Rev David Simpson,

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. ...

(12 October 1745 – 24 March 1799) was an Anglican

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

who spent most of his career in

Macclesfield Macclesfield is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Bollin in the east of the county, on the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its e ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's coun ...

, England.

Early life and education

David Simpson was born at

Ingleby Arncliffe Ingleby Arncliffe is a village and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated between the A172 and A19 roads, north-east from Northallerton and south-east from the small market town of Stokesley, an ...

, near

Northallerton Northallerton ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, England. It lies in the Vale of Mowbray and at the northern end of the Vale of York. It had a population of 16,832 in the 2011 census, an increas ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

, the son of Ralph Simpson, a farmer. He was expected to follow his father's occupation but as a boy received a calling to the ministry. He was educated at

Scorton Grammar School Scorton Grammar School is a former grammar school that was located in Scorton village, in Richmondshire, North Yorkshire, England. It was founded by Leonard Robinson who bequeathed money, land and his house so that someone should "teach scho ...

and then at

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corporation established by a charter dated 9 April 1511. Th ...

, where he graduated

B.A Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four ye ...

in 1769 and M.A. in 1772. His theology was

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual exp ...

and this was to cause problems during his career. As an undergraduate he became a friend of

Rowland Hill Sir Rowland Hill, KCB, FRS (3 December 1795 – 27 August 1879) was an English teacher, inventor and social reformer. He campaigned for a comprehensive reform of the postal system, based on the concept of Uniform Penny Post and his sol ...

, and he was also a close friend of John Wesley, the founder of

Methodism Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...

Career

In September 1769 Simpson was ordained

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

and worked as a

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

Ramsden Bellhouse Ramsden Bellhouse is a village and civil parish in Essex in the east of England. It is in the Borough of Basildon and in the parliamentary constituency of Billericay. The River Crouch flows through Ramsden Bellhouse, flowing under Church Road. ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

. In 1771 he was ordained priest and became curate at

Buckingham Buckingham ( ) is a market town in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire, which had a population of 12,890 at the 2011 Census. The town lies approximately west of Central Milton Keynes, sou ...

. However he was forced to leave this position within one year because of his evangelical preaching. He was invited to move to Macclesfield by

Charles Roe Charles Roe (7 May 1715 – 3 May 1781) was an English industrialist. He played an important part in establishing the silk industry in Macclesfield, Cheshire and later became involved in the mining and metal industries. Early life and career ...

, a local evangelical industrialist, and was appointed assistant curate at

St Michael's Church St. Michael's Church are churches generally named after Michael the Archangel and include: Albania * Basilica of Saint Michael, Arapaj * Church of St. Michael (Berat) * St. Michael's Church, Menshat * St. Michael's Church, Moscopole * St. ...

. His subsequent promotion to prime curacy was opposed by a group of parishioners, and Roe built a new church for him, Christ Church. Simpson was licensed in 1779 and he continued as minister of this church until his death in 1799. As a result of his friendship with John Wesley, Wesley was invited to preach at Christ Church on at least 12 occasions, which was unusual for an Anglican church. In addition to his ministry at Christ Church he was also an itinerant preacher locally. He founded

friendly societies A friendly society (sometimes called a benefit society, mutual aid society, benevolent society, fraternal organization or ROSCA) is a mutual association for the purposes of insurance, pensions, savings or cooperative banking. It is a mutua ...

charity school Charity schools, sometimes called blue coat schools, or simply the Blue School, were significant in the history of education in England. They were built and maintained in various parishes by the voluntary contributions of the inhabitants to ...

s and

Sunday schools A Sunday school is an educational institution, usually (but not always) Christian in character. Other religions including Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism have also organised Sunday schools in their temples and mosques, particularly in the West. S ...

and attracted large congregations. He was a pioneer of congregational

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn ...

-singing and published a collection of hymns in 1776. He was a prolific author, publishing over 30 works, which included

sermon A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present contexts. E ...

s, tracts,

essay An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal ...

s, and volumes of

apologetic Apologetics (from Greek , "speaking in defense") is the religious discipline of defending religious doctrines through systematic argumentation and discourse. Early Christian writers (c. 120–220) who defended their beliefs against critics and ...

. Some of his collected writings are held in the library of St John's College, Cambridge.

Personal life

Simpson married Ann Yaldy in May 1773 but she died 15 months later, leaving a daughter. He then married Elizabeth Davy in 1776; they had three children. He died on

Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...

Sunday 1799 and was buried two days later at Christ Church.

Early life and education

Career

Personal life

References

Further reading