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

Life

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

Stockport Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt, Rivers Goyt and River Tame, Greater Manchester, Tame merge to create the River Mersey he ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

, on 17 August 1688. He was educated at Attercliffe Academy 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 ...

, and afterwards studied for a year under

Matthew Henry Matthew Henry (18 October 166222 June 1714) was a British Nonconformist and Presbyterian 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 o ...

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

. 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 in 2021 was 9,300. It is south of Liverpool and southwest of Man ...

, Cheshire. On 5 August 1712 he was ordained at

Knutsford Knutsford () is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire East district, in Cheshire, England; it is located south-west of Manchester, north-west of Macclesfield and south-east of Warrington. The population of the parish at the 2021 Uni ...

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. History The Act of Uniformity 1662 ...

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 ...

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

John Seddon John Seddon is a United Kingdom, British occupational psychologist and author specializing in organizational change within the service industry. He is the founder and managing director of Vanguard, a Consulting firm, consultancy firm establishe ...

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

Young Pretender Charles Edward Louis John Sylvester Maria Casimir Stuart (31 December 1720 – 30 January 1788) was the elder son of James Francis Edward Stuart, making him the grandson of James VII and II, and the Stuart claimant to the thrones of England, ...

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, o ...

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 may refer to: * Robert Halley (minister) (1796–1876), English Congregationalist minister and abolitionist * Robert Halley (politician) (1935–2021), French politician and businessman See also * Robert Holley (disambiguation) Robe ...

calls ‘a very quiet peaceable man,’ passed from

Calvinism Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyteri ...

to a type of

Arianism Arianism (, ) is a Christology, Christological doctrine which rejects the traditional notion of the Trinity and considers Jesus to be a creation of God, and therefore distinct from God. It is named after its major proponent, Arius (). It is co ...

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

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 ...

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.

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, Unitarian, Natural philosophy, natural philosopher, English Separatist, separatist theologian, Linguist, grammarian, multi-subject educator and Classical libera ...

'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 Hapsford is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Dunham-on-the-Hill and Hapsford, in the unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is located on the A5117 road, wi ...

, 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. 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)).

References

Notes

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