Adam Martindale
Encyclopedia
Adam Martindale was a British presbyterian minister, closely involved in the evolution of presbyterianism in Lancashire
in the seventeenth century.
, Lancashire, about 15 September 1623. His father, originally a substantial yeoman
and builder, was reduced in circumstances by becoming surety
for a friend. Martindale was educated (1630–7) at the grammar schools of St. Helens
and Rainford
, was put for a short time to his father's business, and then sent back to school (1638–9) in preparation for Oxford
. The troubles of the times hindered his going to the university; he became tutor in the family of Francis Shevington at Eccles, and 'would almost as soone have led beares.' Returning home at Christmas 1641, he found his father's business 'quite dead,' owing to the general sense of insecurity. Apprehensive of a summons to 'generall musters,' he obtained employment as schoolmaster at Upholland
, and later at Rainford.
A summons to a muster he did not obey, being 'a piece of a clergy-man,' but became in 1642 private secretary to Colonel Moore
, M.P. for Liverpool, and head of the parliamentary garrison there, whose household he described as 'an hell upon earth.' He preferred an army clerkship, and rose to be deputy quartermaster
, with exemption from military service. He took the Solemn League and Covenant
in 1643. On the surrender of Liverpool
to Prince Rupert
(26 June 1644), he was imprisoned for nine weeks. In August he obtained the mastership of a newly founded grammar school at Over Whitley, Cheshire
. The schoolhouse, endowed with £8 a year, was built in 1645, and bore his name inscribed over the door. He resumed his preparation for the university, studying Hebrew, logic
, and theology
. In the dearth of ministers he was urged to enter the pulpit; he preached first at Middleton, Lancashire
, and was offered the post of assistant to the rector, but declined it. He was approved as a preacher by the Manchester committee of ministers appointed in 1644.
, on which he entered in April 1646, a few months before the establishment (2 October) of parliamentary presbyterianism in Lancashire. He resided at Openshaw
. Martindale was not a jure divino presbyterian, and at Gorton there were several congregationalists whom he was anxious to keep 'by tendernesse' from seceding. At the first meeting of the Manchester classis
on 16 February 1647, he offered himself to be examined for ordination
, but did not immediately follow up the application. On 8 July John Angier
was deputed to find out why Martindale still held back, 'seeing hee hath professed to have receiv'd satisfaction;' on 2 September he was 'warn'd to appeare at the next meeting,' but did not do so. He was engaged in studying and epitomising the controversy between presbyterianism and independency. Meantime his ministry at Gorton prospered; his popularity is proved by his receipt of calls from six Yorkshire and five Cheshire parishes.
, Cheshire, signed by 268 parishioners, was partly examined by the Manchester classis, and his examination approved, his thesis being 'An liceat mere privatis in ecclesia constituta concionari?' The patron of Rostherne, Peter Venables (1604–9), baron of Kinderton, and eleven parishioners objected to him. After protracted negotiation Martindale, tiring of delay, obtained an order (26 March 1649) from the committee for plundered ministers
, appointing him to the vicarage (worth £60 a year), and declared himself (10 July) 'unwillinge to proceed any further in this classe touchinge his ordination.' He went up to London, arriving on 23 July; next day the eighth London classis, sitting at St. Andrew's Undershaft, with some demur examined and approved him, and on 25 July 1649 he was ordained, Thomas Manton
presiding and preaching the sermon. He dealt handsomely by his predecessor's widow, who occupied the vicarage and glebe till May day 1650.
A meeting of Lancashire and Cheshire ministers was held at Warrington
early in 1650, to consider the propriety of taking the engagement (of fidelity to the existing government), subscription to which was demanded by 23 February. Martindale, who was 'satisfied of the usurpation,' reluctantly subscribed. As a preacher he worked hard, having 'a great congregation' twice every Sunday, besides special sermons and a share in nine different associated lectureships. The congregationalists gave him much trouble in his parish. With the regular ministers of that body, such as Samuel Eaton, he was on good terms, in spite of an occasional 'paper scuffle.' It was otherwise with the 'gifted brethren' who visited his parish as itinerant preachers, 'thrusting their sickle into my harvest.' He preached against them, but declined 'to make a chappell into a cockpit' by wrangling discussions. He held, however, two open-air disputations with quakers
; in the first, on Christmas Day 1654, he had 'to deale with ramblers and railers;' the second, in 1655, on Knutsford Heath, was with Richard Hubberthorn, whose sobriety of judgment he commends.
. The parliamentary presbyterianism approached the Scottish type. This exotic presbyterianism, organised in Lancashire, was never introduced into Cheshire. Nor, until the publication (1653) of Richard Baxter
's Worcestershire 'agreement,' which formed the model for other county unions, was there any attempt to form a collective organisation for the puritanism of Cheshire. On 20 October 1653 a 'voluntary association' was formed at Knutsford
. It was called a 'classis;' but whereas in the Lancashire 'classes' the lay element (ruling elders) always preponderated, the Cheshire 'classis' consisted solely of ministers, neither episcopalians nor congregationalists being excluded. It claimed no jurisdiction, but met for ordination of ministers, approval of elders (where congregations chose to have them), spiritual exercises and advice. Martindale was a warm advocate of this union. In his own congregation six elders were chosen, but only three agreed to act; the presbyterian system of examination, as a necessary preliminary to communion, he discarded. He kept his people together, though 'the chiefe for parts and pietie leaned much towards the congregationall way.'
Martindale was privy, through Henry Newcome
, to the projected rising of the 'new royalists' under Sir George Booth
, and strongly sympathised with the movement, which, however, he did not join. He had long declared himself 'for a king and a free parliament,' though expecting to lose his preferment at the Restoration
. The act of September 1660 for confirming and restoring ministers 'made me vicar of Rotherston,' he says; nevertheless he was prosecuted in January 1661 for holding private meetings, and imprisoned at Chester
for some weeks, but released on his bond of £1,000. A maypole
was set up in his parish. He describes how his 'wife, assisted with three young women, whipt it downe in the night with a framing-saw.' At the winter assizes of 1661 he was indicted for refusing to read the prayer-book; it seems he had not refused, for the book had not been tendered to him. The new prayer-book
reached Rostherne on Friday, 22 August 1662; on 24 August he was deprived by the Uniformity Act
. On that day, however, there was no one to preach, and though he had taken his farewell on the 17th, he officiated again. On 29 August George Hall
, bishop of Chester, issued his mandate declaring the church vacant, and inhibiting Martindale from preaching in the diocese.
, he removed his family to another house in Rostherne, and went to Manchester to teach mathematics. Anglican as well as nonconformist gentry employed him. In furtherance of the education of his son Thomas, he visited Oxford (1668), where he made the acquaintance of John Wallis. For the same purpose he journeyed to Glasgow (April 1670). At this period there seems to have been little attempt in Lancashire to enforce the law against the preaching of nonconformists in the numerous and ill-served chapelries. Martindale preached openly in the chapels of Gorton, Birch, Walmsley, Darwen, Cockey, and in the parishes of Bolton
and Bury
, Lancashire. His receipts from this source soon enabled him to dispense with taking pupils. He was brought up before Henry Bridgeman, then dean of Chester, and indicted at the Manchester assizes, but found not guilty for lack of evidence. John Wilkins
, bishop of Chester, 'proposed terms' in 1671 to the nonconformists, that they might officiate as curates-in-charge, and they were inclined to accept, but Sterne, the archbishop of York, interposed.
for the house of Humphrey Peacock in Rostherne parish, and there preached twice each Sunday and lectured once a month. He removed his family to The Thorne in 1674, to Houghheath in 1681, and to his own house at Leigh
in May 1684. The death of Lord Delamer (10 August 1684) closed his connection with Dunham. He was imprisoned at Chester (27 June–15 July 1685) on groundless suspicion of complicity with the Monmouth Rebellion
; in fact his principles were those of passive obedience, and he had written (but not published) in 1682 an attack on the 'Julian' of Samuel Johnson, which he regarded as 'a very dangerous booke.' Later in 1685 he gave evidence at Lancaster
as arbitrator in a civil suit, and came home out of health.
. The couple had eight children, three of whom survived childhood.
Communications from him are in Philosophical Transactions Abridged, 1670, i. 539 (extracts from two letters on 'A Rock of Natural Salt' in Cheshire), 1681, ii. 482 (Twelve Problems in Compound Interest and Annuities resolved). In A Collection of Letters for the Improvement of Husbandry and Trade, 1683, by John Houghton (d 1705), are two by Martindale (vol. i. Nos. 6, 11) on Improving Land by Marle, a third (vol. ii. No. 1), A Token for Ship-Boyes; or plain sailing made more plain, and a fourth (vol. ii. No. 4), on Improvement of Mossie Land by Burning and Liming. Besides the animadversions on 'Julian,' a treatise on kneeling at the Lord's Supper (1682) was circulated in manuscript, and a critique on Matthew Smith's Patriarchal Sabbath, 1683, was sent to London for press, but not printed, owing to a dispute between Martindale's agent and the bookseller. Martindale's autobiography, to 1685, was edited in 1845 for the Chetham Society by Canon Parkinson from the autograph in the British Museum
, formerly in the possession of Thomas Birch
. In addition to its personal interest, it contains sketches of the social life of the period, worthy of Defoe
. Its omission of proper names makes many of its allusions obscure.
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
in the seventeenth century.
Biography
Adam Martindale (1623–1686), fourth son of Henry Martindale, was born at High Heyes, in the parish of PrescotPrescot
Prescot is a town and civil parish, within the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley in Merseyside, England. It is 8 miles to the east of Liverpool city centre and lies within the historic boundaries of Lancashire. At the 2001 Census, the population was 11,184 .Prescot marks the beginning of the...
, Lancashire, about 15 September 1623. His father, originally a substantial yeoman
Yeoman
Yeoman refers chiefly to a free man owning his own farm, especially from the Elizabethan era to the 17th century. Work requiring a great deal of effort or labor, such as would be done by a yeoman farmer, came to be described as "yeoman's work"...
and builder, was reduced in circumstances by becoming surety
Surety
A surety or guarantee, in finance, is a promise by one party to assume responsibility for the debt obligation of a borrower if that borrower defaults...
for a friend. Martindale was educated (1630–7) at the grammar schools of St. Helens
St Helens, Merseyside
St Helens is a large town in Merseyside, England. It is the largest settlement and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens with a population of just over 100,000, part of an urban area with a total population of 176,843 at the time of the 2001 Census...
and Rainford
Rainford
Rainford is a village and civil parish within Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, in Merseyside, England. It is around north of St Helens. At the 2001 Census the population of the civil parish was 8,344....
, was put for a short time to his father's business, and then sent back to school (1638–9) in preparation for Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
. The troubles of the times hindered his going to the university; he became tutor in the family of Francis Shevington at Eccles, and 'would almost as soone have led beares.' Returning home at Christmas 1641, he found his father's business 'quite dead,' owing to the general sense of insecurity. Apprehensive of a summons to 'generall musters,' he obtained employment as schoolmaster at Upholland
Upholland
Upholland is a civil parish and village in West Lancashire, England. It is situated approximately 3 miles east of Skelmersdale, also in West Lancashire, and 4½ miles west of Wigan in Greater Manchester.-Geography:...
, and later at Rainford.
A summons to a muster he did not obey, being 'a piece of a clergy-man,' but became in 1642 private secretary to Colonel Moore
John Moore (regicide)
Colonel John Moore was one of the regicides of King Charles I.John Moore was born into one of the oldest noble Moore families in England in 1599. By the early 1640s, John Moore was heavily involved with the early shipping trade, forging connections in Barbados...
, M.P. for Liverpool, and head of the parliamentary garrison there, whose household he described as 'an hell upon earth.' He preferred an army clerkship, and rose to be deputy quartermaster
Quartermaster
Quartermaster refers to two different military occupations depending on if the assigned unit is land based or naval.In land armies, especially US units, it is a term referring to either an individual soldier or a unit who specializes in distributing supplies and provisions to troops. The senior...
, with exemption from military service. He took the Solemn League and Covenant
Solemn League and Covenant
The Solemn League and Covenant was an agreement between the Scottish Covenanters and the leaders of the English Parliamentarians. It was agreed to in 1643, during the First English Civil War....
in 1643. On the surrender of Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
to Prince Rupert
Prince Rupert of the Rhine
Rupert, Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke of Bavaria, 1st Duke of Cumberland, 1st Earl of Holderness , commonly called Prince Rupert of the Rhine, KG, FRS was a noted soldier, admiral, scientist, sportsman, colonial governor and amateur artist during the 17th century...
(26 June 1644), he was imprisoned for nine weeks. In August he obtained the mastership of a newly founded grammar school at Over Whitley, Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
. The schoolhouse, endowed with £8 a year, was built in 1645, and bore his name inscribed over the door. He resumed his preparation for the university, studying Hebrew, logic
Logic
In philosophy, Logic is the formal systematic study of the principles of valid inference and correct reasoning. Logic is used in most intellectual activities, but is studied primarily in the disciplines of philosophy, mathematics, semantics, and computer science...
, and theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
. In the dearth of ministers he was urged to enter the pulpit; he preached first at Middleton, Lancashire
Middleton, Lancashire
Middleton is a village and civil parish within the City of Lancaster in Lancashire, England, between Heysham and Overton. It had a population of 521 recorded in the 2001 census....
, and was offered the post of assistant to the rector, but declined it. He was approved as a preacher by the Manchester committee of ministers appointed in 1644.
Gorton Chapel
His first charge was at Gorton Chapel in the parish of ManchesterManchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, on which he entered in April 1646, a few months before the establishment (2 October) of parliamentary presbyterianism in Lancashire. He resided at Openshaw
Openshaw
Openshaw is a ward of the city of Manchester, in Greater Manchester, North West England. It lies about two miles east of Manchester city centre. Historically a part of Lancashire, Openshaw was incorporated into the city of Manchester in 1890. Its name derives from the Old English Opinschawe, which...
. Martindale was not a jure divino presbyterian, and at Gorton there were several congregationalists whom he was anxious to keep 'by tendernesse' from seceding. At the first meeting of the Manchester classis
Presbyterian polity
Presbyterian polity is a method of church governance typified by the rule of assemblies of presbyters, or elders. Each local church is governed by a body of elected elders usually called the session or consistory, though other terms, such as church board, may apply...
on 16 February 1647, he offered himself to be examined for ordination
Ordination
In general religious use, ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart as clergy to perform various religious rites and ceremonies. The process and ceremonies of ordination itself varies by religion and denomination. One who is in preparation for, or who is...
, but did not immediately follow up the application. On 8 July John Angier
John Angier
-Early life:Angier was from Dedham, in Essex, where he was baptised 8 October 1605. At his own desire was brought up to be a preacher. At the age of twelve he was a grave child; but during his stay at Cambridge University as an undergraduate of Emmanuel College 'he fell off to vain company and...
was deputed to find out why Martindale still held back, 'seeing hee hath professed to have receiv'd satisfaction;' on 2 September he was 'warn'd to appeare at the next meeting,' but did not do so. He was engaged in studying and epitomising the controversy between presbyterianism and independency. Meantime his ministry at Gorton prospered; his popularity is proved by his receipt of calls from six Yorkshire and five Cheshire parishes.
Ordination
On 7 Oct. 1648 Martindale, having a call from RostherneRostherne
Rostherne is a civil parish and village in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England .To the north of the village is Rostherne Mere and to the south is Tatton Park...
, Cheshire, signed by 268 parishioners, was partly examined by the Manchester classis, and his examination approved, his thesis being 'An liceat mere privatis in ecclesia constituta concionari?' The patron of Rostherne, Peter Venables (1604–9), baron of Kinderton, and eleven parishioners objected to him. After protracted negotiation Martindale, tiring of delay, obtained an order (26 March 1649) from the committee for plundered ministers
Committee for Plundered Ministers
The Committee for Plundered Ministers was appointed by the Long Parliament, then under the influence of the Presbyterians, after the start of the English Civil War in August 1643 for the purpose of replacing and effectively silencing those clergy who were loyal to the King Charles...
, appointing him to the vicarage (worth £60 a year), and declared himself (10 July) 'unwillinge to proceed any further in this classe touchinge his ordination.' He went up to London, arriving on 23 July; next day the eighth London classis, sitting at St. Andrew's Undershaft, with some demur examined and approved him, and on 25 July 1649 he was ordained, Thomas Manton
Thomas Manton
Thomas Manton was an English Puritan clergyman.-Life:Thomas Manton was baptized March 31, 1620 at Lydeard St Lawrence, Somerset, a remote southwestern portion of England. His grammar school education was possibly at Blundell's School, in Tiverton, Devon...
presiding and preaching the sermon. He dealt handsomely by his predecessor's widow, who occupied the vicarage and glebe till May day 1650.
A meeting of Lancashire and Cheshire ministers was held at Warrington
Warrington
Warrington is a town, borough and unitary authority area of Cheshire, England. It stands on the banks of the River Mersey, which is tidal to the west of the weir at Howley. It lies 16 miles east of Liverpool, 19 miles west of Manchester and 8 miles south of St Helens...
early in 1650, to consider the propriety of taking the engagement (of fidelity to the existing government), subscription to which was demanded by 23 February. Martindale, who was 'satisfied of the usurpation,' reluctantly subscribed. As a preacher he worked hard, having 'a great congregation' twice every Sunday, besides special sermons and a share in nine different associated lectureships. The congregationalists gave him much trouble in his parish. With the regular ministers of that body, such as Samuel Eaton, he was on good terms, in spite of an occasional 'paper scuffle.' It was otherwise with the 'gifted brethren' who visited his parish as itinerant preachers, 'thrusting their sickle into my harvest.' He preached against them, but declined 'to make a chappell into a cockpit' by wrangling discussions. He held, however, two open-air disputations with quakers
Religious Society of Friends
The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...
; in the first, on Christmas Day 1654, he had 'to deale with ramblers and railers;' the second, in 1655, on Knutsford Heath, was with Richard Hubberthorn, whose sobriety of judgment he commends.
Exotic presbyterianism
Martindale was a presbyterian of the English type, exemplified in Thomas Cartwright and William BradshawWilliam Bradshaw (Puritan)
William Bradshaw was a moderate English Puritan, born in Market Bosworth.He was educated at Ashby-de-la-Zouch, where he met both Anthony Gilby, and his future patron Arthur Hildersham, and at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He became a Fellow of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge in 1599, but left...
. The parliamentary presbyterianism approached the Scottish type. This exotic presbyterianism, organised in Lancashire, was never introduced into Cheshire. Nor, until the publication (1653) of Richard Baxter
Richard Baxter
Richard Baxter was an English Puritan church leader, poet, hymn-writer, theologian, and controversialist. Dean Stanley called him "the chief of English Protestant Schoolmen". After some false starts, he made his reputation by his ministry at Kidderminster, and at around the same time began a long...
's Worcestershire 'agreement,' which formed the model for other county unions, was there any attempt to form a collective organisation for the puritanism of Cheshire. On 20 October 1653 a 'voluntary association' was formed at Knutsford
Knutsford
Knutsford is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority area of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, in North West England...
. It was called a 'classis;' but whereas in the Lancashire 'classes' the lay element (ruling elders) always preponderated, the Cheshire 'classis' consisted solely of ministers, neither episcopalians nor congregationalists being excluded. It claimed no jurisdiction, but met for ordination of ministers, approval of elders (where congregations chose to have them), spiritual exercises and advice. Martindale was a warm advocate of this union. In his own congregation six elders were chosen, but only three agreed to act; the presbyterian system of examination, as a necessary preliminary to communion, he discarded. He kept his people together, though 'the chiefe for parts and pietie leaned much towards the congregationall way.'
Martindale was privy, through Henry Newcome
Henry Newcome
-Life:He was the fourth son of Stephen Newcome, rector of Caldicote, Huntingdonshire. He was born at Caldicote, and baptised on27 Nov. 1627. His mother was Rose, daughter of Henry Williamson, B. D. ,...
, to the projected rising of the 'new royalists' under Sir George Booth
George Booth, 1st Baron Delamer
George Booth, 1st Baron Delamer , known as Sir George Booth, 2nd Baronet, from 1652 to 1661, was an English peer.-Civil War:...
, and strongly sympathised with the movement, which, however, he did not join. He had long declared himself 'for a king and a free parliament,' though expecting to lose his preferment at the Restoration
English Restoration
The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...
. The act of September 1660 for confirming and restoring ministers 'made me vicar of Rotherston,' he says; nevertheless he was prosecuted in January 1661 for holding private meetings, and imprisoned at Chester
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
for some weeks, but released on his bond of £1,000. A maypole
Maypole
A maypole is a tall wooden pole erected as a part of various European folk festivals, particularly on May Day, or Pentecost although in some countries it is instead erected at Midsummer...
was set up in his parish. He describes how his 'wife, assisted with three young women, whipt it downe in the night with a framing-saw.' At the winter assizes of 1661 he was indicted for refusing to read the prayer-book; it seems he had not refused, for the book had not been tendered to him. The new prayer-book
Book of Common Prayer
The Book of Common Prayer is the short title of a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion, as well as by the Continuing Anglican, "Anglican realignment" and other Anglican churches. The original book, published in 1549 , in the reign of Edward VI, was a product of the English...
reached Rostherne on Friday, 22 August 1662; on 24 August he was deprived by the Uniformity Act
Act of Uniformity 1662
The Act of Uniformity was an Act of the Parliament of England, 13&14 Ch.2 c. 4 ,The '16 Charles II c. 2' nomenclature is reference to the statute book of the numbered year of the reign of the named King in the stated chapter...
. On that day, however, there was no one to preach, and though he had taken his farewell on the 17th, he officiated again. On 29 August George Hall
George Hall (bishop)
-Life:His father was Joseph Hall. George Hall was born at Waltham Abbey, Essex, and studied at Exeter College, Oxford, where he became a Fellow. He became vicar of Menheniot and in 1641 archdeacon of Cornwall....
, bishop of Chester, issued his mandate declaring the church vacant, and inhibiting Martindale from preaching in the diocese.
Camp Green
At Michaelmas he removed to Camp Green in Rostherne parish, attending the services of his successor (Benjamin Crosse), and 'repeating' his sermons in the evening 'to an housefull of parishioners.' For two years he took boarders; this being unsafe for a nonconformist, he thought of turning to medicine, but eventually, aided by Lord Delamer, he studied and taught mathematics at Warrington and elsewhere. At May day 1666, under pressure of the Five Miles ActFive Mile Act 1665
The Five Mile Act, or Oxford Act, or Nonconformists Act 1665, is an Act of the Parliament of England , passed in 1665 with the long title "An Act for restraining Non-Conformists from inhabiting in Corporations". It was one of the English penal laws that sought to enforce conformity to the...
, he removed his family to another house in Rostherne, and went to Manchester to teach mathematics. Anglican as well as nonconformist gentry employed him. In furtherance of the education of his son Thomas, he visited Oxford (1668), where he made the acquaintance of John Wallis. For the same purpose he journeyed to Glasgow (April 1670). At this period there seems to have been little attempt in Lancashire to enforce the law against the preaching of nonconformists in the numerous and ill-served chapelries. Martindale preached openly in the chapels of Gorton, Birch, Walmsley, Darwen, Cockey, and in the parishes of Bolton
Bolton
Bolton is a town in Greater Manchester, in the North West of England. Close to the West Pennine Moors, it is north west of the city of Manchester. Bolton is surrounded by several smaller towns and villages which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, of which Bolton is the...
and Bury
Bury
Bury is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on the River Irwell, east of Bolton, west-southwest of Rochdale, and north-northwest of the city of Manchester...
, Lancashire. His receipts from this source soon enabled him to dispense with taking pupils. He was brought up before Henry Bridgeman, then dean of Chester, and indicted at the Manchester assizes, but found not guilty for lack of evidence. John Wilkins
John Wilkins
John Wilkins FRS was an English clergyman, natural philosopher and author, as well as a founder of the Invisible College and one of the founders of the Royal Society, and Bishop of Chester from 1668 until his death....
, bishop of Chester, 'proposed terms' in 1671 to the nonconformists, that they might officiate as curates-in-charge, and they were inclined to accept, but Sterne, the archbishop of York, interposed.
Chaplain to Lord Delamer
On 30 September 1671 Martindale became resident chaplain to Lord Delamer at Dunham, with a salary of £40. He took out a license under the indulgence of 1672Royal Declaration of Indulgence
The Royal Declaration of Indulgence was Charles II of England's attempt to extend religious liberty to Protestant nonconformists and Roman Catholics in his realms, by suspending the execution of the penal laws that punished recusants from the Church of England...
for the house of Humphrey Peacock in Rostherne parish, and there preached twice each Sunday and lectured once a month. He removed his family to The Thorne in 1674, to Houghheath in 1681, and to his own house at Leigh
Leigh, Greater Manchester
Leigh is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester, England. It is southeast of Wigan, and west of Manchester. Leigh is situated on low lying land to the north west of Chat Moss....
in May 1684. The death of Lord Delamer (10 August 1684) closed his connection with Dunham. He was imprisoned at Chester (27 June–15 July 1685) on groundless suspicion of complicity with the Monmouth Rebellion
Monmouth Rebellion
The Monmouth Rebellion,The Revolt of the West or The West Country rebellion of 1685, was an attempt to overthrow James II, who had become King of England, King of Scots and King of Ireland at the death of his elder brother Charles II on 6 February 1685. James II was a Roman Catholic, and some...
; in fact his principles were those of passive obedience, and he had written (but not published) in 1682 an attack on the 'Julian' of Samuel Johnson, which he regarded as 'a very dangerous booke.' Later in 1685 he gave evidence at Lancaster
Lancaster, Lancashire
Lancaster is the county town of Lancashire, England. It is situated on the River Lune and has a population of 45,952. Lancaster is a constituent settlement of the wider City of Lancaster, local government district which has a population of 133,914 and encompasses several outlying towns, including...
as arbitrator in a civil suit, and came home out of health.
Marriage and death
Martindale died at Leigh in September 1686, and was buried at Rostherne on 21 September. He married, on 31 December 1646, Elizabeth (who survived him), second daughter of John Hall, of Droylsden, Lancashire, and uterine sister of Thomas JollieThomas Jollie
Thomas Jollie was an English Dissenter, a minister ejected for his beliefs from the Church of England.-Biography:Thomas Jollie was born at Droylsden, near Manchester, on 14 September 1629, and baptised on 29 September at Gorton Chapel, then in the parish of Manchester...
. The couple had eight children, three of whom survived childhood.
Publications
He published:- Divinity Knots Unbound 1649, (against antinomianism and anabaptism, dedicated to Captain James Jollie); also with title Divinity Knots Unloosed, 1649.
- Summary of Arguments for and against Presbyterianisme and Independencie, 1650
- An Antidote against the Poyson of the Times, 1653, (a catechism, defending the doctrine of the Trinity against heresies then appearing among the independents at Dukinfield, Cheshire).
- Countrey Almanacke, 1675–6–7 (mentioned in his autobiography).
- The Countrey-Survey-Book; or Land-Meter's Vade-mecum, 1681,; reprinted with addition of his Twelve Problems, 1702
- Truth and Peace Promoted, 1682, (mentioned in his autobiography and by Calamy on justification).
Communications from him are in Philosophical Transactions Abridged, 1670, i. 539 (extracts from two letters on 'A Rock of Natural Salt' in Cheshire), 1681, ii. 482 (Twelve Problems in Compound Interest and Annuities resolved). In A Collection of Letters for the Improvement of Husbandry and Trade, 1683, by John Houghton (d 1705), are two by Martindale (vol. i. Nos. 6, 11) on Improving Land by Marle, a third (vol. ii. No. 1), A Token for Ship-Boyes; or plain sailing made more plain, and a fourth (vol. ii. No. 4), on Improvement of Mossie Land by Burning and Liming. Besides the animadversions on 'Julian,' a treatise on kneeling at the Lord's Supper (1682) was circulated in manuscript, and a critique on Matthew Smith's Patriarchal Sabbath, 1683, was sent to London for press, but not printed, owing to a dispute between Martindale's agent and the bookseller. Martindale's autobiography, to 1685, was edited in 1845 for the Chetham Society by Canon Parkinson from the autograph in the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
, formerly in the possession of Thomas Birch
Thomas Birch
Thomas Birch was an English historian.-Life:He was the son of Joseph Birch, a coffee-mill maker, and was born at Clerkenwell....
. In addition to its personal interest, it contains sketches of the social life of the period, worthy of Defoe
Daniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe , born Daniel Foe, was an English trader, writer, journalist, and pamphleteer, who gained fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe. Defoe is notable for being one of the earliest proponents of the novel, as he helped to popularise the form in Britain and along with others such as Richardson,...
. Its omission of proper names makes many of its allusions obscure.
External links
- The life of Adam Martindale, by Adam Martindale, Richard Parkinson, Chetham Society