Benjamin Hanbury (1778–1864) was an English nonconformist historian.

Life

Hanbury was born in

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 United ...

on 13 May 1778. Most of his education was received from his uncle, the Rev. Dr. John Humphrys, pastor of Union Street congregation,

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

, who later became principal of

Mill Hill School Mill Hill School is a 13–18 mixed independent, day and boarding school in Mill Hill, London, England that was established in 1807. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. History A committee of Nonconformist ...

. For a time he was engaged in a retail business; then in June 1803, through the influence of

Ebenezer Maitland Ebenezer Fuller Maitland FRS (23 April 1780 – 1 November 1858) was an English landowner and politician. Origins Maitland was the only son of Ebenezer Maitland (1752-1834), a London businessman and Bank of England director, and his wife Mary, ...

, he obtained a post in the Bank of England, and remained there till 1859. Hanbury became one of the deacons at Union Street on 2 May 1819, and held office till 1857, when he moved to

Clapham Clapham () is a suburb in south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (most notably Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Early history T ...

, and then to

Brixton Brixton is a district in south London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th centu ...

. For more than 30 years he was one of the '

Dissenting Deputies The Protestant dissenting deputies (also known as the Deputies of the Three Denominations of Dissenters) were a group in the 18th and 19th centuries in England, consisting of two representatives from each congregation of the dissenting denominatio ...

", who protected the political rights of nonconformist bodies; and he entered the debate on church establishments which followed the repeal of the

Test Act The Test Acts were a series of English penal laws that served as a religious test for public office and imposed various civil disabilities on Roman Catholics and nonconformists. The underlying principle was that only people taking communion i ...

and

Corporation Act The Corporation Act of 1661 was an Act of the Parliament of England (13 Cha. II. St. 2 c. 1). It belonged to the general category of test acts, designed for the express purpose of restricting public offices in England to members of the Church o ...

in 1828. He was a member of Society for Promoting Ecclesiastical Knowledge, instituted for the publication of works bearing on nonconformist theories. On the formation (1831) of the

Congregational Union of England and Wales The Congregational Union of England and Wales brought together churches in England and Wales in the Congregational tradition between 1831 and 1966. The Congregational churches emerged from the Puritan movement, each church operating independently ...

, Hanbury became its treasurer, and held the post for the rest of his life. He died on 12 January 1864 at his residence, 16 Gloucester Villas, Brixton, and was buried on 19 January in

Norwood cemetery West Norwood Cemetery is a rural cemetery in West Norwood in London, England. It was also known as the South Metropolitan Cemetery. One of the first private landscaped cemeteries in London, it is one of the " Magnificent Seven" cemeteries of L ...

Works

Hanbury published: * ‘Extracts from the Diary … of Mr. Joseph Williams,’ 1815. He was a great-grandson of

Joseph Williams of Kidderminster Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the m ...

was his great-grandfather. The diary was much commended by

Hannah More Hannah More (2 February 1745 – 7 September 1833) was an English religious writer, philanthropist, poet and playwright in the circle of Johnson, Reynolds and Garrick, who wrote on moral and religious subjects. Born in Bristol, she taught at a ...

. * ‘An Historical Research concerning the most ancient Congregational Church in England … Union Street, Southwark,’ 1820. * ‘Historical Memorials relating to the Independents … from their Rise to the Restoration,’ 1839–44, 3 vols. Includes documents illustrating the rise of nonconformity. He edited

Richard Hooker Richard Hooker (25 March 1554 – 2 November 1600) was an English priest in the Church of England and an influential theologian.The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church by F. L. Cross (Editor), E. A. Livingstone (Editor) Oxford University ...

's ''Ecclesiastical Polity'' (1830, 3 vols), including notes and

Isaak Walton Izaak Walton (baptised 21 September 1593 – 15 December 1683) was an English writer. Best known as the author of ''The Compleat Angler'', he also wrote a number of short biographies including one of his friend John Donne. They have been colle ...

's ''Life''. For the "Library of Ecclesiastical Knowledge", he wrote a short life (1831) of

John Calvin John Calvin (; frm, Jehan Cauvin; french: link=no, Jean Calvin ; 10 July 150927 May 1564) was a French theologian, pastor and reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system ...

Family

He was the son of Rebecca Humphries and John Hanbury, of a family of stuff weavers long settled in

Kidderminster Kidderminster is a large market and historic minster town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, south-west of Birmingham and north of Worcester. Located north of the River Stour and east of the River Severn, in the 2011 census, it h ...

, Worcestershire. On 18 September 1801 Hanbury married his relative, Phœbe Lea (d. 1824) of Kidderminster, by whom he had a son (d. 1836) and a daughter, who survived him.

Notes

Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Hanbury, Benjamin 1778 births 1864 deaths English Congregationalists 19th-century English historians Writers from Wolverhampton