William Falkner, D.D. (died 1682) was an English divine.

Life

Falkner received his education at

Peterhouse, Cambridge Peterhouse is the oldest constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Today, Peterhouse has 254 undergraduates, 116 full-time graduate students and 54 fellows. It is quite ...

, where he graduated B.A. in 1652, M.A. in 1656, and D.D. in 1680. On 23 July 1679 he was collated by the Bishop of Ely to the rectory of

Glemsford Glemsford is a village in the Babergh district in Suffolk, England, near the town of Sudbury. Glemsford is located near the River Glem and the River Stour also flows nearby. Glemsford is surrounded by arable farmland and is not far from his ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

.Addit. MS. 19077, f. 323 b He was also town preacher at the chapel of St. Nicholas,

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, no ...

, where he died on 9 April 1682. By his wife Susan, daughter of Thomas Greene, merchant and alderman of Lynn (who died on 30 August 1680), he had several children.

Works

He was a learned champion of the Church of England. His works are: * 'Libertas Ecclesiastica, or a Discourse vindicating the Lawfulness of those things which are chiefly excepted against in the Church of England,’ 2nd edit. Lond. 1674; 3rd edit. 1677; 4th edit. 1683. * 'Christian Loyalty; or a discourse wherein is asserted the just royal authority and eminency which in this Church and Realm of England is yielded to the King. Together with the disclaiming all foreign jurisdiction, and the unlawfulness of subjects taking arms against the King,’ London, 1679; 2nd edit. 1684. * 'A Vindication of the Liturgies, shewing the Lawfulness, Usefulness, and Antiquity of performing the public worship of God by set forms of prayer,’ London, 1680. This was in reply to

John Collinges John Collinges (1623–1690) was an English Presbyterian theologian, and prolific writer. He lived and worked in Norwich for more than forty years where he played a major role in reviving and administering the City Library. He was one of the repr ...

's 'Reasonable Account why some pious Nonconforming Ministers in England judge it sinful for them to perform their ministerial acts in publick solemn prayer, by the prescribed formes of others.' Collinges published a rejoinder to Falkner's reply in 1681. * 'Two Treatises. The first concerning Reproaching and Censure. The second, an Answer to Mr. Serjeant's Sure-footing. To which are annexed three Sermons preached on several occasions, and very useful for these times,’ 2 parts, London, 1684. Prefixed is the author's portrait, engraved by J. Sturt. These posthumous treatises were edited and dedicated to the Archbishop of Canterbury by William Sherlock, who says that to Falkner he owed all the knowledge he possessed.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Falkner, William Year of birth unknown 1682 deaths 17th-century English writers 17th-century English male writers English religious writers Alumni of Peterhouse, Cambridge 17th-century English Anglican priests