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Rowland Hill (preacher)
Encyclopedia
Rowland Hill A.M. was a popular English preacher, enthusiastic evangelical and an influential advocate of small-pox vaccination. He was founder and resident pastor of a wholly independent chapel, the Surrey Chapel
, London
; chairman of the Religious Tract Society
; and a keen supporter of the British and Foreign Bible Society
and the London Missionary Society
. The famous instigator of penny postage, Rowland Hill, is said to have been christened 'Rowland' after him.
(11 miles from Shrewsbury
), Shropshire
, August 23, 1744, the sixth son of Sir Rowland Hill (died 1783), he was educated at Shrewsbury, Eton College
and at St John's College, Cambridge
(B.A., 1769), where he came under the influence of the Methodists. For preaching in the open air in and around Cambridge
without a license, Rowland Hill was opposed by the authorities and frequently assaulted by mobs. Finally, in 1773, after he had been refused ordination
into the Church of England
by six bishops, he was ordained by the bishop of Bath and Wells
and offered the curacy
of Kingston in Somerset
, but was subsequently denied priest
's orders and continued his vocation as an independent or nonconformist.
, in Blackfriars Road
, London, which opened in 1783. The chapel's trust deed ensured it would not subscribe formally to the theological standpoint of any particular denomination. Despite Rowland Hill's own Calvinistic Methodist leanings, and a funding contribution towards his chapel from Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon
, the chapel was not a formal part of the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion
. Instead, it operated a relatively open door policy, attracting preachers from a wide range of denominations whilst also providing substantial facilities for non-religious meetings, and was operated a Congregational form of management. Nonetheless, Rowland Hill provided the 'anchor' and personally preached to immense audiences when he was in London. During the summer months he would visit other parts of the country, preaching in Scotland and Ireland as well as England and Wales, frequently attracting large crowds.
Many benevolent institutions were established at the chapel or in the nearby district, including early Sunday schools. Enrollment in the latter steadily increased under Rowland Hill's successors, James Sherman
and Christopher Newman Hall
, reaching over 3,000 children by the 1860s. Rowland Hill was also one of the founders, and chairman, of the Religious Tract Society
; and an active promoter of the interests of the British and Foreign Bible Society
and the London Missionary Society
.
, the pioneer of small-pox vaccination
, and prosecuted his own plans to inoculate the congregations he visited or preached to. He published a tract on the subject in 1806 at a time when many medical men refused to sanction it. Later he became a member of the Royal Jennererian Society, which was established once the practice became accepted in Britain, India, the USA and elsewhere. Dr John Coakley Lettsom
, an eminent Quaker
physician of the day wrote to Rowland Hill commenting:
Rowland Hill died in London on 11 April 1833 and was initially buried below his pulpit at the Surrey Chapel. He was succeeded at Surrey Chapel
by James Sherman
, whose tenure later passed to Christopher Newman Hall
. Under Newman Hall
, Rowland Hill's coffin was removed from Surrey Chapel and laid to rest at the Lincoln Memorial Tower
, Westminster Bridge Road - part of a complex of Congregational buildings that included a new premises for the meeting hall named Hawkstone Hall which had been founded by James Sherman
in memory of Rowland Hill and his birthplace.
Rowland Hill's pulpit was also removed from Surrey Chapel
when the congregation moved to Christ Church
, and in later years a bronze plaque was affixed by Frederick Brotherton Meyer
commemorating Rowland Hill and his sucecssor, James Sherman
. Christ Church was bombed during the Second World War, and the memorial plaque salvaged, to be re-erected in 1959 in the replacement building for Christ Church
which stands today.
A portrait of Rowland Hill (Reference NPG 5397) by Samuel Mountjoy Smith in 1828 hangs in the National Portrait Gallery, London.
Hill, Rowland (1801; 34th edn 1839). Village Dialogues. London
Surrey Chapel
The Surrey Chapel was an independent Methodist and Congregational church established in Blackfriars Road, Southwark, London on 8 June 1783 by the Rev. Rowland Hill. His work was continued in 1833 by the Congregational pastor Rev. James Sherman, and in 1854 by Rev. Newman Hall. The chapel's design...
, 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...
; chairman of the Religious Tract Society
Religious Tract Society
The Religious Tract Society, founded 1799, 56 Paternoster Row and 65 St. Paul's Chuchyard, was the original name of a major British publisher of Christian literature intended initially for evangelism, and including literature aimed at children, women, and the poor.The RTS is also notable for being...
; and a keen supporter of the British and Foreign Bible Society
British and Foreign Bible Society
The British and Foreign Bible Society, often known in England and Wales as simply as Bible Society, is a non-denominational Christian Bible society with charity status whose purpose is to make the Bible available throughout the world....
and the London Missionary Society
London Missionary Society
The London Missionary Society was a non-denominational missionary society formed in England in 1795 by evangelical Anglicans and Nonconformists, largely Congregationalist in outlook, with missions in the islands of the South Pacific and Africa...
. The famous instigator of penny postage, Rowland Hill, is said to have been christened 'Rowland' after him.
Early life
Rowland Hill was born at Hawkstone ParkHawkstone Park
Hawkstone Park is an historic landscape park with pleasure grounds and gardens formerly belonging to Hawkstone Hall, near to Market Drayton, in Shropshire, England, UK, one mile east of the A49 road....
(11 miles from Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire, in the West Midlands region of England. Lying on the River Severn, it is a civil parish home to some 70,000 inhabitants, and is the primary settlement and headquarters of Shropshire Council...
), Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
, August 23, 1744, the sixth son of Sir Rowland Hill (died 1783), he was educated at Shrewsbury, Eton College
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
and at St John's College, Cambridge
St John's College, Cambridge
St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's alumni include nine Nobel Prize winners, six Prime Ministers, three archbishops, at least two princes, and three Saints....
(B.A., 1769), where he came under the influence of the Methodists. For preaching in the open air in and around Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
without a license, Rowland Hill was opposed by the authorities and frequently assaulted by mobs. Finally, in 1773, after he had been refused 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...
into 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...
by six bishops, he was ordained by the bishop of Bath and Wells
Bishop of Bath and Wells
The Bishop of Bath and Wells heads the Church of England Diocese of Bath and Wells in the Province of Canterbury in England.The present diocese covers the vast majority of the county of Somerset and a small area of Dorset. The Episcopal seat is located in the Cathedral Church of Saint Andrew in...
and offered the curacy
Curate
A curate is a person who is invested with the care or cure of souls of a parish. In this sense "curate" correctly means a parish priest but in English-speaking countries a curate is an assistant to the parish priest...
of Kingston in Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, but was subsequently denied priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
's orders and continued his vocation as an independent or nonconformist.
Surrey Chapel
Having come into an inheritance through the death of his wealthy father, Sir Rowland Hill, he built his own free chapel, Surrey ChapelSurrey Chapel
The Surrey Chapel was an independent Methodist and Congregational church established in Blackfriars Road, Southwark, London on 8 June 1783 by the Rev. Rowland Hill. His work was continued in 1833 by the Congregational pastor Rev. James Sherman, and in 1854 by Rev. Newman Hall. The chapel's design...
, in Blackfriars Road
Blackfriars Road
Blackfriars Road is a road in Southwark, SE1. It runs between St George's Circus at the southern end and Blackfriars Bridge over the River Thames at the northern end, leading to the City of London. Halfway up on the west side is Southwark tube station, on the corner with The Cut...
, London, which opened in 1783. The chapel's trust deed ensured it would not subscribe formally to the theological standpoint of any particular denomination. Despite Rowland Hill's own Calvinistic Methodist leanings, and a funding contribution towards his chapel from Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon
Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon
Selina, Countess of Huntingdon was an English religious leader who played a prominent part in the religious revival of the 18th century and the Methodist movement in England and Wales, and has left a Christian denomination in England and Sierra Leone.-Early life:Selina Hastings was born as Lady...
, the chapel was not a formal part of the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion
Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion
The Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion is a small society of evangelical churches, founded in 1783 by Selina, Countess of Huntingdon as a result of the Evangelical Revival. For years it was strongly associated with the Calvinist Methodist movement of George Whitefield...
. Instead, it operated a relatively open door policy, attracting preachers from a wide range of denominations whilst also providing substantial facilities for non-religious meetings, and was operated a Congregational form of management. Nonetheless, Rowland Hill provided the 'anchor' and personally preached to immense audiences when he was in London. During the summer months he would visit other parts of the country, preaching in Scotland and Ireland as well as England and Wales, frequently attracting large crowds.
Many benevolent institutions were established at the chapel or in the nearby district, including early Sunday schools. Enrollment in the latter steadily increased under Rowland Hill's successors, James Sherman
James Sherman (minister)
The Rev. James Sherman , was a Congregationalist and abolitionist; a popular preacher at The Castle Street Chapel in Reading from 1821 to 1836 and the Surrey Chapel, Blackfriars, London from 1836-54. He was successor at the Surrey Chapel to Rowland Hill...
and Christopher Newman Hall
Christopher Newman Hall
Rev. Dr. Christopher Newman Hall LLB , born at Maidstone and known in later life as a 'Dissenter's Bishop', was one of the most celebrated nineteenth century English Nonconformist divines...
, reaching over 3,000 children by the 1860s. Rowland Hill was also one of the founders, and chairman, of the Religious Tract Society
Religious Tract Society
The Religious Tract Society, founded 1799, 56 Paternoster Row and 65 St. Paul's Chuchyard, was the original name of a major British publisher of Christian literature intended initially for evangelism, and including literature aimed at children, women, and the poor.The RTS is also notable for being...
; and an active promoter of the interests of the British and Foreign Bible Society
British and Foreign Bible Society
The British and Foreign Bible Society, often known in England and Wales as simply as Bible Society, is a non-denominational Christian Bible society with charity status whose purpose is to make the Bible available throughout the world....
and the London Missionary Society
London Missionary Society
The London Missionary Society was a non-denominational missionary society formed in England in 1795 by evangelical Anglicans and Nonconformists, largely Congregationalist in outlook, with missions in the islands of the South Pacific and Africa...
.
Smallpox Vaccination
Rowland Hill was on close terms with Dr Edward JennerEdward Jenner
Edward Anthony Jenner was an English scientist who studied his natural surroundings in Berkeley, Gloucestershire...
, the pioneer of small-pox vaccination
Vaccination
Vaccination is the administration of antigenic material to stimulate the immune system of an individual to develop adaptive immunity to a disease. Vaccines can prevent or ameliorate the effects of infection by many pathogens...
, and prosecuted his own plans to inoculate the congregations he visited or preached to. He published a tract on the subject in 1806 at a time when many medical men refused to sanction it. Later he became a member of the Royal Jennererian Society, which was established once the practice became accepted in Britain, India, the USA and elsewhere. Dr John Coakley Lettsom
John C. Lettsome
Dr. John Coakley Lettsome was an English physician and philanthropist born on Little Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands. He was born into one of the early Quaker settlements in the territory, and grew up to be an abolitionist...
, an eminent Quaker
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...
physician of the day wrote to Rowland Hill commenting:
Death and legacy
Surrey Chapel
The Surrey Chapel was an independent Methodist and Congregational church established in Blackfriars Road, Southwark, London on 8 June 1783 by the Rev. Rowland Hill. His work was continued in 1833 by the Congregational pastor Rev. James Sherman, and in 1854 by Rev. Newman Hall. The chapel's design...
by James Sherman
James Sherman (minister)
The Rev. James Sherman , was a Congregationalist and abolitionist; a popular preacher at The Castle Street Chapel in Reading from 1821 to 1836 and the Surrey Chapel, Blackfriars, London from 1836-54. He was successor at the Surrey Chapel to Rowland Hill...
, whose tenure later passed to Christopher Newman Hall
Christopher Newman Hall
Rev. Dr. Christopher Newman Hall LLB , born at Maidstone and known in later life as a 'Dissenter's Bishop', was one of the most celebrated nineteenth century English Nonconformist divines...
. Under Newman Hall
Christopher Newman Hall
Rev. Dr. Christopher Newman Hall LLB , born at Maidstone and known in later life as a 'Dissenter's Bishop', was one of the most celebrated nineteenth century English Nonconformist divines...
, Rowland Hill's coffin was removed from Surrey Chapel and laid to rest at the Lincoln Memorial Tower
Lincoln Memorial Tower
The Lincoln Memorial Tower or Lincoln Tower is a Gothic revival tower in London, housing small meeting rooms, that was opened in 1876 in memory of Abraham Lincoln, and paid for partly by Americans. Once part of a complex of nineteenth century philanthropic institutions sited alongside a...
, Westminster Bridge Road - part of a complex of Congregational buildings that included a new premises for the meeting hall named Hawkstone Hall which had been founded by James Sherman
James Sherman (minister)
The Rev. James Sherman , was a Congregationalist and abolitionist; a popular preacher at The Castle Street Chapel in Reading from 1821 to 1836 and the Surrey Chapel, Blackfriars, London from 1836-54. He was successor at the Surrey Chapel to Rowland Hill...
in memory of Rowland Hill and his birthplace.
Rowland Hill's pulpit was also removed from Surrey Chapel
Surrey Chapel
The Surrey Chapel was an independent Methodist and Congregational church established in Blackfriars Road, Southwark, London on 8 June 1783 by the Rev. Rowland Hill. His work was continued in 1833 by the Congregational pastor Rev. James Sherman, and in 1854 by Rev. Newman Hall. The chapel's design...
when the congregation moved to Christ Church
Christ Church, Lambeth
Christ Church, Lambeth, was founded by the Rev Dr Christopher Newman Hall in the 1870s as a Congregational chapel forming part of a complex of new mission buildings, including the Lincoln Tower and a new premises for Hawkstone Hall...
, and in later years a bronze plaque was affixed by Frederick Brotherton Meyer
Frederick Brotherton Meyer
Frederick Brotherton Meyer , a contemporary and friend of D. L. Moody and A. C. Dixon, was a Baptist pastor and evangelist in England involved in ministry and inner city mission work on both sides of the Atlantic...
commemorating Rowland Hill and his sucecssor, James Sherman
James Sherman (minister)
The Rev. James Sherman , was a Congregationalist and abolitionist; a popular preacher at The Castle Street Chapel in Reading from 1821 to 1836 and the Surrey Chapel, Blackfriars, London from 1836-54. He was successor at the Surrey Chapel to Rowland Hill...
. Christ Church was bombed during the Second World War, and the memorial plaque salvaged, to be re-erected in 1959 in the replacement building for Christ Church
Christ Church, Lambeth
Christ Church, Lambeth, was founded by the Rev Dr Christopher Newman Hall in the 1870s as a Congregational chapel forming part of a complex of new mission buildings, including the Lincoln Tower and a new premises for Hawkstone Hall...
which stands today.
A portrait of Rowland Hill (Reference NPG 5397) by Samuel Mountjoy Smith in 1828 hangs in the National Portrait Gallery, London.
Published works
Hill, Rowland (1800). Extract from a Journal of a second Tour from London: The Highlands of Scotland and North-western parts of England'. London: A ParisHill, Rowland (1801; 34th edn 1839). Village Dialogues. London
Further reading
- Broome, E. (1883), Rowland Hill: Preacher and Wit, London.
- Charlesworth, V.J. (1879), Rowland Hill: His Life, Anecdotes and Pulpit Sayings, London.
- Hall, Christopher Newman (1868), Sermons and A History of Surrey Chapel and Its Institutions. New York: Sheldon.
- Jones, W. (1840), Memoir of Rowland Hill, ed. ShermanJames Sherman (minister)The Rev. James Sherman , was a Congregationalist and abolitionist; a popular preacher at The Castle Street Chapel in Reading from 1821 to 1836 and the Surrey Chapel, Blackfriars, London from 1836-54. He was successor at the Surrey Chapel to Rowland Hill...
, London. - Sidney, Edwin (1848;reprinted 2007), Life of Rev. Rowland Hill A.M., London (reprint - USA:Kessinger)
- Sherman, JamesJames Sherman (minister)The Rev. James Sherman , was a Congregationalist and abolitionist; a popular preacher at The Castle Street Chapel in Reading from 1821 to 1836 and the Surrey Chapel, Blackfriars, London from 1836-54. He was successor at the Surrey Chapel to Rowland Hill...
, (1857), Memorial of Rowland Hill, London.