John Seddon (1719–1769) was an English Unitarian minister.
Life
The son of Peter Seddon (1689–1731), dissenting minister at
Penrith,
Cumberland
Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...
(1717–19), and
Cockey Moor in the parish of
Middleton, Lancashire
Middleton is a village and civil parish in the City of Lancaster in Lancashire, England, between Heysham and Overton. It had a population of 705 in 2011.
History
Middleton was the location of Middleton Tower Holiday Camp, which opened in 193 ...
(1719–31), he was born in 1719 at Lomax Fold,
Little Lever
Little Lever is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. Within the historic county of Lancashire, it is southeast of Bolton, west of Radcliffe and southwest of Bury.
In the 19th century, the population ...
, in the parish of
Bolton
Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...
, Lancashire. On his father's death, Seddon's education was undertaken by the congregation of
Cross Street
Cross Street (Chinese: 克罗士街; ) is a street in Singapore starting from Shenton Way in Downtown Core and ending at the junction of South Bridge Road in Chinatown which is in Outram Planning Area which then becomes Upper Cross Street. At ...
,
Manchester
Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
. He was at
Stand Grammar School under William Walker; then at the
Kendal Academy (entered 1733) under
Caleb Rotheram;
and at
Glasgow University
The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ...
from 1739, where he was a pupil of
Francis Hutcheson.
He is said to have graduated M.A., but of this there is no record.
On leaving
Glasgow
Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
, he became assistant at Cross Street to
Joseph Mottershead, and was ordained on 22 October 1742. He was a preacher of facility and power, and pursued an independent line in theology.
Joseph Priestley
Joseph Priestley (; 24 March 1733 – 6 February 1804) was an English chemist, Unitarian, Natural philosophy, natural philosopher, English Separatist, separatist theologian, Linguist, grammarian, multi-subject educator and Classical libera ...
, when at
Warrington
Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...
(1761–8), speaks of Seddon as "the only
Socinian
Socinianism ( ) is a Nontrinitarian Christian belief system developed and co-founded during the Protestant Reformation by the Italian Renaissance humanists and theologians Lelio Sozzini and Fausto Sozzini, uncle and nephew, respectively.
I ...
in the neighbourhood".
Seddon embodied his views in a series of six sermons, of which the first was preached on 27 May 1761. A contemporary account describes the excitement produced by his utterances; his outspokenness won for him increased respect, though he made few converts. The sermons were not published till 1793; but they anticipated the historical argument of Priestley. Seddon lived on good terms with neighbouring clergy, especially with
John Clayton John Clayton may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Writing
*John Clayton (architect) (died 1861), English architect and writer
*John Clayton (sportswriter) (1954–2022), American sportswriter and reporter
*John Bell Clayton and Martha Clayton, Joh ...
, the
Jacobite.
After a long illness, Seddon died on 22 November 1769, and was buried in Cross Street Chapel. He married, in 1743, Mottershead's eldest daughter, Elizabeth (died 1765), and left a son, Mottershead Seddon. His library was sold on 26 February 1770.
Works
He edited, with preface, ''The Sovereignty of the Divine Administration, &c.'', 1766, by Thomas Dixon (1721–1754). His ''Discourses on the Person of Christ'', Warrington, 1793, were edited with ''An Account of the Author'', by
Ralph Harrison, at the suggestion of
Joshua Toulmin
Joshua Toulmin ( – 23 July 1815) of Taunton, England was a noted theologian and a serial Dissenting minister of Presbyterian (1761–1764), Baptist (1765–1803), and then Unitarian (1804–1815) congregations. Toulmin's sympathy for bot ...
.
References
;Attribution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seddon, John
1719 births
1769 deaths
English Unitarians
People educated at Stand Grammar School
Alumni of the University of Glasgow