Thomas Jervis (1748–1833) was an English unitarian minister.

Life

Jervis was born in

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

on 13 January 1748. He was the son of William Jervis (d. 24 March 1797, aged 72), minister of the presbyterian congregation in St. Nicholas Street, Ipswich. He was educated for the ministry in London at

Wellclose Square Wellclose Square is a public square in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, between Cable Street to the north and The Highway to the south. The western edge, now called Ensign Street, was previously called Well Street. The southern edge was cal ...

, under David Jennings, and at

Hoxton Hoxton is an area in the London Borough of Hackney, England. As a part of Shoreditch, it is often considered to be part of the East End – the historic core of wider East London. It was historically in the county of Middlesex until 1889. I ...

, under Savage,

Andrew Kippis Andrew Kippis (28 March 17258 October 1795) was an English nonconformist clergyman and biographer. Life The son of Robert Kippis, a silk-hosier, he was born at Nottingham. Having gone to Carre's Grammar School in Sleaford, Lincolnshire he pass ...

, and

Abraham Rees Abraham Rees (1743 – 9 June 1825) was a Welsh nonconformist minister, and compiler of ''Rees's Cyclopædia'' (in 45 volumes). Life He was the second son of Esther, daughter of Abraham Penry, and her husband Lewis Rees, and was born in L ...

. In 1770 he became classical and mathematical tutor at the Exeter Academy, having also the charge of a presbyterian congregation at

Lympstone Lympstone is a village and civil parish in East Devon in the England, English county of Devon. It has a population of 1,754. There is a harbour on the estuary of the River Exe, lying at the outlet of Wotton Brook between cliffs of red breccia.< ...

, Devonshire. In 1771–2 he shared with James Perry Bartlett the charge of the congregations at Lympstone and

Topsham, Devon Topsham (, also ) is a town in Devon, England, located on the east side of the River Exe, immediately north of its confluence with the River Clyst and the former's estuary, between Exeter and Exmouth. Topsham is a historic port and was designat ...

. William Petty, second earl of Shelburne, engaged him in 1772, on the recommendation of

Richard Price Richard Price (23 February 1723 – 19 April 1791) was a British moral philosopher, Nonconformist minister and mathematician. He was also a political reformer, pamphleteer, active in radical, republican, and liberal causes such as the French ...

D.D. A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ra ...

, as resident tutor to his sons at

Bowood Bowood is a Grade I listed Georgian era, Georgian English country houses, country house in Wiltshire, England, that has been owned for more than 250 years by the Fitzmaurice family. The house, with interiors by Robert Adam, stands in extensive g ...

, Wiltshire, a situation which he filled till 1783. Here he associated 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 was Shelburne's librarian till 1780. Jervis, who was ordained in 1779, moved to London about 1783, and became minister of the presbyterian congregation in St Thomas Street,

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

. He was elected a trustee of Dr. Daniel Williams's foundations in 1786. On the death of Kippis he was elected his successor (1796) at Princes Street,

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 ...

. Up to this time his views were low Arian, and it is doubtful whether they underwent any further development. In the summer of 1808 he succeeded William Wood as minister of the unitarian congregation at Mill Hill,

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

. He resigned this charge, and left the active ministry in 1818. Returning to London, he was re-elected to Dr. Williams's trust in 1823. His closing years were spent in literary leisure. He died at

Brompton Grove Brompton or The Brompton may refer to: * Brompton, London * Brompton, Hambleton, north of Northallerton, North Yorkshire, England * Brompton, Kent Brompton is a village near the town of Chatham in Medway, Kent, England. Its name means "a farmst ...

on 31 August 1833, and was buried in the churchyard of

Fryerning Fryerning is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Ingatestone and Fryerning, which is situated approximately north of Ingatestone in Essex, England. The parish church of ''St. Mary the Virgin'', on Blackmore Road, dates ...

, Essex. He married Frances Mary, daughter of

John Disney John Disney may refer to: * John Disney (antiquarian) (1779–1857), English barrister * John Disney (ornithologist) (1919–2014), Australian ornithologist * John Disney (priest) (1677–1730), English clergyman * John Disney (Unitarian) John ...

, D.D.

Works

Jervis published nineteen separate sermons and addresses (1784–1820), some of which are reprinted in (1) 'Sermons,’ &c., 1811; (2) 'Remarks in Refutation of … Story of a Supernatural Appearance related by the Rev. R. Warner,’ &c., 1831; reprinted 1832. He wrote many biographies for ''

The Gentleman's Magazine ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1922. It was the first to use the term ''magazine'' (from the French ''magazine'' ...

'' and ''

Monthly Repository The ''Monthly Repository'' was a British monthly Unitarian periodical which ran between 1806 and 1838. In terms of editorial policy on theology, the ''Repository'' was largely concerned with rational dissent. Considered as a political journal, it ...

'', and several hymns for the collections of Kippis and others. One of his hymns written in 1795, 'Sweet is the friendly voice,’ is in Martineau's collections.

Family

John Jervis (1752–1820), younger brother of the above, was born at Ipswich in 1752. He succeeded his brother at

in 1773, was ordained in 1779, and held this charge till his death on 27 October 1820. He was a fellow of the

Linnean Society The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...

, and a mineralogist. His religious views resembled those of his brother.

References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Jervis, Thomas Post-Reformation Arian Christians English Unitarians English Christian religious leaders 1748 births 1833 deaths 18th-century English non-fiction writers 18th-century English male writers 19th-century English non-fiction writers Writers from Ipswich English religious writers Clergy from Ipswich