Samuel Eyles Pierce - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Rev. Samuel Eyles Pierce (Upottery, Devon

Devon

Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

shire, England, 23 June 1746 - Clapham

Clapham

Clapham is a district in south London, England, within the London Borough of Lambeth.Clapham covers the postcodes of SW4 and parts of SW9, SW8 and SW12. Clapham Common is shared with the London Borough of Wandsworth, although Lambeth has responsibility for running the common as a whole. According...

, Surrey

Surrey

Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...

, England 10 May 1829) was an English

English people

The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

preacher, theologian

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...

, and Calvinist divine. A Dissenter

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....

from the Honiton

Honiton

Honiton is a town and civil parish in East Devon, situated close to the River Otter, north east of Exeter in the county of Devon. The town's name is pronounced in two ways, and , each pronunciation having its adherents...

area, Pierce was an evangelical church

Evangelical Church

The term Evangelical Church may refer specifically to:* Slovak Evangelical Church* Armenian Evangelical Church* Assyrian Evangelical Church* Christian Evangelical Church of Romania* Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus...

minister aligned with Calvinist Baptist

Reformed Baptist

Reformed Baptists are Baptists that hold to a Calvinist soteriology. They can trace their history through the early modern Particular Baptists of England. The first Reformed Baptist church was formed in the 1630s...

theology. He wrote more than fifty books and many sermons.

Early years

Pierce was born on June 23, 1746 at the Vicarage House, at Upottery Rectory, near Honiton

Honiton

, Devon

Devon

, the son of Adam Pierce (1717–1785), cabinet-maker, and Susannah (c.1710–1770), daughter of Joseph Chilcott, vicar of Upottery. A shy boy, he was brought up in a Christian household and was educated by his maternal grandfather, master of the grammar school in Honiton. He was apprenticed to a trade he was discontented with and soon developed a sense of doom over numerous natural disasters during this period such as the Lisbon earthquake, the Sherborne comet of 1768, local fires and a lightning strike on Moorfields Tabernacle

Whitefield's Tabernacle, Moorfields

Whitefield's Tabernacle, Moorfields is a church at the corner of Tabernacle Street and Leonard Street, London, England, originally a wooden building built by followers of George Whitefield in 1741, replaced by a brick building in 1753, and again rebuilt over a century later...

which killed a worshipper.

Career

He was inspired to become a preacher after reading Anthony Horneck

Anthony Horneck

Anthony Horneck was a German Protestant clergyman and scholar who made his career in England. He became an influential evangelical figure in London from the later 1670s, in partnership with Richard Smithies, curate of St Giles Cripplegate....

's The Crucified Jesus, and soon began reading St Augustine

Augustine of Hippo

Augustine of Hippo , also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Austin, St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed, was Bishop of Hippo Regius . He was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province...

, Philip Doddridge

Philip Doddridge

Philip Doddridge DD was an English Nonconformist leader, educator, and hymnwriter.-Early life:...

's The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul, sermons by James Hervey

James Hervey

James Hervey was an English clergyman and writer.-Life:He was born at Hardingstone, near Northampton, and was educated at the grammar school of Northampton, and at Lincoln College, Oxford. Here he came under the influence of John Wesley and the Oxford Methodists, especially since he was a member...

and George Whitfield. He gained experience in London February 1772 and August 1775, influenced by William Romaine

William Romaine

William Romaine , evangelical divine of the Church of England, was author of works once held in much favour by the evangelicals, namely the trilogy The Life, the Walk, and the Triumph of Faith....

. He was particular opposed to the Methodist

Methodism

Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...

teachings of John Wesley

John Wesley

John Wesley was a Church of England cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield...

and encountered hostility from the Methodists throughout his career. In 1775, he was admitted to 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...

's Coleg Trefeca, but again discontent, he was sent by Lady Huntingdon to serve the church in Gainsborough

Gainsborough, Lincolnshire

Gainsborough is a town 15 miles north-west of Lincoln on the River Trent within the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. At one time it served as an important port with trade downstream to Hull, and was the most inland in England, being more than 55 miles from the North...

where he was ousted within a short period after the congregation accused him of antinomianism

Antinomianism

Antinomianism is defined as holding that, under the gospel dispensation of grace, moral law is of no use or obligation because faith alone is necessary to salvation....

and soon transferred to Lincoln

Lincoln, Lincolnshire

Lincoln is a cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England.The non-metropolitan district of Lincoln has a population of 85,595; the 2001 census gave the entire area of Lincoln a population of 120,779....

. He returned several times to Trefeca between 1776 and 1780 for Lady Huntington and gained some experience in Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...

, 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...

, Sussex

Sussex

Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...

, Kent

Kent

Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

, and Cornwall

Cornwall

Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...

.

After his itinerant ministry for the countess of Huntingdon was over, he became successful as an independent preacher in Truro

Truro

Truro is a city and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The city is the centre for administration, leisure and retail in Cornwall, with a population recorded in the 2001 census of 17,431. Truro urban statistical area, which includes parts of surrounding parishes, has a 2001 census...

in August 1783, responsible for a dramatic growth of the church from 36 to 90 people within a short period. There, Pierce met his future wife, Mary Randall (c.1729–1807/8), in the congregation and was married on 28 October 1784. However, although the early period at the church was a great success, he was later accused of antinomianism, including by his wife who withdrew her financial support of his ministry. As a result, he then worked as an itinerant preacher from 1796 across the West Country

West Country

The West Country is an informal term for the area of south western England roughly corresponding to the modern South West England government region. It is often defined to encompass the historic counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset and the City of Bristol, while the counties of...

, travelling by invitation from church to church. He preached at Ebenezer Meeting in Truro

Truro

, Cornwall, and several other locations. In his absence from preaching in London, his sermons were read out loud by his congregants as his regular listeners were said to be unable to 'endure any other preacher'. Eventually, he was led back to the London area where he became well known for his Calvinist beliefs. In 1805, a new chapel was erected for him at Printer's Court, Shoe Lane and accommodated by Thomas Bailey, Esq. of Stockwell

Stockwell

Stockwell is a district in inner south west London, England, located in the London Borough of Lambeth.It is situated south south-east of Charing Cross. Brixton, Clapham, Vauxhall and Kennington all border Stockwell...

, who later funded another church in Brixton

Brixton

Brixton is a district in the London Borough of Lambeth in south London, England. It is south south-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....

where Pierce also preached on alternate Sunday evenings except on communion Sundays.

Personal life

On 5 November 1819, at the age of 73, he married Elizabeth Turquand (b. 1783/4), the daughter of a Sugar-baker

Sugar-baker

A sugar-baker was the owner of a sugar house, a factory for the refining of raw sugar from the Barbados. Sugar refining would normally be combined with sugar trading, which was a lucrative business. Downes gives an example of one sugar baker's house in Liverpool being estimated to bring in £40,000...

of Whitechapel

Whitechapel

Whitechapel is a built-up inner city district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, London, England. It is located east of Charing Cross and roughly bounded by the Bishopsgate thoroughfare on the west, Fashion Street on the north, Brady Street and Cavell Street on the east and The Highway on the...

. When remonstrated by deacon

Deacon

Deacon is a ministry in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...

s over the age difference, he replied, "If a ripe cherry fell into your mouth, wouldn't you eat it?"

He died at Acre Lane, Clapham, England on May 10, 1829.

Partial works

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