Nonconformist background

His great-grandfather, William Sturch (died 1728), was a general Baptist minister in London. His grandfather, John Sturch, General Baptist

General Baptist

General Baptists is a generic term for Baptists who hold the view of a general atonement, as well as a specific name of groups of Baptists within the broader category.General Baptists are distinguished from Particular or Reformed Baptists.-History:...

 minister at Crediton

Crediton

Crediton is a town and civil parish in the Mid Devon district of Devon in England. It stands on the A377 Exeter to Barnstaple road at the junction with the A3072 road to Tiverton, about north west of Exeter. It has a population of 6,837...

, 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...

, published A Compendium of Truths, Exeter, 1731, and a sermon on persecution, 1736. His father, John Sturch, ordained (21 June 1753) minister of the General Baptist congregation, Pyle Street, Newport, wrote A View of the Isle of Wight, 1778, which passed through severaleditions, and was translated into German by C. A. Wichman, Leipzig, 1781. He died in 1794. One of his daughters married John Potticary (1763–1820), the first schoolmaster of Benjamin Disraeli.

Life and family

William Sturch was born at Newport, Isle of Wight

Newport, Isle of Wight

Newport is a civil parish and a county town of the Isle of Wight, an island off the south coast of England. Newport has a population of 23,957 according to the 2001 census...

, about 1753. He became an ironmonger in London, and an original member in 1774 of the Unitarian Essex Street Chapel

Essex Street Chapel

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...

 opened by Theophilus Lindsey

Theophilus Lindsey

Theophilus Lindsey was an English theologian and clergyman who founded the first avowedly Unitarian congregation in the country, at Essex Street Chapel.-Life:...

. He took the chair at a dinner given in London (5 January 1829) to Henry Montgomery

Henry Montgomery

Henry Montgomery may refer to:*Henry Montgomery , father of the 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein*Henry Montgomery , Member of Parliament for Bridgwater, 1906–1910-See also:...

, LL.D., when Charles Butler was one of the speakers.

He died at York Terrace, Regent's Park

Regent's Park

Regent's Park is one of the Royal Parks of London. It is in the north-western part of central London, partly in the City of Westminster and partly in the London Borough of Camden...

, on 8 September 1838, aged 85, leaving a widow Elizabeth (died 23 Feb. 1841, aged 81) and family. He was buried in the graveyard of the New Gravel-Pit chapel, Hackney. His second daughter, Elizabeth Jesser, married John Reid and founded Bedford College, London, in October 1849.

Works

In 1799 he published anonymously a thin book entitled ‘Apeleutherus; or an Effort to attain Intellectual Freedom.’ It consists of three essays; the third, ‘On Christianity as a Supernatural Communication,’ exhibiting scepticsim side of a devout mind. A sonnet is prefixed to the work. In 1819 it was reprinted (anonymously), with a dedication to 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...

, a fourth essay ‘On a Future State,’ and three additional sonnets. Sturch wrote opamphlets in controversy with conservative Unitarians, and was a frequent contributor to the Monthly Repository

Monthly Repository

The Monthly Repository was a British monthly Unitarian periodical which ran between 1806 and 1838.The Monthly Repository was established when Robert Aspland bought William Vidler's Universal Theological Magazine and changed the name to the Monthly Repository of Theology and General Literature...

. He published also a pamphlet on Catholic emancipation

Catholic Emancipation

Catholic emancipation or Catholic relief was a process in Great Britain and Ireland in the late 18th century and early 19th century which involved reducing and removing many of the restrictions on Roman Catholics which had been introduced by the Act of Uniformity, the Test Acts and the penal laws...

, The Grievances of Ireland: their Causes and their Remedies, 1826.