Josiah Pratt
Encyclopedia
Josiah Pratt was an English evangelical clergyman, involved in publications and the administration of missionary work.
manufacturer, he was born in Birmingham on 21 December 1768. With his two younger brothers, Isaac and Henry, Josiah was educated at Barr House school, six miles from Birmingham. When he was twelve years old his father took him into his business; but at the age of seventeen he obtained his father's permission to enter holy orders. After some private tuition, he matriculated on 28 June 1789 from St Edmund Hall, Oxford
, at that time the stronghold of evangelicalism in the university. His college tutor was Isaac Crouch, and they formed a lifelong friendship. He graduated B.A. and was ordained deacon in 1792, becoming assistant curate to William Jesse, rector of Dowles, near Bewdley
. He remained at Dowles until 1795, when, on receiving priest's orders, he became assistant minister under Richard Cecil, the evangelical minister of St John's Chapel, Bedford Row
.
On 7 September 1797 he married and settled at 22 Doughty Street. There he received pupils, among them being Daniel Wilson, with whom he became close friends. In 1799, at a meeting of the Eclectic Society
, which met in the vestry of St John's, he argued for a periodical publication. The first number of the Christian Observer
appeared in January 1802 under his editorship. After six weeks he resigned the editorship to Zachary Macaulay
.
Pratt also took part in the meetings of the Eclectic (18 March and 12 April 1799) at which the Church Missionary Society was effectively founded. On 8 December 1802 he was elected secretary of the missionary society in succession to Thomas Scott
. He kept the post for more than 21 years. From 1813 to 1815 he travelled through England for the society. He took part in the establishment of a seminary at Islington
for the training of missionaries, which was planned in 1822, and opened by him in 1825. On 23 April 1824, he resigned his post to Edward Bickersteth, assistant secretary. He set up the Missionary Register, of which the first number appeared in January 1813.
Pratt also helped to form the British and Foreign Bible Society
in 1804; he was one of the original committee, and was its first Church of England secretary, but then retired in favour of John Owen. In 1811 he was elected a life-governor, and in 1812 he helped to frame the rules for the organisation of auxiliary and branch societies, and of bible associations.
In 1804 Pratt left Cecil to become lecturer at St Mary Woolnoth, Lombard Street, where John Newton
, another evangelical leader, whose health was failing, was rector. Next year he became Newton's regular assistant curate. In 1804 he also undertook two other lectureships, the evening lecture at Spitalfields Church, and Lady Campden's lecture at St Lawrence Jewry
. In 1810 he was made by Hastings Wheler the incumbent of the chapel of Sir George Wheler
, or ‘Wheler Chapel,’ in Spital Square, which had been shut up for some time. For sixteen years he stayed there and set up the ‘Spitalfields Benevolent Society;’ among his congregation were Samuel Hoare of Hampstead, the friend of the Wordsworths, and Thomas Fowell Buxton
. Buxton with others left the Society of Friends, and were baptised into the Church of England.
He worked actively in promoting the church establishment in India, encouraging Dr. Claudius Buchanan, and urging the Church Missionary Society to give practical aid when Dr. Thomas Fanshaw Middleton was appointed bishop of Calcutta. In 1820 Pratt corresponded with two American bishops (Drs. Griswold and White), and welcomed Dr. Philander Chase
, bishop of Ohio, on his visit to England; and it was partly through his efforts that an American missionary society was established. He also supported in the mission of his brother-in-law William Jowett
to Malta
and the Levant, and founded with Dr. Buchanan the Malta mission.
In 1826, when Pratt was fifty-eight, he finally became a beneficed clergyman. The parishioners of St Stephen's, Coleman Street, who elected their own vicar, had chosen him their vicar as early as 1823. But legal difficulties arose, and were not overcome for three years. He retained his lectureship at St Mary Woolnoth until 1831. He established various Christian and benevolent institutions in St. Stephen's parish, opposed the Oxford movement
, and took part in the formation of the Church Pastoral Aid Society
.
Pratt remained a prominent leader of the evangelicals. Alexander Knox described a meeting with him at Hannah More
's, and called him ‘a serious, well-bred, well-informed gentleman, an intimate friend of Mrs. More's and Mr. Wilberforce's.’ Pratt died in London on 10 October 1844, and was buried in the vault in the church of St Stephen's, Coleman Street. By his wife Elizabeth, eldest daughter of John Jowett of Newington, he was father of Josiah, his successor at St. Stephen's; and of John Henry Pratt
.
attacked him for presumption. Pratt published a ‘Vindication;’ but the scheme fell through.
He edited the works of Bishop Joseph Hall
(10 vols. 1808), of Bishop Ezekiel Hopkins
(4 vols. 1809), ‘Cecil's Remains’ (1810), and Cecil's ‘Works’ (4 vols. 1811). Among his other works were ‘Propaganda, being an Abstract of the Designs and Proceedings of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, with Extracts from the Annual Sermons. By a Member of the Society,’ 1818; ‘A Collection of Psalms and Hymns,’ 750 in number, for the use of his parishioners in public worship, of which 52,000 copies were sold; and another ‘Collection’ for private and social use.
Life
The second son of Josiah Pratt, a BirminghamBirmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
manufacturer, he was born in Birmingham on 21 December 1768. With his two younger brothers, Isaac and Henry, Josiah was educated at Barr House school, six miles from Birmingham. When he was twelve years old his father took him into his business; but at the age of seventeen he obtained his father's permission to enter holy orders. After some private tuition, he matriculated on 28 June 1789 from St Edmund Hall, Oxford
St Edmund Hall, Oxford
St Edmund Hall is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Better known within the University by its nickname, "Teddy Hall", the college has a claim to being "the oldest academical society for the education of undergraduates in any university"...
, at that time the stronghold of evangelicalism in the university. His college tutor was Isaac Crouch, and they formed a lifelong friendship. He graduated B.A. and was ordained deacon in 1792, becoming assistant curate to William Jesse, rector of Dowles, near Bewdley
Bewdley
Bewdley is a town and civil parish in the Wyre Forest District of Worcestershire, England, along the Severn Valley a few miles to the west of Kidderminster...
. He remained at Dowles until 1795, when, on receiving priest's orders, he became assistant minister under Richard Cecil, the evangelical minister of St John's Chapel, Bedford Row
St John's Chapel, Bedford Row
St John's Chapel, Bedford Row, in Bloomsbury, London, was a proprietary chapel and the home of a large evangelical Anglican congregation in the 19th century. According to The Eclectic Review it was built for people who seceded from the congregation of St Andrew's, Holborn after Henry Sacheverell...
.
On 7 September 1797 he married and settled at 22 Doughty Street. There he received pupils, among them being Daniel Wilson, with whom he became close friends. In 1799, at a meeting of the Eclectic Society
Eclectic Society (Christian)
The Eclectic Society was founded in 1783 by a number of Anglican clergymen and laymen as a discussion group, and was instrumental in the founding of the Church Missionary Society in 1799.-Origins:...
, which met in the vestry of St John's, he argued for a periodical publication. The first number of the Christian Observer
Christian Observer
The Christian Observer was an Anglican evangelical periodical, appearing from 1802 to 1874.The Christian Observer was founded by William Hey "in response to the dissenters' Leeds Mercury." It was published by the bookseller John Hatchard. Various members of the Clapham Sect were associated with the...
appeared in January 1802 under his editorship. After six weeks he resigned the editorship to Zachary Macaulay
Zachary Macaulay
Zachary Macaulay was a slavery abolitionist and campaigner.-Early life:Macaulay was born in Inveraray, Scotland, the son of the Rev. John Macaulay Zachary Macaulay (2 May 1768 – 13 May 1838) was a slavery abolitionist and campaigner.-Early life:Macaulay was born in Inveraray, Scotland, the son of...
.
Pratt also took part in the meetings of the Eclectic (18 March and 12 April 1799) at which the Church Missionary Society was effectively founded. On 8 December 1802 he was elected secretary of the missionary society in succession to Thomas Scott
Thomas Scott (commentator)
The Rev. Thomas Scott was an influential preacher and author who is principally known for his best-selling work A Commentary On The Whole Bible and The Force of Truth, and as one of the founders of the Church Missionary Society.- Life :...
. He kept the post for more than 21 years. From 1813 to 1815 he travelled through England for the society. He took part in the establishment of a seminary at Islington
Islington
Islington is a neighbourhood in Greater London, England and forms the central district of the London Borough of Islington. It is a district of Inner London, spanning from Islington High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the area around the busy Upper Street...
for the training of missionaries, which was planned in 1822, and opened by him in 1825. On 23 April 1824, he resigned his post to Edward Bickersteth, assistant secretary. He set up the Missionary Register, of which the first number appeared in January 1813.
Pratt also helped to form the British and Foreign Bible Society
British and Foreign Bible Society
The British and Foreign Bible Society, often known in England and Wales as simply as Bible Society, is a non-denominational Christian Bible society with charity status whose purpose is to make the Bible available throughout the world....
in 1804; he was one of the original committee, and was its first Church of England secretary, but then retired in favour of John Owen. In 1811 he was elected a life-governor, and in 1812 he helped to frame the rules for the organisation of auxiliary and branch societies, and of bible associations.
In 1804 Pratt left Cecil to become lecturer at St Mary Woolnoth, Lombard Street, where John Newton
John Newton
John Henry Newton was a British sailor and Anglican clergyman. Starting his career on the sea at a young age, he became involved with the slave trade for a few years. After experiencing a religious conversion, he became a minister, hymn-writer, and later a prominent supporter of the abolition of...
, another evangelical leader, whose health was failing, was rector. Next year he became Newton's regular assistant curate. In 1804 he also undertook two other lectureships, the evening lecture at Spitalfields Church, and Lady Campden's lecture at St Lawrence Jewry
St Lawrence Jewry
St Lawrence Jewry is a Church of England guild church in the City of London on Gresham Street, next to the Guildhall.-History:The church was originally built in the twelfth century and dedicated to St Lawrence The church is near the former medieval Jewish ghetto, which was centred...
. In 1810 he was made by Hastings Wheler the incumbent of the chapel of Sir George Wheler
Sir George Wheler
-Life:The son of Charles Wheler of Charing, Kent, colonel in the Life Guards, by his wife Anne, daughter of John Hutchin of Egerton, Kent, he was born at Breda in Holland, where his parents, who were Royalists, were in exile. He was educated at a school in Wye, Kent and Lincoln College, Oxford,...
, or ‘Wheler Chapel,’ in Spital Square, which had been shut up for some time. For sixteen years he stayed there and set up the ‘Spitalfields Benevolent Society;’ among his congregation were Samuel Hoare of Hampstead, the friend of the Wordsworths, and Thomas Fowell Buxton
Thomas Fowell Buxton
Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, 1st Baronet was an English Member of Parliament, brewer, abolitionist and social reformer....
. Buxton with others left the Society of Friends, and were baptised into the Church of England.
He worked actively in promoting the church establishment in India, encouraging Dr. Claudius Buchanan, and urging the Church Missionary Society to give practical aid when Dr. Thomas Fanshaw Middleton was appointed bishop of Calcutta. In 1820 Pratt corresponded with two American bishops (Drs. Griswold and White), and welcomed Dr. Philander Chase
Philander Chase
Philander Chase was an Episcopal Church bishop, educator, and pioneer of the United States western frontier in Ohio and Illinois.-Life:...
, bishop of Ohio, on his visit to England; and it was partly through his efforts that an American missionary society was established. He also supported in the mission of his brother-in-law William Jowett
William Jowett
William Jowett was a missionary and author, in 1813 becoming the first Anglican clergyman to volunteer for the overseas service of the Church Missionary Society...
to Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
and the Levant, and founded with Dr. Buchanan the Malta mission.
In 1826, when Pratt was fifty-eight, he finally became a beneficed clergyman. The parishioners of St Stephen's, Coleman Street, who elected their own vicar, had chosen him their vicar as early as 1823. But legal difficulties arose, and were not overcome for three years. He retained his lectureship at St Mary Woolnoth until 1831. He established various Christian and benevolent institutions in St. Stephen's parish, opposed the Oxford movement
Oxford Movement
The Oxford Movement was a movement of High Church Anglicans, eventually developing into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose members were often associated with the University of Oxford, argued for the reinstatement of lost Christian traditions of faith and their inclusion into Anglican liturgy...
, and took part in the formation of the Church Pastoral Aid Society
Church Pastoral Aid Society
is an Anglican evangelical mission agency which works with a wide variety of churches across the UK and the Republic of Ireland. Its aim is to ‘enable churches to help every person hear and discover the good news of Jesus’. It provides a range of tools, training and resources to churches to develop...
.
Pratt remained a prominent leader of the evangelicals. Alexander Knox described a meeting with him at Hannah More
Hannah More
Hannah More was an English religious writer, and philanthropist. She can be said to have made three reputations in the course of her long life: as a poet and playwright in the circle of Johnson, Reynolds and Garrick, as a writer on moral and religious subjects, and as a practical...
's, and called him ‘a serious, well-bred, well-informed gentleman, an intimate friend of Mrs. More's and Mr. Wilberforce's.’ Pratt died in London on 10 October 1844, and was buried in the vault in the church of St Stephen's, Coleman Street. By his wife Elizabeth, eldest daughter of John Jowett of Newington, he was father of Josiah, his successor at St. Stephen's; and of John Henry Pratt
John Henry Pratt
John Henry Pratt was a British clergyman and mathematician who devised a theory of crustal balance which would become the basis for the isostasy principle.-Life:...
.
Works
In 1797 he issued ‘A Prospectus, with Specimens, of a new Polyglot Bible for the use of English Students,’ a scheme for popularising the labours of Brian Walton. The British CriticBritish Critic
The British Critic: A New Review was a quarterly publication, established in 1793 as a conservative and high church review journal riding the tide of British reaction against the French Revolution.-High church review:...
attacked him for presumption. Pratt published a ‘Vindication;’ but the scheme fell through.
He edited the works of Bishop Joseph Hall
Joseph Hall
Joseph Hall may refer to:*Joseph Hall *Joseph Hall *Joseph N. Hall , American author*Joseph Hall US Representative from Maine*Joseph Hall...
(10 vols. 1808), of Bishop Ezekiel Hopkins
Ezekiel Hopkins
Ezekiel Hopkins was an Anglican divine in the Church of Ireland, who was Bishop of Derry from 1681 to 1690.-Life:He was born in Devon, and was educated at Merchant Taylors' School and Magdalen College, Oxford, where he was a chorister from 1648 to 1653, and graduated B.A. in 1655 and M.A. in 1656...
(4 vols. 1809), ‘Cecil's Remains’ (1810), and Cecil's ‘Works’ (4 vols. 1811). Among his other works were ‘Propaganda, being an Abstract of the Designs and Proceedings of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, with Extracts from the Annual Sermons. By a Member of the Society,’ 1818; ‘A Collection of Psalms and Hymns,’ 750 in number, for the use of his parishioners in public worship, of which 52,000 copies were sold; and another ‘Collection’ for private and social use.