William Whitaker (1629–1672) was an English

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic Church, Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become m ...

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 ...

Life

The son of

Jeremiah Whitaker Jeremiah Whitaker (1599–1654) was an English Puritan clergyman, and important member of the Westminster Assembly. Life He was born at Wakefield, Yorkshire, in 1599. After being educated at the grammar school there under the Rev. Philip Jack, he ...

, he was born at Oakham,

Rutland Rutland () is a ceremonial county and unitary authority in the East Midlands, England. The county is bounded to the west and north by Leicestershire, to the northeast by Lincolnshire and the southeast by Northamptonshire. Its greatest len ...

. Aged 14 he was admitted a member of

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 ...

, where he became noted as a linguist. He took the degree of B.A. in 1642. Two years later he was admitted a Fellow of

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the oldest colleges of the university, founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. The college spans the River Cam, colloquially referred to as the "light s ...

, and in 1646 he graduated M.A. there.. In 1652 he took orders and became minister of

Hornchurch Hornchurch is a suburban town in East London, England, and part of the London Borough of Havering. It is located east-northeast of Charing Cross. It comprises a number of shopping streets and a large residential area. It historically formed ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

. He succeeded his father in the living of

St Mary Magdalen, Bermondsey St Mary Magdalen Bermondsey is an Anglican church dedicated to St Mary Magdalen in Bermondsey in the London Borough of Southwark. The majority of the present building is late 17th century and is Grade II* listed. Its parish extends as far as ...

, in 1654. After the

Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

of 1660 he was one of the London ministers who drew up and presented to the king the memorial against the

Act of Uniformity 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 ...

After his ejectment he gathered a private congregation, which assembled in a small meeting-house in Long Walk, Bermondsey. For many years he took into his house candidates in divinity, including some from abroad. He also took part in conventicles at the house of Frances Cecil, Dowager Countess of Exeter (née Brydges, widow of Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, who died in 1663), with her chaplain

Thomas Jacomb Thomas Jacomb (1622–1687) was an English ejected minister. Life He was the son of John Jacombe of Burton Lazars, near Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire; Samuel Jacomb (d. 1659), his younger brother, was also a Puritan minister and popular preach ...

and Matthew Poole.

Samuel Annesley Samuel Annesley (c. 1620 – 1696) was a prominent Puritan and nonconformist pastor, best known for the sermons he collected as the series of ''Morning Exercises''. Life He was born in Haseley, in Warwickshire in 1620, and christened on the 26th ...

preached his funeral sermon.Sharon Achinstein, ''Literature and Dissent in Milton's England'' (2003), p. 34
Google Books

Works

He has two sermons in Samuel Annesley's '' Morning Exercises''. In 1674 eighteen of his sermons, which had been taken in shorthand, were published by his widow, with a dedication to Elizabeth Cecil, Countess of Exeter, and a sketch of the author's character by Thomas Jacomb.

Notes

Attribution: * {{DEFAULTSORT:Whitaker, William 1629 births 1672 deaths Fellows of Queens' College, Cambridge Ejected English ministers of 1662 17th-century Anglican theologians