Francis Bampfield
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Francis Bampfield ( 1615 – 16 February 1684) was an English Nonconformist preacher, and supporter of Saturday
Sabbatarianism Sabbatarianism advocates the observation of the Sabbath in Christianity, in keeping with the Ten Commandments. The observance of Sunday as a day of worship and rest is a form of first-day Sabbatarianism, a view which was historically heralded ...
. Born into a family of
Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...
gentry, he began as a conservative supporter 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, ...
, but gradually became more radical. He was expelled from the church following the 1662 Act of Uniformity, and became a Nonconformist; he spent nine years in prison, where he preached, and established congregations of
Seventh Day Baptists Seventh Day Baptists are Baptists who observe the Sabbath as the seventh day of the week, Saturday, as a holy day to God. They adopt a theology common to Baptists, profess the Bible as the only rule of faith and practice, perform the conscious b ...
. After his release in 1672, he spent another 18 months in jail for preaching without an alliance, and moved to
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
in 1674, where he continued his activities. Arrested again in 1683, he refused on principle to swear the
Oath of allegiance An oath of allegiance is an oath whereby a subject or citizen acknowledges a duty of allegiance and swears loyalty to a monarch or a country. In modern republics, oaths are sworn to the country in general, or to the country's constitution. For ...
, and was sent to
Newgate Prison Newgate Prison was a prison at the corner of Newgate Street and Old Bailey, just inside the City of London, England, originally at the site of Newgate, a gate in the Roman London Wall. Built in the 12th century and demolished in 1904, the pr ...
, where he died of fever on 16 February 1684.


Biography

Francis Bampfield was the third son of
John Bampfield John Bampfield (c. 1586 – c. 1657)Venning & Hunneyball of Poltimore House and North Molton, Devon, England, was a Member of Parliament for Tiverton in Devon (1621) and for the prestigious county seat of Devon (1628-9). Origins Bampfield wa ...
of
Poltimore House Poltimore House is an 18th-century country house in Poltimore, Devon, England. The Manor of Poltimore was from the 13th to the 20th century the seat of the Bampfylde Baronets, Bampfylde family, which acquired the title Baron Poltimore in 1831. ...
, and his wife Elizabeth Drake. His elder brother, Sir John Bampfylde (1610–1650), was Member of Parliament for Penryn, who was excluded from Parliament by
Pride's Purge Pride's Purge is the name commonly given to an event that took place on 6 December 1648, when soldiers prevented members of Parliament considered hostile to the New Model Army from entering the House of Commons of England. Despite defeat in the ...
in December 1648. His younger brother,
Thomas Bampfield Thomas Bampfield ( 1623 – 8 October 1693) was a lawyer from Devon. A supporter of Parliament during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, he sat as MP for Exeter between 1654 and 1660. For a short period in 1659, he was Speaker of the House of Commo ...
(1623–1693), was MP for
Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...
between 1654 and 1660, and Speaker of the Commons for a short period on 1659. In September 1673, he married Damaris Town (died 1694); originally from
Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...
, her father lost his estates in the 1641 Irish Revolt. They met when he was in Dorchester prison; after his release, she accompanied him on his preaching itineraries.


Career

His parents intended him for a life in the church, and had him privately educated by 'pious families'; in 1631, he entered
Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street, Oxford, Broad Street and Parks Road ...
, where he earned two degrees, graduating in 1638. He reacted against his
Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...
upbringing by supporting reforms to 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, ...
made by
Archbishop Laud William Laud (; 7 October 1573 – 10 January 1645) was a bishop in the Church of England. Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by Charles I in 1633, Laud was a key advocate of Charles I's religious reforms; he was arrested by Parliament in 164 ...
. Ordained in 1639, he was appointed rector in the Devon village of Rampisham; provided with a private income from his father, he spent his
stipend A stipend is a regular fixed sum of money paid for services or to defray expenses, such as for scholarship, internship, or apprenticeship. It is often distinct from an income or a salary because it does not necessarily represent payment for work pe ...
from this position on his parishioners. In May 1641, he was made 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
Exeter Cathedral Exeter Cathedral, properly known as the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter in Exeter, is an Anglican cathedral, and the seat of the Bishop of Exeter, in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Exeter, Devon, in South West England. The presen ...
. Unlike most of his family, Francis supported the
Royalists A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gover ...
when the
First English Civil War The First English Civil War took place in England and Wales from 1642 to 1646, and forms part of the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. An estimated 15% to 20% of adult males in England and Wales served in the military at some point b ...
began in August 1642. He continued using the
Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the title given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christianity, Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The Book of Common Prayer (1549), fi ...
, until forced to stop by
Parliamentary In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
troops; he later denounced it as an "unclean constitution of humanely invented worship". In 1647, he moved to the parish of
Wraxall, Somerset Wraxall is a village in North Somerset, England, about west of Bristol. Until 1811 the parish of the same name also included Nailsea and Flax Bourton. The village is now within the parish of Wraxall and Failand. History The origin of the nam ...
, and a few years later became an associate of
Richard Baxter Richard Baxter (12 November 1615 – 8 December 1691) was an English Nonconformist (Protestantism), Nonconformist church leader and theologian from Rowton, Shropshire, who has been described as "the chief of English Protestant Schoolmen". He ma ...
, a cleric known as the 'Puritan saint', and supporter of the
Reformation of Manners The Society for the Reformation of Manners was founded in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, Tower Hamlets area of London in 1691.
. In line with its precepts, he tried to impose greater moral discipline on his parishioners, replacing games and other popular pastimes with religious study. He was removed from Wraxall in 1653, and began preaching at
Sherborne Sherborne is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in north west Dorset, in South West England. It is sited on the River Yeo (South Somerset), River Yeo, on the edge of the Blackmore Vale, east of Yeovil. The parish include ...
; in 1657 he was installed in a service reportedly attended by over 2,000 people. Following the
1660 Restoration The Stuart Restoration was the reinstatement in May 1660 of the Stuart monarchy in England, Scotland, and Ireland. It replaced the Commonwealth of England, established in January 1649 after the execution of Charles I, with his son Char ...
, he was restored as
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 ...
, while Baxter recommended him for a
bishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...
. However, he was evicted from his
living Living or The Living may refer to: Common meanings *Life, a condition that distinguishes organisms from inorganic objects and dead organisms ** Living species, one that is not extinct *Personal life, the course of an individual human's life * ...
after the
1662 Act of Uniformity The Act of Uniformity 1662 (14 Cha. 2. c. 4) is an act of the Parliament of England. (It was formerly cited as 13 & 14 Cha. 2. c. 4, by reference to the regnal year when it was passed on 19 May 1662.) It prescribed the form of public prayers ...
; he was arrested for preaching without a license, and spent most of the next nine years in Dorchester gaol. While in prison, he became a convinced supporter of Saturday
Sabbatarianism Sabbatarianism advocates the observation of the Sabbath in Christianity, in keeping with the Ten Commandments. The observance of Sunday as a day of worship and rest is a form of first-day Sabbatarianism, a view which was historically heralded ...
, and established a Seventh Day Baptist Church. After his release in 1672, he became an itinerant preacher, and was soon sentenced to another eighteen months in
Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...
jail. He moved to London in 1674, where he established several Sabbatarian Baptist congregations. However, he was unsuccessful in his wider ambition of building an international association to train ministers, educate children in
Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
, and convert Jews. In February 1683, he was arrested; although he had links to the Presbyterian radical Robert Ferguson, he was not involved in his conspiracies. Committed to court in March, he refused on principle to swear the
Oath of allegiance An oath of allegiance is an oath whereby a subject or citizen acknowledges a duty of allegiance and swears loyalty to a monarch or a country. In modern republics, oaths are sworn to the country in general, or to the country's constitution. For ...
, and was sent to
Newgate Prison Newgate Prison was a prison at the corner of Newgate Street and Old Bailey, just inside the City of London, England, originally at the site of Newgate, a gate in the Roman London Wall. Built in the 12th century and demolished in 1904, the pr ...
, where he died of fever on 16 February 1684. Large crowds of sympathisers attended his funeral at the
Anabaptists Anabaptism (from Neo-Latin , from the Greek : 're-' and 'baptism'; , earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re-baptizers"), considering it biased. The term (tra ...
' burial-ground in
Aldersgate Street Aldersgate is a Ward of the City of London, England, named after one of the northern gates in the London Wall which once enclosed the City. The Ward of Aldersgate is traditionally divided into Aldersgate Within and Aldersgate Without, the s ...
. A contemporary noted he was 'first a churchman, then a Presbyterian, afterward an
Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
, then an Anabaptist, and finally, almost a complete Jew.'


Works

His works include: * ''The Judgment of Mr. Francis Bampfield for the Observation of the Jewish or Seventh-day Sabbath'', 1672. * ''The Seventh-day Sabbath the Desirable Day'', 1677. * ''All in One: All Useful Sciences and Profitable Arts in the One Book of Jehovah Elohim'', 1677. * ''A Name, an After One'', 1681. * ''The House of Wisdom'', 1681. * ''The Lord's Free Prisoner'', 1683. * ''A Just Appeal from the Lower Courts on Earth to the Highest Court in Heaven'', 1683. * ''A Continuation of the former Just Appeal'', 1683. * ''The Holy Scripture the Scripture of Truth'', 1684.


References


Sources

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bampfield, Francis 1684 deaths Ejected English ministers of 1662 English religious writers Alumni of Wadham College, Oxford English Anabaptists Clergy from Devon 1615 births
Francis Francis may refer to: People and characters *Pope Francis, head of the Catholic Church (2013–2025) *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Francis (surname) * Francis, a character played by YouTuber Boogie2 ...
People from East Devon District