Richard Fairclough (divine)
Encyclopedia
Richard Fairclough was a nonconformist divine.
(1594–1677). He graduated M.A. as a member of Emmanuel College, Cambridge
, of which house he was a fellow. When Benjamin Whichcot was presented in 1643 to the college living of North Cadbury
, Somersetshire, he engaged Fairclough to bear him company thither. They had scarcely arrived when Whichcot received a hasty recall to Cambridge, and Fairclough at his request stayed in his place. Soon afterwards the high sheriff of the county applied to Fairclough to deliver the assize sermon on an emergency. He succeeded so well that the sheriff presented him to the rectory of Mells, near Frome, where he was greatly esteemed. When the Act of Uniformity
passed he was ejected. After he left Finchingfield
, Essex, where he had resided during four or five years with his father and brothers, he became pastor of a congregation at Newman Street, London, whence he removed to Bristol
. He was licensed in 1672 to be a general presbyterian teacher, being then resident in Thames Street, London.
He died in London 4 July 1682, in his sixty-first year, and was buried in Bunhill Fields
, where a monument was erected to his memory, as a ‘testimony of gratitude for many obligations,’ by Thomas Percival of the Middle Temple
. According to John Howe, who preached his funeral sermon, Fairclough was ‘a man of a clear, distinct understanding, of a very quick, discerning, and penetrating judgment, that would on a sudden … strike through knotty difficulties into the inward center of truth with such a felicity that things seem'd to offer themselves to him which are wont to cost others a troublesome search.’
He was author of The nature, possibility, and duty of a true believer attaining to a certain knowledge of his effectual vocation, eternal election, and final perseverance to glory, a sermon (on 2 Pet. i. 10) printed in Nathaniel Vincent
's The Morning-Exercise against Popery, 1675, and in vol. vi. of Samuel Annesley
's The Morning Exercises, 1844, &c. Edmund Calamy
also mentions 'An Abridgment of some of his latter Sermons to his beloved people at Mells'.
Life
Fairclough was the eldest son of Samuel FaircloughSamuel Fairclough
Samuel Fairclough was an English nonconformist divine.-Early life:Fairclough was born 29 April 1594 at Haverhill, Suffolk, the youngest of the four sons of Lawrence Fairclough, vicar of Haverhill, by his wife Mary, daughter of John Cole of that town. After some preliminary training under a Mr...
(1594–1677). He graduated M.A. as a member of Emmanuel College, Cambridge
Emmanuel College, Cambridge
Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge.The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay on the site of a Dominican friary...
, of which house he was a fellow. When Benjamin Whichcot was presented in 1643 to the college living of North Cadbury
North Cadbury
North Cadbury is a village west of Wincanton in the River Cam in the South Somerset district of Somerset, England. It shares its parish with nearby Yarlington and includes the village of Galhampton, which got its name from the settlement of the rent-paying peasants, and the hamlet of...
, Somersetshire, he engaged Fairclough to bear him company thither. They had scarcely arrived when Whichcot received a hasty recall to Cambridge, and Fairclough at his request stayed in his place. Soon afterwards the high sheriff of the county applied to Fairclough to deliver the assize sermon on an emergency. He succeeded so well that the sheriff presented him to the rectory of Mells, near Frome, where he was greatly esteemed. When the Act of Uniformity
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...
passed he was ejected. After he left Finchingfield
Finchingfield
Finchingfield is a village situated in the Braintree district of Essex. It is in the north-west of the county, which is a primarily rural area...
, Essex, where he had resided during four or five years with his father and brothers, he became pastor of a congregation at Newman Street, London, whence he removed to Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
. He was licensed in 1672 to be a general presbyterian teacher, being then resident in Thames Street, London.
He died in London 4 July 1682, in his sixty-first year, and was buried in Bunhill Fields
Bunhill Fields
Bunhill Fields is a cemetery in the London Borough of Islington, north of the City of London, and managed by the City of London Corporation. It is about 4 hectares in extent, although historically was much larger....
, where a monument was erected to his memory, as a ‘testimony of gratitude for many obligations,’ by Thomas Percival of the Middle Temple
Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers; the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn...
. According to John Howe, who preached his funeral sermon, Fairclough was ‘a man of a clear, distinct understanding, of a very quick, discerning, and penetrating judgment, that would on a sudden … strike through knotty difficulties into the inward center of truth with such a felicity that things seem'd to offer themselves to him which are wont to cost others a troublesome search.’
He was author of The nature, possibility, and duty of a true believer attaining to a certain knowledge of his effectual vocation, eternal election, and final perseverance to glory, a sermon (on 2 Pet. i. 10) printed in Nathaniel Vincent
Nathaniel Vincent
Nathaniel Vincent was English a nonconformist minister, ejected in 1662 and several times imprisoned.-Life:He was probably born in Cornwall about 1639, son of John Vincent , who was nominated by the committee of the Westminster Assembly to the rectory of Sedgefield, Durham...
's The Morning-Exercise against Popery, 1675, and in vol. vi. of Samuel Annesley
Samuel Annesley
Samuel Annesley was a prominent Puritan and nonconformist pastor, best known for the sermons he collected as the series of Morning Exercises.-Life:...
's The Morning Exercises, 1844, &c. Edmund Calamy
Edmund Calamy (historian)
Edmund Calamy was an English Nonconformist churchman, divine and historian.-Life:A grandson of Edmund Calamy the Elder, he was born in the City of London, in the parish of St Mary Aldermanbury. He was sent to various schools, including Merchant Taylors', and in 1688 proceeded to the university of...
also mentions 'An Abridgment of some of his latter Sermons to his beloved people at Mells'.