapham Saints, were a group of social reformers associated with Clapham in the period from the 1780s to the 1840s. Despite the label "sect", most members remained in the established (and dominant) Church of England, which ...

were associated with the paper from the outset.

Josiah Pratt Josiah Pratt (1768–1844) was an English evangelical cleric of the Church of England, involved in publications and the administration of missionary work. Early life The second son of Josiah Pratt, a Birmingham manufacturer, he was born in Birmin ...

, who had called for such an evangelical periodical in a 1799 meeting of the Eclectic Society, served as editor for the first number in January 1802. Pratt was succeeded after six weeks by

Zachary Macaulay Zachary Macaulay ( gd, Sgàire MacAmhlaoibh; 2 May 1768 – 13 May 1838) was a Scottish statistician and abolitionist who was a founder of London University and of the Society for the Suppression of Vice, and a Governor of British Sierra Leone ...

, who edited the periodical until 1816. Later editors were Samuel Charles Wilks (from 1816 to 1849), William Goode (from 1847 to 1849),

John William Cunningham John William Cunningham (1780–1861) was an evangelical clergyman of the Church of England. He was known also as a writer and an editor. Life Cunningham was born in London on 3 January 1780. He was educated at private schools, his last tutor bei ...

(from 1850 to 1858), and

John Buxton Marsden John Buxton Marsden (1803 – 16 June 1870) was an English cleric, known as a historical writer and editor. Life Marsden was born at Liverpool. He was admitted sizar of St John's College, Cambridge, on 10 April 1823; and graduated B.A. in 1827, M ...

(from 1859 to 1869). Contributors included

Thomas Babington Thomas Babington of Rothley Temple (; 18 December 1758 – 21 November 1837) was an English philanthropist and politician. He was a member of the Clapham Sect, alongside more famous abolitionists such as William Wilberforce and Hannah More. An a ...

, the clergyman and theological writer Charles Smith Bird (1795–1862), the lay theological writer John Bowdler (1783–1815), the writer on prophecy

William Cuninghame of Lainshaw William Cuninghame of Lainshaw (c.1775–1849) was a Scottish landowner, known as a writer on biblical prophecy. He dated the beginning of the reign of Antichrist to 533 A.D., to coincide with a claimed date at which Justinian I gave universal ...

(c. 1775-1849), the clergyman

William Dealtry William Dealtry (1775–1847) was an English clergyman of evangelical views, who became archdeacon of Surrey and a Fellow of the Royal Society. Life He was the younger son of an old Yorkshire family, from whom he inherited at his father's death a ...

(1775–1847), the clergyman and biblical scholar

George Smith Drew George Smith Drew (1819–1880) was an English clergyman and writer, Hulsean lecturer in 1877. Life The son of George Drew, a tea dealer, of 11 Tottenham Court Road, London, he was born at Louth, Lincolnshire. Admitted a sizar of St John's Co ...

(1819–1880),

John Shore, 1st Baron Teignmouth John Shore, 1st Baron Teignmouth (5 October 1751 – 14 February 1834) was a British official of the East India Company who served as Governor-General of Bengal from 1793 to 1798. In 1798 he was created Baron Teignmouth in the Peerage of ...

, Henry Thornton,

Henry Tuke Henry Tuke (24 March 1755 – 11 August 1814) co-founded with his father, William Tuke, the Retreat asylum in York, England, a humane alternative to the nineteenth-century network of asyla, based on Quaker principles.Burial: "England & Wales, ...

John Venn John Venn, Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS, Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, FSA (4 August 1834 – 4 April 1923) was an English mathematician, logician and philosopher noted for introducing Venn diagrams, which are used in l ...

(1759–1813), and Daniel Wilson.

References

1802 establishments in the United Kingdom 1874 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Christian magazines Defunct magazines published in the United Kingdom Evangelical Anglicanism Magazines established in 1802 Magazines disestablished in 1874 Magazines published in London Religious magazines published in the United Kingdom {{UK-mag-stub