William Stevens (2 March 1732 – 7 February 1807) was an English hosier and lay writer on religious topics from a

High Church The term ''high church'' refers to beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, liturgy, and theology that emphasize formality and resistance to modernisation. Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term originate ...

perspective, the biographer and editor of the works of

William Jones of Nayland William Jones (30 July 17266 January 1800), known as William Jones of Nayland, was a British clergyman and author. Life He was born at Lowick, Northamptonshire, but was descended from an old Welsh family. One of his ancestors was Colonel John ...

Life

Born in the parish of

St. Saviour's, Southwark Southwark Cathedral ( ) or The Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Saviour and St Mary Overie, Southwark, London, lies on the south bank of the River Thames close to London Bridge. It is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Southwark. ...

, he was son of a tradesman. His mother was sister of the Rev. Samuel Horne of

Otham Otham is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Maidstone, Maidstone district of Kent, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 523, with 204 dwellings. Buildings The village itself has been in existence since be ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. He was educated at

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the c ...

with his cousin, George Horne, later

bishop of Norwich The Bishop of Norwich is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Norwich in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers most of the county of Norfolk and part of Suffolk. The bishop of Norwich is Graham Usher. The see is in the ...

. In August 1746 he was apprenticed to a

hosier Hosiery, also referred to as legwear, describes garments worn directly on the feet and legs. The term originated as the collective term for products of which a maker or seller is termed a hosier; and those products are also known generically as h ...

in Old Broad Street named Hookham, whose partner he afterwards became; Hookham's daughter married

John Frere John Frere (10 August 1740 – 12 July 1807) was an English antiquary and a pioneering discoverer of Old Stone Age or Lower Palaeolithic tools in association with large extinct animals at Hoxne, Suffolk in 1797. Life Frere was born in Royd ...

, and was mother of

John Hookham Frere John Hookham Frere (21 May 1769 – 7 January 1846) was an English diplomat and author. Early life Frere was born in London. His father, John Frere, a member of a Suffolk family, had been educated at Caius College, Cambridge, and became Sec ...

. After Hookham's death Stevens became the senior partner, but in 1801 he gave up most of his interest in the business, and a few years later retired altogether. Stevens identified himself with the clergy who acknowledged

as their leader. He joined with Jones and others in forming a ‘Society for the Reformation of Principles,’ to counteract the influence of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

. The society published a collection of tracts for the younger clergy, and originated the ''

British Critic The ''British Critic: A New Review'' was a quarterly publication, established in 1793 as a conservative and high-church review journal riding the tide of British reaction against the French Revolution. The headquarters was in London. The journa ...

'', a quarterly journal. Stevens acted for many years as treasurer of

Queen Anne's Bounty Queen Anne's Bounty was a scheme established in 1704 to augment the incomes of the poorer clergy of the Church of England, and by extension the organisation ("The Governors of the Bounty of Queen Anne for the Augmentation of the Maintenance of the ...

, supported the work of the church societies, and interested himself in the position of the episcopal church in Scotland. Stevens died at his house in Old Broad Street, and was buried in Otham churchyard. He left the bulk of his property to his cousin, William Horne, the rector of Otham.

Works

Stevens acquired a good knowledge of French, Hebrew, and the classics. His main interest was theology. He maintained a correspondence with Bishop George Horne, and suggested the plan which Horne later used in his ''Letters on Infidelity'', which were dedicated to Stevens. On Horne's death, Stevens published three volumes of his sermons, and supplied William Jones of Nayland with materials for Jones' biography of Horne. In 1772 Stevens wrote ''A new and faithful Translation of Letters from M. l'Abbé de ——, Hebrew Professor in the University of ——, to the Rev. Benjamin Kennicott''. In this anonymous brochure he followed up Horne's attack on

Benjamin Kennicott Benjamin Kennicott (4 April 171818 September 1783) was an English churchman and Hebrew scholar. Life Kennicott was born at Totnes, Devon where he attended Totnes Grammar School. He succeeded his father as master of a charity school, but the gene ...

's project of a revised Hebrew text of the Old Testament. The next year he published, in opposition to the recent effort to get rid of subscription to the

Thirty-Nine Articles The Thirty-nine Articles of Religion (commonly abbreviated as the Thirty-nine Articles or the XXXIX Articles) are the historically defining statements of doctrines and practices of the Church of England with respect to the controversies of the ...

, ''An Essay on the Nature and Constitution of the Christian Church, wherein are set forth the form of its government, the extent of its powers, and the limits of our obedience, by a Layman''. A new edition of Stevens's ‘Essay’ appeared in 1799, and it was reissued by the

SPCK The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK) is a UK-based Christian charity. Founded in 1698 by Thomas Bray, it has worked for over 300 years to increase awareness of the Christian faith in the UK and across the world. The SPCK is th ...

in vol. iv. of their ‘Religious Tracts’ in 1800, in 1807, and in 1833. In 1776 Stevens published ''A Discourse on the English Revolution, extracted from a late eminent writer, and applied to the present time''; and in the following year attacked Richard Watson, in ''Strictures on a Sermon entitled the Principles of the Revolution vindicated''. In 1795 Jones dedicated to Stevens his ''Life of Bishop Horne''. In 1800, in a ''Review of the Review of a new Preface to the Second Edition of Mr. Jones's Life of Bishop Horne'', Stevens defended his cousin from an attack in the ''British Critic''. It was signed "Ain" (Hebrew for "Nobody"), and suggested the title of a collection of Stevens's pamphlets issued in 1805 as ''Oudenos erga, Nobody's Works''. A club was also founded in his honour under the name "

Nobody's Friends The Club of Nobody's Friends is a private dining club with origins in the High Church tradition of the Church of England. It is one of the oldest of the London dining clubs and frequently meets in Lambeth Palace. Its motto is ''Pro Ecclesia et Rege ...

" about 1800. It met three times a year. Sir Richard Richards was the first president, and it contained well-known clergymen, barristers, and doctors. Stevens's final publication was his edition of William Jones's works published in 1801 in twelve octavo volumes. Prefixed to it was a life of Jones in the style of

Izaak Walton Izaak Walton (baptised 21 September 1593 – 15 December 1683) was an English writer. Best known as the author of ''The Compleat Angler'', he also wrote a number of short biographies including one of his friend John Donne. They have been colle ...

(part of which had already appeared in the ''

Anti-Jacobin Review ''The Anti-Jacobin Review and Magazine, or, Monthly Political and Literary Censor'', was a conservative British political periodical active from 1798 to 1821. Founded founded by John Gifford (pseud. of John Richards Green) after the demise of Wi ...

'').

Daniel Wray Daniel Wray (28 November 1701 – 29 December 1783) was an English antiquary and Fellow of the Royal Society. Life Born on 28 November 1701 in the parish of St. Botolph, Aldersgate, he was the youngest child of Sir Daniel Wray (died 1719), a Lo ...

described Stevens as "a tory of the old Filmer stamp".

Life

Works

References

Further reading