Stephen Nettles was an English clergyman and controversialist.

Life

He was a native of Shropshire

Shropshire

Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...

, was admitted pensioner of Queens' College, Cambridge

Queens' College, Cambridge

Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou , and refounded in 1465 by Elizabeth Woodville...

, on 25 June 1595, graduated B.A. in 1599, and was elected fellow on 11 October 1599. He proceeded M.A. in 1602, and commenced B.D. as a member of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge

Corpus Christi College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is notable as the only college founded by Cambridge townspeople: it was established in 1352 by the Guilds of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary...

.

In 1610 he became rector of Lexden

Lexden

Lexden is a suburb of Colchester, Essex, England. It was formerly a village, and has previously been called Lessendon, Lassendene and Læxadyne. Lexden is mentioned in the Domesday Book....

, on 24 March 1617 vicar of Great Tey

Great Tey

Great Tey is a village and a civil parish near the villages of Marks Tey and Little Tey in the Colchester District in Essex, England, located approximatelly six miles west of Colchester.- Location :...

, which he resigned before 27 January 1638, and in 1623 vicar of Steeple

Steeple, Essex

Steeple is a small village in south Essex. It is situated just east of Maylandsea and Mayland, on the southern side of the River Blackwater estuary.A hamlet, within the village of Steeple, on the banks of the River Blackwater is called Stansgate....

, all in Essex

Essex

Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...

. He signed the 1629 petition for conformity. During the period of the First English Civil War

First English Civil War

The First English Civil War began the series of three wars known as the English Civil War . "The English Civil War" was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations that took place between Parliamentarians and Royalists from 1642 until 1651, and includes the Second English Civil War and...

 he ignored the Solemn League and Covenant

Solemn League and Covenant

The Solemn League and Covenant was an agreement between the Scottish Covenanters and the leaders of the English Parliamentarians. It was agreed to in 1643, during the First English Civil War....

, and continued to use the Book of Common Prayer

Book of Common Prayer

The Book of Common Prayer is the short title of a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion, as well as by the Continuing Anglican, "Anglican realignment" and other Anglican churches. The original book, published in 1549 , in the reign of Edward VI, was a product of the English...

. His livings of Lexden and Steeple were sequestrated in 1644, but he resisted the sequestration and his successor Gabriel Wyresdale until 1647, when he was removed from the rectory at Lexden.

Works

He wrote a learned Answer to the Jewish Part of Mr. Selden's History of Tithes, Oxford, 1625, in answer to John Selden

John Selden

John Selden was an English jurist and a scholar of England's ancient laws and constitution and scholar of Jewish law...

's history of tithes. and was ejected from his rectory on 16 August 1644 by force of arms.