William Stephen Gilly (1789–1855) was an English cleric and author, known for his support of the

Waldensian Church The Waldensian Evangelical Church (''Chiesa Evangelica Valdese'', CEV) is a Protestant denomination active in Italy and Switzerland that was independent until it united with the Methodist Evangelical Church in Italy in the Union of Methodist and W ...

Life

Born on 28 January 1789, he was the son of William Gilly (died 1837), rector of

Hawkedon Hawkedon is a village and civil parish in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England. Located around south-south-west of Bury St Edmunds, the parish also contains the hamlet of Thurston End, and in 2005 had a population of 120. Th ...

, Suffolk, and of

Wanstead Wanstead () is a town in East London, England, in the London Borough of Redbridge. It borders South Woodford to the north, Redbridge, London, Redbridge to the east and Forest Gate to the south, with Leytonstone and Walthamstow to the west. It is ...

, Essex. In November 1797 he was admitted at Christ's Hospital, London, whence he proceeded in 1808 to

Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of th ...

, but graduated B.A. as a member of St Catharine Hall in 1812. He proceeded M.A. in 1817, and accumulated his degrees in divinity in 1833. In 1817 he was presented by Lord Chancellor Eldon to the rectory of

North Fambridge North Fambridge is a village and civil parish on the Dengie peninsula in the English county of Essex. North Fambridge is on the north bank of the River Crouch opposite South Fambridge and is served by North Fambridge railway station on the Cr ...

in Essex. Gilly paid the first of many visits to the Protestant Vaudois or

Waldensians The Waldensians (also known as Waldenses (), Vallenses, Valdesi or Vaudois) are adherents of a church tradition that began as an ascetic movement within Western Christianity before the Reformation. Originally known as the "Poor Men of Lyon" in ...

, in what is now northern Italy, in 1823. Public reaction to his ''Narrative'' took the form of subscription for the Waldensians, headed by George IV and

Shute Barrington Shute Barrington (26 May 173425 March 1826) was an English churchman, Bishop of Llandaff in Wales, as well as Bishop of Salisbury and Bishop of Durham in England. Early life Barrington was born at Beckett Hall in Shrivenham in Berkshire (now ...

bishop of Durham The Bishop of Durham is the Anglican bishop responsible for the Diocese of Durham in the Province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler has been the Bishop of Durham ...

, in part for the endowment of a college and library at

Torre Pellice Torre Pellice (Vivaro-Alpine: ''La Torre de Pèlis'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about southwest of Turin. It is crossed by the Pellice river. Torre Pellice is the cent ...

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

. On 13 May 1826 Gilly was collated to a prebendal stall in

Durham Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Christ, Blessed Mary the Virgin and St Cuthbert of Durham, commonly known as Durham Cathedral and home of the Shrine of St Cuthbert, is a cathedral in the city of Durham, County Durham, England. It is the seat of t ...

. The following year he became perpetual curate of St Margaret's Church, Durham, and in 1831 vicar of

Norham Norham ( ) is a village and civil parish in Northumberland, England, It is located south-west of Berwick on the south side of the River Tweed where it is the border with Scotland. History Its ancient name was Ubbanford. Ecgred of Lindisfarne ( ...

, near

Berwick-on-Tweed Berwick-upon-Tweed (), sometimes known as Berwick-on-Tweed or simply Berwick, is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, and the northernmost town in England. The 2011 United Kingdom census recor ...

. In 1853 he was appointed canon residentiary of Durham.

John Charles Beckwith John Beckwith may refer to: Music * John Christmas Beckwith (1750–1809), English organist and composer * John Charles Beckwith (organist) (1788–1819), English organist * John Beckwith (composer) (1927–2022), Canadian composer Politics * Joh ...

decided to settle with the Waldensians. Gilly died at Norham on 10 September 1855.

Works

Gilly became known for ''Narrative of an Excursion to the Mountains of Piemont, and Researches among the Vaudois, or Waldenses'', London, 1824; 3rd edition, 1826. His other works included: * ''The Spirit of the Gospel, or the Four Evangelists, elucidated by explanatory observations'', London, 1818. * ''Horæ Catecheticæ, or an exposition of the duty and advantages of Public Catechising in Church'', London, 1828. * ''Waldensian Researches during a second Visit to the Vaudois of Piemont'', London, 1831. * ''A Memoir of Felix Neff, pastor of the High Alps'', London, 1832 (many editions); on Felix Neff. Lord Monson published in 1840 some folio ''Views'' in illustration of this memoir. * ''Our Protestant Forefathers'', London, 1835 (many editions). * ''Valdenses, Valdo, and Vigilantius'' (Edinburgh, 1841) articles reprinted from the

Encyclopædia Britannica seventh edition An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English British English (BrE, en-GB, or BE) is, according to Oxford Dictionaries, "English as used in Great Britain, as distinct from that used elsewhere". More narrowly, ...

; ''Vigilantius'' was reprinted separately in 1844. * ''The Romaunt Version of the Gospel according to St. John. With an introductory history'', London, 1848. * ''A Comparative View of the progress of Popular Instruction. Two Lectures'', Durham, 1848. Gilly contributed prefaces to: ''Narratives of Shipwrecks of the Royal Navy, between 1793 and 1849'', compiled mainly from Admiralty documents by his son William O. S. Gilly; and the ''Short History of the Waldensian Church'', 1855, by Jane Louisa Willyams. Three letters in the ''

British Magazine British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

'' for 1841 were reprinted in

James Henthorn Todd James Henthorn Todd (23 April 1805 – 28 June 1869) was a biblical scholar, educator, and Irish historian. He is noted for his efforts to place religious disagreements on a rational historical footing, for his advocacy of a liberal form of Prote ...

's ''Books of the Vaudois'', 1865. Wishing to better the life of agricultural labourers in north

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

, Gilly wrote ''The Peasantry of the Border; an Appeal in their behalf'', Berwick-upon-Tweed, 1841 (2nd edition, London, 1842). He called the attention of landowners to the poor condition of labourers' cottages.

Family

He married, in December 1825, Jane Charlotte Mary, only daughter of Major Colberg, who survived him. Their children included William Octavius Shakespeare (died 1860) and Charles Pudsey (died 1904).

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Gilly, William Stephen 1789 births 1855 deaths 19th-century English Anglican priests English writers People from the Borough of St Edmundsbury People from Norham