Rowland Hill (preacher)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rowland Hill (1744-1833), was a popular English preacher and enthusiastic evangelical. He was founder and resident pastor of the Surrey Chapel, London, chairman of the Religious Tract Society, and an active advocate of missionary work.
Rowland Hill was born at Hawkstone Park (11 miles from Shrewsbury), Shropshire, August 23, 1744, the sixth son of Sir Rowland Hill (died 1783), he was educated at Shrewsbury, Eton College and at St John's College, Cambridge (B.A., 1769), where he came under the influence of the Methodists.
For preaching in the open air in and around Cambridge without a license, Rowland Hill was opposed by the authorities and frequently assaulted by mobs. Finally, in 1773, after he had been refused ordination by six bishops, he was ordained by the bishop of Bath and Wells to the curacy of Kingston, Somerset, but was subsequently denied priest's orders. However, having come into an inheritance through the death of his father, Sir Rowland Hill, in 1783 he built Surrey Chapel, in Blackfriars Road, London. Here he preached to immense audiences almost up to the time of his death. Attached to the chapel were thirteen Sunday schools, with an enrolment of over 3,000 children. In the summer Hill preached through the country, even visiting Scotland and Ireland, and attracting large crowds wherever he went.
Rowland Hill was also one of the founders, and chairman, of the Religious Tract Society; and an active promoter of the interests of the British and Foreign Bible Society and the London Missionary Society.
He was an early advocate of vaccination, and published a tract on the subject in 1806. His principal published work is Village Dialogues (London, 1801; 34th ed., 1839). The famous instigator of penny postage, Rowland Hill, is said to have been christened 'Rowland' after him.
Rowland Hill died in London April 11, 1833. He was suceeded at Surrey Chapel by James Sherman.
[edit] See also
- Rowland Hill (a disambiguation page)
[edit] Bibliography
- W. Jones, Memoir of Rowland Hill, ed. Sherman, London, 1840
- E. Sidney, Life of Rev. Rowland Hill, London, 1845
- James Sherman, Memorial of Rowland Hill, London, 1857
- V. J. Charlesworth, Rowland Hill: His Life, Anecdotes and Pulpit Sayings, London, 1879
- E. Broome, Rowland Hill: Preacher and Wit, London, 1883
- Dictionary of National Biography, xxvi. 411
Based mainly upon an article in the public domain New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge - the owners of the online edition at Christian Classics Ethereal Library have given permission for the online copy of this public domain encyclopaedia to be used in Wikipedia articles.
