Arthur Young (1693–1759) was an English

clergyman Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

and a religious writer. He was much concerned with the "idolatrous corruptions" he found in early religion.

Life

Young was born in 1693, the son of Bartholomew Young (died 12 August 1724) of

Bradfield Combust Bradfield Combust (or Burnt Bradfield) is a village and former manor and civil parish, now in the parish of Bradfield Combust with Stanningfield, in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. It is located on the A134 between Windsor ...

in Suffolk. He was educated at

Pembroke Hall, Cambridge Pembroke College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 students and fellows. It is one of the university's larger colleges, with buildings from ...

, graduating

LL.B. A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

in 1716, and proceeding

LL.D. A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

in 1728. In 1719 he was instituted to the rectories of Bradfield Combust and Bradfield St Clare. On 27 June 1746 he was installed a

prebendary A prebendary is a member of the Catholic Church, Catholic or Anglicanism , Anglican clergy, a form of canon (priest) , canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in part ...

of Canterbury and in 1748 presented to the vicarage of

Exning Exning is a village and civil parish in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England. It lies just off the A14 trunk road, roughly east-northeast of Cambridge, and south-southeast of Ely. The nearest large town is Newmarket. T ...

in Suffolk, with a dispensation allowing him to hold it with Bradfield St Clare. He was also chaplain to

Arthur Onslow Arthur Onslow (1 October 169117 February 1768) was an English politician. He set a record for length of service when repeatedly elected to serve as Speaker of the House of Commons, where he was known for his integrity. Early life and educat ...

speaker of the House of Commons Speaker of the House of Commons is a political leadership position found in countries that have a House of Commons, where the membership of the body elects a speaker to lead its proceedings. Systems that have such a position include: * Speaker of ...

and a Justice of the Peace for Suffolk. Young died on 26 June 1759 at Bradfield Combust, where he had inherited from his father an estate of about 200 acres.

Family

Young married Anna Lucretia, daughter of John Coussmaker of

Weybridge Weybridge () is a town in the Borough of Elmbridge, Elmbridge district in Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. The settlement is recorded as ''Waigebrugge'' and ''Weibrugge'' in the 7th century and the name derives from a cro ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

. They had two sons, John and

Arthur Arthur is a masculine given name of uncertain etymology. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur. In Spanish and Ital ...

, and a daughter, Elizabeth Mary, who married John Tomlinson of

East Barnet East Barnet is an area of north London within the London Borough of Barnet bordered by New Barnet, Cockfosters and Southgate. It is a largely residential suburb whose central area contains shops, public houses, restaurants and services, and ...

. The elder son John Young, fellow of Eton, broke his neck in 1786 while hunting with

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

. In 1793 the younger son, Arthur, was appointed Secretary to the newly created

Board of Agriculture The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) was a United Kingdom government department created by the Board of Agriculture Act 1889 ( 52 & 53 Vict. c. 30) and at that time called the Board of Agriculture, and then from 1903 the Boar ...

Works

*''An Historical Dissertation on Idolatrous Corruptions in Religion from the Beginning of the World, and on the Methods taken by Divine Providence in reforming them'', London, 1734, 2 vols. 8vo. This sets out to explain the rise of

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

and

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

in place of

idolatry Idolatry is the worship of an idol as though it were a deity. In Abrahamic religions (namely Judaism, Samaritanism, Christianity, Islam, and the Baháʼí Faith) idolatry connotes the worship of something or someone other than the Abrahamic ...

.ODNB entry by Edward Irving Carlyle (rev. B. W. Young
Young, Arthur (1693–1759)
retrieved 19 September 2016 *''A Dissertation on the Gospel Demoniacks'', London, 1760, 8vo. This was prompted by a reply from

Richard Smalbroke Richard Smallbrooke (1672 – 22 December 1749) was an English churchman, Bishop of St David's and then of Lichfield and Coventry. Life The son of Samuel Smallbrooke (buried 23 May 1701) of Rowington,Burial: https://www.familysearch.org/ar ...

, Bishop of St. David's, to

Thomas Woolston Thomas Woolston (baptised November 166827 January 1733) was an English theologian. Although he was often classed as a deist, his biographer William H. Trapnell regards him as an Anglican who held unorthodox theological views. Biography Thom ...

's ''Discourse on the Miracles of Our Saviour'' and published posthumously.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Arthur People from the Borough of St Edmundsbury 1693 births 1759 deaths 18th-century English people Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge English chaplains Anglican chaplains Anglican writers English justices of the peace