Thomas Collier was an English General Baptist

Baptist

Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...

 preacher and Arian

Arianism

Arianism is the theological teaching attributed to Arius , a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt, concerning the relationship of the entities of the Trinity and the precise nature of the Son of God as being a subordinate entity to God the Father...

 polemicist.

Life

Thomas Edwards

Thomas Edwards (Heresiographer)

Thomas Edwards was an English Puritan clergyman. He was a very influential preacher in London of the 1640s, and also one of the most ferocious polemical writers of the time, arguing from a conservative Presbyterian point of view against the Independents.-Life:He graduated M.A. from Queens'...

 in his Gangræna alleged that Collier originally was an illiterate carter or husbandman. In 1634, when he is described as of Witley

Witley

Witley, in Surrey, England is a village south west of Godalming. The village lies just east of the A3 that runs from Guildford to Petersfield. Witley together with the neighbouring area of Hambledon have a population of about 4,000. Neighbouring villages include Milford, Chiddingfold and...

, Surrey

Surrey

Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...

, he was complained of for obstinately refusing to pay taxations in the tithing of Enton

Enton

Enton is a hamlet in the civil parish of Witley in the Waverley district of Surrey, England. Its nearest town is Godalming, which lies approximately north-east from the hamlet....

, in the parish of Godalming

Godalming

Godalming is a town and civil parish in the Waverley district of the county of Surrey, England, south of Guildford. It is built on the banks of the River Wey and is a prosperous part of the London commuter belt. Godalming shares a three-way twinning arrangement with the towns of Joigny in France...

, where he had an estate. The taxes included the ship money

Ship money

Ship money refers to a tax that Charles I of England tried to levy without the consent of Parliament. This tax, which was only applied to coastal towns during a time of war, was intended to offset the cost of defending that part of the coast, and could be paid in actual ships or the equivalent value...

 which Charles I of England

Charles I of England

Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...

 had tried to levy without the consent of Parliament.

Becoming a Baptist and preacher, though without academic education, he preached for some time in Guernsey

Guernsey

Guernsey, officially the Bailiwick of Guernsey is a British Crown dependency in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy.The Bailiwick, as a governing entity, embraces not only all 10 parishes on the Island of Guernsey, but also the islands of Herm, Jethou, Burhou, and Lihou and their islet...

, where he made many converts, but ultimately he and some of his followers were banished the island for their views and turbulent behaviour, and he was imprisoned at Portsmouth

Portsmouth

Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...

. In, or perhaps shortly before, 1646 he was a preacher at York

York

York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...

. About the same period there are traces of him at Guildford

Guildford

Guildford is the county town of Surrey. England, as well as the seat for the borough of Guildford and the administrative headquarters of the South East England region...

, Lymington

Lymington

Lymington is a port on the west bank of the Lymington River on the Solent, in the New Forest district of Hampshire, England. It is to the east of the South East Dorset conurbation, and faces Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight which is connected to it by a car ferry, operated by Wightlink. The town...

, Southampton

Southampton

Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...

, Waltham

Waltham

-Horology:* Waltham Watch Company, American watch manufacturer, pioneer in the industrialisation of the manufacturing of watch movements** Waltham International, Swiss subsidiary-Places:In Canada:*Waltham, QuebecIn England:...

, Poole

Poole

Poole is a large coastal town and seaport in the county of Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester, and Bournemouth adjoins Poole to the east. The Borough of Poole was made a unitary authority in 1997, gaining administrative independence from Dorset County Council...

, Taunton

Taunton

Taunton is the county town of Somerset, England. The town, including its suburbs, had an estimated population of 61,400 in 2001. It is the largest town in the shire county of Somerset....

, London, and Putney

Putney

Putney is a district in south-west London, England, located in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is situated south-west of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....

; and in 1652 he was preacher at Westbury

Westbury

-Places:Australia*Westbury, TasmaniaCanada*Westbury, QuebecIreland*Westbury, suburb of LimerickUnited Kingdom*Westbury, Buckinghamshire*Westbury, Shropshire*Westbury, Wiltshire*Westbury-on-Severn, Gloucestershire*Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol...

, Somerset

Somerset

The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...

. At one time he was minister at Luppitt

Luppitt

Luppitt is a village and civil parish in East Devon situated about due north of Honiton....

 and Up-Ottery, Devon

Devon

Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

. What became of him after the English Restoration

English Restoration

The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...

 is not clear, but it is probable that he was living in 1691, when the last of his numerous publications came from the press.

He was the subject of Thomas Hall

Thomas Hall (minister)

-Life:He was son of Richard Hall, clothier, by his wife Elizabeth , and was born in St. Andrew's parish, Worcester, about 22 July 1610. He was educated at the King's School, Worcester, under Henry Bright , one of the most celebrated schoolmasters of the day. In 1624 he entered Balliol College,...

's The Collier and his Colours. His name is often mentioned with the Particular Baptist anti-trinitarian, Paul Hobson

Paul Hobson

Captain Paul Hobson was an antinomian Particular Baptist who served in the parliamentary army during the English Civil War.He was one of the signatories to the Baptist Confession of 1644, who later adopted Fifth Monarchy ideas.-References:...

 (fl.1646-1670) who in 1663 conspired with a group of Fifth Monarchists

Fifth Monarchists

The Fifth Monarchists or Fifth Monarchy Men were active from 1649 to 1661 during the Interregnum, following the English Civil Wars of the 17th century. They took their name from a prophecy in the Book of Daniel that four ancient monarchies would precede Christ's return...

 and ex-Cromwell officers in the Farnley Wood Plot.

Works

From 1640s to 1691, in a series of booklets, he eventually turned to an Arian position against the Trinity.

His works are:

• ‘Certain Queries, or points now in controversy examined,’ 1645.
• ‘The Exaltation of Christ,’ London 1646, with an epistle to the reader by Hanserd Knollys
  Hanserd Knollys
  -Life:He was born at Cawkwell, Lincolnshire, about 1599. He was educated privately under a tutor, was for a short time at Great Grimsby grammar school, and afterwards matriculated at St Catharine's College, Cambridge in 1627 or 1629. Leaving the university, he became master of the grammar school at...
  
   prefixed.
• Letters dated Guildford, 20 April 1646, and London, 2 May 1646: printed in Edwards's ‘Gangræna,’ ii. 51, 52, and in Benjamin Brook
  Benjamin Brook
  -Life:He was born at Nether Thong, near Huddersfield. When young he was admitted to membership in the independent church at Holmfield, under the Rev. Robert Gallond. In 1797 he entered Rotherham College as a student for the ministry...
  
  's Lives of the Puritans, iii. 28, 29.
• ‘The Marrow of Christianity,’ London 1647.
• ‘The Glory of Christ, and the Ruine of Antichrist, unvailed,’ 1647.
• ‘A Brief Discovery of the Corruption of the Ministry of the Church of England,’ Lond. 1647.
• ‘A Discovery of the New Creation. In a Sermon preached at the Head-Quarters at Putney,’ London 1647.
• ‘A Vindication of the Army Remonstrance,’ London 1648. This was in reply to a tract by William Sedgwick
  William Sedgwick (clergyman)
  William Sedgwick was an English clergyman of Puritan views and mystical tendencies, known as the “apostle of the Isle of Ely” and “Doomsday Sedgwick”.-Life:...
  
  .
• ‘A General Epistle to the Universall Church of the First Born,’ London 1648.
• ‘A Second Generall Epistle to all the Saints,’ London 1649.
• ‘The Heads and Substance of his Discourse with John Smith and Charles Carlile,’ London 1651.
• ‘Narrative of the Conference between John Smith and Thomas Collier,’ London 1652.
• ‘The Pulpit-guard routed in its twenty Strongholds,’ London 1652, in answer to a book published in the previous year by Thomas Hall of King's Norton, Worcestershire, entitled ‘The Pulpit guarded.’ Hall replied to Collier, who published a rejoinder, with answers to comments which had been made on his work by John Ferriby and Richard Saunders.
• ‘The Right Constitution and True Subjects of the Visible Church of Christ,’ London 1654.
• ‘A Brief Answer to some of the Objections and Demurs made against the coming in and inhabiting of the Jews in this Commonwealth,’ London 1656.
• ‘A Looking-glasse for the Quakers,’ London 1657. In reply to James Naylor.
• ‘A Discourse of the true Gospel-Blessedness in the New Covenant,’ London 1659.
• ‘The Decision of the Great Point now in Controversie about the Interest of Christ and the Civill Magistrate in the Government of this World,’ London 1659.
• ‘The Body of Divinity,’ London 1674.
• ‘Additional Word to the Body of Divinity,’ 167–, to which Nehemiah Coxe published a reply.
• ‘A Doctrinal Discourse of Self-denial,’ London 1691.