William Aldridge (1737 – 28 February 1797) was an English

nonconformist Nonconformity or nonconformism may refer to: Culture and society * Insubordination, the act of willfully disobeying an order of one's superior *Dissent, a sentiment or philosophy of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or entity ** ...

minister.

Biography

Aldridge was born at

Warminster Warminster () is an ancient market town with a nearby garrison, and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in south west Wiltshire, England, on the western edge of Salisbury Plain. The parish had a population of about 17,000 in 2011. The 11th-c ...

, in

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

. At age 23 he decided to become a preacher of the gospel, and was admitted to

Trevecca College Trefeca (also Trefecca, Trevecca, and Trevecka), located between Talgarth and Llangorse Lake in what is now south Powys in Wales, was the birthplace and home of the 18th-century Methodist leader Howell Harris ( cy, Hywel Harris, italic=no). It w ...

in South Wales. There he completed a theological course. He received a license, and for a number of years preached in the chapels of the

Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion The Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion is a small society of evangelical churches, founded in 1783 by Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon, as a result of the Evangelical Revival. For many years it was strongly associated with the Calvinist ...

. In September 1771 Aldridge was sent by Lady Huntingdon, with Joseph Cook, another Trevecca student, to

Margate Margate is a seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay and Westbrook. The town has been a significan ...

, in the

Isle of Thanet The Isle of Thanet () is a peninsula forming the easternmost part of Kent, England. While in the past it was separated from the mainland by the Wantsum Channel, it is no longer an island. Archaeological remains testify to its settlement in an ...

. They began by preaching in the open air. The numbers increased from month to month. About this time occurred in Dover a schism among the

Wesleyan Methodists The Wesleyan Church is a Methodist Christian denomination aligned with the holiness movement. Wesleyan Church may also refer to: * Wesleyan Methodist Church of Australia, the Australian branch of the Wesleyan Church Denominations * Allegheny We ...

, and Aldridge and Cook were invited there. Aldridge preached for the first time in the market-place on a Sunday, meeting hostility. But Aldridge went to Dover to live in a former Presbyterian meeting-house, and held services. Later, the two preachers supplied Margate and Dover alternately. The Countess then appointed Aldridge as "supply" to the Mulberry Garden chapel in

Wapping Wapping () is a district in East London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Wapping's position, on the north bank of the River Thames, has given it a strong maritime character, which it retains through its riverside public houses and steps, ...

. The congregation petitioned her to make him a permanent minister; after her refusal, Aldridge left the Connexion, in 1776. Aldridge was called to the vacant Jewry Street Chapel ( Calvinistic Methodist) in London. He remained there as minister, for over 20 years. He had Richard Povah there as assistant, in his last years.

Death

Aldridge died on 28 February 1797, and was buried in Bunhill Fields. At Bunhill Fields the sermon was given by George Gould. The following Sunday, Anthony Crole and Thomas Bryson, both fellow Trevecca students, preached sermons for Aldridge at the Jewry Street Chapel.

Works

Aldridge wrote: *''Doctrine of the Trinity, Stated, Proved, and Defended'' *A funeral sermon on the death of the Countess of Huntingdon. He also edited (1776) ''A New Collection of Hymns, Particularly Designed for the Use of the Congregation at the Chapel, in Jewry-Street, Aldgate, London''.

''A narrative of the Lord's wonderful dealings with J. Marrant, a black''

Aldridge also edited

John Marrant John Marrant (June 15, 1755 – April 15, 1791) was an American Methodist preacher and missionary and one of the first black preachers in North America. Born free in New York City, he moved as a child with his family to Charleston, South Carolina. ...

's account of his life, ''A narrative of the Lord's wonderful dealings with J. Marrant, a black''. The circumstances were that Marrant was ordained in the Huntingdon Connexion in 1785, and related his experiences to Aldridge. More content was added later, in the 4th edition, and Elrod assumes that its source is the ordination sermon given by Marrant to the Countess of Huntingdon. The work is an Indian captivity narrative, and it has been suggested that Aldridge's role accounts for the lack of discussion in the work of the issue of

race Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to: * Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species * Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...

, given that Marrant was an

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

. Aldridge objected to later editions of the book (4th edition onwards). Henry Louis Gates, Jr. comments that the work, first published in 1785, is inaccurately described as a

slave narrative The slave narrative is a type of literary genre involving the (written) autobiographical accounts of enslaved Africans, particularly in the Americas. Over six thousand such narratives are estimated to exist; about 150 narratives were published as s ...

. It had seen 20 editions by 1835.

References

External links

Anonymous memoir of Aldridge
in ''

The Evangelical Magazine The Evangelical Movement of Wales, formed in 1948, came to light as a counter move by reformed Christians to the liberal theology which was gaining influence into the Protestant denominations of Wales during the 20th century. The Movement is a f ...

'', 1811. ;Attribution * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aldridge, William English Christian religious leaders People from Warminster 1737 births 1797 deaths Burials at Bunhill Fields Calvinistic Methodists