Sir Culling Eardley Eardley, 3rd baronet
Encyclopedia
Sir Culling Eardley Eardley, 3rd baronet (21 April 1805 – 21 May 1863), born Culling Eardley Smith, was a Christian
campaigner for religious freedom and for the protestant cause, one of the founders of the Evangelical Alliance
.
, his father, Sir Culling Smith, 2nd Baronet (1768–1829), was of Huguenot
extraction and his mother, Charlotte Elizabeth (d. 15 Sept 1826) was the daughter of Sampson Eardley, 1st Baron Eardley
, and hence the granddaughter of Jewish financier
Sampson Gideon
. Though the title Baron Eardley had not survived, Charlotte Elizabeth was heiress to much of the Eardley estate.
Smith attended Eton College
and Oriel College, Oxford where, though he passed his BA
examinations, he never graduated
, having become a convinced evangelical Christian. He succeeded to his baronetcy on his father's death in 1829 and married Isabella Carr (died 1 May 1860) in 1832. They had one son, Eardley Gideon Culling Eardley (1838–1875), and two daughters. He inherited Bedwell Park, Hertfordshire
from his father. From his cousin William Thomas Eardley-Twisleton-Fiennes, 15th Baron Saye and Sele he inherited Belvedere, Erith
, Kent
and the Eardley estates in 1847 and changed his name from Smith to Eardley by royal license.
s, Eardley was briefly Liberal
Member of Parliament
for Pontefract
from 1830
to 1831
. Though he stood again, unsuccessfully, in the 1837 general election
, his principal driver was his religious faith. He served as High Sheriff of Lincolnshire
in 1858.
Eardley was raised in the Church of England
and despite his subsequent convictions, in particular his condemnation of State religion
, remained a member. His beliefs were closely related to Congregationalism
, though he never left the Anglican church. In 1839 he became chairman and treasurer of the Evangelical Voluntary Church Association, which campaigned for disestablishment. When the Association was dissolved in 1844, Eardley became chairman of the Anti-Maynooth Committee and Conference which campaigned, without success, against the Maynooth Grant
.
In 1845/ 6, with evangelist Ridley Haim Herschell
he became, one of the founders, and first chairman, of the Evangelical Alliance.
He again attempted to return to politics to found a platform for his campaigning zeal, fighting Edinburgh
in 1846, against Thomas Babington Macaulay who supported Maynooth, and the West Riding of Yorkshire
in 1848. However, he was increasingly drawn to campaigning for freedom of religion
, Protestant, Roman Catholic, or Jewish. He established an influential international network that included Giuseppe Garibaldi
, Christian Charles Josias Bunsen
and Frederick William IV of Prussia
. He was treasurer of the London Missionary Society
from 1844 to 1863, and of a fund for relief of Lebanese
Christians after the 1861 massacres. He worked hard to maintain broad friendly relationships with all creeds and strove to improve relationships between the Church of England and noncomformists
. In 1844, he gave financial support to Ridley Haim Herschell
's Trinity Chappel in Edgware Road, London.
However, he was a particularly strong supporter of those who felt themselves excluded from the Church of England by the practices of the Anglo Catholics. From 1850 to 1853, he sponsored, and gave financial support, to the construction of an evangelical church at Furrough Cross, Babbacombe
, defying Henry Phillpotts
Bishop of Exeter
. He also built a church on his Erith estate. He was also a prominent supporter of Giacinto Achilli
's, ultimately discredited, evangelical campaign in Britain. In July 1854 Eardley was a founder member and chairman of the Turkish Missions Aid Society, an evangelical charity set up to support missionary work among Armenian Christians in Turkey. The charity is known today as BibleLands.
in the 1850s. He suffered from poor health in later life but died at Bedwell from an adverse reaction to a smallpox vaccination.
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
campaigner for religious freedom and for the protestant cause, one of the founders of the Evangelical Alliance
Evangelical Alliance
The Evangelical Alliance is a London-based charitable organization founded in 1846. It has a claimed representation of over 1,000,000 evangelical Christians in the United Kingdom and is the oldest alliance of evangelical Christians in the world....
.
Early life
Born LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, his father, Sir Culling Smith, 2nd Baronet (1768–1829), was of Huguenot
Huguenot
The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...
extraction and his mother, Charlotte Elizabeth (d. 15 Sept 1826) was the daughter of Sampson Eardley, 1st Baron Eardley
Sampson Eardley, 1st Baron Eardley
Sampson Eardley, 1st Baron Eardley , known as Sampson Gideon until 1789, was the son of another Sampson Gideon , a Jewish banker in the City of London who advised the British government in the 1740s and 1750s.He served as Member of Parliament for Cambridgeshire from 1770 to 1780, Midhurst from 1780...
, and hence the granddaughter of Jewish financier
Financier
Financier is a term for a person who handles typically large sums of money, usually involving money lending, financing projects, large-scale investing, or large-scale money management. The term is French, and derives from finance or payment...
Sampson Gideon
Sampson Gideon
Sampson Gideon was a Jewish-British banker in the City of London. He was a trusted "adviser of the Government," and supporter the Jew Bill of 1753. His son, educated at Eton, was created Sampson Eardley, 1st Baron Eardley....
. Though the title Baron Eardley had not survived, Charlotte Elizabeth was heiress to much of the Eardley estate.
Smith attended Eton College
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
and Oriel College, Oxford where, though he passed his BA
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
examinations, he never graduated
Graduation
Graduation is the action of receiving or conferring an academic degree or the ceremony that is sometimes associated, where students become Graduates. Before the graduation, candidates are referred to as Graduands. The date of graduation is often called degree day. The graduation itself is also...
, having become a convinced evangelical Christian. He succeeded to his baronetcy on his father's death in 1829 and married Isabella Carr (died 1 May 1860) in 1832. They had one son, Eardley Gideon Culling Eardley (1838–1875), and two daughters. He inherited Bedwell Park, Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
from his father. From his cousin William Thomas Eardley-Twisleton-Fiennes, 15th Baron Saye and Sele he inherited Belvedere, Erith
Erith
Erith is a district of southeast London on the River Thames. Erith's town centre has undergone a series of modernisations since 1961.-Pre-medieval:...
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
and the Eardley estates in 1847 and changed his name from Smith to Eardley by royal license.
Politics and campaigning
An instinctive campaigner with an interest in reform of the poor lawPoor Law
The English Poor Laws were a system of poor relief which existed in England and Wales that developed out of late-medieval and Tudor-era laws before being codified in 1587–98...
s, Eardley was briefly Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Pontefract
Pontefract (UK Parliament constituency)
Pontefract was an English parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Pontefract in the West Riding of Yorkshire, which returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons briefly in the 13th century and again from 1621 until 1885, and one member from 1885 to 1974.-In the unreformed...
from 1830
United Kingdom general election, 1830
The 1830 United Kingdom general election, was triggered by the death of King George IV and produced the first parliament of the reign of his successor, William IV. Fought in the aftermath of the Swing Riots, it saw electoral reform become a major election issue...
to 1831
United Kingdom general election, 1831
The 1831 general election in the United Kingdom saw a landslide win by supporters of electoral reform, which was the major election issue. As a result it was the last unreformed election, as the Parliament which resulted ensured the passage of the Reform Act 1832. Polling was held from 28 April to...
. Though he stood again, unsuccessfully, in the 1837 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1837
The 1837 United Kingdom general election saw Robert Peel's Conservatives close further on the position of the Whigs, who won their fourth election of the decade....
, his principal driver was his religious faith. He served as High Sheriff of Lincolnshire
High Sheriff of Lincolnshire
This is a list of High Sheriffs of Lincolnshire.The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities associated with the post have been transferred...
in 1858.
Eardley was raised in the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
and despite his subsequent convictions, in particular his condemnation of State religion
State religion
A state religion is a religious body or creed officially endorsed by the state...
, remained a member. His beliefs were closely related to Congregationalism
Congregationalist polity
Congregationalist polity, often known as congregationalism, is a system of church governance in which every local church congregation is independent, ecclesiastically sovereign, or "autonomous"...
, though he never left the Anglican church. In 1839 he became chairman and treasurer of the Evangelical Voluntary Church Association, which campaigned for disestablishment. When the Association was dissolved in 1844, Eardley became chairman of the Anti-Maynooth Committee and Conference which campaigned, without success, against the Maynooth Grant
Maynooth Grant
The Maynooth Grant was a major British political controversy of the 1840s which arose partly due to the general anti-Irish and anti-Catholic feelings of the British population....
.
In 1845/ 6, with evangelist Ridley Haim Herschell
Ridley Haim Herschell
Ridley Haim Herschell was an Anglo-Polish minister who converted from Judaism to evangelical Christianity...
he became, one of the founders, and first chairman, of the Evangelical Alliance.
He again attempted to return to politics to found a platform for his campaigning zeal, fighting Edinburgh
Edinburgh (UK Parliament constituency)
Edinburgh was a burgh constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1801 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 until 1885. Originally a single member constituency, representation was increased to two members in 1832...
in 1846, against Thomas Babington Macaulay who supported Maynooth, and the West Riding of Yorkshire
West Riding of Yorkshire (UK Parliament constituency)
West Riding of Yorkshire was a parliamentary constituency in England from 1832 to 1865. It returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.-Boundaries and History:...
in 1848. However, he was increasingly drawn to campaigning for freedom of religion
Freedom of religion
Freedom of religion is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance; the concept is generally recognized also to include the freedom to change religion or not to follow any...
, Protestant, Roman Catholic, or Jewish. He established an influential international network that included Giuseppe Garibaldi
Giuseppe Garibaldi
Giuseppe Garibaldi was an Italian military and political figure. In his twenties, he joined the Carbonari Italian patriot revolutionaries, and fled Italy after a failed insurrection. Garibaldi took part in the War of the Farrapos and the Uruguayan Civil War leading the Italian Legion, and...
, Christian Charles Josias Bunsen
Christian Charles Josias Bunsen
Christian Charles Josias, Baron von Bunsen was a German diplomat and scholar.-Early life and education:Bunsen was born at Korbach, an old town in the little German principality of Waldeck....
and Frederick William IV of Prussia
Frederick William IV of Prussia
|align=right|Upon his accession, he toned down the reactionary policies enacted by his father, easing press censorship and promising to enact a constitution at some point, but he refused to enact a popular legislative assembly, preferring to work with the aristocracy through "united committees" of...
. He was treasurer of the London Missionary Society
London Missionary Society
The London Missionary Society was a non-denominational missionary society formed in England in 1795 by evangelical Anglicans and Nonconformists, largely Congregationalist in outlook, with missions in the islands of the South Pacific and Africa...
from 1844 to 1863, and of a fund for relief of Lebanese
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
Christians after the 1861 massacres. He worked hard to maintain broad friendly relationships with all creeds and strove to improve relationships between the Church of England and noncomformists
Nonconformism
Nonconformity is the refusal to "conform" to, or follow, the governance and usages of the Church of England by the Protestant Christians of England and Wales.- Origins and use:...
. In 1844, he gave financial support to Ridley Haim Herschell
Ridley Haim Herschell
Ridley Haim Herschell was an Anglo-Polish minister who converted from Judaism to evangelical Christianity...
's Trinity Chappel in Edgware Road, London.
However, he was a particularly strong supporter of those who felt themselves excluded from the Church of England by the practices of the Anglo Catholics. From 1850 to 1853, he sponsored, and gave financial support, to the construction of an evangelical church at Furrough Cross, Babbacombe
Babbacombe
"Babbacombe" may also refer to John 'Babbacombe' LeeBabbacombe is a district of Torquay, Devon, England. It is notable for Babbacombe Model Village, and its clifftop green, Babbacombe Downs, from which Oddicombe Beach is accessed via Babbacombe Cliff Railway.There is a miniature village in the area....
, defying Henry Phillpotts
Henry Phillpotts
Henry Phillpotts , often called "Henry of Exeter", was the Anglican Bishop of Exeter from 1830 to 1869. He was England's longest serving bishop since the 14th century and a striking figure of the 19th century Church.- Early life :...
Bishop of Exeter
Bishop of Exeter
The Bishop of Exeter is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Exeter in the Province of Canterbury. The incumbent usually signs his name as Exon or incorporates this in his signature....
. He also built a church on his Erith estate. He was also a prominent supporter of Giacinto Achilli
Giacinto Achilli
Giovanni Giacinto Achilli was an Italian Roman Catholic who was discharged from the priesthood for sexual misconduct and subsequently became a fervent advocate of the Protestant evangelical cause...
's, ultimately discredited, evangelical campaign in Britain. In July 1854 Eardley was a founder member and chairman of the Turkish Missions Aid Society, an evangelical charity set up to support missionary work among Armenian Christians in Turkey. The charity is known today as BibleLands.
Personal life
Mostly resident a Bedwell, he lived at Belvedere from 1848 to 1858 and also had a house at Frognel, TorquayTorquay
Torquay is a town in the unitary authority area of Torbay and ceremonial county of Devon, England. It lies south of Exeter along the A380 on the north of Torbay, north-east of Plymouth and adjoins the neighbouring town of Paignton on the west of the bay. Torquay’s population of 63,998 during the...
in the 1850s. He suffered from poor health in later life but died at Bedwell from an adverse reaction to a smallpox vaccination.
Obituaries
- The TimesThe TimesThe Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, 22 May 1863 - The Record [magazine of Oriel College, Oxford], 22 May 1863
- Evangelical Christendom, 17 (1863), 257–60
About Eardley
- — (2004) "Eardley , Sir Culling Eardley, third baronet (1805–1863)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, accessed 4 August 2007
External links
- Belvedere at Bexley Council website