Essex Street Chapel
Encyclopedia
Essex Street Chapel, also known as Essex Church, is a Unitarian
place of worship in London
. It was the first church in England
set up with this doctrine, and was established at a time when Dissenters
still faced legal threat. As the birthplace of British Unitarianism, Essex Street has been associated with many historically significant people, especially social reformers and theologians. The congregation moved west in the 19th century, allowing the building to be turned into the headquarters for the British and Foreign Unitarian Association
and the Sunday School
Association. These evolved into the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches
, the umbrella organisation for British Unitarianism, which is still based on the same site, in an office building called Essex Hall. This article deals with the buildings (1778, 1887, 1958), the history, and the current church, based in Kensington
.
, on a site formerly occupied by Essex House
, London home of the Earl of Essex
, hence the name of the street and the hall. It was about halfway between the the City
and Westminster
, in the legal district of London. From the mid-18th century, some rooms within the former nobleman's palace were used as the auction room of an up-scale bookseller named Samuel Paterson. This was easily adapted into a simple meeting house
, but within a few years there was enough of a congregation, and enough donations, to have a new edifice raised on the foundations of the old. This was completed by 1778, with financial support from Francis Dashwood, 15th Baron le Despencer
, founder of the Hellfire Club
, and Thomas Brand Hollis
, political radical. Another supporter and trustee was Samuel Heywood
, the chief justice. Their building footprint is believed to include the Tudor chapel of Essex House. Not until 1860 did the chapel gain an organ.
, who had recently left the Church of England
because of his burgeoning Unitarian conviction. He had moved to London specifically to find like-minded people and to found a congregation—indeed, a denomination
. Support was immediately given him by distinguished English Presbyterian
ministers such as Richard Price
, who had his own church in Newington Green
, and Joseph Priestley
, who among other things discovered oxygen. Unitarian beliefs
were against the law until the Doctrine of the Trinity Act 1813
, but legal difficulties with the authorities were overcome with the help of barrister John Lee
, who later became Attorney-General. The inaugural service, on 17 April 1774, was reviewed as far afield as Leeds
: "The congregation was respectable and numerous, and seemed to be particularly pleased with the spirit of moderation, candour and christian benevolence of the preacher whose sermon was perfectly well adapted to the occasion." Two hundred people gathered to hear Lindsey preach, including Benjamin Franklin
, then an agent for the colonial Province of Massachusetts Bay
. This was the first time in England that a church had formed around explicitly Unitarian beliefs.
had led the formation of a Unitarian congregation a couple of miles to the west; this group had grown and moved several times, but had no home. Sir James Clarke Lawrence
, Lord Mayor of London
and Liberal
MP
, purchased and donated some land at Kensington Gravel Pits (now Palace Gardens Terrace), and a temporary corrugated iron church had been built. Meanwhile, the main Unitarian bodies, the British and Foreign Unitarian Association
and the Sunday School
Association, needed better offices. Eventually it was decided that they would get the Essex Street building to redevelop, and the chapel would move to join the Kensington congregation, taking with it enough money to build a splendid new church in place of the iron one.
This duly opened in 1887, under the name of Essex Church, serving the area of Kensington. Gradually the building deteriorated: air pollution
attacked the stone (the effect of decades of "pea-soupers"
, before the passage of the Clean Air Act 1956
), the steeple was removed as dangerous in 1960, the roof was shattered by blue ice
from an aircraft in 1971, and by the 1970s the whole fabric had become run down. It was demolished and replaced with a modern church, with ancillary facilities. The first service was held in July 1977.
, designed for mixed use: offices and meeting rooms, but also a bookshop and reading rooms, and a great hall seating 600. It was ready a year earlier than the Kensington church, and its dedication service in 1886 featured all the great and the good of British Unitarianism.
The space was hired out for concerts and public meetings; for many years the Fabian Society
met there, for example, and the Christadelphians
held their AGM at Essex Hall. Public meetings could become heated: when the American Prohibitionist William "Pussyfoot" Johnson
spoke at Essex Hall in 1919, he was abducted by medical students, and, off the premises, blinded by a missile. The house adjacent, number 1 Essex Street, had been donated to the trustees of the Essex Hall construction scheme, but the architects chose not to use it; during World War I
it was turned into "a modest hostel for soldiers and sailors, without distinction of sect or creed, passing through or making short stays in London". In 1925 some alterations were made to Essex Hall to enable the Lyndsey Press to begin well. From 1928 the main body of British Unitarianism was the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches
or GA, subsuming the previous organisations but continuing to operate from Essex Hall.
Much of Essex Street was demolished by enemy action during the Blitz
in 1944. Once the bombed ruins had been removed after the war, the site served as a car park. Eventually planning permission and funding were obtained, which allowed for the construction of purpose-built offices. "What seemed at first to be a complete disaster was presently recognized as a denominational challenge, and was taken up with energy and determination," wrote the architect, Kenneth S. Tayler, A.R.I.B.A. Aside from the Unitarian headquarter functions, about half of the building's space was allocated from the outset to be leased to other organisations, thus paying the bills. From the night of the Doodlebug
raid until the completion of construction in 1958 - fourteen years—the work that normally took place in Essex Hall was displaced to some spare rooms at Dr Williams's Library
in Gordon Square
.
in Kensington
, West London
, and runs a full programme of activities. It is led by Rev. Sarah Tinker, who gained her ministerial qualification at Unitarian College, Manchester, after a first career as a teacher.
Unitarianism
Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....
place of worship in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. It was the first church in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
set up with this doctrine, and was established at a time when Dissenters
English Dissenters
English Dissenters were Christians who separated from the Church of England in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.They originally agitated for a wide reaching Protestant Reformation of the Established Church, and triumphed briefly under Oliver Cromwell....
still faced legal threat. As the birthplace of British Unitarianism, Essex Street has been associated with many historically significant people, especially social reformers and theologians. The congregation moved west in the 19th century, allowing the building to be turned into the headquarters for the British and Foreign Unitarian Association
British and Foreign Unitarian Association
The British and Foreign Unitarian Association was the major Unitarian body in Britain from 1825. The BFUA was founded as an amalgamation of three older societies: the Unitarian Book Society for literature , The Unitarian Fund for mission work , and the Unitarian Association for civil rights...
and the Sunday School
Sunday school
Sunday school is the generic name for many different types of religious education pursued on Sundays by various denominations.-England:The first Sunday school may have been opened in 1751 in St. Mary's Church, Nottingham. Another early start was made by Hannah Ball, a native of High Wycombe in...
Association. These evolved into the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches
General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches
The General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches is the umbrella organisation for Unitarian, Free Christian and other liberal religious congregations in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1928, with denominational roots going back to the Great Ejection of 1662...
, the umbrella organisation for British Unitarianism, which is still based on the same site, in an office building called Essex Hall. This article deals with the buildings (1778, 1887, 1958), the history, and the current church, based in Kensington
Kensington
Kensington is a district of west and central London, England within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. An affluent and densely-populated area, its commercial heart is Kensington High Street, and it contains the well-known museum district of South Kensington.To the north, Kensington is...
.
Building
The chapel was located just off the StrandStrand, London
Strand is a street in the City of Westminster, London, England. The street is just over three-quarters of a mile long. It currently starts at Trafalgar Square and runs east to join Fleet Street at Temple Bar, which marks the boundary of the City of London at this point, though its historical length...
, on a site formerly occupied by Essex House
Essex House (London)
Essex House was a house in London, built around 1575 for Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester and originally called Leicester House.The property occupied the site where the Outer Temple, part of the London headquarters of the Knights Templar, had previously stood , and was immediately adjacent to the...
, London home of the Earl of Essex
Earl of Essex
Earl of Essex is a title that has been held by several families and individuals. The earldom was first created in the 12th century for Geoffrey II de Mandeville . Upon the death of the third earl in 1189, the title became dormant or extinct...
, hence the name of the street and the hall. It was about halfway between the the City
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
and Westminster
Westminster
Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...
, in the legal district of London. From the mid-18th century, some rooms within the former nobleman's palace were used as the auction room of an up-scale bookseller named Samuel Paterson. This was easily adapted into a simple meeting house
Meeting house
A meeting house describes a building where a public meeting takes place. This includes secular buildings which function like a town or city hall, and buildings used for religious meetings, particularly of some non-conformist Christian denominations....
, but within a few years there was enough of a congregation, and enough donations, to have a new edifice raised on the foundations of the old. This was completed by 1778, with financial support from Francis Dashwood, 15th Baron le Despencer
Francis Dashwood, 15th Baron le Despencer
Francis Dashwood, 15th Baron le Despencer was an English rake and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer and founder of the Hellfire Club.-Early life:...
, founder of the Hellfire Club
Hellfire Club
The Hellfire Club was a name for several exclusive clubs for high society rakes established in Britain and Ireland in the 18th century, and was more formally or cautiously known as the "Order of the Friars of St. Francis of Wycombe"...
, and Thomas Brand Hollis
Thomas Brand Hollis
Thomas Brand Hollis , born Thomas Brand, was a British political radical and dissenter.Thomas Brand was born the only son of Timothy Brand of Ingatestone, Essex and was educated at Felsted School, Trinity College, Cambridge, the Inner Temple and Glasgow University.In 1748-9 he toured Europe with...
, political radical. Another supporter and trustee was Samuel Heywood
Samuel Heywood (chief justice)
Samuel Heywood was a Serjeant-at-law and a Chief Justice of the Carmarthen Circuit of Wales.Heywood was born in Liverpool, Lancashire to Benjamin and Phoebe Heywood, née Ogden...
, the chief justice. Their building footprint is believed to include the Tudor chapel of Essex House. Not until 1860 did the chapel gain an organ.
Lindsey's beginnings
The first minister was Theophilus LindseyTheophilus Lindsey
Theophilus Lindsey was an English theologian and clergyman who founded the first avowedly Unitarian congregation in the country, at Essex Street Chapel.-Life:...
, who had recently left the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
because of his burgeoning Unitarian conviction. He had moved to London specifically to find like-minded people and to found a congregation—indeed, a denomination
Christian denomination
A Christian denomination is an identifiable religious body under a common name, structure, and doctrine within Christianity. In the Orthodox tradition, Churches are divided often along ethnic and linguistic lines, into separate churches and traditions. Technically, divisions between one group and...
. Support was immediately given him by distinguished English Presbyterian
English Presbyterianism
Presbyterianism in England is distinct from Continental and Scottish forms of Presbyterianism. Whereas in Scotland, church government is based on a meeting of delegates, in England the individual congregation is the primary body of government...
ministers such as Richard Price
Richard Price
Richard Price was a British moral philosopher and preacher in the tradition of English Dissenters, and a political pamphleteer, active in radical, republican, and liberal causes such as the American Revolution. He fostered connections between a large number of people, including writers of the...
, who had his own church in Newington Green
Newington Green Unitarian Church
Newington Green Unitarian Church in north London is one of England's oldest Unitarian churches. It has had strong ties to political radicalism for over 300 years, and is London's oldest Nonconformist place of worship still in use...
, and Joseph Priestley
Joseph Priestley
Joseph Priestley, FRS was an 18th-century English theologian, Dissenting clergyman, natural philosopher, chemist, educator, and political theorist who published over 150 works...
, who among other things discovered oxygen. Unitarian beliefs
Nontrinitarianism
Nontrinitarianism includes all Christian belief systems that disagree with the doctrine of the Trinity, namely, the teaching that God is three distinct hypostases and yet co-eternal, co-equal, and indivisibly united in one essence or ousia...
were against the law until the Doctrine of the Trinity Act 1813
Doctrine of the Trinity Act 1813
The Doctrine of the Trinity Act 1813 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
, but legal difficulties with the authorities were overcome with the help of barrister John Lee
John Lee (Attorney-General)
John Lee KC was an English lawyer, politician, and law officer of the Crown. He assisted in the early days of Unitarianism in England.-Life:...
, who later became Attorney-General. The inaugural service, on 17 April 1774, was reviewed as far afield as Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
: "The congregation was respectable and numerous, and seemed to be particularly pleased with the spirit of moderation, candour and christian benevolence of the preacher whose sermon was perfectly well adapted to the occasion." Two hundred people gathered to hear Lindsey preach, including Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...
, then an agent for the colonial Province of Massachusetts Bay
Province of Massachusetts Bay
The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a crown colony in North America. It was chartered on October 7, 1691 by William and Mary, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of England and Scotland...
. This was the first time in England that a church had formed around explicitly Unitarian beliefs.
The move to Kensington
By the 1880s demographic change, mainly the movement of population out of the very centre of London, meant that membership had fallen significantly. As long ago as 1867, Rev Robert SpearsRobert Spears
Robert Spears was a British Unitarian minister who was editor of the confessedly "Biblical Unitarian" Christian Life weekly.-Life:...
had led the formation of a Unitarian congregation a couple of miles to the west; this group had grown and moved several times, but had no home. Sir James Clarke Lawrence
Sir James Lawrence, 1st Baronet
Sir James Clarke Lawrence, 1st Baronet was Lord Mayor of London and a Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1868 to 1885....
, Lord Mayor of London
Lord Mayor of London
The Right Honourable Lord Mayor of London is the legal title for the Mayor of the City of London Corporation. The Lord Mayor of London is to be distinguished from the Mayor of London; the former is an officer only of the City of London, while the Mayor of London is the Mayor of Greater London and...
and Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
, purchased and donated some land at Kensington Gravel Pits (now Palace Gardens Terrace), and a temporary corrugated iron church had been built. Meanwhile, the main Unitarian bodies, the British and Foreign Unitarian Association
British and Foreign Unitarian Association
The British and Foreign Unitarian Association was the major Unitarian body in Britain from 1825. The BFUA was founded as an amalgamation of three older societies: the Unitarian Book Society for literature , The Unitarian Fund for mission work , and the Unitarian Association for civil rights...
and the Sunday School
Sunday school
Sunday school is the generic name for many different types of religious education pursued on Sundays by various denominations.-England:The first Sunday school may have been opened in 1751 in St. Mary's Church, Nottingham. Another early start was made by Hannah Ball, a native of High Wycombe in...
Association, needed better offices. Eventually it was decided that they would get the Essex Street building to redevelop, and the chapel would move to join the Kensington congregation, taking with it enough money to build a splendid new church in place of the iron one.
This duly opened in 1887, under the name of Essex Church, serving the area of Kensington. Gradually the building deteriorated: air pollution
Air pollution
Air pollution is the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or cause damage to the natural environment or built environment, into the atmosphere....
attacked the stone (the effect of decades of "pea-soupers"
Pea soup fog
Pea soup, or a pea souper, is a type of visible air pollution, a thick and often yellowish smog caused by the burning of soft coal. Smog, a portmanteau of hi"smoke" and "fog", can be lethal, and even the healthy may be inconvenienced by it.-London:...
, before the passage of the Clean Air Act 1956
Clean Air Act 1956
The Clean Air Act 1956 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed in response to London's Great Smog of 1952. It was in effect until 1964, and sponsored by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government in England and the Department of Health for Scotland.The Act introduced a number of...
), the steeple was removed as dangerous in 1960, the roof was shattered by blue ice
Blue ice (aircraft)
Blue ice in the context of aviation is the frozen material formed by leaks in commercial aircraft lavatory waste tanks, a biowaste mixture of human waste and liquid disinfectant that freezes at high altitude. The name comes from the blue color of the disinfectant...
from an aircraft in 1971, and by the 1970s the whole fabric had become run down. It was demolished and replaced with a modern church, with ancillary facilities. The first service was held in July 1977.
Essex Hall
In the mid-1880s, Essex Hall was razed and recreated by the architectural firm of Chatfeild-ClarkeEdgar Chatfeild-Clarke
Sir Edgar Chatfeild-Clarke was an English Liberal Party politician.-Family and education:Edgar Chatfeild-Clarke was the son of Thomas Chatfeild-Clarke, who was a Fellow of both the Royal Institute of British Architects and of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, and his wife Ellen from...
, designed for mixed use: offices and meeting rooms, but also a bookshop and reading rooms, and a great hall seating 600. It was ready a year earlier than the Kensington church, and its dedication service in 1886 featured all the great and the good of British Unitarianism.
The space was hired out for concerts and public meetings; for many years the Fabian Society
Fabian Society
The Fabian Society is a British socialist movement, whose purpose is to advance the principles of democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist, rather than revolutionary, means. It is best known for its initial ground-breaking work beginning late in the 19th century and continuing up to World...
met there, for example, and the Christadelphians
Christadelphians
Christadelphians is a Christian group that developed in the United Kingdom and North America in the 19th century...
held their AGM at Essex Hall. Public meetings could become heated: when the American Prohibitionist William "Pussyfoot" Johnson
William E. Johnson
William Eugene "Pussyfoot" Johnson was an American Prohibition advocate and law enforcement officer. In pursuit of his campaign to outlaw intoxicating beverages, he openly admitted to drinking liquor, bribery, and lying...
spoke at Essex Hall in 1919, he was abducted by medical students, and, off the premises, blinded by a missile. The house adjacent, number 1 Essex Street, had been donated to the trustees of the Essex Hall construction scheme, but the architects chose not to use it; during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
it was turned into "a modest hostel for soldiers and sailors, without distinction of sect or creed, passing through or making short stays in London". In 1925 some alterations were made to Essex Hall to enable the Lyndsey Press to begin well. From 1928 the main body of British Unitarianism was the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches
General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches
The General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches is the umbrella organisation for Unitarian, Free Christian and other liberal religious congregations in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1928, with denominational roots going back to the Great Ejection of 1662...
or GA, subsuming the previous organisations but continuing to operate from Essex Hall.
Much of Essex Street was demolished by enemy action during the Blitz
The Blitz
The Blitz was the sustained strategic bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, during the Second World War. The city of London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 76 consecutive nights and many towns and cities across the country followed...
in 1944. Once the bombed ruins had been removed after the war, the site served as a car park. Eventually planning permission and funding were obtained, which allowed for the construction of purpose-built offices. "What seemed at first to be a complete disaster was presently recognized as a denominational challenge, and was taken up with energy and determination," wrote the architect, Kenneth S. Tayler, A.R.I.B.A. Aside from the Unitarian headquarter functions, about half of the building's space was allocated from the outset to be leased to other organisations, thus paying the bills. From the night of the Doodlebug
Doodlebug
Doodlebug or doodle bug may refer to:Zoology:* Antlion* Woodlouse* Armadillidiidae, the pill bug family in the woodlouse suborderGround vehicles:* Doodlebug , a self-propelled railroad vehicle...
raid until the completion of construction in 1958 - fourteen years—the work that normally took place in Essex Hall was displaced to some spare rooms at Dr Williams's Library
Dr Williams's Library
Dr Williams's Library is a small research library located in Gordon Square in Bloomsbury, London.-History:It was founded using the estate of Dr Daniel Williams as a theological library, intended for the use of ministers of religion, students and others studying theology, religion and...
in Gordon Square
Gordon Square
Gordon Square is in Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden, London, England . It was developed by Thomas Cubitt in the 1820s, as one of a pair with Tavistock Square, which is a block away and has the same dimensions...
.
Current church
Essex Church is based at Notting Hill GateNotting Hill Gate
Notting Hill Gate is one of the main thoroughfares of Notting Hill, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically the street was a location for toll gates, from which it derives its modern name.- Location :...
in Kensington
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is a central London borough of Royal borough status. After the City of Westminster, it is the wealthiest borough in England....
, West London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, and runs a full programme of activities. It is led by Rev. Sarah Tinker, who gained her ministerial qualification at Unitarian College, Manchester, after a first career as a teacher.
List of ministers
- 1774, Theophilus LindseyTheophilus LindseyTheophilus Lindsey was an English theologian and clergyman who founded the first avowedly Unitarian congregation in the country, at Essex Street Chapel.-Life:...
- 1793, John DisneyJohn Disney (Unitarian)John Disney was an English Unitarian minister and biographical writer, initially an Anglican clergyman active against subscription to the Thirty Nine Articles.-Life:...
- 1805, Thomas BelshamThomas BelshamThomas Belsham was an English Unitarian minister- Life :Belsham was born in Bedford, England, and was the elder brother of William Belsham, the English political writer and historian. He was educated at the dissenting academy at Daventry, where for seven years he acted as assistant tutor...
- 1829, Thomas Madge
- 1859 to 1883, James Panton Ham
People associated
- Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of GraftonAugustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of GraftonAugustus Henry FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, KG, PC , styled Earl of Euston between 1747 and 1757, was a British Whig statesman of the Georgian era...
, politician, was an early member of the congregation. - George BrooksbankBrooksbank BaronetsThe Brooksbank Baronetcy, of Healaugh Manor in the County of York, is a title in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 15 September 1919 for Edward Brooksbank. He was a Justice of the Peace and a Deputy Lieutenant for the West Riding of Yorkshire...
(died 1792), descendant of Stamp Brooksbank, Governor of the Bank of EnglandGovernor of the Bank of EnglandThe Governor of the Bank of England is the most senior position in the Bank of England. It is nominally a civil service post, but the appointment tends to be from within the Bank, with the incumbent grooming his or her successor...
, donated funds - Samuel Shore (1738-1828), trustee of the chapel. Also vice-president of the Society for Constitutional InformationSociety for Constitutional InformationFounded in 1780 by Major John Cartwright to promote parliamentary reform, the Society for Constitutional Information flourished until 1783, but thereafter made little headway...
. - William SturchWilliam Sturch-Nonconformist background:His great-grandfather, William Sturch , was a general Baptist minister in London. His grandfather, John Sturch, General Baptist minister at Crediton, Devon, published A Compendium of Truths, Exeter, 1731, and a sermon on persecution, 1736...
, theological writer, was one of the original congregation. - The young William WilberforceWilliam WilberforceWilliam Wilberforce was a British politician, a philanthropist and a leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becoming the independent Member of Parliament for Yorkshire...
. - William FrendWilliam Frend (social reformer)William Frend was an English clergyman , social reformer and writer. After a high-profile university trial in Cambridge deprived of his residency rights as fellow of his college, he became a leading figure in London radical circles.-Early life:Son of a Canterbury trader, he was born on 22 November...
, who made contact there with Theophilus Lindsey and Joseph Priestley. - George HarrisGeorge Harris (Unitarian)George Harris was an English Unitarian minister, controversialist and editor.-Life:Born at Maidstone in Kent on 15 May 1794, he was son of Abraham Harris, Unitarian minister at Swansea for 40 years. George was at the age of fourteen placed in a Manchester warehouse in Cheapside, London, but,...
, (1794–1859), minister, controversialist and editor. - William SmithWilliam Smith (abolitionist)William Smith was a leading independent British politician, sitting as Member of Parliament for more than one constituency. He was an English Dissenter and was instrumental in bringing political rights to that religious minority...
, M.P., abolitionist, and grandfather of Florence NightingaleFlorence NightingaleFlorence Nightingale OM, RRC was a celebrated English nurse, writer and statistician. She came to prominence for her pioneering work in nursing during the Crimean War, where she tended to wounded soldiers. She was dubbed "The Lady with the Lamp" after her habit of making rounds at night...
. It was largely through his efforts that the Doctrine of the Trinity Act 1813Doctrine of the Trinity Act 1813The Doctrine of the Trinity Act 1813 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
was passed, making it legal to practice Unitarianism. - Henry Crabb RobinsonHenry Crabb RobinsonHenry Crabb Robinson , diarist, was born in Bury St. Edmunds, England.He was articled to an attorney in Colchester. Between 1800 and 1805 he studied at various places in Germany, and became acquainted with nearly all the great men of letters there, including Goethe, Schiller, Johann Gottfried...
, whose prolific diaries were bequeathed to Dr Williams's LibraryDr Williams's LibraryDr Williams's Library is a small research library located in Gordon Square in Bloomsbury, London.-History:It was founded using the estate of Dr Daniel Williams as a theological library, intended for the use of ministers of religion, students and others studying theology, religion and...
, the theological collection for Dissenters. - Mary HaysMary HaysMary Hays was an English novelist and feminist.- Early years :Mary Hays was born in Southwark, London on Oct. 13, 1759. Almost nothing is known of her first 17 years. In 1779 she fell in love with John Eccles who lived on Gainsford Street, where she also lived. Their parents opposed the match but...
, author and friend of Mary WollstonecraftMary WollstonecraftMary Wollstonecraft was an eighteenth-century British writer, philosopher, and advocate of women's rights. During her brief career, she wrote novels, treatises, a travel narrative, a history of the French Revolution, a conduct book, and a children's book... - Frederick NettlefoldFrederick NettlefoldFrederick Nettlefold 6 April 1833-1 March 1913 was a British industrialist, one of the Nettlefolds in Guest, Keen and Nettlefolds. He was a leader in the Unitarian Church, ending up as lay president of the international organisation....
, served as president of the British and Foreign Unitarian Association and the Sunday School Association. He was connected by marriage to the chief architect of the 1886 Essex Hall, and made substantial donations. - Nathaniel Bishop Harman, MA, MB, FRCS, ophthalmologist, author of Science and Religion, father of writer Elizabeth Pakenham, Countess of Longford and of John B. HarmanJohn B. HarmanJohn Bishop Harman, FRCS, FRCP was a British physician, president of the Medical Defence Union and chairman of the British National Formulary. He was also notable as a medical expert witness for the defence in the trial of suspected serial killer John Bodkin Adams...
. The largest donation towards the construction of the 1958 Hall came from his widow, Dr. Katherine (née Chamberlain). Their descendants include politician Harriet HarmanHarriet HarmanHarriet Ruth Harman QC is a British Labour Party politician, who is the Member of Parliament for Camberwell and Peckham, and was MP for the predecessorPeckham constituency from 1982 to 1997...
, and the writers Lady Antonia Fraser, Lady Rachel BillingtonLady Rachel BillingtonLady Rachel Billington is a British author, the daughter of the Earl and Countess of Longford, who were both eminent writers. She is the sister of Lady Antonia Fraser and Thomas Pakenham, also writers. Her husband is the film director Kevin Billington.She has published 19 adult novels and 7...
, and Thomas Pakenham. - Rupert Potter, son of industrialist and social reformer Edmund PotterEdmund PotterEdmund Potter senior , was a Manchester industrialist and MP and grandfather to Beatrix Potter.He was a unitarian and, from 1861 to 1874, Liberal MP for Carlisle. Potter moved his business to Glossop in 1825, he rebuilt Joseph Lyne's Boggart Mill, and converted it to a printworks. He moved his...
, and father of author and conservationist Beatrix PotterBeatrix PotterHelen Beatrix Potter was an English author, illustrator, natural scientist and conservationist best known for her imaginative children’s books featuring animals such as those in The Tale of Peter Rabbit which celebrated the British landscape and country life.Born into a privileged Unitarian...
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