Thomas Hall (minister)
Encyclopedia
Life
He was son of Richard Hall, clothier, by his wife Elizabeth (Bonner), and was born in St. Andrew's parish, WorcesterWorcester
The City of Worcester, commonly known as Worcester, , is a city and county town of Worcestershire in the West Midlands of England. Worcester is situated some southwest of Birmingham and north of Gloucester, and has an approximate population of 94,000 people. The River Severn runs through the...
, about 22 July 1610. He was educated at the King's School, Worcester
The King's School, Worcester
The King's School, Worcester is an English independent school refounded by Henry VIII in 1541. It occupies a site adjacent to Worcester Cathedral on the banks of the River Severn in the centre of the city of Worcester...
, under Henry Bright
Henry Bright (teacher)
Henry Bright was an Usher, and then Headmaster, at King's College, Worcester. He is mentioned in Worthies of England, by Thomas Fuller as an exceptional teacher...
(d. 1626), one of the most celebrated schoolmasters of the day. In 1624 he entered Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....
, as an exhibitioner. Finding himself under 'a careless tutor,' he removed to the newly founded Pembroke College as a pupil of Thomas Lushington. He graduated B.A. on 7 February 1629. Returning to Worcestershire
Worcestershire
Worcestershire is a non-metropolitan county, established in antiquity, located in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region...
, he became teacher of a private school, and preached in the chapels of several hamlets in the parish of Kings Norton
Kings Norton
Kings Norton is an area of Birmingham, England. It is also a Birmingham City Council ward within the formal district of Northfield.-History:...
, of which his brother, John Hall, vicar of Bromsgrove
Bromsgrove
Bromsgrove is a town in Worcestershire, England. The town is about north east of Worcester and south west of Birmingham city centre. It had a population of 29,237 in 2001 with a small ethnic minority and is in Bromsgrove District.- History :Bromsgrove is first documented in the early 9th century...
, was perpetual curate
Perpetual curate
A Perpetual Curate was a clergyman of the Church of England officiating as parish priest in a small or sparsely peopled parish or districtAs noted below the term perpetual was not to be understood literally but was used to indicate he was not a curate but the parish priest and of higher...
. At this period he conformed, but attendance at the puritan lecture, maintained at Birmingham, contributed to make him a presbyterian. He became curate at Kings Norton under his brother, who soon resigned the living in his favour. The living was of little value, but Hall obtained the mastership of the grammar school, founded by Edward VI.
During the civil war he was 'many times plundered, and five times imprison'd', according to Edmund Calamy
Edmund Calamy (historian)
Edmund Calamy was an English Nonconformist churchman, divine and historian.-Life:A grandson of Edmund Calamy the Elder, he was born in the City of London, in the parish of St Mary Aldermanbury. He was sent to various schools, including Merchant Taylors', and in 1688 proceeded to the university of...
. He refused preferment when his party was in power. In June 1652 he 'had liberty allow'd him by the delegates of the university' to take the degree of B.D. on the terms of preaching a Latin and an English sermon. His presbyterian principles prevented him from joining Richard Baxter
Richard Baxter
Richard Baxter was an English Puritan church leader, poet, hymn-writer, theologian, and controversialist. Dean Stanley called him "the chief of English Protestant Schoolmen". After some false starts, he made his reputation by his ministry at Kidderminster, and at around the same time began a long...
's Worcestershire agreement in 1653; and he became a member of the presbytery of Kenilworth
Kenilworth
Kenilworth is a town in central Warwickshire, England. In 2001 the town had a population of 22,582 . It is situated south of Coventry, north of Warwick and northwest of London....
, Warwickshire
Warwickshire
Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...
(see Obadiah Grew
Obadiah Grew
-Life:Grew was born at Atherstone, Warwickshire on 1 November 1607, the third son of Francis Grew and Elizabeth Denison. He was baptised the same day at the parish church of Mancetter, Warwickshire. Francis Grew was a layman, originally of good estate but impoverished by prosecutions for...
). He, however, signed Baxter's Worcestershire petition for the retention of tithe
Tithe
A tithe is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash, cheques, or stocks, whereas historically tithes were required and paid in kind, such as agricultural products...
and a settled ministry.
Hall was a 'plain but fervent' preacher, and 'a lover of books and learning'. When the first Birmingham library
Birmingham Library (seventeenth century)
The first Birmingham Library was founded between 1635 and 1642 in Birmingham, England by the puritan minister Francis Roberts. A letter to the Viscount Conway, surviving in the state papers of Charles I and dated 7 August 1637, possibly refers to a catalogue of the library:I have spoken with Mr...
was established in connection with the Birmingham grammar school he contributed many books, and collected others from his friends. Subsequently he founded a similar library at Kings Norton; the parish at his instance erected a building, and Hall transferred to it all his books for public use. After his ejection by the Uniformity Act (1662) he was reduced to great poverty, but his friends did not allow him to want. He died on 13 April 1665, and was buried at Kings Norton.
Works
Hall wrote:- 'Wisdoms Conquest. &c. ' 1651, 8vo (translation of the contest of Ajax and Ulysses, Ovid, 'Metamorph.' xiii.)
- 'The Pulpit Guarded with XVII. Arguments', &c., 4to (against unlicensed preachers); with appendix, also found separately, 'Six Arguments to prove our Ministers free from Antichristianisme,' &c., 1651, 4to.
- 'The Font Guarded with XX. Arguments,' &c, 1651 (i.e. 1652), 4to (against indiscriminate baptism); has appendix, 'The Collier and his Colours,' &c., 1662, 4to (against Thomas Collier (Unitarian)Thomas Collier (Unitarian)Thomas Collier was an English General Baptist preacher and Arian polemicist.-Life:Thomas Edwards in his Gangræna alleged that Collier originally was an illiterate carter or husbandman...
, a general Baptist preacher, of UnitarianUnitarianismUnitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....
sentiments); and second appendix, 'Praeecursor Praecursoris: or a Word to Mr. Tombs,' &c., 1652, 4to (against John TombesJohn Tombes-Early life:He was born at Bewdley, Worcestershire, in 1602 or 1603. He matriculated at Magdalen Hall, Oxford, on 23 January 1618, aged 15. His tutor there was William Pemble; among his college friends was John Geree. He graduated B.A. on 12 June 1621...
(1603–1666), Baptist preacher. - 'The Beauty of Holiness,' 1653, 8to (Wood gives 1656; perhaps a second edition).
- 'Comarum Ἀκοσμία. The Loathsomnesse of Long Haire. ... Appendix ... against & Painting,' &c.,1654, 8vo.
- 'Centuria Sacra ... Rules for ... understanding of the Holy Scriptures,' 8vo., 1654, 8vo.
- 'Rhetorica Sacra ... Tropes and Figures contained in the Sacred Scriptures,' &c., 1654, 8vo.
- 'Histrio-mastix. A Whip for Webster,' &c., 1654, 8vo, against an 'examen of academies' appended to John Webster's Saint's Guide, 1654, 4to).
- 'Vindiciae Literarium; the Schools Guarded,' &c., 1654 (i.e. 1655), 8vo; makes all learning a handmaid to divinity.
- 'Phaetons Folly,' &c., 1655, 8vo (translations of Ovid, ' Metam.' ii. and 'Trist.' eleg. i.)
- 'A Scriptural Discourse of the Apostacy of Antichrist,' &c., . ! 1655, 4to. 12. ' Chiliastomastix Redivivus, sive Homesus Enervatus. A Confutation of the Millenarian Opinion .., with a Word to our Fifth-monarchy Men,' &c., 1657, 4to (Wood); 1658, 12mo (against 'The Resurrection Revealed,' 1654, 4to, by Nathaniel HolmesNathaniel HolmesNathaniel Holmes or HomesAlso Nathanael. was an English Independent theologian and preacher. He has been described as a “Puritan writer of great ability".-Life:...
, D.D.). - 'A Practical and Polemical Commentary [on 2 Tim. iii. iv.],' &c, 1658, fol.
- Tὸ ὅλος τῆς γῆς: sive Apologia pro Ministerio Evangelico,' &c., Frankfort, 1658, 8vo ; in English, 'Apology for the Ministry," &c., 1660, 4to (Smith).
- 'Samaria's Downfall,' &c., 1659, 4to; comment on Hosea xiii. 12- 16, supplementary to the 'Exposition ' of Jeremiah Burroughes; 1660, 4to; 1843, 4to; appended is an attack on Solomon EcclesSolomon EcclesSolomon Eccles , also known as Solomon Eagle, was an English composer.-Life:Solomon Eagle was mentioned in Daniel Defoe's semi-fictional account of the plague of 1665 titled A Journal of the Plague Year. Defoe wrote:...
, the quaker. - 'The Beauty of Magistracy,' &c., 1660, 4to (written in conjunction with George Swinnocke).
- 'Funebria Florae. The Downfall of May-games,’ &c., 1660, 4to; 1661, 4to, two editions.
- 'An Exposition : [Amos, iv-ix.],' &c., 1661, 4to.
Views
He was a "high" Presbyterian, concerned to put in place a national church.Histrio-mastix, or A Whip for Webster, starts from a clear mistake of the identity of John Webster
John Webster (minister)
John Webster , also known as Johannes Hyphastes, was an English clergyman, physician and chemist with occult interests, a proponent of astrology and a sceptic about witchcraft. He is known for controversial works.-Life:...
the physician, for the dead dramatist John Webster
John Webster
John Webster was an English Jacobean dramatist best known for his tragedies The White Devil and The Duchess of Malfi, which are often regarded as masterpieces of the early 17th-century English stage. He was a contemporary of William Shakespeare.- Biography :Webster's life is obscure, and the dates...
; Hall argues from an "unyielding Aristotelian" point of view, and for no change in the educational system. It was a companion to the Vindiciae literarum (1654), which Christopher Hill
Christopher Hill (historian)
John Edward Christopher Hill , usually known simply as Christopher Hill, was an English Marxist historian and author of textbooks....
calls "hysterical".
He was an opponent of astrology
Astrology
Astrology consists of a number of belief systems which hold that there is a relationship between astronomical phenomena and events in the human world...
, associating it in Histrio-mastix with the 'Familistical-Levelling-Magical temper'.