Joseph Mottershead (1688–1771) was an English dissenting minister.

Life

The son of Joseph Mottershead, yeoman, he was born near Stockport,

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 ...

, on 17 August 1688. He was educated at

Attercliffe Academy Attercliffe Academy was a Dissenting academy set up in the north of England by Timothy Jollie. Richard Frankland had founded Rathmell Academy at Rathmell, but was forced to move several times. The school moved to Attercliffe, a suburb of Sheffiel ...

under

Timothy Jollie Timothy Jollie, (c. 1659–1714), was a nonconformist minister and notable educator in the north of England. Biography Timothy Jollie, son of Thomas Jollie, was born at Altham, Accrington, Lancashire, about 1659. On 27 August 1673 he entered the ...

, and afterwards studied for a year under

Matthew Henry Matthew Henry (18 October 166222 June 1714) was a Nonconformist minister and author, who was born in Wales but spent much of his life in England. He is best known for the six-volume biblical commentary ''Exposition of the Old and New Testaments' ...

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

. After licence he preached (1710–12) at Kingsley, in the parish of

Frodsham Frodsham is a market town, civil parish, and electoral ward in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. Its population was 8,982 in 2001, increasing to 9,077 at the 2011 Census. It is ...

, Cheshire. On 5 August 1712 he was ordained at

Knutsford Knutsford () is a market town in the borough of Cheshire East, in Cheshire, England. Knutsford is south-west of Manchester, north-west of Macclesfield and 12.5 miles (20 km) south-east of Warrington. The population at the 2011 Census was ...

as successor to Samuel Lawrence at

Nantwich Nantwich ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It has among the highest concentrations of listed buildings in England, with notably good examples of Tudor and Georgian architecture. ...

. Matthew Henry visited him in 1713, and died at his house in 1714. In 1717 Mottershead became minister of

Cross Street Chapel Cross Street Chapel is a Unitarian church in central Manchester, England. It is a member of the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches, the umbrella organisation for British Unitarians. Its present minister is Cody Coyne. His ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

, and held this post till his death. His colleagues were Joshua Jones,

John Seddon John Seddon is a British occupational psychologist and author, specialising in change in the service industry. He is the managing director of Vanguard, a consultancy company he formed in 1985 and the inventor of 'The Vanguard Method'. Vanguar ...

, and Robert Gore (1748–1779). When the

Young Pretender Charles Edward Louis John Sylvester Maria Casimir Stuart (20 December 1720 – 30 January 1788) was the elder son of James Francis Edward Stuart, grandson of James II and VII, and the Stuart claimant to the thrones of England, Scotland and ...

entered Manchester in November 1745, Mottershead was selected as

hostage A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized, such as a relative, employer, law enforcement or government to act, or ref ...

for a monetary fine; but he had a warning in good time and made his escape. During his long ministry at Manchester, Mottershead, whom

Robert Halley Robert Halley (13 August 1796 – 18 August 1876) was an English Congregational minister and abolitionist. He was noted for his association with the politics of Repeal of the Corn Laws, and became Classical Tutor at Highbury College and Prin ...

calls ‘a very quiet peaceable man,’ passed from

Calvinism Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

to a type of

Arianism Arianism ( grc-x-koine, Ἀρειανισμός, ) is a Christological doctrine first attributed to Arius (), a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by G ...

. About 1756 there was a secession from the congregation owing to the

Socinian Socinianism () is a nontrinitarian belief system deemed heretical by the Catholic Church and other Christian traditions. Named after the Italian theologians Lelio Sozzini (Latin: Laelius Socinus) and Fausto Sozzini (Latin: Faustus Socinus), un ...

tenets of Seddon, his colleague and son-in-law. Mottershead died on 4 November 1771, and was buried near the pulpit in his meeting-house. His portrait, by Henry Pickering, was engraved by

William Pether William Pether (c. 1739 – 19 July 1821) was primarily an English mezzotint engraver, but also decorated porcelain, made oil paintings and pastel drawings, and invented gadgets. Life He was born in London in 1739, and became a pupil of Thoma ...

Works

Mottershead published, besides two sermons (1719–1745), ‘Religious Discourses,’ &c., Glasgow, 1759. Under the signature ‘Theophilus’ he contributed essays to

Joseph Priestley Joseph Priestley (; 24 March 1733 – 6 February 1804) was an English chemist, natural philosopher, separatist theologian, grammarian, multi-subject educator, and liberal political theorist. He published over 150 works, and conducted e ...

's ''

Theological Repository The ''Theological Repository'' was a periodical founded and edited from 1769 to 1771 by the eighteenth-century British polymath Joseph Priestley. Although ostensibly committed to the open and rational inquiry of theological questions, the journ ...

'', 1769, i. 173, sq., 225 sq., and 1771, iii. 112 sq. He also published a revised edition of Matthew Henry's ‘Plain Catechism’ (no date).

Family

He married, first, at Kingsley, the eldest daughter of Bennett of Hapsford, Cheshire; she died in October 1718, leaving four children: * his only son was educated at Edinburgh as a physician, but took Anglican orders, acted as curate in Manchester, and was lost at sea as chaplain of a man-of-war; * his eldest daughter married (February 1743) Seddon, his colleague; * his second daughter, Sarah, married John Jones, founder of the banking house of Jones, Loyd, & Co., whose grandson was

Samuel Jones Loyd, 1st Baron Overstone Samuel Jones-Loyd, 1st Baron Overstone (25 September 1796 – 17 November 1883) was a British banker and politician. Background and education Loyd was the only son of the Rev. Lewis Loyd and Sarah, daughter of John Jones, a Manchester banker. H ...

. He married, secondly, in January 1721, Margaret (d. 31 Jan. 1740), widow of Nathaniel Glaskell of Manchester; he was her third husband. He married, thirdly, in June 1742, Abigail (d. 28 Dec. 1753), daughter of Chewning Blackmore (see under

William Blackmore (minister) William Blackmore (24 June 1616 – ⁠1684) was an English ejected minister. Life Blackmore was born on 24 June 1616, the second son of William Blackmore of London, a member of the Fishmongers' Company. His older brother, Sir John Blackmore, k ...

References

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Mottershead, Joseph 1688 births 1771 deaths Post-Reformation Arian Christians English Dissenters People from Stockport 17th-century English clergy