John Conder D.D. (3 June 1714 – 30 May 1781) was an Independent minister at Cambridge who later became President of the

Independent College, Homerton Independent College, later Homerton Academy, was a dissenting academy in Homerton just outside London, England, in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Background In 1695 the Congregational Fund was set up in London to provide for the education of ...

in the parish of Hackney near

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 ...

. John Conder was the theological tutor at Plaisterers' Hall Academy in 1754; and residential tutor and theological tutor at Mile End Academy (1754 to 1769), then the theological tutor at Homerton Academy (1769 to 1781).

Life

John Conder was born in

Wimpole Wimpole is a small village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in South Cambridgeshire, England, about southwest of Cambridge. Until 1999, the main settlement on the A603 was officially known and signed as ''New Wimpole and Orwell, Camb ...

in Cambridgeshire on 3 June 1714. Both his father, Jabez Conder (d. 1727) and grandfather served as minister to an Independent congregation at

Croydon, Cambridgeshire Croydon is a small village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in South Cambridgeshire, South Cambridgeshire, England. It is south-west of Cambridge and immediately west of the A1198 road (the Roman Empire, Roman Ermine Street). The ...

. At the time, the nonconformists were in great fear because of Parliament's ''Schism Bill'' under Queen Anne, passed as the never-enforced

Schism Act 1714 The Schism Act 1714 or Established Church Act 1713 ( 13 Ann. c. 7) was a never-enforced 1714 Act of the Parliament of Great Britain which was repealed in 1718. The Act stipulated that anyone who wished to ''keep'' (manage or own) a public or pri ...

. Following the accession of

George I George I or 1 may refer to: People * Patriarch George I of Alexandria (fl. 621–631) * George I of Constantinople (d. 686) * George of Beltan (d. 790) * George I of Abkhazia (ruled 872/3–878/9) * George I of Georgia (d. 1027) * Yuri Dolgoruk ...

in 1714, a degree of religious toleration was won for nonconformists, though with a number of legal restrictions and disadvantages that continued into the nineteenth century. Conder's first sermon as an Independent was preached in 1738 and he developed a successful ministry at Cambridge, at the Hog Hill church. In 1754, he left to take up an appointment as President of the Independent College at Homerton, near London. In 1762, he was accepted as pastor of a chapel at

Moorfields Moorfields was an open space, partly in the City of London, lying adjacent to – and outside – its London Wall, northern wall, near the eponymous Moorgate. It was known for its marshy conditions, the result of the defensive wall acting a ...

in the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

, where he served for a twenty-one years as minister.

Works

Conder wrote a number of works and hymns, including ''Christ watches o'er the embers...'', although his grandson Josiah Conder was the more prolific hymn writer in the family. Conder died in Hackney in London in 1781 and was buried in the Nonconformist cemetery of

Bunhill Fields Bunhill Fields is a former burial ground in central London, in the London Borough of Islington, just north of the City of London. What remains is about in extent and the bulk of the site is a public garden maintained by the City of London Cor ...

. His grave was originally marked by a very simple stone simply stating "Dr Conder 1781". An improved stone was added around twenty years later, which includes a verse written by Conder. The stones lie in the northern spur of the T-plan cemetery, against the west wall. A self-penned

epitaph An epitaph (; ) is a short text honoring a deceased person. Strictly speaking, it refers to text that is inscribed on a tombstone or plaque, but it may also be used in a figurative sense. Some epitaphs are specified by the person themselves be ...

read:

''Peccavi, Resipui, Confidi, Amavi, Requiesco, Resurgam. Et ex gratia Christi, ut ut indignus, regnabo.''J. H. Y. Briggs, ‘Conder, John (1714–1781)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004

References

Notes

Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Conder, John English Congregationalists Dissenting academy tutors 1714 births 1781 deaths Burials at Bunhill Fields Fellows of Homerton College, Cambridge Religion in the London Borough of Hackney People from Wimpole