Rowland Hill (preacher)
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| Rowland Hill | |
 |
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| Born | August 23, 1744 Hawkstone Park, Shropshire, England |
|---|---|
| Died | April 11, 1833 (aged 88) London, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | pastor |
| Religious beliefs | Christian |
| Parents | Sir Rowland Hill |
Rowland Hill (1744-1833), was a popular English preacher, enthusiastic evangelical and an influential advocate of small-pox vaccination. He was founder and resident pastor of the Surrey Chapel, London, chairman of the Religious Tract Society, and a keen supporter of the British and Foreign Bible Society and the London Missionary Society.
Rowland Hill was born at Hawkstone Park (11 miles from Shrewsbury), Shropshire, August 23, 1744, the sixth son of Sir Rowland Hill (died 1783), he was educated at Shrewsbury, Eton College and at St John's College, Cambridge (B.A., 1769), where he came under the influence of the Methodists.
For preaching in the open air in and around Cambridge without a license, Rowland Hill was opposed by the authorities and frequently assaulted by mobs. Finally, in 1773, after he had been refused ordination by six bishops, he was ordained by the bishop of Bath and Wells to the curacy of Kingston, Somerset, but was subsequently denied priest's orders. However, having come into an inheritance through the death of his father, Sir Rowland Hill, in 1783 he built Surrey Chapel, in Blackfriars Road, London. Here he preached to immense audiences almost up to the time of his death. Attached to the chapel were thirteen Sunday schools, with an enrollment of over 3,000 children. In the summer Hill preached through the country, even visiting Scotland and Ireland, and attracting large crowds wherever he went.
Rowland Hill was also one of the founders, and chairman, of the Religious Tract Society; and an active promoter of the interests of the British and Foreign Bible Society and the London Missionary Society. His principal published work is Village Dialogues (London, 1801; 34th ed., 1839). The famous instigator of penny postage, Rowland Hill, is said to have been christened 'Rowland' after him.
He was on close terms with Dr Edward Jenner, the pioneer of small-pox vaccination, and prosecuted his own plans to inoculate the congregations he visited or preached to. He published a tract on the subject in 1806 at a time when many medical men refused to sanction it. Later he became a member of the Royal Jennererian Society, which was established once the practice became accepted in Britain, India, the USA and elsewhere. Dr John Coakley Lettson, an eminent Quaker physician of the day wrote to Rowland Hill commenting,You have done more good than you imagine; and for everyone you may have saved by your actual operation, you have saved ten by your example; and perhaps, next to Jenner, have been the means of saving more lives than any other individual.
Rowland Hill died in London April 11, 1833. He was succeeded at Surrey Chapel by James Sherman.
A portrait of Rowland Hill (Reference NPG 5397) by Samuel Mountjoy Smith in 1828 hangs in the National Portrait Gallery.
[edit] See also
- Rowland Hill (a disambiguation page)
[edit] Bibliography
- W. Jones, Memoir of Rowland Hill, ed. Sherman, London, 1840
- E. Sidney, Life of Rev. Rowland Hill, London, 1845
- James Sherman, Memorial of Rowland Hill, London, 1857
- V. J. Charlesworth, Rowland Hill: His Life, Anecdotes and Pulpit Sayings, London, 1879
- E. Broome, Rowland Hill: Preacher and Wit, London, 1883
- Dictionary of National Biography, xxvi. 411
Based mainly upon an article in the public domain New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge - the owners of the online edition at Christian Classics Ethereal Library have given permission for the online copy of this public domain encyclopaedia to be used in Wikipedia articles.
