William Field was an English Unitarian

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....

 minister.

Early life

Field was born at Stoke Newington

Stoke Newington

Stoke Newington is a district in the London Borough of Hackney. It is north-east of Charing Cross.-Boundaries:In modern terms, Stoke Newington can be roughly defined by the N16 postcode area . Its southern boundary with Dalston is quite ill-defined too...

 on 6 January 1768. John Field, his father, a London medical practitioner, and founder of the London Annuity Society, was a man of property, who married Anne, daughter of Thomas Cromwell, and sister of Oliver Cromwell. Field got a good classical training; while at school he corresponded with his father in Latin. He studied for the ministry first at Homerton

Homerton

Homerton is a place in the London Borough of Hackney. It is bordered to the west by Hackney Central, to the north by Lower Clapton, in the east by Hackney Wick, Leyton and by South Hackney to the south.-Origins:...

, but left that institution for doctrinal reasons soon after the appointment of John Fell

John Fell (tutor)

John Fell was an English congregationalist minister and classical tutor.-Life:...

. In 1788 he entered Daventry Academy

Daventry Academy

Daventry Academy was a dissenting academy, that is, a school or college set up by English Dissenters. It moved to many locations, but was most associated with Daventry, where its most famous pupil was Joseph Priestley...

 under Thomas Belsham

Thomas Belsham

Thomas 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...

, and left when Belsham resigned (June 1789).

Religious Career

Field succeeded James Kettle in 1789 as minister of the presbyterian congregation at Warwick, Warwickshire, where he was ordained on 12 July 1790. On this occasion Belsham gave the charge, 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...

 preached. Dr. Samuel Parr

Samuel Parr

Samuel Parr , was an English schoolmaster, writer, minister and Doctor of Law. He was known in his time for political writing, and as "the Whig Johnson", though his reputation has lasted less well that Samuel Johnson's, and the resemblances were at a superficial level, Parr being no prose stylist,...

, who then first met Priestley, attended the service and the ordination dinner. Thus began Field's close intimacy with Parr, a connection fostered by their common devotion to classical studies. Field at once (1791) started a Sunday school (the first in Warwick). This led him into a squabble with some local clergy. Field, who was always ready for a pamphlet

Pamphlet

A pamphlet is an unbound booklet . It may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths , or it may consist of a few pages that are folded in half and saddle stapled at the crease to make a simple book...

 war, issued the first of many productions of his incisive pen, in which the dignity of style, and the profusion of literary and classical illustration, contrast curiously with the pettiness of the disputes. His meeting-house, rebuilt 1780, was fitted with a sloping floor, to improve its quality as an auditorium

Auditorium

An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances at venues such as theatres. For movie theaters, the number of auditoriums is expressed as the number of screens.- Etymology :...

; Field excited some comment by surmounting the front of the building with a stone cross. About 1830 he undertook the charge of an old Presbyterian meeting-house at Kenilworth

Kenilworth

Kenilworth is a town in central Warwickshire, England. In 2001 the town had a population of 22,582 . It is situated south of Coventry, north of Warwick and northwest of London....

, conducting afternoon service in addition to his Warwick duties. This meeting-house was rebuilt (1846) by his son Edwin Wilkins Field

Edwin Wilkins Field

Edwin Wilkins Field was an English lawyer and painter who committed much of his life to law reform.-Life:Edwin was the eldest son of William Field and was born at Leam, near Warwick. He was educated at his father's school, and on 19 March 1821 was articled to the firm of Taylor & Roscoe,...

. Field remained in active duty for nearly sixty years. He resigned Warwick in 1843, and was succeeded in 1844 by Henry Ashton Meeson, M.D. At Kenilworth he was succeeded in 1850 by John Gordon.

Teaching career

Field kept a boarding-school for many years at Leam

Leam

Leam is a hamlet in the English county of Derbyshire. There are a number of buildings, which once formed a single estate.Leam is due south of Hathersage, close to Grindleford. There are several inhabitants....

, near Warwick. This led to his publishing some educational manuals, of which the most valuable was his ‘Questions on the Gospel History,’ recommended in the '‘Critical Review

The Critical Review

The Critical Review was first edited by Tobias Smollett from 1756 to 1763, and was contributed to by Samuel Johnson, David Hume, John Hunter, and Oliver Goldsmith, until 1817....

'’ (June 1794) to theological students in the two universities. His history of Warwick and his life of Parr are important works.

Death and family

He died at Leam on 16 August 1851; a marble slab to his memory was placed in High Street Chapel, Warwick. By his wife, Mary (Wilkins), who died at Liverpool on 2 Oct. 1848, aged 64, he had a numerous family, of whom Edwin Wilkins was the eldest; Horace was an architect. Field was of diminutive stature, with a noble head; his portrait has been engraved. He never forgot the distinction of his Cromwell blood; his extensive correspondence was both erudite and racy; he was a genial host, and his conversation, in spite of his constitutional deafness, was very enjoyable.

Publications

Field published a multitude of pamphlets and sermons, from his 1. ‘Letter to the Inhabitants of Warwick,’ &c., 1791, 8vo, to his 2. ‘Letter to the Inhabitants … of Kenilworth,’ &c., 1848, 12mo. In addition to these his chief publications were: 3. ‘A Series of Questions … as a Guide to the Critical Study of the Four Gospels,’ &c., 1794, 12mo; second edition, printed 1805; copies were issued from time to time for private use (with various title-pages), but it was not published till 1846, 12mo, with large introduction. 4. ‘An Historical and Descriptive Account of … Warwick and … Leam- ington,’ &c., Warwick, 1815, 8vo (anon., ‘advertisement’ signed W. F.; plates). 5. ‘Memoirs of the Rev. Samuel Parr, LL.D.’, 1828, 2 vols. 8vo. Field was a frequent contributor of critical and other articles to the ‘Monthly Repository’ and ‘Christian Reformer.’