Miles Atkinson (28 September 1741 – 6 February 1811) was an English

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

clergyman. He was one of the mid-century

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

s in Yorkshire.

Biography

Atkinson was born on 28 September 1741 in Ledsham,

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

, England, to the Reverend Christopher Atkinson, rector of Thorp Arch. His younger brother was the poet William Atkinson. He was educated at

Peterhouse, Cambridge Peterhouse is the oldest Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Peterhouse has around 300 undergraduate and 175 graduate stud ...

, graduating

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

(BA) in 1763. Atkinson was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

as a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

on 18 March 1764 and as a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

in 25 May 1766. He served his

curacy A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () of souls of a parish. In this sense, ''curate'' means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy who are ass ...

at the parish church of Leeds, before becoming headmaster of the school of

Drighlington Drighlington is a village and civil parish in the City of Leeds metropolitan district, West Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the village lies 5 miles (9 km) south-west of ...

, near Leeds (1764–70); he was also

lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...

of the parish church of Leeds in 1769. In 1783, he was appointed

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

of Kippax, near Leeds. At a cost of nearly £10,000 (equivalent to £ million in ), he founded and built St Paul's Church,

Park Square, Leeds Park Square is a Georgian architecture, Georgian public square in central Leeds, West Yorkshire. The square is grassed over and is a traditional Georgian park. The square is in Leeds' financial quarter and is surrounded by Georgian buildings, ...

, of which he became minister in 1793. He was also responsible for construction of St Paul's vicarage in 1790. accessed 3 May 2022 In April 1768, Atkinson married Mary Kenion. Together, they had at least two sons. Atkinson died on 6 February 1811. He was buried at St Paul's Church, Leeds.

Works

Atkinson published several pulpit discourses, and a collection of his ''Practical Sermons'' was published at London in two volumes, 1812.

References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Atkinson, Miles 1741 births 1811 deaths English Christian religious leaders 18th-century English people 19th-century English people Clergy from Yorkshire Alumni of Peterhouse, Cambridge People from Castleford