Abraham Rees
Encyclopedia
Rees's Cyclopaedia
Rees's Cyclopædia, or The New Cyclopaedia, or, Universal Dictionary of the Arts and Sciences was an important 19th Century encyclopaedia which was regarded by some as subversive when it first appeared. It was edited by Revd...
(in 45 volumes).
Life
He was the second son of Lewis Rees, by his wife Esther, daughter of Abraham Penry, and was born at born in LlanbrynmairLlanbrynmair
Llanbrynmair is a village and community in Powys, Mid Wales on the A470 road between Caersws and Machynlleth. Llanbrynmair, in area, is the second largest in Powys. In 2005, it had a population of 958.-Description:...
, Montgomeryshire
Montgomeryshire
Montgomeryshire, also known as Maldwyn is one of thirteen historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. Montgomeryshire is still used as a vice-county for wildlife recording...
. Lewis Rees (b. 2 March 1710; d 21 March 1800) was independent minister at Llanbrynmair (1734–1759) and Mynyddbach, Glamorganshire (1759–1800). Abraham was educated for the ministry at Coward's academy in Wellclose Square
Wellclose Square
Wellclose Square lies 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 called Neptune street. On the north side is Graces Alley, home to...
, near London, under David Jennings, entering in 1759. In 1762 he was appointed assistant tutor in mathematics and natural philosophy; on the move of the academy to Hoxton after Jennings's death in 1762 he became resident tutor, a position which he held till 1785, his colleagues being Andrew Kippis
Andrew Kippis
Andrew Kippis was an English nonconformist clergyman and biographer.The son of Robert Kippis, a silk-hosier, he was born at Nottingham. Having gone to school at Sleaford in Lincolnshire he passed at the age of sixteen to the Dissenting academy at Northampton, of which Dr Philip Doddridge was then...
and Samuel Morton Savage
Samuel Morton Savage
-Life:He was born in London on 19 July 1721. His grandfather, John Savage, was pastor of the seventh-day baptist church, Mill Yard, Goodman's Fields. Savage was related to Hugh Boulter....
; subsequently he was tutor in Hebrew and mathematics in the New College at Hackney
New College at Hackney
The New College at Hackney was a dissenting academy set up in Hackney, at that time a village on the outskirts of London, by Unitarians. It was in existence from 1786 to 1796...
(1786–96).
His first ministerial engagement was in the independent congregation at Clapham
Clapham
Clapham is a district in south London, England, within the London Borough of Lambeth.Clapham covers the postcodes of SW4 and parts of SW9, SW8 and SW12. Clapham Common is shared with the London Borough of Wandsworth, although Lambeth has responsibility for running the common as a whole. According...
, where he preached once a fortnight, as assistant to Philip Furneaux
Philip Furneaux
-Early life:Furneaux was born in December 1726 at Totnes, Devon. At the grammar school there he formed a life-long friendship with Benjamin Kennicott. In 1742 or 1743 he came to London to study for the dissenting ministry under David Jennings, at the dissenting academy in Wellclose Square...
. In 1768 he became assistant to Henry Read (1686–1774) in the presbyterian congregation at St. Thomas's, Southwark, and succeeded him as pastor in 1774. He moved to the pastorate of the Old Jewry
Old Jewry
Old Jewry is the name of a street in the City of London, in Coleman Street Ward, linking Gresham Street with The Poultry.William the Conqueror encouraged Jews to come to England soon after the Norman Conquest; some settled in cities throughout his new domain, including in London. According to Rev....
congregation in 1783, and retained this charge till his death, being both morning and afternoon preacher (unusual then, among London presbyterians); he shared also (from 1773) a Sunday-evening lecture at Salters' Hall, and was one of the Tuesday-morning lecturers at Salters' Hall till 1795. A new meeting-house, of octagon form, was erected for him in Jewin Street and opened 10 December 1809. He was elected trustee of Dr. Daniel Williams
Daniel Williams (theologian)
The Revd. Dr. Daniel Williams was a Welsh Presbyterian benefactor, minister and theologian.-Early ministry:Williams was born in Wrexham, Denbighshire, and was a cousin of Stephen Davies, minister at Banbury...
's foundations in 1774, and secretary of the presbyterian board in 1778, and held both offices till his death. On 31 January 1775 he received the degree of D.D. from Edinburgh University. He made a triennial visit to Wales as examiner of Carmarthen Academy. In 1806 he was appointed distributor of the English regium donum
Regium Donum
The Regium Donum was an annual grant formerly voted by Parliament to augment the stipends of the Presbyterian clergy in Ireland. The Regium Donum originally began in 1673 during the reign of Charles II. The grant was then renewed and increased by King William III in 1690 as a reward for the loyalty...
.
When he presented the address of the body of ministers of the 'three denominations' (Presbyterians, Independents and Baptists) in 1820 on the accession of George IV, it was noted that, as a student, he had attended the similar deputation to George III sixty years before. According to Alexander Gordon
Alexander Gordon
Alexander Gordon , fought as a Royalist and was captured by Oliver Cromwell's army at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651 at the end of the English Civil War. He was imprisoned at Tothill Field outside London over the winter of 1651–1652. He was transported to the New World in 1652 and...
in the Dictionary of National Biography
Dictionary of National Biography
The Dictionary of National Biography is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published from 1885...
, his theology was of a mediating and transitional character; his doctrines had an evangelical flavour, though essentially of an Arian
Arian
Arian may refer to:* Arius, a Christian presbyter in the 3rd and 4th century* a given name in different cultures: Aria, Aryan or Arian...
type, and inclining to those of Richard Price
Richard Price
Richard Price was a British moral philosopher and preacher in the tradition of English Dissenters, and a political pamphleteer, active in radical, republican, and liberal causes such as the American Revolution. He fostered connections between a large number of people, including writers of the...
, and he held the tenet of a universal restoration. He was the last of the London dissenting ministers who officiated in a wig.
He died at his residence in Artillery Place, Finsbury
Finsbury
Finsbury is a district of central London, England. It lies immediately north of the City of London and Clerkenwell, west of Shoreditch, and south of Islington and City Road. It is in the south of the London Borough of Islington. The Finsbury Estate is in the western part of the district...
, on 9 June 1825, and was buried on 18 June in Bunhill Fields, the pall being borne by six ministers of the ‘three denominations.’ A funeral oration was delivered by Thomas Rees
Thomas Rees (Unitarian minister)
Thomas Rees , Welsh Nonconformist divine, was a Unitarian minister and scholar.Rees was educated at the Presbyterian College, Carmarthen, and entered the Unitarian ministry in 1807 at the Newington Green Unitarian Church, London. He went to Southwark in 1813, earned the degree of LL.D...
, and the funeral sermon, on 19 June, by Robert Aspland
Robert Aspland
Robert Aspland was an English Unitarian minister, editor and activist. To be distinguished from his son Robert Brook Aspland .-Life:...
. Rees survived his wife and all his children, but left several grandchildren. His son, Nathaniel Penry Rees, died 8 July 1802, on a voyage from Bengal to St. Helena. His only daughter married John Jones
John Jones (Unitarian)
John Jones LL.D. was a Welsh Unitarian minister, critic, tutor and lexicographer.-Life:He was born about 1766 near Llandovery, in the parish of Llandingat, Carmarthenshire. His father was a farmer...
.
Works
Rees's work as a cyclopædist began as an improver of the Cyclopædia of Ephraim ChambersEphraim Chambers
Ephraim Chambers was an English writer and encyclopaedist, who is primarily known for producing the Cyclopaedia, or a Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences.-Early life:...
, originally published in 1728, in 2 volumes. This was re-edited by Rees in 1778; and, with the incorporation of a supplement and much new matter, was issued by him in 1781–6, in 4 volumes; reprinted 1788–91. In recognition of his labour he was elected in 1786 a Fellow of the Royal Society, and subsequently of the Linnean Society and the American Society. He then projected a more comprehensive publication. The first part of The New Cyclopædia, or Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences … Biography, Geography, and History, &c., was issued on 2 January 1802, and the work was completed in forty-five volumes, including six volumes of plates, in August 1820. The parts were issued at irregular intervals, two parts constituting a volume. Great attention is paid to English biography; the botanical articles were generally contributed by Sir James Edward Smith. Congratulated, on the completion of his task, by his friend, John Evans (1767–1827) , Rees wrote in reply: ‘I thank you, but I feel more grateful that I have been spared to publish my four volumes of sermons.’
Besides single sermons (1770–1813), Rees published ‘Practical Sermons,’ 1809, 2 vols.; 2nd ed. 1812, with two additional volumes, 1821. In conjunction with Kippis, Thomas Jervis
Thomas Jervis
Thomas Jervis was an English judge, the last Puisne Justice of Chester until the abolition of the office in 1830. He was also Member of Parliament for Great Yarmouth. With Mary Ann née Dixon Old Swinford, Worcestershire, he had three sons and a daughter. The family name was from a noble ancestor...
, and Thomas Morgan, LL.D., he brought out ‘A Collection of Hymns and Psalms,’ &c., 1795, (the ninth edition, 1823, is revised by Rees and Jervis). This collection, generally known as Kippis's, was the first attempt to supply, for general use among liberal dissenters, a hymnal to take the place of Isaac Watts
Isaac Watts
Isaac Watts was an English hymnwriter, theologian and logician. A prolific and popular hymnwriter, he was recognised as the "Father of English Hymnody", credited with some 750 hymns...
's. It was supplemented in 1807, and again in 1852.