William Manning (1630?–1711) was an English
ejected minister
The Great Ejection followed the Act of Uniformity 1662 in England. Several thousand Puritan ministers were forced out of their positions in the Church of England, following Stuart Restoration, The Restoration of Charles II of England, Charles I ...
and Unitarian writer.
Life
He is tentatively identified (by
John Venn
John Venn, Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS, Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, FSA (4 August 1834 – 4 April 1923) was an English mathematician, logician and philosopher noted for introducing Venn diagrams, which are used in l ...
in ''
Alumni Cantabrigienses
''Alumni Cantabrigienses: A Biographical List of All Known Students, Graduates and Holders of Office at the University of Cambridge, from the Earliest Times to 1900'' is a biographical register of former members of the University of Cambridge whic ...
'' as well as
Alexander Gordon Alexander Gordon may refer to:
* Alexander Gordon, 1st Earl of Huntly (died 1470), Scottish magnate
* Alexander Gordon (bishop of Aberdeen) (died 1518), Precentor of Moray and Bishop-elect of Aberdeen
* Alexander Gordon, 3rd Earl of Huntly (died ...
in the ''
Dictionary of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
'') with William Manning (son of William Manning) who was born at
Cockfield,
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 ...
. This Manning was educated at
Stowmarket
Stowmarket ( ) is a market town in Suffolk, England,OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket
Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton A2 edition. Publishing Date:2008. on the busy A14 road (Great Britain), A14 trunk ...
and admitted a sizar of
Christ's College, Cambridge
Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 170 graduate students. The college was founded by William Byngham in 1437 as ...
, on 25 October 1649, aged 16,
Henry More
Henry More (; 12 October 1614 – 1 September 1687) was an English philosopher of the Cambridge Platonist school.
Biography
Henry was born in Grantham, Lincolnshire on 12 October 1614. He was the seventh son of Alexander More, mayor of Gran ...
being his tutor. He was one of three brothers, all holding benefices till the
Uniformity Act of 1662
The Act of Uniformity 1662 (14 Car 2 c 4) is an Act of the Parliament of England. (It was formerly cited as 13 & 14 Ch.2 c. 4, by reference to the regnal year when it was passed on 19 May 1662.) It prescribed the form of public prayers, adm ...
, and members, while beneficed, of congregational churches; John (died 1694), who entered
Emmanuel College, Cambridge
Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mon ...
, in 1633, and graduated M.A. in 1641, was
perpetual curate
Perpetual curate was a class of resident parish priest or incumbent curate within the United Church of England and Ireland (name of the combined Anglican churches of England and Ireland from 1800 to 1871). The term is found in common use mainly du ...
of
Peasenhall
Peasenhall is a village and civil parish in the East Suffolk district, in the English county of Suffolk. The population of the civil parish at the 2021 Census was 525. It lies on the A1120 tourist route; neighbouring villages include Sibton a ...
, Suffolk; Samuel was perpetual curate of
Walpole, Suffolk
Walpole is a small village and civil parish in the district of East Suffolk in Suffolk, England. Walpole has a parish church (dedicated to St Mary), a redundant chapel ( Walpole Old Chapel), but the primary school has closed. The village is on ...
. William was perpetual curate of
Middleton, Suffolk
Middleton is a village in the east of the English county of Suffolk. It is located approximately north-west of Leiston, north east of Saxmundham and from the Suffolk coast. , and ejected for nonconformity by the Act of 1662.
William Manning at that date settled at Peasenhall, and took out a licence under the indulgence of 1672 as a congregational teacher in his own house there; his brother John, who remained at Peasenhall after his ejection, took out a similar licence. According to Gordon Manning seems to be the only instance of a Congregational minister ejected by the Uniformity Act 1662 who later adopted fully Anti-Trinitarian views. In 1686, he published a small volume of sermons, broad in spirit, but evangelical in doctrine. He was in the habit of preaching occasionally at
Lowestoft
Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the most easterly UK settlement, it is north-east of London, north-east of Ipswich and sou ...
, Suffolk, and this brought him into acquaintance with
Thomas Emlyn
Thomas Emlyn (1663–1741) was an English nonconformist divine.
Life
Emlyn was born at Stamford, Lincolnshire. He served as chaplain to the presbyterian Letitia, countess of Donegal, the daughter of Sir William Hicks, 1st Baronet who married (1 ...
, who in 1689 was chaplain at Rose Hall to
Sir Robert Rich, a member of the presbyterian congregation at Lowestoft. Manning and Emlyn both read
William Sherlock
William Sherlock (c. 1639/1641June 19, 1707) was an English church leader.
Life
He was born at Southwark, the son of a tradesman, and was educated at St Saviour's Grammar School and Eton, and then at Peterhouse, Cambridge. In 1669 he became r ...
's ''Vindication'' of the Trinity (1690). Manning made up his mind in favour of
Socinianism
Socinianism () is a nontrinitarian belief system deemed heretical by the Catholic Church and other Christian traditions. Named after the Italian theologians Lelio Sozzini (Latin: Laelius Socinus) and Fausto Sozzini (Latin: Faustus Socinus), uncle ...
, and argued strongly for it in his correspondence with Emlyn, which began on Emlyn's removal to Dublin (1691), and lasted till Manning's death.
["In 1690 and 1693 Sherlock published volumes on the doctrine of the Trinity which helped rather than injured the Socinian cause, and involved him in a warm controversy" Page 850 of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica.]
Manning then looked for converts with some success, carrying a large part of his Peasenhall congregation with him, but failing with
John Hurrion, at that time student for the ministry (1698) at
Heveningham
Heveningham is a village and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England. Located four miles south-west of Halesworth, in 2005 it had a population of 120.
Heveningham Hall, a country house built in 1777, once belo ...
, near Walpole. His chief local opponent was Nathaniel Parkhurst, vicar of
Yoxford
Yoxford is a village in East Suffolk, England, close to the Heritage Coast, Minsmere Reserve (RSPB), Aldeburgh and Southwold. It is known for its antique shops and (as "Loxford") for providing the setting for a Britten opera.
The name 'Yoxfor ...
, Suffolk.
He became very deaf, and gave up preaching (before 1704). He died on 13 February 1711, aged (as was said) 81, and was buried at Peasenhall on 15 February. He was married in 1652; his wife Priscilla died on 14 June 1710, aged 80.
Works
He published: ''Catholick Religion … discovered in … some Discourses upon Acts x. 35, 36, &c.'', 1686.
References
Attribution:
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Manning, William
1630s births
1711 deaths
Ejected English ministers of 1662
English Unitarians
Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge
18th-century Unitarian clergy