Thomas Spencer (1791–1811) was an English Congregational minister. Thomas Spencer Scriven

Life

The second son of a worsted-weaver, Spencer was born at

Hertford Hertford ( ) is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. The parish had a population of 26,783 at the 2011 census. The town grew around a ford on the River Lea, ne ...

on 21 January 1791, and lost his mother at the age of five. He had to leave school and help his father in his business when 13; about 18 months later he was apprenticed for a short time to a glover in

The Poultry Poultry (formerly also Poultrey) is a short street in the City of London, which is the historic nucleus and modern financial centre of London. It is an eastern continuation of Cheapside, between Old Jewry and Mansion House Street, towards Bank ...

, in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

. While here he was introduced to Thomas Wilson, treasurer of the Hoxton Dissenters' Training College for Ministers. He was admitted there in January 1807, after a year's preparation at Harwich, during which he studied Hebrew, and made an abridgment of John Parkhurst's ''Hebrew Lexicon''. In June 1807 Spencer first preached in public at Collier's End, near Hertford, at age 16; and was invited to preach in the neighbouring villages and at Hertford. When barely 17 he was allowed to appear in the pulpit at Hoxton, against the rules. He became a popular preacher in the neighbourhood of London, and in December 1808 preached at

Lady Huntingdon Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon (24 August 1707 – 17 June 1791) was an English religious leader who played a prominent part in the religious revival of the 18th century and the Methodist movement in England and Wales. She founded an e ...

's chapel 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 ...

. On 10 January 1809 he addressed large congregation from

Rowland Hill Sir Rowland Hill, KCB, FRS (3 December 1795 – 27 August 1879) was an English teacher, inventor and social reformer. He campaigned for a comprehensive reform of the postal system, based on the concept of Uniform Penny Post and his soluti ...

's pulpit in

Surrey Chapel The Surrey Chapel (1783–1881) was an independent Methodist and Congregational church established in Blackfriars Road, Southwark, London on 8 June 1783 by the Rev. Rowland Hill. His work was continued in 1833 by the Congregational pastor R ...

. Having visited Liverpool in the summer of 1810, Spencer on 26 September accepted an offer of the pastorate of Newington chapel there. He entered on his duties in February 1811, and on 27 June was ordained in the chapel in Byrom Street. At first he preached from 65 to 75 minutes; later, under medical advice, he limited his discourses to three-quarters of an hour. A new chapel, with accommodation for 2,000 people, was built for him, with the foundation-stone laid on 15 April. Spencer was drowned while bathing near the Herculaneum Pottery on 5 August 1811, and was buried on the 13th at Liverpool. Many funeral sermons and elegies were published. An elegy by James Montgomery was appended to the ''Memoirs'' of Spencer written by his successor at Liverpool,

Thomas Raffles Thomas Raffles (1788–1863) was an English Congregational minister, known as a dominant nonconformist figure at the Great George Street Congregational Church in Liverpool, and as an abolitionist and historian. Early life The only son of Willi ...

. An engraving by Blood, accompanied four ''Poems'' (1811) on his death by Ellen Robinson.

Works

''Twenty-one Sermons'' by Spencer were published by the Religious Tract Society in 1829, another following in 1830. An American edition, with introduction by Alfred S. Patton, appeared in 1856. A volume of tracts by Spencer was published in 1853.

Notes

Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer, Thomas 1791 births 1811 deaths English Congregationalist ministers People from Hertford