Samuel Morton Savage
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Samuel Morton Savage (1721–1791) was an English nonconformist minister and dissenting tutor.


Life

He was born in London on 19 July 1721. His grandfather, John Savage, was pastor of the
Seventh Day Baptist Seventh Day Baptists are Baptists who observe the Sabbath as the seventh day of the week, Saturday, as a holy day to God. They adopt a theology common to Baptists, profess the Bible as the only rule of faith and practice, perform the conscious b ...
church, Mill Yard, Goodman's Fields. Savage was related to
Hugh Boulter Hugh Boulter (4 January 1672 – 27 September 1742) was the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh, the Primate of All Ireland, from 1724 until his death. He also served as the chaplain to George I from 1719. Background and education Boulter wa ...
.* Savage first thought of medicine, and spent a year or two with his Uncle Toulmin, an apothecary, in Old Gravel Lane,
Wapping Wapping () is an area in the borough of Tower Hamlets in London, England. It is in East London and part of the East End. Wapping is on the north bank of the River Thames between Tower Bridge to the west, and Shadwell to the east. This posit ...
. Through the influence of
Isaac Watts Isaac Watts (17 July 1674 – 25 November 1748) was an English Congregational minister, hymn writer, theologian, and logician. He was a prolific and popular hymn writer and is credited with some 750 hymns. His works include " When I Survey th ...
he entered the Fund Academy, under
John Eames John Eames (2 February 1686 – 29 June 1744) was an English Dissenting tutor. Life Eames was born in London on 2 February 1686. He was admitted to Merchant Taylors' School on 10 March 1696–7, and was subsequently trained for the dissenting ...
. In 1744, while still a pupil, he was made assistant tutor in natural science and classics by the trustees of
William Coward William Coward (1657?–1725) was an English physician, controversial writer, and poet. He is now remembered for his sceptical writings on the soul, which Parliament of England, Parliament condemned as blasphemous and ordered to be burned in hi ...
, a post he retained until the reconstruction of the academy in 1762; from the time of his marriage (1752) the lectures were delivered at his house in
Wellclose Square Wellclose Square is a public square in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, between Cable Street to the north and The Highway to the south. The western edge, now called Ensign Street, was previously called Well Street. The southern edge was c ...
. Meanwhile, in December 1747, Savage became assistant minister at Duke's Place, Bury Street,
St Mary Axe St Mary Axe was a medieval parish in the City of London whose name survives as that of the street which formerly occupied it. The Church of St Mary Axe was demolished in 1561 and its parish united with that of St Andrew Undershaft, which is s ...
, to the independent congregation of which Watts had been pastor. He was ordained there as co-pastor to Samuel Price in 1753, and became sole pastor on 2 January 1757. In addition he held the office of afternoon preacher (1759–1766) and Thursday lecturer (1760–7) to the presbyterian congregation in Hanover Street under
Jabez Earle Jabez Earle, D.D. (1676?–1768), was an English Presbyterian minister. He had a career of nearly 70 years as a London preacher. Career Earle was probably a native of Yorkshire. He was brought up for the ministry by Thomas Brand. In December 169 ...
. He was Friday lecturer (1761–90) at Little St. Helen's, and afternoon preacher (1769–75) at
Clapham Clapham () is a district in south London, south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (including Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Ea ...
. On the death of David Jennings, the Coward trustees moved the academy to a house in
Hoxton Square Hoxton Square is a public garden square in the Hoxton area in the London Borough of Hackney. Laid out in 1683, it is thought to be one of the oldest in London. Since the 1990s it has been at the heart of the Hoxton national (digital and design) ...
, formerly the residence of Daniel Williams. Savage was placed in 1762 in the divinity chair, his colleagues in other branches being
Andrew Kippis Andrew Kippis (28 March 17258 October 1795) was an English nonconformist clergyman and biographer. Life The son of Robert Kippis, a silk-hosier, he was born at Nottingham. Having gone to Carre's Grammar School in Sleaford, Lincolnshire he pas ...
, and
Abraham Rees Abraham Rees (1743 – 9 June 1825) was a Welsh nonconformist minister, and compiler of '' Rees's Cyclopædia'' (in 45 volumes). Life He was the second son of Esther, daughter of Abraham Penry, and her husband Lewis Rees, and was born i ...
(Savage was a
Calvinist 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 Protestantism, Continenta ...
, Rees an
Arian Arianism (, ) is a 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 considered he ...
, Kippis a
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 ...
). Kippis resigned in 1784. Savage, who had been made B.D. by
King's College, Aberdeen King's College in Old Aberdeen, Scotland, the full title of which is The University and King's College of Aberdeen (''Collegium Regium Aberdonense''), is a formerly independent university founded in 1495 and now an integral part of the Univer ...
, on 28 April 1764, and D.D. by
Marischal College, Aberdeen Marischal College ( ) is a large granite building on Broad Street in the centre of Aberdeen in north-east Scotland, and since 2011 has been the headquarters of Aberdeen City Council. The building was constructed for and is on long-term lease fr ...
, in November 1767, held on until midsummer 1785, when the Hoxton academy was dissolved. Like Jennings, Savage, though an orthodox Presbyterian, was a non-subscriber; he was one of the originators of the appeal to parliament in 1772 which resulted in the amendment (1779) of the Toleration Act, substituting a declaration of adhesion to the scriptures in place of a subscription to the doctrinal part of the Anglican articles. He resigned his congregation at Christmas 1787; his ministry, though prolonged, had not been popular. A bookish man, he avoided society, and buried himself in his ample library. He died on 21 February 1791 of a contraction of the œsophagus; unable to take food, he starved to a skeleton. He was buried in
Bunhill Fields Bunhill Fields is a former burial ground in central London, in the London Borough of Islington, just north of the City of London. What remains is about in extent and the bulk of the site is a public garden maintained by the City of London Cor ...
.


Works

Savage published eight single sermons (1757–82), including ordination discourses for William Ford (1757) and Samuel Wilton (1766), and funeral discourses for David Jennings (1762) and Samuel Wilton (1778). A posthumous volume of ''Sermons'' (1796) was edited, with a life, by
Joshua Toulmin Joshua Toulmin ( – 23 July 1815) of Taunton, England was a noted theologian and a serial Dissenting minister of Presbyterian (1761–1764), Baptist (1765–1803), and then Unitarian (1804–1815) congregations. Toulmin's sympathy for bot ...
.


Family

Savage married first, in 1752, the only daughter (d. 1763) of George Houlme, stockbroker, of Hoxton Square; secondly, in 1770, Hannah Wilkin, who survived him. By his first marriage he left two daughters.


References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Savage, Samuel Morton 1721 births 1791 deaths Alumni of the University of Aberdeen English Dissenters Dissenting academy tutors Burials at Bunhill Fields 18th-century English Presbyterian ministers