Richard Amner (1736–1803) was an English Presbyterian (otherwise Unitarian) divine.

Life

Amner was one of several children of Richard and Anne Amner, of

Hinckley, Leicestershire Hinckley is a market town in south-west Leicestershire, England. It is administered by Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council. Hinckley is the third largest settlement in the administrative county of Leicestershire, after Leicester and Loug ...

, his baptism, in the register of the Presbyterian (otherwise Unitarian) meeting-house there, being set down for 26 April 1737. He entered

Daventry Academy Daventry Academy was a dissenting academy, that is, a school or college set up by English Dissenters. It moved to many locations, but was most associated with Daventry, where its most famous pupil was Joseph Priestley. It had a high reputation, an ...

, to prepare for a dissenting pulpit, in 1755; he stayed there seven years, accepting the charge of the Unitarian chapel in Middlegate Street,

Yarmouth Yarmouth may refer to: Places Canada *Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia **Yarmouth, Nova Scotia **Municipality of the District of Yarmouth **Yarmouth (provincial electoral district) **Yarmouth (electoral district) * Yarmouth Township, Ontario *New ...

, 21 July 1762. Here his theology did not prove to be in harmony with the theology of his congregation; and, preaching to them for the last time on 5 March 1764, he moved to what later became

Rosslyn Hill Unitarian Chapel The Rosslyn Hill Unitarian Chapel is a place of worship in Hampstead, London. It is a member of the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches, the umbrella organisation for British Unitarians. It is also a Grade II Listed buildin ...

, Hampstead, London, where he began duty the following year, 1765. In 1777 he left to be pastor at Coseley, Staffordshire; he retained this charge till the end of 1794, when, retiring from the ministry to Hinckley, his native town, he became one of the contributors to the '' Gentleman's Magazine''.

George Steevens George Steevens (10 May 1736 – 22 January 1800) was an English Shakespearean commentator. Biography Early life He was born at Poplar, the son of a captain and later director of the East India Company. He was educated at Eton College and at ...

lived at Hampstead during the twelve years that Amner preached there; and in 1793 (Amner having moved away sixteen years before), when Steevens brought out his renowned edition of Shakespeare, it was found that he had put Amner's name to gross notes to which he was ashamed to put his own. This literary scandal earned much sympathy for Amner in its day. He died 8 June 1803, aged 67.

Works

He published three books whilst at Hampstead: * ''A Dissertation on the Weekly Festival of the Christian Church'' (anonymous), 1768. * ''An Account of the Positive Institutions of Christianity'', 1774. * ''An Essay towards the Interpretation of the Prophecies of Daniel'', 1776. Later he published ''Considerations on the Doctrines of a Future State'', in 1797.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amner, Richard 1736 births 1803 deaths 18th-century English people People from Hinckley People from Hampstead People from Coseley 18th-century English Presbyterian ministers