Joshua Sprigg or Sprigge (1618 in

Banbury Banbury is an historic market town and civil parish on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. The parish had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census. Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding ...

– 1684) was an English Independent theologian and preacher. He acted as chaplain to

Sir Thomas Fairfax Sir Thomas Fairfax (17 January 1612 – 12 November 1671) was an English army officer and politician who commanded the New Model Army from 1645 to 1650 during the English Civil War. Because of his dark hair, he was known as "Black Tom" to his l ...

, general for the Parliamentarians, and wrote or co-wrote the 1647 book ''Anglia Rediviva'', a history of the part played up to that time by Fairfax's army in the

Wars of the Three Kingdoms The Wars of the Three Kingdoms were a series of conflicts fought between 1639 and 1653 in the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland, then separate entities in a personal union un ...

. He studied at

New Inn Hall, Oxford New Inn Hall was one of the earliest medieval halls of the University of Oxford. It was located in New Inn Hall Street, Oxford. History Trilleck's Inn The original building on the site was Trilleck's Inn, a medieval hall or hostel for st ...

, and took an M. A. at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

. He then became a parish priest in London, at the church of St. Pancras, Soper Lane. He later was a Fellow of

All Souls College, Oxford All Souls College (official name: The College of All Souls of the Faithful Departed, of Oxford) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full me ...

, imposed by Parliament after their victory. Some contemporary scholarship also attributes to him the authorship of the anonymous pamphlet ''Ancient Bounds'' from 1645, Barbara Kiefer, ''The Authorship of "Ancient Bounds"'', Church History, Vol. 22, No. 3 (Sep., 1953), pp. 192-196. a major work of the period on

freedom of conscience Freedom of conscience is the freedom of an individual to act upon their moral beliefs. In particular, it often refers to the freedom to ''not do'' something one is normally obliged, ordered or expected to do. An individual exercising this freedom m ...

; this had previously been thought to be from the pen of

Francis Rous Francis Rous, also spelled Rouse (c. 1581 to 1659), was an English politician and Puritan religious author, who was Provost of Eton from 1644 to 1659, and briefly Speaker of the House of Commons in 1653. Stepbrother of Parliamentary leader J ...

. Sprigg is featured at the end of

Rosemary Sutcliff Rosemary Sutcliff (14 December 1920 – 23 July 1992) was an English novelist best known for children's books, especially historical fiction and retellings of myths and legends. Although she was primarily a children's author, some of her novel ...

's 1953

historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the Setting (narrative), setting of particular real past events, historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literatur ...

novel Simon, where he is portrayed helping the wounded of both sides of the Battle of Torrington, and plays a pivotal role in connecting the story with a resolution for who blew up the church.

Notes

External links

''Anglia Rediviva'', online text (PDF)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sprigg, Joshua 1618 births 1684 deaths English theologians Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford Alumni of New Inn Hall, Oxford Alumni of the University of Edinburgh English male non-fiction writers