William Broadbent (28 August 1755 – 1 December 1827,

Latchford Latchford may refer to: Places Australia *Latchford Barracks, Australian Army base Canada *Latchford, Ontario, town United Kingdom *Latchford, Cheshire, a suburb of Warrington, England **Latchford railway station **Runcorn to Latchford Ca ...

), was an English Unitarian minister.

Life

William Broadbent, the son of William and Elizabeth Broadbent, was born 28 August 1755. He was educated for the ministry at

Daventry Academy Daventry Academy was a dissenting academy, that is, a school or college set up by English Dissenters. It moved to many locations, but was most associated with Daventry, where its most famous pupil was Joseph Priestley. It had a high reputation, an ...

from August 1777 to June 1782, first under Thomas Robins, who resigned the divinity chair in June 1781 from loss of voice, and afterwards under Thomas Belsham. Broadbent became classical tutor to the academy in August 1782, and in January 1784 he exchanged this appointment for that of tutor in mathematics, natural philosophy, and logic. Belsham resigned the divinity chair in June 1789, having become a Unitarian, and the academy was removed in November to

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

. Broadbent continued to act as tutor till the end of 1791, when he became minister at Warrington (he took out his licence on 18 Jan. 1792), and removed to Cockey Moor. At this time his views were of the average Daventry type. But at Warrington he re-examined his theological convictions, and becoming a Unitarian of the Belsham school, he succeeded in carrying nearly all his congregation with him. Broadbent from his eighteenth year kept up a close friendship with Belsham; some fragments of their correspondence are published in Williams's chaotic ''Memoirs'' of Belsham (1833, 8vo).

Biblical exegesis Biblical criticism is the use of critical analysis to understand and explain the Bible. During the eighteenth century, when it began as ''historical-biblical criticism,'' it was based on two distinguishing characteristics: (1) the concern to ...

was Broadbent's favourite study, and textual interpretation played a prominent part in his preaching. He resigned his Warrington charge in the spring of 1822, induced by broken health and the depressing effects of the loss of his son. He died at

, near Warrington, on 1 December 1827, and was buried in the Warrington chapel on 6 December. His son was Thomas Biggin Broadbent.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Broadbemt, William 1755 births 1827 deaths 18th-century Unitarian clergy 19th-century Unitarian clergy English Unitarian ministers