George Hawkins Pember (1837–1910), known as G. H. Pember, was an English theologian and author who was affiliated with the
Plymouth Brethren
The Plymouth Brethren or Assemblies of Brethren are a low church and non-conformist Christian movement whose history can be traced back to Dublin, Ireland, in the mid to late 1820s, where they originated from Anglicanism. The group emphasizes ...
.
Early life, education and marriages
Pember was born in
Hereford
Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a population ...
, the son of George Hawkins Pember (1805–77) and Mary Pember (1804–77). He was educated at
Hereford Cathedral School
Hereford Cathedral School is an independent, co-educational day and boarding school for pupils of ages 3 to 18 years, from Nursery to Sixth Form. Its headmaster is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. The school's premi ...
and matriculated from there in 1856. He then enrolled at
Gonville and 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 ...
. He earned the B.A. in his studies in the Classics in 1860, and proceeded to postgraduate studies earning an M.A. in 1863. During his postgraduate studies Pember held a teaching post as assistant master at
Rossall
Rossall is a settlement in Lancashire, England and a suburb of the market town of Fleetwood. It is situated on a coastal plain called The Fylde. Blackpool Tramway runs through Rossall, with two stations: Rossall School on Broadway and Rossall Squ ...
, Lancashire, from 1861 to 1863. On 14 January 1864 Pember married Mary Lemmon (née Reynolds). She had been previously married to William Lemmon who died in 1861, and she had two daughters from that marriage. She died on 10 July 1891 and left her estate to her husband George Pember. In 1893 Pember married Elizabeth Ann Smith in Devon, and they resided at Westbourne Terrace,
Budleigh Salterton
Budleigh Salterton is a seaside town on the coast in East Devon, England, south-east of Exeter. It lies within the East Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and forms much of the electoral ward of Budleigh, whose ward population at t ...
, Devon for the remainder of their lives.
Faith
Pember's conversion to Christianity led him to participate in the Brethren, and from within that movement he developed his career as an author and teacher of biblical and theological themes. The Brethren emerged in the 1820s as an independent movement that protested about the